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I'm a bit of a nerd when it comes to portable charging. I love testing the many power banks, USB-C chargers and newer Amazon brands available to see whether they can really do what they claim, and how well they hold up day to day.
Since most of us need a spare power bank, wall charger or cable sooner or later, these products are always worth checking during Amazon's Prime Day sales.
With Prime Day 2026 now underway in Australia, I've rounded up my favourite power bank and charger deals below.
Many of these are the same models I recommend in my best power banks guide, including picks from Iniu, Anker, ZMI, Ugreen and more.
Based on my testing, there are also a few Amazon charging brands I’d be cautious about — including Veektomx, Charmast and Heymix — with the latter having some rather worrying reviews.
All the deals below are Exclusive Prime prices, so if you don't have membership already, sign up now and get a 30-day free trial that you can cancel any time.
Best Prime Day power bank dealsThis compact 45W power bank is one of my favourite everyday carry options, and it’s now back near the best price I’ve seen. Read our review for more insight, but the short version is that it’s a great choice if you want a small power bank that can fast charge your phone on the go.View Deal
This is one of the top-rated options in our best power banks guide, and it’s a very capable option for charging phones, tablets and laptops. It can charge at up to 145W, has dual USB-C ports plus USB-A, supports 65W pass-through charging and sits below the 100Wh airline carry-on limit.
The more compact 100W / 20,000mAh version is also discounted, and is currently AU$69.99 at Amazon.View Deal
This is one of the lowest prices I’ve seen for the Anker 737, making it a great deal on a premium power bank. It gets excellent results in our best power banks guide, with 140W output, a 24,000mAh capacity, a flight-safe 86.4Wh battery rating and an excellent 85% efficiency in our testing.View Deal
This compact 20,000mAh power bank is a good option for longer days out, travel or times when a smaller 10,000mAh model won’t quite cut it. The T2055 is one of our top-rated budget options in our best power banks guide, and at this price it’s easy to recommend.View Deal
Best Prime Day charger and cable dealsEveryone needs more USB-C cables, and Ugreen is one of my favourite brands for them. This two-pack of popular 1m 100W cables is back to a price that matches the lowest I’ve seen before. Ugreen has loads of USB-C cables currently discounted, so it’s well worth a look. I especially like the 3m long cables, and keep one by the couch for charging my phone or laptop.View Deal
This is just AU$1 more than the lowest price I’ve seen for the Ugreen Mini 30W charger, and it’s a handy buy if you want a compact spare. It’s small enough to leave in a bag, can fast charge most phones and, thanks to its 20V output profile, can even top up some USB-C laptops when needed.View Deal
This neat little charger doesn’t take up much space and gives you both USB-A and USB-C ports. It can fast charge most base-model phones from Apple, Google and Samsung, though it won’t hit the maximum charging speeds of higher-end models such as the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL, Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus / Ultra or iPhone 16 Pro / Pro Max. Still, it’s a great travel or backup charger at this price.View Deal
This compact Ugreen charger can output up to 65W from either USB-C port, plus up to 22.5W from its USB-A port. That makes it powerful enough to fast charge top iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones, while also being worth considering as a compact laptop charger replacement if your laptop supports USB-C charging and you have a suitable cable.View Deal
A 100W USB-C charger is a must-have for many larger laptops, or for fast charging multiple devices from one wall socket. I often see this Ugreen model around this price, but it’s still an excellent buy from a brand I trust.View Deal
More Amazon Prime Day deals in Australia- A Reddit user's RTX 5090 has partially melted a PCIe riser cable
- Some of the riser cable's material is stuck on the RTX 5090's backplate
- It's not as serious a concern as connector melting issues, but it's worth being cautious about riser cable and GPU spacing henceforth
Building a new gaming PC in 2026 and beyond is a tough ask for any gamer amid the RAM crisis, and that's why this case of caution around hardware components is vital.
As reported by TweakTown, a Reddit user has reported a partially melted Lian Li PCIe riser cable due to heat from direct contact with the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 5090 backplate. The material chipped away from the riser cable is evident on the GPU's backplate, but fortunately it isn't a substantial amount.
Riser cables are an ideal solution for any PC builder aiming for a small case that can fit larger GPUs by placing them in a vertical position. In this case, the user specifically notes that the riser cable was stuck against the GPU's backplate during a routine PC cleanup, suggesting that the GPU's heat melted the riser cable's insulation.
It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that the RTX 5090 is involved in a case of components melting (even if it's very minimal). In case you've missed them, there have been several cases of GPU power cables melting with RTX 5090 GPUs, which stems from the high power draw (575 W).
It's important to note, though, that this can happen with other GPUs across AMD's Radeon and Nvidia's RTX cards, especially those that can get quite toasty under heavy load. However, Team Green's flagship is likely more prone to melting complications, made worse when using cheap riser cables or GPU power connectors.
Rtx 5090 melted riser cable from r/pcmasterrace(Image credit: Future)Fellow Redditors argue that this isn't a melting issue, as it appears the riser cable has been chipped away instead. Regardless of the exact cause, it's best to use this as an example to proceed with caution when mounting a new GPU.
If using a riser cable is required due to space limitations, users must provide enough clearance for both the GPU and the riser cable to avoid direct contact. It's a great thing that this user caught on to the matter before any real issue arose.
We've reached out to Nvidia to see if it has any comment on this particular case, but haven't received a response yet — but I'm sure the same warning of caution will be shared.
We've seen rare but far worse cases of GPUs melting, and given how expensive it would be to buy new PC hardware, I'd go so far as to suggest users be overly cautious.
Ah, the Noble Osprey; see how the majestic raptor hovers over its prey, watching with beady eyes as the young trout — wait, what do you mean this isn’t the first few words of a David Attenborough narration? Oh. I’m glad you told me that now.
The Noble Osprey are, in fact, a new pair of true wireless earbuds from the premium audio brand Noble. They’re not cheap, relatively speaking (and this is a crowded market), but they do undercut some of the best earbuds on the market to have graced our testing process. They're also more wallet-friendly than other buds from the brand such as the Noble FoKus Amadeus and FoKus Rex5, making them a little more competitive than what’s come before.
Despite this cheaper price, the Osprey also share a few traits with their siblings. They have another distinct marbled look, this time in blue, and again a focus on high-quality audio, with a refined V-shaped sound profile and support for LDAC.
I really wanted to like the Osprey; I tested the FoKus Apollo over-ears which sounded fantastic, and love an earbud that’s focusing on refined, higher-resolution sound instead of an omnipresent thumping bass. But over the several weeks of testing, I repeatedly found myself opting for other buds over the Osprey, which isn’t a good sign.
Unlike the namesake birds, gliding unbothered in the sky, the Osprey are certainly susceptible to the force of gravity… that is to say, they just wouldn’t stay in my ears. I tested the various sizes and shapes of ear tips offered in the box, and even rotated and twisted the buds around uncomfortable angles to see if I could lodge them into my ear, but no cigar.
I don’t mean they wobbled when I went for a run; I could be sitting stock still and they’d slide (I hesitate to use the word 'yeeted', but there it is) straight out of my ears of their own accord. Even cooking or eating was a challenge with them in; they’d fall out so frequently I’d always just remove them — or replace them with a pair I wasn’t testing.
The problem was incessant and it sowed in me a reticence to use the buds. This sentiment colored my entire time with them. I don’t think I’ve ever used a set of earbuds that fit as poorly (well, a tip-toting pair at least; they draw with the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4) as the Noble Osprey.
I'm only laboring the point because it is a real shame. There’s a lot to like in these buds. They look distinctive, offering some of the flair of wired, Shure-adjacent IEMs but without the wire. The case is lovely and small, and holds a fair amount of charge too.
And the audio quality from these Noble earpieces is also good (when you can keep them in), offering a V-shaped presentation but with delicate, sparkling trebles and a refined low-end that’s rich in detail. The use of dual drivers as well as LDAC and Bluetooth 6.0 compatibility ensures you’re getting that extra sonic oomph you’re paying for. I just wish the buds would stay in my ears so I could appreciate the sound quality more…
Noble Osprey review: Price and release date(Image credit: Future)- Announced on June 2, 2026, shipped later that month
- Selling for $199 / £199 / AU$292
- Undercuts Noble's other buds, AirPods Pro and Galaxy Buds Pro
Announced on the 2nd June, 2026, the Noble Osprey were shipped to early buyers by the end of the month.
They cost $199 / £199 / AU$292, so they’re priced just a hair below the AirPods Pro 3 or Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, but in the same rough ‘premium wireless earbuds’ area that indicates these are top-tier buds.
Not highest-tier, I suppose, when you consider Noble’s other buds. The Rex5 cost $449 / £419 / AU$699, literally twice as much as the Osprey, so this bird-named pair of buds is still a very affordable model as far as Noble is concerned.
Noble Osprey review: SpecsDrivers
10mm + balanced armature
Active noise cancellation
Yes
Battery life
5 hours (buds), 35 hours (case)
Weight
6.5g (buds), 61g (case)
Connectivity
Bluetooth 6.0
Frequency response
20Hz-40kHz
Waterproofing
TBC
Noble Osprey review: Features(Image credit: Future)- Minimum 5 hours listening, 7 hours without ANC
- Passable ANC, but struggles in wind
- App offers EQ, but not much more
The Noble Osprey are earbuds designed for audiophiles, and battery life is often a department that sees culls in favor of driving those various drivers (and powering the necessary antiphase tech for noise nixing). Case in point, the Osprey only last for five hours of listening when you've got ANC enabled.
That timespan extends to seven hours if you turn off ANC, which is a reasonable figure. The 35-hour battery life of the case is also reasonable too, and I've tested plenty of earbuds that don't offer that amount of extra juice.
Talking of the ANC, it's passable, but nothing to write home about — the Osprey won't be joining our best noise-cancelling earbuds guide any time soon. It stripped away the rumble of a bus and dampened the whirr of a nearby washing machine, but didn't offer the near-silence that many rivals do. They often struggled with wind too.
(Image credit: Future)The Noble Osprey app offers a few useful features, including the ability to customize what the buds' touch controls do, turning off (or on) ANC, and toggling the Bluetooth tone switch.
The main tool, though, is the equalizer, offering a 10-band EQ or the choice between six presets. It's a rather effective EQ, letting you pull the music in various directions, and you can save various custom modes in addition to the presets.
If you don't think you'll use the equalizer, though, the app's not really worth downloading; it doesn't offer that much else, and there's a dearth of extra features that often crop up in consumer-grade earbuds.
- Features score: 3.5/5
- Svelte carry case
- Attractive blue marbled design
- Not designed to stick in the ear
You’ve read the introduction, you know that the Noble Osprey buds simply wouldn’t stay in my ears, no matter what I tried. And before the “why didn’t you…” of the comments section: trust me, I test buds for a living, this is not my first rodeo. It took very little motion to dislodge them from my ears: going on walks, sitting on a bumpy bus, moving about while cooking.
This was more than a minor annoyance; I basically couldn’t use them if I wasn’t sitting still at a desk, and even then the fit was unreliable. When they started to slip, they fell fast, tanking the audio quality and, if I tried to push them back into my ears, causing me to accidentally press the on-bud buttons.
Now and then I managed to lodge them in my ears in a way that, temporarily at least, kept them locked in position, and once or twice I managed to go on a walk with the buds. But this wasn’t reliable, caused my ears to ache, and still required me to adjust the fit almost constantly.
(Image credit: Future)What’s the problem? They’re not the lightest buds I’ve ever tested, weighing 6.5g, but that shouldn’t be enough to hurt the fit. At a guess, it’s the top-heavy weighting of the buds themselves, though the lack of any friction in the tips (or perhaps a fin to help them lodge into ears) doesn’t help either.
Not only is it infuriating to constantly adjust the earbuds in your ear, it runs the risk of knocking the touch controls on each. It’s only a risk, though, and not a guarantee, because I found the controls quite unreliable to trigger.
The Osprey come in a lovely-looking azure charging case — azure until it gets scuffed up, which happened very quickly for me, making it look a little less lovely.
Said case is pretty small, with the buds nestled into it nicely, and it's light in weight, tipping the scales to 61g. I couldn’t find any information suggesting they’re IP rated, but the case certainly feels solid enough to protect the buds from a drop.
- Design score: 2.5/5
- 10mm + BA driver
- Refined V-shaped sound
- LDAC support
Putting aside fit issues (which are hard to put aside when they affect sound quality so frequently — but play nice!), the Noble Osprey sound really good.
Each bud has been kitted out with a 10mm dynamic driver, plus a balanced armature driver, and they combine to create a refined V-shaped sound.
Bass is cohesive and scooping, holding a distinct space in the mix without overriding higher-end frequencies. Treble is sharp and bright, giving vocals sparkle and adding energy to string or brass stings. And while the mids aren’t as prominent in the mix as, say, bass, they hold enough space that music doesn’t feel like there’s some void in the middle.
Songs like Don McCloskey’s First in Flight let the various higher-frequency instruments, and the dancing bassline, all sit separately without descending into one chaotic mush. Acoustic guitars and vocals don’t clash like they do in cheaper buds, like in Charlie Mars’ She Ain’t Coming Back, which retains detail and timbre.
(Image credit: Future)Helping this detail is the Osprey’s support for LDAC, for an upgrade over SBC or AAC.
The dual drivers bring another benefit: audio spacing. There’s distinct placement and a broad soundstage present in music here. How to get it? Try Yi Nantiro’s Oasis, which sees the harp dance around your periphery, or the London Symphony Orchestra’s recent recording of Holst’s The Planets, in which you can basically point to where each section of the orchestra was seated during the live recording.
The Osprey get pretty loud too if you push them, only distorting when you’re at the highest few volume increments. I didn’t go anywhere near that loud for most of my listening, but I appreciate that you can listen at higher volumes without losing quality.
- Sound quality: 4.5/5
- Rather affordable compared to audiophile buds
- Expensive compared to consumer-grade ones
- Don't offer the complete package like same-priced rivals do
The Noble Osprey sit with a foot (or claw? Talon?) in two camps. On one side, they're affordable audiophile earbuds, designed for listeners who care about music quality above all else. On the other, they're premium models for the average consumer, who wants a more balanced overall package.
Unfortunately, while the Noble Osprey sound really good, I'm not sure they sound $200 good. The distinction between them and same-price Apple, Bose or Sony rivals isn't pronounced enough, when you consider that those buds tend to offer a more balanced design and wider feature set.
Sure, audiophiles who only consider audio quality might not want those other features, but it's still a high price. For the same cost as the Osprey, you can get other buds that work even better.
- Value: 3/5
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Features
The Osprey's ANC does the job, and its battery life is okay, but beyond a useful EQ, there aren't many extra tools.
3.5/5
Design
Despite the portable carry case, and lovely marbling, it doesn't seem like enough thought was put into how the Osprey would sit in the ear.
2.5/5
Sound quality
The Osprey sound great, with a V-shaped profile that belies texture, space and detail.
4.5/5
Value
It's a high asking price, and beyond the sound quality, you're not getting much.
3/5
Buy them if…You want great-sounding audio
The Noble Osprey sound great, and if that's the one and only thing you look for in wireless earbuds, then they're a good fit for you.
You like the look
Wireless earbuds can look pretty boring, so the Noble Osprey's blue marble pattern sets them apart from the crowd.
You need a tiny carry case
If you find modern earbud cases too big, the Osprey are the antidote: it's smaller than most alternatives I've used.View Deal
You're not just listening at home
Because of the fit issues, the Osprey just aren't suited to being out and about. If you're only listening while sitting at a desk at home, they might be okay.
You want real budget earbuds
The Noble Osprey might be budget buds compared to other audiophile offerings, but when you look at the grand scheme of earbuds, they're still rather expensive.
Want to see what other earbuds your money can get you? Here are some alternatives for roughly the same price.
Noble Osprey
Apple AirPods Pro 3
Sony WF-1000XM6
Drivers
10mm + BA driver
Unspecified
8.4mm
Active noise cancellation
Yes
Yes
Yes
Battery life (ANC on)
5 hours (buds), 35 hours (case)
8 hours (buds), 24 hours (case)
8 hours (buds), 24 hours (case)
Weight
6.5g (buds), 61g (case)
5.6g (buds), 44g (case)
6.5g (buds), 47g (case)
Connectivity
Bluetooth 6.0
Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth 5.3
Waterproofing
TBC
IP57
IPX4
Apple AirPods Pro 3
The natural competition at this price point is the AirPods Pro, with a burgeoning feature set (albeit some fit issues too). Don't expect as refined audio, though.
Read our full AirPods Pro 3 review
Sony WF-1000XM6
Another solid rival, and a stem-less option like the Osprey, is Sony's modern flagship. These sound audiophile-tier and have a wide, if not Apple wide, range of extra tools.
Read our full Sony WF-1000XM6 review
- Tested for one month
- Paired with two different Android phones
- Used for various activities and tasks
I used the Noble Osprey for roughly a month before writing this review, and the writing process added at least a week more of testing time. I began by using the pre-attached ear tips, and cycled through various in-box options, before settling on the two-tiered tips you see in the pictures.
During that span, they were paired to two different Android smartphones: a Motorola Edge 70 Fusion, and a Realme 13 Pro Plus, both times with the app installed on the phone. Mostly, music listening was done with Spotify and Tidal, while Prime Video and Now were used for movies — and various games got a look-in, too. I also used them for some calls and voice notes.
Initially, I used the earbuds for a wide range of tasks, including going for walks around my area, commuting or travelling on various forms of public transport, and while doing activities around my house. Towards the end of the testing process, when the fit issue made other uses frustrating, I only used them while seated at a desk. I completely omitted several tasks that are part of my usual testing process, including gym trips and runs.
I've been reviewing tech for TechRadar since 2019, which has seen me use countless earbuds and audio products.
- First reviewed in July 2026
Amazon Prime Day is now live in Australia, and I’m spending the majority of my time seeking out the very best Prime Day coffee machine deals. Fortunately, I’ve not been disappointed, with huge savings on many of our favourite machines here at TechRadar.
The highlight, however, has to be a mega saving on the superb Ninja Luxe Café Premier espresso machine, which drops to a new all-time low in Australia of AU$497.99 for the stainless steel model.
That smashes a previous low price of AU$629 that I spotted during Black Friday last year, and means that if you’ve been holding out on getting the viral-hit coffee maker, this Prime-exclusive deal presents the perfect opportunity.
As we said in our 4.5-star Ninja Luxe Café review, this bean-to-cup coffee machine is worth the hype. Our tester said it was "an espresso machine anyone can master" that offers pro-level drinks without the effort. It’s all thanks to various technologies that determine the ideal grind size and automatically froth milk, meaning anyone can be an at-home barista. Please note the RRP has been taken from Ninja’s official Australian store.View Deal
If you have yet to come across this popular Ninja machine, it is essentially a versatile three-in-one bean-to-cup system designed to cater to a wide range of coffee preferences. It is capable of extracting a quality espresso, preparing cold brew, and delivering classic drip coffee.
An automatic steam wand is also included for those who favour milk-based drinks. Ninja describes it as “the ultimate guided experience,” with its Barista Assist Technology offering step-by-step support throughout the process.
In practical terms, whatever your coffee of choice, the Ninja Luxe Café Premier espresso machine is equipped to handle it. It also encourages experimentation with different recipes, without the need for proper barista training.
A selection of single-, double-, and quad-shot filter baskets is included, making it equally suited to preparing multiple coffees at once or a stronger, more concentrated serve when needed.
While it's sensibly priced in the world of premium coffee machines, AU$1,049.99 is still a hefty purchase. That said, our reviewer identified only a few reasons not to buy it: if you need to brew large batches of coffee, want a dedicated hot water line or are looking for a compact machine.
If this doesn’t sound like you, or you’re simply swayed by the AU$552 saving, then you’ll likely want to be quick to snap one up, as they tend to sell out fast.
It’s no secret that the data centers that form the hidden engine of today’s AI boom can consume huge amounts of water, mostly for cooling purposes, and dealing with this issue is critical for any organisation in the technology sector.
Worldwide, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the data center sector consumes 560 billion liters of water per year today, and projections suggest this figure could soar over the coming years, reaching as much as 1,2 trillion liters per year by 2030, according to a recent government report on data center water use.
Taking measures today can help to mitigate this.
It’s very possible for data centers to reduce the drain on local freshwater resources, while also curbing their energy use, and all without reducing performance.
Here are five key issues which are driving water consumption in data centers today, and steps that data center operators can take to mitigate them.
1 Open-loop evaporative cooling is a problemToday, many data centers still rely on ‘open-loop’ evaporative cooling systems, where hot water is sprayed onto pads to be cooled. This older form of cooling architecture means that data centers consume significant volumes of water, which has to be continuously replenished as it evaporates.
But more modern sealed liquid cooling systems offer a way to mitigate this source of water loss, by ensuring water is reused efficiently, while not impacting performance.
Today’s closed-loop systems reuse the same water over and over again, using liquid-to-air heat exchangers for cooling, rather than evaporating water. These warm-water cooling systems are sealed, so that after the system is filled in the first place, water loss is extremely low under normal operating conditions.
Instead, the systems recirculate the same water inside a sealed environment, so no water is consumed at all during normal operations. Water is not discharged from the system, and it never evaporates: instead, it absorbs heat directly from high-performance components and transfers it out of the system.
Closed-loop systems are designed not to be consumption-driven infrastructure but instead are recirculating, self-contained systems. This technology will be vital to reducing the water demands of data centers worldwide.
2 Data centers still attempt to cool the roomIn too many data centers, cooling is highly inefficient, meaning that up to a third of the data center's total energy use can be 'spent' on keeping components cool, with fans working to keep the data center's temperature low as well as cooling individual machines. Modern technologies such as direct-to-node and direct-to-chip cooling are offering a new way to curb this inefficient energy and water use.
In direct-to-chip cooling, cold plates are attached to heat-generating components such as GPUS, with coolant liquid flowing through the plates to absorb heat and transfer it out to a heat exchanger. Liquid cooling techniques such as direct-to-node cooling can remove up to 98% of heat from servers, operating on a closed-loop system which means water is not wasted.
By capturing heat directly at the source, at the processor level, rather than attempting to cool entire rooms full of hot air, data center operators can reduce energy demand and also place less strain on local water systems. This also produces higher-temperature outputs which are easier to reuse.
3 Generative AI is driving an increase in compute densityOne key reason for the increasing water use of data centers is simply that the AI boom is driving more demand for cooling. Generative AI is powered by Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), which can consume between five and 10 times more energy than Central Processing Units (CPUs). But we are also seeing an increase in compute density, as more and more of these components are packed into smaller areas, using techniques such as 3D silicon stacking.
The demands of AI workloads mean that warm water closed-loop cooling is coming into its own as a low-energy solution. Even at high rack densities, warm water systems (which can use inputs at much higher temperatures) enable high performance while also curbing water use and removing evaporative cooling.
To take one example, DreamWorks Animation adopted warm-water cooling systems for high performance computing (HPC) and recorded a 20% performance increase alongside reduced cooling requirements.
4 Projects to reuse data center heat are still too rareIn data centers, almost all of the electricity used is ultimately converted into heat, and today that is a resource that is underused. In fact, the heat has been traditionally treated as an unwelcome byproduct to be removed and then discarded. But this can be transformed into a usable resource, which can deliver heat for residential communities, commercial buildings and even district heating.
This reuse is still too rare, but pioneering projects across Europe are already showing the potential of the idea for reducing reliance on fossil fuels, cutting energy costs, and boosting resilience. Projects in Ireland and Scandinavia are already reusing heat to warm homes and businesses.
Older evaporative cooling systems are wasteful, and shifting towards closed-loop systems where water is reused, heat harvested and given to the wider community are a prime example of how waste can be turned into wealth.
5 Data centers are still in the wrong locationsAt present, too little thought is given to the location of data centers, meaning that the facilities can be located in areas where there is already strain on local freshwater supplies.
Going forward, organizations will take this factor into account in order to deliver more sustainable data centers which ‘fit in’ to their local environment: research found that 45% of IT professionals believe current data center design does not support sustainability goals.
In the future, data centers will be put in carefully chosen locations to optimize renewable energy use, and also to ensure their water demands are not at odds with their local environment. This could include data centers built into urban areas with a goal to reusing waste heat to warm local homes - or even to offer spa-like experiences to local people.
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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.
The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit
Your most serious data breach may have already happened, you just haven’t felt the impact yet.
Encrypted data stolen years ago doesn’t lose its value. As quantum capabilities advance, that data could become readable, turning historic (and forgotten) incidents into future liabilities.
The threats posed by quantum computing are still widely spoken about in a futuristic, hypothetical context. This assumption is already outdated. The risks are not tied to a distant breakthrough, but rooted in how data is being exposed and handled today.
What makes quantum different from previous cybersecurity threats is not just its power, but how it fundamentally changed the lifecycle of a breach. The data stolen today no longer needs to be decrypted today.
It can be collected, stored, and unlocked years later, turning what appears to be a contained incident into a delayed and potentially far more damaging exposure in the future.
Traditional security thinking assumes that once a breach is identified and contained, the risk declines over time. Quantum reverses that logic. In some cases, the real impact of a breach may only emerge years after the event itself.
The rise of delayed breachesQuantum introduces a different kind of exposure: “harvest now, decrypt later” (HNDL). Attackers do not need to break encryption today. They need access to data that will still be valuable in the future.
It’s no surprise, then, that 61% of organizations rank this as their top quantum-related risk, according to the Thales Data Threat Report. That reflects a shift in how organizations are thinking about breach impact. Data theft is no longer the end of the story; it’s the beginning of a much longer exposure window.
For organizations handling long-life data, the implications are significant. Intellectual property, financial records, customer data, and strategic communications often retain value for years, even decades. If that data is compromised today, it may not be immediately usable, but its long term value – and risk – remains intact.
And this risk is far from theoretical. 67% of organizations already report rising credential theft, a sign that attackers are already gaining access to sensitive data at scale. This is not driven by quantum computing, but it expands the pool of data that could be decrypted in the future.
By the time quantum capabilities mature, some of that data may become readable, long after the original breach has been forgotten, investigated, and closed. This creates a long-tail risk that many organizations still underestimate.
You can’t secure what you can’t seeAt the same time, many organizations are struggling with a more immediate weakness: limited visibility into their data. Only 34% of organizations report full knowledge of where their data is stored, and less than half of sensitive cloud data is encrypted.
These are not marginal gaps. They represent systemic exposure on how data is governed and protected.
Without a clear view of what data exists, where it resides, and how it is secured, it becomes difficult to assess exposure – not just today, but over the lifespan of that data.
Encryption is often treated as a safety net, but it is not future-proof by default. Its effectiveness depends entirely on the strength and longevity of the underlying cryptography and how long the data it protects needs to remain confidential.
If organizations do not understand which cryptographic standards are in use and where they are applied, they cannot assess whether their protections will hold.
The challenge is straightforward: you can’t protect what you can’t see – and in a quantum context, that visibility gap becomes a strategic risk.
Experimentation does not equal readinessThere are encouraging signs of progress. Nearly six in ten organizations are already experimenting with post-quantum cryptography, indicating that awareness is translating into early action.
However, experimentation alone is not enough. Cryptography is deeply embedded across modern IT environments, from legacy systems to cloud-native applications, often without central oversight. Strengthening it requires understanding where cryptography exists, how it is used, and how long the data it protects needs to remain secure.
Without that foundation, organizations risk focusing efforts on the wrong systems or securing data for the wrong timeframe, leaving high-value assets exposed.
Real readiness requires building crypto-agility: the ability to adapt cryptographic approaches as standards evolve. It also means modernizing key management and mapping cryptographic dependencies across increasingly complex, distributed environments.
Without these, even proactive efforts will fall short.
The window to act is wide openQuantum risk is not a distant scenario. It is already shaping the data breach fallout of tomorrow, whether organizations recognize it or not. Once sensitive data is exposed, it cannot be “re-secured” years later when quantum capabilities emerge. The window to act is defined by how long that data remains valuable, not by when quantum computing reaches maturity.
Leaders need to move beyond experimentation and take a hard look at where their data lives, how it’s protected, and how long it needs to remain secure. That means identifying cryptographic dependencies, prioritizing high-value data, and embedding crypto-agility into the fabric of their environments.
Because in the quantum era, the most significant breach may not be the one you detect today. It’s the one that has already happened and is quietly waiting to be understood.
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- VodafoneThree blocks 25% more banking fraud messages since August 2025
- Barclays collaboration leverages shared intelligence
- More banks to be added later
VodafoneThree says it has blocked more than two million fraudulent banking SMS messages since August 2025 using a new proof of concept to prevent scam texts from reaching customers of banks that participate in its scheme.
Initially a collaborative effort between the network provider, Barclays, the Mobile Ecosystem Forum and the Cyber Defence Alliance, the trial is also set to expand across The Co-operative Bank and TSB.
According to the recently conglomerated mobile network, the trial delivered a healthy 25% increase in the number of banking scam messages that were blocked.
VodafoneThree and participating banks can block even more scam textsThe solution adds bank-specific detection rules to VodafoneThree's existing SMS firewall to improve detection accuracy and to ensure that legitimate messages make it to customers. Rather than introducing a whole new system, this collaborative upgrade makes it cheaper and highly effective for participating banks by using existing shared intelligence.
Banking aside, VodafoneThree says it blocked more than 139 million fraudulent SMS messages across its entire network during 2025, indicating a growing problem. Barclays also noted that APP scams from SMS attacks rose around 40% year-over-year in 2025.
"We’re working closely with banks, government, law enforcement, and industry partners to stay ahead, evolving our capabilities as quickly as fraudsters change their tactics," Director of Corporate Security and Fraud Rachel Andrews said.
At the moment, fraud accounts for nearly half (44%) of all crime in the UK, but with so many groups and attackers, attack vectors and other variables, VodafoneThree says a more collaborative approach is needed.
“Protecting our customers’ money and data is our highest priority. With reports of APP scams originating via SMS increasing by around 40% in 2025 compared with 2024, it is essential that we continue to work together to stay ahead of new threats," added Paul Davis, Head of Economic Crime, Barclays.
“By sharing intelligence across banks, telecoms providers and industry bodies, we can help stop suspicious messages before they reach customers, while ensuring our customers still receive genuine messages from us. VodafoneThree’s work is a strong example of how collective action can help tackle fraud at source and better protect consumers.”
Businesses do not lose time on agreements - or any other business process - because they lack AI tools. They lose it because the steps involved, like contract intake, review and approvals, still move through disconnected systems, inboxes and document versions.
There is an opportunity to embed AI where work actually happens so that talent spends less time on routine admin in favor of work that requires judgment and negotiation - and offers growth and interest.
Most organizations are looking for AI gains in the wrong place. The deeper issue isn’t a lack of access to intelligent tools, but poorly designed workflows that often go unnoticed. In agreement processes, for example, the cost shows up in slower revenue, more dull manual review, weaker visibility around important changes or areas of risk, and unnecessary pressure on legal, procurement and HR.
AI becomes useful when it is built into those workflows to automate repeatable tasks, apply consistent policy checks and help teams move faster without losing control.
AI projects underperform when they're bolted onto broken processes. Instead, redesign existing processes, or reimagine them completely. Many users treat AI as a layer when deeper results come from reworking how tasks move across teams and how people spend their time interacting with each other.
Contract management - better called ‘agreement work’ - is a good example because though it touches revenue, supplier management, hiring and compliance, it often still runs through fragmented handoffs and manual reviews.
Deloitte research calls this the “agreement trap”, with poor agreement management costing businesses significant time and value - nearly $2 trillion in lost global economic value.
That multi-trillion-dollar figure is the sum of thousands of small frictions inside every organization. Teams lose time on intake, triage, chasing status, checking standard clauses and routing approvals.
Highly skilled people are pulled into repetitive work that does not require their full expertise. Then, deep insights on key people, mechanisms, and alliances sit locked up in static documents, not being used within the knowledge base of new intelligent solutions used to set corporate strategy.
Workflow matters more than innovation hypeTasks and processes are the challenge that technology offers a solution for, and they outlast whatever technology solution is applied. Within agreement management for example, legal teams are there to review and remove risk, yes, but they also act as traffic controllers for broken processes, ensuring the task is moved onward to completion.
Procurement and HR face similar issues when requests arrive inconsistently and progress can be hard to track.
Early lessons in AI implementation have shown leaders that AI is most effective when the underlying workflow is structured. If the process is unclear then AI can accelerate confusion at scale.
Those with tech expertise and skill in workflow creation design can standardize rules and responsibilities such that AI will support the consistency and speed in a well-designed system.
So, a strong first question isn’t “where can we deploy AI?” It’s “where do existing workflows force skilled people to do routine and less valuable work?”
In agreements, that includes comparing terms against policy, flagging deviations, chasing approvals, and surfacing the subsequent step for the following decision-maker. AI works well here because the task is repeatable and the human still owns judgment.
With AI embedded in the workflow of this example, routine review is automated so standard clauses and known risks are checked quickly. Teams work from shared playbooks, making reviews more consistent.
Then progress becomes visible across the process, with fewer requests disappearing into email chains, sitting with absent people, or in a game of pingpong.
An AI-assisted review compares contracts against pre-approved playbooks, suggests redlines inside the workflow, centralizes intake, review and approvals, prompting the person, rather than the other way around.
The need for speed (with control)Faster does not have to mean riskier when control of the workflow has been tightly defined. In any business managing a workflow, whether agreements and contracts or anything else, the best use of AI is to make business applications more consistent, with human experts able to spend significantly more time on areas like exceptions, negotiation and complex risk.
Used well, AI allows experts to focus on the areas where nuance matters most - just when it’s most needed.
Agreements cut across every major business function. Poor agreement workflows affect deal velocity, supplier onboarding, compliance and employee processes at different points in the workflow. That makes agreement management part of the whole digital workplace conversation, not a legal-contractual-sales-back-office issue.
More recent Deloitte research found that companies with advanced agreement management are more likely to outperform financially, and that 85% of organizations with advanced agreement management say it contributes to strategic goals.
It’s proof that the market is shifting towards structured agreement management solutions for areas of risk reduction and revenue acceleration. Leaders are building AI into structured workflows around intake, review and approvals because that is where their users feel the friction most acutely. It’s been that way since the first complex contract between two organizations was signed.
The next AI gains will come from everyday workThis example from agreement management shows that the next phase of enterprise AI can be less about eye-catching claims and more about fixing the everyday workflows that shape how humans do real business.
Agreements are one example, but they make the lesson clear: AI delivers the most value when it helps people do real work fast, consistently, and visibly. But more than that, it shows how by rethinking the invisible we reassess what is possible, making business work better.
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- 97% have implemented AI, but 47% are waiting for meaningful AI ROI to be realized
- 79% say key operation decisions still require manual intervention
- AI could seriously help Q4 shopping habits
New research has claimed even though nearly all (97%) retailers have implemented AI in some form, more than two-thirds (69%) say they only respond to operational problems after those issues have already affected commercial performance, implying that most aren't planning ahead.
As a result, nearly half (47%) are still waiting to see measurable returns on investment from their AI spend, the report from UiPath found.
This comes as many struggle with the same challenges that have plagued AI adoption for years, with 42% still struggling with poor data visibility.
AI adoption is high, ROI is lowA third (35%) of UK retail leaders even continue to blame legacy technology for slowing them down, despite years of studies and reports implying that complex tech stacks and poor data quality are among the biggest blockers to successful AI. Delayed decision-making and inventory inaccuracies also contribute to delayed and unsuccessful AI rollouts.
Poor tech even extends to inefficiencies today, with four in five (79%) retailers saying most, almost all or all key operation decisions still require manual intervention, slowing response times and limiting AI's realistic impact.
"Often, businesses blame supply chain disruption when the real problem is that they’re making decisions with incomplete or outdated information," Retail Director Catherine Frame wrote.
UiPath says the companies that will see the most success with AI will be the ones who achieve "operational excellence," rather than the ones that blindly invest in AI. In other words, the same solid data and tech foundations that reports have been calling for for years.
Looking ahead, margin protection looks to be one of the biggest commercial risks as we enter the final quarter of the year, and the biggest one for commerce – while companies will struggle to achieve "operational excellence" and effective AI by then, it certainly highlights a major area where AI could support.