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Doorbell brands usually sell you the hardware cheap and charge you monthly for the privilege of seeing the footage. Aosu has gone the other way, and for that alone the R1 Ultra is worth your attention.
Video clips go to the AosuBase Mini, a small plug-in box that lives inside your house and does three jobs at once — Wi-Fi bridge, indoor chime, and storage. It holds 8GB and keeps a rolling 60 days of footage.
There is an optional cloud subscription, AosuProtect+, but unlike Ring's arrangement, the doorbell isn't hobbled without it. You get alerts, live view, two-way talk, custom detection zones, and full playback for nothing other than the purchase price.
(Image credit: Future)Detection is another strength. Rather than relying on a passive infrared sensor and hoping, Aosu layers radar and AI human recognition on top, which lets it judge distance and intent — approaching versus passing, lingering versus walking through.
There's also a Tone button hiding in the two-way talk screen. Tap it, and you can answer the door as either 'uncle' or 'clown', with Aosu's straight-faced explanation that this disguises your voice for privacy.
The uncle setting artificially deepens voices, transitioning women and children to something resembling a man to deter would-be intruders. Clown goes all high-pitched and distorted to mask your identity.
(Image credit: Future)Fortunately, the latter falls on the right side of sinister, so you can forget scaring off trick-or-treaters with imitations of South Park’s Mickey Mouse.
Where Aosu gets ahead of itself is resolution and framing. The sensor is 2560 x 1920, which is 4.9 megapixels in a 4:3 frame. That’s sharp, and a step up from 2K doorbells at this price, but not the claimed ‘UHD’, which would be 3,840 x 2,160.
The asserted 60% improvement over standard 2K only holds if the 2K you're comparing against is Aosu's own 3MP doorbell. An earlier version of the identical claim, on the identical camera, said 40%.
(Image credit: Future)Field of view should be taken with a pinch of salt, too. Aosu says 166 degrees, but that's the corner-to-corner measurement. In reality, it's 133 horizontal by 103 vertical, shot in a shallow 4:3 aspect ratio and no head-to-toe image tricks.
With realistic use, the battery should last six months between charges. The kicker is the cell isn’t quick-release, and juicing it from flat to full takes six hours. So that means unclipping the entire doorbell and going without it for quite a while.
Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: price & availability- List price: £139.99 / $135.99 (about AU$190)
- Launched July 2026 in the UK
- Available in the UK, US, and across the EU
With a list price of $135.99 / £139.99 (about AU$190), but usually discounted, the R1 Ultra is filed under ‘affordable’ and veers towards bargain territory if you find one hovering around the £100 mark.
At that price, the value case is strong, because the base station is in the box rather than a £50 upsell, and the 60 days of local recording would cost you a subscription almost anywhere else.
Over three years, that's the difference between a hundred pounds and several hundred more.
- Value score: 4/5
The R1 Ultra is fully functional without a subscription. Alerts, live view, two-way talk, detection zones, and 60 days of local playback are all included.
AosuProtect+ is the optional cloud add-on. In the UK, it's advertised at £9.99 (about $10 / AU$20) a month or £122.99 (about $160 / AU$230) a year, currently discounted to £3.49 (about $5 / AU$10) and £39.99 (about $50 / AU$80). Treat the higher figures with the same suspicion as the hardware list price.
The annual price is simply the monthly rate multiplied by twelve, so there's no built-in saving for paying up front, and £3.49 lands within pennies of what Aosu charges in dollars in the US. There’s a 30-day free trial if you wish to dip your toe.
(Image credit: Future)What it buys you is cloud backup rather than capability: 14 or 30 days of event recordings, playback from anywhere, faster scrubbing, and bulk downloads. AI facial recognition sits on the top tier and is offered for video doorbells only.
The argument for paying is that local storage is bound to the base station like Bilbo Baggins is bound to the ring in The Lord of The Rings. If it fails, someone takes it, or you inexplicably drop it in the fires of Mount Doom, your footage dies with it.
Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: specsFeature
Specification
Type
Battery-powered or hardwired video doorbell; base station required
Resolution
5MP (2560 x 1920) with WDR
Zoom
6 x digital
View
4:3 aspect ratio
Field of view
166 degrees diagonal [133 x 103 degrees]
Night vision
Infrared up to 6 feet / 10m
Audio
Two-way talk with voice disguise features
Motion detection
Radar, PIR and AI human recognition; customizable zones
Power
Rechargeable battery 5,000mAh, non-removable; USB-C cable included; 6 hours from flat; hardwire (8–24VAC)
Connectivity
Doorbell 2.4GHz only; AosuBase Mini dual-band 2.4GHz / 5GHz
Smart detection
AI human recognition; facial recognition requires AosuProtect+
Storage
Local, 8GB on AosuBase Mini, 60-day loop, no subscription; optional cloud with AosuProtect+
Smart home
Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant
Tamper protection
Pry detection with chime alert; footage retained locally
Weather
IP65
Finish
Black/silver
Dimensions
5 x 2 x 3 inches / 12.7 x 5.1 x 7.6cm
Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: design and installation- Plain but solid
- Hub required indoors
- Battery or existing wiring
The R1 Ultra is a black plastic slab with silver flourishes similar to a Ring, and very little design ambition beyond flattering imitation.
Installation is straightforward and takes about half an hour all in. Bracket on the wall, doorbell clipped on top, base station plugged in somewhere central.
(Image credit: Future)Aosu recommends mounting at 4 feet / 1.2 meters rather than eye-level, which is lower than instinct suggests but necessary if you want the frame to reach the doorstep. Worth getting right the first time rather than re-drilling.
A 15-degree wedge is included if you need to angle it towards a path or a gate, along with a screwdriver, extension wires and wire nuts for anyone hardwiring to existing 8–24V doorbell wiring.
The base station isn't optional, and it isn't outdoors-rated. It's the storage, the chime, and the Wi-Fi bridge in one. It needs a mains socket permanently, and it's rated only to 14°F / −10°C, so it lives in the hall or the cupboard under the stairs and stays there.
(Image credit: Future)Detaching the whole unit from the wall for a full six-hour recharge via USB-C is a weak point, but a cable is bundled in the box.
A neat addition is pry detection. Try to lever the unit off its bracket, and it sounds a chime and pushes an alert, with footage on the base station indoors rather than on what’s being stolen.
- Design score: 3.5/5
- Sharp in daylight
- Strong multi-sensor detection
- Infrared-only after dark
Daylight is this doorbell’s happy place, with 5MP more than most similarly-priced rivals offer. Faces, delivery uniforms and parcel labels are legible rather than merely present.
Radar handles distance and movement, PIR picks up body heat, and the AI layer decides whether what it's looking at is a person. During testing, alerts felt instantaneous once someone reached the door.
After dark, expectations need managing. There is no color night vision and no spotlight.
FutureFutureFutureEight 850nm infrared LEDs offer monochrome up to 33 feet / 10 meters, and the manual warns mounting too close to a side wall will bounce IR back into the lens and fog the image. I’d pair the R1 Ultra with an outdoor light to make up for the shortfall.
Answering the door is well handled. Notifications arrive with a thumbnail of whatever triggered them, so you can tell a courier from a cat without opening the app, and tapping through starts a proper two-way video call rather than a one-way stream.
The 6x digital zoom lets you crop into a face or a label, though at 15fps and with a wide lens, it softens quickly.
FutureFutureQuick Reply issues an audible preset message when you can't talk. Somewhat boringly, they’re fixed, so you can’t edit the wording or add your own.
On connectivity, the doorbell itself is 2.4GHz only; the dual-band capability belongs to the AosuBase Mini, which talks to your router on 2.4 or 5GHz.
That's a sensible design for a battery device, but it means the camera-to-base link is on the crowded band and placement of the base matters more than usual. Plugged in 33 feet / 10 meters from my front door with the broadband router halfway, all was fine.
Live view includes a UHD/SD toggle to drop the quality when the connection struggles, and you can save a clip or a still straight to your phone's camera roll if you ever need to hand something to a neighbor or the police.
The six-month battery figure assumes up to ten events a day at 20 seconds each — about three-and-a-half minutes of recording daily. On a busy porch with a path or pavement in frame, expect considerably less.
- Performance score: 3/5
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
Local storage, included base station, and no monthly fee at around £100 make the maths hard to argue with.
4/5
Design
Solid and easy to install, but the base station needs a permanent socket, and recharging equals doorbell removal.
3.5/5
Performance
Sharp daylight video and excellent multi-sensor detection, let down by infrared-only night vision and overstated specs.
3/5
Buy it ifYou're sick of subscriptions
Sixty days of local recording on the included base, with nothing important behind a paywall, is undoubtedly attractive.
You'd rather not be yourself
Uncle and clown voice settings let anyone home alone answer the door sounding like someone else.
You want fewer useless alerts
The radar, PIR, and AI combination is a real step up from the single-sensor budget crowd, and it shows in your notification tray.
You have existing doorbell wiring
Hardwiring to 8–24V takes the recharging problem off the table entirely, and this is one of the cheaper doorbells that supports it.
Don't buy it ifYou need to see faces after dark
Infrared monochrome to 33 feet / 10 meters is all you get. There's no spotlight and no color low-light mode, so a night clip tells you someone was there, but not necessarily who.
You don’t want to remove the doorbell
No quick-release battery means every recharge is a six-hour outage with the unit off the wall and on your kitchen counter.
Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra: also considerRing Battery Video Doorbell (2nd Gen)
Cheaper, shoots Retinal 2K with a genuine head-to-toe 1:1 view and color night vision, and installs without a hub. The trade-off is Ring's subscription model and Amazon's data record.
Eufy Video Doorbell C31
The closest like-for-like on the no-monthly-fee promise, with 2K video and a quick-release battery, though you'll want a HomeBase to get the most from it.
How I tested the Aosu Video Doorbell R1 Ultra- Fitted to a domestic front door
- Assessed daylight and infrared video, detection accuracy, and audio
- Ran entirely without a subscription
I mounted the R1 Ultra on my own front door and used it as the household's main entry camera for a fortnight, deliberately running it on local storage alone so the no-subscription claim could be tested as most buyers will experience it.
I checked live-view responsiveness and alert latency, reviewed clips in daylight and after dark, and tracked battery drain against Aosu's 180-day claim.
First reviewed September 2026
Since the Oculus Quest 2, the VR industry has been chasing a high point that seems impossible to re-summit — let alone surpass. I mean, how can you compete with popularity propelled by global pandemic-caused lockdowns and ultra-low costs when people are no longer trapped in their homes and facing down RAM-crisis-fuelled tech price hikes?
You can’t. But the Meta VR Glasses give me hope that'll change, that VR is on an upward swing again.
The Meta Quest 3 tried its best, but improved specs, full-color mixed reality, and incredible exclusives like Batman: Arkham Shadow and Marvel’s Deadpool VR seemingly weren’t enough of a draw for people. I loved the system, but checking the most recent (August 2026) Steam Hardware Survey (which should include the most dedicated, most likely to upgrade players, as the Quest systems aren’t native PCVR headsets), the Quest 2 still narrowly tops the list despite being pulled from shelves over two years ago and being replaced close to three years ago by the Quest 3.
The Apple Vision Pro was much hyped before launch, but it seemingly had even less staying power than the Quest 3 thanks to its extremely high price. Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset, as much as I like it, is a gadget I wouldn’t be surprised if even most techie people didn’t know it existed.
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Boumen Japet)You could do a whole analytical breakdown on why each device struggled to hit the mark, but as I see it, there’s one key issue: value.
The Quest 2 was incredible value. At £299 / $299 / AU$479 it’s approaching tech impulse-buy territory. You can grab it on a whim and be fairly confident you’ll get enough use out of it to justify the price whether you’re stuck inside because of Covid-19 or not — even just as a novelty you only get out on occasion, or to see your nan get wowed by some simple demo app.
At $499.99 / £479.99 / AU$799.99 (its original launch price), the Meta Quest 3 is instantly a much harder value proposition to justify. For a start, you need to spend a lot more time using the Quest 3 before it becomes ‘worth it.’ But for gamers, the headset costs as much as a PS5 disc edition — or a digital-only PS5 plus a game or two — and even as a VR enjoyer, it’s easy to understand why people would favour the Sony console and its incredible performance and game catalogue to fill their time.
It’s also still a bit too bulky to wear all day every day for productivity tasks — something Meta was ironing out at the time on the software side too. Big screen entertainment wasn’t ideal either — the Quest 3 lacked many streaming services, and the few it did have often relied on terrible apps that were terrible to use and didn’t support high-quality streams.
(Image credit: Meta)The Vision Pro and Samsung Galaxy XR headset solved some of these issues, but they didn’t address headset bulk — the Apple Vision Pro actually weighs a good chunk more than a Quest 3 or Quest 2 — and they’re also a lot more expensive (costing $3,499 / £3,199 / AU$5,999 and $1,799 / £1,699 respectively).
To get your money’s worth, you’d ideally use these headsets every day to help maximise your productivity across app windows, and to kick back with some entertainment most evenings — or at least fairly regularly. But as someone who tried doing this for a week with the Galaxy XR (the lighter of the two), it’s simply not a comfortable enough experience — my neck wanted to give up after a day and a half.
They’re both great for using from time to time, but they cost far too much to be something you wear infrequently.
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)Emerging from the ashesThe Meta VR Glasses, however, hit the nail on the head in (almost) every regard. At only around 3.52oz /100g, they are a device you can easily wear for hours, and Meta has finally improved its entertainment and productivity software support.
The only notable negative aspect is the price. $1,299 (pricing TBC in other regions) is cheaper than its current rivals, but still four times more expensive than the Oculus Quest 2. With its weight, I can definitely see myself wearing this headset often enough to make that price justified, but for less VR-forward folks it might not seem that way — especially after our recent flops.
I hope they can give it a try, however, as I fell in love with the Meta VR Glasses instantly, and I expect plenty more fans will materialize once they launch in 2027.
(Image credit: Meta)Hardware aside, I’m also simply glad to see the return of VR as a descriptor.
I get that technically the VR Glasses are a mixed reality device, but MR never really took off as a descriptor (it’s quite similar to the shortening of mister, Mr), and I don’t love XR — it’s too generic to really mean anything because it includes AR, VR, MR, and all different ways these technologies can manifest.
VR headsets are a known quantity, and the VR Glasses do feel like the spiritual successor to the Quest headsets Meta and Oculus pioneered. It’s a small thing, but I like that VR has returned — rising from the ashes in a manner that feels appropriate for the Project Phoenix device.
(Image credit: Meta)Rebuilding what it broke?The elephant in the room for many will be that Meta contributed somewhat to the sense of doom and gloom in VR after it made sweeping cuts through its Reality Labs teams and first-party development studios — canning projects in the process.
We’ve also seen third-party VR studios close or downsize since Meta’s announcement as it becomes clear VR isn't in quite the boom period it once was. Showcasing Meta's situation was merely part of a bigger trend of VR struggles, rather than an isolated case of awfulness.
(Image credit: Future)It’s clear that VR has been generally struggling, but I’m hopeful the VR Glasses, in conjunction with Xreal Aura (which ticks a lot of the same boxes) and other future headsets / glasses, will help to bring excitement, accessibility, and users back to VR.
We’ll have to wait and see, but I think the future of VR is looking a little brighter again.
There are many audacious and commendable feats in gaming. Taking down Consort Radahn, platforming through the Path of Pain, filling your entire Pokedex, to name but a few. However, despite personally doing all these things, one task chewed me up and spat me out repeatedly. One that, on paper, isn't all that tough at all.
From the BacklogEvery gamer has a backlog — and that’s no different for us at TechRadar Gaming. From the Backlog is a series about overdue first plays, revisiting classics, returning to online experiences, or rediscovering and appreciating established favorites in new ways. Read the full series here.
The task: To get through Act One of the mammoth CRPG, Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3).
The 'act one syndrome' brought on by the sheer volume of content and the steep learning curve of BG3 is something that just about everyone has endured at some point when exploring Faerûn.
However, I feel I have been wearing this albatross around my neck for quite some time. While watching others take second laps around Faerûn for a Dark Urge run, unburdened by this plight of mine.
BG3 has been the loud, obnoxious gnawing at the back of my mind. The bane of my backlog, and at some point, I snapped.
Operation: get act one done(Image credit: Larian Studios)On paper, it's far from a Herculean task. After all, if you really want to, you can hop off the Nautiloid and head straight for the Githyanki Crèche if you choose. But ignoring the slew of content and the abundant, overlapping 'what ifs' is just too tall a task for a completionist such as myself.
I've gone back to the BG3 well a grand total of seven times. Each time, I fell at the first-act hurdle, but for different reasons.
At first, it was simply overzealous confidence and ineptitude. There was an underlying issue in that my understanding of Dungeons & Dragons principles was severely lacking.
As a result, there were many hour-long battles that inevitably led to a full party KO and a painful restart. Poor decisions compounded with each new dialogue exchange. This culminated in a heated exchange with a deceptively powerful frog, and the first of many save files to be abandoned. RIP Ignacius, my first Tav to fall.
Then came the attempts to right that wrong. A YouTube brush-up on DND systems here and there, a few tweaks to the starting build, and it would all surely work out fine.
It did not.
(Image credit: Larian Studios)There was an inevitable and foolish overcorrection, a choice to play a build that simply wasn't fun to use, especially for a novice like myself. Monks sound great on paper, as you can let your fists solve all problems. Until you’re starved for Ki and left helpless. So, with that, another save file bit the bullet. RIP Falconhoof.
You would think at this point, with so much Baldur's Gate 3 act one experience behind me, success was all but guaranteed. But then, like a pesky Kobold leering from the shadows, a menacing creature I call my wife said, in hushed tones, 'That looks fun; will you show me how to play?' Thus beginning a co-op campaign led by a D&D novice, acting as a sage for an even bigger novice.
Safe to say, this blind leading the blind dynamic was about as successful as Lae’zel would be headlining at the Comedy Cellar. So, we dug a twin grave for my wife's Tav and poor, unfortunate Arcane Michael.
It was these constant setbacks that set the wheels in motion for even more attempts to go awry. Because the dynamic shifted from a state of wonderment and curiosity to an attritional, transactional slog, as scenarios, battles, and pivotal choices repeated again and again, lacking the weight they once had.
Much like Tav, I too was infected with a parasite acting as a ticking time bomb. At some point, the tedium, or the ennui, would set in, and I would succumb to that parasite's mind control. Forcing me to exit the game, uninstall it, and relegate BG3 to the back of the backlog again.
Mercifully, this affliction doesn't come part and parcel with a tadpole insertion through the eye socket, but it’s unpleasant nonetheless.
Finding my Faerûn flow state(Image credit: Larian Studios)Returning for my eighth crack, things had to be different. So, I put those wheels in motion. I cooled off for an entire year, forgetting large portions of the opening act in the process. I researched the most fun, accessible build to play relative to the most recent patch. I even passed on some hot and fresh releases, devoting all my time and energy to breaking through.
But above all, I knew that if this was ever going to work, I would need to learn how to let go. To let decisions shape the experience rather than relying on save-scumming, embrace the rough and the smooth in equal measure, and find the mental fortitude to push on towards new and exciting things.
As someone who wants to see everything a game has to offer, ponder over every decision, min-max at every opportunity, and somehow manage to accurately roleplay while juggling all of this. I was still skeptical that it would all click into place. But against all odds, in honor of my newborn son, my Halfling Rogue, Lorcàn, was born, and before long, I could see the Shadow-Cursed Lands on the horizon.
With a streamlined build that allowed me to rely on Luck, overpowered stealth, and flexibility to multiclass. No combat encounter felt like an insurmountable task, and no conversation felt like an inevitable road to a failed dice roll. My half-pint Halfling fittingly gave me the glass-half-full mindset I needed.
Minthara and her goblins were vanquished: shoved down a chasm to their doom. The party shone a light on the Underdark's mysteries. I left that demonic frog to their own devices. But above all, the insurmountable pressure to finally leave Act One had dissipated and this is an accolade I place in my personal trophy cabinet of gaming feats.
The city of Baldur's Gate awaits, and finally, I feel that curiosity and magic again.
- Panasonic Let's Note SC7 weighs just 919 grams but passed drop tests from both 76 and 30 cm
- The chassis meets the US military's MIL-STD-810H toughness standard
- Battery testing returned nearly 23 hours of continuous everyday use
Japanese manufacturers have long built a reputation for producing remarkably light business notebooks, with some models weighing under a kilogram entirely.
Panasonic has now expanded that lightweight lineup with the Let's Note SC7, a compact notebook weighing just 919 grams total.
The company also carried over its distinct circular wheel pad, letting users scroll by tracing a finger along the pointing device's outer rim.
Packs a full-day power into a small frameThe SC7 features a 12.4-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, taller than the widescreen format common on most rival laptops today, showing more vertical content at once, improving efficiency when editing spreadsheets, documents, or browsing lengthy web pages daily.
Inside sits an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor paired with a 47 TOPS neural processing unit for on-device AI tasks.
The low-end version of this device comes with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of internal storage - however, users can choose models with 32GB or 64GB of RAM and 1TB or 2TB of internal storage depending on the buyer's needs.
Let's Note SC7 ships with Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, HDMI, and Gigabit Ethernet.
Under the hood, this notebook uses a 56Wh removable battery, which is attached with two screws rather than a latch.
According to Panasonic, this battery lasts roughly 17.7 hours during video playback and 32.4 hours in idle mode under JEITA 3.0 standards, and charging through the bundled 65W USB PD adapter reaches about 46% capacity within 30 minutes.
A magnesium alloy body measuring 273.2 x 208.9 x 19.9 mm combined with internal ribbing keeps the notebook sturdy, though it still appears slim.
Sturdiness, software, and benchmark results that support the designPanasonic subjected the SC7 to internal drop tests from 76 centimeters and 30 centimeters across 26 separate directions during development.
The chassis also passed a 100 kgf pressure vibration test and met the US Department of Defense's MIL-STD-810H toughness standard - few compact business notebooks built outside Japan undergo this level of physical stress testing before reaching commercial release.
The built-in NPU meets requirements for Microsoft's Copilot+ PC program, enabling both cloud-based and local artificial intelligence processing directly on device.
PCMark 10 testing showed the processor performing at full capacity, aided by Panasonic's proprietary MaxPerformer heat and power tuning system.
On Geekbench 7, the Let's Note SC7 scored 2354 points on single-core tasks and 10437 points on multi-core benchmarks.
Battery testing under PCMark 10's Modern Office profile returned roughly 22 hours and 59 minutes of continuous everyday use.
For security, this device includes facial recognition through an infrared camera alongside a fingerprint sensor built into the power button.
It is currently available in gray, black, rose, and deep indigo, but there is no indication that this device will sell outside Japan.
All these capabilities do not come for cheap, as Panasonic lists this device for 298,100 yen, which is about $1,880.
Via PC Watch (originally in Japanese)
With Grand Theft Auto 6 right around the corner, I imagine that quite a few PlayStation players will be dusting off their PlayStation Portal — or even newly buying one — to enjoy 2026’s biggest game on the go. But if you’re planning to take your Portal on the go, it’s important to keep it safe, and the Venom PlayStation Portal Carry Case can do just that.
I’ve spent a few weeks using Venom’s PS Portal case, and honestly it impressed me. I used to be the type of person who would just wrap my Portal or Nintendo Switch in a sweater, throw it in my bag, and hope for the best — what can I say, I just didn’t want to spend my money on something as unexciting as a case.
But the Venom makes the outlay feel a bit easier to swallow, as it comes in at an exceptionally modest price of $25.99 / £14.99 / AU$49.95. Given that it also comes with a tempered glass screen protector, cleaning tools, and thumbstick grips, that’s really not bad, is it? Don’t be fooled, though, despite its low price tag, Venom’s case still rivals some of the very best PS5 accessories.
This comes down to one main thing: its durability. For such a cheap case, the Venom PlayStation Portal Carry Case is surprisingly rough and ready. It has a hard outer shell, and when dropping the case now and then, or throwing it into my bag, it never showed any signs of wear and tear, and my console survived without issue. The exterior was not damaged during a scratch test, either, and its textured look is pretty appealing.
My system also sat pretty snug inside the case, which has a molded interior to slide your PlayStation Portal into. There’s also a hook-and-loop strap which fastens it in place, and although it's a bit cheap, it serves its purpose well.
My only complaint is that there’s no fabric pad to sit over the screen, so the fastener rubs up against the screen. I’ve not seen any scratch marks or anything, but PowerA’s case — which I’ve slid into the ‘also consider’ section — offers more secure protection with fabric padding and dual fasteners.
(Image credit: Future)There’s a second compartment inside the case too, and this has a zip-locked net that can hold accessories like earbuds, cleaning tools, and cables. It was plenty big enough to house my accessories, although the zip isn’t very high quality, and it came undone at one point — though I was able to fix it very easily. Luckily, the zip on the exterior is a bit stronger, and I found it to be secure at all times.
The Venom case also has a solid handle which has a rubber grip, which is pleasant to the touch and tall enough to fit my relatively large hands.
In honesty, this model is more like a starter kit for PS Portal owners than just a case, though. It comes with a tempered glass screen protector, which is basic, sure, but easy to fit and decently durable. There are also a couple of cleaning wipes and some neat thumbstick grips which seamlessly fit on and feel satisfyingly textured.
So, should you buy the Venom PlayStation Portal Carry Case? If you don’t want to spend all too much, and want a durable piece of kit with some nice extras thrown in, then the answer is yes. I think PowerA’s case is marginally better, thanks to its stylish design, USB-C charging passthrough slot, and fabric padding.
But Venom’s case does offer a bit more storage. I’d argue that Venom’s model is on the bulky side, and it did take up a lot of room in my bag, but if that’s not a dealbreaker for you and you need a quality, affordable case, then look no further.
(Image credit: Future)Venom PlayStation Portal Carry Case review: price & specsPrice
$25.99 / £14.99 / AU$49.95
Dimensions
6.2 x 13.2 x 3.9in / 158 x 335 x 98mm
Weight
0.9lbs / 403g
Compartments
2
Handle
Yes
Color
Black
(Image credit: Future)Should I buy the Venom PlayStation Portal Carry Case?Attribute
Notes
Score
Design
Durable exterior, decent looks, solid extras thrown in, a bit bulky.
4/5
Storage
Good amount of space for accessories, net compartment zip a bit flimsy.
4/5
Value
Great price for the case and accessories combined.
4.5/5
Buy it if…You want an affordable protective bundle
With a case, screen protector, cleaning wipes, and thumbstick grips, this product has everything you need to keep your Portal safe when out and about. It's also available at a highly affordable price point, making it ideal for those on a budget.
You need storage space for accessories
Unlike some rivals, Venom included plenty of space here for you to store accessories like earbuds, cables, and cleaning gear. Just throw everything you need in the zip-locked compartment, and you’re good to go.
You want top-tier build quality
If you want a premium standard of build, then Venom’s case may not be for you. It's durable on the outside, sure, but the inside zip is a bit flimsy, and there’s no padding for your Portal’s screen.
You’re looking for something slim
Due to its storage compartment, Venom’s carrying case is a bit on the bulky side. Slimmer options are available if you don’t want to take up too much space in your bag — even PowerA’s option below is considerably flatter (though still pretty broad).
PowerA Protection Case for PlayStation Portal
I use PowerA’s PS Portal case all the time, and it's a truly brilliant model in all aspects. It has a hard, rugged exterior, a molded interior with fabric padding for the screen, and a charging slot so you can juice your portal up while it’s in the case. It's also stylized to look a bit like the PS Portal and is very affordable. You can’t really go wrong with this one.
Read my full PowerA Protection Case for PS Portal review.
How I tested the Venom PlayStation Portal Carry Case(Image credit: Future)- Tested across multiple weeks
- Directly compared to rival models
- Tested by a seasoned gaming accessories reviewer
I spent a couple of weeks testing the Venom PlayStation Portal Carry Case, using it as the main mode of transport for my precious remote player. I took it with me on the go and made sure to try housing it alongside various accessories and assess it for any damage afterward.
To judge how durable Venom’s case was, I tried dropping it from a controlled height, performed some scratch tests, and then checked for any signs of wear and tear. I also compared the Venom case against rivals, mainly the PowerA Protection Case for PS Portal, which is my usual go-to.
More generally, I’ve been reviewing gadgets for years here at TechRadar, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve tested a whole lot of gaming accessories, including cases for the PS Portal and Nintendo Switch 2, as well as controllers, screen protectors, and audio gear.
- Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
- First reviewed: September 2026
- Each LTO-10 cartridge natively holds 40 TB, expanding to 100 TB when compressed
- Fujifilm uses Barium Ferrite particles for improved magnetic stability and lifespan
- Uncompressed transfer speed reaches 440MB per second — higher when compressed
Fujifilm has begun selling its newest LTO-10 Ultrium tape cartridge, a storage format built specifically for enterprise archival and long-term backup needs.
Each cartridge holds 40TB of native capacity, expanding to as much as 100TB once standard 2.5 to 1 compression gets applied.
At that capacity, a single tape could theoretically hold roughly 13,000,000 songs, assuming an average file size of 3MB per song.
Massive capacity built for data centers and long-term archivesFujifilm built this cartridge using Barium Ferrite particle technology, a magnetic material chosen specifically for improved stability and extended archival lifespan.
The company rates uncompressed data transfer at 440MB per second, rising to 1,100MB per second once compression gets factored into daily performance.
That places LTO-10 well ahead of most enterprise SATA hard drives, which typically max out around 250 to 290MB/s.
Fujifilm also built in AES-256 encryption that meets FIPS 197 compliance standards, a requirement common among government and financial sector storage buyers.
The cartridge carries 15,105 individual tracks across its tape surface, supporting the dense data layout needed for such massive total capacity.
The company rates the bit error rate at 1 in 10 to the 20th power, a figure the company claims is roughly 100,000x more reliable than typical enterprise SATA hard drives.
Archival life is up to 30 years under proper storage conditions, considerably longer than most spinning drives or SSDs typically last.
Reliability claims and where this format fits todayThis cartridge only works with LTO-10 tape drives and libraries, meaning buyers need compatible hardware already installed before adopting this specific format.
That requirement limits LTO-10 largely to data centers, media archives, and institutions already running established tape backup infrastructure at scale.
Fujifilm claims this format is ideal for disaster recovery scenarios, where long shelf life matters more than instant retrieval speed for most files.
Unlike hard drives, magnetic tape degrades slowly when stored correctly, making it a common choice for cold storage across many industries.
The format remains rewritable, letting institutions reuse cartridges across multiple backup cycles rather than treating each tape as single-use only.
Tape storage has persisted for decades despite predictions of its decline, largely because no cheaper alternative matches its capacity per dollar.
Whether LTO-10 sees wide adoption outside specialized enterprise environments remains uncertain, given how few consumer devices support tape drives at all.
Fujifilm backs the cartridge with a limited lifetime warranty, a guarantee uncommon among comparable storage formats sold at similar price points.
This cartridge is currently selling for $494, discounted from a suggested retail price of $888.89 listed by the manufacturer.
For organizations managing petabytes of infrequently accessed data, a cartridge holding 100TB of compressed data may be worth considering.
Via Tape and Media
A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Saturday, September 26 (game #1203).
Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.
What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Connections today (game #1204) - today's words(Image credit: New York Times)Today's NYT Connections words are…
- WU-TANG
- CARRIER
- HOMING
- BOOTH
- STOOL
- MARBLE
- BBQING
- OPERATOR
- CLAY
- BANQUETTE
- NETWORK
- CHAIR
- LOHAN
- BRONZE
- PROVIDER
- PLASTER
What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: Statue materials
- GREEN: Sit to eat
- BLUE: Phone energy
- PURPLE: The end for hereditary rulers
Need more clues?
We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…
NYT Connections today (game #1204) - hint #2 - group answersWhat are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?
- YELLOW: SCULPTURE MEDIA
- GREEN: RESTAURANT SEATING OPTIONS
- BLUE: TELECOM
- PURPLE: ENDING IN CHINESE DYNASTIES
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Connections today (game #1204) - the answers(Image credit: New York Times)The answers to today's Connections, game #1204, are…
- YELLOW: SCULPTURE MEDIA: BRONZE, CLAY, MARBLE, PLASTER
- GREEN: RESTAURANT SEATING OPTIONS: BANQUETTE, BOOTH, CHAIR, STOOL
- BLUE: TELECOM: CARRIER, NETWORK, OPERATOR, PROVIDER
- PURPLE: ENDING IN CHINESE DYNASTIES: BBQING, HOMING, LOHAN, WU-TANG
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
The NYT gives us a relaxing end to the weekend with a simple controversy-free game.
It’s hard to see any red herrings in this game, although I did waste some time wondering if Lindsey LOHAN had any connections to the WU-TANG Clan — maybe she has 36 chambers at home, or perhaps she used to work at a gravel pit?
I began with RESTAURANT SEATING OPTIONS, as it contains one of my favorite words — and the seating option everyone would plump for given the choice — the BANQUETTE. The STOOL, on the other hand, is something you’d only select if you had no other pick or if your name was Arthur Fonzarelli.
Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Saturday, September 26, 2026, game #1203)- YELLOW: BREATH FRESHENERS: GUM, MINT, MOUTHWASH, SPRAY
- GREEN: THINGS DONE TO A DRESS SHIRT AT THE LAUNDRY: FOLD, PRESS, STARCH, WASH
- BLUE: FEATURES OF WOOD: BURL, GRAIN, KNOTS, RINGS
- PURPLE: "COOL" THINGS, IN EXPRESSIONS: BEANS, CAT, CUCUMBER, CUSTOMER
NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.
On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.
It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.
It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Saturday, September 26 (game #937).
Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.
Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
NYT Strands today (game #938) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?• Today's NYT Strands theme is… It’s skin deep
NYT Strands today (game #938) - hint #2 - clue wordsPlay any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.
- SUET
- CLEAR
- TRACE
- STIR
- RAISE
- ROUTE
- NOSE
• Spangram has 10 letters
NYT Strands today (game #938) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?• First side: left, 5th row
• Last side: right, 4th row
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
NYT Strands today (game #938) - the answers(Image credit: New York Times)The answers to today's Strands, game #938, are…
- SUNSCREEN
- MOISTURIZER
- CLEANSER
- SERUM
- TONER
- SPANGRAM: BEAUTYCARE
- My rating: Easy
- My score: Perfect
I would normally begin by finding words connected to any rare letters or double-letter combinations, but in today’s game it was impossible to ignore SUNSCREEN in the top left-hand corner.
From here I moved on to MOISTURIZER and then realised with these two finds I had exhausted my knowledge of skincare products.
Fortunately, these two spots opened up the spangram and CLEANSER. I did get the final two words without a hint, but even though they were both just five letters long it took me a stupidly long time to uncover SERUM and TONER.
Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Saturday, September 26, game #937)- BREEZE
- ZEPHYR
- GUST
- WHIFF
- PUFF
- FLURRY
- CURRENT
- SPANGRAM: GENTLEWIND
Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.
I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.
A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Saturday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Saturday, September 26 (game #1706).
Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.
Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.
SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.
Quordle today (game #1707) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Quordle today (game #1707) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.
Quordle today (game #1707) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.
Quordle today (game #1707) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.
If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:
Quordle today (game #1707) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?• V
• C
• V
• P
Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.
Quordle today (game #1707) — the answers(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)The answers to today's Quordle, game #1707, are…
- VALET
- CHEST
- VIGIL
- PUREE
I took this game very slowly and it paid off. I was particularly pleased about getting VALET, as the letter V is one I’ve suffered a strange blindness to in the past.
My only risk was guessing PUREE instead of “purge”, a good one as it turned out.
Daily Sequence today (game #1707) — the answers(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1707, are…
- STRAW
- OVERT
- FEWER
- SAINT
- Quordle #1706, Saturday, 26 September: SNORT, BIBLE, LAPSE, CRANE
- Quordle #1705, Friday, 25 September: SWEAR, FLOOD, GUPPY, GROAN
- Quordle #1704, Thursday, 24 September: TOPIC, METRO, SCALP, FREED
- Quordle #1703, Wednesday, 23 September: SHEET, BLAND, JOIST, GUAVA
- Quordle #1702, Tuesday, 22 September: COMFY, LOBBY, DRESS, PANEL
- Quordle #1701, Monday, 21 September: WAXEN, HIPPO, PETAL, LEASH
- Quordle #1700, Sunday, 20 September: DERBY, LIMBO, GAWKY, REIGN
- Quordle #1699, Saturday, 19 September: SCOPE, HEIST, PULSE, CHAMP
- Quordle #1698, Friday, 18 September: MUCUS, MIRTH, APPLE, TILDE
- Quordle #1697, Thursday, 17 September: CRIER, CHIRP, NEIGH, FREER
- Quordle #1696, Wednesday, 16 September: SPEAR, PRICE, BLUNT, FISHY
- Quordle #1695, Tuesday, 15 September: SHUSH, LITHE, DELTA, BUGLE
- Quordle #1694, Monday, 14 September: ZEBRA, LEGAL, RATIO, TROLL
- Quordle #1693, Sunday, 13 September: LUCID, SPRAY, MANGE, EMAIL
- Quordle #1692, Saturday, 12 September: SUPER, BRUSH, RESET, SOWER
- Quordle #1691, Friday, 11 September: PLUSH, PAINT, RIVAL, AFOUL
- Quordle #1690, Thursday, 10 September: AGENT, EXILE, TITAN, PUREE
- Quordle #1689, Wednesday, 9 September: HAPPY, GONER, SMACK, MOTIF
- Quordle #1688, Tuesday, 8 September: FLUNG, DIARY, HALVE, BERTH
- Quordle #1687, Monday, 7 September: VISIT, CLANK, FEVER, OCEAN
- Google is testing whether AI hardware can survive repeated exposure to space
- The experimental satellite carries four custom Tensor Processing Units into orbit
- Radiation testing showed the TPUs could withstand demanding orbital exposure levels
Google will launch its first experimental orbital data center satellite on October 1 2026, marking an early test for Project Suncatcher, its long-term research initiative.
This moonshot effort explores whether low Earth orbit could eventually host scalable machine learning infrastructure powered largely by sunlight.
The satellite, called MVP, carries four of Google's custom Tensor Processing Units inside a spacecraft roughly the size of a refrigerator.
Testing hardware survival before scaling any furtherA SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the satellite into orbit as part of the Transporter-18 rideshare mission alongside other payloads.
Satellites in low Earth orbit can generate up to eight times more solar power than equivalent panels positioned on Earth's surface.
Google did not build MVP from scratch; instead, it integrated its chips into a satellite that Planet Labs, a satellite imagery company, had already built, helping Google accelerate its original 2027 timeline for launching two custom-built satellites into orbit.
During a rocket launch, spacecraft experience vibration and acceleration loads reaching up to ten times normal gravity throughout the flight.
Individual chip components can experience even greater forces, ranging between fifty and one hundred times normal gravity during ascent.
Engineers tested the satellite by shaking it along three separate axes to simulate those exact launch conditions beforehand, and that vibration testing confirmed the hardware withstood the simulated launch forces without any structural or functional failure.
"Tests like this rarely go as planned, so we were pleasantly surprised that the hardware held up to the force," said Travis Beals, Senior Director, Paradigms of Intelligence at Google.
Radiation exposure presented another concern, so Google tested its Trillium TPUs inside a proton beam facility at UC Davis.
Those tests showed the chips survived radiation doses exceeding what a five-year orbital mission would typically deliver.
Cooling remains the biggest unresolved engineering challengeCooling presents perhaps the most difficult problem, since space offers no airflow for dissipating heat the way Earth's atmosphere does.
Google's solution relies on thermal interface material connecting the chips to aluminum and copper heat pipes leading outward.
Those components funnel heat toward radiators capable of projecting it directly into the surrounding vacuum of space.
Because of this limitation, the TPUs will only run continuously for about fifteen minutes before requiring a shutdown period.
After each fifteen-minute session, the chips must pause completely while the radiator system catches up on cooling.
Future satellite designs will carry dozens of TPU chips each, communicating across the constellation using precise high-speed laser connections.
Google plans to test two satellites communicating this way sometime in 2027, alongside its previously planned custom satellite launches.
- Ukrainian bombers dropped ground robots more than ten kilometers behind Russian lines
- Gryphon robots reached positions Ukrainian forces could not easily access
- Ukraine is increasingly using machines to reduce soldiers' frontline exposure
Ukraine's Third Army Corps has carried out a first-of-its-kind attack, using heavy bomber drones to deploy ground robots directly behind Russian positions.
The operation formed part of the ongoing Operation Vivaldi counteroffensive, which launched in May 2026 across the northern Donetsk region.
According to the Ukrainian military, soldiers from the corps' unmanned systems units developed this specific tactic entirely on their own initiative.
How bombers delivered strike robots past enemy defensesHeavy bomber drones operated by the Third Assault Brigade dropped NC13 strike ground vehicles, nicknamed Gryphons, more than 10 kilometers behind Russian lines.
These wheeled robots carried cameras that recorded the entire operation, which allegedly resulted in casualties on the Russian side.
Attacking troops in a location where they had not anticipated ground-level assault reportedly gave Ukrainian forces a clear tactical advantage.
The name Gryphon honors Hryhorii Bach, a machine gunner who went missing during earlier fighting for the settlement of Andriivka.
"Now, even more of our infantry soldiers' lives can be saved, while more enemy personnel and resources are destroyed," said the Third Army Corps in a public statement.
Separately, Ukrainian ground robots cleared antipersonnel mines across more than 18 miles of routes without requiring human sapper teams onsite.
That same clearance task would normally have needed two full engineering companies working manually across multiple days.
Remote-controlled robots and their operators already handle roughly 60% of mine clearance within the corps' entire area of operations.
Electronic warfare units attached to the operation reportedly disrupted more than 20,000 Russian drone missions throughout the wider counteroffensive campaign.
Vivaldi's broader gains and what comes next this autumnSince its launch, the Ukrainian military claims that Operation Vivaldi has reclaimed up to 96 square miles of territory while defeating one arm of a Russian pincer movement.
“Our operation is called ‘Vivaldi,’ and Vivaldi, as we know, has four seasons. And this is only the first of them. […] There will be good news, but for now our actions require silence,” said Andrii Biletskyi, Commander of the Third Army Corps.
Ukraine's drone campaign against Russian fuel supplies has reportedly limited diesel availability for generators powering enemy electronic warfare systems nearby.
Russia's elite drone unit, known as Rubicon, reportedly withdrew from the region after suffering losses inflicted by Ukrainian forces.
Russian commanders are now redirecting armored vehicles and drone units toward Dobropillya, preparing for expected mechanized assaults later this autumn season.
During the summer months, Russian forces tested a new anti-drone protection system on their most modern tanks.
Ukrainian drones reportedly still overwhelmed those defensive systems despite the added protective measures fitted to the vehicles.
Ukraine's growing reliance on ground and aerial robots signals a broader shift toward reducing human exposure along the most dangerous frontline positions.
As winter approaches, both militaries appear likely to keep adapting their drone tactics in response to each other's latest countermeasures.
Via ArsTechnica