The latest development out of the social media network formerly known as Twitter is a financial services platform dubbed X Money. The service is currently available for the social media network's Premium and Premium+ subscribers in the US over the age of 18 following an invite-only beta phase.
X Money offers customers a deposit account, peer-to-peer payments and a debit card within the app. The venture has integrations with both Visa and Apple Wallet. The debit card is available digitally and as a physical, metal version that can be personalized with the individual's X handle. Other perks include up to 6.00% APY, 3% cashback bonuses, "no foreign transaction fees" and early direct deposit. The interest rate you receive depends on factors like your X subscription tier or regular deposits, and, as with many similar schemes, there is a list of services excluded from cashback. Although X Payments LLC is not an FDIC-insured bank, deposits are held at Cross River Bank, which is a Member of FDIC and so balances are insured.
We knew that a payments app was in the works from X, just one of many initiatives the company is working on in pursuit of becoming an "everything app." Not sure who would entrust their money to a platform run by thisguy and centered on thisAIchatbot, but if you so desperately want to, the option exists.
10 Viewing
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
"Not sure who would entrust their money to a platform run by this guy
exactly - save commentary for features that don't function correctly. don't know why this has to be political. Competition is a good thing, if it wins it wins and if it fails let it fail on its own. Being smug says more about the author than the product.
Where a company advertises deposits held in an FDIC insured bank, one should look up Yotta Technologies and take what is it as an advisement.
I’m pretty sure Elon’s fixation on the letter X is because it’s halfway to being a swastika.
Anyone BANKING with him DESERVES to lose their money. More so, BECAUSE you are investing with him. He's an ingrate.
Prove your stupidity or lack of morality and support anything run by a factory
The ocean floor is home to some of the strangest creatures on Earth. But it's also where your strangest TikToks go to reach Alaska, Hawaii or the other side of the planet. Most of the world's international online traffic travels through cables lying at the bottom of the ocean.
Earlier this year, TAT-8 (Trans-Atlantic Telephone 8), the very first transatlantic fiber-optic cable, was pulled up after 38 years. It had been sitting, unused, at the bottom of the Atlantic for nearly a quarter of a century. It might be mind-boggling to think about how long these sit in the depths of our oceans, transmitting our emails, video calls and memes across the globe. Let's make sense of how these cables work and why pulling the TAT-8 up was worthwhile.
About 99 percent of international internet traffic uses these undersea cables. There are over 500 of them in service worldwide. Laid end to end, they would stretch for over a million miles, wrapping around the Earth multiple times.
Each cable is roughly as thick as a garden hose. Inside are strands of glass fiber no thicker than a human hair. Lasers send coded pulses of light through these fibers billions of times per second. (Meanwhile, signal boosters along the cable amplify the lasers as they travel.) Dozens of different laser colors can travel through the same fiber at once, each carrying its own stream of data. One might include an email traveling from Boston to Melbourne, while another could transmit a video call from New York to Tokyo. Each cable can move hundreds of terabits of data per second.
A months-long journey to get the internet moving
ASN
Getting these cables down there is a lengthy ordeal. First, engineers have to chart an efficient route that avoids underwater obstacles. Then, once the cable is manufactured, workers move it onto a ship, where they spool it into enormous tanks. This process alone can take about a month.
Once the ship departs, it moves at a breathtaking speed of... 6 miles per hour. (That's roughly the equivalent of a light jog.) Crews can be at sea for months, slowly pulling cable from these huge tanks, routing them out through openings on the ship's stern. If they run into rough weather, workers might have to cut the line, attach its end to a buoy, and go elsewhere to wait it out. After conditions improve, they retrieve the cable, splice it and resume their plodding journey across the sea.
Finally, when it reaches the other side of the continent, the cable connects to a data center where it will distribute your email or cate meme to its receiver. Only there is it likely to go airborne, whether through mobile cell towers or local Wi-Fi networks. (Despite the growth of Starlink and similar services, satellite internet only makes up a tiny percentage of all internet traffic.)
Replacing and recycling the cables
NEC
The cables can withstand a lot, but the UN says there are about 150 to 200 "cable incidents" per year. Most areas include redundant lines to ensure that if one cable goes down, others can pick up the slack. But some remote regions might lose all internet access for weeks if a single cable fails. In 2022, the South Pacific island nation of Tonga lost its internet and telephone communications for over a month after a volcano eruption damaged the lone cable connecting it to the rest of the world.
Although outages like that can be caused by natural disasters, about 80 percent stem from human activity — usually ship anchors or fishing trawlers. In recent years, we've even seen a few incidents of sabotage.
When the cables break, the physical work of fixing them isn't always the hardest part. "What's often more complex is securing all the required permits and licenses, especially when multiple or overlapping jurisdictions are involved," Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), toldUN News.
Other times, cables just age out. Each one has an average lifespan of about 25 years.
As I mentioned earlier, though the TAT-8 had been pulled up just this year, it had actually been out of service since 2002, when it developed a fault that would have been prohibitively expensive to fix. So, it sat, unused, at the bottom of the Atlantic for nearly a quarter century. Although recycling it had environmental advantages, there were more pressing motives for its recovery: freeing up the location for new cables and retrieving its valuable copper.
13 Viewing
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
It would be decent to make some mention of environmental impact.
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
If your Wi-Fi struggles to reach every corner of your house, it's probably not your internet plan that's the problem. A single router can only do so much, especially in larger spaces or homes with thick walls. That's where the best mesh Wi-Fi system comes in, replacing one overworked router with a Wi-Fi mesh network designed to deliver high-speed coverage across your entire home.
A whole home mesh Wi-Fi setup uses multiple nodes that act as shared access points, spreading your connection more evenly and reducing slowdowns as you move from room to room. Compared to basic range extenders, mesh systems handle traffic more intelligently, balance bandwidth between devices and usually offer easy setup through companion apps. Many support dual-band Wi-Fi and newer standards, making them better suited for households full of phones, laptops, TVs and smart home devices.
We've tested today's leading mesh systems to see which ones actually deliver consistent speeds and reliable coverage. Whether you're trying to eliminate dead zones in a small apartment or blanket a large, multi-floor house with fast, stable Wi-Fi, these are the mesh systems worth considering.
There's no single glitzy feature that sets TP-Link's Deco XE75 apart from its competition. Instead, it expertly balances raw power and user friendliness. If you're looking for a no-fuss upgrade from a traditional router to a Wi-Fi mesh network with faster speeds, this is the right option for most people, especially those with for large homes that need consistent coverage across the entire space. It's not perfect, but my biggest gripes are nitpicks: The power cables are too short and the app could do with a polish. This tri-band mesh Wi-Fi system is the best for most people. In my spacious and wireless-hostile home, the $400 three-pack was almost overkill, delivering more bandwidth and coverage than I realistically needed. If the $300 two-pack can cover your home's square footage, then it's a more wallet-friendly proposition than some of its rivals.
Let's address the elephant in the room: TP-Link has a Chinese-owned parent company and, late 2024, the US began asking if there was a potential national security risk. In a statement, TP-Link Systems said it was "no longer affiliated with China-based TP-Link Technologies" and that its products comply with "regional industry security standards and regulations." It added the Chinese government does not have access to or control over "the design and production of our routers," and that it is engaging with the US government to demonstrate its "security practices are fully in line with security standards."
Nest Wi-Fi Pro offers a simple experience for folks who want easy setup, letting them get a whole home mesh Wi-Fi network running quickly and then forget all about it. It's not as powerful, or customizable, as its competitors, but it should be more than suitable for most everyday needs, with reliable tri-band Wi-Fi that keeps streaming and web browsing smooth across multiple access points. It's quite cheap, so while I have reservations about its long-term potential, it's a great buy for the next few years.
If you're already inside Google's world, then the various integrations Assistant offers, as well as support for Matter and Thread-equipped smart home devices, is a bonus. Plus, Google promises regular software and security updates, letting you concentrate on enjoying the internet, rather than worrying about it.
Pros
Super simple to set up and use
Relatively affordable
Integrates nicely with Google services
Cons
Doesn't offer as many customizations as some comeptitors
Wireless band count: 3 | Wireless speed rating: Up to 4,804 Mbps (6GHz band) | Ethernet ports: 2 | USB ports: 0 | Coverage area: Up to 3,000 sq. ft.
ASUS' ZenWiFi Pro ET12 is a "pro" piece of hardware inside and out, with the power (and price) to justify such a name. Each node has the power to act as a high-performance access point, and those extra gigabit and 2.5 Gbps Ethernet ports let you add fast backhaul or a speedy NAS for improved high-speed performance. I'd say pro users and gamers who need faster speeds will find plenty to love in this package. Hell, it's good enough to support a medium-sized office without too much stress.
That's before you get to ASUS' AiMesh, which will let you add ASUS' powerful standalone routers to the same Wi-Fi mesh network, making it easier to expand coverage without relying on traditional range extenders. You could pick up a ZenWiFi Pro now, and in a year or two bolt on one of its beefy Wi-Fi routers to really boost your speed. Power users will be better equipped to deal with some of its more idiosyncratic control options, and are more likely to take advantage of its support for the 160MHz band.
If I'm honest, I started using this and realized pretty quickly that this was simply too much gear for my needs. It's like needing to buy a blender and coming back from the store with the Large Hadron Collider — lovely, but probably a little too much overkill for a single glass of kale smoothie.
Pros
Superb performance
Easy to expand system with additional nodes and routers
Linksys' CEO Jonathan Bettino told Engadget why mesh systems are an "advancement in Wi-Fi technology" over buying a single point router. With one transmitter, the signal can degrade the further away from the router you go, or the local environment isn't ideal. "You can have a small [home], but there's thick walls [...] or things in the way that just interfere with your wireless signal," he said.
Historically, the solution to a home's Wi-Fi dead zone was to buy Wi-Fi range extenders but Bettino said the hardware has both a "terrible user experience" and one of the highest return rates of any consumer electronics product. Mesh Wi-Fi, by comparison, offers "multiple nodes that can be placed anywhere in your home," says Bettino, each acting as an access point that works together as part of a whole home mesh Wi-Fi system.
Rather than having one main router in your home, having a "router in every room" is the biggest selling point for mesh Wi-Fi given how reliant we all are on the internet. Each node is in constant contact with each other, broadcasting a single, seamless network to all of your connected devices. There's no separate network for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, just a single name that you connect to.
It's a good time to buy a mesh Wi-Fi system since the latest standard, Wi-Fi 6E, represents a big leap in the technology. Matt MacPherson, Cisco's Chief Technology Officer for Wireless, said Wi-Fi 6E is a big "inflection point," using much more of the wireless spectrum than its predecessors. "If you're using that spectrum with a Wi-Fi 6 [device]," he said, "you're going to get significant gains [in speed.]"
MacPherson added Wi-Fi 6E will likely "carry you for a long time" thanks to the fact its "top throughputs now typically exceed what people can actually connect their home to." In short, with a top theoretical per-stream speed of 1.2 Gbps, Wi-Fi 6E is fast enough to outrun all but the fastest internet service.
What do all these Wi-Fi numbers and letters mean?
I'm sorry folks, we need to get boringly technical for one paragraph, but I promise you it's worth it.
Wi-Fi is governed by International Standard IEEE 802.11, and every few years a letter gets added onto that name when the technology evolves and improves. Until 2019, routers were sold under their IEEE name, leaving users to pick through the word soup of a product labeled 802.11 b/g/a/n/ac and so on.
Mercifully, wiser heads opted to rebrand the letters as numbers, so rather than 802.11 b/g/a/n/ac, we have Wi-Fi 1, 2, 3 4 and 5. Right now, we're in the middle of one of those Wi-Fi generations, with most of the gear on sale right now supporting either Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E.
What's the difference between Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E?
Wi-Fi uses chunks of the radio frequency spectrum, with Wi-Fi 6 using the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands to pump data around. In fact, back in the old days, it was likely your home router would offer you the choice of the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz network, as separate bands to access. These days, all of the spectrums are tied together as one thing, and Wi-Fi 6E has the added ability to use the 6GHz band as well. That's a big chunk of extra wireless real estate that isn't as cluttered up as the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.
You're going to talk about wireless frequencies now, aren't you.
Each Wi-Fi band had tradeoffs, because the slower radio frequencies have greater range but less speed. 2.4GHz signals will travel a long way in your home but aren't quick, while 6GHz is blisteringly fast but can be defeated by a sturdy brick wall. A lot of Wi-Fi-enabled gear you own, like smart home products, only use the 2.4GHz band because the range is better and it's a lot cheaper. But it means that the band is also overcrowded and slow, making it great for your doorbell and robovac, but lackluster for Twitch streaming.
So, what am I looking for?
Right now, the market is full of mature Wi-Fi 6 and 6E devices, and most new systems available to buy are capable of taking advantage of the faster speeds they offer. This guide focuses on Wi-Fi 6E gear since it's what we think it's more than enough to satisfy almost everyone's at-home Wi-Fi needs.
What about Wi-Fi 7?
We're now seeing the first generation of Wi-Fi 7 devices available to buy, but we don't recommend you do so immediately. The Wi-Fi 7 standard is still so new that there's little to no reason for you to rush out and buy one for your home. The hardware is tremendously expensive and while Wi-Fi 7 will, eventually, offer some great benefits over 6E, it's not as transformative an upgrade as 6E. Not to mention, Wi-Fi 7 is so new that almost none of your home's devices will be able to take advantage of its big-ticket features. I'd estimate you won't need to worry about upgrading to Wi-Fi 7 for at least five years, if not longer.
Range and speed
All Wi-Fi routers boast a theoretical broadcast range and a theoretical top speed, and in some cases external antennas to boost signal directionality — but these figures don't mean much. After all, manufacturers can't control your ISP's real speed, the materials and layout of your home or where you put your Wi-Fi gear. Raw speed isn't everything, either, and you likely need less peak speed than your provider advertises. What matters more is consistent bandwidth and stable performance throughout your entire home. After all, Netflix needs just 15 Mbps to push a single 4K video stream to your home. As cool as it is to say you've got all these hundreds of Mbps, factors like latency and reliability are far more crucial to a happy internet life. And unless you have Gigabit internet that can reach speeds of up to 1 Gbps, you won't need a mesh router that offers that spec.
Backhaul
Mesh Wi-Fi systems work by connecting every hardware node to a single wireless network, letting them all communicate with each other. Imagine four people in a busy, noisy restaurant all trying to order their dinner from a weary staff member, all at once. Now imagine, while this is going on, that four more people at that same table are also trying to tell a funny anecdote. It's no surprise that it might take a long time for the right information to reach its intended destination.
To combat this, higher-end mesh routers offer dedicated wireless backhaul, allowing nodes to communicate without eating into the high-speed bandwidth your devices rely on. So rather than everyone talking at once in the same space, the conversations are essentially separated, reducing the invisible clutter in the air. Because there's less confusing cross-chatter, everything moves faster, offering a significant performance boost to those systems.
Connectivity
These days, even your washing machine can have a wireless connection, but that doesn't mean you should ignore the joys of wired internet. No matter how fast Wi-Fi is, a hard line will always be faster, and wired connections can significantly improve Wi-Fi mesh network performance when used for backhaul. Plenty of routers can also use these hard connections as backhaul, eliminating further wireless clutter.
It's convenient for spread-out systems and power users, but it will mean running more wires through your home. The most common standard is Cat 5e, or gigabit ethernet which, unsurprisingly, has a top speed of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). Since Ethernet cables are backward compatible, you should be able to easily find one that works with your system. However, to get the most out of your mesh routers, it's worth investing in an Ethernet cable that meets the standard your router uses — if it's Cat 5e, use a Cat 5e cable. You can check your router's specs via the manufacturer's website to be sure.
Flexibility and scalability
Mesh routers enable you to add (or subtract) modules from your home network to suit your needs. D-Link's Alan Jones said users should "check how scalable the prospective product is" before you buy. This sense of scale doesn't just apply to the number of nodes on the network, but how many simultaneous connections it can handle.
It's also worth looking at ASUS' AiMesh products, which can combine mesh Wi-Fi gear and its standard "spider" Wi-Fi routers. If you've got a tricky part of your home, you can bolt on an ultra-power standalone Wi-Fi router to a compatible mesh.
Placement
Mesh networks replace one big piece of hardware with a series of identical nodes that you scatter around your home, each acting as a shared access point to maintain coverage throughout the entire home. You connect one to your modem (usually over ethernet), and then scatter the rest around the place for the best coverage. A good rule of thumb is to place each node no more than two rooms away from the last one, rather than sticking them at the far ends of your home.
Bear in mind, every physical obstacle between a Wi-Fi node, its siblings and your devices will hurt your overall performance. You should aim to place them, at the very least, at waist height on furniture in open air, without too many obstructions. The reason many mesh Wi-Fi products are designed to look like an inoffensive white doodad is so you don't feel compelled to hide them behind your TV.
Other mesh Wi-Fi router systems we tested
Amazon Eero Pro 7
Eero built its reputation on easy to use yet powerful mesh systems that offer a lot of good in a relatively small and affordable package. Setup is effortless, the app running things is clean and simple, and you get the added benefit of backwards compatibility with older hardware. Sadly, the issue with every Eero system is that so many basic management features, like parental controls, are paywalled behind the company's Eero Plus subscription for $100 a year.
Amazon Eero 6E
Eero Pro 6E is an "easy" device, the sort a total novice can set up on their own and thrive with for years on end. There's little brainwork required to get things set up, and the app has a clean UI with plenty of hand-holding. But, as with the Eero Pro 7, the fact that so many basic management tools are paywalled irks me, especially since you can get plenty of them for free with Google's rival offering.
Netgear Orbi 960
The Orbi 96T0 (RBKE963) is Netgear's flagship mesh Wi-Fi product, which the company calls the "world's most powerful Wi-Fi 6E system." It's also one of the most expensive consumer-level kits on the market, setting you back $1,499.99 for a three pack. It's a fantastic piece of gear, but it's worth saying that the subset of people who could, would or should buy it remains far smaller than you might expect. Ultimately, I feel that if you're paying luxury prices, you should expect a luxury product. There were plenty of times during testing that I went looking for a feature that was either only available via the web client, or behind a paywall. While, yes, much of your cash is going to the superlative hardware, but for this sort of money, the fact you have to pay extra for some table-stakes features is insulting. If you're looking for a new Wi-Fi system and aren't prepared to spend almost $1,500, it's worth considering our other top picks for the best Wi-Fi routers and mesh systems.
How we test Wi-Fi routers
My home covers around 2,200 square feet across three stories with the office on the third floor. It's relatively long and thin, with the living room at the front of the house, the kitchen at the back and the three bedrooms on the first floor. Its age means there are a lot of solid brick walls, old-school lathe and plaster as well as aluminum foil-backed insulation boards to help with energy efficiency. There are two major Wi-Fi dead zones in the house: The bathroom and the third bedroom behind it, since there's lots of old and new pipework in the walls and floors.
For mesh routers with two nodes, I place the first in my living room, connected via ethernet to my cable modem with the second on the first floor landing in the (ostensible) center of the house. For three-node sets, the third goes in my kitchen, which I've found is the optimal layout to get the bulk of my house covered in Wi-Fi. Fundamentally, my home poses enough challenges that if it succeeds here, it stands a very good chance of succeeding in your place.
Each mesh is judged on ease of setup, Wi-Fi coverage, reliability, speed and any additional features that it advertises. I look at how user-friendly each companion app is from the perspective of a novice rather than an expert given you shouldn't need to be a network engineer to do this sort of thing. Tests I do include checking for dead zones, moving from room to room to measure consistency of connectivity and streaming multiple videos at once to replicate common usage patterns.
Mesh Wi-Fi system FAQs
This is the section of our mesh Wi-Fi buyer's guide where we talk about the stuff that most people just glide past. If you're not familiar with technology, it can be intimidating if people talk about these things as if you're expected to already know. So here's a very simple, very basic rundown of some of the stuff you might have missed in very basic terms.
What's the difference between a Wi-Fi router and a mesh router?
A Wi-Fi router is a box that usually sits close to wherever the internet comes into your home and pumps out information over radio waves. A mesh router, meanwhile, is a set of smaller devices, one of which sits next to your internet connection while the rest are scattered around your home. A single Wi-Fi router is great if your home is small, your needs aren't too demanding, or if your home doesn't have many radio-blocking obstructions that mean those signals can't reach every corner of your home. But, much like standing next to a radio transmitter and then walking away from it in a straight line, after a while, the signal will degrade.
That's the problem a mesh system is designed to solve, since it will take the signal from your modem and pump to the other mesh devices, known as nodes, in your home. That way, instead of having one big router in one part of your home, you have several small ones that ensure you have good Wi-Fi connectivity all over. It also helps ensure that there's no risk of dropping your connection as you move around — a mesh router system makes it easy to, for instance, walk from room to room watching Netflix and know you won't miss a single frame.
What's the difference between a Wi-Fi extender and a mesh system?
Oh boy. Wi-Fi extenders, or repeaters, are small devices designed to push Wi-Fi a little further than your Wi-Fi router can stretch. They're cheap, compact and often come in the form of little boxes that sit on your plug sockets with the hope of pushing Wi-Fi to a signal-sparse corner of your home. They are, and I can't put this delicately enough, often a big pile of rubbish and are often not worth your time. Especially since the price of mesh routers has fallen to within most people's budgets.
What is a wireless backhaul?
As we explained above, mesh Wi-Fi systems work by connecting every hardware node to a single wireless network, letting them all communicate with each other. Imagine four people in a busy, noisy restaurant all trying to order their dinner from a weary staff member, all at once. Now imagine, while this is going on, that four more people at that same table are also trying to tell a funny anecdote. It's no surprise that it might take a long time for the right information to reach its intended destination.
To combat this, higher-end mesh routers offer dedicated wireless backhaul; a slice of the spectrum for node-to-node communication. So rather than everyone talking at once in the same space, the conversations are essentially separated, reducing the invisible clutter in the air. Because there's less confusing cross-chatter, everything moves faster, offering a significant performance boost to those systems.
Is it better to hard wire instead of using a mesh Wi-Fi system?
This is a great question that doesn't have a simple answer.
It is (almost) always preferable to connect devices with a wire, in this case Ethernet, than to use Wi-Fi. The speeds are faster, it's more reliable and your data is less vulnerable to the slings and arrows of the laws of physics. Hell, I spent about a year trying to work out how to build an iPhone to Ethernet connector back in the bad old days of Wi-Fi.
But your ability to do so depends on your level of DIY skills and / or how much money you want to spend on contractors. Wiring your home for Ethernet if you don't have the infrastructure already can be a costly and time-consuming process. Particularly if you don't want ugly wires running along your baseboards and under your carpets or across your hardwood floors.
If you're building your own home or can do some serious DIY, then hard wiring is a fantastic thing to have. It goes wonderfully hand-in-glove with mesh networks too, since you'll be able to hook up your nodes to the network for even better speeds.
But if I'm honest, advances in Wi-Fi technology mean I'd only go for hard wiring if I really believed I needed the sort of speed it offers. Unless you're a Twitch streamer running your own 24/7 content studio, it's probably overkill.
When we started renovating our 140-year-old home, I had Ethernet installed in the living room, the master and second bedroom and in my office, all at the front of the house. I can't use it for my mesh since I'd need to put the wiring through the middle of the house. If I ever had the wiring done again, I would do so as I know I'll instantly see a meaningful improvement in both my connection speed and reliability. But I wouldn't spend several thousand pounds to have it done just for the sake of it.
2 Viewing
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
Absolutely no mention of PoE like the Open-Mesh or Ubiquiti. I don't understand why none of these mainstream products offer an option for ceiling mounted APs with PoE so you don't have to run electrical. Yes, a little bit of work to run ethernet to the location of the AP through the ceiling, but th...
See more
What other mesh systems were tested? Claiming these three are the best without stating which others were tested is misleading and dishonest.
Two things:
1> "if it’s Cat5e, use a Cat5e cable" should really be "if it’s Cat5e, use a minimum of Cat5e cable". Anyone interested in any kind of future use should run at least Cat-6 or 6a.
2> Using Ethernet backhaul isn't really emphasized at all, but can have a HUGE impact on how a mesh network ca...
See more
I have the Orbi and it is flawless! No problems with any of my connected devices (including older smart plugs) and the speeds are blazing fast. I have three floors in my house (top, main, basement) with the main box and two satellites and the only thing that causes problems are thunderstorm related...
See more
If you must upgrade your older routers to WiFi 6/6E; go ahead otherwise wait bit more for WiFi 7. For now, WiFi 7 routers are expensive but that will change in near future including backward compatibility with older WiFi devices.
I just dropped a Deco X55 3-station system into our restaurant. Seems to work fine. I really like that adding more access points is as simple as just plugging them in. They auto-discover and attach to the main system automatically.
I disagree with the power user choice presented here. Of course, we all have opinions and my opinion is no more right than anyone elses opinion. Personally, I'm using a Ubiquiti Dream Machine Special Edition and 3 U6 Enterprise access points, in my home. My setup is good for 10 gigabit throughpu...
See more
Unifi is the way, I'm a sys admin and use their gear across the board. Cameras, Switches, AP's, and I just started using their rapidly maturing Firewalls. Only thing I haven't done yet is door access, but that's coming.
Until they seamlessly combine 2.4 and 6GHz networks so my older devices (which basically includes any smart plug, bulb, etc.) mesh systems simply won't work for me. I've tried two that claim they do this and neither did. All I go was continual fails on my devices. Even ones that supposedly suppo...
See more
I use the Orbi and have had no issue with any of my older smart devices.
The best wireless solution is the one that's the most reliable. I have been using an older version of the Google Wi-Fi mesh system. I haven't had to think about it much at all since I installed it and got it configured. It's currently the best solution for me because of its uptime. I don't want to ...
See more
I will say that I've had the TP-Link Deco set up for about 4-5 years now. Using Cat-6 wired Ethernet backhaul, it has been rock solid. If you use wireless backhaul, it has some unexpected behavior. In my personal setup, I've upgraded to a set of their XE75Pro which is 6E. Those are tied togethe...
See more
Rocking Eero hardware. Better than the reviewed items here. Easy to use, supports backhaul, and decently secure.
You can only control these through Amazon servers, so you can be assured that your actions are likely being monitored and saved on their servers. If you're OK with that, then they are a solid choice.
Nanoleaf has revealed its multi-purpose monitor stand that improves ergonomics, adds adjustable LED lighting and provides space for all your desktop accessories. Called the Smart LED Monitor Stand, Nanoleaf's latest product goes beyond its typical lighting products by combining it with some extra functionality.
At the heart of it, the monitor stand portion can raise your display by up to four inches so it's more in line with your natural eye level and promotes better posture during long sessions at your desk. No matter if you have an ultra-wide display or a dual-monitor setup, the Smart LED Monitor Stand can handle displays up to 42 inches long and can support up to 154 lbs. The stand's base also features 23 mounting holes that allow for setting up stands for your mic, camera or any other accessories.
Nanoleaf
Known for its sleek lighting solutions, Nanoleaf cleverly tucked a dual lighting system into the Smart LED Monitor Stand. A front light bar can generate up to 550 lumens for when you're trying to get work done, while a rear ambient light can be programmed through 102 individually addressable RGB zones that create a 160-degree wall-washing angle to match the vibe of your game, movie or music. Nanoleaf's app allows for full color customization of the LED lights, but you can also sync the monitor stand with the company's other products or set it to Rhythm Mode or Screen Mirror so the lighting can automatically match music or on-screen content.
Like Nanoleaf's other products, the Smart LED Monitor Stand is Matter compatible so it can easily integrate with smart home ecosystems. The Smart LED Monitor Stand is currently available on Nanoleaf's website and Amazon for $169.99.
3 Viewing
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
How is this more ergonomic? The upper edge of your monitor should be on eye-level. So your head might slightly tilt down, but never up.
I have a 27" monitor and I already have to set it low to be ergonomic (I am a small person, though YMMV).
You do understand that some people are tall or their desk may be especially low, or sometimes people lean back in their chairs where having it low would result in straining your neck.
Plus "ergonomics" is largely subjective and depends on each individual. Ultimately the best sitting position is a dy...
Subscriptions are everywhere these days, and it feels like only a matter of time before someone figures out a way to paywall the air we breathe. On top of that, the prices just keep going up, with companies ratcheting monthly costs up as much as they can without causing mass attrition. Over time, it adds up, and subscription juggling is a fact of life for many consumers. You might pay for a month of Netflix to catch the last season of Stranger Things while putting your Disney+ on pause until The Mandalorian and Grogu hits the latter service.
But there's one subscription some people might be able to cut, at least those who spend a good amount of free time watching YouTube. Google's ubiquitous video platform was once free, but charges a subscription these days in the form of YouTube Premium for users who want to avoid ads and gain access to a slew of user experience improvements.
What you might not have realized is that a full-fat YouTube Premium subscription, which costs $16 at the time of this writing due to a recent price hike, also includes unlimited access to the platform's music streaming solution, YouTube Music. What that means for at least some heavy YouTube users is the ability to ditch a separate subscription to Spotify, Apple Music or another music streamer.
The trade-off isn't right for everyone, though. Whether YouTube Music is fit for your needs depends largely on how much you value the features it lacks compared to the competition, as well as how willing you might be to let the platform logic of YouTube dictate the music you listen to. Here's how YouTube Premium with YouTube Music compares to your existing music service, and how to figure out whether that single subscription is a better deal for you.
YouTube Music is great for avid watchers
Koshiro K/Shutterstock
The first thing you should know about YouTube Music is that it does not have a high-resolution library, even though that feature has become basic table stakes for the competition. Spotify, which dragged its feet on high-res for years, finally added its own lossless capabilities last year (it's not bit-perfect lossless, but if you're splitting that particular hair, YouTube Music isn't for you and you can safely stop reading this article). However, lossless audio is a relatively niche feature that you can't truly take advantage of without audiophile-grade playback equipment. If you listen to music on your AirPods via an iPhone, you're not getting lossless playback in the first place.
YouTube Music tops out at 256kbps in resolution, which absolutely will be noticeable to some ears compared to the 320kbps other services offer before tipping into lossless quality. The bottom line is that, if you already listen to music on YouTube and haven't had an issue with the sound quality, YouTube Music will suit you just fine in that regard.
Other differences between YouTube Music and Spotify or Apple Music become more subjective. Whereas those services allow you to build a more traditional music library, YouTube Music organizes things much in the same way as the video streaming side of the platform. You subscribe to artists rather than following them, and subscribing to an artist on YouTube also subscribes to them on YouTube Music. Playlists also carry over between both sides of the house. For those who want their taste in video content to affect their music recommendations, and vice versa, this can be a boon. But if you prefer some separation between church and state in that regard, it's a massive headache. Just because you watched a video about the Drake and Kendrick beef doesn't necessarily mean you want songs from all three of Drake's unlistenable new albums piped into your ears during a jog.
YouTube Music has niche features you can't get elsewhere
Irada Zaitova/Shutterstock
But the logic of YouTube gives YouTube Music one major edge: its user-uploaded library. In addition to most of the same major label offerings you'll find on pretty much any modern music streamer, YouTube Music is home to the largest user-uploaded collection of hard-to-find tracks in the world. That leaked single your favorite artist never officially released? YouTube Music has it. That set from Coachella you'd do anything to experience again? Don't bother looking on Spotify — YouTube Music has you covered and it's no coincidence YouTube was the official streaming partner for Coachella in 2026. Speaking of the Drake and Kendrick beef, all of the songs from that kerfuffle went up on YouTube far in advance of their arrival on other streaming services as both emcees self-uploaded their disses to one-up each other in real time. The ability to add those kinds of tracks to your existing playlists is a structural advantage no competing service can match. Ditto for music videos because, you know, it's YouTube.
YouTube Music also includes a robust podcast library, including many audio-forward offerings that only exist on Google's platform in the form of user-created video essays and documentaries. Even among widely syndicated podcasts, a number of them can only be watched in video form on YouTube. That gives the platform an edge up over Spotify, although big green has put a heavy focus on bolstering its video podcast library in recent years, and an absolute win over Apple Music, as Apple users must get their podcasts from the separate Apple Podcasts app.
Because YouTube Music was born from the ashes of Google Play Music, it carries on its predecessor's functionality as a cloud player for your own, local files. Its two primary competitors also allow local uploads, but they'll lump your MP3 files in alongside streaming tracks in your library. YouTube music splits everything out, so you can isolate your uploads and browse just those songs by artist, album, and so on. If you're still in possession of a digital music library from the iTunes or Napster days (how do you do, fellow kids?), YouTube Music is a great way to continue enjoying them without wasting storage space on your smartphone.
Swapping Spotify for YouTube Premium isn't right for everyone
Tada Images/Shutterstock
If all you got with a YouTube Premium subscription was the platform's music service, it wouldn't be worth replacing your Spotify or Apple Music subscription. But you're also getting a better experience on YouTube itself. Getting your money's worth from YouTube premium is easy if you're an avid user already. In addition to never seeing a pre-roll or mid-roll ad ever again, you can skip your favorite creator's sponsored segments using the Jump Ahead button that intelligently skips you over portions of a video that other users also tended to skip. Then there are perks like background play and offline downloads that let you take more control over where and how you enjoy YouTube videos.
It's that combined value which makes this comparison worthwhile. YouTube Premium is not cheap at its new price of $16 a month, especially compared to Spotify's $13 asking price, or Apple Music's $11 tag. But if you're already paying for it, and if YouTube Music offers an experience that meets your preferences, you can cut the standalone music subscription from your monthly budget without worry. Others may find it worth cutting the contract with their current music service and signing up for YouTube Premium to take advantage of its unique blend of content and features.
22 Viewing
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
Right now, for me, the YouTube Music algorithm is killing it in terms of mixing music I like with new stuff I might like. Spotify was basically just my likes on shuffle.
I don't think I can ever watch a nature documentary without the voice over of Sir David Attenborough. So, if he passes away, I will be on board if they get permission to recreate his voice, via AI, for future documentaries.
That’s no what the premium is Used mostly. You can download videos, play it in background while phone is locked, and no ads! That’s time saved literally
“Google's ubiquitous video platform was once free…”
🙄
The only thing that holds me from yt music is no last.fm integration. I’ve been using the platform for at least a decade and I’d like to continue
I don't use YouTube to listen to just music. I watch exercise videos and other types of videos.
16$ to watch user generated content without ads? Google is evil
In my countly Netflix 4k is cheaper
Because it is user generated content, it does not have any value? Are people put on this planet to entertain us for free? Are the crazy expensive systems systems that are built and maintained to house all of the content supposed to be free too? People run adblockers and skip inline ads, so how else...
See more
Oh nice, this will definitely be on a future LGR Oddware episode. In like 15 years.
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
If my personal experience is any indicator, excessive book buying should soon make its way into the DSM-5. As it's one of the few hobbies that your mother, pastor, and childhood school principal would all endorse, feeding your reading habit might be the only financially crippling addiction with a universal approval rating. Lucky for devotees of ereaders, Kindle offers over 60,000 free ebooks at any given time. Despite this abundance, however, most users have difficulty turning their Kindle into a personal Library of Alexandria without breaking the bank.
This is where I, your friendly neighborhood book curator, come into play. As a book snob whose financial habits are notoriously Scroogian, I've spent an embarrassing amount of time curating my Kindle Paperwhite's shelves. Think of me as a (nice) Ghost of Free Books Past, shepherding you through the haunted realms of missed deals and helping you dodge unnecessary Kindle Unlimited subscriptions. By harnessing Amazon's curated free book lists, subscriber programs, Stuff Your Kindle events, your local library and online repositories, bibliophiles can cram their ereaders with as many pages as their Kindle can hold.
Scavenging for free books
Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock
On any given day, tens of thousands of free books are available to download on the Kindle store. Unfortunately, Amazon declines to offer a complete list of free ebooks, instead transforming the practice of finding book deals into a dark art. Even Amazon's "Free Kindle Books" section shows only a fraction of those available on the site. A simple but flawed workaround is to search "Kindle free books" on Amazon's store and sort the results by price. Adding specifiers like genre can further narrow the list, but overall, it's an unwieldy system.
An easier means of finding free ebooks is to consult Amazon's Top 100 Best Sellers lists. Updated hourly, the section highlights the most downloaded free ebooks on Amazon's website at any given time. What most readers don't realize, however, is that they can filter these lists to fit their personal tastes using the sidebar, perusing bestsellers in disparate categories like occult horror and horticulture.
Amazon Prime subscribers can also take advantage of the conglomerate's special book programs. Amazon First Reads, for instance, gives subscribers early access to two Amazon editors' picks every month. There's also Prime Reading, which allows members to borrow up to 10 books at a time. Included with your Prime subscription, Prime Reading gives subscribers the ability to choose from over a thousand books, magazines and comics. Although offering a smaller selection than Kindle Unlimited, Prime Reading loans are not restricted to 90-day chunks, allowing subscribers to borrow up to ten books at a time without a firm return date. And for those like George Costanza who hate the sounds of their own voice in their heads, some Prime Reading books even include Audible narration.
Stuff Your Kindle days
Cemselvi/Getty Images
Another avenue to maximizing your Kindle is to take advantage of Stuff Your Kindle Days. A promotional craze that began in the romance genre and has taken the ebook publishing world by storm, Stuff Your Kindle Days are community events in which authors make their ebooks free for a limited time. Often organized by groups like the Indie Author Collective and BookBub, the events typically highlight new writers and independent presses across your favorite genres. For most readers, Stuff Your Kindle Days are a risk-free literary tasting platter, where you can sample titles by new authors or check out genres outside the typical algorithm-curated fare without having to spend money.
Unfortunately, searching for a relevant Stuff Your Kindle Day can feel like scavenging the web for an underground warehouse party. By the time you find them, all the best ones have already passed you by. Luckily, websites like BookBelow and the aforementioned BookBub maintain comprehensive calendars. BookTok and genre-specific social media groups can be also help surface upcoming events, so your best bet might be to follow the most relevant ones.
Online libraries
PJ McDonnell/Shutterstock
One of my favorite Kindle hacks is OverDrive's Libby app, which allows readers to borrow ebooks for free from their local library. Getting started is extremely easy: all you need is a library card. The only catch is that the books you borrow only last for as long as a typical library hold. So if you plan on reading Victor Hugo's gargantuan masterpiece Les Miserables, do so when you have enough time to follow Jean Valjean through Paris' sewer system. Fans of audiobooks will be glad to hear that they can borrow free narrations from Libby's mobile app, helping cut down on those expensive Audible subscriptions. Pro tip: If you have multiple library cards (like my colleague Cherlynn Low who has added both her Singapore and New Jersey libraries to Libby), the app is great at finding available titles across various catalogs.
Another fantastic resource is Project Gutenberg, a free open-source platform where visitors can populate their Kindles with over 75,000 ebooks. Founded by the inventor of the ebook, Michael Hart, the project was built by thousands of volunteers who meticulously digitized and proofread its vast collection for your enjoyment. Focusing on classics whose American copyrights have expired, Project Gutenberg may be the closest thing we have to a free, open source repository of world literature.
For readers who continue to believe that the best reading material are those that have withstood the brutal tests of time, it is an indelible treasure. Visitors can search for specific titles and peruse the online library's well organized shelves. Once you've found your desired book, you can download it directly to your Kindle via its "Send-to-Kindle" feature. For those looking to ditch their Kindle for a non-Amazon alternative, Project Gutenberg provides a variety of ebook formats and download options.
10 Viewing
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
Ah, so that's the specs Apple ordered for their foldable.
Amazon is arguably king of the castle when it comes to ereaders. Its range of devices are beloved by millions, the Kindle Store is the most well-stocked ebook marketplace in the world, and subscription offerings like Kindle Unlimited keep the most hardcore bookworms busy all year. But it's also never been easier to take your business elsewhere if you take issue with Amazon's business practices, or just don't want to be tied into the ecosystem of a giant corporation (both very reasonable concerns).
The fact that Amazon's recently ended support for a number of its older models, effectively rendering them as e-waste, is a big reason, among many others, to consider alternative products. Some changes to Kindle Unlimited have also irked a lot of people, with the company now counting magazines towards your 20-title borrow limit and ending automatic delivery of new issues. The Kindle is arguably the best product Amazon makes, but it's far from perfect. And you wouldn't be alone in looking for alternatives.
You aren't short of non-Kindle options to ditch Amazon for, but here are our top picks to help guide your decision.
Kobo Clara Colour
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
Kobo is one of the biggest thorns in Amazon's side here, and we like its Clara Colour ereader so much that it currently sits above every available Kindle in our best ereader guide — let alone the list of alternatives. Much like the Kindle Colorsoft, the obvious draw of the Clara Colour is its ability to render book covers and pages in full color. Color E Ink displays are considerably more muted than what you get with an LCD or OLED tablet, but if you want to read comics or graphic novels on a ereader, you're going to have a much better time than if you used a monochrome device.
The Kobo Clara Colour features an adjustable warm light for comfortable late-night reading, a waterproof design and a snappy dual 2GHz processor. This makes it noticeably faster at page turns than its predecessor, the Kobo Clara 2E.
Kobo's ebook store is not as comprehensive as the Amazon alternative, but it's plenty stocked, and if you're a library user you can take advantage of built-in support for library reading apps like Libby. (If you're not a member of a public library in the US, you should consider signing up, as it'll greatly enhance your digital reading experience!)
Kobo Libra Colour
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
If the Kobo Clara Colour (above) seems like a direct competitor to the Kindle Colorsoft in terms of features and design, then the closer comparison when it comes to price would be the Libra Colour. It's a step up from the Clara Colour in a number of ways, and is more versatile than Amazon's Colorsoft.
The main difference is stylus support, which allows the Libra Colour to moonlight as a small note-taking device, as well as being the place where you read the latest Colson Whitehead novel. It also has an auto-rotating display and page-turning buttons, the latter being something Amazon stopped offering on its Kindle range after the now discontinued Oasis (incidentally still my ereader of choice).
If you're used to turning the page with a touch screen, you probably won't be that excited about buttons, but some people simply prefer reading with them, and the Libra Colour offers that.
Boox Palma 2 Pro
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
The people at Boox would probably dispute the Palma 2 Pro's status as a direct Kindle alternative, primarily because it doesn't consider the device to be an ereader per se. The company prefers to label it as a mobile e-paper device, and its form factor admittedly makes it look more like a pared down smartphone than a digital paperback. But if you like the idea of carrying your entire book library in your pocket and don't mind the smaller display, it's a great option.
In our testing, we found the Palma 2 Pro's Kaleido 3 E Ink display is great for reading, with the experience elevated further by the snappy touch interface and quick page turns. Because it runs on Android, you aren't locked to one reading app, with the likes of Kindle, Kobo, Libby and Google Play Books all accessible. With the Google Play Store built in, you can also use the Palma 2 Pro as a makeshift smartphone stand-in if you like, albeit one with a limited display that might test your patience.
Kobo Clara BW
Rakuten Kobo
Not everyone needs a color ereader, and some would even argue that they make regular black text look worse. The easiest recommendation if you're looking for a direct alternative to Amazon's standard black-and-white Kindle is the Kobo Clara BW. It has a comparable 6-inch display and slender dimensions that make it easy to slip into a coat pocket. It's also waterproof (a feature the basic Kindle doesn't offer) and offers an eye-preserving Dark Mode for night-time reading. You don't get page turn buttons, but at this point those are rare on entry-level ereaders.
As we've already established, Rakuten's ebook store isn't as exhaustive as Amazon's equivalent, but it's still very well stocked. And if you're going to be sideloading EPUB files, Kobo's native support makes it a better option than a Kindle. Like other Kobo ereaders, the Clara BW also has Libby built into the device, so you can borrow and read library books more easily on your ereader.
Boox Go Color 7
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
The Boox Go Color 7 is probably best framed as a Kindle Colorsoft alternative for those who wisely prefer not to be trapped within an ecosystem. Boox actually beat the likes of Amazon and Kobo to market with color ereaders, and it's been refining them ever since, with the Go Color 7 (2025 refresh) being the one to buy. Like on the Palma 2 Pro, the Kaleido 3 display here is about as vibrant as color E Ink displays get right now. That is to say, they're still muted compared to a tablet, but bring your covers and comics to life in a way that a monochrome screen just can't.
Running on Android 12, the Go Color 7 can function as a tablet as well as an ereader, and the Gen II model added stylus support for note-taking. But you're here for its reading credentials, and that's where the Go Color 7 excels. On the hardware front, you get programmable buttons and an adjustable front light with temperature control. There are also speakers for audiobooks if you don't have headphones handy.
The device's true unique selling point is its software flexibility. The built-in NeoReader app is good for all your DRM-free EPUB files, but more often you'll likely be reading on an app like Kobo Books or Libby, all of which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. It's definitely not as seamless as Kobo's or Amazon's preconfigured setups, but if you know your way around Android, you can easily read from a lot more places on a Boox device.
reMarkable Paper Pro
Daniel Cooper for Engadget
If the Amazon device you're looking for an alternative for is the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, your best options are still from companies like Boox or Kobo. But should you be craving some other brand, you might consider the reMarkable Paper Pro. It's best thought of as a writing tablet with support for a few colors, rather than an ereader first and foremost. Though it doesn't have a vibrant a screen as the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft, the reMarkable Paper Pro is still a very capable E Ink writing tablet. It can be kitted with a keyboard accessory — something the Kindles of the world don't offer — and enables much faster typing than writing alone.
reMarkable also has superior software to Amazon when it comes to editing your handwritten and typed notes across your tablets and phones. But it's worth noting that reMarkable charges about $3 a month for the privilege of using features like being able to search your handwritten notes for the text in them, as well as integrations with Slack and your Google or Outlook calendars, for example. You can still access some helpful tools at the free tier, like handwriting conversion and third-party cloud storage, of course. So if you were looking to get away from all subscription models altogether, it's worth knowing if you can live without some of the listed features.
iPad (2025) with A16
Jeff Dunn for Engadget
Often, people find themselves in the ereader market because they want to get away from tablets and their many temptations. And that's totally understandable. But if you don't own either type of device and just want a do-it-all solution that also isn't an Amazon product, Apple's entry-level iPad is worth pondering. As a tablet, it's one of the best you can buy, with a blazing fast A16 chip that will shrug off most everyday tasks with ease. It also boasts an unrivaled library of apps and solid display, albeit one that still isn't laminated like those of more expensive iPads .
The iPad can also be your sole ereader if you want it to be. While it's a bit large for comfortable one-handed use, it's not unwieldy, and because it uses an LCD display, you can keep reading at night. An E Ink display far more effectively mimics paper and is definitely easier on your eyes, and that's a big part of what makes those devices appealing. But the iPad still provides a good reading experience. And you can always minimize distractions by customizing software accordingly.
The likes of Amazon and Kobo have iPad apps, but you'll definitely want to take advantage of Libby support too if you have a library card, as the app is excellent on Apple's tablet and allows you to read millions of ebooks for free. (At least, that's what I hear from my US colleagues. Here in the UK adoption of the app hasn't been quite as smooth.)
For more on our favorite ereaders (including Kindle models), you'll find a lot more information in our buyer's guide.
Is there a better alternative to Kindle Unlimited?
Amy Skorheim for Engadget
If you read a lot of books, a subscription is worth looking into. Kindle Unlimited is essentially Amazon's Netflix for books, and grants you access to millions of digital books, comics and magazines for $12 per month. Kobo has a direct competitor called Kobo Plus, which costs $8 per month for an ebook or audiobook-only membership, or $10 per month if you want both.
Kobo Plus has fewer available titles than Kindle Unlimited (around over 3 million in the US versus the latter's over 4 million), and Amazon requires self-published authors on its platform to agree to an exclusivity clause, giving it an advantage. But there is no limit to how many books you can read at a time on Kobo Plus, unlike Kindle Unlimited, which as it turns out has a somewhat misleading name. Amazon caps you at 20.
If you'd rather not fork out money for media you don't actually own, the best option is an app like Libby. If you have a valid library card, you can connect it to your Libby account and borrow e-books, audiobooks and magazines from your local library. Reading through Libby is possible on Kindle devices, but it's more seamless on Kobo devices, since you can link your library card and download books to read straight from your ereader.
Update, June 18 2026, 12:22PM ET: This story has been updated to edit the number of titles available in Kobo Plus. In the US, Kobo Plus offers over 3 million titles compared to Kindle Unlimited's over 4 million. In the UK, Kobo Plus has "over 1.5 million" titles.
63 Viewing
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
Geez, Michaelr, if you're going to comment, then at least read the article you're commenting on.
- what are those other “many reasons” this opinion piece was hinting at?
"if you take issue with Amazon's business practices, or just don't want to be tied into the ecosystem of a giant corporation (both...
See more
Kobo + Libby for public library access = all the free books you can possibly consume and free magazines as well. New Yorker, Road and Track... you name it the public library has it and they're completely free. The Libby app on an iPad makes for great magazine consumption and the Kobo for reading ...
See more
Amazon lost me a few years ago when their software stopped 3rd party downloads. When I buy a piece of electronics I want to put on it what I want. That's one of the reasons I never buy apple anymore and so I use my Surface Pro as my ereader. Never have an issue with what I wish to d/l
My solution has been to just buy the cheapest damn android tablet, gut google services out of it, install Fdroid, install a lightweight ebook client (been enjoying one meant for epaper displays KOREADER, but it has such rich features and works with calibre out of the box), and just load it up. It's...
See more
I don't know how it is now, but I remember reading articles about ten years back that people who had taken their Kindles overseas suddenly found books they had bought deleted off their Kindle. Some sort of geo-fencing and publisher rights, etc.
The best thing about Kobo is that it supports almost...
See more
Amazon officially ended support for very very old Kindle models (released in 2012 or earlier) after ~14 to 18 years of service. Hardly something to complain about for a relatively inexpensive connected consumer device. Oh, and what are those other “many reasons” this opinion piece was hinting at? G...
See more
A standard Kindle now doesn’t do anything materially different to those Kindles that have just been disabled from having access to amazon books. Strangely you can still email books to your device that you buy somewhere else, so it’s not like the device doesn’t work at all. However, it’s effective...
Samsung's new Galaxy Watch 9 has landed, and on the surface it looks a lot like the Watch 8 it replaces. You get the same slim build and bright display but Samsung has made some meaningful changes underneath, swapping its in-house Exynos chip for Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite, adding a slightly larger battery and rolling out a fresh operating system and interface. It all adds up to a modest refresh rather than a bold reinvention, and it arrives with a $30 higher starting price than the Watch 8 launched at. So the real question is simple: is the upgrade worth paying for, or is last year's model still the smarter pick?
Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Galaxy Watch 8 : Design
We loved calling the Galaxy Watch 8 a "squircle" and if you've as much as laid your eyes on it, you'll easily understand why. Well, the Galaxy Watch 9 has the same design, featuring a square aluminum case with a circular display that is available in the same two sizes — 40mm and 44mm.
The 40mm Galaxy Watch 9 measures 42.7 x 40.4 x 8.6mm, while the 44mm version comes in at 46.0 x 43.7 x 8.6mm — those are identical dimensions to last year's Galaxy Watch 8. There is also a slight increase in weight this time around, though it's negligible in practice. The new 40mm model weighs 31.5g compared to 30.0g on the Watch 8, while the 44mm version rises to 34.0g from 33.7g. Obviously, that's not a difference you'll feel even if you try them on back to back, but it was worth a mention.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 carries over the same Super AMOLED display as the Watch 8, with up to 3000 nits of peak brightness that stays readable even in direct sunlight. The 40mm version has a 1.34-inch screen, while the 44mm version sports a 1.47-inch display. Durability is unchanged too. Both watches hold an IP68 rating and 5ATM water resistance, so they can handle sweat, rain and shallow dives just fine.
The 40mm Galaxy Watch 9 will be available in Cream and Graphite, while the 44mm will come in Graphite and Silver. That Cream color choice is new, as we only saw gray and darker gray last year. Pre-orders in the US start straight away, with general availability starting August 7.
Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Galaxy Watch 8: Power
Although it doesn't come as a surprise, as the swap was teased months ago, Samsung has decided to ditch its in-house Exynos chipsets for the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite processor. This is a model that was announced earlier this year, with the 3nm chip promising faster overall performance and more power for AI tasks.
While the chip may be new, the new Galaxy Watch 9 has the same 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage the previous model did. This time around, however, it runs on Wear OS 7 and One UI Watch 9. Much like last year's model, the Watch 9 comes with Google Gemini built-in, allowing voice-based AI queries and making it possible to ask for directions, set reminders and reply to texts; the new Watch 9 will have the same capabilities.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 comes with an improved battery, though how much depends on the size you pick. The 40mm model jumps to a 390mAh cell, a solid step up from last year's 325mAh. The 44mm version moves to 449mAh, but that's only a small gain over the Watch 8's 435mAh. Numbers alone don't tell you much, so here's what they mean in practice: you can expect roughly 30 hours on a single charge with the Always-On Display turned on. That's enough to get you through a full day and into the next morning. Realistically, with workout tracking, Gemini use and so on, you'll still need daily charging. In short, it's a modest improvement, not a game-changer.
Charging speed holds steady this year, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. According to Samsung, the 40mm reaches a full 100 percent in about 80 minutes, and a quick 30-minute top-up gets you to 50 percent. The larger 44mm version takes just 10 minutes longer to hit 100 percent, and a half-hour charge brings it to 45 percent. Both are handy if you like a fast morning boost before heading out or if you prefer charging your watch while you commute to work. Still, if you were hoping for a leap forward, you won't find it here. Charging speed and battery life are almost identical to the Watch 8.
Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Galaxy Watch 8: Features
The Galaxy Watch 9 is equipped with an impressive array of sensors, including the Samsung BioActive Sensor combining an Optical Bio-signal sensor, Electrical Heart Signal, and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, as well as a temperature sensor, accelerometer, barometer, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, and light sensor. Thing is... that's the same list of sensors we saw with the Galaxy Watch 8. Alas, you can use the new watch for pretty much the same tasks, like measuring blood pressure, detecting sleep apnea, and getting bedtime guidance.
Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Galaxy Watch 8: Price
While we wanted to see differences between the Watch 9 and the Watch 8 to justify the upgrade, one category where we didn't want changes was the price. And yet, Samsung announced the Galaxy Watch 9 will sell for $380 for the Bluetooth model and $430 for the LTE model. The Watch 8 prices started at $349 and $399, respectively.
Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Galaxy Watch 8: How to choose
So, is the Watch 9 worth the extra money over the Watch 8? At this point, that's a genuinely tough call. The two share the same design, the same display and nearly identical battery life and charging speed. You do get a new operating system and a refreshed user interface, which should make the day-to-day experience feel a little smoother, but there are no new sensors or standout features to speak of.
The one real change lives under the hood: Samsung has swapped its Exynos line for the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset. That's a notable shift on paper. Whether it delivers enough extra power and speed to justify the $30 premium over last year's model is another question entirely. If that's your main deciding factor, it's worth holding out for hands-on reviews before you commit.
It's also worth remembering that a new generation usually drags down the price for the outgoing one. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 40mm has already dipped to as low as $220 on Amazon, so if value is what matters most to you, last year's model may well be the smarter buy. Just keep in mind that these deals don't stick around for long and stock tends to dry up once the older generation is phased out.
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
Thank you for sharing this comparisons. I was thinking about getting the watch 9 before reading this article but now I'll keep my watch 8 for another year.
Kept my watch 5 classic when the 6/7 came along because they dumped the rotating bezel. Got the 8 classic because they put the rotating bezel back!
It's easy to use and gives just a little more protection for the edge of the display.
No need for me to upgrade to any of the 9 series.
I've never seen a review on a product release which included a new cpu and a new operating system and upgraded battery called a "modest update". But I guess if you're non-technical and mainly concerned with cosmetics it is.
For years, battery longevity was one of the biggest reasons why many people hesitated to buy an electric vehicle. The anxiety was understandable: what happens when that expensive battery pack starts to degrade? Real world data, however, shows that those concerns shouldn't deter potential buyers. Modern EV batteries aren't just holding up, they're outperforming almost every forecast the auto industry made.
Now that EVs have been around for years, it's clear that previous estimates were not accurate, because after five years on the road, the average car retains up to 95 percent of its original range.
What were the original predictions for EV battery lifespan?
Early EV skeptics estimated that battery packs would degrade quickly. Back in 2010, when the original Nissan Leaf launched, the car lacked battery-cooling technology and became notorious for losing range at an alarming rate. Between 2011 and 2016, roughly 8.5 percent of EVs ultimately required full battery replacement, shows a 2025 study by Recurrent, a data science company that provides battery-monitoring tools.
That only fed into the anxiety revolving around EVs and their reliability. A 2025 survey by research firm AutoPacific indicates that fear of battery replacement costs remains the number-one reason consumers avoid EVs. Modern data, however, no longer supports that fear.
How long do EV batteries actually last in the real world?
Out of modern EVs built from 2022 onward only 0.3 percent have needed battery replacement, the same Recurrent study shows. After five years on the road the average EV still delivers up to 95 percent of its original range, which is much better than initially expected.
According to Geotab, a connected car data company that analyzed more than 22,700 EVs, modern batteries degrade at an average rate of 2.3 percent per year. At this rate, EV batteries could realistically last 20 years or more.
Why are EV batteries lasting longer than lab tests predicted?
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
An absolutely valid question at this point is why EV batteries are lasting longer than lab tests predicted. There are quite a few reasons, starting with advances in battery tech and continuing with the differences between lab testing and actual real-world driving.
When it comes to batteries, the tech behind them has improved over the years. Viet Nguyen-Tien, a research officer who focuses on EVs at the London School of Economics, told the Wall Street Journal that three core improvements have contributed to the current success of modern batteries. First of all, they have a better chemical composition than those found in the first few generations of EVs. Second of all, they have smarter management systems and, lastly, more effective thermal regulation.
As a side effect, battery prices have also fallen more than 90 percent since 2010 according to a BloombergNEF report. Manufacturers also build packs designed for repairability, so individual cells can often be replaced rather than the entire unit.
Another important reason why EV batteries last longer than lab tests predicted is because lab tests can't really simulate real-world driving behavior. In a lab setting, batteries are typically subjected to continuous constant-current discharging where they essentially drain them at a steady, relentless pace from full to empty. Real-world driving however, is highly dynamic.
Stanford University's SLAC-Stanford Battery Center tested 92 commercial lithium-ion EV batteries across different discharge profiles over two years. The tests sought to mimic actual real-world driving, including stop-and-go traffic, short acceleration bursts, regenerative braking and long rest periods. Under these circumstances, battery life is extended by up to 38 percent compared to the constant-current discharge used in standard lab tests.
How can EV owners maximize battery life?
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
If you're going to invest in an EV, you have to ensure that you're also taking good care of your car and the battery under the hood. Geotab's analysis identified charging behavior as the single biggest controllable factory in battery health. Cars using high-power DV fast charging above 100kW degrade at up to 3 percent per year, which is double the rate of those relying on lower-power charging. Also, keeping your battery between 20 and 80 percent state of charge during regular use significantly reduces long-term wear.
The gap between early EV battery fears and today's reality is massive — and it's only getting wider. Degradation rates fall and replacement costs drop, so the ownership case for EVs gets stronger every year.
Commenting asGuest
Sort by
When I bought my Model 3 eight years ago I assumed that it would be worth zero once the batter warranty was over. Surprisingly I was offered a 2 year extension on the battery at $1000 a year. I took it.
My battery life still shows ~300 miles range when fully charged and I'm thinking it might be ...
See more
OK, let's assume - hypothetically - that Tesla, or someone else achieves multiple, significant breakthroughs way ahead of schedule. 500+ mile range. Rapid charging in minutes. Solid state batteries that last 20+ years. Producable at scale at low prices. Throw in a long term fuel crisis. Everyon...
See more
For those who have a garage, charging can be done overnight when demand is lowest.
Also, more and more Americans are getting solar panels, removing themselves from complete dependence on the grid.
I phrased it as a hypothetical, and what I'm hearing back is that the transition will be more gradual than my hypo. That's obvious, but it certainly says the current grid does not have the current excess capacity to accommodate significant new demand in short order. Considering the inherent limit...
See more
The grid will continue to be a non-issue. If everyone crushed their gasoline cars tonight regardless of how new they were and they all bought electric ones tomorrow, the grid couldn’t handle it, sure. But that’s an utterly unrealistic scenario.
Let’s say everyone stops buying combustion vehicles tom...
See more
I just can't understand why in the US BMW doesn't give you access to the full battery but in the EU same car same battery pack they get access to the full battery and have more mileage range out of it than us.
X
