News
- Russia is offering the Garpia-A1E to foreign military customers
- The drone can reportedly travel up to 1,000 kilometres
- Garpia-A1E carries over 50kg payload and endures for over six hours
Moscow has begun marketing a long-range loitering munition built by a state defense manufacturer to foreign militaries.
The weapon, known as the Garpia-A1E, has drawn interest from buyers abroad following a series of live demonstrations.
Officials confirmed the export plan, but declined to name which countries have expressed interest so far.
A weapon built for distanceUnlike drones designed for repeated missions, this class of weapon flies toward its programmed coordinates and detonates on arrival, destroying itself in the process — a one-way flight profile that has earned the informal label "suicide drone."
The aircraft spans 3.4 meters in length, carries a takeoff weight of 250 kilograms, and stretches 3 meters across its wings.
Engineers built the airframe around an existing gasoline-powered munition design, relying on a tailless layout and a rear-mounted propeller to strike fixed coordinates set before launch.
It tops out near 170 kilometers per hour, can remain airborne for more than six hours, and operates at altitudes ranging from 50 to 2,500 meters.
"Today, the Garpia-A1E is the only loitering munition on the global market with a range of up to 1,000 kilometers," said Alexander Mikheev, general director of Rosoboronexport.
The payload capacity exceeds 50 kilograms, and the system's accuracy keeps errors within four meters of the intended point of impact.
Prospective buyers overseas have already shown interest following a round of live testing, the director added.
Rosoboronexport remains open to negotiating direct sales agreements, along with arrangements to manufacture the drone inside countries considered friendly toward Moscow.
Meanwhile, the drone's maker, Almaz-Antey, has expanded output at its production facilities, supporting the defense sector's ability to fulfill international orders on competitive timelines.
Domestic orders come firstAny commercial arrangement involving Russian military hardware must account for existing domestic commitments before new contracts move forward.
However, it seems Russia’s domestic needs will not be a problem because the company has since expanded production.
Almaz-Antey has now reached a production capacity sufficient to meet foreign orders within competitive delivery windows.
That balance between domestic obligation and export ambition now defines Russia's approach to marketing kamikaze drones internationally.
"When conducting contract and supply work regarding Russian military products, Rosoboronexport primarily considers the need for the manufacturer to fulfill its obligations to the Russian Ministry of Defence," said Alexander Mikheev, general director of Rosoboronexport.
“Almaz-Antey has mastered the series production of the Garpia-A1E system and reached a level that enables it to fulfill contracts with foreign customers…without compromising the country’s defence capability.”
Loitering munitions have grown into one of the defining weapons of current conflicts, prompting analysts to closely track their battlefield influence and cost.
As of the time of writing, no delivery timeline has been disclosed publicly, though analysts expect pricing and rival systems to shape eventual contract decisions.
Via The Drone Front
- Ukraine has deployed a turbojet interceptor specifically designed to hunt Russian attack drones
- The compact aircraft can return home when an interception attempt fails
- Multiple warhead options allow the interceptor to tackle different aerial targets
Ukraine's defense ministry has confirmed a new turbojet-powered aircraft built to shoot down Russian attack drones has now entered military service.
Dubbed Alexa Spatium, the compact v-tail craft was engineered domestically to intercept small aerial and surface threats across the battlefield.
It was built chiefly to engage Russia's Geran-3, Geran-4 and Geran-5 kamikaze drones, together with the frequently deployed Shahed-131 loitering munition.
Built for speed and reuseThe aircraft measures 1.5 by 1.7 meters and is fired from a portable catapult stationed close to the front line.
If it fails to strike anything on a given mission, the interceptor is designed to fly back toward its own launch point.
It can be fitted with thermobaric, shaped-charge, fragmentation or high-explosive warheads, depending on the kind of threat it aims to destroy in the air.
Guidance comes either from coordinates loaded before launch or through direct operator control once the aircraft is already flying toward its objective.
Detection relies on an electro-optical camera paired with an infrared sensor, allowing it to spot enemy aircraft even in low visibility conditions.
As of the time of writing, Kyiv has not officially revealed the interceptor's top speed, and a statement from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence left several performance figures undisclosed.
A wider race against faster threatsUkraine is not the only country fielding this kind of weapon, since Britain introduced a comparable system earlier in the year.
Known as Skyhammer and built by Cambridge Aerospace, it also runs on a turbojet engine and hunts down Shahed-style drones.
It relies on a nose-mounted radar seeker and a fragmentation warhead built to disable rather than fully destroy its objective.
Neither weapon, however, offers real protection from ballistic missiles, which travel far faster than any propeller or jet drone can manage.
This gap matters a great deal for Ukraine, whose stock of American-supplied Patriot missiles has thinned after years of steady combat use.
Ten European countries, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, formed an Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition in July to help Ukraine close the gap.
During a Kyiv visit marking Ukraine's independence anniversary, held every August 24th, the U.K.’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed its desire to help Ukraine.
London cleared MBDA, the joint European missile maker, to hand over classified data on the Storm Shadow's internal components to Ukrainian engineers.
The move should let Ukraine begin producing its own version of the joint British and French cruise missile domestically.
Even so, none of these interceptors solve the core problem, since drones and missiles remain two very different categories of threat entirely.
Whether new missile production can scale quickly enough to matter will likely depend more on politics than on engineering alone.
That question, more than any single weapon unveiled this month, may ultimately decide how well Ukraine's skies are defended through the coming winter months.
Via The Register
Dennis Gabor was a Hungarian-British physicist who's widely credited with inventing holography, a photographic technique that can record and reconstruct three-dimensional images. This is an invention for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1971. But his legacy extends to his philosophy on the nature of innovation
Go your own wayGabor wrote this iconic passage in his now-extremely rare book 'Inventing the Future', in which he sketched out an optimistic vision for the future.
Quote of the dayThis article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.
At the core of his belief was that there was no need to any longer passively predict what may come to pass in the years ahead. Instead, the influence and strength of science and industry was such that mankind could forge its own future.
The comments also focused on that pivot point of the industrial revolution, before which the possibilities of the future were fairly limited, in his view. As each wave of innovation comes to pass, the possibilities continue to expand.
Charting a pathThere's no understating the influence that Gabor had in modern science and industry. His comments were routinely quoted, and even adopted, by others. Chief among the figures that took this philosophy to heart was Alan Kay, described as one of the true luminaries of personal computing.
Kay, whose career spanned stints at Apple and HP among other industry titans, used this idea of inventing, not predicting, the future as a core maxim from 1971. He used the phrase to inspire his work in pioneering elements like the graphical user interface and laptops many years before they were realized.
Although Gabor was a very influential figure in the technology world, his predictions weren't always on the mark. In 1962, for instance, he said sending documents via telephone wires was possible, but only in principle. That's because the equipment required was so expensive that he didn't see a world in which they'd be cheap enough for the technology to become practical.
- This torpedo could glide through the air before quietly entering the ocean
- Silent Anvil must enter the water at angles between 45 and 90 degrees
- Its glide phase could extend submarine hunting far beyond torpedo range
The US Navy is weighing two paths toward a new class of Silent Anvil Air-Launched Torpedo (SAA-LT) meant to enter the water quietly and track threats beneath the surface.
One route involves building an entirely new torpedo designed from the ground up to glide toward its target before submerging.
The alternative approach would attach a glide kit onto a torpedo already in service, extending its reach without a full redesign.
Weight and size requirementsOfficials have set strict limits on the weapon's physical dimensions, capping it at 268 pounds with a maximum length of 70 inches and a diameter reaching up to 7.5 inches.
These figures place Silent Anvil in a similar weight class to existing torpedoes, though officials have not disclosed how far the weapon must travel before impact.
By comparison, the Mark 54 torpedo currently in Navy inventory carries a range of roughly 5.7 miles, giving industry a rough benchmark even though exact figures for the new system remain undefined.
"The Government is seeking industry input on the maximum standoff glide range achievable," the Navy said.
Officials have also outlined specific launch conditions, requiring the weapon to operate across three distinct speed bands measured at Mach 0.25, 0.50 and 0.85.
Altitude requirements stretch from as low as 10 feet to as high as 60,000 feet, a ceiling that exceeds the operational limits of the P-8 Poseidon aircraft.
That upper range instead aligns more closely with the capabilities of the MQ-4C Triton, a high-altitude surveillance drone already flying missions for the fleet.
Strict water entry requirementsEngineers must also account for how the weapon behaves once it approaches the ocean surface, since prolonged airborne travel offers a stealth advantage.
"SAA-LT shall maximize aerial flight endurance while minimizing aquatic immersion time, restricting water residence strictly to the minimum duration required for successful mission execution," the Navy said.
Under the glide-kit configuration, the torpedo would need to strike the water somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees, moving at a velocity ranging from 40 to 120 feet per second.
Development is expected to move quickly once a contract is finalized, with a working prototype required within 18 months of any award.
Should that early test succeed, the program would then scale toward 180 additional units built within three years.
This effort unfolds as China has been steadily enlarging its submarine fleet in recent years, adding vessels with far greater technical capability than before.
Among these additions are unmanned underwater vehicles engineered to operate effectively across great distances without needing any human crew aboard.
In response, the US Navy is also developing a separate weapon known internally as the Long-Range Antisubmarine Warfare system, still early in testing.
That system would let torpedoes launch from tubes built into ship decks and strike enemy submarines from a much greater distance.
Via Defense News
The Soundcore Nebula P1 is a fun product. It takes some of the cool ideas the brand had with the Nebula X1 and boils them down into a much cheaper projector.
The result is a $799 / £699.99 / AU$1,299.99 1080p projector with a modest 650-lumen output. This makes it a bit limited, as you’ll need a dark space and can’t shine too big an image. But for pop-up movie nights and fun little setups in the backyard, it’s up to the task. It even has slight waterproofing to protect against unforeseen weather.
Its wireless satellite speakers are the Nebula P1’s big party trick, giving it a nice, wide soundstage that most of its competitors simply can’t match. That said, anyone who already owns a pair of Bluetooth speakers with a stereo mode probably can work something out themselves.
The Nebula P1 is a good package, but it relies on the whole package to drive home that value. It’s not far off from the Hisense M2 Pro, and the JMGO N1S Pro 4K has seen some sales that put it dangerously close in price to the P1, and both of those have far superior projection. But where portability and outdoor-worthiness count, the P1 still has an advantage.
(Image credit: Future)Soundcore Nebula P1 review: Price & release date- Release date: October 2025
- Price: $799 / £699 / AU$1,299
The Soundcore Nebula P1 launched in late 2025 with an initial price of $799 / £699 / AU$1,299. Since then it has seen occasional discounts, which are fairly common for products in this category. These have lowered it to around $700 several times and gone as low as $639. Deals like these are worth watching out for, as they’ll save you a considerable amount and help the Nebula P1 stand clear of some of its tougher competition.
Soundcore Nebula P1 review: SpecsScreen sizes supported
<180 inches
Brightness (specified)
650 Lumens
Optical technology
3 Laser DLP
Smart TV
Google TV
Connections
1x USB-A, 1x 3.5mm audio out, 1x HDMI 2.1 (with eARC), 1x USB-C power
Dimensions
4.9 x 5.1 x 11.2 inches / 124 x 130 x 284mm
Weight
5.3 lbs / 2.4kg
(Image credit: Future)Soundcore Nebula P1 review: Design & features- Integrated gimbal stand
- Detachable Bluetooth speakers
- USB-C power
The Soundcore Nebula P1 takes some of the lessons the company learned with the Nebula X1 and pairs it with some of the tricks designed for the Nebula X1 Pro. But it's shrunk all of this down and simplified it to fit in a smaller, more portable, and (chiefly) more affordable package.
The Nebula P1 weighs 5.3 lbs / 2.4kg compared to the Nebula X1 Pro $4,000+ behemoth, takes up less than 300 cubic inches / five liters of space, and still combines a projector with a wireless sound system, albeit only a 2.0-channel one.
It’s a funky little projector. The whole unit comes together in a little column just about five inches / 127mm wide and deep and under a foot / 300mm tall. The actual projection unit sits within a frame and swivels vertically to untuck, revealing its lens in the front and its HDMI, USB-A, and 3.5mm ports on the rear. It keeps power separate, coming through a USB-C port at the base of the frame via an included Anker power brick (it can also work with separate power adapters of high enough wattage).
(Image credit: Future)The top of the projector holds two small speaker units. These are rather loosely secured with small clasps at each corner controlled by a small switch on the back of the unit. They haven’t fallen loose during testing, but they might if you tried to carry the projector by the speakers. Fortunately, with its built-in carrying strap, the Nebula P1 is easy to tote.
Once you've plunked the Nebula P1 down, you just aim the projection where you want it, and then grab the wireless speakers and set them in ideal positions for quality stereo audio — something that's sorely lacking in this kind of projector despite claims otherwise.
The projector has Google TV built in, so it doesn’t need to rely on an external HDMI source. And the 20-hour battery life of the speakers should get you through some epic binge watching. With IP33 protection on the projector and IP54 on the speakers, you can even set up outdoors without worrying about a few stray raindrops ruining the show, though you’ll still want to guard your power source.
When you’re done watching, the projector can fold back up. The speakers can plop back onto the top where they’ll charge via pogo pins, and you’re good to go. Also, as the speakers automatically sleep when the projector shuts down, they won't just die if you ever forget to put them back on the charging pad. They also have USB-C charging ports as a backup. And, yes, they still work if they’re on top of the projector.
Unfortunately, they do slowly drain over time and the pogo pins aren't perfectly reliable. After letting them sit for a longer time on top of the projector, I came back to watch something and found that one of the speakers had not recharged and was dead.
(Image credit: Future)There are a few small gripes with the design of this system. For one, it makes a common mistake of gimbal-mounted projectors: ignoring other necessary corrections. It’s easy to aim the projector vertically, but if it’s sitting on a sideways slant, however subtle, there are no feet to adjust and correct this.
The frame also stands in the way of being able to point the projector straight up at ceilings. Putting the HDMI port on the back of the projection unit rather than the frame, while likely done to simplify internal circuitry, means the cable can push on the unit and shift its angle. The speakers also don’t clearly indicate when they’ve securely latched back into place.
Aside from the gimbal and focus, the Nebula P1 relies on digital image adjustments. That is to say, if you need to make corrections like keystone, zoom, or rotation, you’ll be forced to crop the projection.
The Nebula P1 supports fairly extensive adjustments, but since they reduce usable pixels, it’s best to find a setup that requires as little adjustment as possible. While a lot of projectors will try to do extensive correction and framing automatically with a front-facing camera, the Nebula P1 only does keystone and focus, relying on a user’s phone camera and app connection for any further automatic correction.
A compact little unit, the Nebula P1’s remote control offers standard Google TV controls and shortcuts to YouTube, Netflix, and Prime Video. Conveniently, it has a motion sensor that illuminates many of its face buttons automatically, which really helps in the kind of dark environment you'll be using a projector.
- Design & features score: 3.5/5
- Decent picture with the right setting
- Intelligible audio with a (potentially) wide soundstage
The Soundcore Nebula P1 may not have the specs to compete with the movie theaters, but it serves up a respectable picture for some fun at-home watching or outdoor movie night setups.
It’s not super bright, so it really calls for dim or completely dark spaces for the best experience, but you can get by watching bright and colorful content even with some ambient light in the room. HDR content can even pop in a dark environment. The projector’s color is solid and most things look lifelike without oversaturation. It doesn’t match the range covered by triple-laser projectors, but it’s not altogether disappointing. For a projector of its price, the Nebula P1 performs pretty well.
Perhaps its biggest setback is its 1080p resolution, which is exceedingly common in projectors under $1,000. If you go too large, much past about a hundred-inch image, you can start to see the gaps between the pixels with a screen door effect that is all the more prominent on bright pictures. But as long as you don’t project too big an image or sit too close, that’s also a setback that’s easily avoided.
(Image credit: Future)By default, the projector has a few regrettable behaviors, but these can be tamed. Firstly, almost every picture profile has poor-looking motion interpolation enabled. While this usually looks bad enough, it’s especially bad here because the processing isn’t quite up to the task of quality interpolation. Films and animation immediately look better with this disabled.
The projector also shows a tendency to over-sharpen to make up for its 1080p resolution. This isn’t always apparent, but when the projector displays scenes with lots of fine details — building textures, hair strands, and the like — there’s a lot of visible and distracting aliasing. Dialing down the sharpening to level ‘4’ thoroughly improved this without creating too soft a picture.
The NebulaMaster picture preset might seem like it should be the ideal one, but it has a knack for taking the issues I found and wrapping them all into one. The projector performs much better in the Movie setting.
Unfortunately, the contrast isn't stunning. Black levels don't sink to a pitch black or even close to it. You'll just see a hazy gray in large black areas, which makes dark, night scenes look a fair bit poorer than brighter ones. That’s not uncommon for budget projectors, and even premium models can struggle with black levels.
(Image credit: Future)Gaming performance is also mixed. Using the projector’s special gaming picture mode, input latency is very low, making it easy enough to play fast-paced games like Hades without issue. That said, the game mode doesn’t allow for digital image correction, and thus undoes any keystone and zoom. In any other picture mode, correction is allowed, but input lag is plain as day and won’t make for a good experience outside of games that don’t require quick reaction.
Moving onto sound, the speakers focus highly on the mids, which helps ensure speech is intelligible. But explosive bass depth is off the cards, and music lacks fullness, while the sound profile can be a bit harsh sometimes with a little extra sibilance. On the plus side, thanks to the ability to spread the speakers out as much as you want, it’s possible to get a very wide soundstage. The speakers can also operate sitting atop the projector, but then you’ll miss out entirely on decent stereo.
- Picture quality & performance score: 4/5
While the Nebula P1 serves as something of a small analog to the Nebula X1 Pro, it doesn’t quite break the bank in the same way at just $799 / £699 / AU$1,299. This puts it on the affordable side of the market, and it does a fair bit for a model in this range. With serviceable brightness, a neat audio trick that avoids being gimmicky, and useful portability, it brings plenty to the table for the money.
Ultimately, the portability and sound are what help pull it away from other competitors that can do more in delivering a solid picture without costing much more.
JMGO has a fleet of projectors that have been enjoying steep discounts, making a projector with 4K visuals, the wide color gamut of RGB lasers, and substantial brightness all attainable for $1,000. But the easy portability, ability to run on USB power, and wide soundstage possible from wireless satellite speakers set the Nebula P1 apart.
- Value score: 4/5
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Design and features
The Nebula P1 is nifty with the way it integrates all its little elements. It’s not too sparing on features, and it’s conveniently portable. A little sleeve to carry the charger and remote and to better protect the whole unit on the move would have been a plus, as would a strong clamp for the wireless speaker.
3.5/5
Picture quality and performance
The Nebula P1 offers a good level of brightness, satisfying color, and a sharp enough picture for casual viewing at up to 100 inches. For the money, it’s quite respectable. The picture benefits from some quick adjustments, as the defaults have glaring issues, but there’s not too much fuss.
4/5
Value
The Nebula P1 brings a lot to the table for $799 / £699 / AU$1,299, and even more when considering frequent discounts. With decent visuals, useful satellite speakers, and portability, it’s a nice little bundle.
4/5
Buy it if...You want wide stereo everywhere you go
The wireless speakers of the Nebula P1 are more than a gimmick. They really make shows and movies more immersive than typical projector speakers. Plenty of projectors offer portability, but few have this trick for quality stereo sound.
You want an on-the-go system with flexibility
With its carrying handle, wireless speaker system, and the ability to run on various USB-C power sources, the Nebula P1 is a more compelling on-the-go projector than a lot of its competition.
You might get caught in the rain
While there are a lot of projectors that can compete with the Nebula P1’s visuals, not a lot of them are as ready to risk a few raindrops. The Nebula P1 has enough water protection to let you relax a little bit while watching outside even when the forecast calls for a chance of rain.
You want a massive, stunning picture
With limited brightness and 1080p resolution, the Nebula P1 just isn’t ready to drop jaws displaying a large picture. For that, you’ll likely want more than double the brightness and 4K resolution.
You already have decent speakers
A lot of Bluetooth speakers will let you link them into a stereo pair, and if you’ve already got a good set, there’s a good chance they’ll be competitive with the P1’s speakers. In that case, you can put your money toward a projector that’s more focused on quality visuals and less on sound.
You’re planning on a permanent, indoor setup
The Nebula P1 has put a lot of effort into its portability and outdoor worthiness. If you’re not looking to take advantage of that, your money can go further with a different projector.
Soundcore Nebula P1
JMGO N1S
Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen
JMGO N1S Ultra 4K
Price
$799 / £699 / AU$1,299
$999 / £799 (around AU$1,130)
$799 / £649 / AU$1,302.85
$1,999 / £1,478.70 / AU$2,999
Screen sizes supported
Up to 180 inches
40 to 180 inches
30 to 130 inches
85 to 180 inches
Brightness (specified)
650 lumens
900 lumens
230 ANSI lumens
2,400 ANSI lumens
HDR support
HDR10
HDR10
HDR10+, HLG
HDR10, HLG
Optical technology
4-LED DLP
3 Laser DLP
LED DLP
RGB Laser DLP
Smart TV
Google TV
Google TV
Tizen
Google TV
Connections
1x HDMI 2.1 ( with eARC), 1x USB-A , 1x 3.5mm
HDMI 2.1 ( with eARC), 1x 3.5mm
Micro-HDMI, USB-C (power)
HDMI x2 (x1 eARC), USB-A (power), 3.5mm
JMGO N1S
If you already have speakers you like (or a pair of stereo-capable Bluetooth speakers), you can get a more exciting picture from the JMGO N1S. It’s a bit brighter and looks all the more gorgeous thanks to its RGB laser projection, even if it's still just 1080p. That said, finding one is hard, and a 4K version with a bunch of other enhancements is also available for under $1,000 (see below).
Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen
Samsung has shown a knack for flexibility, and The Freestyle 2nd Gen is good in that regard. But the Nebula P1 takes the lead on brightness, sound, and easy-of-use, even if it won’t be so easy to power off a battery. Read our full Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen review
JMGO N1S Ultra 4K projector
This is the real threat to the Nebula P1. While the JMGO N1S Pro had a $1,999 price when it launched, it has seen that price drop by over 50%. At that price, it’s wild to see bright, RGB laser projection and a 4K picture. It’s not as portable since it requires AC power, but it does include a carrying case. And for image quality, it’s leagues better. Read our full JMGO N1S Ultra 4K projector review.
- Tested at home in multiple, real-world viewing conditions
- Presented the display with a variety of media and formats
- I have tested numerous projectors and displays over the last half-decade
I tested the Soundcore Nebula P1 at home, in real-world conditions. This saw it faced with ambient light coming in from numerous windows, in-room lighting, as well as ambient noise that both the projector and speaker systems had to overcome.
The projector was tested both against a bare, white wall and an Akia Screens CineWhite screen. It was presented with streamed content, HDR and non-HDR, and PC gameplay.
My testing evaluates the projector’s performance with respect to its price and competition from other models colleagues at TechRadar and I have tested.
I have been testing projectors since 2021 and displays for even longer.
- First reviewed: August 2026
- Read TechRadar's review guarantee
- Intel shows three agentic AI architectures at Hot Chips 2026: the 256-core Diamond Rapids Xeon, the Crescent Island inference GPU, and the already-shipping Wildcat Lake client SoC
- Diamond Rapids matches AMD's EPYC Venice on cores and bandwidth but arrives in 2027 with half the threads, while Wildcat Lake's 17 TOPS NPU falls short of Copilot+'s 40+ TOPS certification
- Intel's Crescent Island will support up to 480 GB via third-party partner cards, but the Intel-branded variant will be limited to 160 GB, even as it currently does not publish the memory bandwidth that determines its token economics.
Intel used its slot at Hot Chips 2026 to lay out three architectures it says will carry agentic AI from the rack to the laptop.
The already-shipping Wildcat Lake Core Series 3 SoC is for mainstream client and edge machines, Crescent Island is an inference-optimized data center GPU, and Diamond Rapids is its next-generation enterprise-class data center CPU that can be configured with up to 256 cores.
Pushkar Ranade, Intel's chief technology officer, said in a statement accompanying the announcement that agentic AI is changing how the company designs computing from the transistor upward.
Plenty of compute promises, sans some GPU numbersIntel's Diamond Rapids, which it plans to brand as Xeon 7, is where the chipmaker provides the most information, unsurprisingly, in an industry that plans purchases and upgrades years in advance.
Its flagship offering can encompass as many as 256 cores, backed by 1.28G of fast last-level cache, 16 memory channels, 128 PCIe 6 lanes, and CXL 3.0. ServeTheHome reported that the maximum configuration uses 16-core chiplets, built on Intel's 18A-P process node.
Rival chipmaker AMD also offers a 256-core trim: the EPYC 9996, built on TSMC's 2nm node, keeps hyperthreading in play, effectively doubling its thread count versus Intel's flagship.
Its Crescent Island GPU is arguably the most interesting design of the three, but the least detailed: a 350W air-cooled PCIe card built on its Xe3P GPU architecture, with 32 cores feeding 256 third-generation XMX engines and 32 MB of unified L2 cache. It surprisingly uses LPDDR5X rather than HBM, but the choice seems rationalized to offer capacity at a power and cost profile that lets Intel compete meaningfully with Nvidia and AMD.
Interestingly, the 480GB figure Intel touts in its press release isn't what it will ship; Intel-branded cards cap at 160GB, and 480GB is a ceiling available to ODM partners building their own configurations. Intel also remains mum on memory bandwidth specifics and told Chips and Cheese it won't disclose the figure; this is crucial for many AI applications, as memory bandwidth determines decode throughput, and decode throughput essentially determines token economics.
Of the three architectures that Intel talked about, Wildcat Lake is the only one you can pick up off a shelf (as a miniPC or laptop) today; it launched as Intel's Core Series 3. Intel stated that it replaced the Foveros packaging used in Panther Lake with an organic multi-chip package, eliminating the base die and, with it, assembly cost and yield loss. Compute die area fell by 38 percent, and I/O tile area by 15 percent.
The 17 TOPS NPU available to such CPUs sits well below the 40 TOPS Microsoft requires for Copilot+ certification. The 40 TOPS Intel cites is a platform total across CPU, GPU, and NPU, which arguably can be met elsewhere, but it's a sticking point for the chipmaker's AI push, which has otherwise been concentrated on capturing enterprise and hyperscale customers.
Tech companies always love to make big claims. Like the one Google made about the Pixel Watch 5: promised health, wellness and Wear OS improvements aside, there was one feature that my ears pricked up for. Google stated that the Pixel Watch 5 included its most accurate GPS route tracking for exercise. More interestingly, Google said that tracking outperformed the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro.
I’ve used both of those smartwatches and I can confidently say they are two of the best performing smartwatches available for GPS route tracking. I’ve listened to other smartwatch brands talk big about Apple and Garmin-beating performance. Did I really believe Google was going to deliver? I was sceptical, given my experience of the GPS tracking on previous Pixel Watches.
But I still had my Fenix 8 Pro and Watch Ultra 3, which made for the perfect opportunity to see these promised performance gains for myself. Having just recently made it through the millions in the ballot to secure a spot in the double-day 2027 London Marathon, my mind immediately went to the part of the marathon route I know causes major issues with GPS.
I grabbed my watches, jumped on a train, and then onto the DLR tram service to the Isle of Dogs, where the nearby tall skyscrapers always create difficult GPS conditions. I ran miles 18-20 of the London Marathon course, and then did it in reverse, to put the Pixel Watch 5’s big GPS claims to the test.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Sawh)How exactly does the Google Pixel Watch 5’s new GPS work?Before getting into how the testing went, it’s worth drilling down into just how Google says its GPS tracking outperforms the competition. Like the Fenix 8 Pro and Watch Ultra 3, the Pixel Watch 5 includes dual-band GPS. This means it can communicate to major satellites responsible for calculating our precise locations over two frequency bands. This can help to boost tracking accuracy when moving through tall buildings, densely forested environments and even during adverse weather conditions.
Dual band GPS setups have started to appear across a range of smartwatches and in my own testing, dual band-packing watches from Apple, Garmin and Suunto have delivered the strongest performance.
Along with the latest in GPS technology in tow, Google says it uses data it has already captured of buildings in Google Maps alongside AI to better account for the areas where GPS signals bounce off buildings. It also used GPS reference stations it has positioned around the world to help deal with the impact that atmospheric conditions can have on GPS tracking.
If you’ve used a smartwatch with GPS, then you’ll know it’s a feature that does have a notable impact on battery drain. This is something Google had to think about here. Google has made the decision to compress the raw GPS data captured on the watch and then send it to a server where it’s processed and corrected, then synced to the Google Health app. So the processing mainly take place off the watch or after your run, ride or hike.
How I tested The challenger: Google Pixel Watch 5Future / Mike SawhThe defending champs: Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 3Future / Mike SawhI decided I’d do two runs. The first would be starting from mile 18 up to mile 20 on the London Marathon course and go a little further to run 5k. I’d then stop the watches and do the route in reverse.
I had a trimmed down version of the marathon route uploaded to my Garmin Fenix 8 Pro as it was the easiest watch to do it on. I also decided that I would wear the Pixel Watch 5 on one wrist and then swap over to the other for the second run, while having the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Fenix 8 Pro sat on the opposite wrist. I had to make sure that the two smartwatches weren’t sitting too close together to prevent any accidental button presses that might impact on capturing the correct distance.
It’s also worth adding that I decided to use native workout tracking apps on all three watches to record runs.
The results (Image credit: Future / Mike Sawh)On the first run, I had the Pixel Watch 5 on my right wrist with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro on the left wrist. I uploaded the routes to the very handy comparison tool IloveGPX. Before that though, I had to convert the route file captured by the Pixel Watch 5 from a TCX file to a GPX one. Thankfully it was quite easy.
Even before I began zooming into the GPS tracks I could already see some red squiggles, which belonged to the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro. On closer inspection, all three watches were pretty close to each other before the Fenix 8 Pro track started to noticeably drift off. Google and Apple’s tracks for the majority of the run remain close together.
I actually went a little off-route and ran longer than planned as some parts of the route were partly closed off. That meant an extra loop or two of that problematic GPS signal spot.
Moving onto Trafalgar Way, having passed Billingsgate Market and towards that final mile, and the three tracks come back together. There’s still time for Garmin’s track to veer slightly off course though, as I made my way to the end of the route in Poplar.
Looking at the distance tracked, I ended up running longer than the planned 5k route, and the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Google Pixel Watch 5 recorded similar distance data — with the Fenix 8 Pro measuring longer with a difference of 0.2 miles/0.3km.
The average speed of the run was again similar on the Watch Ultra 3 and Pixel Watch 5, with the Garmin reporting a slower average speed.
On the second run, I switched the Pixel Watch 5 over to my left wrist and moved the Fenix and Apple Watch over to the right. I ran this run a little quicker than the first. At the beginning of the run, all three tracks remained together. Then as I started to approach those towering buildings around Canary Wharf once again, the Apple and Garmin tracks started to lose their way. Meanwhile, the Pixel Watch 5’s tracks manage to stick closest to the actual route I’d run. It’s not immune to issues, however, especially when I hit around Heron Quays and Bank Street Canary Wharf.
Looking over the distance tracked again and the three smartwatches post three different records. The Garmin again tracks longer, with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 being closest to the planned 5k route. It’s the Garmin that has me running a quicker-than-average pace throughout the run.
GPS tracks are only one part of the storyFor anyone that’s run the London Marathon (or any race for that matter), it’s not just about distance covered. Pacing matters. Especially if you’re been training to chase down a particular finish time.
Bad GPS route tracking data can impact on pace data. Having run the London Marathon before, those GPS problems will cause your locating tracking to skip, suggesting you’re clocking off those miles quicker than you’re actually travelling.
That’s also why I paid attention to my current and average pace data on the three watches, as well as looking at how that pacing was broken down post-run.
During the run, the pacing fluctuated across all three watches. I found the Pixel Watch 5 had a tendency to struggle getting pacing data right at the beginning of the two runs before settling down after. It was a similar story for Apple and Garmin as well. They all seemed to struggle in the section of the route I’d expected them to.
Looking at the post-run data in the respective companion apps, the Pixel Watch 5 did indicate some quicker paces that I’d felt I’d run as well.
Are Google’s claims about the Pixel Watch 5’s GPS justified ?(Image credit: Getty Images)I’m not going to say the Pixel Watch 5 is definitively a GPS great after two relatively short runs in albeit very challenging GPS conditions. What I will say is that I was pretty surprised by the results. I had fully expected the Pixel Watch 5 to flounder, but it was actually the most reliable in plotting my actual running route. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 also did well, while the Fenix 8 Pro had some wild moments in the produced GPS tracks.
I think if you’re mainly interested in having a record of your precise route, then this innovation is going to impress. I’d say hikers will certainly like the idea of it.
From a running perspective, specifically from a racing point of view, I’d also want accurate pacing to go with that strong route tracking in real-time too. I’m not wholly convinced the pacing data is as spotless as the route tracking seems to be. Maybe that’s something Google will look at for the next watch or even tighten up with a software update.
The Pixel Watch 5’s new GPS signals an important breakthrough for how smartwatches can deliver more accurate route tracking. Google’s access to an abundance of positioning data, along with the improvements it’s making with AI clearly play their part in making this type of leap in smartwatch GPS technology.
It’s definitely given me food for thought as I choose which smartwatch I step on that London start line with next April, that’s for sure.
The new reMarkable Paper Pure is an impressive handwriting tablet, but it's facing stiff competition in the e-ink slate market. If you're thinking of buying one, it's worth taking a look at the alternatives to make sure there's not an option that'd be a better fit for you. We've tested several excellent e-ink tablets; I've rounded up our favorites below.
The reMarkable Paper Pure has a 10.3-inch screen, which is the most common size for this kind of tablet. However, if you'd prefer more writing real estate, the reMarkable Paper Pro has a more generous 11.8-inch screen. Conversely, if you want something compact, the smartphone-sized Kobo Libra Colour and reMarkable Paper Pro Move are small enough to slip into a back pocket.
Although many of today's best ereaders are waterproof, once you add writing into the mix, waterproofing becomes a rare feature. A notable exception is the aforementioned Kobo Libra Colour, which comes with an IPX8 rating. So if you're prone to spillages or want to note-take in the tub, that's the model for you.
One of our only real complaints about the reMarkable Paper Pure is that it lacks a frontlight. This is frustrating if you need to work in less-than-ideal lighting conditions, and especially so if you're hoping to use it for reading as well as writing. Almost all the tablets listed below come with a frontlight — most are dimmable, and on some you can even change the color temperature.
Scroll down for a roundup of the best e-ink tablets we've tested, including the reMarkable Paper Pure. Hit the View details button for a rundown of the main pros and cons of each one, plus a link to read our full, in-depth review. I've also added a specs comparison table at the bottom to help you see the key differences between the options.
Have I missed any? Let me know in the comments. Happy scribbling!
Top writing tablets ReMarkable Paper Pure Pros- Flawless writing experience
- Lightweight, portable, comfortable
- Superb battery life
- The cheapest reMarkable tablet yet
- Hit-and-miss AI handwriting conversion
- No frontlight
- Still only 226ppi
- Good size for portability and usability
- Relatively affordable for a color ereader
- Full writing features
- Repair kits available
- Couple of functions suffer from lag
- Stylus sold separately
- Shrinks the best writing tablet to the perfect size
- Keeps the color and best features of the Paper Pro
- The best writing experience on any tablet you can buy
- Restrained software lacks many features
- AI handwriting recognition is laughably bad
- Subscription fee stings considering the price tag
- Faster than previous model
- Versatile writing tools
- Eco-friendly body
- Expensive
- Dated, plasticky design
- Sleepcover no longer bundled
- Beautiful design that’s thin and light
- Fantastic performance
- Touch buttons on lower bezel
- Excellent user experience
- 100-day return policy
- AI accessibility could pose privacy risks
- AI handwriting conversion isn't consistently accurate
- No frontlight
- No expandable storage
- Light ghosting across all apps
- Still the best big e-reader, with better writing tools
- Subtle improvements add up in a big way
- AI tools that are [gasp] useful?!
- It’s more expensive without new hardware
- It’s got AI, like everything — you can’t escape
- Pocket-friendly color E Ink design
- More versatile than the Palma 2
- Excellent case accessory
- Expensive for an ereader
- Text isn’t as crisp as on the Palma 2
- Stylus sold separately
- Cleaner, more modern interface
- Fantastic size for a portable ereader
- Excellent battery life
- No performance improvements with new chipset
- Fingerprint scanner is fiddly and superfluous
- Expensive for an ereader
- Android 15 with 3 years of software support
- Excellent writing experience
- Expandable storage up to 1TB
- Physical page-turn buttons
- Expensive
- Some colors appear muted
- Ineffective stylus magnet
- Annoying folio design (keyboard and regular case)
- Android 13-based operating system
- Excellent E Ink Carta 1300 display
- 64GB storage
- Page-turn buttons
- Snappy performance
- Stylus support
- Lacks waterproofing
- Complicated menu system
- Excessive battery drain
- Subpar writing experience
- Winning asymmetric design
- 32GB storage
- Audiobook support
- Battery charging can be erratic
- Color display looks better than other color E Ink tablets
- Finally a light to read in the dark
- Incredible battery life, even with color and light
- Software lacks more features than it offers
- Doesn’t do much, by design
- No trade-in for previous reMarkable owners
Note: only the products available in your territory will display as cards. That means you might see models in this table that aren't visible above.
As the UK enters one of its busiest periods for travel, some holiday makers will be questioning how hackers managed to get their hands on their personal data.
The Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which owns and oversees Manchester, London Stansted, and East Midlands airports, has revealed that hackers managed to steal data belonging to 8.7 million customers.
Given the sources of the data taken - spanning car park services, lounge and Fast Track bookings and in-airport WIFI sign-ups - it is likely a large database of information was accessed by the hackers.
What data was taken?The data accessed and stolen by the hackers include email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle registrations and postcodes of up to 8.7 million customers.
While banking and financial information remained secure during the attack, this level of data exposure places customers at a heightened risk for targeted phishing and scams.
(Image credit: Future)Got an opinion for us? Here’s how you can submit your perspective
A statement by MAG said, “We immediately contained the risk and have been working with specialist advisors and taking appropriate steps to protect our customers and systems. We have informed and are working with the relevant authorities. At no point has passenger safety or aviation security been compromised.”
MAG advised customers who have been affected by the breach to remain vigilant against suspicious emails and calls. Given the data exposed in the attack, these could be highly specific, referring to flights, parking (including customer number plates), and airport services.
MAG issued the following guidance:
- Remaining vigilant for suspicious emails, text messages or phone calls
- Avoiding clicking on links or opening attachments from unexpected communications
- Seeking further support and advice at Data breach guidance for individuals
- Graeme Stewart, Head of Public Sector, Check Point Software
We warned after the attacks on the automotive sector last year that aviation needed to move onto a war footing. This feels like the moment that warning becomes very real.
Cyber criminals have already shown us what sustained pressure on a major industry can look like. They find the weak points, work through suppliers and connected systems, steal data and keep coming. There was every reason to believe aviation would become an attractive target, and an incident affecting almost nine million airport customers should concentrate minds across the sector.
The absence of cancelled flights or queues at terminals does not make this a small cyber attack. The data reportedly taken can now be weaponised.
The absence of cancelled flights or queues at terminals does not make this a small cyber attack. The data reportedly taken can now be weaponised. Criminals know these people have a relationship with Manchester, Stansted or East Midlands airports and potentially have phone numbers, postcodes and vehicle registrations to make their approach believable. A fake parking refund, Fast Track problem or message about this very breach suddenly becomes much harder for an ordinary customer to spot.
If you believe you are affected, be extremely suspicious of any unexpected contact about the airports or this incident. Do not follow links in emails or texts asking you to confirm information, make a payment or claim a refund. Go directly to the airport’s official website if you need to check something. If somebody calls claiming to be from the airport, hang up and contact the organisation independently.
Anyone who has already handed over banking information following suspicious contact should speak to their bank immediately. If you have given away a password, change it anywhere you have reused it and switch on two-step verification.
For the aviation industry, there should be no comfort taken from the fact the terminals are operating normally today. Last year was a warning about what happens when attackers focus their attention on a sector. Aviation needs to behave as though a sustained campaign has begun, because waiting for an attack that stops planes moving before treating this as serious would be a dangerous mistake.
- Dr. Ilia Kolochenko, Founder, ImmuniWeb:
The risk of this data breach seems to be significantly underestimated or downplayed for almost 9 million victims. The majority of lounge and fast-track line bookings are wealthy passengers, whose travel data may per se constitute sensitive, embarrassing or even incriminating information, therefore being a valuable commodity for unscrupulous cybercriminals.
A wave of personalized and AI-enhanced blackmailing and extortion campaigns may be launched shortly.
A wave of personalized and AI-enhanced blackmailing and extortion campaigns may be launched shortly. Moreover, some specialized cyber gangs will likely offer the data to investigative journalists – without fully disclosing the illicit origin of the data – to track celebrities or trace sanction evasion, causing even more damage to the victims.
In case of extortion, many victims will unlikely contact the police and will rather silently pay the ransom in cryptocurrency. Worse, the payment does not guarantee that the data will not eventually be released on the Dark Web or shared with third parties. In sum, this data breach will likely have long-lasting consequences for the victims.
- Vykintas Maknickas, CEO, Saily:
This breach shows that airport cybersecurity is no longer only protecting flight systems or operational infrastructure. The digital services travelers use every day, like airport WiFi, parking bookings, lounge access, and fast-track reservations, have become part of the security perimeter. When these systems are compromised, millions of people can be affected before they even board a plane.
Email addresses, postcodes, and vehicle registration details can be used to create extremely convincing scams.
While payment details were reportedly not exposed, the stolen data is still highly valuable to criminals. Email addresses, postcodes, and vehicle registration details can be used to create extremely convincing scams.
Travelers may receive fake airport emails, fraudulent parking-payment notices, bogus flight updates, or calls claiming to offer compensation. These messages may contain enough real personal detail to look legitimate, so travellers should stay vigilant.
Behind the figure of 8.7 million are real people. Families going on holiday, business travelers heading to meetings, parents trying to keep children entertained at the airport. That is the human cost of a data breach: the company is attacked, but ordinary people live with the consequences.
This incident should be a wake-up call for the travel industry. Companies need to ask not only how they protect customer data, but also how much of it they really need to collect and store in the first place. The less unnecessary data a company holds, the less damage criminals can cause when systems are breached.
For travelers, the advice is simple: be extra cautious with any unexpected message claiming to come from an airport, airline, parking provider, or customer support team. Do not click links in suspicious emails or texts. When traveling, it is also safer to use mobile data or an eSIM instead of relying on public airport WiFi.
- Raghu Nandakumara, VP of Industry Strategy, Illumio:
This is a significant breach affecting a large number of customers ahead of one of the busiest travel periods of the year for UK airports. Incidents like this erode customer trust. For those affected, the exposed data increases the risk of targeted phishing and smishing attempts, where attackers can use legitimate travel-related information to make malicious communications appear convincing.
Incidents like this erode customer trust.
While Manchester Airports Group has said the incident was contained and operations were not disrupted, sensitive customer information was still accessed. Maintaining services during a cyberattack is critical, but organisations also need to minimise the amount of data and systems an attacker can reach before the threat is isolated.
Measures such as segmentation can help restrict access to critical systems and sensitive data, reducing the risk that a single compromise becomes a wider incident.
How do I submit my own perspective on emerging news?If you have an expert perspective you would like to share on an emerging story or particular topic, please get in contact here: benedict.collins@futurenet.com
At Gamescom 2026 in Cologne, fresh off Samsung's reveal of its 2027 Odyssey OLED lineup, I sat down with two of the people shaping the company's monitor and TV strategy: Jeremy Demont, Product Management Director for TV, Sound and Monitor at Samsung UK & Ireland, and Pepe Dijkstra, Head of Monitor for Samsung's European visual display organisation.
We chatted about everything from the prevalence of 1000Hz and higher refresh rate screens to 6K gaming, the brand's ongoing commitment to glasses-free 3D and how important strong partnerships with eSports professionals and studios are to getting the best out of screens.
(Image credit: Future)A triple mode screen is more useful than you might thinkTriple mode gets its debut on the new Odyssey OLED G8, a 32-inch 4K tandem QD-OLED panel that runs at 360Hz natively, drops to 1440p resolution for 520Hz, or goes all the way down to Full HD for 680Hz.
It's a first for Samsung: dual-mode switching already exists on its 6K panels, the ultrawide G9, and other, more conventional choices, but triple mode isn't something that can be patched in later via firmware. Dijkstra confirmed it's baked in on the panel side.
I pushed on whether this is solving a real problem or just adding a marketing bullet point. Halving your resolution to double your refresh rate is a genuinely large image quality penalty, so a middle ground – dropping from 4K to 1440p rather than all the way to HD – makes sense on paper.
However, Dijkstra was refreshingly candid about the uncertainty here: "If it's high-end gamers, they'll definitely benefit. But if the average Joe Bloke buys the gaming monitor, are they actually going to use it practically?" He described it as something Samsung still needs to watch play out once the hardware reaches the market, and said community feedback will directly shape what comes next.
1100Hz might not be the limit, after allThe number causing all the excitement is 1100Hz, supported by the new Odyssey G6 G60H – a 1440p Fast IPS panel that runs at 600Hz natively, but which can drop to HD resolution to unlock that 1100Hz ceiling, the fastest refresh rate I've seen on a gaming monitor to date. It wasn't long ago 500Hz felt like an extreme number, so I put it to Dijkstra directly: is there a point where refresh rate just stops mattering?
If you deliver only 1100Hz and focus purely on eSports, that's a small market
Pepe Dijkstra, Head of Monitor, Samsung Europe
He didn't dodge the eSports-only framing. "If you deliver only 1100Hz and focus purely on eSports, that's a small market," he told me.
The reasoning behind Samsung's dual- and triple-mode panels, he explained, is about giving that headroom without forcing everyone to live with it – you can drop back down to a lower resolution for everyday use rather than running flat-out all the time. Whether the industry pushes past 1100Hz next, he wouldn't commit to. "If we go faster in the future, we'll have to see."
6K gaming screens have a genuine purpose outside of vanityI've used 6K panels in a professional context on a few screens in the past, but never on a gaming screen, and 4K is already a heavy ask for most GPUs. So who is Samsung's 6K gaming monitor for?
Dijkstra's answer leaned on future-proofing rather than the present day: those with high-end PCs can already drive that resolution, and the dual-mode option covers anyone who can't.
It's worth noting the new G9 ultrawide also carries a dual-mode option of its own – 5120 x 1440 at up to 360Hz, or 'dual HD' at 2560 x 720 for 720Hz – so the same philosophy runs across Samsung's 2027 range rather than sitting in one flagship alone.
(Image credit: Future)Likewise, he noted that the option for a 6K gaming screen offers a higher refresh rate than the professional screens on offer with the same resolution, which are stuck at 60Hz. Offering a higher refresh rate at that detail level aids both responsiveness for productivity tasks and helps where it counts for games, too.
After all, as both he and Demont noted, people are buying monitors for more than one purpose, so a 6K gaming screen covers off the pros who need the detail for high-res creative work and the gamers who have a beefy enough system to play games at 5K or 6K, assuming the game supports the resolution of course.
Glasses-free 3D is back – but content, not hardware, is the bottleneckSamsung has kept glasses-free 3D alive longer than most of the industry, and at CES it showed a 6K, 32-inch glasses-free 3D panel. At Gamescom, it reaffirmed its commitment to glasses-free 3D and the importance of working with developers to keep the dream alive.
Dijkstra's framing was that the previous failure wasn't really a hardware problem – it was a content problem. "People were mind-blown by the product capability, but it's the content" that lagged, he said.
Rather than pour more resources into pushing the panel technology further, Samsung's product teams have shifted focus toward securing AAA game support, headlined by the newly announced Cyberpunk 2077 3D compatibility. It's a bet that immersion sells itself to gamers specifically – people who already spend hours in front of a screen – in a way it never quite did for passive TV viewing.
Demont drew the TV parallel further, comparing it to Samsung's early, unpopular push into 4K resolution at a time when broadcasters barely had any programming in such high-resolution or the likes of the BBC had caught up: "We can't just do it by ourselves, we need the whole industry behind it."
He sees HDR10+ gaming following a similar adoption curve to HDR10+ on TV, where streaming giants like Prime Video and Netflix moved quickly once the ecosystem made it easy to support. Samsung's own numbers back that up: the new Call of Duty is among the titles confirmed to support HDR10+ gaming, with more than 20 games expected to carry the standard by the first half of 2027.
(Image credit: Alexey Yaremenko / Getty)OLED burn-in isn't as big of an issue as it used to beSamsung has introduced a new fifth-gen QD-OLED panel for a lot of the new monitors it announced at Gamescom, which features the brand's Penta Tandem tech and an RGB stripe sub-pixel layout for greater power efficiency, longevity, and sharper text.
Compared to the quality of OLED panels for gaming monitors when they were first introduced, this tech has been through several generations of optimization and improvement.
At the time OLED gaming monitors were first introduced, it seemed you couldn't go five minutes without someone talking about burn-in (an issue with early OLED panels where static images that were displayed for too long could damage the screen). Now, both Demont and Dijkstra tell me it's virtually a non-issue. It's barely raised internally anymore, sitting towards the bottom of presentations as an improvement point.
Demont also noted that the improvements made to the OLED panels is a particularly good thing, especially because "if we can increase the product lifecycle or the durability of the product, that's all in the benefit of that end customer". After all, a high-end monitor or TV is a big purchase, and it's important that it lasts.
For what it's worth, my own two-and-a-half-year-old 32-inch 4K 240Hz OLED monitor has never shown a hint of burn-in – though the new Odyssey OLED G8 is, I'll admit, tempting me to upgrade anyway.
Pro feedback filters down for monitors, tooOn the subject of product development, Dijkstra confirmed Samsung takes direct input from eSports professionals – citing an ongoing relationship with a multiple-time League of Legends world champion in Korea, where the eSports scene is especially demanding. "Their team plus others are just continuously pushing back that feedback," he said.
The trickle-down effect is vital to this, according to Demont – Samsung's stated strategy is to introduce new technology at the top of the range first and cascade it downward over time, never the reverse – something he framed as core to protecting the end customer's investment in what remains a significant purchase.
Monitors and TVs are converging – deliberatelyPerhaps the most interesting part of the conversation was Demont noting that Samsung is folding its monitor team into the same visual display division as TV in the UK, given the convergence between them. We're at a point where some desktop monitors are the same size as TVs; this also works the other way, as people can use TVs as monitors, either on a desk or with a living room PC.
He was upfront that this decision is about capturing overlap: customers can opt for an equally rich spec TV or monitor depending on their situation, and there is an overlap in certain features for a consistent experience whichever product you go for.
For instance, some of the brand's smaller-sized OLED TVs boast a 165Hz refresh rate, while there are specific variants of some of its gaming monitors that come with its Tizen OS smart TV operating system built-in.
I maintain Tizen's presence on monitors is one of the more underrated moves Samsung's made recently: a screen that's a smart TV in one moment and a 240Hz gaming monitor in the next, with Samsung's Gaming Hub meaning you don't need a console or PC to access cloud gaming services like Xbox and GeForce Now.
We all agreed that this remains a surprising niche, and Demont stated Samsung is trying to change this with its TVs through retail bundling with the likes of Argos and Currys in the UK by offering incentives such as free controllers or game vouchers tied to TV purchases, specifically to get people asking what "Gaming Hub" actually means.
The bigger pictureBoth executives repeatedly came back to the idea that Samsung's scale is its advantage: a portfolio broad enough to cover a 49-inch ultrawide monitor, a portable outdoor TV, and a glasses-free 3D gaming panel simultaneously, developed with a genuinely global customer base in mind rather than any single region's habits.
Demont pointed to the brand's clever Movingstyle TV, originally designed with Southeast Asian markets in mind, that ended up selling worldwide once its appeal proved broader than expected.
Whether triple-mode refresh rates or glasses-free 3D end up following that same trajectory – from a niche flex to a more mainstream feature – is, by Samsung's own admission, still an open question the company is waiting for customers to answer for them.
Ever since the Xteink X4 landed in early 2026 I’ve been intrigued by this tiny line of ereaders — I loved the idea of sticking one to the back of my phone and carrying it everywhere, but at that point they just had a few too many missing features for my liking.
Then the Xteink X4 Pro launched, and with the addition of a touchscreen and front light, I decided it was finally time to take the plunge and try one for myself. As a tech lover and early adopter it’s a decision I don’t regret, but this still isn’t quite the device I want it to be.
First impressions — before I turned it on — were positive. This thing is extremely slim and light. It’s 111 x 69 x 5.95mm and 72g, numbers which may or may not mean much to you, but essentially this weighs almost nothing, and it’s thin enough that it doesn’t stick out much beyond the camera bump on my iPhone 16 Pro Max when I use its built-in magnets to stick it to the back.
Fragile and exposed(Image credit: TechRadar)The Xteink X4 Pro doesn’t exactly look or feel expensive, but then few ereaders do, and at $109 / £84 / AU$159 (currently reduced to $99 / £76 / AU$145) it doesn’t need to. The back of your phone is also isn't really the place for a more expensive device — if that's where you plan to stick the X4 Pro, then it’s quite exposed.
It ships with a basic flip cover, but I found the magnets weren’t strong enough to securely attach it to my phone while in a case. So if I drop my phone, the Xteink X4 Pro is liable to break.
In fact, even with the magnets, it can shift around a bit and come loose in my pocket, or if I press a button too hard. Maybe it would stay in place better if my phone wasn’t in a case, but that’s not an option for me. So I sort of expect this thing won’t last long, especially as epaper displays tend to be very fragile.
That’s my first issue with it, as even at its fairly low price, it’s not something I want to constantly be replacing. Of course, attaching it to your phone is optional — some people will want to keep it separate, and it’s perhaps better suited to that. But I already have (and love) a phone-sized ViWoods AiPaper Reader, so I don’t really need another standard small ereader, even if this one is even tinier.
No, the magnets were the main draw for me, and coupled with a fairly crisp 4.3-inch touchscreen with a capable front light, this is a pleasure to read books on.
The battery seems long-lasting too, which is good, because — presumably in an effort to keep this as small as possible — this uses a slightly fiddly proprietary charger rather than USB-C.
Restrictive software(Image credit: TechRadar)That extensive life is probably partly because of the software — unlike the ViWoods AiPaper Reader or some other compact ereaders, this doesn’t run resource-hungry Android. Instead, it uses Xteink’s own operating system, which is… not good. The interface is ugly and clunky, and it just makes the thing feel a bit unpleasant to use.
But it almost seems like Xteink realizes this, because the version sold on their site is a developer edition, which allows you to very easily flash alternative firmware onto the device.
I did this after all of about half an hour — I already knew I probably would, having seen most owners in the Xteink subreddit seem to ditch the stock software at the first opportunity. But while switching up the interface is easy, choosing which firmware to flash isn’t, as there are a surprising number of options.
So far, I’ve settled on CrossInk, and I’ll probably stick with that as I’m happy enough with it. It gives you a decent amount of customization options and offers more ways of getting books onto the X4 Pro. But that last point is probably my biggest issue with this device, as the lack of Android also means it can’t run the Kindle or Kobo apps.
That means you'll typically have to buy books on another device and then transfer them to the Xteink X4 Pro. And in many cases you’ll also have to remove their DRM first — something which recently became a lot trickier with Kindle books.
So, in other words, getting books onto this is a bit of a chore, and if you already have a library of Kindle books, you might find you can't read them on the Xteink X4 Pro.
That, coupled with the need to flash new firmware to get the most out of it, means I can’t really recommend this to the average ebook reader. It’s very much for people who are comfortable with tech — and ideally people who enjoy fiddling and configuring, rather than having a device that just does exactly what they want out of the box.
Plenty of potential(Image credit: TechRadar)But I do fit into those categories, so I’m having fun with the Xteink X4 Pro — and right now it’s my main ereader.
I take it with me everywhere because it’s attached to my phone, and just like the ViWoods AiPaper Reader before it, that means I’m reading in moments when I wouldn’t otherwise, because it’s always present and easy to whip out even when I only have a few minutes to spare.
Still, phone attachment aside, it also fills a very similar role for me to the ViWoods, so I’m not sure I’ll continue using both much. Right now, given all the friction points above, I think I’ll probably find myself returning to the AiPaper Reader.
But the Xteink X4 Pro does almost make that device look big, so on days when I want to travel as light as possible, I might still turn to this. And if the Xteink X5 Pro runs Android, then I might rethink things.