When Dolby Labs announced Dolby Vision 2 in September 2025, I didn’t really get it. The original Dolby Vision was easy to understand: If your TV and streaming content supported it, you’d get a brighter picture with more color detail, particularly in shadows and highlights. I remember being blown away by the technology when it first debuted at CES 2014, especially compared to the 4K displays and curved panels that TV makers were hyping up at the time. The improvements Dolby Vision 2 promises aren’t as straightforward. While Dolby’s initial press release uses all kinds of jargon to describe the new format (with terms like “Content Intelligence” and “Authentic Motion”), the tangible benefits are tougher to parse. Fortunately, CES 2026 provided an opportunity to see Dolby Vision 2 up close, compare it with the original Dolby Vision, and get some questions answered. While Dolby Vision 2’s benefits are a bit murkier, they at least address some annoyances with streaming video today. Dolby Vision 2 deals with HDR’s darkness issues HDR (high dynamic range) is a feature in many modern TVs that allows for greater differences between the darkest and brightest parts of an image, with more color detail in between. With HDR, for example, a scene depicting an explosion will exude more vivid reds and oranges, instead of blown-out whites, while HDR in a shadowy scene will be rendered with evocative blue and green hues, instead of just depicting a muddy gray. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. But with every HDR format—the original Dolby Vision along with HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma)—a common complaint is that dark scenes can look too dark. Dolby’s solution is to gather more data about how the content was made—for instance, the creator’s choice of reference monitor, or how much ambient light was in the color-grading room—and adjust brightness on playback accordingly. The idea is to compensate for the difference between what creators see in their expensive editing suites and what viewers see on their TVs at home. Jared Newman / Foundry “We know exactly what shadows were meant to be seen, and not,” said Dolby’s director of business strategy, Jonas Klittmark. Dolby Vision 2 aims to make HDR look better on cheaper TVs While the original Dolby Vision typically required a mid-range or better TV, Dolby is optimizing this new version for cheaper sets through a new tone-mapping engine. This combines additional metadata from creators with local tone mapping, which makes more granular adjustments to the colors of each pixel. Local tone mapping is the process of analyzing the wide range of color of brightness in an HDR image, and then compressing that data into a form that the TV you’re watching can actually deliver. In a demo at CES, the result was a noticeable difference on what Dolby claimed was a $250 TV that didn’t have any local dimming zones. Next to a comparable set running the original Dolby Vision, the new version produced more vivid colors. Jared Newman / Foundry “The new engine is just much more capable of holding onto the goodness of the original HDR source, even on a display that’s quite limited in its capabilities, like this,” Klittmark said. That same tone-mapping engine also gives Dolby Vision 2 a neat new trick: It’ll let users control the intensity of the HDR effect through a slider in their TV settings. Users might want to increase the effect in a window-lit room with lots of reflections, for instance, or dial it back if the picture seems too eye-searingly bright. Dolby Vision 2 allows for smoother motion (without overdoing it) One of the most intriguing Dolby Vision 2 features has nothing to do with HDR at all. Instead, it’s a feature called “Authentic Motion,” which makes for a less jerky picture in scenes with fast motion (the industry refers to this visual jerkiness as “judder”). Unlike the much-maligned motion smoothing effects on most smart TVs, which can be so smooth that it looks like you’re watching a soap opera, Dolby’s feature applies just a small amount of frame interpolation in certain scenes, based on metadata delivered by content providers. In a CES demo, Dolby showed a movie scene in which the camera swept across the room without the usual judder, but in a way that still felt cinematic. “In Dolby Vision 2, we’re dynamically through metadata setting the de-judder just enough to take the edge off of the judder, so that it doesn’t bother you anymore,” Klittmark said. Dolby Vision 2 Max Alongside the standard Dolby Vision 2, there will also be a fancier version called Dolby Vision 2 Max. While both versions will have mostly the same features, Dolby Vision 2 Max will further adjust the picture based on a TV’s ambient light sensors; for example, it will help to avoid scenes that look overly dark. This is effectively an evolution of Dolby Vision IQ, an extension of Dolby Vision that is available in many of today’s mid-range to high-end TVs. More importantly, Dolby believes Max will serve as an overall indicator of TV quality, in the same way it believes Dolby Vision once did. When Dolby Vision first arrived in the mid-2010s, many TVs promised HDR compatibility, but weren’t bright or colorful enough to make HDR video look good. Dolby Vision support became a useful proxy for knowing if you’d get a decent HDR picture. Now that Dolby Vision 2 is heading to lower-end TVs, Dolby hopes the “Max” label will help delineate TVs with superior picture quality. “Dolby Vision 2 Max is for premium TVs, and it will basically replace Dolby Vision in the market,” Chris Turkstra, Dolby’s vice president of home devices, said. “Dolby Vision 2, which you can think of as a standard version of Dolby Vision, that will attach to new TVs that don’t have Dolby Vision today.” It’ll be a while before Dolby Vision 2 matters While it’s worth being aware of Dolby Vision 2 as more TV makers and streaming services get on board, it’s still early days for the format. So far, only three TV makers have committed to supporting Dolby Vision 2: Hisense will offer it in its top-shelf RGB MiniLED TVs for 2026, TCL will have it in its high-end X11L SQD Mini LEDs and mainstream C series sets, and Panasonic will bring it to several new OLED TVs. In other words, the promise of Dolby Vision 2 in low-end TVs isn’t materializing anytime soon. Meanwhile, three other major TV manufacturers–LG, Samsung, and Sony–have not announced their Dolby Vision 2 intentions. Samsung, for one, doesn’t support any version of Dolby Vision today–most likely because it doesn’t want to pay royalties to Dolby. On the content side, Peacock is the only streaming service on board with Dolby Vision 2, which it will support along with the original Dolby Vision for live sports. Given that content makers must also support Dolby Vision 2 in the editing process, it might be a while before more streamers decide to throw their weight behind it. Dolby Vision 2 probably won’t be a factor for anyone thinking of buying a new TV in 2026. But as the format becomes more common in the years to come, it’s something you’ll want to think about, especially if, like me, you finally understand it. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

A proper fast-charging power adapter is one of those essentials you shouldn’t overlook. Right now, the Ugreen Nexode model is currently 40 percent off, the best deal we’ve seen so far, bringing the price down to $33.24 at Amazon. View at Amazon It’s not just that this charger is fast, it also features four ports all your gadgets. There are three USC-C ports and one USB-A, giving you plenty of ways to charge everything from your laptop to your smartphone, earbuds, and smartwatch. If you’re only using a single port, the top two USB-C ports can deliver up to 100W, perfect for your laptop. If all ports are in use, the top port maxes out at 45W, the second at 30W, and the other two deliver 10.5W each, so you’ll need to be mindful which cable goes to which device. Built with GaN technology, the charger outperforms older power adapters by being smaller, faster, and more efficient. Its foldable plugs make it ideal for travel, as the prongs won’t catch, bend, or break. Grab the Ugreen Nexode charger for $33.24 before this deal ends. Charge four gadgets at once with this 40% off power adapterBuy now at Amazon Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Free 10GB plan Affordable monthly and yearly plans Attractive, easy cross-platform client software Virtual drive allows access directly from Windows Explorer Versioning for both sync and backup Cons No online editing Limited preview compatibility File retention settings are global, not per job Our Verdict Icedrive is one of the slickest online storage services available. There’s no online editing, but there are online previews, sharing, and competitive pricing. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Retailer Price Icedrive $6 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Icedrive online storage Retailer Price Icedrive $6 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices There are a lot of choices in online backup these days, so users can pick and choose the easiest and most affordable. Icedrive competes well on both fronts — proving to be one of my favorites to use. This is my second review of the service, with a look at some features that were formerly in beta. Color me impressed. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best online backup services to learn about competing products. What are Icedrive’s features? As with any online storage vendor, Icedrive’s primary feature is providing an offsite repository for your files. However, it also sports collaboration features such as file sharing, public links, and file requests (others asking to see your files). In addition to its facility for syncing files, Icedrive’s client-side software provides an optional virtual drive. You can change the drive letter but it defaults to I: (Icedrive, “I:”, get it?), which is good enough in my book. Icedrive in action under Windows. The virtual drive acts as a local portal to your online files, as well as an encrypted folder that utilizes a secondary password or passphrase that you define. Icedrive doesn’t have access to this passphrase, so don’t lose or forget it. iOS and Android apps are also provided, so you can back up your phone or other mobile devices. My one caveat here is the lack of a Sync tab as on the Windows client. Instead mobile backups (it’s not traditional sync) are defined under the settings tab — the last place I looked. Icedrive on and iPhone Speaking of such, in addition to the two-way syncing virtual drive, Icedrive’s Windows client offers what it calls “Full sync” and “Backup.” The former is two-way sync and the latter is one-way sync. Both use versioning, which is a bit odd for two-way sync. File versioning can serve as a kind of ad hoc backup: Older files are kept just in case. Icedrive does it better than most. Instead of moving the older file to a visible sub-directory, or renaming the older file and leaving it in plain view (this can get messy with a lot of versions), it retains the files out of sight. IceDrive was very quick to spot new and changed files. Shown are the older versions of this test file. Sync is enhanced with the choice to delete files locally (or not) after they are deleted online (mirroring the online version), and to delete files online (or not) after they were deleted locally (mirroring the local data repository). Select both and you’re in effect doing “Full sync,” or two-way sync. Alas, the delete options are not available on a per-sync job basis — they apply to all sync pairs. Icedrive offers an online document preview feature that handles many common types. PDF, JPEG, MP3, Wave, and even FLAC/OGG/M4A (lossless included) play just fine, so an A for audio file support. It still, however, will not correctly display my Excel spreadsheets. No editing of said documents is available, so if you’re looking to work online, Icedrive is likely not your cup of tea. At least for now. That said, Icedrive doesn’t make claims in this regard. As simple storage with easy access, it’s a winner. How easy is it to use Icedrive? Icedrive is easy to get up to speed with, once you understand all the sync/backup options. If you know the ins and outs of sync already, that shouldn’t take long. The Icedrive virtual drive for macOS and Linux relies on the public domain macFUSE driver — a separate download. OpenDrive for Apple machines also relies on this macOS extension, which seems to work well. To access your encrypted folder from the “local” I: drive, you must enter the passphrase online, then open the local client and under the Mount tab, choose Crypto Lock, and enter the passphrase. Simple, and after that, it’s all transparent. Icedrive is easy to get up to speed with, once you understand all the sync/backup options. Icedrive’s Encrypted folder provides a private second layer of security for important or sensitive data. Dragging a few files to the IceDrive Virtual Drive is certainly the easiest way to upload them, but there’s local caching going on so you can eat up disk space (especially important with internal SSDs) in a hurry. You can move the cache file to an external location, and there’s also an “upload” context menu option that bypasses the major caching and copies the files directly online. Sadly, this context menu item is not available for the Mac. On that platform you’ll need to upload using a sync pair to avoid local caching. Icedrive’s virtual drive is your window into your online storage. Some is cached locally, Note that you can set the online storage as read-only if you want to be sure files don’t get mucked up. How much does Icedrive cost? The five-year plans that the company once featured are gone, while the monthly and yearly options remain. Simpler is generally better when you’re trying to support a large number of users, no doubt. The five-year plans have been dropped in favor of pure annual and monthly rates. The monthly plans as of this writing are $8 for 1TB and $20 for 5TB, while annual prices at the time of this writing are: $29 for 2TB (discounted from $99), $49 for 4TB (discounted from $159), and $99 for 6TB (down from $269). The discounted yearly plans I saw are outstanding values and there’s always the free 10GB plan (without the encrypted folder) so you can kick the tires. Note that the discounts are only good for the first year you use the service, and the above offers may only be temporary. Don’t just click blindly through on my reporting. And while the discounted plans are excellent deals, the normal fees are on the pricey side. How does Icedrive perform? Any online storage service will of course be limited to the upload/download bandwidth of your broadband connection. That said, the program was quite speedy in my testing under Windows, and without throttling the rest of the system. It also found new versions of files quickly and synced them to the cloud in darn close to real time. Nice. The experience was largely the same with the macOS version, with the exception that the IceDrive client tended to thwart my attempts to shut down the computer. I had to use “Force quit” on the program on several occasions. Also, the “pause backup” button was sometimes less than responsive. Basically, the Mac client needs to poll the system for OS commands more often. No biggie, but annoying. Should you sign up for Icedrive? Icedrive is easy to use, versatile, and its pricing is quite competitive — when discounted. Drop a half star from the rating at the normal prices. But it’s still definitely worth a look-see. Editor’s note: Because online services are often iterative, gaining new features and performance improvements over time, this review is subject to change in order to accurately reflect the current state of the service. Any changes to text or our final review verdict will be noted at the top of this article. Read...

TL;DR: This MS Office offer gets you lifetime access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and more for just $34.97 (MSRP $219.99). Holding off on upgrading Microsoft Office because you don’t love the idea of ongoing subscriptions? This deal will have you pleasantly surprised. Right now, you can get a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows for $34.97 (MSRP $219.99)—an 84% savings on a suite most people rely on every day. Office 2021 Professional brings together all the core apps in one familiar package: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access, and the free version of Microsoft Teams. It’s designed for professionals who need reliable tools for documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and data—without reinventing how Office works. The interface stays familiar while adding performance improvements and smarter design tools. Excel handles large datasets more smoothly, PowerPoint makes building polished presentations easier, and Word offers better formatting controls so documents look as good as they read. This is a one-time purchase installed on one Windows PC, and the license is tied directly to the device—not your Microsoft account. That means no renewals, no surprise charges, and no pressure to upgrade later. This suite of apps offers long-term value for anyone who wants dependable productivity software without recurring fees. Pick up Microsoft Office 2021 Professional on sale for $34.97 (MSRP $219.99). Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime LicenseSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Clean overall design Can control GE Cync bulbs and fixtures, even if they’re not wired to the switch Doesn’t rely on a smart home hub Can work on 3-way/4-way circuits without needing companion switches Matter certified Cons GE logo on the cover plate is unappealing Large proportions and pigtails might complicate installation You’re paying for 3-way/4-way functionality whether you need it or not Our Verdict This simple dimmer gets the job done and is particularly attractive in homes that have other GE Cync products, but its large size and pigtails might complicate installation. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: GE Cync Paddle Dimmer Smart Switch Retailer Price $25.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices GE Lighting’s Cync brand takes a much-needed break from its typically overdesigned and overcomplicated in-wall switch design strategy with this release, a mercifully clean, almost elegant, smart dimmer. Don’t let its mouthful of a name, the GE Cync Paddle Dimmer Smart Switch, sully your initial opinion. As with the GE Cync Keypad Dimmer I reviewed in December 2025, this is a product that makes the most sense for participants in the GE Cync ecosystem who have multiple GE Cync products in the house. That said, it’s also an affordable option for anyone who needs a smart 3-way or 4-way dimmer, because unlike most similar products, you won’t need companion switches at the other ends of that circuit. The GE Cync Paddle Dimmer Smart Switch can control other GE Cync devices even if they’re not physically wired to the switch. Now, if you don’t need a 3-way dimmer, there are plenty of less expensive alternatives; the Tapo Smart Wi-Fi Light Switch Dimmer S505D, costs just $19, for example. Tapo’s 3-way dimmer, on the other hand, costs about $33). In terms of quality, it compares favorably with such higher-end smart dimmers as the $75 Lutron Diva Smart Dimmer (which requires the Lutron Smart Hub, but integrates many more types of smart home devices–despite not supporting Matter) and the $39 Leviton Decora Smart Wi-Fi 2nd Gen (model D26HD; we reviewed the first-generation model DW6HD in 2021). Specifications The GE Cync Paddle Dimmer comes with adhesive labels you can use to identify the wires in your box, wire nuts for making connections, and a cover plate with a mildly obnoxious GE logo.Christopher Null/Foundry The switch supports Matter-over-Wi-Fi with its integrated 2.4GHz Wi-Fi adapter and is compatible with the Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings ecosystems. It’s also compatible with GE’s Savant smart home system for those undertaking professional installations. The switch can be assigned to a group in the Cync app, which means that it can control other devices even if they aren’t physically wired to the switch. Installation and setup The back of the switch is identical to the Keypad Dimmer, with five pigtails that you’ll connect to your household wiring. In addition to load, line, ground, and neutral wires, a fifth traveler wire is only used for multi-way setups. The wiring is straightforward for single-pole setup, and a substantial wiring diagram in the box can guide you through more complex installs. Multiple wire nuts are included, but as with my Keypad Dimmer install, I needed to use some of my own to complete installation; namely, to tie into the fat bundle of white neutral wires in my electrical box. The dimmer has pigtail wires for line, load, neutral, ground, and a traveler wire for 3-way circuits. Its large size made for a tough fit in my electrical box.Christopher Null/Foundry After wiring up the switch, I managed to get everything in place inside my box, although the electronics portion of the unit doesn’t appear to be any smaller than the Keypad switch. Nonetheless, those five pigtails and the ensuring wire nuts take up a lot of space, and getting everything situated just so to ensure the switch is flush against the wall might be a challenge if you aren’t lucky the first time around. Again, I had better success with this process than I did with the Keypad and was able to mash everything into place without too much trouble. The included cover is a two-piece affair. A bracket mounts on top of the switch with two tiny screws, and a cover plate snaps on top of it, hiding those screws. The GE logo on the cover plate is small but not small enough; corporate branding is not a design feature I ever want on my light switches. The switch can be installed using the Cync app or bypassed in favor of a Matter setup. Since the switch is so simple, there’s no huge reason to use the Cync app if you don’t have a lot of other Cync gear in the house you also want to control. That said, the app is needed for firmware updates and other management, so you’re probably best off starting there either way. I didn’t have any issues with onboarding, though initial Matter configuration can be a bit slow. Using the GE Cync Paddle Dimmer Smart Switch The GE Cync app is easy to use, and if you set the dimmer up to use it–versus controlling it via Matter–you can unlock lots of features for controlling other GE Cync devices.Christopher Null/Foundry As mentioned, this is a simple dimmer: The central paddle’s looks are deceiving: It is not a rocker that toggles from on to off and vice versa; it’s just a button that depresses slightly at the bottom and bounces right back. Tap it once to turn the light on—or off—and that’s it. A mechanical slider on the right side of the switch moves smoothly up and down to control brightness dynamically; a row of seven white LEDs on the left-hand side of the switch give you a visual indicator of where things stand in relation to maximum brightness. These LEDs can be set to briefly display or remain on permanently as a switch finder in the dark. I didn’t encounter any trouble using either the switch or the app, and I found its dimming features worked perfectly well and fluidly with LED bulbs. This is where the GE logo belongs: on the switch itself, before you install its blank cover plate.Christopher Null/Foundry The switch can be assigned to a group in the GE Cync app, which means that it can control other GE Cync devices even if they aren’t physically wired to the switch. This is helpful if you want to control, say, both overhead lights, lamps, and/or undercabinet or undershelf lights in the same room using a single button on the wall. GE’s TrueImage feature also works with the Paddle Dimmer, and as with the Keypad it’s a fanciful but fun add-on. To set it up, you snap two photos of your lights, one at full brightness and one at zero. The app then merges the two photos; as you dim and brighten the lights inside the app, the photo of the lights in the app dims and brightens accordingly. It’s one of those tools that makes more sense when you see it in action. It’s a surprisingly effective addition to the feature set. Should you buy the GE Cync Paddle Dimmer Smart Switch? As I’ve already discussed, the GE Cync Paddle Dimmer Smart Switch is just a little more expensive than competing products from the likes of TP-Link (Kasa Smart and Tapo), Meross, or Treatlife, but it’s a lot cheaper than what you’ll find from high-end competitors such as Leviton or Lutron, and it works about as well as anything else I’ve tested. However, as with the Keypad Dimmer, there’s nothing overly special about it to justify choosing it over another name brand dimmer, unless you already have a heavy investment in other Cync-brand gear. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart dimmer switches. Read...

With the most recent update to Firefox 147, you can enjoy a number of new features and improvements. Safe Browsing v5 improves privacy protection, picture-in-picture mode for videos has learned a new trick, and the developers have once again fixed several security flaws. Mozilla doesn’t plan to release Firefox 148 until six weeks from now, on February 24th. Then the question will arise again as to whether Mozilla will oncea gain extend update support for Firefox 115 for Windows 7 and 8 and macOS 10.12 to 10.14. What’s new in Firefox 147? The picture-in-picture mode for videos, which has been available for years, can now be activated automatically as soon as the tab with the video is no longer in the foreground. When you bring the video tab back to the foreground, Firefox exits picture-in-picture mode. (You may have already observed similar behavior on YouTube.) Also, the Mozilla developers have aligned the performance of video playback on AMD GPUs with that of Intel and Nvidia graphics. Support for Safe Browsing v5, a Google feature, drastically reduces the number of cloud queries. With Safe Browsing v5, Firefox maintains a regularly updated local list of known fraudulent or dangerous websites. Firefox compares URLs to be accessed locally with this list, meaning that the address is not sent over to a cloud service. Security fixes in Firefox 147 Mozilla lists at least 16 vulnerabilities that have been fixed in its Security Advisory 2026-01 report for Firefox 147, classifying six of the externally reported security vulnerabilities as high risk. Four of these relate to ways of breaking out of the browser sandbox. The vulnerabilities could be exploited to inject code and execute it on the system. No attacks on any of the vulnerabilities are known to date. The last two entries in the report list an unspecified number of internally discovered vulnerabilities, which are summarized under CVE-2026-0891 and CVE-2026-0892. They also affect Firefox ESR and Thunderbird. Some are considered high risk, while others are only medium risk. Firefox ESR and Tor Browser updates In addition to Firefox 147.0, ESR versions 140.7.0 and 115.32.0 are also available, although the latter is only available for Windows 7 and 8.1 and macOS 10.12 to 10.14. In these versions, Mozilla’s developers have fixed the above-mentioned vulnerabilities that are already present in the well-established code of these browser generations. The latest Tor Browser 15.0.4 is based on Firefox ESR 140.7 and includes the NoScript 13.5.7 extension. Tor Browser 13.5.27, based on Firefox ESR 115.32 and including NoScript 13.5.7, is only available for users of Windows 7 and 8.1 and macOS 10.12 to 10.14. The Tor Project now hosts NoScript for its browser itself. This can be recognized by the fact that the NoScript version has the suffix “.1984,” like the current version 13.5.7.1984. (George Orwell sends his regards.) Otherwise, it’s identical to the version on Mozilla’s Add-ons store. Thunderbird 147.0 and 140.7.0esr have also been released. Here, too, the developers have eliminated one or two security vulnerabilities that the mail program inherited from Firefox. Read...

One of the best tech items I got last year was a portable monitor for my laptop. It made my life so much easier, allowing me to work out of coffee shops and libraries with all the extra screen space I need to be productive. If you’re a laptop user and don’t have a portable monitor yet, you’re missing out! Score this awesome 34% discount on Amazon, bringing the price of this KYY portable monitor down to just $67. View this Amazon deal This is a slim 15.6-inch display with a crisp 1080p resolution, which is more than enough for daily use and productivity without breaking the bank. While 2K and 4K portable monitors are out there, they’re quite a bit more expensive than this one. If you’re just dealing with documents, spreadsheets, email, web browsing, and such, this will suffice. KYY’s model features an IPS panel for great color, contrast, and viewing angles, which is perfect for when you’re taking a break and watching YouTube or Netflix. The included smart cover keeps the screen protected when not in use, and it doubles as a stand so you can prop it up and comfortably watch videos or read PDFs. It has three ports—two USB-C and a Mini HDMI—plus all the cables you need to connect it to your laptop. Note that it also works with other video outputs, including your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or even your phone. The built-in speakers won’t blow you away, but it’s a fun way to play games on the go and still get that auditory feedback. You’ll love using this portable monitor, for sure. Take advantage of this Amazon deal and snag it for just $67 while you can! Save 34% on this 15.6-inch 1080p portable monitor for your laptopBuy now at Amazon Read...

Microsoft began testing Windows 11 version 26H1 for the first time with Insider Preview Build 28000. The version is only available in the Canary channel of the Windows Insider Program. Starting with this build, Windows officially displays “Windows 11, version 26H1” for the first time under Settings > System > About and via winver. Microsoft made it clear that this is not a feature update for Windows 11 25H2, but rather a new technical platform version. Here’s what’s new in Windows 11 26H1 and why you should be aware. The purpose of Windows 11 26H1 Windows 11 26H1 is preparation for new hardware platforms. Microsoft is gearing the operating system towards upcoming processors, such as Windows-on-Arm devices. Among others, that includes Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 and X2 Elite plus Nvidia N1 and N1x. These processors differ significantly from traditional x64 CPUs, so Microsoft is making adjustments to key system components for compatibility. These include power management, process planning, driver architecture, and other hardware-dependent parts of the operating system. These changes are hardly noticeable to users in everyday use, but they’re necessary to ensure that new devices will later run stably, efficiently, and at full performance. Thomas Joos For existing x64 PCs, Windows 11 26H1 offers no functional advantages and Windows 11 25H2 remains the main branch for new features. Microsoft is sticking to its familiar update strategy here, with major feature updates released once a year in the second half of the year. What is the enablement package? Windows 11 26H1, similar to 25H2 before it, will be delivered as an “enablement package.” An enablement package is not a complete operating system upgrade—instead, it’s a small activation package that unlocks existing but previously disabled system components. Thomas Joos Microsoft integrates new or modified components into the system in advance via regular cumulative updates. The enablement package then activates the new version identifier and unlocks those existing features. For users, this means shorter installation times, smaller download sizes, and no major changes to interfaces or operation. Canary channel and early development The Canary channel serves as the earliest test environment in the Windows Insider Program. The builds published there aren’t assigned to any specific Windows version and may contain features that will later be changed or discarded. Microsoft expressly says that content from Canary builds won’t necessarily make it into a final Windows version. Another important point concerns channel switching. Leaving the Canary channel is only possible via reinstallation, as switching to channels with lower build numbers is not supported. New features in the Canary channel With the latest Canary builds—for example, starting with Build 28020.1362 (KB5073095) and onwards—Microsoft has integrated numerous features into the Canary branch that were previously available in Dev, Beta, and stable versions of Windows 11 25H2. Microsoft is aligning the feature set, which includes: The Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) is now available on more devices, including desktop systems. The interface is based on a console, prioritizes games, and reduces background processes. Click to Do has been redesigned on Copilot+ PCs. The context menu appears automatically for large images or tables and offers direct access to actions such as copying, saving, sharing, and AI-assisted processing. Learn more about why Click to Do is Microsoft’s next big AI move. The Windows Settings agent now allows direct changes from the search field on Copilot+ PCs. Recommended settings can be adjusted via inline action. If a setting can’t be changed further, Windows displays a corresponding explanation. Windows Studio Effects now also support external USB webcams. They can be activated via Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Cameras or via the quick settings in the taskbar. The Drag Tray now supports simultaneous sharing of multiple files, automatically displays matching apps, and allows direct placement in destination folders. The feature can be enabled or disabled via Settings > System > Nearby sharing. Learn more about why Nearby Sharing is one of the best features in Windows. Thomas Joos File Explorer now has a more consistent dark mode. Copy, move, delete, progress, replace, and error dialogues now fully match the dark design. Chart and progress views have also been adjusted. When hovering over files in the Explorer start area, new quick actions such as “Open file location” or “Ask Copilot” appear, depending on the region and account type. There’s a new “Mobile Devices” page in the settings that can be used to manage smartphones. Windows can use mobile devices as cameras or display files directly in File Explorer. Desktop Spotlight adds options such as “Learn more about this background” and “Next desktop background” to the desktop context menu. Thomas Joos Additional settings have been moved from the classic Control Panel to the Windows 11 settings. These include the keyboard character repeat rate and cursor blink rate. Control of keyboard backlighting on supported HID keyboards has also been improved. Thomas Joos Pens with haptic support now provide tactile feedback for certain UI interactions, such as moving or docking windows. Microsoft has also fixed various bugs, including issues in File Explorer, Task Manager, Settings, Windows Update, Display and Graphics, and Sign-in. A known bug where Task Manager continued to run as a background process after being closed has been corrected. Known issues with Windows 11 26H1 Microsoft lists several known limitations in these early Windows 11 26H1 builds, which include unexpected scrolling in the new Start menu and issues with hibernation and shutdown on certain systems. Such bugs are typical for early Canary builds. Windows Home users can already test version 26H1 by registering for the Windows Insider Program free of charge and activating the Canary channel. This will let you try out new platform changes while they’re still in early development. Learn more about why you should or shouldn’t become a Windows Insider. Thomas Joos At the same time, it’s important to note that pre-release versions are not stable. Crashes, performance issues, faulty updates, or incompatibilities are possible. The Canary channel is therefore not recommended for systems that need stability and reliability. Should you use Windows 11 26H1? Windows 11 26H1 forms a technical basis for new hardware generations and paves the way for Windows 11 26H2, which is expected to deliver the actual innovations for all users in fall 2026. If stability is a concern, Windows 11 25H2 remains the better choice right now. However, those who are interested in upcoming hardware, especially Arm-based Windows devices, or who want to keep abreast of technical developments at an early stage, will gain deep insight into the future of Windows with version 26H1. Read...

Even if Jensen spent his entire keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show jawing about anything and everything except consumer electronics, Nvidia still had something to announce: the latest version of DLSS. Team Green’s upscaling tech is now at version 4.5. It’s now available to try out (at least in part) via the latest version of the Nvidia Windows app. Before you boot up your benchmarks, be aware that not all of the goodies announced at CES are immediately enabled. That 6x frame gen and dynamic frame gen — which only enables the controversial tech as much as necessary to hit your framerate targets — are notably absent. The only major addition currently enabled in DLSS 4.5 is updated models for Super Resolution, the more basic upscaling tech that Nvidia has been using for a while. Enabling the new models via the DLSS Override features in the Nvidia app gives you access to: Model M — standard optimized DLSS Model L — optimized for 4K resolution Preset K — new default for “remaining DLSS modes” For the time being you’ll need to enable this DLSS override on a per-game basis, so it’s best to give it a shot on high-performance games for which you have a specific target in mind. To that end, the latest Nvidia App update also turns on DLSS override support for 77 new games, notably including Arc Raiders, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Europa Universalis V, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Ninja Gaiden 4, and The Outer Worlds 2. The update is available in the app right now, or you can always download it manually. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Impressively lightweight Respectably long battery life Gorgeous display with excellent anti-glare Clean, modest looks Cons Slightly subdued performance Unimpressive speakers Subpar mics and camera Our Verdict It’s not without its faults, but the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI otherwise delivers a great all-around experience with extra points going to the gorgeous matte display. If you’re more often on the move than not, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI will make a great partner. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Acer Swift Edge 14 AI Retailer Price $1,499.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Acer has renewed its Swift line with a new compact model in the Swift Edge 14 AI, which not only boasts the thinness the Swift line has been known for but also an exceptionally low weight at just 2.18 pounds. Meanwhile, it packs in hardware that’s up to snuff for most workers and a display that looks great for entertainment — sharp OLED for the win — and for work from different environments thanks to a potent matte finish I’d love to see more of. For the right folks, this could be a very strong option.  Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Specs and features CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 258V Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X-8533 Graphics/GPU: Intel Arc 140V Display: 14-inch 2880×1800 OLED touchscreen, 120Hz, Matte Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD – Kingston OM8PGP4102Q-AA Webcam: 1080p + IR Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 2x USB 3.2 Type -A, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x HDMI Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello fingerprint, facial recognition Battery capacity: 65 watt-hours Dimensions: 12.35 x 9.03 x 0.66 inches Weight: 2.18 pounds MSRP: $1,499 as-tested ($1,399 base) The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI comes in a small number of configurations. Our test unit came with the specifications above and a $1,499 price tag. Acer also offers a stepped-down model for $1,399 that swaps to an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V and 16GB of memory, which is sacrificing a bit too much just to shave $100 off. Another configuration bumps up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 288V and raises the price to $1,599.  The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI’s display is perhaps one of the most glorious I’ve seen on a laptop. Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Design and build quality Foundry / Mark Knapp The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI is a surprise. It comes out of the box feeling a little plasticky and cheap, but its chassis is actually a magnesium-aluminum alloy that proves surprisingly sturdy with little flex. In spite of that, it’s incredibly light at just 2.18 pounds — a precise weight I verified with a scale. It’s also fairly thin with the chassis measuring 0.66 inches thick at its thickest point, though its rubber feet bump that up to 0.82 inches.  It comes with an all white design aside from the black bezels around the display, which gets an appealing matte treatment from Corning. The two display hinges are nice and tight, avoiding any wiggling in use. That comes in clutch for touchscreen use, as tapping on the display and swiping around doesn’t see it start to lean away. The white lid looks nice with little gold accenting, though geometric lines on the lid aren’t quite as engaging as the sort Asus tends to employ. Underneath, the laptop is also simple with two wide rubber feet, a large intake vent, and two small down-firing speaker grilles. The rear edge of the laptop serves as an exhaust.  The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI comes across as fairly simple, and that works for it. It’s delivering on the promise of thin-and-light laptops.  Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Keyboard, trackpad Foundry / Mark Knapp After testing Acer laptops for years now and consistently being disappointed by their keyboards, I have to admit I didn’t have high hopes for the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI. But it seems like Acer may have turned a corner. The key caps seem just a little bit flatter than prior devices, and that makes a world of difference when it comes to staying centered by feel. Stabilization isn’t impressive, but is sufficient to keep the keys from tilting too much. I found myself much more comfortable typing on this keyboard than just about any other Acer laptop I’ve touched, and I managed a strong 122-word-per-minute typing speed with 122 percent accuracy in Monkeytype — about as fast and accurate as I can get on any given day.  While it’s good to have backlighting on a keyboard, Acer’s implementation isn’t ideal. White keyboards with white backlighting tend to look pretty awful as it turns into a sort of sloppy gray, and the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI is no exception. On top of that, having the backlighting on in a bright room ends up making the keyboard less legible as it reduces the contrast. And Acer opts to turn it on automatically in some cases.  The trackpad is also excellent. It’s sizable, though not monstrously large. It has a smooth and pearly Gorilla Glass surface that’s pleasant to swipe around on. There’s also a little logo in one corner that lights when the computer is doing any AI processing on its NPU.  Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Display, audio Foundry / Mark Knapp The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI’s display is perhaps one of the most glorious I’ve seen on a laptop. Anti-glare and matte finishes can be contentious, because they lower the perceived contrast when viewing in extremely dark environments. But everywhere else, I find the lack of a reflected image a huge boon for visual clarity. The 14-inch panel has a 2880×1800 resolution that makes for very crisp details made all the better by the infinite contrast of OLED. The display has great motion clarity as well from its 120Hz refresh rate. Factor in the wide color gamut, which covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color space and reaches 398.3 nits of peak brightness for a full white screen, and you’ve got something special. The fact that you can enjoy all of that so well with the strong anti-glare properties of the Gorilla Matte Pro surface treatment is just wonderful. Acer even went the extra mile and made it a touchscreen, and it’s very responsive and super-smooth to swipe around on.  Sadly, the speakers on the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI are nothing special. They can put out a good bit of sound, letting you hear them even if you don’t have perfect quiet to listen in. But mids are over-pronounced, leading to a slightly grating sound at high volumes. The speakers also sound a little boxed in, especially at high volumes. For listening to speech, they do the job, but I wouldn’t count on them for music or TV and movies.  Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The webcam on the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI captures a decent picture. It’s not stunningly sharp, but it at least has a good exposure. Its support of Windows Hello facial recognition makes for quick sign-ons but also comes alongside a very wide field of view for the camera. This makes me appear very small in the video feed it captures unless I have my face within a foot of the lens. It’s possible to crop in, but that would lower the resolution from the already modest 1080p of the full sensor. Acer’s microphones are disappointing. By default, the system wants to use its AI-enhanced Purified Voice setting, but I found its efforts to cancel out background noise also had a negative impact on actual clarity in what I was saying, sometimes outright cancelling out my voice along with background noise. Disabling the effects resulted in clearer sound, but with more background noise. In either case, my voice wasn’t very full. In addition to facial recognition, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI supports fingerprint login with a scanner built into the power button. In testing, this worked quickly, easily, and consistently. Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Connectivity The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI proved strong with its connectivity. It has a respectable array of ports for a thin-and-light, combining two Thunderbolt 4 ports that also handle charging with two USB-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and one audio jack. A microSD slot would have been nice to see. Most of the ports are also on the left side with just one USB-A port and the AUX jack on the right. Splitting up the charging ports to offer one on each side would have been a bonus.  The system can handle fast wireless connections as well with Intel Killer 1750i Wi-Fi 7. It proved fast and stable in my testing. The Bluetooth 5.4 is a little letdown, as Bluetooth 6.0 has already landed, but even without it, the Bluetooth connected easily and remained stable when paired with headphones in testing.  Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Performance The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI may not be a high-performance machine, but with its Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, it’s no slouch. That chip is powering a lot of thin-and-light laptops, combining responsive speeds and strong efficiency.  It offers a level of performance that’s ample for basic office tasks, as we see it hit a solid score in the holistic PCMark 10 benchmark. Not only does it perform well for browsing, video calls, writing, and spreadsheet work, but thanks to its Intel Arc graphics, it also gets along modestly in content creation workloads — though it isn’t scratching at the capabilities of high-performance workstation.  One area that holds the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI back from more demanding workloads is its cooling. Being thin and light comes with trade-offs. There’s less room for air to flow effectively, and cooling hardware also adds a lot of weight. Some laptops will let their fans kick up a racket to try staying cool, but the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI opts for quieter operation. The result is that in longer, heavy workloads like our Handbrake encoding test, the system can struggle. It took over half an hour to perform this test while the 2.9-pound Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition running on the same CPU managed it in just over 22 minutes. Meanwhile, AMD’s hardware in the HP OmniBook 7 Aero actually proved even more stout despite also being in a light setup at 2.2 pounds, with the OmniBook hitting under 20 minutes by a hair. MSI offered the lightest laptop of the bunch, but its performance also lagged behind the pack. Cinebench can show us a bit more about the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI’s overall CPU performance. As we saw in Handbrake, heat is an issue for sustained performance in the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI. It lagged behind in Cinebench R24, which is also a longer test. But when running shorter, bursty workloads like Cinebench R23 and R15, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI roughly tied with the Lenovo Yoga 9i. Still, neither were a match for the HP system’s faster CPU.  So while the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI may not power through heavy tasks well, it can remain responsive and tackle light tasks quickly. That goes double for single-threaded workloads, where its Cinebench scores actually tended to lead the pack, even beating the AMD and Qualcomm machines.  While the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI may not have been a frontrunner for CPU performance, the Intel Arc 140V graphics on the chip is a little secret weapon for the system. Where graphical horsepower is concerned, it turns the tides on AMD’s integrated Radeon graphics (at least until AMD starts bringing its Radeon 8060S graphics to laptops). In 3DMark’s Time Spy test, we see the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI tied with the Lenovo system and both well ahead of the HP OmniBook 7 Aero. That repeats in 3DMark Night Raid as well, and those wins come in large part thanks to huge leads in the Graphics subtests, though they also lead in the CPU sub-tests likely thanks to their stronger single-core performance. Even the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo pulls ahead of the OmniBook, though not by as much. This also showcases a perk of the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI over some of the Qualcomm-powered thin-and-lights that it runs against: compatibility. The Asus ZenBook A14 is a reasonably strong machine, but when it has to emulate x86 programs — as in this 3DMark test — it can fall way behind native hardware from Intel and AMD.  Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Battery life Battery life can just about make or break a thin-and-light laptop. When they sacrifice performance, they need to make up for it in efficiency. And the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI just about nails it. In our 4K video playback test, which runs the laptop in airplane mode with the display set to 250-260 nits, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI lasted just shy of 18 and a half hours. While that may not be as impressive as some of the other systems, all of which broke the 21-hour mark (except the OmniBoo, which barely broke 10 hours thanks in part to its much smaller battery). That said, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI still deserves credit. It runs a sharper display than the MSI and Asus laptops and has a smaller battery than everything but the HP system. Our test also allows for the systems to dim their displays when they reach a low enough charge to enable Battery Saver mode, but the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI only dimmed its display to 48 percent brightness, which still sees it produce a comfortably bright 178 nits that is easily viewable with the matte display finish. More typical office and casual use saw no less impressive battery life. The system was typically on track for anywhere from nine to 14 hours of runtime. Three straight hours of active use only drained the battery by 32 percent. Another session of intermittent use that included watching a whole movie, some browsing, and a lot of idling with the screen on saw the laptop lose just 57 percent charge over the course of eight hours and 15 minutes. All of this was with the display still set to its 250-260 nit level, which is more than bright enough for indoor use thanks to the display’s strong anti-glare effect. And all of that was with the display running at 120Hz. More energy savings can be had by dialing that down to 60Hz.  Acer Swift Edge 14 AI: Conclusion The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI doesn’t knock it out of the park at every turn, but if you’re looking for a lightweight, reasonably speedy machine that’s ready to run all day and look lovely doing it, the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI is a homerun. The display is a special highlight for combining excellent visual quality with a rarely used matte finish that may have a minor impact on brilliance but has a huge impact on how easy it is to see the display in more conditions. Even the keyboard finally shifts away, however subtly, the slightly concave-feeling keys Acer has packed in in the past. All this comes together to make the Acer Swift Edge 14 AI a brilliant little partner for working and entertainment on the move, just bring your own headphones. Read...