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You could hardly say Netflix is a business in trouble, but it does have a problem: for a lot of its shows, viewing figures are declining sharply after the first season. According to Bloomberg, Beef lost more than 70% of its viewers going into its second season, while The Night Agent lost 50% of its audience in season two.

This seems to be a pattern repeated over many Netflix shows, including some that rack up impressive viewing figures in their first season. The streaming platform relies on subscribers sticking around, and these stats are apparently "a major source of concern" for the executives at Netflix.

So what's going on? While I'm not privy to the internal discussions at Netflix or the statistics that its executives are available to them, I am a Netflix subscriber of many years standing — and I have a few ideas about what's going on.

There's a lot to get through these days, isn't there? Tens of millions of songs on music streaming platforms, more movies than you'll ever have time to watch in ten lifetimes, and of course the entire history of TV — with new shows appearing weekly. It's perhaps no surprise that we're all finding it hard to stick with successive series when there's so much more out there to watch and listen to.

The way that Netflix's stats work, is that a drop-off in viewing numbers for a second season also includes those who abandoned the show somewhere along the way during the first run of episodes. And if you're not getting grabbed episode after episode by the plot and the characters, it's all too tempting to click away.

That's a shame for slow burn shows and those that need time to get going, and perhaps we all need to learn to be a bit more patient. However, it goes some way to explaining why Netflix shows can shed a lot of viewers after the initial pull of the first few episodes — there's an awful lot competing for our attention.

For the most part, Netflix continues to drop its shows all at once, so as soon as they're live you can binge watch an entire season. Sometimes it's great to be able to burn through a bunch of episodes, but it also means you can be done with an entire season very quickly.

This exacerbates the problem of gaps between series (of which more in a moment), but it also means shows can be quickly forgotten in the rush of everything else that's going on. Some of my favorite TV shows are those that come out week by week: I watch the episode, then I catch up on the recap podcasts.

It means shows last longer — not in terms of the actual running time, but in terms of how many days and weeks it takes to get through a season. I actually quite like being able to binge shows sometimes, but it does mean they can be quickly forgotten.

This isn't something that only affects Netflix, but we're still seeing huge gaps between seasons of shows — and unless the viewing experience is very special, that's likely to lead to waning enthusiasm from audiences as the months and years drag on.

Silo isn't a Netflix show, but the point is the same: as I was settling down to watch the third season a few days ago, even the initial recap montage had me confused (there was a mere 18 months between the end of season two and the start of season three). There were parts I didn't remember, and I had to head over to Wikipedia to get caught up.

Stranger Things is a Netflix show, and while I did manage to drag myself through it in its entirety, it was a struggle towards the end. The show lasted for just shy of a decade, and there are huge swathes of it that are no longer in my memory banks. It's not easy to produce television shows quickly, but the slow rollouts aren't helping their chances.

I've seen Netflix's regular cancellation of shows floated as a reason for second-series-syndrome, and I think this is an issue for program makers as well as audiences. If you don't know whether or not you're getting a second or third season, then you have to throw everything into the first one, and think more about wrapping it up neatly than extending it.

The Night Agent is one of the Netflix shows I've found it hard to stay with: the original rookie-on-the-run premise worked well and the first season was propulsive entertainment, but as it's continued, it's become more of a by-the-numbers action thriller. It's almost like they're making it up as they go.

Compare that with something like Bridgerton, which is a Netflix show I have managed to keep up with. It is of course based on a series of books (as is Apple TV's Slow Horses by the way), and that helps to ensure variety from season-to-season, with the focus switching between different characters and plotlines.

I'm not sure exactly how Netflix can fix the problem of viewing numbers declining in season two — I'm not a highly paid TV executive after all — but those are a few thoughts about why it's happening.

Eufy’s latest flagship robotic vacuum and mop, the Omni S2 is a hugely impressive appliance that combines excellent mopping with brilliant vacuuming to create one of the best home cleaning systems you can buy. It also self-cleans so thoroughly that, after several weeks of daily use, the dust bin, rollers and mop still looked like new.

The Omni S2 uses warm water to clean its spinning mop as it goes, while also scraping away dirt and using cyclone technology to whisk dust more efficiently into the onboard bin, instead of leaving it to clog up the filters. Water is ozonated in the base station to further improve cleaning performance, and there’s an integrated detergent system too.

The robot itself can even be fitted with a fragrance diffuser, which makes your room smell nice after every clean; three different scents are included in the box and, along with the detergent, and can be replenished from Eufy’s website.

It navigates well, mostly avoiding contact with walls and doors while driving very closely to all manner of obstacles without pushing them around, driving over them or ingesting them. The S2 is good at climbing over raised carpets, rugs and door thresholds — something the Omni S1 struggled with – and the app does a great job of quickly mapping your home, with a simple editing system for labeling every room correctly, and even adding virtual furniture.

I was impressed by how quiet the Omni S2 is, even with its powerful Cyclone mode engaged, and how the base station doesn’t sound like an Airbus when emptying the robot. It’s a very expensive product, but one that looks good and performs extremely well.

• List price: $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,299
• Launched: March 2026

Just two years on from the launch of the Omni S1 Pro, Eufy now has the Omni S2. This is now the company’s flagship robotic vacuum and mop, with a price, performance and feature set to match.

It carries a recommended retail price of $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,299, making it £300 more expensive than the S1 pro, which remains on sale. That’s an awful lot of money for a vacuum cleaner — especially when

Eufy’s own range of robovacs starts under the £150 mark, and one of my favourites — the X10 Pro Omni vacuum and mop — is a comparative snip at £599.

What does the extra £1,000 get you with the S2? More power, of course, with greater suction thanks to Eufy’s new AeroTurbo 2.0 tech, improved intelligence, greater threshold clearance, a more powerful mop, better computer vision, a self-cleaning mop, electrolysed water, integrated detergent and even a built-in fragrance system with three included scents to pick from.

An additional cost to bear in mind is Eufy’s replacement parts kit. The brushes, bags, mops and rollers of all vacuum cleaners need replacing, so ongoing costs aren’t unusual, but Eufy likes to charge plenty. A complete kit for the S2 is £79.99. Premium parts for a premium robovac, I suppose. More welcome is Eufy’s new two-year warranty, which applies to all robot vacuums launched in 2026 and doubles the previous coverage.

• Value score: 3.5/5

Specification

Detail

Max suction

30,000 Pa

Robot diameter

350 mm

Robot height

3.4 in / 85 mm

Dock dimensions

15.0 x 17.7 x 26.4 in / 380 x 450 x 670 mm

Dust bin volume (base)

2.5 litres

Water tank volume (base)

3L (clean) 2L (dirty)

Base type

Charge, auto-empty, hot water mop wash, hot air mop dry, clean water refill, self-clean

Max threshold clearance

Up to 1.7 in / 42mm

Mop type

Self-cleaner roller

Mop pad lifting

1.10 in / 28 mm

Max runtime

180 minutes

• Docking station with charger, dust bag, water tanks and mop drying
• Rotating, self-cleaning mop
• Integrated detergent and fragrance supply

The S2 has a similar but more refined look than its S1 predecessor. The subtle bronze tint to sections of the robot and docking station give it a premium aesthetic that blends nicely with the futuristic lighting in both the clean water tank of the dock, and the robot’s onboard dust bin.

Taller than many docking stations, but significantly more elegant than most, the Omni S2’s appearance helps to justify its lofty price tag — and that’s further aided by the display and touch controls on top of the dock. These are handily located to press without stooping down to the robot itself, while the screen is useful for checking on the robot’s status and spotting error messages.

Short of making you a cup of tea while the robot cleans up, the S2’s docking station does absolutely everything. It charges the robot, empties its dust bin, replenishes its water supply (and even ozonates fresh water before it’s fed to the mop), cleans the mop with water heated to 70 degrees centigrade, dries it with hot air, refills the detergent tank, and has enough dust bin capacity for up to a claimed 68 days between bag replacements.

The robot itself is almost circular, with a central roller that’s claimed to be 100 percent tangle free, a pair of spinning side brushes, and a roller mop that self-cleans, slides outwards by 1.5cm to reach into corners and even an onboard fragrance supply to make your home smell nice. The S2 includes three different fragrances in the box, but these are a bespoke design so replacements can only be bought from Eufy itself. The same goes for the detergent bottle too, while thankfully the 2.5-litre dust bags are generic.

I like how the Omni S2 looks. Its design is more sophisticated than that of the S1, and I can imagine it neatly complementing the lavish houses of its deep-pocketed buyers. And while tall, at 670mm (26.4 inches), the docking station is relatively slim.

The robot is also relatively short, at 85mm. This compares favorably against taller, bulkier robovacs like the Dyson Spot+Scrub AI, which towers over the Eufy at 110mm and is less capable of cleaning beneath low furniture.

A welcome design upgrade for the Eufy Omni S2 is its ability to now clear door thresholds up to 4.2cm tall, up from just 2cm for the Omni S1. I was often left frustrated by that robot’s inability to drive up from exposed floorboards to a carpeted neighboring room, but have had no such issues with the S2.

• Design score: 5/5

• Impressive vacuuming
• Excellent mopping
• Strong improvement over the S1

From the setup process and mapping, to vacuuming, mopping, navigation and self-cleaning, the Omni S2 is a triumph. You might say it should well be for the massive price tag, but even in 2026 it’s rare for such a complex new product to impress so universally. Where the Eufy Omni S1 struggled in some key areas — navigation, threshold clearance and sometimes even vacuuming — the S2’s performance is close to perfect.

Yes, it’s an ultra-premium product with a price to match. This is right up there with your Leica camera, Rimowa suitcase and five-figure turntable. I imagine the typical Omni S2 owner is the sort of person who wouldn't blink at splashing out on a pair of Apple AirPods Max 2 at the airport because they forgot their first-gens at home. They’d probably deal with a flight delay by picking up a new Swiss watch, too.

And that’s absolutely fine. Whatever the product, there’s always something that happens to sell the most expensive one, and for robotic vacuums that just so happens to be Eufy with the Omni S2. That doesn’t inherently count against it, because there are always customers happy to pay a premium for the one they like, or not really care about the cost because the S2’s spec sheet, design and feature set already put it at the top of the market.

What matters is how it performs in the real world, and how that compares to user expectations. Naturally, mine were at an all-time high and the S2 mostly delivered. The vacuuming performance is noticeably better than with the S1, and after a month of testing I still smile at the neat stripes vacuumed into my lounge carpet — and at how pleasant the S2’s fragrance system makes every room smell.

Eufy has improved navigation since the S1, and now the S2 is smart enough to not vacuum over the tasselled ends of a rug. It also automatically detects rug and carpet thickness, then raises itself by up to 50mm (1.97 inches) to prevent getting stuck in deep-pile fabric. In my testing, the S2 flagged a potentially tricky bit of carpet — which was actually an integrated but deeply contoured door mat — so I could tell it to ignore the concern or permanently avoid it.

Navigation and map creation is generally good. The robot only once got stuck and called for help, and I was impressed by how quickly the S2 mapped the ground floor of my home and did a decent job of detecting room boundaries. I used the app to fine-tune these, and was pleased to see how the S2 had added 3D cupboards, sofas, tables, chairs and other bits of furniture to the map. This isn’t strictly necessary, but it’s nice to see how the S2 correctly understands its environment.

Eufy claims a maximum suction of 30,000Pa, which is a huge upgrade over the 8,000Pa of the Omni S1 and other Eufy robots like the X10. There are four suction modes — Quiet, Standard, Turbo and Max — three options of cleaning intensity, three water levels, and the option of performing each cleaning task once or twice. As with the S1, the S2 returns to base whenever it needs to empty its bin, clean the mop, replenish its water supply or charge the battery. A mode called AI Automation promises to adjust cleaning strategy based on room type, floor material and cleaning frequency.

The Omni S2 deeply impressed during the first few weeks of general use, keeping hard floors and carpets clean — even after a cockapoo puppy joined our household, and his insistence on helping with garden projects brought a lot of dirt into the house. It was a joy, quite frankly, to have the S2 on hand, ready to clean up after every chaotic evening of dog zoomies.

I also loved how the S2 kept itself clean. Not only is the mop cleaned and dried with every use, but the cyclone-style dust collection ensures the onboard bin is practically spotless after each empty, and the filters don’t get clogged up. The rollers also looked like new after many hours of use, thanks to an anti-tangle design that actually works.

The mopping system works as well as the S1’s — evidenced by the absolutely filthy water collected in the waste tank of the docking station. I’d recommend owners empty this frequently, because if you wait a couple of weeks or so until it’s full, pouring it away is a seriously stinky process.

During TechRadar’s standardized robovac tests the Omni S2 continued to perform very well. These tests include two rounds of vacuuming on both carpets and hard floors, plus an obstacle avoidance test and a mopping test.

Pleasingly, the Omni S2’s vacuum performance is better than its predecessor, the two-year-old Omni S1. Vacuuming up oats from carpet was particularly impressive, with not a single piece being missed (except where I set the target zone in slightly the wrong place).

During these tests I found the quickest, least powerful mode, called Quiet, was indeed very quiet (just 55 decibels on carpet), but the S2 performs best when suction is upped to the Standard or Turbo modes, cleaning intensity is increased from Fast to Standard, and the S2 is asked to perform two passes of the target zone or room, instead of one.

A crumb mix made of flour and crushed biscuit was completely lifted from a wooden kitchen floor using the S2’s standard intensity and suction settings, while on carpet I found Turbo or Cyclone (the most powerful suction mode) was best.

With that enabled, plus the intensity increased to Deep and the number of passes upped to two, the robot did a superb job.

The oat test is usually tougher, because robovacs tend to flick larger debris across hard floors with their spinning side brushes. The Omni S2 fell foul of this too, but as ever my advice is to set the robot to vacuum the entire room twice, instead of aiming for a target and kicking it everywhere.

With the right settings applied, the S2 picked up every single piece – and passed the same test with flying colors on carpet too, where flicking debris is less of an issue.

I tested the mopping system with a dried smear of ketchup, which was promptly removed from the wooden floor. The cylindrical mop spins and pivots outwards to reach into the edges of the room, while the robot scrapes it clean and washes it while driving. The mop is then dried with hot air at the base station, which takes several hours but is very quiet.

Meanwhile, the S2’s obstacle avoidance saw it drive neatly around a shoe, a sock and a USB cable strewn across the floor. I was impressed by how close it got to each, with moving or ingesting anything.

Overall, the Eufy Omni S2 performed brilliantly. I would recommend using Standard intensity and Standard suction with two passes most of the time, then up the suction to Turbo or Cyclone for a deeper clean. The latter hitting just 70 decibels was also impressive — for context, my Dyson V10 stick vacuum is 90 dB at medium power.

I only encountered one serious problem with the S2, and unfortunately it led to a replacement unit being provided by Eufy. The first S2 performed perfectly for a month, but developed a fault where the robot and docking station lost their connection. Several reboots and lots of advice from customer services failed to find a solution, so a second S2 was delivered and the original went back to Eufy for an inspection.

Naturally, this is disappointing for such an expensive product. But I was impressed by Eufy’s customer service department — which I approached as a customer and not a journalist — and how quickly the problem was resolved. The second unit performed perfectly throughout the rest of my test.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

• Easy to use
• Lots of configurability
• Also handles Eufy security products
• Option to charge at night — great if you have an EV tariff

The Eufy app gets better with every revision, and today it’s one of the best robovac apps I’ve ever used. Everything is logically laid out, with just the right amount of adjustability on offer to keep both newcomers and power users happy. The app is quick, responsive and presents everything in a way that’s easy to understand.

I especially like how it adds virtual furniture to your floor maps, which makes it easier to understand the layout and visualize where the robot is. Editing floor plans also works well, with simple tools for splitting, combining and renaming rooms after the robot has created an initial (but not always accurate) map of your home. Multiple floormaps can also be created, making it easy to save a second map for your bedrooms upstairs, for example.

Another feature I like is how pre-defined tasks can be created. I have one called “After dinner”, which tells the S2 to vacuum and mop my kitchen a certain way. A single tap of this from the Eufy app home screen, and the robot gets to work.

Since getting a puppy I’ve come to value Eufy’s child lock function, which disables the buttons on top of the robot – handy for both inquisitive children and dogs alike. I also like the off-peak charging function, where you can configure the S2 to only charge its battery at certain times of day. Since I have an electric car and an EV tariff, I’ve set the robovac to only charge at night, when my electricity is much cheaper.

• App score: 4.5/5

Attribute

Notes

Score

Value

The Eufy Omni S2 really is very expensive indeed. It isn’t the most expensive robovac of all time, but it’s right up there. And while its lofty price makes alternatives look like excellent value, the S2 doesn’t necessarily feel like a rip-off. It’s a high-quality appliance that performs brilliantly and looks good too.

3.5/5

Design

Eufy knocked it out of the park with the S2’s design. It’s aesthetically pleasing, has a smaller footprint than some rivals, and the robot slips beneath most furniture. It also drives over raised rugs and thresholds better than before and keeps itself incredibly clean. All I wish is for a way to prevent the waste water tank from getting quite so pungent — frequent empties are a must!

5/5

Performance

The Omni S2 is much better at vacuuming than the S1 was, while being just as good at mopping and navigation. All of these attributes are now top-notch, while the onboard fragrance system is a lovely extra touch and the improved ability to clamber over raised thresholds is very welcome

4.5/5

App

Eufy’s app is great. Its robovac section is simpler to navigate than the slightly cluttered security section, with an excellent mapping system, handy shortcuts for frequently used cleaning chores, and some little features that are massively useful — like off-peak charging and the child/pet lock.

5/5

You want the best, regardless of price

Yes, it’s very expensive. But if you want the best this might well be it. Everything about the Omni S2 contributes to a premium ownership experience, from the app and the hardware, to the fragrance, cleaning performance and self-cleaning.

Mopping and vacuuming are equally important

Many robovacs are better at one task than the other — Eufy’s own Omni S1 mopped far better than it vacuumed — but with the S2 excellent mopping is paired with powerful vacuuming.

Self-cleaning is a must

The S2’s self-cleaning abilities are the best I’ve seen. Even after weeks of use in a busy home with a puppy, the robot’s dust bin, brushes, rollers and mop are like new. My only advice is to empty the waste water tank frequently, since older dirty water really does stink when poured away.

You're on a budget

There are a lot of very good robovacs that cost significantly less than the Omni S2. They don’t perform quite as well, but if you value vacuuming oliver mopping, for example, your money could be better spent (and saved!) elsewhere. If you have a lot of stairs, consider spending the same on a robovac and a conventional stick vacuum instead of splurging it all on the S2.

You don't want ongoing costs

This is a factor for all robovacs, since they mostly use dust bags and their brushes and rollers eventually need replacing. But the S2’s running costs are greater than most because Eufy sells its own mopping detergent in a specially-shaped bottle, and you’ll have to buy fragrance refills from Eufy too. Eufy’s official replacement parts kit is £80, three fragrance refills are £25 and the detergent is £20.

I lived with the Eufy Omni S2 for several weeks before writing this review. During that time it was used exclusively to vacuum the carpets and mop the floors of my house. I tested its cleaning abilities, tried some of the included fragrance diffusers, and noted how its self-cleaning systems fared after many hours of use.

I then carried out a number of specific tests to understand how well it cleans different types of debris from carpet and hard floors, how effective its mopping system is, how good it is at avoiding obstacles, and how loud it is.

First reviewed July 2026

It’s finally here – at 3pm ET / 8pm BST, Spain and Argentina step onto the pitch at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for the 2026 World Cup Final.

Arguably, today’s match is the sporting event of the year – and as such, fans will be tuning in from every corner of the globe.

If you’re hoping to catch the match but want to keep your connection secure, or want to access streams from your home region while travelling abroad, a VPN is a great way to establish a fast, safe connection to your streaming service of choice.

It can be tempting to pick up one of the best free VPNs for your World Cup watch party, but these aren’t always as reliable as their paid counterparts. PrivadoVPN is one of the more cost effective options on the market for a reliable, fast, and secure paid VPN, offering real upgrades over its free counterpart.

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PrivadoVPN is our pick for the best value VPN for the 2026 World Cup Final. In our testing, it offered fantastic top speeds of up to 2,334Mbps, offers a variety of server locations, and comes with useful features like a powerful ad-blocker and content controls. What’s more, PrivadoVPN is one of the cheapest paid VPNs on the market when you opt for a long-term plan, with an equivalent price of as little as $1.11 per month. Its pay-monthly rate of $10.99 per month is pretty competitive, too. View Deal

Free VPNs include restrictions that aren’t present on their paid counterparts. These might not be an issue for everyday browsing, but can be a real problem for video streaming.

Issues with free VPNs can include restrictive data usage limits, limited server locations or connection to a random location, and slower network speeds.

For crucial sports events like the World Cup Final, the last thing you want to deal with is buffering, a blurry, low-resolution picture, or a connection to the wrong country.

Luckily, upgrading to a paid VPN doesn’t have to be expensive. For a competitive price, PrivadoVPN’s paid edition does away with its free version’s 10GB data cap and ups its single connection limit to 10 devices at once.

If PrivadoVPN isn’t for you, there are other options on the market. TechRadar’s VPN Editor Rob Dunne has made his pick for the World Cup Final with NordVPN, which tops our list of the best VPNs overall.

If you’re looking to save money, our pick for the best cheap VPN is Surfshark VPN, which offers a comprehensive feature set but isn’t quite as cheap as Privado VPN.