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Tag: new technology 2024
How Using a VPN Can Help You See Geoblocked Content
One of the best VPNs for Mac will not only protect your data, but it also helps you avoid location-based restrictions. Here’s how you can watch more TV shows and sports events.
The average consumer is pretty well catered to, when it comes to content consumption. With a wide selection of streaming services, broadcasters, and social media outlets at their fingertips, there’s a lot to consume.
However, you can’t always get what you want. Sometimes, the content you want to watch is offered through a streaming service you don’t have any desire in using, or it’s blocked off so it’s only usable in certain countries.
These blocks can be in place for a number of reasons, but a VPN is certainly one of the main ways to solve the problem. Having a VPN for Mac or your other devices can help get around the problems.
Limited Content
A big example of content restriction would be Netflix and how it secures licenses for previously broadcasted shows to be included in its content catalog. Licensing agreements often force services to only offer content in specific regions.
Typical reasons for this include agreements that limit the areas content can be served to in order to save money on the agreement itself. It’s also possible that a content owner has a preexisting agreement with another broadcaster or streamer for a territory that prevents other agreements from using its exclusive content.
Netflix catalogs vary by country, so use a VPN for Mac to see everything – Image Credit: David Balev/UnsplashFor streaming content, this can result in frustration, especially when dealing with shows you would expect to be on one platform, but not on another.
To deal with this problem, services can geoblock content. This uses the location of the user to determine what content on a service is available to them.
Taking the Netflix example, a user of the service in the United States may see a large section of the catalog, but those in France may see a completely different slate.
The UK’s BBC also restricts access to its iPlayer app to the United Kingdom. If you’re outside the UK, you can’t view the same content it provides specifically to UK residents.
Use a VPN for Mac to get around sports location blackouts
Sports fans may also find themselves at the mercy of geoblocking for two pretty big reasons.
The first problem is licensing, as major sporting events often sell licenses and permission to broadcast a match or a contest live, preventing other broadcasters from doing so. This is often observed in the form of events like the Olympics or the World Cup, for example.
This also manifests itself in the form of pay-per-view programming. A high-profile boxing match may be limited only to a specific sports broadcaster or streaming service in a specific country.
There is an obvious vested interest by the broadcaster to keep that content only for paying subscribers in that region.
Use a VPN for Mac to get around sports blackouts – Image Credit: WikiImages/PixabayBear in mind that same sporting fixture will most likely have different licensors in other countries, with a small chance of it being offered through other broadcasters and streaming services. However, geoblocks will be employed to prevent people from outside those countries from accessing said content.
For consumers, being able to access the event in a different country typically offers two benefits. The obvious one is a potential saving in the pay-per-view cost, as it can vary between countries and broadcasters.
Then there’s the content itself. In some cases, such as soccer, viewing the broadcast from another country can mean listening to a different set of commentators.
This isn’t just for the style of commentary, but also potentially the content of the commentary as well. A US commentator will err towards US participants more than a UK-based commentator, for example.
If you want to hear more viewpoints of other teams or players than those of local commentary teams, you have to go further afield.
On a more local level, there’s the topic of sports blackouts, the practice of preventing the broadcast of an event in a local area. The intention is to try and encourage local fans to go to the nearby stadium and to buy a ticket, instead of staying home and watching for free.
This is a phenomenon that has existed around the world in different forms. In the UK, there’s a rule that prevents the live broadcast of soccer matches playing at 3pm on a Saturday, forcing fans into attending the matches live.
However, these sorts of rules don’t typically apply in other regions of the country, and usually don’t apply at all outside it.
Another way that geological restrictions can get in the way is for social media services. In some cases, content appearing on a social media site may not be available for viewing, such as content licensing restrictions from the original owner.
This is less of an issue in general on social media, but a more pressing one is access altogether. It is not unheard of for a government to block access to a social media service or app.
For the U.S. this became apparent with the whole TikTok ban, under claims it poses a national security risk. While the ban did briefly shut the service down in the United States, it was still fully accessible in other countries.
FaceTime is a vital communications app, but blocked in the UAEOppressive regimes around the world often implement blanket bans on social media during times of unrest. This prevents citizens from communicating with the rest of the world, and often preventing them from being influenced by external views.
Sometimes, apps are blocked completely within a country. For example, the United Arab Emirates has strict regulations over VoIP services. Apps like FaceTime are officially restricted in the country, and aside from the occasional blip, don’t tend to work.
VPN for Mac – how it works
When you come across these issues, the main solution to them is to use a VPN.
The way a VPN functions means that you connect via a local server in your home country, with your Internet traffic piped through a tunnel to another VPN server in your target country. At this point, your Internet traffic carries on through the Internet to its destination server.
Since the web traffic is seemingly originating from the VPN server in your target country, it means that the traffic matches that of other local internet usage. This means the traffic shouldn’t be affected by any geoblocking that would normally block it.
Streaming services should see you’re “located” in a specific country, and so will open up its regional content catalogs to you. Sports broadcasters and streamers in the country will be more likely to stream events to you through the connection, again because you’re now a “local” connection to them.
Likewise, international social media restrictions will be limited in their effect.
This is a move that isn’t just limited to streaming services, but it is one of the bigger benefits. For example, using a VPN on your iPhone or Mac can help with getting better travel deals or other purchases.
While this is relatively straightforward, it is worth remembering that the streaming services and other companies will be very familiar with the existence of VPNs. Depending on the company, they may have technologies in place that can still block you from using the service, because it detects you’re using a VPN.
It is also possible that streaming services may pick up on other things than just your IP. For example, using an account registered to the U.S. version of the service may result in being offered the US catalog, despite using the VPN.
Other things like an address on an account or country-specific payment details could also be considered proof of where you’re really located. Using an account registered as if it’s from the target country wouldn’t be a bad idea, and disguising the payment method where possible wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
The bottom line is that a VPN can certainly help you watch TV shows and sporting events that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to, with some geological skullduggery. It may not work perfectly, but it’s going to be one of the better ways of solving the content problem. If you haven’t signed up for a VPN service and wish to do so, there are VPN deals in effect this week offering up to 86% off.
Honor Magic 7 Pro camera review: All-encompassing AI joins solid hardware
A few years after expanding into Europe, Honor is hoping the flagship Magic 7 Pro will convince even more users to give the brand a try outside of China. With advanced silicon-carbon battery tech, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, and growing AI software, the Honor Magic 7 Pro might make a compelling case. The smartphone race outside of North America is often won by a device’s camera system — just look at what brands like Vivo are doing — so if Honor wants to win, it’ll need the Magic 7 Pro to deliver standout camera performance.
I’ve spent the last few weeks pushing the Magic 7 Pro’s “Falcon Camera” to its limits, snapping shots and taking videos across two continents. Honor sent me to Bled, Slovenia for the Magic 7 Pro global launch event, where I got to test this phone’s camera while scaling the Slovenian Alps, visiting ski slops, and riding ATVs. Back home, I tried out the Magic 7 Pro camera system in the completely-different desert terrain of Phoenix, Arizona.
So, how does the Honor Magic 7 Pro camera perform? It’s tricky, because the raw camera hardware is downright impressive. For instance, the telephoto camera has a large sensor size and a high megapixel count, increasing its versatility. The problem is that the Falcon camera’s AI engine can be both overreaching and underwhelming at times, and some of Honor’s claims — like the 100x AI Super Zoom — should be taken with more than a few grains of salt.
All told, the Honor Magic 7 Pro does have some of the best camera systems available in a flagship. It’s not quite at the level of Vivo handsets, but it’s closer than ever. And for the second straight year, the Honor Magic flagship takes the best motion shots of any smartphone.
Main camera
Like most Android flagships, the Magic 7 Pro has a “pro” camera mode that lets you view and tweak just about every setting. However, the truth is that most users will take photos using the simple point-and-shoot method, and that’s how I tested the Honor Magic 7 Pro as a result.
You’ll immediately notice that opening the camera and snapping a photo is quicker than ever on an Honor phone, because the Magic 7 Pro finally supports double-clicking the power button to launch the camera from anywhere. This was shockingly not available on the Magic 6 Pro, and something my colleague Nicholas Sutrich pointed out in last year’s camera review. Now that this has been corrected, it takes merely a second or two to take a picture with the Magic 7 Pro.
Most of the photos you’ll take with this phone will be with the main camera. It uses a 50MP, f/1.4-2.0 wide lens with multi-directional phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and optical image stabilization (OIS). This appears to be mostly the same sensor as Honor used in the Magic 6 Pro.
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All modern flagship camera phones — from the Google Pixel 9 Pro to the iPhone 16 Pro to the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Ultra — have large main camera sensors that can provide a great level of detail in shots. One thing that separates these phones, more than detail, is their ability to handle light and color.
I’ve really enjoyed how the Honor Magic 7 Pro has performed in this aspect. I’ve tested the latest Pixel phones to produce photos with poor color accuracy and overaggressive computational photography. By comparison, the Honor imaging engine performs closer to that of Apple’s or Samsung’s, and that’s a good thing. The colors captured in the photos above felt representative of what I was seeing with my own eyes.
Even on a sunny day, the main sensor was able to capture the moment without losing detail or color accuracy due to overexposure. These shots represent the best of what the Honor Falcon camera can do — it performs excellently during the daytime with limited to no AI processing needed.
I also want to mention that the best AI features, at least where photos are concerned, may not involve computational photography at all. The third image in the gallery above is of a Slovenian plaque, one that is significantly deteriorated and written in a language I can’t natively read. After snapping the picture with the Magic 7 Pro, I was able to use Circle to Search to translate the text and make sense of it — even without having the full text. To me, this is a much better use of AI than changing the physical attributes of a photo.
Telephoto & ultrawide camera
Once a shortcoming for Honor, the Magic 7 Pro’s telephoto camera is now a selling point for the device. Last year, the Magic 6 Pro had a telephoto lens that could only do 2.5x optical zoom, which paled in comparison to the 10x optical zoom of the Galaxy S23 Ultra or the 5x optical zoom of the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Now, the Honor Magic 7 Pro’s telephoto camera can deliver optical-quality zoom at 6x, which is right in line with the top Android zoom lenses.
The way Honor achieves this is a little outside the box, but in my testing, it works. The brand is using a 200MP, f/2.6 periscope telephoto lens with a 1/1.4-inch sensor size and native 3x optical zoom. Compared to last year, the Magic 7 Pro has greater optical zoom capabilities and a higher megapixel count. More importantly, the large sensor size and high megapixel count means the image can be cropped in software without a loss in quality — this is how Honor can deliver 6x zoom in “optical quality.”
This unique telephoto sensor also enables the Magic 7 Pro’s zoom lens to be used for portrait mode, which is neat. In the image gallery below, you’ll see how the Magic 7 Pro performs across 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x, and 6x zoom levels. Based on the results, it’s clear this phone can indeed deliver optical-level zoom at both 3x and 6x lengths.
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The first photo in that set was taken at 0.5x with the Magic 7 Pro’s ultrawide camera, which is a 50MP, f/2.0 sensor with a 122-degree field of view. I personally find myself using ultrawide cameras the least out of modern phone lenses, and this one performs about as expected. It captures a wider frame while not losing too much detail and should be a feasible alternative to the old-school panorama.
Beyond the standard zoom distances (0.5x-6x), the Magic 7 Pro is claimed to shoot up to 100x using a mix of digital zoom and AI enhancements. The feature is called “AI Super Zoom,” and while cool, I wouldn’t count on it. For starters, only zoom shots up to 30x can be processed on-device, while AI Super Zoom (up to 100x) requires a cellular connection for processing. This might be a deterrent for you or be outside your comfort level.
Even when AI Super Zoom is available, it’s a bit slow, and you can only do it immediately after you take the shot. It’d be nice if you could do so after the fact, kind of like how Google’s Video Boost works for Pixels. Moreover, results can be mixed at best, as you can see below.
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The first set of photos in the gallery above can give you an idea of the best-case scenario for AI Super Zoom. The original photo is blurry, grainy, and it’s hard to make out the details. Meanwhile, the AI Super Zoom version looks a lot sharper, even if it’s a bit too sharp to be a natural photo.
On the other hand, the second set of photos can represent some of the worst-case scenarios. With AI Super Zoom, all the detailed and sharp cuts in the snow were completely covered up by broad-stroking AI enhancement. The first-aid logo on the snowmobile was lost to the enhancement as well. It’s clear that, after multiple tests, AI Super Zoom may be just as likely to make a photo worse with a watercolor-like image void of detail.
Overall, I thought native shots from the ultrawide and telephoto lens looked sharp, but AI Super Zoom wasn’t quite as good as advertised.
Low-light & motion capture
It’s time to give the Honor Magic 7 Pro its flowers: this is the best motion-capture camera phone I’ve ever tested. At a time when the last Samsung Galaxy S24 series had serious motion blur issues, and the iPhone 16 Pro series has more motion blur than any iPhone in recent memory, the Magic 7 Pro couldn’t be more different. It snaps clear photos of subjects in motion consistently, whether you’re using the regular camera mode or one specialized for motion.
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As you can see in the images above, whether I was capturing a darting pet, a steady Gondola lift, or a skier, the Magic 7 Pro delivered a clear shot. If you hate motion blur, this is the camera phone for you.
Honor has a few shooting modes specifically for capturing motion. There’s AI Motion Sensing Capture, which was introduced last year and can take photos for you when a subject moves. New this year is HD Super Burst, which takes a burst of photos and works great in motion. You can see HD Super Burst in action in the gallery below, and the results are impressive.
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Low-light performance is a bit shakier, depending on the situation. Honor deserves some credit for not adding a ton of light to night shots on the Magic 7 Pro, to be clear. Whenever I take night shots with an iPhone or Pixel and come back to them a few months later, it’s hard to see that it really was a night from the artificial brightness of the image. With the Magic 7 Pro, shots are dark, but they can be too dark at times.
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The good news is that the Magic 7 Pro camera adjusts quickly to changes in lighting; it can adjust exposure and light balance within a second or two after opening the camera app. In my testing, there wasn’t much of a difference when using night mode versus standard mode. You can pick up on some differences, particularly with bright light sources — like a streetlamp or lighted sign.
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In the comparisons above, you’ll see that night mode tries to mute these bright light sources. However, I wasn’t entirely thrilled with the results — Honor’s processing seems to smoothen out the light sources in a way that’s clearly unnatural. For that reason, I often preferred the original shot over the night shot.
Front-facing camera
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not that big a user of the front-facing camera on smartphones. With that being said, if you love selfies, video calls, or social media, the Magic 7 Pro’s front camera can do the job. It has a 50MP, f/2.0 sensor with PDAF, which is more than you’d typically see on a front-facing sensor. Honor also put a depth sensor beside the camera for biometrics, and this explains the pill-shaped cutout in the display.
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Selfies and portrait shots turned out well, not only capturing me but also some of the details in the landscapes behind me. When using portrait mode, bokeh is still turned off by default, so keep that in mind if you enjoy background blur. It only takes one tap to turn bokeh on, but you could argue that’s one more tap than it should take with portrait mode active.
Video
Considering the motion capture performance of the Magic 7 Pro, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this phone also handles video quite well. It officially supports 4K resolution at either 60 or 30fps, which isn’t industry-leading for a flagship but is still more than capable.
For video, the Honor Magic 7 Pro uses electronic image stabilization (EIS). This isn’t usually a good thing because EIS is often less reliable and more jarring than OIS. Despite using EIS and only 60fps, I thought the Magic 7 Pro recorded solid video, even while sledding down a small ski hill.
Honor Magic 7 Pro sledding video test – YouTube
Watch OnAnother challenging test involved mounting the Magic 7 Pro to the top of an ATV while riding it through the city of Bled. This would be hard for any smartphone to handle due to the rough terrain and engine vibrations coming from the ATV.
Honor Magic 7 Pro quad video test – YouTube
Watch OnThe Magic 7 Pro didn’t perform perfectly — it struggled to focus on the landscape versus the mounting clamp partially in the frame. The phone’s EIS also couldn’t stabilize enough to compensate for the engine vibrations, which is to be expected. Even with these circumstances, I thought this phone performed well, although the iPhone 16 Pro Max is probably still the video king.
Conclusion
(Image credit: Brady Snyder / Android Central) If you can look past all the AI noise, the Honor Magic 7 Pro has a camera system capable of hanging with the best of the bunch — even if it can’t usurp Vivo flagships just yet. There are some AI and camera features, like AI Motion Sensing Capture and HD Super Burst, that are genuinely great. However, I think too many of them, such as AI Super Zoom and even the over-aggressive night mode, can take away from the Magic 7 Pro’s quality camera hardware.
This phone’s calling card is its ability to capture basically any kind of shot with zero motion blur. For those who are getting tired of motion blur — and after spending time with the Galaxy S24 series and iPhone 16 Pro series, I am — the Honor Magic 7 Pro feels like a breath of fresh air.
Cisco: Latest news and insights
Cisco is the dominant vendor in enterprise networking, and under CEO Chuck Robbins, it continues to shake things up.
Its most recent mega-acquisition is its $28 billion purchase of Splunk, a bold move that adds revenue opportunities in observability, data analytics, AIOps, and genAI. And in the security arena, Cisco is building out its platform-based approach to enterprise security with elements such as its new Hypershield AI-native architecture. Meanwhile, Cisco continues to weather the tech industry’s ups and downs, balancing supply constraints, layoffs and restructuring plans.
Cisco news and analysis
Cisco researchers highlight emerging threats to AI models
February 4, 2025: Cisco security researchers this week detailed a number of threats they are seeing from bad actors trying to attack the large language model, AI’s most common component. Being able to disguise and hide content from machine analysis or human oversight is likely to become a more important vector of attack against AI systems, according to Cisco..Cisco touts ‘Internet of Agents’ for secure AI agent collaboration
January 30, 2025: When AI agents begin to proliferate, a new, open structure will be needed so they can securely communicate and collaborate together to solve complex problems, suggests Cisco. To head off potential problems such as agent sprawl and fragmented infrastructure, Cisco’s advanced research outfit Outshift is proposing the “Internet of Agents.”Cisco CEO Robbins on AI: Pressure to deploy is real
January 22, 2025: Interest in AI has exploded over the last two or three years, but enterprises are only just beginning to think about how they’re going to take advantage of it, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins told the audience at the company’s recent AI Summit.Cisco unveils AI Defense package
Jan. 15, 2025: Cisco rolled out a service that promises to protect enterprise AI development projects with visibility, access control, threat defense, and other safeguards. The AI Defense package offers protection to enterprise customers developing AI applications across models and cloud services, according to Tom Gillis, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco’s security, data center, Internet and cloud infrastructure groups.Cisco in 2025: Lots of hard work ahead
Jan. 8, 2025: Cisco executed a fairly short list of technology rollouts in 2024 and made a surprising lack of major updates to its core networking portfolio, which might have contributed to the 23% decline in networking revenue. In 2025, Cisco needs to refocus on enterprise networking and make the data center an all-inclusive home for AI applications, industry watchers say. Security technologies must continue to be a priority as well.Cisco in 2024: the highlights
Cisco grabs SnapAttack for threat detection
Dec. 17, 2024: Cisco is acquiring threat-detection startup SnapAttack for an undisclosed amount as it continues to expand its security portfolio. Established in 2001 by Booz Allen’s Dark Labs, SnapAttack is known for its threat detection and engineering technology, which melds threat intelligence, attack emulation, and behavioral analytics to help customers identify potential vulnerabilities and gaps in their networks, ideally before problems happen.Cisco strengthens AWS integration to speed multicloud troubleshooting
Dec. 5, 2024: Cisco bolstered integrations between its own hybrid cloud offerings and AWS to improve visibility and help enterprise customers more accurately troubleshoot application availability issues across multicloud networks. The new network troubleshooting capabilities revolve around container security technology that Cisco gained in its acquisition of Isovalent and integrated into its infrastructure offerings.Cisco, NTT Data partner to simplify private 5G connectivity
Nov. 26, 2024: Cisco and NTT Data extended their partnership to offer customers more streamlined options for deploying private 5G services for enterprise connectivity. The partnership ties Cisco’s networking technologies to NTT Data’s Transatel network.Cisco: Pressure to deploy AI is up, but only 13% feel ready
Nov. 20, 2024: Pressure to implement AI plans is on the rise, but the readiness of enterprise networks to handle AI workloads has actually declined over the past year, according to Cisco’s AI Readiness Index.Cisco amps up Splunk observability platform
Nov. 14, 2024: Updates to Cisco’s Splunk Observability portfolio include new features as well as tie-ins to Splunk AppDynamics to help IT teams unify visibility and improve performance troubleshooting across on-premises and cloud environments.Cisco launches intelligent Wi-Fi 7 access points
Nov. 14, 2024: Cisco has taken the wraps off a pair of intelligent WiFi-7 access points and introduced a new way of licensing wireless gear across cloud, on-premises and hybrid networks.Cisco IoT wireless access points hit by severe command injection flaw
Nov. 7, 2024: Cisco’s URWB hardware has been hit with a hard-to-ignore flaw that could allow attackers to hijack the access points’ web interface using a crafted HTTP request. Cisco said the issue affects three products: the Catalyst IW9165D Heavy Duty Access Points, the Catalyst IW9165E Rugged Access Points and Wireless Clients, and the Catalyst IW9167E Heavy Duty Access Points.Cisco takes aim at developing quantum data center
Oct. 31, 2024: Cisco Research recently hosted its Quantum Summit 2024 gathering that drew industry experts to discuss ongoing work focused on everything quantum from networking to security, but it was research being done in the quantum data center that garnered most of Cisco’s focus.Cisco pumps up data center networking with AI, large workloads in mind
Oct. 16, 2024: Cisco is boosting network density for its data center switch and router portfolio as it works to deliver the infrastructure its customers need for AI workloads and high-performance computing. Specifically, Cisco is scaling up its Nexus 9000 data center switches and Series 8000 routers for AI-ready networking.Cisco revamps key DevNet sandboxes
Oct. 10, 2024: Cisco has expanded its DevNet sandbox environments to make it easier for network professionals to test and develop applications for key enterprise networking technologies. The new and upgraded DevNet sandboxes are dedicated to Catalyst Center, CI/CD pipelines for infrastructure automation, and Meraki products.Cisco layoffs hit California workers
Sept. 20, 2024: Cisco’s rolling layoffs are taking a toll on workers in California. According to the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) system, which mandates a 60-day notification of large-scale layoffs, 842 employees impacted by the vendor’s current restructuring plan will come from the San Jose-San Francisco area. There is also speculation – not confirmed by Cisco – that some of its headquarters buildings will be closed.Cisco ties AppDynamics to Microsoft Azure for cloud application management
Aug. 30, 2024: Cisco is now offering its AppDynamics application management suite as part of Microsoft Azure cloud services. Through the integration with Azure, Cisco’s AppDynamics platform can manage the performance of applications, virtual machines and other resources hosted on Microsoft’s cloud platform.Cisco snaps up AI security player Robust Intelligence
Aug. 27, 2024: Cisco announced plans to acquire Robust Intelligence, a security startup with a platform designed to protect AI models and data throughout the development-to-production lifecycle. It’s paying an undisclosed amount to acquire the company, which Cisco has previously invested in through its Cisco Investments portfolio.Cisco to cut 7% of workforce, restructure product groups
Aug. 14, 2024: Cisco is cutting 6,000 jobs in its second round of layoffs this year and combining its networking, security and collaboration groups into one unit led by Jeetu Patel. Cisco wants to use this restructuring to pump more resources into three growth areas: AI networking, security and collaboration.Cisco expected to follow Dell with layoff announcement: Report
Aug. 09, 2024: A round of layoff announcements at Dell and Cisco are a result of both companies currently losing core market share to new industry competitors: Arista Networks for Cisco, in their core networking business, and low-cost PC manufacturers like Acer for Dell, an analyst said.Cisco: AI can help security challenges created by IT/OT integration
July 31, 2024: When companies increase IT/OT integration, they can simplify operations, boost security and streamline decision making, according to Cisco’s industrial networking research.Cisco Talos analyzes attack chains, network ransomware tactics
July 11, 2024: Cisco’s Talos security intelligence group analyzed ransomware groups to identify common techniques and offer recommendations to help security team better protect their businesses.Cisco adds heft to cybersecurity push with acquisitions, new talent
July 09, 2024: With new leadership, key acquisitions, and an AI-driven, platform-based vision, Cisco is betting big on security. Its dominance in networking and telecommunications products and services is well established, but its role in cybersecurity is less cemented.Cisco debuts CCDE-AI Infrastructure certification
June 07, 2024: Cisco announced a new certification program it says will empower IT pros to design infrastructure for AI and machine learning. The company’s new Cisco Certified Design Expert (CCDE) AI Infrastructure certification is a vendor-agnostic, expert-level certification that will equip IT professionals with the ability to design modern AI/ML compute and networks now and as they evolve, says Par Merat, vice president of Cisco learning and certifications.Cisco steps up observability play with Splunk tie-ins
June 07, 2024: Work has already begun to integrate Splunk, AppDynamics, and ThousandEyes as Cisco strengthens its observability lineup. At the recent Cisco Live event, execs from Cisco and Splunk detailed plans to create what they called a “unified observability experience” to help customers manage applications across on-premises, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.AI takes center stage at Cisco Live
June 05, 2024: Cisco put AI front and center at its Live event, touting new networking, management and security products. CEO Chuck Robbins says the AI evolution is coming on fast, like the cloud transition on steroids. “You’re probably trying to figure out use cases, if you are haven’t already, and how you can use it,” said Robbins in his keynote address.Cisco gears up to capitalize on Splunk deal, AI revolution
May 30, 2024: Despite a recent rough patch, Cisco has growth opportunities on multiple fronts. Its strategy starts with the $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, a bold move that adds $4 billion in annual revenue to Cisco’s roughly $55 billion base. More importantly, it creates revenue-generating opportunities across a variety of fast-growing markets: security, observability, data analytics, AIOps, and genAI.AT&T taps Cisco fixed 5G wireless gateways for WAN service
May 30, 2024: Cisco Meraki has rolled out 5G fixed wireless access gateways, and AT&T said it will use them to offer a new service for business branch offices. The new Meraki MG cellular MG52 and MG52E gateways fill out the high-end of Meraki’s cellular gateway family and offer 2 Gbps/300Mbp throughput – which is twice the throughput of current high-end MG offerings.Cisco research highlights network complexity, security challenges
May 22, 2024: IT leaders need more help managing and securing their distributed networking environments, Cisco asserts in its Global Networking Trends Report. “Network architectures are more sophisticated, more complex, and spread across more multi-clouds and multi-vendors than ever. IT leaders are also besieged by rising cybersecurity risks, increased demand from new app and workload types, and vastly distributed workforces and infrastructures,” said Jonathan Davidson, executive vice president and general manager of Cisco networking.Cisco, Nutanix strengthen joint HCI package
May 16, 2024: Last year, Cisco killed its Hyperflex platform and essentially turned over that business to Nutanix. Now, Cisco and Nutanix have significantly expanded their alliance with new management capabilities, AI components and networking extensions for their integrated hyperconverged infrastructure package.Cisco adds AI features to AppDynamics On-Premises
May 10, 2024: A new virtual appliance for Cisco’s AppDynamics observability platform will give enterprise customers more deployment options as well as AI-driven capabilities for anomaly detection and root cause analysis, application security, and SAP monitoring.AI features boost Cisco’s Panoptica application security software
May 07, 2024: Cisco has added a variety of new AI-based security features to its cloud-native security platform that promise to help customers more quickly spot and remediate threats. The features extend the vendor’s Panoptica platform, which is designed to secure cloud applications from development to deployment with a focus on protecting containerized, microservice applications running on platforms such as Kubernetes.Cisco, Red Hat extend networking, AI integrations
May 03, 2024: Cisco and Red Hat are expanding their 15-year-old strategic partnership, this time to bolster networking, AI and cloud integrations. At the Red Hat Summit 2024, the two vendors will demonstrate how tightly integrating Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) with Red Hat’s OpenShift can help customers improve their network operations.Cisco-backed startup Corelight raises $150 million
May 02, 2024: Cisco is part of a group that backed security startup Corelight with $150 million in Series E funding. The new funding will enable Corelight to further develop its technology, which transforms network and cloud activity as well as packet capture into evidence that security teams use to proactively hunt for threats, accelerate response to incidents, gain network visibility, and create powerful analytics results, according to the startup.Cisco marries AI and security with cloud-based data center offering
April 18, 2024: Cisco announces AI-based Hypershield, a self-upgrading security fabric that’s designed to protect distributed applications, devices and data.Cisco: AI networking adds to data center sustainability challenges
April 03, 2024: Data centers are notorious energy hogs, and the increase in heavy-duty networking and compute power required to handle AI workloads is only going to exacerbate the sustainability issue. But there are efforts underway to address the growth of AI and ML in data centers while keeping energy efficiency, cooling and performance in mind.Beware the gap between security readiness and confidence levels, Cisco warns
March 27, 2024: Security readiness among enterprises has dropped in the past year, while the confidence level of many organizations is up. This disparity between confidence levels and security readiness suggests that companies may be overestimating their ability to navigate the threat landscape, Cisco reports in its newly released Cybersecurity Readiness Index.Cisco: AI tools, better workspaces would boost in-office appeal
March 27, 2024: Cisco released its hybrid work study and found 72% of employees are positive about returning to the office, but they want better-equipped workspaces and more modern collaboration technologies. Office spaces at many companies are too focused on individual work rather than structured around spaces that can encourage collaboration, social interaction and creative brainstorming, according to the survey, which polled 14,050 employees and 3,800 employers in 19 countries worldwide.Cisco taps former Microsoft, Broadcom exec
March 25, 2024: Martin Lund will lead the group responsible for delivering the silicon, optics, and hardware for Cisco’s core switching, routing, and wireless offerings.Cisco, Intel expand Wi-Fi 7 partnership
March 21, 2024: Joint development work by Cisco and Intel is aimed at delivering more reliable Wi-Fi connectivity and new capabilities for latency-sensitive applications.Cisco aims AI advancements at data center infrastructure
March 20, 2024: The Splunk buy and Cisco’s partnership with Nvidia are part of its efforts to build data-center network infrastructure for supporting AI/ML workloads.Cisco completes $28 billion Splunk acquisition
March 18, 2024: Cisco closed its $28 billion acquisition of Splunk, promising product innovations across its security, observability and AI portfolios with the integration of Splunk. Network security teams can use Splunk’s technology to gain better visibility into network traffic, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and SIEM systems.Cisco Talos: 3 post-compromise tactics that threaten your network infrastructure
March 07, 2024: The bad actors who are perpetrating advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks aren’t just looking to access your network. They want to hang around to collect valuable data or lay plans for future attacks. Post-compromise threats are growing, Cisco says, and they’re aimed largely at aging network infrastructure and edge devices that are long past end-of-life stage and may have critical unpatched vulnerabilities. “… the older legacy components have more avenues for access, especially if the devices are out of support and they haven’t been updated in three or four years,” said Nick Biasini, head of outreach at Cisco’s Talos security research arm.Cisco, partners to offer tailored IoT/OT packages
Feb. 29, 2024: Cisco has implemented a new blueprint that involves working more closely with partners to offer packages of networking and software components that meld IT elements with Internet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT).Cisco to cut 5% of workforce amid restructuring; layoffs will impact 4,200 jobs
Feb. 14, 2024: After days of speculation, Cisco announced a restructuring plan that will see the networking vendor cut 5%, or about 4,200 jobs, from its 84,900 workforce as it plans to continue to focus on high-strength areas such as AI and security.Cisco brings AI assistant to cloud app security service
Feb. 08, 2024: Cisco is launching a generative AI-based assistant to help customers handle cloud-native application security issues more quickly and efficiently. The Cisco AI Assistant for Panoptica will help businesses streamline, prioritize, and remediate risks and misconfigurations in multi-cloud environments, according to Vijoy Pandey, senior vice president of Cisco’s Outshift advanced development group.Cisco launches Motific hub to streamline generative AI deployment
Feb. 07, 2024: Cisco is delivering a cloud-based service that gives enterprise customers a centralized hub for managing AI elements. Called Motific, the service promises to help streamline and accelerate the creation, deployment and management of generative AI-based applications for the enterprise.Cisco, Nvidia target secure AI with expanded partnership
Feb. 06, 2024: Cisco and Nvidia have expanded their partnership to offer integrated software and networking hardware that promises to help customers more easily spin up infrastructure to support AI applications. The agreement deepens both companies’ strategy to expand the role of Ethernet networking for AI workloads in the enterprise. It also gives both companies access to each other’s sales and support systems.Cisco, Hitachi deliver managed hybrid cloud services
Jan. 31, 2024: Cisco and Hitachi Vantara have unveiled the first fruits of their partnership, signed last year, that aims to bring managed as-a-service offerings to enterprise customers with hybrid cloud environments. The joint offering, Hitachi EverFlex with Cisco Powered Hybrid Cloud, includes a range of converged infrastructure services that meld compute, networking and software technologies from Cisco and storage capabilities from Hitachi.Cisco looks to ease management of software agents
Jan. 26, 2024: Cisco AppDynamics rolled out a new management product that aims to take the pressure off operations teams tasked with maintaining a growing raft of application and infrastructure agents. Smart Agent for Cisco AppDynamics can help customers spot and update out-of-date software agents as well as quickly on-board and manage new agents through a centralized user interface, Cisco stated.Cisco brings SSE technology to new Kyndryl services
Jan. 25, 2024: Kyndryl’s new managed services incorporate Cisco’s Secure Access platform, which includes zero-trust network access, secure web gateway, and firewall as a service.Cisco, T-Mobile team to offer managed 5G service
Jan. 24, 2024: Cisco and T-Mobile have teamed to offer a managed 5G-based connectivity service for remote branches and small offices. The T-Mobile-managed package, called Connected Workplace, will make use of Cisco Meraki 5G cellular gateways as well as its network and visibility management platform. The Meraki software includes cloud-managed security features and a central Meraki dashboard for network management support. Together with T-Mobile’s unlimited nationwide business internet service, the offering will allow organizations to network everything from end users and IoT devices to point-of-sale systems and video installations.Cisco sees headway in quantum networking, but advances are slow
Jan. 22, 2024: While core quantum networking technologies such as repeaters and photonics are being developed, it is security applications that are likely to be the first real-world developments that come out of the lab, according to Liz Centoni, executive vice president, chief strategy officer and general manager of applications at Cisco.Cisco buy highlights container networking, security
Jan. 17, 2024: Cisco’s acquisition of startup Isovalent, developer of open-source tools Cilium and Tetragon, underscores the potential of the popular eBPF kernel technology for multicloud networking and security.What’s in the latest build? – Computerworld
Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4805.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000
Release date: January 24, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get new battery icons, including colored icons to indicate charging states, simplified overlays that don’t block the progress bar, and an option to turn on battery percentage. The same group also gets several bug fixes, including for a bug in File Explorer in which you sometimes would be unable to navigate by entering a path in the address bar. These changes are gradually rolling out.
There are 18 known issues in this build, including one in the Recall feature in which some users may see a message to “Make sure Recall is saving snapshots” while the Settings page for Recall shows saving snapshots is enabled. Reboot your device to resolve this issue.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3000.)
Windows 11 Build 26100.3025 (KB5050094)
Release date: January 21, 2025
Released to: Release Preview Channel
This build gradually rolls out a number of new features, including one in which an icon will appear in the system tray when you use an app that supports Windows Studio Effects. This only occurs on a device that has a neural processing unit (NPU). Select the icon to open the Studio Effects page in Quick Settings.
The update also improves the previews that show when your cursor hovers over apps on the taskbar. In addition, the Windows Mobile Hotspot now supports 6 GHz connections. This new band requires chips that support the feature and updated drivers.
A variety of bug fixes are also being rolled out, including for a bug in which the Snipping Tool screenshots were distorted when you used two or more monitors that have different display scaling.
The build also immediately rolls out a change in which you will now have a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.3025.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4800
Release date: January 17, 2025
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get a standard Windows 11 taskbar after restoring from a backup via the Windows Setup experience (OOBE) on a new Windows PC. You can still find your apps in the Start menu and Search, and you can pin apps to your taskbar. In addition, the build starts the rollout of the Settings home page for commercial customers on PCs managed by an IT administrator.
Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get one bug fix, which includes increased support for text scaling in File Explorer, File Open/Save dialogs, and copy dialogs.
There are three known issues in this build, including one in which the Home page of Settings may crash. If you are impacted by this, you should still be able to open specific Settings pages directly by searching for them from the taskbar.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4800.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27774
Release date: January 16, 2025
Released to: Canary Channel
This update includes a small set of tweaks that Microsoft says improves the overall experience of Windows 11. In addition, the Administrator protection can now be enabled from Windows Security settings under the Account Protection tab, which allows users to enable the feature without requiring help from IT admins.
The build also fixes several bugs, including one in which accent colored window borders were not displayed when enabled, shadows around windows were not displaying when enabled, and window launching (and other) animations were not showing.
There are three known issues in this build, including one in which Insiders joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into the PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27774.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27768
Release date: January 9, 2025
Released to: Canary Channel
This update includes a small set of general changes that Microsoft says improve the overall experience of Windows 11. It also fixes several bugs, including one in which File Explorer sometimes lost focus on the search box while typing.
There are three known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27768.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4660
Release date: January 3, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get labels added to previously unlabeled actions on File Explorer’s context menu such as cut, copy, paste, rename, share, and delete.
Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get several bug fixes for issues that impacted File Explorer’s performance and reliability.
Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4660.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27766
Release date: January 3, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This update includes a small set of general improvements and fixes that Microsoft says improve the overall experience of Windows 11. It also fixes several bugs, including one in which some Insiders experienced frequent explorer.exe crashes after they clean-installed or reset their PC.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27766.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2702
Release date: December 13, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a new advanced camera options page. To see it, navigate to a camera under Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras and click the edit button for advanced camera options. Note that this is being gradually rolled out.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get several bugs fixed, including one in which when pointer trails were enabled, the mouse cursor became invisible with a black box behind it.
One bug is fixed for everyone in the Dev Channel, in which if you rolled back from Build 26120.2510 to an earlier build, you would see a “Your organization used App Control for Business to block this app” dialog when attempting to use or install certain third-party apps on your PC due to an incorrect policy being enforced.
There are seven known issues in this build, including one in which Click to Do sometimes doesn’t highlight any info on screen if there is no content on a connected external monitor in extended mode.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2702.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4655
Release date: December 13, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available will be able to see visual previews of links or web content they share using the Windows share window. Note that the new feature may not yet be available to everyone because it is being gradually rolled out.
The build also fixes one bug, in which window previews weren’t showing when hovering over certain open apps in the taskbar, for those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates.
Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4655.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27764
Release date: December 11, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
In this build, when right-clicking on apps pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will be shown for apps that have them, such as PowerPoint. The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which File Explorer might hang when browsing a folder with lots of media in it, and another in which some HDDs were being incorrectly listed as SSD on the Task Manager Performance page.
There are three known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27764.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4580
Release date: December 6, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get several improvements to File Explorer, including one in which if you launch File Explorer folders from outside of File Explorer (for example, from an app or from the desktop), by default they now open in a new tab if you have an existing File Explorer window open. Note that these features are being gradually rolled out, so may not be immediately available.
Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a single bug fix, in which Pinyin IME users may unexpectedly switch the IME from Chinese to English when switching between windows.
Everyone in the Beta Channel gets four bug fixes, including for a bug in which Windows stopped responding when you used an Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) USB printer.
Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4580.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27758
Release date: December 4, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This build introduces a new advanced camera options page in Settings that includes a multi-app camera setting and a basic camera setting, the latter intended as a last resort when your camera is not functioning correctly. The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one that could have caused Settings to crash when you selected your default audio device.
There are four known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27758.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2415
Release date: November 22, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
This build, for those who have Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, introduces the first preview of the Recall feature that constantly takes screenshots of what you do while you work so you easily find files, web pages, and more. In addition to searching, you can use a timeline to scroll back to what you were doing on your PC at a specific day and time.
Click to Do is also included. It lets you take AI-powered actions on the screenshots taken by Recall, such as erasing objects from them, performing a visual Bing search on them, copying them, sharing them, and more.
In addition, those who have the toggle turned on to immediately get new features will soon get new Windows Hello features that have already been rolled out to the Beta and Canary Channels.
Those who have the toggle turned on to immediately get new features and other changes get a variety of bug fixes, including for a bug in which explorer.exe sometimes crashed when interacting with app icons.
Click to Do has eight known issues, including one in which there a delay before snapshots first appear in the timeline.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2415.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4510
Release date: November 22, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available can resume working on OneDrive files from a phone (iOS and Android) on a Windows 11 PC with a single click. Users will also be able to right-click and share local files under the Recommended section of the Start menu. Note that these changes will roll out gradually.
Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of bug fixes, including one for a bug in which you sometimes could not navigate by entering a path in the address bar.
Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4510.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27754
Release date: November 20, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This build revamps Windows Hello in several ways, primarily to make authentication easier. Among the changes is a redesign of using passkeys for more secure and faster authentication. Users can now switch between authentication options and select passkey/devices more intuitively. Beyond that, if you hold Shift and Ctrl when clicking on a jump list item in the Start menu or taskbar, you will launch that item as admin.
The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one that caused RAW images taken in portrait mode to unexpectedly display in landscape mode thumbnails in File Explorer.
There are six known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27754.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4510
Release date: November 15, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available can share files directly from right-click jump lists on the taskbar in supported apps such as Notepad. Note that this feature will roll out gradually.
Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get a fix for a single bug, in which you might have unexpectedly seen a message saying “You’re offline. Widgets are unavailable.”
Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4510.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.2448
Release date: November 14, 2024
Released to: Release Preview Channel
This build gets a wide variety of new features, including one in which when you right-click apps that you have pinned to the Start menu, jump lists will appear for apps that have jump lists. There is also a new section for touchscreen edge gestures. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & Devices > Touch. There, you can choose if you would like to turn off the left or right screen edge touch gesture. These features are being gradually rolled out.
There are also a variety of bugs that have been fixed, including one in which the Task Manager’s Users page could have caused Task Manager to stop responding when you used the keyboard.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.2448.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27749
Release date: November 13, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This build adds a new shortcut “Narrator key + Ctrl + X” to copy what Narrator last spoke to clipboard. You can use this shortcut in conjunction with “Narrator key + X,” which repeats the last spoken phrase out loud, to review and copy what Narrator spoke.
The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which Task Manager showed a 0 count for apps and processes, and another in which a blank entry in Settings > Privacy would cause Settings to crash if you clicked it.
There are five known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27749.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2222
Release date: November 8, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates can hold Shift + Ctrl when clicking on a jump list item in the Start menu or taskbar to launch that item as admin. This feature is being gradually rolled out.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get several bug fixes, including for an issue in which windows unexpectedly moved around after waking from sleep if you had multiple monitors. Note that this is being gradually rolled out.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which Narrator crashes on launch if you use one of the natural voices, and another in which your desktop background may show big black areas with multiple monitors.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2222.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4445
Release date: November 8, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, Insiders in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available have a New Folder option in the context menu when right-clicking locations in the navigation pane. Note that this change will be gradually rolled out.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also have a variety of bugs fixed, including one in which performing a search unexpectedly triggered the search happening repeatedly. Note that these fixes will be gradually rolled out.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4445.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744
Release date: November 6, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This build includes a major feature update to Prism, Microsoft’s emulator for Windows on Arm, that will make it possible for more 64-bit x86 (x64) applications to run under emulation. This new support in Prism is already in limited use in the retail version of Windows 11 24H2, where it enables the ability to run Adobe Premiere Pro 25 on Arm. Starting with this build, the support is being opened to any x64 application under emulation. You may find that some games or creative apps that were blocked due to CPU requirements before will now be able to run using Prism.
Note that only x64 applications can use these new CPU features. If you have a 32-bit app or a 64-bit app that uses a 32-bit helper to detect CPU feature support, that app won’t detect the new features in Prism.
The build also fixes several bugs, including one in which certain apps did not detect a scanner, although one was connected.
There are three known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you may lose your Windows Hello PIN and biometric sign-in your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2213
Release date: November 4, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates will have the IME toolbar hidden when apps are in full-screen mode for those who have the IME toolbar enabled and type in Chinese or Japanese. Note that this is being gradually rolled out.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get a variety of bug fixes, including for one in which RAW images taken in portrait mode unexpectedly displayed in landscape mode thumbnails in File Explorer. Note that this is being gradually rolled out.
Everyone in the Dev Channel gets a variety of bug fixes, including for a bug that caused Task Manager to show a 0 count for apps and processes.
There is one known issue in this build, in which the desktop background sometimes may not show correctly with multiple monitors (showing big black areas).
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2213.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4440
Release date: November 1, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get a revamped Windows Hello that adheres to contemporary Windows visual design standards. The update also has a small set of general improvements. Note that all these changes will be gradually rolled out.
Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get a single bug fix, for a bug that caused touch keyboard crashes and the IME candidate window not to appear for some Insiders.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4440.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4435
Release date: October 25, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available can launch an item on the Start menu or taskbar as an admin by holding Ctrl + Shift when clicking. Note that this feature will be gradually rolled out.
Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get several bugs fixed, including one in which the X button to close an app window from the taskbar wasn’t working for some Insiders. This fix will be gradually rolled out.
Everyone in the Beta Channel can now configure the Copilot key again, after that feature was turned off in Build 22635.4291. Everyone in the Beta Channel gets several bug fixes, including for one in which the PIN reset did not work when you selected the “I forgot my PIN’ link on the credentials screen in Windows Hello for Business.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4435.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2200
Release date: October 25, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates can access Windows Studio Effects in Quick Settings from the system tray of the taskbar. Windows Studio Effects delivers AI-based camera and audio enhancements on devices equipped with a neural processing unit (NPU). Note that this feature is being gradually rolled out.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get several bugs fixed, including one in which if you clicked or tapped on a letter on the Start menu’s All apps list, the All apps list may have broken. This fix is being gradually rolled out.
Everyone in the Dev Channel gets a variety of bug fixes, including for a bug in which you could not view some parts of the UI when you ran certain apps.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which there is an unexpected amount of spacing between items in the Start menu apps list.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2200.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4371
Release date: October 18, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available can now use the new Narrator key + Ctrl + X shortcut to copy what Narrator last spoke to clipboard. It follows the pattern of using Narrator key + X, which repeats the last spoken phrase out loud.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as possible get several fixes for several bugs, including one in which Narrator would slow down after 15 minutes of continuous use with a single application.
An update for the Snipping Tool (version 11.2409.23.0 and newer) is also being rolled out to Windows Insiders in the Beta and Release Preview Channels. It introduces a new “Copy as table” feature.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4371.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2130
Release date: October 18, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several new features, including one in which “All apps” is now just “All” on the Start menu.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get several bug fixes, including for a bug in which clipboard history did not display items you had copied.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you click or tap on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2130.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27729
Release date: October 17, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This build adds the ability to configure the Copilot key. You can choose to have the Copilot key launch an app that is MSIX packaged and signed, thus indicating the app meets security and privacy requirements to keep customers safe.
The build also fixes a variety of bugs, including one in which the screen went black for a few seconds for some people when using Alt + Tab.
There are five known issues in this build, including one in which some Insiders with PCs that have older NVIDIA GPUs (like the GTX 970, Quadro K620, etc.) are experiencing some issues where their displays appear stuck at a black screen and unresponsive or seeing their GPUs showing errors in Device Manager and not working correctly.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27729.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4367
Release date: October 11, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get a small set of general improvements and fixes that Microsoft claims improves the overall experience of running Windows. They also now have the ability to share directly to apps that support sharing in Windows when right-clicking on local files in File Explorer or the desktop.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as possible get several bug fixes, including for one in which some Insiders saw an unexpected amount of spacing between items in the Start menu All Apps list.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4367.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2122
Release date: October 11, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a small set of general fixes that Microsoft says improve the overall experience of running Windows. The Disconnect and Logoff dialogs in Task Manager now support dark mode and text scaling.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates also get one bug fix, for a bug that caused the screen to go black for a few seconds for some people when using Alt + Tab.
Everyone in the Dev Channel gets several bugs fixed, including one in which some Insiders saw error 0x800f0825 when trying to install the latest Dev Channel builds.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you click or tap on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.2122.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.2152
Release date: October 10, 2024
Released to: Release Preview Channel
This build gradually rolls out a number of new features, including one in which you can stop the suggestions to turn off notifications from certain apps. Select the ellipses (…) in the notification and turn it off. You can also go to Settings > System > Notifications and turn it off from there.
The build also immediately rolls out a change in which you can configure the Copilot key on the keyboard. The build also immediately fixes a number of bugs, including one in which you could not sign in to your account from the web because the screen stopped responding.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.2152.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27723
Release date: October 9, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This build introduces several minor changes and features, including one in which you can share local files directly from within the search results shown in the search box on the taskbar.
There are five known issues in this build, including one for those using Copilot+ PCs, in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose your Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27723.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1930
Release date: October 4, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a small set of general improvements and one bug fix, for a bug in which the boot menu wasn’t displaying correctly for some Insiders with dual-boot devices.
Everyone in the Dev Channel can now configure the Copilot key. You can have the Copilot key launch an app that is MSIX packaged and signed, increasing security and privacy.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you click or tap on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the list may break. If you encounter this issue, please try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1930.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4300
Release date: October 4, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available will see “All” instead of “All apps” on the Start menu. In addition, Windows Search runs IFilters in the Less Privileged App Containers (LPACs). LPACs are like app containers, but they deny even more permissions by default. The intent is that a process running in a LPAC has access only to the resources needed by it. This helps to minimize the potential damage that can be caused by a compromised process by limiting its access to sensitive system components and data.
Two bugs are fixed for those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as possible, including one in which items in the navigation pane became very spread out for some people.
There are two known issues in the build, including one in which live captions will crash if you try to use them.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4300.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27718
Release date: October 2, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This build introduces a number of minor new changes and features. You can now drag apps from the Pinned section of the Start menu and pin them to the taskbar. For laptops on battery, a notification will pop up asking you to plug in your laptop if the battery level reaches 20% while Energy Saver is set to “Always On.”
Several bugs have been fixed, including one in which the emoji panel closed when you tried to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji, and another in which the Widgets icon sometimes unexpectedly displayed twice in the taskbar.
There are three known issues in this build, including one for those using Copilot+ PCs, in which If you are joining the Canary Channel from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose Windows Hello pin and biometrics to sign into your PC; you’ll see error 0xd0000225 and an error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available.” You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27718.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1912
Release date: September 30, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who’ve turned on the toggle to receive the latest updates get a small set of general improvements and fixes that Microsoft says improves the overall experience of running Windows. In addition, Windows Mobile Hotspot has been enhanced to support 6GHz connections. The new band requires chips that support the feature and updated drivers; not all chips that support 6GHz Wi-Fi in general will support the 6GHz mobile hotspot.
Those in the Dev Channel who agreed to receive the latest updates also get several bug fixes, including one in which Task Manager’s Settings page might have a white background when it should not.
There is one known issue in this build: if you click or tap on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1912.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4291
Release date: September 30, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned on the toggle to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available get an updated Task Manager design in which the Disconnect and Logoff dialogs in Task Manager now support dark mode and text scaling. They also get several bug fixes, including one in which explorer.exe crashed sporadically when using ALT + Tab in recent builds.
Everyone in the Beta Channel gets several bug fixes, including one in which Work Folders files failed to sync when Defender for Endpoint was on.
There are two known issues in the build, including one in which live captions will crash if you try to use them.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4291)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.1876
Release date: September 23, 2024
Released to: Release Preview Channel
This build, for those using Windows 11 version 24H2, gradually rolls out a number of new features, including one in which when your device’s battery power is running low, a pop-up window will appear that asks you to plug in your device. This occurs when the battery level reaches 20% and while Energy Saver is set to “Always On.
Several bug fixes are being immediately rolled out, including one in which when a combo box has input focus, a memory leak might have occurred when you closed that window.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.1876.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds 22621.4247 and 22631.4247
Release date: September 23, 2024
Released to: Release Preview Channel
In this update for users on Windows 11 22H2 and 23H2, a variety of features are being rolled out slowly, including one in which the “Sign out” option is now on the account manager when you open the Start menu. To change to a different user, select the ellipses (…). A list of other users appears to make it easier to switch.
The update also fixes several bugs, including one in which Microsoft Edge sometimes stopped responding when you used IE mode.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds 22621.4247 and 22631.4247.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4225
Release date: September 20, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available will get the ability to share content to an Android device from the context menu in File Explorer and on the desktop. To use this feature, the Phone Link app must be installed and configured on your PC.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as possible get a fix for a bug in which the emoji panel didn’t work properly.
Everyone in the Beta Channel can now configure the Copilot key. You can choose to have the Copilot key launch an app that is MSIX packaged and signed, thus indicating the app meets security and privacy requirements.
Everyone in the Beta Channel gets several bug fixes, including for a bug in which some Insiders experienced a bug check when closing Notepad.
There is one known issue in the build, in which if you click or tap on a letter on the Start menu’s All apps list, the list may break. If you encounter this issue, try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4225.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1843
Release date: September 20, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a new feature, in which File Explorer provides you with quick access to files that have been shared with you. If you are signed into Windows with your Microsoft account or Entra ID account, you will be able to view files that have been shared with your account, such as email, Teams chat, etc. You can access this feature by launching File Explorer Home and clicking on the Shared tab.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get several bug fixes, including one in which when pressing Windows key + E, a screen reader might unexpectedly say a pane had focus, or focus may not be set within File Explorer at all.
Everyone in the Dev Channel gets a number of bug fixes, including one in which could result in the Widgets icon unexpectedly displaying in the taskbar twice sometimes.
There are four known issues in this build, including one in which if you click or tap on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the list may break. If you encounter this issue, try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1843.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4145
Release date: August 30, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available will see several new features, including one in which the Sign out option is immediately visible in the new account manager on the Start menu. There’s also a list of signed in users under the three-dot icon so it’s faster to switch accounts. The mouse and touchscreen controls have more options, and hotspots now appear on the desktop when users right-click the Windows Spotlight icon. The changes are being rolled out gradually.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as possible get fixes for several bugs, including one in which explorer.exe crashed when interacting with archive files. These fixes are being rolled out gradually
Everyone in the Beta Channel gets a number of bug fixes, including for a bug in which the [NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse] registry key has been removed.
There is one known issue in the build: if you click or tap on a letter on Start menu’s All apps list, the All apps list may break. If you encounter this issue, try rebooting or restarting explorer.exe to fix it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4145.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27695
Release date: August 30, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
In this build, Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) has been improved with a new ability to recover encrypted passwords from Active Directory (AD) backup media even when there are zero AD domain controllers running.
A number of bugs have been fixed, including one in which Ctrl + F would sometimes not start a search in File Explore, and another in which the colors in the Performance section of Task Manager weren’t displayed correctly in dark mode.
There are two known issues in this build, including one for those using Copilot+ PCs, in which If you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel or retail, you will lose your Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC with error 0xd0000225 and error message “Something went wrong, and your PIN isn’t available.” You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking Set up my PIN.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27695.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4082
Release date: August 26, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as they are available will see the media controls at the lower bottom center of the Lock screen when media is being played. There is also now an option to turn off the suggestions to disable notifications from certain apps. These features are being rolled out gradually.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates as soon as possible get fixes for several bugs, including one in which explorer.exe crashed for some Insiders when closing apps from the taskbar. These fixes are being rolled out gradually.
Everyone in the beta channel gets one bug fix, in which the [NetJoinLegacyAccountReuse] registry key has been removed.
There are two known issues for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one that causes explorer.exe to crash when interacting with archive files.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4082.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds 22621.4108 and 22631.4108
Release date: August 19, 2024
Released to: Release Preview Channel (Windows 11 23H2 and 22H2)
Starting with this update, a variety of features will be rolled out slowly, including one that lets you share content to your Android device from the Windows Share window. To do this, you must pair your Android device to your Windows PC. Use the Link to Windows app on your Android device and Phone Link on your PC.
A number of bugs are being fixed, including one in which when a combo box has input focus, a memory leak might occur when you close that window.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Builds 22621.4108 and 22631.4108.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22610.1586
Release date: August 19, 2024
Released to: Release Preview Channel (Windows 11 24H2)
This build, for those with Windows 11 version 24H2, gradually rolls out a new feature in which when you right-click a tab in File Explorer, you have the choice to duplicate it.
A wide variety of bug fixes are being gradually rolled out, including for a bug in which memory leak occurred when you interacted with archive folders and another in which File Explorer stopped responding when you browsed within it.
Three bug fixes have been immediately released to everyone, including one in which a deadlock occurred in the domain controller (DC) when it started up in the DNS client.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26100.1586.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4076
Release date: August 19, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates will find that a feature introduced in Build 22635.3930 that showed a Studio Effects icon in the system tray when using any application with a Studio Effects-enabled camera has temporarily been disabled. It will be re-enabled in a future build.
Those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a variety of bug fixes, including for a bug in which Voice Access commands weren’t working for non-English supported languages.
A wide variety of bugs are fixed for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one in which Windows Backup sometimes failed in devices with an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) system partition (ESP).
There are two known issues for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one in which explorer.exe crashes when interacting with archive files.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4076.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1542
Release date: August 19, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a new feature that adds first letter navigation support to the taskbar. When keyboard focus is set to the taskbar (WIN + T), you can press a letter, and it will jump to the open or pinned app whose name starts with that letter. The feature is being gradually rolled out so isn’t yet available to everyone.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get fixes for three bugs, including one in which the emoji panel closed when trying to switch to the kaomoji and symbols sections, or after selecting an emoji.
Everyone in the Dev Channel gets a number of bug fixes, including for a bug in which adding languages or optional features might fail with error 0x800f081f.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1542.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27686
Release date: August 15, 2024
Released to: Canary Channel
This build includes the new Windows Sandbox Client Preview that is now updated via the Microsoft Store. It introduces runtime clipboard redirection, audio/video input control, and the ability to share folders with the host at runtime. You can access these via the new “…” icon at the upper right on the app. This preview also includes a very early version of command line support. (Commands may change over time.) You can use the wsb.exe –help command for more information.
The build also includes optimizations to improve battery life and a detach virtual hard disk (VHD/VHDx) button in Settings that makes it simpler to detach your VHD/VHDx as needed.
A number of bugs have been fixed, including one in which Dev Drive VHDs weren’t automatically remounting when the underlying volume was dismounted and brought back online, and one in the Windows Security app where if you browsed the networks under Firewall & Network protection, it showed a broken glyph (a rectangle) next to the network name rather than a network icon.
There are two known issues in this build, including one in which if you are joining the Canary Channel on a new Copilot+ PC from the Dev Channel, Release Preview Channel, or retail, you will lose Windows Hello PIN and biometrics to sign into your PC. You should be able to re-create your PIN by clicking “Set up my PIN.”
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27686.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1350
Release date: August 9, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates can more easily share content to an Android device from Windows share window. The feature requires you to pair your Android device to your Windows PC using the Link to Windows app on Android and Phone Link on your PC. The feature is being rolled out gradually.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get one fix that addresses an issue in which graphs on the Performance page in Task Manager did not show the correct colors when using dark mode again. The fix is being rolled out gradually.
Everyone in the Dev Channel gets several bug fixes, including for a bug in which Windows Sandbox failed to launch with error 0x80370106.
There are four known issues in this build, including one in which navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1350.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4010
Release date: August 9, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, many of those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates will see the simplified system tray with shortened date/time change that began rolling out with Build 22635.3930. The feature is being rolled out gradually.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get fixes for two bugs, one in which the dropdown at the top of the GPU section of Performance wasn’t showing in dark mode when dark mode was enabled, and the other in which if you pressed the Shift key when you right-clicked on an app icon on the taskbar, it opened another instance of the app rather than opening the expected menu.
There are three known issues for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one that causes explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders when closing apps from the taskbar.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4010.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1340
Release date: August 5, 2024
Released to: Dev Channel
In this build, those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get improvements for spelling and corrections in voice access, including the ability to dictate characters at a faster speed and have more editing flexibility with selection, deletion, and text navigation commands.
Those in the Dev Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a fix for a bug in which items under “Let desktop apps access your location” section in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location had visibly flickered although there were no changes displayed.
There are four known issues in this build, including one in which navigating between different pages in Task Manager may crash it.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.1340.)
Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4005
Release date: August 2, 2024
Released to: Beta Channel
In this build, those in the Beta Channel who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get a small set of general tweaks and fixes that Microsoft says improves the overall experience of running Windows.
Those who have turned the toggle on to receive the latest updates get one fix for a bug that caused sporadic explorer.exe crashes for some Insiders.
There are three known issues for everyone in the Beta Channel, including one that causes explorer.exe to crash for some Insiders when closing apps from the taskbar.
(Get more info about Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 22635.4005.)
Best Chromebooks 2025: Best overall, best battery life, and more
If you’re looking for an inexpensive laptop that’s zippy enough for day-to-day tasks, you’ve come to the right place–as long as you don’t mind working in Google’s ecosystem.
Not only do Chromebooks offer reliable performance, but they’re also largely virus-free. You can even play the latest triple-A games on them with cloud gaming. But type the word “Chromebook” into any search bar and you’ll see countless choices. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry. Below you’ll find a list of Chromebooks the experts at PCWorld recommend and have hands-on experience with.
If you still prefer Windows laptops, check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops available today.
Why you should trust us: PCWorld has been going strong since 1983, back in the days when print magazines were more common. Now that we’ve made the leap to digital, we’ve been reviewing more than 100 laptops annually. Every laptop that passes through our doors goes through an arduous testing process, in which we evaluate everything from processor performance to display quality. We’re committed to reviewing laptops in every price range too.
Lenovo Flex 5i – Best overall Chromebook
Pros
- Good build quality
- Fantastic typing experience
- Vibrant touchscreen display
Cons
- Average battery life for a Chromebook
- Stylus not included
Price When Reviewed:
$499Why we like the Lenovo Flex 5i
The Lenovo Flex 5i is the best overall choice because of its 2-in-1 design, peppy performance, exquisite typing experience, and so much more. The understated aluminum finished exterior helps make it feel like something three or four times as expensive. As for the convertible design, the 360-degree hinge feels incredibly sturdy, which is essential in a 2-in-1 laptop. Plus, the keyboard is a real joy to type on and the 1200p touch display produces crisp and vibrant visuals. The best part is that you’re getting all of these wonderful features for well under $500.
Who should buy the Lenovo Flex 5i
We feel as though the Lenovo Flex 5i is a good Chromebook for most people. The touchscreen and 2-in-1 design give it the edge, as you usually see these features in machines that cost much more. While the nine-hour battery life is considered just average for a Chromebook, it’s still a great all-day result. It’s just not the whopping 19 hours we got out of the Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip. That said, the Lenovo Flex 5i’s list of compromises is quite small.
Read our full
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus review
Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 Chromebook – Best budget Chromebook
Pros
- Lightweight design
- Great battery life
- Attractive color scheme
- 1080p display
Cons
- Only 4GB of RAM
- 720p webcam is disappointing
Price When Reviewed:
$319Why we like the Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 Chromebook
For under $300, the Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 Chromebook offers decent performance, fantastic battery life, and a lightweight form factor. Inside, you’ll find a MediaTek Kompanio 520 CPU, an ARM Mali-G52 2EE MC2 GPU, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. On paper, those specs may not look all that impressive. However, when it comes to real-world use, day-to-day performance is perfectly reliable. The 47 watt-hour battery also lasted 16 hours on a single charge and it weighs just under three pounds, making it a solid travel companion. Not bad for under $300, huh?
Who should buy the Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 Chromebook
Anyone looking for a cheap, serviceable Chromebook. It’s not the most innovative Chromebook we’ve ever seen, but it doesn’t have to be. It has plenty of power for light use and the battery will keep you going long after your workday or school day ends. The inclusion of a 1080p touch display is a nice touch as well, especially given the low price of the machine. The 720p webcam is disappointing and you’re only getting 4GB of RAM, but if you’re willing to taper your expectations a bit, then this machine is well worth considering.
Alternative option: If you’re willing to spend a little extra on a Chromebook with better performance, we’d recommend checking out the $399 Acer Chromebook Plus 515. Bootup times are lightning fast and browser-based tasks feel appropriately snappy. The typing experience is also lovely and the battery can last up to 13 hours on a single charge. The only trade-offs are the boring aesthetics and the thick bezels on the display.
Read our full
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook review
Lenovo Chromebook Duet – Most portable option
Pros
- Great value
- Flexible form factor
- Surprisingly good keyboard
- Amazing battery life
Cons
- Needs more RAM
- Android apps don’t run well
- Vertical kickstand reduces horizontal options
Price When Reviewed:
$399.99Why we like the Lenovo Chromebook Duet
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet is remarkably featherlight at just 2.09 pounds, and that’s with the keyboard and stand! Not only did the small form factor impress us, but also the long battery life. The 68 watt-hour battery can reach the 12 or 13-hour mark on a day of casual use, so searching the web and watching YouTube. That’s a good amount for such a tiny 2-in-1 laptop. It also charges very fast, which is impressive given the smaller battery size.
Who should buy the Lenovo Chromebook Duet
Anyone who’s looking for a lightweight laptop with good battery life. The keyboard is great too, even though it sits “flat as a pancake,” according to our review. Compared to the previous iteration, the keys have “increased travel distance” and the alphanumeric keys are full-size–these two factors lend to a more natural typing experience. You can also detach the keyboard and use the display like a tablet.
Read our full
Lenovo Chromebook Duet (2024) review
Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 – Best high-end Chromebook
Pros
- Great keyboard
- Solid battery life and performance
- Beautiful display
Cons
- Tinny speakers
- Pen sold separately
- No fingerprint reader
- More expensive than the average Chromebook
Price When Reviewed:
$699Why we like the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714
The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 offers a convertible form factor, zippy day-to-day performance, and a keyboard with plenty of travel. The 14-inch IPS touch-enabled display also has a 1920×1200 resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and 340 nits of brightness. It’s a great screen for media streaming, but it’s on the dimmer side and the glossy surface makes it difficult to use on a sunny day. That said, the multi-touch touchscreen works well.
Who should buy the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714
Anyone looking for a more premium Chromebook! The 2-in-1 form factor allows you to rotate the screen 360 degrees and use it like a tablet, which is great for those who like to take notes or doodle. Plus, many Android apps are optimized for tablet use, so using this Chromebook in tablet mode should be easy. The price tag ($699) may deter some folks, but if your budget knows no bounds, then the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is a fantastic choice.
Alternative option: The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus ($699.99) is another good option to consider. The AMOLED display is absolutely gorgeous and it’s one of the thinnest Chromebooks out there right now, which is perfect if portability is at the top of your priority list.
Read our full
Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 review
Acer Chromebook 516 GE – Best Chromebook for gaming
Pros
- Attractive design
- Excellent CPU performance
- Loads of wired and wireless connectivity
- High-resolution 1600p display
Cons
- Mediocre keyboard and touchpad
- Disappointing speakers and microphone
- Display falls behind in contrast, color vibrancy
Price When Reviewed:
$649.99Why we like the Acer Chromebook 516 GE
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE is a good machine for gaming and day-to-day tasks. The Intel Core i5-1240P CPU is powerful enough for office work and everyday activities, and the display’s 120Hz refresh rate will produce smooth visuals. You can’t run games locally on this laptop, but you can use a cloud gaming service like Nvidia GeForce Now or Amazon Luna. According to our review, “gameplay felt perfectly smooth” and “Nvidia’s GeForce Now diagnostics panel flagged no problems.” Just make sure you’ve got a stable Internet connection! Fortunately, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE has an Ethernet port, which is about as stable as you can get.
Who should buy the Acer Chromebook 516 GE
Anyone who wants to game on a dependable Chromebook! The Acer Chromebook 516 GE is a joy to game on and it’s zippy enough for productivity and day-to-day. Additional features include a 1080p webcam, a 65 watt-hour battery, and an attractive design. With an MSRP of $650, it’s a little expensive for a Chromebook, but it punches above the usual Chrome OS machine and is tailor-made to deliver a high-quality cloud gaming experience.
Alternative option: If you’re looking for a Windows alternative that can run local games, you should check out the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition laptop. It’s currently our best budget gaming pick and for good reason! Our reviewer blitzed through the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark at 123 frames-per-second thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX RTX 4050 GPU. This laptop also managed an impressive 11 hours of battery life on a single charge, which is unheard of in gaming laptops.
Read our full
Acer Chromebook 516 GE review
Framework Laptop Chromebook – Best Chromebook for tinkerers
Pros
- Upgradeable
- Hot-swappable ports
- 1080p webcam
- Reliable performance
Cons
- Expensive
- No touchscreen display
Price When Reviewed:
$999Why we like the Framework Laptop Chromebook
The Framework Laptop Chromebook is one of the more unusual entries on this roundup because it’s a modular laptop, which means you can replace or upgrade any part of it. Our reviewer, who wasn’t confident in her disassembling abilities, was able to crack open the laptop in a few simple steps. The hardware inside is marked with QR codes, which you can scan with your phone and be directed to the right spot on Framework’s website. The 1080p display is also a big draw and the hot-swappable ports allow you to mix and match where the ports slot in the laptop.
Who should buy the Framework Laptop Chromebook
Anyone who likes to get in there and tinker or extend the life of their laptop. The Framework Laptop Chromebook is designed with the ultimate customization and upgradability in mind. I will say, it’s targeted to a specific niche of people, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Performance is strong due to the Intel Core i5 processor. Our benchmarks show that it handles everyday tasks like surfing the web and watching streams like a real pro. The only caveat is that it’s expensive for a Chromebook. The Acer Chromebook Vero 514, for example, is just as fast as the Framework Laptop Chromebook and is hundreds of dollars cheaper.
Read our full
Framework Laptop Chromebook review
Recent laptop reviews
- Acer Swift 16 AI: The Acer Swift 16 AI is a capable machine with a big, beautiful screen, but its AI chops are still unproven.
- Lenovo Legion 5i: The Lenovo Legion 5i is a great value — a 16-inch gaming laptop with a screaming-fast CPU that also squeezes a surprising amount of performance from its GPU.
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition: The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition has elegance and feels great to use. But Lenovo should have stepped up its game, as the system lags behind in performance and battery next to a bunch of cheaper competitors, and Lenovo’s not the only brand making great-feeling systems.
- Lenovo LOQ 15: The Lenovo LOQ15 has better build quality than the average gaming laptop in this price range, but its performance is still on the low side.
How we test Chromebooks
The PCWorld team puts each and every laptop through a series of benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested. Due to the cloud-based nature of Chromebooks, they go through a series of web-based tests. It wouldn’t be fair or possible to run the same kinds of tests on a Chromebook as we use on laptops because they exclusively run a completely different operating system.
Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them.
Chromebooks
- CrXPRT 2: The CrXPRT 2 benchmark tests a Chromebook’s battery life.
- Speedometer 2.0: This test determines a Chromebook’s web browser performance. It simulates this by adding, completing, and removing a to-do list.
- Basemark Web 3.0: This benchmark gauges how well a Chromebook can handle web-based applications.
- Kraken 1.1: Kraken 1.1 is a JavaScript performance benchmark that measures browser speed.
- Jetstream 2: Jetstream 2 is a combination of WebAssembly and JavaScript benchmarks. This is a way to gauge how well a Chromebook runs advanced workloads.
For a more thorough explanation of our testing procedures, check out how PCWorld tests laptops.
What should you look for in a Chromebook?
If you’re looking for a Windows or MacBook alternative, you may want to consider a Chromebook. Equipped with low-power processors, they typically have good battery life and are usually silent in operation. They make great productivity machines, as they’re specifically designed for lightweight tasks like browsing the web, watching Netflix, and so on. Plus, they’re largely virus-free. That said, most Chromebooks have minimal RAM and storage. If you’re a hardcore gamer or a video editor, you’re going to want something with a lot more power than a Chromebook is capable of providing.
Our guide to Chromebooks vs. Windows laptops can help you determine which operating system is best for your needs. For more options, you’ll want to check out our best laptops roundup.
- Operating system: Although every operating system has its pros and cons, I’d argue that Chrome OS is one of the most user-friendly ones out there. That said, with Chromebooks, you don’t have the option of picking another operating system, as they exclusively run Chrome OS. You’re stuck with it, bud.
- Processor: Shoot for a mid-range Chromebook if you can. They cost anywhere in the $400 to $600 range and many of them come equipped with Intel Pentium processors. These Chromebooks have better browser performance and are capable of running more intense gaming apps. It’s the best bang for your buck. Upper-end Chromebooks sometimes use Intel Core or AMD Ryzen processors, which pack more of a punch.
- RAM: Many Chromebooks have 4GB of RAM, which isn’t a lot. Chromebooks are web-based machines, so you need a fair amount of RAM to keep those tabs open and running smoothly. If you can spend a couple of hundred extra, you’ll be able to find a mid-range Chromebook with 8GB of RAM.
- Storage: I recommend at least 64GB of storage. Since you’ll mostly be storing things in the cloud, you don’t have a ton of local storage.
- Durability: Chromebooks are popular in the education market because they’re pretty darn robust. I’m not saying you should smack one around with a baseball bat or anything, but they’re durable enough to handle the daily abuses of life.
FAQ
1.What is the difference between a regular laptop and a Chromebook?
When people talk about regular laptops they usually mean a PC or Mac. A Chromebook is still a laptop, but it differentiates itself from either of those two by using a unique operating system called Chrome OS, which was created by Google. Think of it like this: All Chromebooks are laptops, but not all laptops are Chromebooks.
Unlike other operating systems such as Windows or macOS, Chrome OS is optimized to run Google apps such as Google Drive, Google Docs, YouTube, and other Google services. Because most Google apps are online, Chromebooks generally require an internet connection to use most of their important features.
Finally, Chromebooks have historically been designed with portability, ease of use, and affordability in mind rather than top performance. They typically forego the faster, high-end hardware that PCs or Macs can use for a more minimalist, lightweight approach to computing.
2.Can you use integrated graphics for gaming?
No, you can’t game a Chromebook because they can’t run local EXEs aside from Android apps. That said, you can play modern games on a Chromebook that supports cloud gaming, like the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Gaming. You have to have an Ultimate membership with Nvidia’s GeForce Now to play the games, though. The Ultimate tier costs $19.99 a month or $99.99 for six months. It’s a pretty seamless experience, and Nvidia also offers an unlimited free tier so you can stream games with restrictions on session times.
3.What is the difference between a budget laptop and a tablet?
More and more, the line between what is a laptop and what is a tablet blurs as companies integrate the features of both into their latest devices. But there are still a few key distinctions between the two. Laptops generally are larger, come with more storage, and have better performance and productivity features. Tablets on the other hand are smaller and more portable, have longer battery life, and are usually a bit more affordable.
When choosing between a budget laptop and a tablet you should first ask yourself what the primary use of the device will be. Do you need something for productivity with lots of storage? Then a laptop—even a budget model—will probably be the way to go. Or do you need something small, travels well, and has a long battery life? Then you might consider a tablet.
4.What are the disadvantages of a Chromebook?
Chromebooks are designed for day-to-day tasks, which is fine if all you’re doing is browsing the web and checking e-mail. They can’t handle resource-heavy design work, video editing, and so on. You’ll also need a strong Internet connection because if you’re not online, there are only so many things you can do with a Chromebook. Chromebooks cannot install local programs like Windows PCs can. You also can’t install Microsoft Office and that might be a huge deal-breaker for some folks, especially those who rely on those programs for work.
5.What is a Chromebook good for?
Chromebooks are good laptops for those who require the basics. If all you need is a reliable Internet connection to get your work done and nothing else (like no resource-hungry programs), then you’re golden. I use my own Chromebook for writing and editing as well as checking out social media and watching YouTube. You can even game on them with a cloud gaming service like GeForce Now, if that’s how you like to spend your evenings (no judgments here).
Prusa CORE One Review: Better in a Box
Josef Prusa finally gave his customers what they wanted: a fast CORE XY 3D printer to compete with Bambu Lab and all the Voron Design clones on the market. The new CORE One has a brilliant design that’s shares parts with the familiar MK4S to the point that a conversion kit is being made available for $450.
Prusa fans have been begging the European manufacturer to produce a Core XY ever since the reveal of the industrial Pro AFS (Automatic Farm System) several years ago. That machine is a bank of nine Core XY printers, proving that the company could indeed make more than bedslingers.
The CORE One is designed with easy maintenance in mind: nothing is welded or glued in place, and the whole thing can be built with a screwdriver. The steel case serves as an exoskeleton, which the company claims is nearly indestructible. We’ll cover more on the design later in this review.
The CORE One is not intended to replace the MK4S, but rather provide a better option for makers who need an enclosed 3D printer. This machine has a similar footprint and build volume of the classic bed slinger, but takes up much less space than an enclosure for a MK4S. It’s also about 20% faster and has a vented chamber that can be heated to 55 degrees C for printing engineering filaments or kept under 30 degrees C, which is cool enough for PLA. This means the door can remain closed for safety around children in a home or school environment.
The CORE One is retailing at $1,199, only $200 more than the MK4S. You can save a little money by building the kit version for $949, or converting a MK4S for $449. The Prusa CORE One lives up to its reputation and is one of the best 3D printers we’ve tested to date.
Specifications: Original Prusa MK4S
Swipe to scroll horizontallyBuild Volume 250 x 210 x 270 mm (9.84 x 8.3 x 10.6in) Material PLA/PETG/TPU/ABS/ASA /PC (up to 300 degrees) Extruder Type Direct drive Nozzle .4mm (Highflow CHT) Build Platform PEI spring steel flex plate Bed Leveling Automatic Filament Runout Sensor Yes Connectivity USB, LAN, Wi-Fi, App Interface Color touch screen with knob Machine Footprint 415 x 444 x 555 mm (16.3 x 17.5 x 21.8 in) Machine Weight 22.5 KG (49.6 lbs) Prusa CORE One: Included in the Box
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The Prusa CORE One we received was pre-assembled. It only needed to be unpacked and have its screen mounted. Besides tools, the printer comes with a full spool of Galaxy Black Prusament PLA, a USB Stick, a handbook on 3D printing with your new machine, and a bag of Gummy Bears. The USB stick contains several models, while PrusaSlicer is available for free download from the website.
We also received extra build plates, a Buddy Camera, magnets, and a rubber fish for the review.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Design of the Prusa CORE One
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The CORE One is the first consumer Core XY 3D printer by Prusa Research. It has a slim, steel exoskeleton with indents on either side to conceal the spool holder and customizable storage space. The door and upper parts of the side panels are translucent black polymer. The top panel is semi-permanent, held in place by plastic rivets, and has a vent you can open and close. The top panel is not difficult to remove for maintenance, and Prusa sends along a bag of extra rivets if you need them. I didn’t bother putting the rivets back in and just let the panel rest on the top. Since the shell is made of folded steel, it’s not exactly airtight, with many gaps at the seems – a few empty screw holes isn’t going to spoil the system.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The exoskeleton is an interesting concept. It provides a strong, stiff frame for the printer while also minimizing materials and avoiding that cheap plastic feel that plagues many other designs. The indented sides do more than slim down the printer’s silhouette, it also reduces the interior space of the printer, allowing the chamber to be sufficiently heated (when needed) by only the heater bed.
Like every other Prusa printer before it, several of the CORE One parts are 3D printed. The factory uses PETG for some older bedslinger parts, but the CORE One parts are made with PC Blend Carbon Fiber. I contacted the factory and found that enclosed MK4S printers still dominate the farm, with CORE One machines slowing joining the mix. Prusa Research also does its own injection molding, which you can see on the LCD case.
At Prusa’s print farm (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Another thoughtful touch is the door hinge, which can be flipped if you rather have it open on the other side. The door can completely open 180 degrees, but Prusa encourages users to go ahead and keep it closed for any material, thanks to their active cooling system. The door has a sensor that will warn you to keep it shut and stop the print when the door is opened. This is a nice safety feature for schools, parents of small children, and pet owners. Thankfully, the sensor can be switched off if you want the freedom to poke your nose or a camera in there.
I found all the plastic panels to be quite staticky and eager to attract dust, but a spritz of Static Guard on a lint-free cloth solved that problem.
The CORE One specs don’t include acceleration rates, as the company puts quality over speed. I had to check out the PrusaSlicer settings to find any stats on speed, which are most likely very conservative. The CORE One is about 15 to 20% faster than the MK4S with the same default speed settings due to a few higher acceleration rates, mostly with travel and infill.
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The CORE One uses about 70% of the same parts as the MK4S, making many consumable parts and upgrades compatible between the two printer lines. If you have a stash of nozzles from an MK3, they can be used on a CORE One (with an adapter). Prusa is famous for continuing to support old machines and leaving a path to upgrade open, which continues with the new Core XY design.
One thing that didn’t carry over is the styling of the MK4S fan, a chunky protrusion hanging out in front of the nozzle. The CORE One gets a more svelte look with a 360 wrap-around fan shroud, and the fan itself is hidden in the back. During our tests, the cooling was a bit better and had a more pleasing aesthetic.
Green printed on MK4S, red on CORE One. Model by Lost in Tech. (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The motion system on the CORE One is a little louder than the MK4S, but its fans produce only a soft hum.
A few of the CORE One upgrades are optional, and will need to be purchased separately. There’s a GPIO hackerboard for tinkering with the machine’s code to do tricks, a new Buddy Camera for monitoring the chamber and an advanced filtration system coming soon. We received a camera for testing, and its not as good as other systems. The camera needs extra light to produce a color image and it’s stuck in an old school one frame every 10 seconds. It’s good enough to see if the plate is clear, but not very exciting to watch. Prusa Research has promised an upcoming firmware fix, but I have no idea when that would be.
This printer also doesn’t have the optional accelerometer we could get for the MK4S. It would seem Prusa has doubled down on his factory settings being all that you need.
The CORE One also has the new NFC antenna that makes getting your Prusa online a simple task. The app is entirely optional for those who wish to keep their printers offline.
Like the MK4, bed leveling is fully automatic, with no manual adjustments. First layers go down perfectly smooth thanks to a load cell sensor that has replaced the old PINDA probe. The sensor is connected to the nozzle, which allows the CORE One to physically tap the print surface for a more precise measurement. The sensor is also used to calculate Z height, and it does it so well that there is no need for human intervention. Of course, there’s still a live Z adjustment available in the menu should you need it. During testing, we did not.
Prusa’s recently introduced and completely optional app is a huge improvement over the previously neglected Prusa Connect system. The system was initially developed for print farms, and was clunky to set up and use. The app makes getting online easier for the average user and allows you to monitor prints away from your workshop.
You can download gcode directly from Printables.com, but there is no slicer attached to the app.
Assembling the Prusa CORE One
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The Prusa CORE One we reviewed came fully assembled and only needed to be unpacked. Simply pull it out of the box, snap the screen on and plug it in.
Once the machine is turned on, you’ll see a cartoon version of Josef Prusa to guide you through setup. The CORE One will run a few hardware checks, then walk you through loading the filament. Once the material is loaded, you can pick your first print from the USB stick. It will perform a bed level check and set the Z height before printing (and without asking you for help).
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Leveling the Prusa CORE One
Bed leveling is a no-brainer, as the Prusa CORE One is fully automatic. There are no manual adjustments and no need to adjust the Z offset. The printer uses a load cell sensor connected to the nozzle, which physically taps the print surface for precise measurement.
The printer trams the bed and calculates the required z height before each print.
Loading Filament on the Prusa CORE One
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Loading filament is very simple. Simply place the spool into side mounted rack and feed the plastic into the reverse bowden tube until it reaches the hotend. The printer will automatically detect it and pull it in the rest of the way. The screen will then ask what kind of material you’re using to set the temperature. Once it gets hot enough, it will pull the filament into the hotend and ask if the color has changed. If it has, you can say yes and move on. If the answer is no, it will purge more material.
To remove material, go to the Filament menu from the main screen and click unload. It will remember what material was last installed, determine if the filament is still there, and then heat it to the appropriate temperature. Once hot, it will retract the plastic until you can easily remove it.
Preparing Files / Software for Prusa CORE One
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The Prusa CORE One comes with a copy of its native slicer, PrusaSlicer. This open source slicer is developed by Prusa Research and serves as the foundation for many other slicers. It comes with dozens of profiles for every material and nozzle size that Prusa Research makes.
Printing on the Prusa CORE One
The fully assembled CORE One comes with a full 1 KG roll of Prusament PLA Galaxy Black. If you want more colors and materials like silks and multicolor filaments, you should check out our guide to the best filaments for 3D printing for suggestions.
We used the sample material to print a Benchy to see what the CORE One can do with its fastest default slicer settings. We used Speed Benchy rules for fairness: 2 walls, 3 top and bottom layers, 10% infill, a .25 layer height and .5 layer width. Using these settings, we got a very nice benchy in 28 minutes.
3D Benchy (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Since I was working on Valentine’s Day prints, I whipped up a vase using Maker World’s Vase Maker. This is a handy little app by Bambu Lab that, yes, works for all printers. The vase was printed to get the most out of CookieCad’s clear Funfetti PLA. To keep the print as clear as possible, I pushed the printer to overextrude, printed slowly and bumped up the heat. This was printed at 235 degrees C, using a .8mm line width (with the standard .4 nozzle) and a .28mm line height in vase mode. This setting gives me a single wall that’s as thick as two “normal” walls and also speeds up the print. The vase completed in 2 hours and 10 minutes. It’s more translucent than clear, and the glitter really stands out.
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For PETG, I printed one of my favorite roses from Thingiverse. This is using Prusament PETG in Carmine Red Transparent, with a .2 layer height and default settings for Prusament PETG. This print only took 2 hours – PrusaSlicer set the volumetric flow at 26 mm/s³ which didn’t slow the printer’s speed much at all. The resulting print is super smooth, with layer lines that melt away.
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For TPU, I printed a tennis ball-sized Voronoi ball in Fiberlogy FiberFlex 40D, which really stress out the printer’s capabilities. The ball bounced extremely well until my puppy got a hold of it and ate it. This was printed at a .25mm layer height using PrusaSlicer’s default settings for FiberFlex in one hour and 20 minutes. The slicer slowed the print to about 30mm/s, which still resulted in a somewhat stringy print – not too surprising for TPU. The top and bottom printed very clean and the middle parts were easy to clean up. Best of all, the supports were easy to remove. It had excellent layer adhesion, though not enough to hold up to 40 pound puppy’s destructive urges.
Voronoi Ball by Marko (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) For higher-temperature filaments, I loaded the CORE One with Prusament ASA Natural and printed a variety of things. The printer doesn’t have a separate heater for the chamber – instead, it warms up the interior by cranking the bed to 115 degrees C for a few minutes until the desired temperature is met. In my chilly basement, it had a hard time preheating all the way to 55 degrees C, but it did get to 47 degrees C on the preheat cycle and eventually got to 55 degrees C in the first 30 minutes of printing. None of my test prints showed signs of warping, so it must be working.
This fishing lure from Thingiverse turned out very smooth, with no visible layer lines. Four lures printed in one hour and 17 minutes, with a .2 layer high and PrusaSlicer’s default settings for ASA.
Walk the Dog Topwater fishing lure by Domi1988 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) I also wanted to show off this frame for the popular Dummy 13 action figure, printed in the same ASA at 200%. Each part printed without a brim and stuck down perfectly. This is using the designer’s suggested .15mm layer height and took 3 hours and 37 minutes to print. The parts are silky smooth, and since I didn’t need to use the supporting runnings, snap together without problem.
Part of a Dummy 13 action figure by Soozafone (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Bottom Line
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The Prusa CORE One is an outstanding machine and just what Prusa Research needs to compete in the modern marketplace. It’s still lacking a few creature comforts, like a built-in camera, but the company’s reputation for reliability and continued support through the years makes it a safe splurge.
Retailing at $1,199 for a pre-assembled machine and $949 for a DIY kit, the Prusa CORE One is not a budget machine, but it is definitely the best machine a beginner could start on. The enclosure and easy to reach spool holder, combined with Prusa Connect, make it a perfect machine for print farms that run high temperature filament. It’s also a reliable machine for schools, especially with a door that can keep little fingers out while printing basic PLA.
If you’re a tinkerer and already own an MK4S, the CORE One upgrade looks like a fun project that will net you the latest printer at half the cost. This machine will also be compatible with the Prusa MMU3 for five-color printing sometime in the near future.
If a Prusa machine seems just a bit too spendy for your budget, the Bambu Lab P1S Combo is still my favorite pick for easy and affordable color printing, with a price tag of $829 for the printer with AMS. The Creality K2 Plus Combo is also a solid choice for Core XY speed with four colors and a bit more elbow room. It’s currently $1,499.
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Guide to AMD Ryzen AM5 Motherboard Chipsets
When selecting a motherboard for your newly purchased Ryzen CPU, you will encounter many options: X870, X670, B650, A620, and the newest additions, B850 and B840. But what do these names mean? How do X870E, X670E and B650E boards differ from their non-E counterparts? Which should you choose for your system? This guide will provide all the answers and more.
The biggest difference between motherboard types is the chipset – the chip (or two chips) that connects the CPU to other components in the system. In the past, the chipset consisted of a northbridge chip, which connected the CPU to the RAM and graphics card, and a southbridge chip, which connected the northbridge to the rest of the components. Nowadays, however, the functionality formerly attributed to the northbridge is integrated into the CPU, which connects directly to many components.
Chipset Processor PCIe lanes Graphics card NVMe SSD & additional GPP lanes Total PCIe lanes Max usable PCIe 5 lanes USB 5 Gbps USB 10 Gbps USB 20 Gbps USB4 Max PCIe 3.0 or SATA ports X870E PCIe 5.0
(1×16 slot or
2×8 slots)PCIe 5.0 1 x4 PCIe 5.0
4x PCIe GPP44 24 2 12 2 Yes 8 X870 PCIe 5.0
(1×16 slot or
2×8 slots)PCIe 5.0 1 x4 PCIe 5.0
4x PCIe GPP36 24 1 6 1 Yes 4 B850 PCIe 4.0
(1×16 slot or
2×8 slots)PCIe 4.0 1 x4 PCIe 5.0 36 4 1 6 1 opt 4 B840 PCIe 4.0
(1×16 slot)PCIe 4.0 1 x4 PCIe 4.0 34 0 2 2 0 opt 4 X670E PCIe 5.0
(1×16 slot or
2×8 slots)PCIe 5.0 1 x4 PCIe 5.0
4x PCIe GPP44 24 2 12 2 opt 8 X670 PCIe 4.0
(1×16 slot or
2×8 slots)PCIe 4.0 1 x4 PCIe 5.0
4x PCIe GPP44 8 2 12 2 opt 8 B650E PCIe 5.0
(1×16 slot or
2×8 slots)PCIe 5.0 1 x4 PCIe 5.0
4x PCIe GPP36 24 1 6 1 opt 4 B650 PCIe 4.0
(1×16 slot or
2×8 slots)PCIe 4.0 1 x4 PCIe 4.0
[PCIe 5.0 opt]36 0 1 6 1 opt 4 A620 / A620A PCIe 4.0
(1×16 slot)PCIe 4.0 1 x4 PCIe 4.0 32 0 2 2 0 opt 4 Ryzen 7000 and 9000 processors connect to high-bandwidth components through 28 PCIe lanes and support PCIe 5.0 speeds. Of these lanes, 16 are reserved for a graphics card (or two, with each utilizing eight lanes), and four are designated for an M.2 drive. Another four lanes are used to connect to the chipset. The remaining four lanes can be employed for elements such as another M.2 slot or a USB4 adapter that also connects to the CPU’s integrated graphics to enable DisplayPort tunneling.
Ryzen 8000G processors only have eight PCIe lanes for a graphics card (20 in total), and support PCIe 4.0 speeds. Additionally, Ryzen CPUs support four USB 3.1 (or “3.2 Gen 2”) ports and a single USB 2.0 connector.
Take a shortcut to your next Ryzen build…
The current chipsets on the AM5 platform support either PCIe 4.0 speeds, which limits the total bandwidth of the devices connected to them at approximately 7GB/s, or PCIe 3.0 speeds, which sets the bandwidth at about 3.5GB/s. These devices may comprise storage drives utilizing either the NVMe or SATA interface, USB devices, network cards, and other internal components such as soundcards.
Some motherboards feature more connectors than their CPU and chipset support, either to allow you to choose between some of them or because they employ splitters to share their bandwidth. With the basics covered, let’s move on to the chipsets themselves…
Old Is New Again: B840
AMD B840 motherboards use the same Promontory 19 chip that was previously used on B550 motherboards with AM4 processors. Unlike the Promontory 21 used in other AM5 motherboards, it only supports PCIe 3.0 speeds, but it adds 10 PCIe lanes, and supports four SATA, two USB 3.1, two USB 3.0 (or “3.2 Gen 1”), and six USB 2.0 ports.
In addition to the slower chipset, B840 motherboards omit several enthusiast-oriented features. They don’t support PCIe 5.0 speeds, even for devices connected directly to the CPU. They don’t allow CPU overclocking, although with today’s CPUs it’s more of an enthusiast hobby than a recommended practice. They also only support a single graphics card, but the era of multi-GPU gaming has essentially come to an end so that’s not a big one.
Only a few B840 motherboards are available at the time of writing, and quite surprisingly, they aren’t cheap. Despite their limitations, they are quality boards with several heatsinks and many slots. That raises the question: whom are they meant for?
If you want to upgrade an old system with PCIe 3.0 devices, then B840 motherboards may offer a good value, as they are cheaper than otherwise comparable B850 boards. Otherwise, feel free to ignore them.
A Needless Compromise: A620
A620 motherboards use the same Promontory 21 chip used in B650, B850 and X870 motherboards, but with some of its connectors disabled or limited. Like the Promontory 19, it adds support for two USB 3.1, two USB 3.0 (or “3.2 Gen 1”), and six USB 2.0 ports. It also incorporates eight PCIe 3.0 lanes, of which two or four can be employed for SATA ports.
The real issue with A620 motherboards isn’t the chipset itself; rather, it’s that they are designed to be affordable boards with inexpensive voltage regulator modules (VRM) and like B840 boards, do not support PCIe 5.0 speeds. Worse, A620 boards not only disallow CPU overclocking, but they may also officially support CPUs with a TDP of up to only 120W, or even 65W.
On paper, A620 motherboards are a good fit for Ryzen 8000G processors, which are meant for compact systems with fewer components and lower power consumption. In practice, decent A620 boards cost about the same as B650 ones, so we can only recommend them when they are on sale.
The Best Value: X870 vs. B650E vs. B850 vs. B650
B650, B650E, B850 and X870 motherboards all use a single, fully enabled Promontory 21 chip. It adds eight PCIe 4.0 lanes, allowing an M.2 drive to fully utilize the chipset’s bandwidth on its own. Like in A620 boards, it also includes four PCIe 3.0 lanes that can be used for up to four SATA ports.
The chipset provides support for six USB 2.0 and four USB 3.1 ports, as well as bandwidth that can be allocated for an additional two USB 3.1 ports or a single USB 3.2 (“Gen 2 x 2”).
Read our review: Most Affordable AMD B650 Boards Tested
If you were wondering about the difference between B650 and B650E motherboards, the answer is that B650E boards (E = short for “Extreme”) support PCIe 5.0 for both the graphics card and at least one M.2 drive. X870 motherboards are basically the same as B650E, except they are required to use four PCIe lanes for USB4. However, because they are newer, the Wi-Fi cards they come with support Wi-Fi 7 rather than 6E.
While B850 motherboards are required to support PCIe 5.0 on at least one M.2 drive, regular B650 boards may still have a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot. Other than that, these boards don’t limit the CPU in any way and will support any Ryzen processor until 2027.
We recommend B650, B850, B650E and X870 motherboards for gamers and others who want to get everything that AM5 motherboards have to offer, but don’t need to connect many drives to their PC simultaneously. Another advantage of these boards is their ability to fit all connectors into a compact micro-ATX form factor, which is useful if you’re seeking a compact case to place on your desk.
More is More: X870E vs. X670E vs. X670
X670, X670E and X870E motherboards feature a Promontory 21 chip connected to another one through four PCIe 4.0 lanes, providing the second chip with the same bandwidth as the one connected to the CPU.
Combined, the chipset adds twelve PCIe 4.0 lanes, allowing each M.2 drive to saturate the chipset’s bandwidth individually, and eight PCIe 3.0 lanes for up to eight SATA ports. With SATA now becoming a legacy connector, it’s common for some of those lanes to be allocated to network cards, freeing up all PCIe 4.0 lanes for faster interfaces.
The chipset also offers support for twelve USB 2.0 ports and one of three options: twelve USB 3.1 ports; ten USB 3.1 ports and one USB 3.2 port, or eight USB 3.1 ports and two USB 3.2 ports.
Read our full reviews: The Best AMD X670E Motherboards: 22 Board Roundup & AMD X870/X870E Motherboard Roundup: 21 Motherboards Tested
Unlike B650, all X670 motherboards feature a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, and of course, X670E boards support PCIe 5.0 graphics cards. If you purchase such a card when they become available, it probably won’t even require all 16 lanes. So, if your board has another 16-lane PCIe 5.0 slot, you’ll be able to use it for up to two M.2 drives with an adapter (some boards actually come with one). With X870E you can be sure you’ll get USB4 and Wi-Fi 7.
X670, X670E and X870E motherboards are the ideal choice for content creators who constantly feel the need to add another drive to their system. With numerous ways to utilize the dual chipset, particularly, you shouldn’t buy a motherboard based solely on its name; instead, make sure it has all the connectors you require.
Have an old Kindle? How to add new books – and one thing you should never do
David Gewirtz/ZDNET As a tech professional, there are many things I know because I know things. But there are also things I learn about because it’s my job to fix the tech problems around the house.
In this case, my wife had performed a factory reset on her cherished Kindle DX, which she purchased almost exactly ten years ago. After the reset, she couldn’t get any of her books to download.
Also: The best Kindles of 2025: Expert tested and reviewed
She wanted to clean the Kindle of all its cruft. Every book she ever bought, up until the last time she powered up the machine, had been on that device before the reset. She thought a factory reset would be the fastest way to start with a clean slate.
It was indeed a clean slate. All that was left was a dictionary and user guide, both installed as part of the reset process. And she couldn’t download anything else she wanted on there.
I am not an active Kindle device user. I enjoy reading Kindle books on my iPhone, but I’ve never really bonded with Kindle devices. So I haven’t spent too much time tracking all their ins and outs.
It took a bit of Googling to figure out that the reason my wife couldn’t download books over Wi-Fi to her Kindle DX is that the DX never supported Wi-Fi. The device did, however, come with full-time 3G cellular support, which is the mechanism by which she had loaded books on the thing throughout the years.
Also: How to trade in your old devices for Amazon gift cards
Read that last paragraph and recognize that I’m writing this article in 2025, not 2014. In 2014, we had 3G. By 2025, most of the major carriers in the US have shut down their 3G networks. Amazon has also phased out support of 3G for the Kindle Generation 1, Kindle Generation 2, and Kindle DX.
That left us with the question of how to get books back on her cherished DX. The Kindle DX has a 9.7-inch display. While she does have a more modern Kindle she could use, it’s not that big. Amazon does make the 10.2 inch Scribe, but at $419, she’d rather keep using the DX, especially since it’s in perfectly workable condition.
Do not unregister your old Kindle
In the process of finding out how to put books back on that discontinued device, I learned some things that people with older devices may need to know. I also learned about one thing that, if you do it, you can’t really recover from.
Here’s a quick summary of what I found out:
- You can’t transfer books wirelessly to the Kindle 1, Kindle 2, and DX anymore.
- You can download books to your computer and then upload them to the discontinued devices via USB.
- If you unregister your obsolete Kindle, you can’t re-register it. This is the big “what not to do” because you need a registered device to download books. I confirmed this through a long and friendly discussion with Kindle tech support. Old devices are banned from registering anymore.
- If you unregister your older Kindle and try to download books, you must have a more modern Kindle on your account to get the download option.
- If you still have the obsolete Kindle registered to your device, any Kindle books you download should be compatible.
- But if you have to download Kindle books using a more modern device registration, newer books will only download in a more modern file format that is incompatible with older Kindles.
So, if you ever want to use an older Kindle, never, ever unregister it. Likewise, you won’t be able to gift that older Kindle to someone else, because they won’t be able to register it.
How to add books to old Kindles
For those Kindles where wireless connectivity is no longer supported, you’ll need to turn to USB. All Kindles, from Generation 1 on, can be turned into mountable USB drives via their USB connection.
My wife’s Kindle DX uses a micro-USB connector, as does the Generation 2 Kindle. The Generation 1 Kindle uses a mini-USB connector. To mount the device to your computer as a drive, connect the Kindle to your computer over USB.
Also: Also: The best reading tablets of 2025: Expert tested and recommended
We found out that not all cables will work. We tried two cables that were known to work with other devices, but the Kindle didn’t respond. It wasn’t until we tried a third cable that it properly responded. Here are cables that should work, one made by Monoprice and one from Amazon Basics. Beyond that, I don’t have any guidance here for how to pick a cable, but if at first it doesn’t work, try, try again with different cables. My other big tip is to check for the “Free Returns” mention right under the price.
We tested the connection on both a Windows 11 machine and her M2 MacBook Air. Once we found the right cable, this process worked in both environments. I’m going to show you screenshots from a Mac because that’s her daily driver.
Once the cable is connected, you’ll get a permissions request on your computer like this:
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Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET At this point, your Kindle becomes a glorified USB drive.
Next, download your Kindle books from your Amazon web account. On Amazon, navigate to Kindle, then Manage Your Content and Devices, and choose the Content tab.
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Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET Here, you’ll see your book library. My wife and I have our libraries shared, so I decided she needed one of my favorite Star Trek book series, Starfleet Corps of Engineers. Technically, she should have started with Book 1, Have Tech Will Travel, but I gave her Book 2 because it was easier to get the menu screenshot.
Also: The beginner’s guide to Star Trek: What to watch first
Notice below that there are three dots to the right of each book. Clicking those dots within her Kindle account on her computer dropped down this menu. We downloaded the book to her Downloads folder, although you can choose any folder.
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET I wanted to see what would happen if you don’t have a Kindle device registered, so I switched over to my machine for that test. If you don’t have a registered Kindle, you’ll get this error message and be denied download permission.
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET I tried to follow the suggestion of getting the free Kindle app, and I did install it. I could read the books on the app, but I couldn’t download the individual Kindle book files to my computer. Choosing the download option from the Manage Your Content and Devices screen still resulted in the denied error message above. This is why I so strongly recommend you never, ever unregister your device unless you’re permanently parting ways with it.
Also: How to get (great) free books on Kindle
Jumping back to Denise’s computer and her Kindle account, we were able to download the book, because her Kindle DX is still registered to her account.
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET Go ahead and click download and save the file to your computer. Because Denise still has her DX registered, the file she downloaded was in .azw format. This was the original Kindle file format. Once you download the file, you’ll see this happy message.
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET More modern devices use the .azw3 format. If your DX or other older-gen product is no longer registered, and you have a more modern Kindle registered to your account, you can still download Kindle files.
Unfortunately, any books published in roughly the last seven or eight years will be in .azw3 format, which older Kindles can’t read. The option to download the format that works on the older devices will not appear, since you won’t have one registered to your account any longer.
Note: After I published this piece originally, a couple of commenters mentioned that Calibre can convert later formats to plain old .azw. I haven’t tested this option yet, but since Calibre is free, it’s worth checking out. Thanks, commenters!
Now, let’s move those books to your Kindle. Because you connected your Kindle to your computer via USB, the device is mounted as a drive. Click the Kindle device (shown at 1) and then open the documents folder (shown at 2).
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Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET Now, all you need to do is drag and drop your Kindle book files (those .azw files) into the documents folder. Here, you can see the Star Trek Starfleet Corps of Engineers book has been moved into the folder.
Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET Finally, you should unmount the Kindle and disconnect the USB cable. Once you do, you’ll see your books on your Kindle. Here, my wife has a great Star Trek story that she can read on her Kindle.
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David Gewirtz/ZDNET I’m guessing that book isn’t long for the world on her Kindle, but she’s planning on following these steps to repopulate her cherished Kindle DX.
What about you? Do you have an old Kindle you’d like to resurrect? How many Kindle books do you have? What’s your favorite Kindle book or book series? In what Star Trek TV series’ did Commander Sonya Gomez first appear, and at what ranks? Let us know in the comments below.
You can follow my day-to-day project updates on social media. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly update newsletter, and follow me on Twitter/X at @DavidGewirtz, on Facebook at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.
The best turntables of 2025: Tested and reviewed by our tech experts
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but being the vinyl and turntable nerd that I am, I can’t stop seeing and (to my wife’s chagrin) pointing out every record player I see cropping up in seemingly every TV show or movie I’ve watched over the last little while. They’re everywhere — from Mr. Milchick rewarding Helly R. with a dance party from a Thorens-like deck in Severance to Agatha All Along trashing a perfectly good TEAC TN-280BT — it’s official: turntables are cool again, and you should get one.
Whether you’re rediscovering the satisfying ritual of putting on a record, are new to the world of vinyl, or you’re already neck-deep in LPs, having a decent turntable or record player is essential. But there are so many to choose from that it can get confusing. Many come ready to go out of the box, with built-in phono preamps for easy connection to powered speakers or receivers and integrated amplifiers, and a range of features that make them easy to get the hang of. If you’re curious and want to dip your toes in slowly, one of our favorite entry-level turntables is the Audio-Technica AT-LP70X, a budget-priced basic deck that looks great, too.
But if you’ve already taken a few spins around the vinyl world and are looking to upgrade or get into something a little more advanced, like one with a better phono cartridge, external phono preamps, higher-quality tonearms, and anti-resonant components that can make for a beautifully clear and sonic experience, we’ve checked out a bunch and also put them on our list of the best turntables.
The best turntable we can recommend right now is the U-Turn Audio Orbit Special (Gen 2), which has been given a nice little refresh and upgrade since it launched in 2012. Its top-notch Ortofon cartridge and solid acrylic platter help ensure dynamic and clear sound, while its updated speed select switch make it a breeze to use. We also still love the stalwart Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo, so check that out, too.
But we’ve got several other turntables on our list to help you decide, and once you do, why not check out our roundup of the best turntable accessories, too. Let’s go.
Derek Malcolm / Digital Trends
Best turntable overall
U-Turn Orbit Special (Gen 2)
Pros
- Excellent sound
- Dynamic Ortofon 2M Red cartridge
- New speed selection dial
- Solid acrylic platter
- Optional built-in preamp
- Seven finishes
Specification: Motor Belt drive Built-in preamp Yes, optional Wi-Fi No Cartridge Ortofon 2M Red, upgradable The original U-Turn Orbit Special was a really good turntable. I bought one in 2018, and it was one of my daily-use decks for years — it had an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, a solid acrylic platter, and no-nonsense, simple belt-driven operation. But in 2023, U-Turn gave its entire Orbit lineup an update, and when I got my hands on the Gen 2 Special for review, all my gripes had been obliterated, landing it at the top of my list of favorite turntables.
The Gen 2 Orbit Special is still as reliable as ever, but the Woburn, Massachusetts company has made some key upgrades that make it a no-brainer for a mid-range turntable. Chief among them is a redesigned, quieter motor and a new tonearm that’s now a single pice of molded magnesium that reduces resonance and vibration transfer when compared to the first gen’s aluminum version. Additionally, the acrylic platter now has a machined groove around its edge to keep the belt in place (the old model used to fall off constantly), and there’s now an automatic speed selection dial — no more manual belt switching!
Assembly and setup is still simple (takes about 10 minutes out of the box), and while I would have liked to see the numbered counterweight dial like on U-Turn’s premium Orbit Theory make its way to the Special, adjusting it is still easy. However, I’d still recommend using a force scale gauge for simplicity.
Once it’s up and running, though, the U-Turn Orbit Special is a dream to use and punches above its weight when it comes to sound, which, thanks to the 2M Red, is crystal clear, balanced across the frequency range, and has depth and height favorable to all kinds of music. If you want to improve things even more, the Ortofon cartridge can be upgraded to the more premium 2M Blue, and you can get the turntable with or without a built-in phono preamp.
The second-gen Special is available in black, white, red, blue, and green, as well as in real oak or walnut finishes for an extra $170, but damn they look sharp.
U-Turn Orbit Special (Gen 2)
Best turntable overall
Audio-Technica
Best budget turntable
Audio-Technica AT-LP70X
Pros
- Great-sounding turntable
- Excellent quality for the price
- Upgradable, replaceable stylus
- Fully automatic operation
- Easy to set up and use
Cons
- Made of plastic
- Aluminum platter
- Nonadjustable feet
Specification: Motor Belt drive Built-in preamp Yes Wi-Fi Available Cartridge Audio-Technica AT-VM95C, upgradable stylus Operation Fully automatic Many a vinyl beginner has turned to Audio-Technica for their first turntables because the well-established company (they also make world-class headphones and microphones) produces reliable, easy to use, and affordable turntables for pretty much every level and budget.
At one time, the AT-LP60X sat in this sport as my pick for the best budget turntable, and to be clear, I still recommend it as another fantastic beginner turntable at just $150. But last year, Audio-Technica introduced the AT-LP70X, a slight evolution of the LP60X, and even though it’s slightly more expensive, it replaced my pick mainly for a few important reasons, but one main one.
First, the LP70X keeps all the great bones of the LP60X — easy automatic operation with push-button start and stop, built-in switchable phono preamp for multiple connection options no matter what your sound system is (powered speakers or full amp and speaker combos), and even a Bluetooth-capable model should you want it.
But where the extra money is well worth it is with the AT-LP70X’s newly designed AT-VM95C Integral Moving Magnet phono cartridge, which is not only a step-up in sound quality, soundstage, and dynamics from that of the LP60X, but A-T also created a whole new series of VM95 interchangeable styli that allow you to upgrade them as your vinyl-listening ear develops and you want more from your turntable.
For $200, the AT-LP70X offers great value and excellent performance, and could now potentially be the only turntable you’ll ever need, even if you graduate from beginner vinyl nerd status.
Audio-Technica AT-LP70X
Best budget turntable
Pro-Ject
The best mid-range turntable
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo
Pros
- Warm, defined sound
- high-quality components for the money
- No more manual speed change
- Available in nine finishes
Specification: Motor Belt drive Built-in preamp No Wi-Fi No Cartridge Sumiko Rainier, upgradable If you’re just starting your turntable hunting you’ve likely already come across the Pro-Ject brand (heck, we mention two of them in our intro). The stalwart company is up there with Rega as a standout in the industry, its decorated Debut Carbon lineup has helped keep it there for more than a decade. Its latest version, the Debut Carbon Evo, doesn’t falter either, proving that you don’t need to spend a grand or more for high-end features.
Pro-Ject’s best-selling turntable model got a few key upgrades in this latest version that have put it over the top, including a redesigned motor with improved suspension, new height-adjustable sound-dampening aluminum feet, and a heavier 3.7-pound, steel platter with a thermoplastic dampening ring that Pro-Ject says reduces wow and flutter (tiny distortions that can be caused by vibrations and other factors). While I haven’t thoroughly reviewed this model myself, I’ve spent some time with it and can vouch for at least some of the sound quality and usability features that have garnered the many positive reviews it’s gotten over the years.
The best upgrade, though, is the addition of a new three-speed selector switch that has been discretely mounted on the underside of the plinth. Previously, you’d have to remove the platter to physically move the rubber belt underneath to switch between 33 and 45 RMP records. The new switch is a godsend, and also offers 78 RPM as well.
You also get the Evo’s single-piece carbon fiber tonearm, which looks cool and contributes to the turntable’s rich, balanced, and quiet sound, but not quite as much as its excellent, re-mounted Sumiko Rainier moving magnet (MM) cartridge, which is punchy, balanced, and full-bodied (like a good beer, I guess). Outside the U.S., the Evo comes with the also-great Ortofon 2M Red installed, but, if you’re at the stage where you’re experimenting with cartridges, you can easily swap them; it’s not hard.
The only obvious thing that the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo doesn’t come with is a built-in phono preamp, so you will have to get one (unless you have one already). I really like the Schiit Mani 2 phono preamp, I have two of them and they sound great. You might think is a deal breaker, but I would argue that if you’re looking to up your entry-level game with a Carbon Evo, a good external phono preamp will be better than most built-ins if you can stomach the extra few hundred dollars.
The Debut Carbon Evo comes with a semi-balanced RCA cable and is available in nine colors and finishes.
Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo
The best mid-range turntable
Derek Malcolm/Digital Trends
Best features-for-price turntable
Fluance RT85N
Pros
- Full sound that stays true to the source
- Outstanding Nagaoka MP-110 cartridge
- Solid, anti-resonant build quality
- Fuss-free RPM speed control dial
- Automatic stop feature
Cons
- No built-in phono preamp
- No Bluetooth or USB connectivity
- Glossy finish prone to fingerprints
Specification: Motor Belt drive Built-in preamp Yes Wi-Fi No Cartridge Nagaoka MP-110, upgradable The midrange Fluance RT85N blew us away when I reviewed it last year for its more than reasonable $500 price, superb Nagaoka MP-110 cartridge, quality components, and rock-solid build, which, in my opinion, puts it neck-and-neck with the Pro-Ject Debut Evo as an even more affordable option that will do the job just as well.
The star of the RT85N is Nagaoka MP-110, which on its own is a $150 cartridge, but its sound is well regarded as being balanced, and forgiving of a wide range of music styles (it really likes older vinyl, too), with excellent separation between the lows, mids, and high frequencies. In my review, I said of the MP-110 that “vocals sound natural across the board, while the highs stay sharp and clean with a marked reduction in sibilance when compared to cheaper cartridges.” All that and, if you wanted to, you could easily switch out the MP-110 for another cartridge of your choosing, making the RT85N upgradeable and future-proof.
Helping that Nagaoka cartridge do its thing is all the anti-resonance happening in the RT85N. The thing is a beast at 17.7 pounds, much of that accounted for in its solid MDF plinth. A 0.62-inch (16mm) thick, high-density clear acrylic platter also helps dampen vibrations, along with its aluminum S-shaped tonearm, and adjustable rubber isolation feet, making the RT85N “one of the quietest, most stable turntables I’ve tested,” my review says.
There’s no Bluetooth or USB connectivity here, and like the Debut Evo, the RT85N does not have a built-in preamp, but they tend to not sound great anyway, so if you’re moving up from a budget or entry-level deck, you’re probably better off exploring the word of phono preamps now anyway. The RT85N also has a handy auto-stop feature for those who like to putter around the house while listening to records — it automatically stops at the end of the record, which also saves wear and tear on the stylus.
Setting up the RTN85 is pretty easy, too. Everything you need is in the box, and the instructions are clear. Setup should only take you about 10 or 15 minutes, but in case you’re expecting to plug it in and go, there is a higher level of precision required with turntables compared to cheaper decks — it’s not a bad thing for you to learn how to attach a headshell and balance a tonearm, and the sweet sounds you’ll get will make it all worth it.
Fluance RT85N
Best features-for-price turntable
Derek Malcolm/Digital Trends
Best turnable around $1,000
U-Turn Orbit Theory
Pros
- Ortofon 2M Blue or Bronze cartridge
- New antiresonant tonearm design
- Easy to set up
- Electronic speed switch dial
- Built-in preamp option
- Fantastic sound for price
Cons
- Only two finish options
- No auto stop
Specification: Motor Belt drive Built-in preamp Yes, optional Wi-Fi No Cartridge Ortofon 2M Blue or Bronze, upgradeable As a long-time owner and fan of the original U-Turn Orbit Custom, when I finally got my hands on the Woburn, Massachusetts company’s first foray into the premium turntable realm, I was pretty excited. I’ve always liked U-Turn’s scrappy spirit and that it offers high-quality turntables that are a little different than the big players for a reasonable price. The Orbit Theory is easily U-Turn’s best turntable yet, and a fantastic next step for vinyl enthusiasts ready to jump up out of the mid-range.
The rethought Orbit Theory is a strikingly beautiful, hardwood-based turntable that comes in walnut and a new black Ebonized Oak finish. But it’s not just easy on the eyes. Building off of the 10-year lineage of the Orbit brand, the upgrades are substantial, including a newly developed molded magnesium tonearm that combines the headshell, arm tube, and pivot housing in one to reduce resonance. The belt drive system is all-new as well. It’s more powerful, has a new silicone belt that runs in a machined groove around the side of the platter, and it gets up to speed faster. Plus, I can confirm that it’s virtually silent. And, my favorite part is that U-Turn has finally added a speed switch — no more manual belt changing between 33 and 45 RMP. A set of three anti-resonant and height-adjustable feet are also new to the Theory, further solidifying its quiet properties.
But where we start getting into the real premium territory with the Orbit Theory is with its choice of two excellent cartridges from world-class cartridge makers, Ortofon: the 2M Blue (which comes with the base-model Theory at $999) and the even better 2M Bronze that adds $180 to the price. Either way, you’re laughing with how good these cartridges are — they consistently produce big, brilliant, and stable sound that is forgiving for all kinds of music and you can’t go wrong with either. If you do go for the Bronze, you add even more opportunity to upgrade further, as the Bronze’s cartridge is compatible with two of Ortofon’s best styluses, the Black ($575) and Black LVB ($800), pushing you into audiophile territory, should you like.
In true U-Turn fashion, the Orbit Theory is customizable and ranges from $999 with the 2M Blue and without a built-in preamp to the top-of-the-line at $1,249 with the preamp and the 2M Bronze. Whichever way you configure it, the Orbit Theory is an excellent turntable, worthy of our Editor’s Choice pick.
U-Turn Orbit Theory
Best turnable around $1,000
Rega
Best audiophile turntable
Rega Planar 3
Pros
- Uncompromising quality
- Best-in-class tonearm
- Choice of two high-quality cartridges
- Bright, full, detailed sound
Cons
- Can get expensive
- Only available in three colors
Specification: Motor Belt drive Built-in preamp No Wi-Fi No Cartridge Elys 2 MM or Ortofon 2M Blue, or no cartridge Many turntable nerds count the Rega Planar 3 as the pinnacle, their Holy Grail turntable; the one they’d get if they found a wad of cash in the couch cushions. And they wouldn’t be wrong. The Rega name is often the first that comes to mind when you think of audiophile turntables and gear (the Planar 3, while excellent, is actually their mid-range), and the Planar 3 is arguably their most popular, for its reachable price and legendary quality.
With 40 years under its belt, the Planar 3’s lightweight, anti-resonant plinth was the mold for many modern turntables that have come after (including several on this list). It’s, of course, come a long way since then, having undergone several iterations and upgrades, and it’s this design expertise that few can compete with. The current Planar 3 features the latest version of their iconic RB330 tonearm that offers amazing balance, stability, and industry-leading anti-resonance. It’s a belt-driven turntable, of course, with a new 24-volt low-vibration motor that’s nearly silent and that drives the Planar 3’s eye-catching glass platter.
While there is no built-in preamp (turntables at this level rarely have them) and no speed selector switch, when coupled with the Rega Neo power supply, you can bypass the finicky manual belt switching and get precise 33 or 45 RMP speed control with a button push.
The Planar 3 comes in a few different configurations, including on its own without a cartridge that runs around $1,125, with Rega’s own outstanding Elys 2 MM cartridge ($1,395), and another with the also excellent Ortofon 2M Blue ($1,364). You can, of course, upgrade to a multitude of other cartridges out there, too. The turntable is as quiet as it gets, sounds gorgeous, and looks it too. Rega also does a good job at making the Planar 3 customizable with upgradeable parts, such as belts, platters, and more. The Rega Planar 3 is available in three glossy finishes: black, white, and red.
Rega Planar 3
Best audiophile turntable
Audio-Technica
Best turntable for DJs
Audio-Technica AT-LP140XP
Pros
- Rock-solid build
- Heavy and stable
- Affordable
- Instant speed, pitch control
Specification: Motor Direct drive Built-in preamp No Wi-Fi No Cartridge AT-XP3 DJ cartridge, upgradable All the turntables on our list, so far, have been belt-drive turntables, which are best for most people because of their simple operation and the fact that they tend to be quieter because the motors that spin are usually off to the side and do not directly contact the platter.
Direct drive turntables, however, are a different beast, as their motors usually sit directly under the platter and often drive them, er, directly. While there is much debate over which is better, DJs favor direct drive decks because they can get up to speed almost instantly, can spin records in both directions without damaging the motor, and often have tempo control sliders for mixing.
One of, if not the best DJ turntables ever made, is arguably the Technics SL-1200, but they are hard to come by and even the new versions of them can get expensive. Enter Audio-Technica, whose SL-1200-inspired LP140XP direct-drive turntable is tailor-made for DJs, but at a way more manageable $500 price.
Similar to Audio-Technica’s massively popular AT-LP120, the LP140XP is a beast of a 22-pound turntable that is stable as hell with four sure-footed adjustable feet and a die-cast aluminum platter that is damped underneath with a dense, felt-like material for anti-resonance. Where the LP140XP differs from its LP120 cousin is that it does not come with a built-in phono preamp (most DJs will have some form of amplification anyway), and it trades out the standard workhorse AT-VM95E cartridge for the hotter, more DJ-friendly AT-XP3 cartridge instead. The headshell comes pre-mounted, so all you have to do is balance the tonearm with the included instructions and you’ll be spinning in no time. A-T’s solid anti-skate mechanism is here, too, to keep the stylus tracking in the groove properly.
Speaking of spinning, the DJ controls include a pitch-control slider, pitch lock, forward/reverse buttons, and the classic pop-up platter strobe light. It doesn’t have Bluetooth or USB connectivity (for that look to the LP120XBT-USB), but the AT-LP140XP will spin at 33, 45, and 78 RPM, and is an easy-to-use, straightforward DJ’s dream.
Audio-Technica AT-LP140XP
Best turntable for DJs
Derek Malcolm/Digital Trends
Best for Sonos integration
Victrola Stream Carbon
Pros
- Sound is excellent
- Quality Ortofon 2M Red cartridge
- Easy wireless setup
- Connects to any Sonos in your house
- Big, universal volume dial
- Clean, modern look
Cons
- Expensive
- Basic app
- Motor is a bit noisy
Specification: Motor Belt drive Built-in preamp Yes Wi-Fi Yes, Works with Sonos certified Cartridge Ortofon 2M Red, upgradable Sonos makes some of the finest network music streaming speakers and audio products out there. And whether you’ve already invested your hard-earned cash into one or two Sonos speakers or a whole-home Sonos setup, it makes sense that if you’re going to start getting in to vinyl that you might want to utilize those speakers, if you can, instead of shelling out for a whole new sound system.
There are several ways to integrate a turntable with a Sonos system, but Victrola is one of the first companies to come forth with a “Works with Sonos” certified turntable that can connect directly to any Sonos speaker or system without the use of another Sonos connectivity product like the Port, Amp, or one of Sonos’ line-in speakers like the Era lineup. And it’s dead simple for pretty much anyone.
The Victrola Stream Carbon (there’s also a slightly cheaper version, the Stream Onyx) is a modern-looking, solidly built turntable (it weighs a stable 13 pounds) with some high-end components, such as its Ortofon 2M Red cartridge, dense MDF plinth, cast aluminum platter, and anti-resonant carbon fiber tonearm. It has a built-in analog-to-digital converter that translates the analog signal from your records into a 24-bit/48kHz digital signal that sounds sweet when streamed out over your Sonos system.
Setup is easy with the bare-bones, but functional Victrola Stream app, and once the turntable is connected, all the rest is done via the easy-to-use Sonos app. Simply choose the speakers or groups of speakers you want your record to play on. The Stream Carbon can also be played through a traditional analog setup, like a receiver and set of passive speakers.
Victrola Stream Carbon
Best for Sonos integration
Frequently Asked Questions
How we test turntables and record players
Like many things we review at Digital Trends, we test turntables and record players from differing points of view — those with little experience with the tech and those familiar with it — so we can relay the details in a way that’s meaningful to both. From unboxing and setup to explaining all its features, we use each turntable we get just as you would, by using and evaluating everything it can do and how easy and fun/frustrating it is to do it. We do this all while playing a lot of records to examine the most important thing: how it sounds. We play a wide range of music to test out the lows, mids, highs, and everything in-between, while listening for clarity, distortion, soundstage, and any anomalies that might appear.
Check out our full rundown on how we test turntables.
What’s the difference between a belt-drive and direct-drive turntable?
A belt-driven turntable uses a thin rubber or silicone belt that is wrapped around the platter (either on the outside edge or underneath, for example) that is, in turn, wrapped around a spindle connected to a motor that is usually set off to the side of the platter. A direct-drive turntable’s motor usually sits directly beneath the platter and the two are, er, directly connected. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
Belt-drive turntables tend to be preferred by audiophiles because, due to the offset and isolated nature of the motor and the use of the rubber belt, vibrations and resonance are kept to a minimum, therefore they are much quieter. Direct-drive turntables, on the other hand, are preferred by DJs because the platter’s direct connection to the motor means they can get up to speed much quicker. Because there’s no belt getting in the way, direct-drive decks can also be played backwards, stopped more easily, and are generally more forgiving of all the cueing and syncing uses of DJs. The trade-off is that the vibrations from the motor can be directly transferred to the cartridge and hence through the audio system.
Are Bluetooth turntables any good?
Yes, they can be. Without getting too into the weeds about hi-res audio and Bluetooth codecs, a turntable streaming music over Bluetooth to a Bluetooth speaker or set of headphones must do two things. First, it must convert the analog sound form the record’s grooves into a digital signal and then it must compress that signal to a reasonable amount of information that can be sent wirelessly over Bluetooth.
Often, this can strip music of some of its detail and resolution, and some vinyl purists think that this defeats the whole purpose of vinyl records, which typically have excellent audio fidelity. Will most people notice? No. Will most people care? Also no. As long as it sounds good to you, that’s all that matters.
There are, however, Bluetooth codecs, such as Qualcomm’s aptX HD, that are allowing for much better sound quality over Bluetooth, making it a better experience and more convenient option. This also has its caveats, though. For this to work, both the turntable and the receiving Bluetooth speaker must support the aptX HD codec.
Alternatively, a Wi-Fi or LAN network-based system, such as Sonos with a compatible turntable (see the Stream Carbon turntable above), can convert vinyl records at a much higher sound quality than Bluetooth and can stream much higher amounts of digital data for high-resolution sound.
What is a phono preamp and do I need one?
A phono preamp (also known as a phono stage) can be either an internal component in a turntable or an external unit that a turntable is connected to. Either way, it’s job is to take the generally weak signal that comes from a turntable’s stylus (needle) and cartridge and prepare it to be amplified by either a receiver, integrated amplifier, powered speaker, or other amplification device.
Many modern turntables come with phono preamps built-in, generally giving users everything they need to get their records amplified and booming out a pair of speakers. However, some built-in phono preamps (especially those in budget turntables) aren’t very good, and many higher-end turntables still do not even have preamps built-in. For these reasons, you may need to purchase an external phono preamp. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as adding an external phono stage is a great way to improve the stability and sound quality of your turntable’s signal, so you might want to consider it.
And if you happen to have a receiver or amplifier that has a phono input, that will act as your preamp, so you don’t need one if you like how it sounds. You can always opt to use a phono stage anyway and connect through the amp’s AUX input, like many people do.
The 44 Best Shows on Hulu Right Now (February 2025)
While Netflix seemingly led the way for other streaming networks to create compelling original programming, Hulu actually beat them all to the punch. In 2011, a year before Netflix’s Lilyhammer and two years before the arrival of House of Cards, the burgeoning streamer premiered The Morning After, a pop-culture-focused news show that ran for 800 episodes over three years, plus A Day in the Life, a docuseries from the late Oscar-winner Morgan Spurlock.
Hulu has continued to make TV history in the years since, most notably in 2017, when it became the first streamer to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series with The Handmaid’s Tale. In the years since, the streamer has continued to match—and often exceed—that high bar for quality entertainment with shows like The Bear, which took home 11 Emmys in 2024, and Shōgun, which recently set an Emmy record with 18 wins in a single season.
While more competition has popped up since Hulu started gaining critical credibility, the network has continued to stand out for its carefully curated selection of original series and network partnerships that make it the home of FX series and more. Below are some of our favorite shows streaming on Hulu right now.
Not finding what you’re looking for? Head to WIRED’s guide to the best TV shows on Amazon Prime, the best TV shows on Disney+, and the best shows on Netflix. Have other suggestions for this list? Let us know in the comments.
Paradise
This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman reteams with that award-winning series’ star, Sterling K. Brown, for an intricate political thriller which plays with time to slowly reveal the details of a secret service agent (Brown) tasked with protecting the president (James Marsden) who ultimately becomes a suspect in the POTUS’ death. Expect many twists—including a massive one to kick off the series in episode 1.
Scamanda
“Why would somebody fake cancer?” That’s the question asked—and that ABC News attempts to answer—in this true crime docuseries based on the podcast of the same name. The four-part special recounts the life and lies of Amanda C. Riley, a wife, mother, churchgoer, and popular mommy blogger who was celebrated for sharing her fight against Hodgkin’s lymphoma with the world … only to have it all blow up in her face.
Accused
Like a reverse engineered version of Law & Order, Accused—adapted from the acclaimed British series of the same name by Homeland cocreator Howard Gordon—follows the justice system from the perspective of the accused. Each episode begins with the defendant in the courtroom and recounts (via flashbacks) the circumstances that led them there. Like Dick Wolf’s iconic crime series, each episode is full of familiar faces, from Whitney Cummings and Wendell Pierce to Molly Parker and Margo Martindale. The series premiered in early 2023, with season 2 just finishing up in December.
Say Nothing
Fact and fiction combine in this historical drama based on Patrick Radden Keefe’s novel that follows the lives of a group of people growing up in Belfast during the Troubles and their dealings with the Provisional IRA. Much of the story focuses on the Disappeared—a group of 16 people who went missing during the Troubles and were believed to have been kidnapped and murdered. Jean McConville was one of these individuals, both the only woman among them and the only Irish Catholic convert. Nearly 50 years later, many questions remain about these individuals. While Say Nothing doesn’t attempt to answer all of these questions, it does add fascinating context to the events.
Interior Chinatown
Willis Wu (Jimmy O. Yang) is a waiter who attempts to escape his humdrum life by imagining that he is a background actor in a Law & Order-esque TV show called Black & White. After Wu witnesses a kidnapping, police detective Lana Lee (Chloe Bennet) enlists him to help investigate and take down the local gangs in Chinatown—and discovers something about his own family in the process. Nothing is what it seems in this meta comedy-crime series, which Charles Yu adapted from his own National Book Award–winning novel. The Daily Show’s Ronny Chieng ups the comedy as Wu’s coworker/BFF Fatty Choi, and Taika Waititi (one of the show’s executive producers) directs the pilot.
What We Do in the Shadows
If you are in need of a laugh-out-loud comedy (and don’t mind if it’s of the sometimes R-rated kind), you should be watching What We Do in the Shadows. In 2014, Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi cowrote, codirected, and costarred in a feature of the same name—a funny mockumentary featuring a group of vampires who share a home. This series, which premiered in 2019, moved the vampire action from New Zealand to Staten Island and brought in a whole new group of vampires—who struggle to even get up off the couch, let alone take over all of New York City (as they’ve been instructed to). After several years, they finally seem ready to get around to the task. If you haven’t been watching, now is the perfect time to start—especially as its sixth season, which aired its final episode on December 16, will sadly be its last.
La Máquina
Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna have been close friends since childhood, and it shows in the onscreen work they’ve done together—most famously in Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-nominated Y Tu Mamá También (2001). More than two decades later, their onscreen chemistry is still potent, as evidenced by this Spanish-language boxing drama. Esteban (García Bernal) is an aging boxer whose manager/BFF Andy (Luna) persuades him to step into the ring one last time before he officially retires. But as the match looms closer, the criminal underbelly of the sport rears its head—forcing Esteban to determine what parts of his life he’s willing to sacrifice. With just six episodes in all, La Máquina moves fast. Don’t flinch.
Rivals
Though David Tennant rose to fame playing Doctor Who’s lovably quirky Tenth Doctor, he’s often at his best when he gets to play a bit of a conniving asshole. In Rivals, Tennant clearly relishes the opportunity. Based on Jilly Cooper’s 1988 novel, and set two years before then, it tells the story of two very powerful men and neighbors—Lord Tony Baddingham (Tennant) and Tory MP Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell)—whose ongoing rivalry brings to mind the over-the-top nighttime soaps of that decade, including Dallas and Dynasty. Like those iconic American series, Rivals is more shock-driven than plot-driven, with its campiness (and lots and lots of sex between people who are married to other people) being part of the point. At its heart, it’s a class warfare story in which the tensions between bona fide aristocrat/rogue Campbell-Black and new-money-who-married-into-old-money media mogul Baddingham boil over for all to see. Especially after Baddingham, who owns a television network, poaches popular TV presenter Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner) from the BBC and enlists fish-out-of-water American TV producer Cameron Cook (Nafessa Williams) to help keep him on top.
How to Die Alone
Former Saturday Night Live and Insecure writer Natasha Rothwell—whom you might know from her Emmy-nominated turn as spa manager Belinda in season 1 of The White Lotus (she’ll be back for season 3)—created and stars in this eight-episode series. Mel (Rothwell) is an employee at New York City’s JFK Airport who is content with the uneventful life she has built for herself. But when she has a sudden brush with death, she decides to take her life into her own hands. While it’s not the first series to explore matters of life and death, it does so in a way that is both beautifully nuanced and laugh-out-loud funny—all of it anchored by Rothwell’s performance. On February 4, Hulu announced that it had canceled the series after one season—a move that has Rothwell “baffled” and looking for a new network to produce season 2.
English Teacher
Television audiences are hardly lacking in high school–set comedies, or in really great high school–set comedies, and/or really great high school–set comedies that focus on the teacher perspective (see: Abbott Elementary). English Teacher is already proving that it is well on its way to fitting into that elite niche. Brian Jordan Alvarez—who was behind the award-winning 2016 web series The Gay and Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo—both created and stars in the show, in which he portrays an English teacher in Austin, Texas, who is dedicated to making an impact on his students, even if he sometimes needs to depend on their teenage wisdom to figure out the right way to do that. While it doesn’t shy away from the politics that exist in the teaching profession, it also presents the “adults” as often just as lost as the kids they teach.
Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez make for a delightful trio of true-crime-obsessed podcast fans who, in season 1 of this original Hulu series, decide to join forces and create their own podcast while attempting to solve the mysterious death of a fellow resident of their Manhattan apartment building. From the very beginning of their odd alliance, it’s been clear that all is not what it seems, and everyone is keeping secrets. Now they’ve upped the ante on guest stars, too; the third season saw Paul Rudd and Meryl Streep join in the fun. Streep returned for the show’s fourth season, and was joined by Eugene Levy, Kumail Nanjiani, Tina Fey, Melissa McCarthy, Zach Galifianakis, and Eva Longoria. Season 5 is already in the works.
At Witt’s End
On December 1, 1994, 19-year-old Melissa Witt drove to surprise her mother at a bowling alley in Fort Smith, Arkansas, but disappeared without a trace. Six weeks later, her naked body was found by hunters in Ozark National Forest. Now, this four-part docuseries delves into the 30-year quest to identify Melissa’s killer(s) and bring an end to her case, which local police, the FBI, family, and friends are still desperate to solve. At Witt’s End elevates the typical true-crime docudrama by drawing an intimate portrait of Witt, a beloved teen whose life was cut far too short.
Solar Opposites
This animated sci-fi comedy, which premiered in 2020, is about a family of aliens from the planet Shlorp who crash-land on Earth—for better or worse. The show is rooted in the idea that humans are, well, weird. Which seems appropriate given this current moment in time. Yet, in between the laughs and occasional threat to humanity, it maintains a positive outlook on the world and the people who inhabit it. Which is something we could probably all use right about now.
Marvel’s Hit-Monkey
Hit-Monkey may not be Marvel’s best known character, but this action-packed animated series is helping change that. As the title indicates, the story centers around Hit-Monkey (Fred Tatasciore), a snow monkey intent on taking out the Tokyo underworld with the help of his mentor, Bryce Fowler (Jason Sudeikis). Oh, and Bryce is a ghost—and a former assassin.
Futurama
Following a decade-long hiatus, Futurama—Matt Groening and David X. Cohen’s animated sci-fi comedy—made a triumphant return in 2023, complete with gags about Twilight Zone and “Momazon” drone deliveries. Now is the perfect time to dive back in—or watch it all for the first time. All 12 seasons of the series are currently available for streaming and and Hulu has confirmed that at least two more seasons are on the way (with the next one tentatively scheduled to premiere in July).
We Were the Lucky Ones
In Radom, Poland, the Kurcs are a loving family who seem to have it all—until the horrors of the Holocaust invade the serenity of their everyday lives. As World War II arrives on their doorstep, the family is separated—escaping to France, Brazil, West Africa, and Russia. Some are in hiding, others in concentration camps. But they’re all focused on one goal: surviving the war and reuniting with each other.
The Bear
Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) is a superstar of the fine dining world who has returned to his hometown of Chicago to save his family’s struggling sandwich shop after his brother’s death by suicide. While Carmy initially struggles to acclimate himself to being home and to his inherited kitchen’s back-to-basics style, he eventually realizes that it’s not too late to change both himself and the restaurant. Anyone who has ever worked in a busy kitchen knows the stress that comes with it, and The Bear does an excellent job of making that tension palpable—as evidenced by its slew of aforementioned Emmy Awards. While the plot sounds simple enough, much of Carmy’s previous life is a bit of a mystery, and it’s doled out in amuse-bouche-sized bits throughout the series with top-tier guest stars you may not have seen coming (fact: Jamie Lee Curtis has never been better, as evidenced by her recent—and very first—Emmy win). Prepare to feast.
Queenie
Queenie Jenkins (Dionne Brown) is a Jamaican-British twentysomething whose world is thrown into an upheaval following an ugly breakup with her boyfriend. That messiness follows Queenie into the next chapter in her life, when she attempts to pick up the pieces of her failed relationship while frequently butting heads with her family and trying to reconcile her dual cultures. Candice Carty-Williams adapts her own bestselling novel to create a poignant dramedy that’s ultimately about trauma and healing.
Black Twitter: A People’s History
In the late 2000s—back when Elon Musk was just that car-and-spaceship billionaire—Twitter was more than a social media network. It was a genuine gathering place for people to find their people, whether that was Film Twitter or Cat Twitter. For Black Twitter, it was a lot more. This three-part docuseries, based on WIRED senior writer Jason Parham’s 2021 cover story, recounts the most important moments and movements that helped solidify the Black Twitter community’s place as a cultural force in the world, from politics and beyond.
Under the Bridge
Welcome to your new true crime obsession. Riley Keough and Lily Gladstone (who earned an Emmy nomination for her work in the show) make a formidable duo as an author and a police officer, respectively, investigating the brutal murder of a 14-year-old girl in a small town in Canada. The limited series is based on Rebecca Godfrey’s award-winning 2005 book of the same name (with Keough portraying Godfrey), and is a haunting reminder of what human beings are capable of.
Shōgun
Game of Thrones fans still lamenting the loss of one of television’s great epics have found their new favorite binge-watch in Shōgun, which just took home a record 18 Emmys (with 25 nods altogether). This 10-episode series, based on James Clavell’s beloved novel (which was first adapted into a miniseries in 1980), is a brilliant and sweeping tale of political rivalry in feudal Japan where Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada), a powerful warrior, has a target put on his back by his political rivals in the Council of Regents. Fortunately for Toranaga, he’s got Toda Mariko (Anna Sawai), a talented translator and fiercely loyal samurai, by his side. Though it was originally positioned as a one-and-done limited series, FX and Hulu have already confirmed that both seasons two and three are in the works.
Such Brave Girls
Comedian/actress Kat Sadler created and stars in this deeply messy, darkly funny story of a totally dysfunctional family—mom Deb (Sherlock’s Louise Brealey) and daughters Josie (Sadler) and Billie (Lizzie Davidson, Sadler’s real-life sister)—attempting to pick up the pieces after their husband/father leaves them. It’s cringe-comedy at its finest, and the kind that will appeal to fans of Fleabag. A second season is in the works, and expected to premiere later this year.
Abbott Elementary
Quinta Brunson created and stars in this hit series, which follows the daily lives—in and out of the classroom—of a group of teachers at what is widely considered one of the worst public schools in America. Despite a lack of funding for even basic educational necessities, and school district leaders who only care about the barest minimum standards, these educators are united by their drive to surpass expectations and encourage their students to do the same. The series is currently in its fourth season, with season 5 already confirmed.
Fargo
Noah Hawley’s anthology series isn’t the first attempt to adapt the Coen brothers’ Oscar-winning crime-comedy to the small screen (Edie Falco starred in a previous version, which was a more straightforward adaptation of the movie), but his approach was clearly the smarter move. Fans of the Coens in general will find lots to love about the many nods to the filmmakers’ entire filmography, with each season covering a different crime and time period. Though the seasons do share connections, each one is a total one-off, and the show might boast the most talented group of actors ever assembled: Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Freeman, Bob Odenkirk, Oliver Platt, Ted Danson, Patrick Wilson, Nick Offerman, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Ewan McGregor, Michael Stuhlbarg, Carrie Coon, Scoot McNairy, Chris Rock, Jason Schwartzman, Timothy Olyphant, and Ben Whishaw are just a few of the names who’ve found a home in Fargo. The fantastic fifth season—featuring Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Joe Keery, and Lamorne Morris (who won an Emmy for his role)—continued this tradition of exceptional acting, with all episodes streaming now.
A Murder at the End of the World
Darby Hart (Emma Corrin) is a talented hacker and armchair detective who is one of eight guests invited to spend a few days at the stunning yet remote home of a mysterious billionaire (Clive Owen). When one of the guests ends up dead, Darby must work quickly to prove that it was murder—and who did it—before the bodies start piling up. Fans of twisty true crime will appreciate this limited series, which comes from the minds of Brit Marling (who costars) and Zal Batmanglij—cocreators of the equally mind-bending The OA.
Moonlighting
While Die Hard turned Bruce Willis into one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars, he was far from producers’ first choice for the role of John McClane. That’s largely because he was seen as the funny guy from Moonlighting, the Emmy-winning ’80s dramedy that centers around the Blue Moon Detective Agency and its two often-bickering owners, David Addison (Willis) and Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd). Over the course of its five seasons, the series racked up some serious critical acclaim and wasn’t afraid to experiment with the sitcom format.
The Other Black Girl
Sinclair Daniel shines as Nella Rogers, an up-and-coming book editor—and the only Black employee at the publishing house where she works. While Nella is initially thrilled when another young woman of color, Hazel-May McCall (Ashleigh Murray), is hired as an assistant, she can’t help but notice that a series of bizarre events seems to follow. As Nella tries to suss out exactly what is going on, she uncovers some pretty damn disturbing skeletons in her employer’s closet. While horror-comedies are an increasingly popular movie genre, we don’t see them on the small screen quite as often—which, if this clever series is any indication, is a real shame. Also unfortunate: One season is all we’ll get of The Other Black Girl.
The Full Monty
Twenty-six years after a low-budget British comedy blew up at the box office, scored an Oscar, and introduced “the Full Monty” into the popular lexicon, the Regular Joes turned strippers from Sheffield are back to face largely the same issues they were lamenting in the original feature film. Much of the main cast reassembled for this follow-up to Peter Cattaneo’s hit 1997 movie, including two-time Oscar nominee Tom Wilkinson, who passed away in late December. Stripping is involved, as are other inevitables in life, including breakups, reconciliations, and death. For fans of the original movie—or the Broadway musical and stage play that followed—it’s a fun check-in with the characters who bared it all.
The Office (UK)
Years before there was Jim and Pam and Dwight and Michael, there were Tim and Dawn and Gareth and David. For lovers of cringe, it’s hard to do better than Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s workplace comedy. David Brent (Gervais) is the original boss from hell, whose office antics will have you covering your eyes and laughing out loud at the same time. Like many British series, there are just two seasons—each consisting of a mere six episodes—plus a two-part Christmas special. Don’t be surprised if you sit down to watch a single episode and binge it all in one go.
Cheers
In the 1980s, NBC was the channel to watch on Thursday nights—in large part thanks to Cheers. The bar where everybody knows your name is where the action happens in this award-winning sitcom about a former Red Sox player (Ted Danson) and the lovable employees and patrons who treat his bar like a second home. If you can look past (or, even better, embrace) the questionable ’80s fashion and sometimes-sexist storylines that wouldn’t necessarily fly on TV today, you’ll find what is arguably one of the smartest sitcoms ever written. More than 40 years after its original premiere, the jokes still stand up and the characters are some of television’s most memorable (and beloved) for a reason.
Dopesick
Back in 2021, Hulu went where Netflix’s Painkiller went in 2023: to the late ’90s and early 2000s, aka the beginning of America’s opioid crisis. Danny Strong created this retelling of the lengths to which Richard Sackler (played here by the always excellent Michael Stuhlbarg) and Purdue Pharma would go to sell doctors on the powers of OxyContin—all with the promise of no addiction. Michael Keaton won an Emmy for his portrayal of a widowed doctor in Appalachia who buys into the lies, and eventually becomes a victim of them.
Reservation Dogs
Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo cocreated this Peabody Award–winning series, which made history as the first mainstream TV show created by, starring, and crewed by an almost entirely Indigenous American team. It tells the story of four bored teens who are desperate to escape their lives on a reservation in Oklahoma. They decide that California is where they want to be and commit to a life of mostly petty crimes in order to save up enough money to leave. The full series is available to watch now, including the brilliant third season sendoff.
Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi
“The gateway to another culture often happens first through food,” says Padma Lakshmi in the first season of Taste the Nation. That pretty much sums up this food show, made in the style of Parts Unknown and Bizarre Foods (both of which are also streaming on Hulu). Lakshmi makes for a compelling tour guide, and she doesn’t even need to leave the US to explore the cultures, and culinary delights, of Ukraine, Cambodia, Italy, and beyond.
The Great
Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult shine in this witty, fast-paced, comedic retelling (but not really) of Catherine the Great’s rise to power. Created by Tony McNamara, who earned Oscar nominations for his writing work on both The Favourite and Poor Things, The Great offers the same combination of lush costumes and scenery mixed with a biting commentary on the world, and a woman’s place in it. A story that rings as true today as it did in the 18th century, when Catherine the Great became empress of Russia and brought about the Age of Enlightenment, this show chips away at notions of class, propriety, and monarchical rule in a way few others do. If it’s historical accuracy you’re after, look elsewhere; the series’ creators describe it as decidedly “anti-historical” (which is part of the fun). All three seasons are available to stream.
Tiny Beautiful Things
The reason to watch this eight-part limited series can be summed up in two words: Kathryn Hahn. A comedic juggernaut, Hahn can switch from funny to dramatic in the same scene, if not the same sentence. This talent is on display in Tiny Beautiful Things, where she plays Claire, a writer who takes up an advice column and pours all the traumas of her life into responding to her readers. Based on Wild author Cheryl Strayed’s collection of “Dear Sugar” columns, the vignettes here may be a bit out of sorts, but Hahn pulls them together.
Dave
Dave Burd is a comedian and rapper who goes by the stage name Lil Dicky. In Dave, Burd plays a rapper who goes by the stage name Lil Dicky and is attempting to raise his profile and make a much bigger name for himself. If only his many neuroses didn’t keep getting in the way. While Dave could have easily turned into some mediocre experiment in meta storytelling, Burd—who cocreated the series, stars in it, and has written several episodes—grapples with some surprisingly touchy topics, including mental illness. And he does it all with a level of sensitivity and honesty that you might not expect from a guy named Lil Dicky. Despite the show’s popularity and critical acclaim, the three seasons currently streaming may be all we get of Dave. In early 2024, Burd announced that he’d be pressing “pause” on the series in order to explore other creative ventures. (But never say never.)
Atlanta
Donald Glover proved himself to be a quadruple threat of an actor, writer, musician, and comedian with this highly acclaimed FX series about Earnest “Earn” Marks (Glover), an aspiring music manager who is trying to help his cousin Alfred Miles, aka Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry), kick off his musical career. They’re surrounded by a supportive crew of friends, including Alfred’s BFF, Darius (LaKeith Stanfield), and Van (Zazie Beetz), Earn’s close friend and the mother of his child. This makes it all sound like a fairly straightforward buddy comedy, but Atlanta is so much more. Even better: It’s weird. Glover is not afraid to experiment with storytelling, which is part of what makes the show so compelling.
Baskets
Zach Galifianakis stars alongside Zach Galifianakis as twin brothers Chip and Dale Baskets in this unexpectedly moving family comedy about an aspiring clown (Chip) who fails to graduate from a fancy clowning school in Paris and is forced to return home to Bakersfield, California, where he lives with his mother (the late Louie Anderson) and is constantly belittled by his higher-achieving brother (Dale). Between the dual role for Galifianakis and Anderson as the mom, it may sound like a cheap bit of stunt casting that can’t sustain more than an episode, let alone multiple character arcs. But if you’re a fan of absurdist comedy, Baskets truly ranks among the best of them. And Anderson, who won his first and only Emmy for his role as Costco-loving Christine, is absolutely transcendent. While it received a fair amount of critical acclaim, Baskets could rightly be considered one of the most underseen and underappreciated series in recent memory.
The Dropout
Amanda Seyfried won a much deserved Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy for her portrayal of the notorious Stanford dropout turned health care technology maven Elizabeth Holmes, who tricked some of the world’s savviest business minds into investing in her company, Theranos. While Holmes’ goal was altruistic enough—making health care more accessible to the masses via a device that could detect any number of diseases with little more than a single finger prick of blood—the technology wasn’t able to catch up. Rather than admit defeat, she kept pushing, making business deals and promises she could never fulfill.
The Handmaid’s Tale
When Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid’s Tale in 1985, little did she know that its television adaptation would revolutionize the still-nascent world of original streaming content. And she may not have anticipated just how many parallels her dystopian classic would share with the real world at the time it was adapted into an award-winning television series. It’s set in an unnamed time in what is presumably the very near future, when the United States has been taken over by a fundamentalist group known as Gilead, under whose regime women are considered property and stripped of any personal rights. The most valuable women are those who are fertile, as infertility has become an epidemic, and they are kept as handmaids who are forced to take part in sexual rituals with high-ranking couples in order to bear their children. Recognizing the power she wields, Offred, aka June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss), is not content to remain enslaved and sets about changing the rules as she seeks to reunite with her lost husband and daughter. It’s been a while since we’ve seen any new episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale; its most recent season aired in 2022. Production on the sixth, and final, season commenced in September and is scheduled to drop in the spring.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
If you thought the characters on Seinfeld were terrible people, wait until you meet the gang from Paddy’s Pub. For nearly 20 years, Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Mac (Robert McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), Sweet Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and Frank (Danny DeVito) have unapologetically plotted against each other and total strangers in a series of completely self-centered schemes with absolutely no regard for the rules of civility. The show follows the “no hugging and no learning” rule Larry David established for Seinfeld, but elevates it to a new level of sociopathy. “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare,” “Sweet Dee Has a Heart Attack,” “How Mac Got Fat,” “Dennis Looks Like a Registered Sex Offender,” “The Gang Turns Black,” and “The Gang Goes to a Water Park” are just some of the offbeat adventures awaiting viewers. In 2021, Sunny became the longest-running live-action sitcom in the history of television, and it shows no signs of slowing down—or taking it easy on its characters. It also happens to be one of the easiest shows to binge: Pop an episode on and, without even realizing it, you’ll be on to another season. Its 16th (!!) wrapped up in 2023—but there are at least two more on the way.
Letterkenny
What began as a web series is now a Hulu original that wrapped up its eleventh season in December. The show is a portrait of small-town Canada (the fictional Letterkenny of the title) and focuses on siblings Wayne (cocreator Jared Keeso) and Katy (Michelle Mylett), who run a produce stand with help from friends Daryl (Nathan Dales) and Squirrely Dan (K. Trevor Wilson). As is often the case in small-town series, many of the residents fall into specific categories—in Letterkenny, you could be a gym rat, a hick, a skid (their word for a drug addict), or a “native” (a member of the nearby First Nation reservation). But in contrast to many small-town series, these groups—and the individuals who comprise them—aren’t reduced to meaningless stereotypes.
The Patient
Steve Carell plays against type—or is at least nothing like The Office’s Michael Scott—in this psychological thriller from Joel Fields and The Americans creator Joe Weisberg. Carell is Alan Strauss, a therapist being held captive by his patient (Domhnall Gleeson), who cops to being a serial killer and desperately wants Strauss to “cure” his desire to kill. The series plays out like one big-bottle episode; much of the action occurs in a single room, with Carell and Gleeson speaking only to each other—each trying to determine his best next move.
Pen15
Mining the awkwardness of one’s middle school years is hardly a new comedy concept. But being in your early thirties and playing yourself as a junior high school student and then surrounding yourself with age-appropriate actors who are actually going through that hellish rite of passage brings a whole new layer of cringe and humor. This is exactly what cocreators/stars Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle did for Pen15.
