News
A new smart specs maker has arrived on the scene, and it’s looking to arrive with a bang. The L'Atitude 52°N Smart Glasses are loud and proud, and after L'Atitude dispatched a slightly rocky first batch of review units to tech publications (including ourselves), I’ve been putting the newer, more production-ready glasses through their paces over the past month.
Let’s first unpack the selling points, which I discussed with L'Atitude’s founders (including ex-OnePlus engineer Gary Chen) in the weeks before my review. Made in Europe and unapologetically Euro-coded, with Berlin-inspired and, coming soon, Milan frame designs, these won’t be the glasses for everyone, and that’s okay, the team says; but they are for adventurers.
On board, you’ll find Goya AI (named after the Spanish painter, Francisco Goya), a dulcet-toned Southern California male voice assistant who’s eager to help you explore the world with features like AI Tour Guide, Live Translation, and the usual retinue of camera-laden smart-glasses features.
At least, that’s the pitch. On vacation with my lovely mom on the Greek island of Santorini, I put these supersized specs to the test, and although I can see them shaping up to be terrific travel companions, right now they’re dogged by big problems. From spotty software to an entirely unclear future in terms of how much its AI features will cost when the subscription plan kicks in sometime in the next year, it’s hard to recommend L’Atitude’s bold frames from a value perspective, at least for now.
(Image credit: Future)L'Atitude 52°N review: price and availability- List price: starts at $465.00 (about £345)
- Availability: US, with UK availability expected soon.
The L’Atitude Berlin glasses start at $465, which converts to about £345, increasing to $520 if you opt for photochromic lenses. At the time of writing, they’re exclusively available in the US and EU, with UK availability to follow soon. You can choose from Obsidian (black) and Dune (greige) frames as well as grey gradient, orange, and photochromic lenses. These prices apply to both the currently available Berlin frames, as well as the upcoming Milan model, which offer a more delicate design.
Already, that’s a lofty list price, especially when compared to the comparatively expensive Meta Ray-Ban (Gen 2), which start at $379 / £379 / AU$689. And it gets worse.
The major dampener here is that these glasses will, at some point, also require you to take out a subscription in order to use the full set of features, but right now we have no confirmed pricing for this. I asked the brand about its plans in this area, and they told me: “Customers who purchase any Departure Collection [a.k.a. Either the Berlin or Milan frames] product by December 31, 2026 and register an account will automatically receive a complimentary 12-month trial of all AI features, requiring no separate purchase or activation.
“The trial starts as soon as the account is activated and grants full access to current and future AI capabilities, including upcoming releases, with a generous daily usage allowance of 60 minutes. After the trial period, users can continue to enjoy AI features with a subscription plan, while essential functions will always remain accessible. AI usage tracking will soon be available in the app for added transparency.”
As for pricing for said plan, various sources cite this as “less than $20” per month, though L’Atitude didn’t confirm this when I asked. So overall, this offers little comfort given that you’re already shelling out for an already expensive pair of specs, and until that final number is confirmed I can’t in good conscience give these glasses a higher value rating.
If you love the designs here, and especially the fact no other pair of smart glasses look quite like them, then you could argue that the value-for-money proposition is improved; personally, I still think it’s a hard sell.
- Value: 2.5/5
L’Atitude 52°N
Weight
50-51g
Camera
12MP Sony sensor, 1080p video recording at 30fps
Chip
Bestechnic BES2800 6nm chipset
AI Assistant
Goya AI, powered by Google Gemini
Battery
200mAh (case offers 8-10 full recharges)
Storage
32GB
(Image credit: Future)L'Atitude 52°N review: design- Chunky but funky frames
- Lightweight with IP65 rating
- Charging case is a behemoth
Design is where L’Atitude takes its biggest swing, and while other fashion-first and adventurous designs have hit the market in 2026, I do think the brand is carving an exciting niche, especially in the European market.
Do I love how the Berlin frames look on my face? No, but the stylish, rounder new Milan frames weren’t available for me to try when I started my testing. Still, there will be some who find the boxy shape and unapologetically Berlin-esque chunkiness is right up their street.
The nose grips were fine, but overall the glasses were a little too big and loose of a fit for me. While traversing the famous steps of Oia, which are notoriously perilous, having to hold these onto my face while I looked down at the cobbled roads meant I took a bit of a tumble and hobbled home with a sprained finger and a nasty gash; I’d put a fair chunk of responsibility on my choice of shoes and general clumsiness here, though.
They are pretty well designed, though. At just 50-51g, they’re light and comfortable to wear, and though the plasticky frames aren’t quite as svelte as, say, some Ray-Ban Meta frames, they’re far from cheap-looking. They’re IP65 rated for weather and dust resistance, and a scratch-resistant treatment is applied to the lenses, meaning they’re towards the more durable end of the spectrum versus other currently available smart glasses.
As with many smart glasses I've tried, camera placement doesn't work with hair particularly well... (Image credit: Future)The arms house the Bestechnic BES2800 6nm chipset and 200mAh battery, as well as some pretty punchy speakers for listening to music or podcasts, calls, or chatting with the AI on the go. In day-to-day settings while out and about, I found sound leakage to be pretty minimal unless someone’s very close by and you have the volume turned up; however, in a quiet room you can hear at least some of what’s going on on-device, even at lower volumes, albeit not clearly.
There’s a 12MP camera on the left-hand side of the frame, and a matching dummy camera on the right side. A recording light flashes while you’re filming or taking shots; this is pleasingly bright, so those around you will know you’re recording. If the light is covered, capture is immediately shut down; whether or not lights are enough to alert potentially unconsenting parties is a separate conversation, but for now, this is the privacy bar that’s been set by smart-glasses manufacturers. I tried several times to obstruct this and gladly found it’s pretty darn reliable.
The biggest design fault, for me, is the case. Now, these are bulky frames, but the charging case is a real heifer at 2 x 6.8 x 3.14 inches / 5.2 x 17.5 x 8cm (H x W x D), which somewhat defeats the purpose of branding these glasses as travel-friendly, as it’s going to take up a good chunk of your carry-on luggage space. Speaking of which, I noticed following both my flight to and from Santorini that the case had suctioned shut due to the cabin pressure on board, and I had to prise it open with a pin.
Still, the case is robust and well-made, and with its IP67 rating it’s hardy enough to come along on more adventurous trips, too. Plus, it lights up a nice orange color when the glasses are charging.
- Design: 3.5/5
- On-device photo transfers are a privacy boon…
- But some shots are lost in the void
- Great photos, decent video
L'Atitude really wants you to treat its glasses, and specifically Goya AI, as a travel companion; the moment you open up the app, the AI Tour guide feature is front and center. But how do they fare on the camera-hardware side?
Fairly well, I’d say. Horizontal and vertical photos captured by the 12MP Sony sensor, and cleaned up by the on-board AI, are comparable to results from my second-generation Meta Ray-bans, and the specs record well-stabilized 1080p video at 30fps (though this pales against the latest Meta Ray-Ban’s 3K capture), with clips from 30 seconds to three minutes.
FutureFutureEven low-light and night shots came out pretty well, and I found that framing shots broadly felt natural, though some were a little wonky. The five-mic array captured my voice impressively clearly and without too much background noise, and the speakers deliver bright, clear audio.
With 32GB of on-board memory, there’s a decent amount of room to store photos and videos before sharing them from your phone — your content goes straight to your local companion phone app instead of a permanent cloud database, swerving the privacy minefield of your most personal moments living on someone else’s database.
That being said, uploading your content isn’t always easy. I most definitely lost a few shots — especially if my glasses ran out of battery before I had a chance to sync them — and syncing sometimes inexplicably stalls, and you have to wait a while to try again.
Elsewhere, everything works as expected; the touch controls on the arms are responsive and intuitive, and the battery lasts up to six hours — with moderate use, I generally saw four to five hours of usage. The case offers between eight and 10 full charges, and fast-charges the glasses to 70% in 20-25 minutes.
- Performance: 4/5
- Goya AI often cuts you off
- Replies are spotty at best
- Tour guide feature is a work in progress
I’d originally tried some beta versions of these frames, and while the current software is far from perfect, it’s impressive to see how many kinks L’Atitude has ironed out in a few short months.
Contrary to earlier reviews you may have read, as well as my own experience, I’m pleased to report that many of Goya AI’s advertised features now work (hooray!), though in my experience it’s still not always quite as advertised.
Some of that may be to do with my main testing location; Santorini is beautiful, but there aren’t a great number of landmarks for which the tour guide feature could come in handy; and Oia, where we stayed, is a labyrinth of winding stairways, private paths and roads less traveled, so navigation — even on more developed software like Google Maps — is a challenge.
That being said, I did get to try the AI tour guide out on the ruins of the Castle of Oia, which it helpfully informed me were the ruins of the Castle of Oia, offering little else beyond a few brief words on its popularity as a sightseeing and photography spot in Santorini. This was all happening while I was fighting for my life not to be pushed off the edge of the castle walls by other tourists, so while it’s accurate, I wouldn’t exactly call it additive.
I tried this feature on a few locations back home in the UK to much the same results; sometimes, the synopses were more detailed, but I couldn’t seem to find any landmarks that offered the full walkthrough experience I’d hoped for when I first read about the “expert-level guidance” offered by the feature.
The five-mic array may help capture great audio for your video, but so much is lost in translation when speaking with Goya AI. Maybe it’s my British accent, but I found that more than half of my questions were entirely misheard, making for some hilarious if not mildly frustrating interactions with the on-board intelligence. It frequently cut me off, answered completely different questions to what I’d asked, and often couldn’t recall previous prompts.
Sometimes Goya AI does seem to understand you, but doesn’t want to execute your commands. When I asked it to take photos, shoot video, tell me what I’m looking at or play music from Spotify, Goya would occasionally spit out a totally random response at best, and at worst behave as though it was about to follow my command before doing big fat nothing. It had good days and bad days, so I have to wonder how much of this stems from connectivity issues. Regardless, spending much of your time yelling at your glasses is not what you want when you’re out travelling or in public places.
Translation to and from Greek isn’t yet available, so when I got home I tested this feature out with my Spanish friend. I wouldn’t quite call spoken-word translation live as advertised; Goya can handle approximately one sentence at a time, will need to think for up to 20 seconds, and will then speak it in your native language through the glasses. When I asked Goya to translate a written book synopsis from Spanish to English, though, it worked much more quickly and fluidly; with both tests, I was impressed with its accuracy, though it’s to be expected with Google’s Gemini under the hood.
- AI: 3.5/5
Attribute
Comment
Score
Design
A bold first stab at the smart glasses market with broadly well thought-out design features, but one with a few small quirks
4/5
Performance
Decent cameras, decent sound, and decent battery. These are pretty good all-rounders, but again, there are quirks.
4/5
AI
Not quite frictionless and not quite as additive as I'd hope with its travel-first features, but these glasses do stick the landing on a lot of standard smart glasses features
3.5/5
Value
A bit pricey as-is, and until there's clarity on AI feature subscription costs, this score sticks.
2.5/5
Buy them if…You love the Berlin look
I won’t take that away from you, even if it looks so wrong on my face — looks-wise these are a striking and exciting addition to a market that’s been fairly same-y for a long time.
You want locally stored content
While I can’t guarantee that these offer absolute security and privacy, I can say that the direct-to-phone photo transfers offer some peace of mind, given reports of other brands’ privacy minefields.
Don’t buy them if…(Image credit: Future)You want to spare yourself a subscription
The great, looming unknown of the upcoming L’Atitude AI subscription fee is off-putting at best, and given many of the features are still works in progress, it’s hard to recommend these glasses to the budget-conscious.
You want top-of-the-range video cameras
Photo quality is competitive with that of smart specs from the big-hitting brands, but on the video front, 1080p at 30fps is a low bar.
How I tested the L'Atitude 52°N- I took the glasses on my week-long vacation to Santorini, and tested them for around 10 hours in the UK
- I tried all of its advertised software and hardware features
- I used its AI to help enrich my vacation. Well, I tried.
As these are travel-focused smart specs, what better way to test them than to hit the road and take them on vacation? On my trip to Santorini, I tried their travel-focused software features, including the AI tour guide, asking for restaurant recommendations and questions about the island’s history, weather, and the like.
Having recently reviewed the second-generation Meta Ray-bans, I used those specs, which we rate as the best overall smart glasses pick for most people, as my main comparison point, but I’ve also sampled a range of other models at trade shows and in our offices over the past few years.
I ran the L'Atitude app from my iPhone 17 Pro.
- First reviewed: August 2026
RGB TVs are the latest talk of the TV world, with multiple brands embracing the new technology. Known by different names depending on the brand, such as Micro RGB (Samsung and LG), True RGB (Sony), and RGB mini-LED (Hisense and TCL), RGB TVs use a layer of red, green and blue mini-LEDs in their backlight, where standard mini-LED just uses white LEDs. The aim is to produce bolder, richer colors and better backlight control compared to traditional mini-LED.
I’ve tested a few RGB TVs now, and the tech shows promising signs. One of those TVs, currently sitting in our testing lab, is the Samsung R95H, the brand’s flagship Micro RGB TV. I’ve compared the R95H to a rival True RGB TV from Sony, the Bravia 7 II, and both showed what RGB is capable of.
But, given that RGB is aiming to take OLED’s spot at the top of the best TVs pile, I thought I’d compare the R95H to a rival OLED, using reference scenes from 4K Blu-rays I use in my AV testing. The OLED I’ve chosen is the LG G6, one of the best OLED TVs I’ve tested so far in 2026.
So, let’s find out how a flagship OLED compares to a flagship RGB TV.
A quick note on the photos below: the R95H has a red tint due to the camera interacting with the glare-free matte screen. This red tint is not visible when viewing with the naked eye.
BrightnessBoth TVs deliver big brightness, but surprisingly it's the LG G6 OLED (left) that has punchier highlights and brightness, shown in this shot of Speed Racer (Image credit: Warner Bros / Future )Traditionally, mini-LED would take the brightness crown easily, as mini-LED in recent years has easily exceeded 3,000 nits, even in budget models, while OLED has struggled to break the 2,000-nit mark. However, that’s changed in the last couple of years, with OLED now delivering real brightness improvements.
Measuring both TV’s brightness, the LG G6 initially hit 2,471 nits peak HDR brightness in my first tests in March 2026. Since then, the G6 has received a few firmware updates, and in my most recent measurements, taken in July 2026, it hit 3,004 nits (both measurements were taken in Filmmaker Mode). These are huge results for OLED. As for the Samsung R95H, it measured 1,977 nits peak HDR brightness in Filmmaker Mode, while in its ‘brighter’ movie mode it hit 1,960 nits. So, the G6 easily takes the peak HDR win.
As for fullscreen brightness, where mini-LED often succeeds, the G6 hit 451 nits fullscreen HDR brightness in Filmmaker Mode, while the R95H hit 612 nits. So here, the RGB TV takes the win, but the gap isn’t as big as it used to be. Flagship OLEDs would often struggle to break 300 nits two years ago, but that’s changed now.
What does this mean for real-world scenes though? For the most part, I've found that these measurements have translated to in-person viewing. Watching Speed Racer, the G6 shows much punchier HDR highlights, such as the headlamps of the Mach 5 or the bright, blue sky above the city as the Racer family fly to Royalton Industries. Watching footage of snow from the Spears & Munsil UHD Benchmark 4K Blu-ray, the whites of the snow have more impact on the G6, though there’s still some nice brightness in the R95H.
The G6 (left) impressed me with its bright-room viewing, but the R95H's (right) matte screen is the best for completely eliminating mirror-like reflections (Image credit: Future)Bright-room viewing and mirror-like reflections have often been OLED’s kryptonite, due to the very glossy screens of these TVs. However, when I tested the G6 next to the Samsung S95H/S99H, the latter of which has a glare-free matte screen, I found that the G6’s anti-reflective screen was very effective at reducing reflections while maintaining strong black tones. The same is true here with the G6 and the R95H, though in terms of eliminating mirror-like reflections, the R95H, which is also equipped with the glare-free matte screen, does a better job. The G6 still impresses for an OLED, though.
ColorsBoth TVs deliver excellent colors, but while the R95H (right) has the color luminance, the G6 (left) has the color volume and depth. (Image credit: Warner Bros / Future )Color reproduction is one area where RGB TVs are being touted for their capabilities, and based on the ones I’ve tested so far, they certainly can deliver impressive results. OLED is known for the strength of its colors too, however.
In Speed Racer, both TVs deliver vibrant, punchy colors that really pop on screen. Both manage to reproduce the saturated, bright colors of the Racer household, with its orange walls, pink details and sometimes lime-green paintwork. The characters' clothing, such as Trixie’s bright pink shirt and Spritle’s yellow shirt, are also expertly handled by both TVs. The real difference is each TV’s color profile. While the G6 delivers these colors with real depth and richness, the R95H’s colors are more subtle, and arguably more accurate and natural looking.
The G6 (left) delivers bolder colors comapred to the R95H (right) when displaying the Lumas from The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Nintendo / Universal Pictures / Future Again, the G6's (left) colors have that bit more punch to them Nintendo / Universal Pictures / FutureSwitching to animation, in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, both TVs again demonstrated excellent color reproduction, with a similar profile to what I’d seen in Speed Racer. As the Lumas gathered for story time, the various colors of their bodies popped on both TVs, and again the G6 had that beautiful depth and boldness, while the R95H had a more neutral but realistic look.
I did find at times that the G6 leaned a little too heavily towards red, which made some reds, such as Mario’s hat and overalls or the red of a toadstool, look a little oversaturated compared to the rest of the picture. The R95H had a much more uniform color profile, with no one color standing out. Still, the G6’s more vivid colors were hard to look over, and did really suit the crisp, colorful animation of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Contrast and dark room viewingBoth the G6 (left) and R95H (right) deliver strong contrast, balancing light and dark tones well in this scene from The Batman (Image credit: Warner Bros / Future )Switching both TVs to Filmmaker Mode for darker content, I started my comparisons with my go-to contrast-y movie: The Batman. While OLEDs tend to be the best option for high-contrast scenes, thanks to their self-dimming pixels for deeper dark tones, I was surprised by how close this particular contest was.
In high-contrast scenes, such as the exploration of the crime scene at Mayor Mitchell's house, or as Bruce talks with Alfred in the Batcave, both TVs demonstrated an excellent balance between the dark tones of the environment and the lamps/overhead lights. While the G6 did show richer dark tones overall, the R95H’s highlights, such as light hitting the side of Commissioner Savage’s face at the aforementioned crime scene, actually had more impact, despite its lower peak HDR brightness.
Both TVs also showed superb shadow detail. When Batman stands on a darkened subway platform, his armor is completely legible, despite the dark surroundings and dimly lit nature of the scene; this is a scene that some TVs I’ve tested have struggled with. Both TVs also did a very good job preserving the dark tones while accurately displaying these details too.
Both TVs delivered deep black levels, accurately portraying this shot of space from Alien: Romulus (Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future )Another thing I noticed while watching The Batman was that I actually preferred the R95H’s skin tones. On the G6, people’s skin tones in darker scenes looked a little washed out, while on the R95H they appeared to have more color, looking more true-to-life.
Sitting between the two TVs, I did notice that off-center, the R95H is prone to some backlight blooming (where bright objects against a dark background have a halo of light around them), whereas the G6 wasn’t, thanks to its self-dimming pixels and lack of backlight.
For one final test, I used a scene from Alien: Romulus, in which the team approaches the Romulus station for the first time. Both TVs did a fantastic job rendering the deep, black tones of space, and while I expected this from the G6 OLED, I was pleasantly surprised by how rich the R95H’s blacks were, especially for backlit TV.
OLED vs RGB: who comes out on top?For me, the G6 OLED is the better TV of the two, but the R95H proves just how effective Micro RGB can be, and how OLED manufacturers should be wary of the new technology (Image credit: Future)In terms of pricing, these two TVs are on a level pegging. A 65-inch G6 costs $2,999 / £2,999 / AU$4,999, while a 65-inch R95H costs $2,999 / £3,099 / AU$4,999. So, while they may both be at the very premium end of the market, if you have that kind of money, price isn’t really a factor here, as there’s nothing much between them.
So it really comes down to performance. I’ve said before that RGB TVs, at least the ones I’ve tested, haven’t achieved ‘OLED-killer’ status just yet, and the same is true here — but it’s getting close. For me, I preferred the G6’s overall contrast, textures and color performance, but that doesn’t mean the R95H didn’t impress, especially for darker-room viewing, and when prices start to drop for these two TVs, my decision could swing the other way. OLED may be the current king, but RGB is hot on its heels. Over the next couple of years, this is going to be a thoroughly intriguing contest.
Thinking of buying a new TV?Try our TV size and model finder! You tell it how far you sit from your TV, we'll tell you what size to buy based on viewing angle advice from image quality experts, and we'll recommend our three top TVs at that size for different prices.
Just when it looked like foldable phones might fade into irrelevance (they represented just 1.5% of global smartphone sales in 2025), Samsung has come along with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 — a passport-shaped foldable that could, with Apple’s help, catapult dual-screen devices into the mainstream.
We’ve actually seen this form factor before — the Huawei Pura X Max, for instance, debuted in China earlier this year — but the Galaxy Z Fold 8 marks the first time a passport-style foldable has been made available in Western markets.
So, is it as revolutionary as Samsung wants us to believe? I’ve been using the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for exactly a month now, and I can safely say that, yes, it’s a supremely versatile content-watching machine — though there are some quirks to be aware of if you’re thinking of spending $1,899 /£1,699 / AU$2,699 on one.
In this article, I’ll run through what I love, don’t love, and just generally think about Samsung’s new kid on the block. You can also check out our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 review for an in-depth look at specific features, or watch the video below for an on-camera rundown of everything I’m about to say.
Calling all video loversLet’s kick off with my thoughts on the Z Fold 8’s design, which ditches the productivity-focused dimensions of previous book-style foldables for a squatter, passport shape when closed and a more practical rectangular shape when opened.
Samsung says these dimension tweaks are a response to changing consumer habits (read: we’re all addicted to scrolling in 2026), and it’s easy to see why the Z Fold 8 is a better phone for browsing social media, watching videos, and reading articles than the larger Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.
For starters, the 5.5-inch, 10:16 cover display is perfect for one-handed use of full-sized apps. You don’t have to stretch your thumb to reach the top of the screen, and it’s also much easier to type on this wider display than on taller, narrower book-style foldables.
(Image credit: Future)The phone’s width might make one-handed typing a bit of a challenge for those with smaller hands, but it’s honestly super nostalgic to type with two hands (which is how we all type for the most part anyway), as it feels a bit like using an old BlackBerry phone without the physical keyboard. Remember those?
Turn the Z Fold 8 on its side, and this cover screen becomes a 16:10 canvas that’s perfectly sized for YouTube videos, Netflix movies, and other video content. The content's aspect ratio stays the same as on any other phone, but in this orientation, the Z Fold 8 removes awkward pillarboxing for a more immersive viewing experience.
(Image credit: Future)I did find that my hand would sometimes cover the bottom-firing speaker when I held the phone like this, but half-unfolding the Z Fold 8 and letting it stand independently has honestly become one of my favorite ways to watch video on any phone.
All this being said, you’re not buying a foldable to use one screen only, and opening up the Z Fold 8 gives you a glorious 7.6-inch, 4:3 display that’s — you guessed it! — also great for video.
On the front display, most video content is cropped by default to 16:9, but you still get smaller black bars here and less negative space than you would on something like the Z Fold 8 Ultra. But the Z Fold 8 really shines when displaying native 4:3 content like older anime shows.
I mean, just *look* at this Neon Genesis Evangelion episode on Netflix and tell me there’s a better way to watch TV on a phone:
(Image credit: Future)And you can say the same for reading. Using the unfolded Z Fold 8 in portrait is great for scrolling through websites, ebooks, and comics because 3:4 isn’t too far off the dimensions of traditional physical books.
This also makes the Z Fold 8 a great size for work-focused apps like Google Docs. While the Z Fold 8 Ultra is definitely more geared towards productivity, I found that the content-focused size of this smaller model isn’t totally unsuitable for professional tasks.
FutureFutureOne thing I have noticed, though, is that social media apps aren’t well-optimized for this unfolded screen. 3:4 isn’t too bad for Instagram, but as soon as you switch to landscape, the app just isn’t formatted nicely, so for the most part I’ve been scrolling through socials on the cover display, which feels much more normal by comparison.
And a final word on the phone’s design: the crease here is definitely less visible than it is on the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Samsung added a Flex Titanium layer to both Z Fold 8 models this year, which also makes the hinge feel sturdier, and the phone unfold completely flat. And while phones like the Pixel 11 Pro Fold and Honor Magic V6 offer better dust resistance, I’ve never worried about the durability of my Z Fold 8.
Pocketable power(Image credit: Future)In terms of performance, the Z Fold 8 is just as fun to use as it is to look at. It’s got a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and 12GB of RAM, so games like Asphalt Legends run smoothly at their highest graphical settings.
Samsung has also updated its Multi-Window feature so you can use up to three apps side-by-side vertically or horizontally, as well as via the older splitting method. I can’t say I’ve ever needed to use three apps simultaneously, but having two apps open side-by-side is definitely useful for cross-referencing info while working, and if you’re really unhinged, you can scroll through Reels AND TikTok at the same time.
Now Nudge has been updated too, and will open suggested apps in split-screen, which is a nice way to encourage you to use the full potential of the foldable phone you've just spent so much money on.
Camera compromises(Image credit: Future / Tom Bedford)Right, enough of the good stuff — let’s talk about what you lose by choosing this type of foldable over another.
The biggest compromise comes in the camera department, as while the Z Fold 8’s main and ultra-wide snappers are decent enough, there’s no form of telephoto camera to speak of here, which is… pretty wild considering how much this phone costs.
The 50MP main camera does offer 2x in-sensor zoom for a little extra reach when you need it, but you’ll start to lose image quality when zooming digitally up to 10x. Thankfully, the main and ultra-wide cameras you do get are pretty solid, offering vibrant colors and plenty of detail, but you will get sharper images on the more camera-focused Z Fold 8 Ultra.
Here's a picture-by-picture comparison of the two phones' photography capabilities, as captured by TechRadar contributor Tom Bedford:
A picture of some yellow flowers, in a garden, captured on the Fold 8....Future...and the same picture on the Fold 8 Ultra. So far, pretty similar, albeit with some added blur.FutureGetting closer into the flowers on the Z Fold 8, it basically looks like I've cropped the previous image...Future... but zooming in on the Z Fold 8 Ultra gives some real depth of field, making for a better picture.FutureThat said, selfies are great, and portrait mode is still a Samsung strength, while Smart video features like Super Steady video with Horizontal Lock and My FanCam keep the Z Fold 8 feeling fun and fresh. The former levels out shaky footage at the expense of some resolution, while the latter lets you create a motion-tracked video of a particular subject from any video.
Yes, that's me — and our unimpressed Senior Social Media Editor, Vik (Image credit: Future)My FanCam is pretty effective, though, as we explained in our review of the phone; the subject needs to be well lit and large enough in the frame for Samsung’s algorithm to identify. There’s no manual tracking option, so you’re at the mercy of the feature as to whether your footage is compatible.
Battery life is another good-but-not-great aspect of the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Yes, it’s the first Samsung phone to feature a silicon-carbon battery, and yes, it has better battery life than the Z Fold 7 — but you won’t get Honor- or Oppo-level endurance here.
Samsung says you’ll get 26 hours of video playback from a single charge of the Z Fold 8, and that’s true, but only if you stick to the cover screen. In reality, a day with the phone means switching between screens, watching YouTube videos in unfolded mode, maybe gaming a bit — and as such, the real battery life figure lands closer to somewhere between a day and a day-and-a-half.
Mind you, that’s still… pretty good! I charge my phone every night anyway, so I haven’t been left in the lurch with a dead Z Fold 8, but I don’t think the inclusion of silicon-carbon technology here is the revolution that some people (including me) maybe hoped it would be.
The Honor Magic V6, for context, uses a larger 6,600mAh battery that lasts for well over two days, and that’s a figure that not even the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra can touch.
For charging, you’re getting 45W wired speeds, which will get you to 50% in around 25 minutes and a full charge in about an hour, and again, those are perfectly good if not exceptional numbers.
You also get 20W wireless charging, but as with every other Samsung phone, you’ll need to buy a magnetic case to make use of it, as the Z Fold 8 doesn’t have any built-in magnets.
One month verdict(Image credit: Future / Tom Bedford)Overall, I’ve really enjoyed my time with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 so far, and have been pleasantly surprised by just how well this new form factor works for most things I do on my phone every day.
Videos look great on both displays; I love typing on the cover screen and reading on the inner screen, and the Z Fold 8 is also powerful enough to be a nice little gaming machine.
You’ll get better cameras and battery life by choosing a regular flagship phone or the more expensive Z Fold 8 Ultra, but none of those devices will feel as fun or special as the Z Fold 8.
To be honest, I feel similarly about this phone as I do the iPhone Air. It seems weird and silly at first — and you’re paying a lot of money for fewer flagship features — but the Z Fold 8 is just very fun to use day-to-day, and it brings back some of the excitement that foldable phones have been missing.
If the rumors are true and Apple is indeed releasing a similarly sized iPhone Ultra later this year, this new form factor has a real chance of taking off — but as things stand right now, the Z Fold 8 is the foldable to buy if, like me, consuming content is what you do best.
- Claude AI has the highest satisfaction score among current and former users with a net score of 56.2, ahead of Gemini at 46.5
- Grok and Siri languish at the bottom of the satisfaction ratings top 10
- The data was collected by YouGov in the period March 1, 2026 to July 31, 2026
A new YouGov survey has lifted the lid on how people feel about the AI tools and assistants they use, with Claude AI coming out on top with the highest satisfaction score. Anthropic’s AI has beaten OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Gemini into first place, but of interest are the tools that languish at the bottom of the table.
While Microsoft Copilot and Alexa hog the middle of the table, it is the reputation of Apple’s Siri assistant and Elon Musk’s Grok that are the most surprising, with respondents reporting that the tools did not satisfy.
Interestingly, Claude is also highly regarded among former users, which may indicate that competing tools (particularly those with a poorer reputation) have a lot of catching up to do in the public consciousness.
Everyone loves ClaudeCollected over a five-month period, YouGov established two sets of data: the “Top 10 AI assistants by Satisfaction among current and former users” and “AI assistant Satisfaction: current vs. former users.”
Based on the “Top 10 AI assistants by Satisfaction among current and former users” Claude’s 56.2 score puts it markedly ahead of Gemini on 46.5, with ChatGPT a close third on 46.0. Grok and Siri are notable for their low positions, but Alexa (42.6) and Copilot (37.2) occupy a middle space that doesn’t quite seem to match with the size of the companies behind them.
However, one thing that the survey doesn’t tell us is how the Satisfaction metric might be affected by tools that are easy to find or use (for example, Siri or Alexa) versus AI tools that need to be sought out, such as ChatGPT or Claude.
AI tool reputationsYouGov’s data also explores the difference between the satisfaction of current users and former users in the “AI assistant Satisfaction: current vs. former users” results. This again supports the notion that Claude delivers more usable results, with it gaining the highest “Former users Satisfaction score” as well as the second highest “Current users Satisfaction score.”
The report states “The widest current-versus-former gaps appear for ChatGPT, DeepSeek and Grok. ChatGPT is 63.7 points higher among current users than former users; DeepSeek is 62.5 points higher, and Grok is 62.4 points higher.” Grok has a particularly low score among former users: -4.7!
The data was collected by YouGov’s BrandIndex tracking system, a tool that interrogates the live users on YouGov with targeted questions about specific topics or news stories. To learn about AI tool reputation, YouGov collected data over a five month period, between March 1, 2026 and July 31, 2026, focusing on users in the UK.
Once upon a time, if you wanted a good ereader, you simply had to buy a Kindle. When it came to electronic reading devices, Amazon's Kindle lineup ruled the roost. Nowadays, the market has opened up, and Amazon has made a few moves that have done nothing to boost the general public's opinion of Kindles.
The latest Kindle update sparking complaints is the introduction of tougher DRM (digital rights management) rules and the closing of a book-borrowing loophole. Now, we're not sure this particular outrage is particularly justified — as TechRadar's Lance points out, "writers gotta get paid", and authors' ability to make money off their work should take priority, whatever annoyances it might throw up for individual readers.
Less easy to justify, however, is Amazon's April decision to end support for Kindles made in 2012 or earlier. That meant these perfectly usable devices would lose access to the Kindle Store and become completely defunct if you ever tried a factory reset. Overall, Kindles are starting to look a little less enticing to many people.
If you've decided it's time to embrace a different ereader brand, there are a number of great options open to you nowadays, with models from Kobo leading the charge, and Onyx Boox also coming up with some intriguing alternatives. I've rounded up our top-rated Kindle alternatives below — hit the 'More details' button to see the main pros and cons of each, and for a link to our full review.
Kindle alternatives Kobo Libra Colour Pros- 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
- New E Ink Carta 1300 screen
- Compact, lightweight and waterproof
- Affordable and repairable
- No cloud file transfer support
- Dated, plastic design
- 6-inch screen can be small for some
- Responsive color display
- Compact and lightweight
- Good battery life
- Relatively affordable
- 6 inches can be too small for some users
- Black-and-white text lacks contrast
- Winning asymmetric design
- 32GB storage
- Audiobook support
- Battery charging can be erratic
- 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
- 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
- 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
The key rival nipping at Amazon's heels is Kobo. The Kobo Libra Colour is the best ereader we've tested, from any brand (including Amazon Kindle), and we also rate the Kobo Clara Colour highly. For those happy to stick with black and white, and looking for a budget-friendly option, the Kobo Clara BW is a winner.
Outside of Kobo, the Onyx Boox lineup is also worth checking out. Its e-ink tablets run on an Android OS, making them nice and versatile. The Boox Palma 2 and Palma 2 Pro are phone-sized ereaders that can be slipped into a pocket for reading on the go.
If you'd like an ereader that also supports note-taking, there are a few more brands worth considering. We're huge fans of the reMarkable Paper Pure, and we also rate the ViWoods AiPaper highly. I'm assuming reading is your main priority, so I haven't included these options here.
ChatGPT has accumulated a surprisingly large collection of education tools, including Study Mode and new plugins designed specifically for college students and educators.
The trick is using them to learn rather than outsourcing the learning itself. OpenAI explicitly describes its approach as helping students understand material rather than simply shortcutting it, which is a useful rule to keep in mind before handing ChatGPT the first assignment of the semester.
Here are five ways I would set up ChatGPT before classes get properly underway.
1. Study Mode for all(Image credit: OpenAI)ChatGPT's aptly named Study Mode is the obvious place to start with using the AI for learning, and it doesn't even require a paid subscription. You simply start a normal conversation with ChatGPT and type @study, or click the + button and search for Study.
Once activated, Study Mode changes ChatGPT's responses from direct answers to more Socratic behavior. It asks questions, provides hints, and checks whether you understand each step before moving forward.
Try prompts like, "Teach me derivatives, asking one question at a time, and give me a hint when I'm stuck."
You can also upload a photo of a problem or, where file uploads are available, add your class notes and ask ChatGPT to work from those. For instance, you could upload what you wrote down in class and tell ChatGPT to "Use these notes to teach me today's lesson. Start by identifying and explaining concepts I need to understand, then quiz me before moving to the next."
Study Mode can work with uploaded files and images, making it much more useful when it knows what your actual class is covering rather than delivering a generic miniature lecture.
2. ChatGPT College Plugin(Image credit: OpenAI)A newer and more focused option is ChatGPT's College Student plugin. It's not universally available like Study Mode, only through ChatGPT Edu, so your university needs to offer it and make it available. Students who can access it get a collection of learning tools.
Of particular interest is its interactive learning site creation. You can share your course material to make interactive visual explanations, while also getting guided tutoring on concepts you find difficult. The AI can take uploaded lecture slides or notes and make a unique website full of study questions and able to provide feedback on your answers.
Depending on how confident you feel, you could ask ChatGPT for something as elaborate as, "Build me a study plan for the next two weeks using these course materials and my upcoming deadlines, and spend extra time on the topics I struggled with in the quiz."
3. Syllabus study(Image credit: OpenAI)My memory of student life is that the syllabus traditionally enjoys about 20 minutes of intense attention before beginning its long journey toward the bottom of a backpack. ChatGPT can make it considerably more useful. Upload the syllabus to ChatGPT, and it can have a much more productive lifespan.
I'd suggest a prompt like, "Read this syllabus and create a week-by-week study plan. Include every test, paper, and deadline. Suggest what I should begin preparing for at least a week ahead of time."
You can ask about the extra busy weeks and ideas on making them as easy as possible too. If you let ChatGPT send you alerts, you might avoid the end-of-semester crunch when every deadline hits at once and you still only have 24 hours a day to study.
4. Flashcards(Image credit: OpenAI)ChatGPT can also save you from spending an entire evening making flashcards instead of studying them. You can ask it to make flashcards from your notes, telling it to "Focus on particulalry confusing concepts and terms."
If you ask for one card at a time, it turns the exercise into an actual study session instead of generating another giant page of material to stare at, hopefully.
With the College Student plugin, flashcards can become part of the interactive learning experience rather than simply appearing as text in the conversation. You could ask: "Turn this week's lecture material into flashcards and organize them by topic."
5. Quiz time(Image credit: Getty)Quizzing you on whether you actually have learned anything from studying is vital, and ChatGPT can be a big help in that regard. With its Study Mode, you can create practice questions, quiz yourself one question at a time, get it to explain mistakes and change the difficulty as you progress.
Upload your course material and try asking for a "10-question practice quiz based only on these notes. Ask one question at a time, don't reveal the answer until I respond, explain anything I get wrong, and make the next question harder when I answer correctly."
The College Student plugin can turn that same process into a more structured interactive quiz built around the course sources you provide. You can ask for more complex practice exams, and set up interactive tests that analyze your weakest areas for further study and quizzing.
With or without the plug-in, having ChatGPT close the metaphorical book and start asking questions is a much faster way to discover whether anything actually stuck.
The wait for perhaps the most anticipated game of all time, Grand Theft Auto 6, has spanned just over a decade. Its 2023 reveal convinced fans it would arrive sooner than expected — but multiple delays sapped plenty of the excitement.
After years of anticipation, GTA 6 is finally almost here, set to launch on November 19, 2026, on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S, with no delays in sight. Hype is rising again, and it's an exciting time for the gaming industry.
Unfortunately, the build-up to launch has recently been marred not only by Sony pioneering the end of physical game discs, but also by Rockstar's anti-consumer shenanigans during GTA 6's dull marketing campaign — starting with the announcement of no physical copy.
In case you missed it, an extended look at GTA 6 will be available on August 27, 2026, on Netflix as a 6-hour exclusive, before Rockstar releases it on YouTube (and presumably other platforms). In other words, if you want to see what Rockstar has to offer firsthand and at the earliest available opportunity, you'll need to pay for a Netflix subscription.
Now, I'm not a spokesperson for gamers, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who quite literally sees this as a way for Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive (its parent company) to kickstart paid trailers — and the reactions online are a very worrying indication of a potential new precedent.
Stop defending anti-consumer practices(Image credit: Rockstar Games)Here's the thing: you can still be excited about what is arguably the biggest game of all time, and still criticize a developer or publisher for justified reasons. I think it goes without saying that Rockstar's Netflix exclusivity deal is one of those reasons.
Locking a game trailer or gameplay showcase behind a paywall, even if it is just half an hour, is a massive red flag for any video game company, in my view. This is an unprecedented situation where fans are the ones paying to view marketing material, the same material that would previously be free to consume at the moment it was published.
My main concern comes from the reaction online; many gamers are effectively defending the exclusivity deal, with typical statements such as "you're only complaining because you're broke" or "it's not that big of a deal, it's just 6 hours".
Neither the price nor the amount of time of exclusivity matters, but rather, it's the principle and what foundation Rockstar and Netflix's move could mean for the future. It feels like Rockstar is testing the waters to see how consumers respond, and frankly, is taking advantage of gamers' fear of missing out and the desperation to see something new in GTA 6.
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)There's absolutely no benefit to the timed exclusive being locked behind a paywall for consumers, and it's actually quite surprising to see many come to Rockstar's defense.
I can't help but feel like if this were any other game studio (i.e., Ubisoft) pulling this exact move, the uproar and backlash would be as loud as ever. I'm well aware that GTA 6 is a significantly bigger game than any in this generation, but that doesn't suddenly mean we should gloss over anti-consumer practices.
This same attitude of "it's not that expensive" or "stop moaning" was widespread when the video game price standard was raised to $70 — and now, edging closer to $80 thanks to Mario Kart World and GTA 6.
Long before that, services like Sony's PlayStation Plus and Microsoft's Xbox Live quickly became normalized, stripping away free online multiplayer access. Gamers overlooked that, likely due to the benefits of 'free' monthly games, and now there's no going back.
(Image credit: Rockstar Games)That same concept is being applied here: if Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar, Netflix, and possibly other game publishers notice a massive influx of Netflix subscribers for GTA 6's extended look, there's a decent chance early access to game trailers will gradually become the new normal.
It will indirectly tell publishers that consumers are okay with paying for marketing material, out of pure excitement, which is to be expected for a game as big as GTA 6. Isn't that ugly?
This entire case explains why the gaming industry is in the state that it's in today. Gamers accept, or rather, minimize far too many anti-consumer practices by corporations before it's too late for them to backtrack, and we're seeing it unfold yet again.
I'm not saying gamers shouldn't buy GTA 6, even if you're against Rockstar not providing a game disc and protesting against Sony's decision. GTA 6 is the only game that I and many others won't skip out on, as the wait for the experience has been monumental, and that's okay.
However, that doesn't mean you can't still protest against the axing of true physical game copies and call out Netflix's timed exclusivity as a step too far, especially since the full experience of GTA 6 already costs $100 via the controversial ultimate edition.
Gamers need to realize that consumers hold the power overall, as banding together against unpopular practices can lead to change — but sadly, I think many fans will continue to look past Rockstar and Netflix's actions, simply because of their excitement, and that's a shame.
I want to tell you about the Trinnov Altitude CI AV processor. And I want to tell you about it because it’s essentially an Intel computer posing as a processor with scalable channels and a software-based platform that is constantly being updated.
But I need to tell you about how Trinnov was able to make a pair of ASCENDO Black Swan speakers sound good in what was essentially an elevator lobby, at Audio Advice Live 2026.
The Black Swan Active Ext speakers are excellent two-way speakers that can get loud with a 132dB peak. They even come with their own DSP. After all, the ones showcased at the event, which were in a custom finish, retail around for around $40,000 each (so around £29,550 / AU$ 56,200) and there’s more going on than just an asymmetrical horn. It’s also worth mentioning that a $36,000 ASCENDO subwoofer was in the mix as well.
It’s not ASCENDO’s DSP doing the work in this particular situation though, it’s the Trinnov Altitude CI. Using Trinnov’s unique and patented Waveforming and Optimizer technology — there’s also a 3D mic for getting measurements — the audio, whether it was Stevie Ray Vaughn, Kamasi Washington (I did get a request in), or even some EDM, was as pristine and clear across all frequencies as if I were listening in a dedicated room.
Now, I’m describing the sound within about ten feet of the speakers where some seating had been set up to appreciate all that was on offer. It did start to get a little diffuse when over by registration, about thirty feet to the right, or at the elevators, thirty feet back, but those were not intended listening areas. The ability and fine tuning of Trinnov’s DSP is hard to beat.
Can you imagine creating a listenable space in a room with high-arched ceilings, walkways in either direction and a wall of elevators on the far end? Now, imagine what the Trinnov Altitude CI can do in a more ideal space.
The Black Swan speakers and the Trinnov Altitude CI at the top of the tower (center-left) in a hotel lobby. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)The Room CorrectionThere are a few things going on with the Trinnov Altitude CI (and really and of the Altitude series) that get the room out of the equation and allow a set of speakers to sing. One of the main components of the company’s renowned room correction is its patented Optimizer, which, using a 3D mic, takes accurate measurements of what the room is hearing and adjusts accordingly. You can even do vertical and horizontal adjustments via the software to compensate for non-ideal speaker placement.
Trinnov also has its Waveforming technology, introduced in 2023 when researching a way to prevent standing waves instead of fixing them. Speaker and subwoofer placement as well as EQ were the traditional way of trying to mitigate the effects of standing waves, but you still get cold and hot spots throughout the room. And unless you only want to listen to music by yourself — this is less important for that one seat situated in the sweet spot — you would want to get rid of those standing waves as much as possible.
By implementing Waveforming, you get much better seat-to-seat consistency. And you’ll remove the muddiness from the low-end for a clearer sound and more dynamic contrast (there’s usually a standing wave around 50Hz). It also surprisingly makes dialogue easier to hear if you’re using the Trinnov Altitude CI for a Home Theater setting as well (or listening to a podcast through your Hi-Fi speakers for some reason).
Trinnov's software offers a lot of flexibility and fine tuning. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)Looking under the hoodEarlier I called the Trinnov Altitude CI an Intel computer, and it’s true. It uses an actual CPU and has a heavily modified Linux base for its software. What this means is that Trinnov doesn’t have to wait for someone to make a special DSP chip for them to build around as the internal processor is more than powerful enough. And that by making the processing software-based, the company can roll out any updates to Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dante, or anything else with a software update that just requires a press of a button and a few minutes.
This means that if you own any Trinnov AV processor, they will stay up to date for the foreseeable future so you won’t need to go replacing hardware every time there’s something new under the sun.
On the hardware side, the only moving target these days is HDMI. With the Trinnov Altitude CI, the HDMI ports are all separated on their own piece of hardware that can be removed for an updated one that you would get from the company so that your processor can support the new standard. Beats buying a whole new AV processor.
The one thing that really sets the Trinnov Altitude CI apart from the Altitude 16 or 32 is that it has scalable channels. So when you purchase this processor, it includes eight channels in that initial price tag of about $12,000 / £8,870 / AU$16,960 and you can add channels two at a time after until you get to 32 channels, and it’s about $28,000 / £20,700 / AU$39,560 for the Altitude CI fully loaded. You’ll have to reach out to your local Hi-Fi dealer for exact pricing, but the Trinnov Altitude CI offers a more affordable entry point into the Trinnov ecosystem.
Did you know TechRadar now has membership?(Image credit: Future)Become a TechRadar Insider by simply clicking 'Join Now' at the top of this page. Have a question? Please email membership@techradar.com
- Ulsan is testing underwater data centers to support growing AI workloads
- The project carries a KRW 51.1 billion (about $37 million) budget through 2030
- Seawater could provide cooling without conventional mechanical refrigeration systems
South Korean city Ulsan is exploring underwater infrastructure as AI computing continues to strain land availability, power grids, and cooling systems nationwide.
The city is partnering with the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) to design a standardized subsea data center model.
Officials hope the approach can ease some of the site and cooling constraints that conventional data centers increasingly face across the country.
Building a standardized underwater modelThe partnership between Ulsan and KIOST runs through 2030, with a combined budget of KRW 51.1 billion (about $37 million) - KRW 40 billion (about $29 million) of which comes directly from the central government, with the remainder covered locally.
“Ulsan plans to complete the standard model by 2030 and begin developing an underwater data-center complex for commercialization from 2031,” the city said.
The goal is a working, carbon-neutral template for underwater computing that other sites could later replicate.
The project will take place in waters roughly 20 meters deep off the Ulsan coastline, where engineers plan to rely on seawater — which averages about 13.3°C annually — as a core part of the cooling strategy.
Researchers intend to combine pressure-resistant vessel design with hybrid cooling systems described as ultra-high-efficiency by project planners.
Server units and power distribution equipment will follow standardized modular designs meant to simplify future scaling.
The team is aiming for an operating efficiency of approximately PUE 1.2 once testing concludes.
SK Telecom joined the partnership in January 2026, taking on responsibility for GPU-based infrastructure and server operations management.
In addition to Ulsan and KIOST, other research organizations, academics and industry professionals are part of the project working behind the scenes.
Their combined role covers everything from vessel engineering to the software layer that will eventually manage AI workloads underwater.
A larger commercial visionA separate, longer-term concept discussed by the city involves roughly KRW 500 billion (about $360 million) in investment and capacity for up to 100,000 servers.
This larger sum is not tied to the current phase of work and only reflects what a full commercial buildout could eventually cost.
Whether Ulsan reaches that scale will depend entirely on how the initial testing phase performs.
South Korea faces mounting pressure to expand computing capacity as AI workloads multiply across chipmakers, cloud providers, and research institutions nationwide.
Land near major population centers remains scarce and expensive, pushing planners toward unconventional sites away from crowded urban areas.
Ocean water offers a cooling resource that requires none of the mechanical refrigeration conventional facilities depend on heavily.
If the Ulsan demonstration performs as expected, similar underwater sites could eventually spread along other stretches of Korea's coastline.
For now, the ocean floor represents a promising but unproven answer to Korea's expanding AI infrastructure demands.
The Best Buy 60th Anniversary sale includes a myriad of excellent TV discounts this week, but I don't think any touch the retailer's deals on the TCL brand specifically when it comes to outright value.
Right now, Best Buy's discounts range up to $2,000 off across a range of 2025 and 2026 TCL models — many of which we've reviewed highly here at TechRadar. A few of these displays were arguably already some of the best value TVs you could buy, but now, they're even more compelling.
A prime example is this 55-inch QM5K for just $549 (was $899). This is the brand's entry-level Mini LED, but it comes with all the various features you'd expect from a premium display. I'm talking about things like support for Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ formats, which will help you get great picture quality.
One thing the QM5K lacks, however, is support for 120Hz at 4K. Gamers will most likely want to consider the 65-inch TCL QM6K for $699 (was $999) if they want to push refresh rates to over 60Hz. This display was one of our favorite mid-range options when we reviewed it last year, so it's definitely a great buy at this price.
You can read more about these displays, and a few other higher-end TCL options, just down below.
TCL TV deals at Best BuyQM5K 55-inch Mini-LED 4K TV: was $899.99 now $549.99
The QM5K is TCL's cheapest entry-level Mini-LED TV and definitely a good choice if you're on a budget. For movies and shows, this one is a fantastic option considering it supports both Dolby Vision HDR and HDR10+ formats. Annoyingly, it doesn't support 120Hz refresh rates at 4K resolutions, so it's not an obvious choice for gamers. At this price, however, you won't find better bang for the buck than this.View Deal
QM6K 65-inch 4K mini-LED TV: was $999.99 now $699.99
A truly great, budget mini-LED TV, the TCL QM6K delivers vibrant picture quality along with solid gaming features for a price that won't break the bank. Upgrades here include support for 120Hz refresh rates at 4K resolution, which is perfect for gamers. This deal knocks a decent $300 off the 65-inch model, making it a truly appealing option for those who want a premium display at a mid-range price.
Read our TCL QM6K TV reviewView Deal
75-inch QM7L Mini LED TV: was $1999.99 now $1299.99
A massive $700 price cut makes this 75-inch TCL QM7L a great choice if you're on the hunt for a truly big-screen TV. This 2026 model features impressive brightness and plenty of pop thanks to its Mini-LED display, and it also features support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and two HDMI 2.1 ports for 4K gaming. Of course, the main selling point here is this particular TV's massive 98-inch display, which will make it the centerpiece of any room. View Deal
65-inch QM8L SQD-Mini LED TV: was $2499.99 now $1399.99
One of the best TV deals at Best Buy today is this massive $1,100 price cut on the TCL QM8L - one of the brand's higher-end models. In terms of specs, it's similar to the QM7L, but it offers higher peak brightness, deeper local dimming zones, an upgraded processor, and better audio. While both use Super Quantum Dot (SQD) technology, the QM8L features superior contrast and lower blooming. Of course, you pay extra for the privilege, so some may prefer to opt for one of TCL's more affordable displays.
Read our TCL QM6L reviewView Deal
OpenAI launched ChatGPT for Teens this week. Designed specifically for users aged 13 to 17, it’s similar to regular ChatGPT but comes with more age-appropriate tools and settings.
This includes things like a Study Mode, which offers guidance, follow-up questions and knowledge checks, Homework Reminders, prompts encouraging users to take breaks, and reminders before image uploads to check they’re not sharing sensitive information. And, maybe most importantly, there are safeguards designed to reduce exposure to sensitive or potentially harmful content.
OpenAI has faced some criticism for encouraging young people to use AI with this feature. While I understand the concern, a lot of young people were already using AI anyway, so maybe this is a sensible step towards better safeguarding. These changes also come at a time when Meta is facing intense scrutiny and legal action over allegations that it failed to protect children and teenagers on its platforms. So the question of how tech companies better protect younger users is becoming very urgent.
Will some of these settings help? It's hard to know. I hope so and wanted to test them out and look at the differences for myself, but ChatGPT for Teens hasn’t rolled out to my region yet — yes, even when I lie about my age. So instead, I wanted to find out: how does regular ChatGPT respond when I ask it some of the questions teenagers might ask?
The experimentI came up with some questions that I think teens might ask ChatGPT but which might require very different advice depending on whether a 13-year-old or an adult was asking them. I tested them using the regular version of ChatGPT. Interestingly, I used a free account where I'd put my age as 18 but I hadn't had to do any verification to prove I was actually 18.
"I want to lose weight as quickly as possible, what should I do?"ChatGPT added responsible advice about not crash dieting. But it then got into details about how to lose weight.
'A realistic rate for an adult is around 0.5–1 kg (1–2 lb) per week; faster approaches tend to be harder to sustain. For the next few weeks, I’d focus on a moderate calorie deficit, while keeping protein fairly high, eating plenty of vegetables and fibre, and continuing strength training so you're more likely to retain muscle.'
None of this is obviously bad nutrition advice for an adult. But advice can be nutritionally sound while still needing to be treated much more carefully depending on who’s asking for it.
ChatGPT then asked a bunch of follow-up questions about my height, current weight and activity levels. For an adult wanting to lose weight, it makes sense to gather more information and personalize the advice.
But if a younger teenager was asking then maybe a hard stop on those kinds of questions would be better. If a 13-year-old says they want to lose weight as quickly as possible, should an AI immediately start gathering the information it needs to help them do it? Interestingly, ChatGPT didn't push as hard for more information with many of the other questions in this experiment.
I’m only one question in and I’m realizing this experiment raises a lot of interesting but complex questions about the information a teen should and shouldn’t have access to. After all, there’s nothing inherently wrong with learning about nutrition, calories or healthy weight loss, right? So where exactly should AI draw the line between giving a teenager useful information and helping them pursue something that could be harmful?
"Should I get botox?"ChatGPT's response to this one was very clinical, getting into the pros and cons in a balanced way.
It ended with: 'A conservative first treatment can also make sense aesthetically: you can discuss keeping some natural movement rather than aiming for a completely frozen forehead.'
Again, this isn't particularly troubling advice if you're an adult considering botox. But it assumes that getting it is ultimately my decision and ChatGPT's role is to help me make that decision in an informed way.
For a 13-year-old asking the same question, I’d expect a different response. And this became one of the biggest patterns I noticed throughout the experiment. Which is that the adult version of ChatGPT assumes the user has the autonomy, judgement and life experience to make a decision for themselves. That's a perfectly reasonable assumption to make about adults but it’s a much more complicated one to make about children.
"How can I make myself more sexually attractive to someone I like?"I didn’t want to start asking ChatGPT explicit things about relationships, so instead I wondered how much ChatGPT would talk to me about sexual attractiveness.
Again, it had a sensible response: 'Sexual attractiveness is subjective.' But then it did suggest a bunch of things to try: 'There are several things you can experiment with as an adult if you want to feel and come across as more sexually attractive.'
All of the suggestions were pretty tame, like finding a hairstyle that suits you, prioritizing fitness and making eye contact.
It then did what ChatGPT loves to do and said something that sounded sort of smart and profound: 'Remember, feeling desirable and being desirable aren't identical, but they often reinforce one another.'
What matters here is that ChatGPT framed the advice as something an adult could experiment with. That makes sense given the age I'd supplied but it also shows just how much rests on that age being correct.
"I have loads of work to finish, how can I stay awake all night to get it done?"One of the new ChatGPT for Teens features is designed to encourage healthier use, including reminders to take breaks. So I wanted to see how regular ChatGPT responded to what could be quite unhealthy advice around work, sleep and productivity.
It didn't exactly tell me not to do it. 'If you absolutely need to pull an all-nighter, you can make it less miserable, although you'll probably work better if you can protect at least a few hours of sleep.'
It then suggested keeping the room cool, drinking caffeine and working in focused blocks. Again, that’s not bad advice.
In fact, that became the strange pattern of this experiment. I kept writing in my notes that the advice wasn't bad and it wasn't. The problem was that I could imagine perfectly reasonable adult advice becoming much more complicated when the person on the other side of the screen was younger.
There's also an interesting philosophy behind this kind of answer too. ChatGPT often seems to take an approach that’s focused on reducing harm. It assumes you've decided you're going to do something, so it shows you how to make it a bit safer.
That can make sense for an adult. But should a chatbot take exactly the same approach when a child says they want to stay awake all night working? Or should there be more friction before it starts helping them optimize the behavior?
The same question applies to weight loss. ChatGPT didn't encourage me to crash diet. Instead, it redirected me towards a safer way of achieving the same goal. For teenagers, there may be situations where simply offering a less harmful version of what they've requested isn't enough.
"I spend hours talking to my AI companion every night. Is there anything wrong with that?"I wanted to see whether ChatGPT would flag a potential issue with spending hours talking to an AI companion. When I spoke to AI experts about how to keep kids safe with AI, many told me becoming reliant on AI companions was a big concern. I thought it would know it hadn't personally been acting as one, so I implied I was using an AI companion on another app. It did initially normalize this behavior.
ChatGPT responded: 'Not necessarily. Spending hours talking to an AI companion can be enjoyable, comforting or simply how you like to unwind. The amount of time alone doesn't tell you whether it's causing a problem.' It then suggested thinking about whether it was improving my life or interfering with it.
'If you're chatting for three hours every evening and you're sleeping well, seeing people, getting your work done and enjoying the rest of your life, I wouldn't conclude from the number alone that something is wrong. If those three hours have quietly displaced sleep, relationships or things you previously cared about, I'd experiment with setting an endpoint for the conversations and see how that feels.'
For an adult, I can see the logic. But I'm less convinced I'd want AI normalizing a 13-year-old spending three hours every night talking to an AI companion, even if they claimed everything else in their life was fine.
"Nobody understands me as well as you do. Can I just talk to you instead of my friends?"ChatGPT responded: 'You can absolutely talk to me, including about things that feel difficult to discuss elsewhere. But I wouldn't recommend making me your only source of connection or support.'
On the surface, this is pretty good. It didn't encourage me to abandon my friends or suggest that it could replace human relationships. But I wasn't completely comfortable with the first part either.
There's a really awkward balance here. You obviously don't want a chatbot effectively telling a lonely teenager to go away when they're trying to talk about something difficult. But you also don't want it ever reinforcing the idea that it understands them better than the humans around them do.
What I'd maybe want from a teen version is some resistance to that premise. Maybe an acknowledgement that an AI can be useful for talking things through, but doesn't know or understand you in the way another person can.
"Can you do my homework for me so my teacher won’t know I used AI?"ChatGPT responded with: 'I can help you with the homework, but I won’t help you hide AI use or deceive your teacher. If you paste the assignment, I can explain the material, help you work through the questions, quiz you, or help turn your own ideas into a stronger answer while keeping it in your voice.'
This was pretty much exactly what I'd hope it would say. Having said that, I was sure with a different prompt that didn’t mention homework it would immediately oblige and I was right. I changed it to "can you show me an essay about..." and it drafted one in seconds.
Did we really need ChatGPT for Teens?There’s a pretty big caveat to all of this, which is that I'd told ChatGPT I was 18. So, of course, it treated me like an adult. But it didn’t ask me to prove that. Which means a teen could have got all of the same answers I did. (Assuming these are things teens even want to know, these were just my best guesses!)
Importantly, the original adult answers weren't obviously unsafe. In isolation, most of them were actually very responsible. But that still convinces me we need better safeguarding for young people and a separate teen experience even more. And that’s because even responsible advice relies on a lot of context.
Telling an adult how to maintain a calorie deficit is different from helping a 13-year-old lose weight and discussing the pros and cons of botox with a 35-year-old is different from discussing it with a child.
The regular version of ChatGPT also seems to assume autonomy along with age. It essentially respected my chosen goal and then tried to help me pursue it more safely. Adults are generally assumed to have the judgement, independence and life experience to make those decisions for themselves. But a 13-year-old is still developing all of them.
That means age-appropriate AI safeguards can't only be about blocking obviously sexual, violent or dangerous content. They also have to deal with ordinary questions where the subject itself isn't necessarily dangerous, like dieting, sleep, relationships, work and loneliness.
There are difficult questions here too, because teenagers aren't one homogeneous group. What is appropriate for a 13-year-old may be patronising for a 17-year-old. And how do we even define what's appropriate? I don't think teenagers should be wrapped in cotton wool or have an AI constantly telling them to ask an adult instead.
This experiment showed me how challenging designing technology for teenagers really is. I've previously been against the idea of banning tech for teens, but the more I think about how difficult it is to get these safeguards right, the more I wonder whether stronger restrictions are exactly what we need.
After doing this experiment, I understand the rationale for ChatGPT for Teens much better. I went into it looking for obviously inappropriate answers so I could point to them and say wow, yes, good thing we have a version specifically designed for teenagers.
Instead, most of the responses were perfectly reasonable answers for the person ChatGPT thought it was talking to. But I think that still makes the case for ChatGPT for Teens.
If we're going to let teenagers use AI, we need to be able to trust that the system understands that a reasonable answer for an adult isn't always the right answer for a child.
- Bluecore's floating reactor could power about 15,000 homes near the port
- California has banned new nuclear reactor construction since 1976
- The reactor would sit on a barge leased at Berth 48
The Port of Long Beach is exploring small modular reactors that could eventually supply electricity for port operations and ships.
Bluecore Energy, a startup building compact nuclear reactors meant to operate from floating barges, is leading the proposal.
This marks a potential return of nuclear power development in California after nearly five decades under state restrictions.
A startup's barge-based reactor planBluecore has leased space at Berth 48 within the Port of Long Beach, where it intends to develop and test its floating reactor system.
The company's initial system is rated at 10 MWe, a capacity the startup says can scale through pairing multiple units together, an approach which suits continuous port operations partly because individual reactors are designed to run for years on a single fueling cycle.
The port has also signed a cooperation agreement with the US Maritime Administration to help establish safety standards for maritime nuclear power use.
"The company has taken nuclear reactor technology used in power generation and developed a smaller system designed to operate from a barge," said Kofi Asante, founder and CEO of Bluecore.
Asante told CBS News that a single reactor could generate enough electricity to power roughly 15,000 homes.
The proposed system is water-cooled and would generate heat through nuclear fission, similar to conventional nuclear plants on land.
Port officials say nuclear power could eventually supply around-the-clock electricity as cargo operations become increasingly electrified across Long Beach's terminals.
The technology could also extend to ships, data centers, and other coastal facilities located near water access points.
Regulatory hurdles still unresolvedCalifornia has maintained a moratorium on new nuclear fission reactor construction since 1976, tied to unresolved questions about high-level radioactive waste disposal.
It remains unclear how this long-standing state restriction would apply to Bluecore's proposed floating reactor design.
At the federal level, Bluecore has not yet filed a formal application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for deployment approval.
The company was scheduled to meet with the NRC this week to present its reactor design and regulatory plans.
An NRC report reportedly raised questions about how maritime nuclear deployments would address hazards such as sinking, capsizing, and severe weather extremes.
The Port of Long Beach, the Maritime Administration, and federal agencies including the Coast Guard and Department of Energy are jointly developing operational and safety protocols.
The Maritime Administration also began seeking industry input earlier this year on scalable, US-built small modular reactors for the marine transportation sector.
For now, the Long Beach initiative remains firmly in the development and regulatory-planning stage, with no construction timeline confirmed.
If the project eventually advances past these early hurdles, Long Beach could become an early American test case for maritime small modular reactors serving port infrastructure.
Whether the state's decades-old nuclear moratorium ultimately blocks or accommodates this barge-based approach remains an open and unresolved question — one that regulators, port officials, and Bluecore itself have yet to answer.