Wish you could find affordable componments to build up mighty home-theater sound? Two trusted names in home audio — Klipsch and Onkyo — just teamed up to give you that with the new Klipsch Flexus Sound System.
The lineup of soundbars, wireless speakers and subwoofers starts at $349.
This post contains affiliate links. Cult of Mac may earn a commission when you use our links to buy items.
Klipsch Flexus Sound System
The Klipsch Flexus Sound System (“powered by Onkyo”) is a modular and scalable audio setup that allows users to customize their home-audio environment, especially for home-theater use. But they’re great for music, too, of course.
You can start with one of two soundbars, the 28-inch Core 100 ($349; 100 watts) or the 44-inch Core 200 ($499; 200 watts).
Both soundbars feature Dolby Atmos spatial audio, though Core 200 adds upward-firing speakers to intensify the effect. That model also ups the number of 2.25-inch aluminum drives from two to four. Both models include two 4-inch subwoofers for bass.
Hardcore audio enthusiasts can add wireless speakers and subwoofer to this Klipsch Flexus Core 200 soundbar. Photo: Klipsch
To the soundbar you can add Flexus Surr wireless speakers with Dolby Atmos ($249). Their advanced audio processing technologies deliver clear sound with depth and precision. You can place them strategically to maximize your sound.
Complementing the Surr speakers, if you like, is the Flexus 10-inch subwoofer ($299). It fills out the low end — even more than the subs built into the soundbars — ensuring you feel every low-frequency rumble and thumping beat.
All of these Klipsch Flexus Sound System components quickly and easily connect with Klipsch Transport technology, the company said.
And you can operate the system using the Klipsch Connect Plus app for iOS or Android. It lets you access equalizer presets or your own custom EQ, volume control and features like Night Mode and Dialogue Boost. Klipsch said it will add more features, too.
So you can spend $349 on one soundbar or max out the system for $1,050.
How much is great sound worth to you? Sennheiser’s top wireless earbuds ask that question in more ways than one. The previous version, the True Wireless 3, was praised by reviewers, but some users raised issues like battery drain and connection glitches. The Momentum True Wireless 4 set out to address these complaints with an all-new battery system among “over a dozen major upgrades,” according to Sennheiser.
Within this context, the two earbud dropouts I experienced in my first few days of testing the MTW4 stood out more than the usual new bud jitters. Especially since the latest pair sports the exact same exterior design as the MTW3, which is, in 2024, looking downright chunky compared to the competition. Size aside, a firmware update seems to have fixed those connection woes, and I’ve experienced no other dropouts over multiple days of testing.
One thing that’s never been in question with Sennheiser is sound quality. Even given their superb sonic pedigree, the Momentum 4 caught me off guard with their clarity, their sensitivity, and the sheer sweetness and delicacy with which they render every tone. They pair that with competitive noise canceling and a solid app. The result is a package that’s worthy of a little faith—especially for those who put great sound first.
Not-So-Spyware
If you’re at all familiar with Sennheiser’s long-running Momentum line, you’ll be feeling déjà vu with the fourth-gen version. The buds arrive nestled in what looks like the same boxy case from the original 2019 Momentum. It feels downright massive when compared to cases from Apple, Sony, and others. Still, you have to admire Sennheiser’s style, cloaking it with sleek fabric straight out of the James Bond Corduroy Collection.
The buds have morphed over time, but Sennheiser made no exterior changes from 2022’s MTW3 to maintain their “timeless aesthetic.” They certainly look premium with their angled, smoked-chrome housings but, timeless or not, I would have appreciated some ergonomic updates.
The buds barely wedge into my medium-size ears with the default band that flexes around the main housing, but swapping it for the smaller of two spares made them stable and relatively comfy for a few hours at a clip. They still feel bulgy and somewhat invasive, and at 6 grams per side, they don’t quite pull the disappearing trick of Apple’s AirPods Pro (9/10, WIRED Recommends) or other favorites. Four ear tip sizes let you further customize the fit, but those with smaller ears may want to try before you buy.
Plenty of Goodies
Photograph: Ryan Waniata
Beneath their enameled shells, the MTW4 have undergone a relatively thorough makeover, from their new battery system (and firmware to optimize it) to support for the latest Bluetooth 5.4 protocol and a new low-latency mode for gaming. They’ve also now got dust protection, with an IP54 rating.
The battery is arguably the most important upgrade, which includes a new provider to ensure improved reliability. Playback is rated at a respectable 7.5 hours per charge, and 30 hours total with the charging case. This matched my testing, with the buds keeping pace at around seven to eight hours per charge with noise canceling on.
Call quality has been upgraded, with AI optimization designed to offer advanced clarity via the buds’ new Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. I didn’t notice anything special on my end, but I also never received major complaints from others, even while talking outdoors.
Apple is easing up its self-repair policy, allowing iPhone owners to fix their devices with used parts instead of forcing them to buy new replacements. The tech giant told The Washington Post the update will apply to screens, batteries, and cameras among other things.
Apple states in its announcement post that they have plans to grow the program to include biometric sensors. The changes are scheduled to take effect this autumn, starting, Apple confirmed with TechRadar, with the iPhone 15 and future models.
Parts pairing, where the serial number of a component is matched with the iPhone, remains an important aspect of the repair process. Apple states the technology is important in determining whether a part is genuine and “critical to preserving the privacy, security, and safety of iPhone.” They will, however, relax some of the restrictions surrounding parts pairing.
Neither customers nor service providers will need to give Apple a phone’s serial number when ordering replacements – so long as you’re not fixing the logic board, in which case then you do. Calibration will occur right on the iPhone after the genuine part has been installed.
Maintaining quality
This is a big deal because, as The Washington Post explains, attempting to use “components harvested from other iPhones” results in performance problems. Colors on fixed displays may not look as vibrant as they once did.
But all that changes several months from now. You can expect the same level of quality regardless of whether a part is used or right out of the factory. The policy change could even be helpful for users who can’t afford out-of-warranty costs or don’t have an Apple Store near them.
Alongside the update, Apple is going to expand the availability of its Activation Lock tech to iPhone parts. The feature was originally “designed to limit… theft” by preventing access to lost or stolen devices. Moving forward, if an iPhone under repairs notices a part has either Activation Lock or Lost Mode activated, calibration for that replacement will be disabled. What’s more, the company plans to upgrade an iPhone’s Parts and Service History to show information about whether a part is new or used.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
No word on how much these parts will cost or where people can buy them. Presumably, it’ll all be done through the company’s Self Service Repair Store. We’ve reached out for info and we’ll update this story if we hear back.
Potential future changes
Aftermarket parts built by third parties will not be allowed. The Washington Post states that if you try to install one of those components, you’ll receive a warning stating the part isn’t legitimate and certain features won’t work such as the battery health readout.
Of course, things can always change. Apple was once famously against the right to repair, and yet here they are, providing the parts themselves. We could see additional repair policy changes later in the year moving into 2025. Parts pairing, in particular, is currently caught in the crosshairs. Oregon recently banned the practice back in late March although the law won’t take effect until January 2025. The EU is considering doing the same, but nothing is set in stone.
John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering at Apple, defended parts pairing in an interview with TechCrunch by calling the practice “not evil.” However, if there’s one thing we’ve learned is that with the right motivation, Apple can change its mind.
If you ever wished you could print on anything, Printisian could be for you. The handheld inkjet printer lets users print on various materials and surfaces, including wood, paper, metals, fabric, leather, stone and even food and skin.
Its modular design allows for easy switching between different accessories, such as an edge positioner, laser aligner, and code scanner, to meet specific printing needs.
The printer has a 5-inch touchscreen, runs on SianOS (powered by Android), has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of storage, and a 300mAh replaceable battery.
Beware ink costs
The device can print text, pictures, date and time, and QR codes or barcodes at 35CM/s. To use it, connect it to your phone via Bluetooth, add a file, and slide the printer across the area you want to print on.
Printisian supports two sizes of ink cartridge and offers variable printing heights and a resolution of 600DPI. It can cover up to 39.3 inches per print, and you can expect “up to” 1,531 yards of print per cartridge.
As is the case with all printers, you need to factor in the cost of the ink. A small color cartridge for the device will currently set you back $59 (usual price is $79), while a large cartridge is $129 (usual price $169). The creators say you can use any compatible ink cartridge from other manufacturers – it’s designed to take standard size cartridges – although they (obviously) recommend their own cartridges as some inks may not print so well on certain surfaces.
As with any crowdsourced projects, you should be aware that backing a product doesn’t mean that it will be completed or that you will receive the item you backed. That said, at the time of writing $65,601 had been pledged, well above the $6,385 goal, so it’s looking positive.
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
You can pledge for a choice of available rewards, with the basic Printisian Standard coming in at $399, for which you get the printer itself and one small black ink cartridge (0.5 Inch). The price increases significantly if you want to back a version with the various accessories included, but extras can be purchased separately.
In a bid to simplify its product range for customers, IBM has announced changes to the names of some of its popular storage solutions.
The tech giant’s latest product rebrand is designed to better communicate their functions and capabilities, and do away with some of the confusion that came about following the previous renaming round.
Back in 2015, Big Blue introduced the Spectrum prefix for its storage products. However, in February 2023, the Spectrum prefix was changed to Storage. This move was intended to make it clearer to customers what each product does. So, for example, the “Spectrum Fusion” product set became “Storage Fusion” instead.
Not ‘Storage Discover’
Now, Blocks and Files reports that IBM is renaming its Storage Fusion HCI product to Fusion HCI. This change was reportedly made to better reflect the product’s function as a hyperconverged system for running Red Hat OpenShift and its applications, rather than a storage product.
Additionally, the Spectrum Discover product, which provides data cataloging and metadata management for file and object data, has been given an alternative name. Blocks and Files says Big Blue’s customers can now refer to it as either Data Cataloging or Spectrum Discover, but not, as you might think given the previous prefix change, Storage Discover. Clear?
IBM’s Data Cataloging/Spectrum Discover product is designed to automatically catalog unstructured data by capturing metadata as it is created. It can connect to exabyte-scale heterogeneous file, object, backup, and archive storage on premises and in the cloud, making it a valuable tool for data management.
While the new names may take some getting used to, the underlying functionality of IBM’s revamped storage portfolio remains the same, and the changes are sensible ones that better define the products’ purposes.
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
Conservationist Houman Jokar (pictured left in 2008) working with a government official using an antenna to scan leopards’ radio collars.Credit: Caren Firouz/Reuters
Four members of a conservation group focused on big cats who were jailed in Iran six years ago were pardoned on 7 April as part of a mass amnesty of prisoners ahead of Eid holidays at the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
The group includes Niloufar Bayani, a conservation scientist and former consultant with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and biologist Houman Jokar, who were both released yesterday. The other two, released today are ecologist Taher Ghadirian and Sepideh Kashani, an administrator with the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Tehran. All four were arrested in January 2018 alongside five other conservationists; none of the nine now remains in prison.
“I am incredibly happy for them. We have all greatly suffered from the injustice that was done to us,” says Morad Tahbaz, a businessman and conservationist with US-British–Iranian citizenship who was one of the nine but was released last September as part of a US–Iranian prisoner swap. UNEP also welcomed the release in a statement.
Bayani wrote letters to government officials and members of the judiciary from Tehran’s Evin prison, revealing how incarcerated people were being subjected to isolation, exhausting interrogations, torture and threats of rape.
“Currently, groups of activists working in climate-related issues are under extreme pressure. The conviction of our environmental NGO and the fate of its employees and founders is one example of how environmental work has become a political crime,” she wrote.
Six years behind bars
The nine, all members of the PWHF, were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a military organization that is part of the Iranian state. The director of PWHF, Canadian–Iranian citizen Kavous Seyed-Emami, a sociologist, died in prison weeks after the arrest in circumstances that have not been independently verified.
Starting in November 2019, a revolutionary court sentenced the remaining eight to prison terms of between four and ten years, for espionage.
At the time of the arrest, the group was carrying out research on species including the endangered Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) and Persian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) in national parks and elsewhere.
Seven of the conservationists remained in Iran after last year’s prisoner swap, and three of those were subsequently released after serving shorter sentences.
The detentions sparked a worldwide campaign by conservation organizations advocating their release. Iran’s president at the time, Hassan Rouhani, established an inquiry that concluded in May 2018 that there was no evidence supporting the charges. However, the prison sentence was still handed down, and was then upheld by a revolutionary court in February 2020.
The release is “very good news. But nothing can restore the lost years of life and the loss of Emami,” says Kaveh Madani, director of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health in Richmond Hill, Canada. Madani was deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment when he, too, was arrested and interrogated in 2018 as part of the same operation that sent the environmentalists to jail. He was able to flee the country.
Research in prison
During her incarceration, Bayani managed to complete a research project. She interviewed 25 female political prisoners incarcerated for opposing Iranian government policies, and researched how climate change is perceived in an oil and gas producing state.
“Being confined for over 4 years in one place, a small square piece of land on the planet has gradually shifted my point of view,” she wrote in a report called ‘Climate Literacy in the Land of Oil’. Bayani began teaching a course on climate change, which led to an open letter from the prisoners calling on their government to take stronger action on climate change.
“I used to think through maps, satellite photos and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) modelling, as if my desk was constantly soaring above the Earth,” she continued. “From a satellite view, it is easy to imagine a united human population that is concerned about its common future, but when you land, as I have on this small parcel, the reality is very different.”
Logitech has unveiled the G Pro X 60, its latest mechanical gaming keyboard. Similar to the peripheral maker’s G Pro X TKL from last year, this is a wireless model aimed at competitive-minded gamers first and foremost. Unlike that device, it has a smaller 60 percent layout, which means it lacks a dedicated function row, number pad, arrow keys and nav cluster but takes up much less space on a desk. This can be a boon for games because it leaves more room to flick a mouse around while retaining the most common action keys. Naturally, it’s also more portable.
The G Pro X 60 is up for pre-order today for $179 in the US or €229 in Europe. It’s available in three colors (black, white or pink) with either the linear or tactile version of Logitech’s GX Optical switches. The company says it’ll be available at major retailers in “late April.”
I’ve had the keyboard on hand for a few days prior to today’s announcement and have mostly been impressed, though I’d have a hard time calling it a great value.
Let’s start with the good: This thing is well-built. Its aluminum top plate is surrounded by a plastic frame, but it all feels sturdy, with no real flex or give when you press down. Its doubleshot PBT keycaps are pleasingly crisp and should avoid any of the shininess that’d develop with cheaper ABS plastic over time. The legends on the keycaps are neatly printed and transparent, so any RGB backlight effects you set will come through cleanly. All the keys are angled comfortably, and there’s a set of flip-out feet on the back.
Logitech
I’m not crazy about the side-mounted volume roller — once you’ve blessed your keyboard with a full-on rotary knob, it’s hard to give up — but it’s easy to reach with your pinky, so you can adjust volume without having to lift your other fingers during the heat of a game. There’s also a dedicated switch for flipping on Logitech’s “game mode,” which deactivates keys you might otherwise hit by accident; those include the Windows and Fn keys by default, but you can add others through Logitech’s G Hub software.
The keyboard can connect over a detachable USB-C cable, Bluetooth or a 2.4GHz wireless dongle. Per usual with Logitech gear, the latter’s connection is rock solid; I’ve had none of the hiccups or stuttering I’ve seen with some wireless keyboards from less established brands, particularly when waking the device from sleep. There are buttons to swap between Bluetooth or the 2.4GHz connection built into the board, as well as a handy compartment for stashing the adapter itself. You can also connect the G Pro X 60 and certain Logitech mice simultaneously using one dongle. Logitech rates the battery life at up to 65 hours; that sounds about right based on my testing so far, but the exact amount will fluctuate based on how bright you set the RGB backlight.
The best thing about the G Pro X 60 might have nothing to do with the keyboard at all — it’s the fact that Logitech includes a hard carrying case in the box. More companies should do this! It makes the device much easier to transport.
Alas, this probably isn’t a keyboard you’d want to take to the office. The linear GX Optical switches in my test unit feel totally pleasant: They’re fast enough for gaming, and they come pre-lubricated, so each press goes down smoothly. Since they’re optical, and thus not reliant on any physical contact points, they should also prove durable over time.
Logitech
But they aren’t exactly quiet. Logitech has fit a couple layers of silicone rubber inside the board, but there isn’t the wealth of sound-dampening foam you’d find in some other options in this price range. To peel back the curtain a bit: I received the G Pro X 60 just after testing a bunch of mechanical keyboards for an upcoming buying guide, so I’m a little spoiled on this point. Some people may like the obvious clack of each press here, too. I can’t imagine their coworkers or roommates being as thrilled, though, and some modifier and nav keys like Alt, Ctrl and Tab sound hollower than others.
Besides that, my issues with the G Pro X 60 are more about what’s missing than anything the keyboard does wrong. For one, its switches aren’t hot-swappable, so you can’t easily remove and replace them without desoldering. Yes, this is a niche thing, but so are $180 gaming keyboards as a whole. Being able to pop in new switches isn’t just a plus for long-term repairability; it’s half the fun for some keyboard enthusiasts in the first place. Swapping keycaps is straightforward, though.
Taking a step back, a growing number of the G Pro X 60’s peers have some sort of analog functionality, which means they can respond to varying levels of pressure. The top pick in our gaming keyboard buyer’s guide, the Wooting 60HE+, is a good example: Its magnetic Hall effect sensors let you set custom actuation points, so you can make each key extra sensitive while playing a fast FPS, then make them feel heavier and more deliberate while typing. They also enable a “rapid trigger” feature that lets you repeat inputs faster, which can be helpful for, say, strafing back and forth during an in-game shootout. Other models from Razer and SteelSeries provide similar functionality. But the G Pro X 60 lacks any sort of adjustable actuation or rapid trigger mode. That’s probably not a dealbreaker for most people, but the people who would use those features are the kind of hardcore gamers Logitech is targeting with this device.
Logitech
What is here is a new remapping system called “Keycontrol.” Through G Hub, this allows you to assign several different commands or macros to each key, with three separate control layers. This is a convenient way to get around some of the design’s missing keys: I made it so holding Alt temporarily turns WASD into arrow keys, for example. But it also lets you base different actions on whether you press, hold or release a key, so you could tie complementary actions in a game — casting a couple of buffs in an RPG, perhaps — to one press. Some of the analog keyboards noted above can work like this, too, and you need to have G Hub open for some bindings to stay active. Still, it’s better to have this sort of flexibility than not. Logitech says more of its keyboards will receive Keycontrol support in the future but declined to give more specific details.
All of this makes for a keyboard that’s solid in a vacuum but faces some stiff competition. Rival gaming keyboards like the Wooting 60HE+ and SteelSeries Apex Pro Mini Wireless are a little richer with performance-focused features, while a slightly larger option like the ASUS ROG Azoth sounds better and offers more customizable hardware for keyboard geeks. There are plenty of great non-gaming keyboards that cost much less, too. But the G Pro X 60 isn’t a bad choice if you want something compact and wireless, so it might be worthwhile during a sale.
This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
LG’s smart TV platform, webOS, has been a mainstay feature on its TVs and continues to evolve every year. It’s easily one of the best smart TV platforms out there, but hasn’t been without its share of criticisms in the past.
Last year’s version, webOS 23, featured on some of the best TVs on the market, including the LG C3, LG G3 and LG B3. We frequently praised it for its level of customization, its ease of navigation thanks to its new Quick Cards and quick menu, and its overall layout. Overall, it was a big improvement over webOS 22.
I’ve recently been testing one of LG’s latest mini-LED TVs for 2024, the LG QNED91T, and this comes installed with the latest version of webOS, webOS 24 – which will also be available on the LG C4 and LG G4 along with the rest of the range. While on the surface it may not seem like much has changed, there are some new features and upgrades that have been introduced and improved on that makes this arguably the best smart TV platform I’ve used in several years of both reviewing TVs and working in TV retail. Here are the three features that really jumped out to me.
1. A neater, toned down layout
Further down the home page on webOS 24 (pictured) shows a tidier and easier to navigate layout. (Image credit: Future)
Although a simple change, webOS 24’s home screen layout and appearance is easily one of its best features. Last year, webOS 23 improved greatly on webOS 22’s cluttered ad and recommendation-heavy home screen in a big way, and webOS 24 has taken this a step further.
Quick Cards, an addition to webOS 23 last year, collects any apps relevant into its category such as Game, Sport (more on that below), Music and more. So, for example, the Game quick card collects all the cloud based gaming services that webOS is compatible with such as Nvidia GeForce Now, Luna, Utomix and so on. In webOS 24, these cards have taken an even more slimmed down appearance on the home page and have become even more intuitive.
As you scroll down the home page, rather than being confronted with tons of ads and recommendations, you’re now met with a leaner set of menus. LG has opted for a more simple approach, such as the Now Streaming section in the picture above, which rather than spreading out every individual streaming service to its own line has collated them with a side-scrolling option to the relevant service you want.
If you use broadcast TV, there’s also a live TV guide that shows what’s live now, a Life’s Good Hub with LG recommendations and more. But if you don’t want these on your home menu, you can simply remove them, leaving you with a compact home menu that simply shows your favorite apps.
2. Sports quick card and My Team
The My Team section of the Sport Quick Card (pictured) in webOS 24 is very useful for sports fans, like myself. (Image credit: Future)
For a sports fan like myself, the sport quick card has undergone some changes and includes a feature called My Team. In this, you can select your favorite team from a fairly extensive list and it’ll keep track of live score, a team’s schedule, recent results and even relevant videos.
Admittedly, as a rugby fan, there weren’t many options, but there were plenty of other options to choose from and LG covered its bases well with soccer teams from major leagues including the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, and more. There was also extensive coverage of the MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL as well.
As a fairly new (and still somewhat casual) baseball fan, keeping track of the 162 regular season games can be daunting. So, I tested webOS 24 by choosing my favorite baseball team, the Toronto Blue Jays, in My Team. Immediately, I was shown all the Blue Jays’ recent scores and games and their upcoming schedule. I was even shown that I could stream one of the upcoming games on Prime Video, in its Discovery Plus add-on – something I didn’t know.
The main home page of the sports quick card takes on a broader approach and still includes popular video such as Premier League highlights and headline scores for those interested in multiple sports and combined with the My Team feature, this was one of my favorite webOS 24 features.
3. Improved accessibility features
The Accessibility Quick Card allows users direct access to accessibility features if they need them and even previews what users are getting. (Image credit: Future)
More TV brands are starting to go to great lengths to make TV accessible for everyone, via voice assist, audio description, subtitles and so on. In webOS 24, LG has introduced an accessibility Quick Card, meaning it’s easy for those who need these features to access them, because it sits front and center on the home page. In the past, these accessibility features were often, and still are in some cases, buried in settings screens.
On this accessibility Quick Card, these accessibility features are not only easy to access, but do a great job of demonstrating just what the user is getting. Something as simple as a visual demonstration of what subtitles turned on will look like on screen (as shown in the photo below) is a further step to make things easier for the user.
Finally, there’s the introduction of the AI chatbot. This tool is designed to assist in issues users may be experiencing with the TV such as the screen being too dark, sound being too quiet and so on, and assist where possible. It can be used via voice command or on-screen with inputs from the remote. It’s certainly a useful feature that, while it may not be the most extensive, will certainly aid some users having basic issues and not knowing where to start with fixing them, and will no doubt be improved in further updates.
A few times a year, Sephora discounts nearly its entire stock, and that includes some of our favorite hair straighteners, blow dryers, and hot brushes. The caveat? You need to be a Sephora Beauty Insider, which is free to join, and the percentage off the sale price is based on which membership tier you fall into. Some brands aren’t included in the sale, like MAC and The Ordinary, and there are some limitations, like how you can buy only one Dyson and one Shark product.
Be sure to enter code YAYSAVE at checkout or mention it in-store. All the prices listed here are 20 percent off for the Rouge portion of the sale. We’ll update it when the next tier discounts start. Here are the details on the various tiers:
Insider members: This is the base tier, which doesn’t require you to spend any money. You’ll get 10 percent off from April 9 through 15.
VIB members: This is anyone who spends $350 in a year. You’ll get 15 percent off from April 9 through 15.
Rouge members: If you spend at least $1,000 per year, you’ll get 20 percent off from April 5 to 15. This means you also get first access to the sale.
Special offer for Gear readers: GetWIRED for just $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access toWIRED.com, full Gear coverage, and subscriber-only newsletters. Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.
If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.
Dyson has mastered air manipulation, and WIRED writer Brenda Stolyar loved the Airstrait (8/10, WIRED Recommends), saying it halved the time she spends on her hair routine. Instead of hot plates, the Airstrait uses air flow to dry and straighten hair in one go—you can lock the plates closed and use it as just a hair dryer, but it shines in its straightening abilities. You may need to play around with it to see whether it works best on wet or damp hair, which will vary depending on your hair type. It’s also available in a really cute limited-edition rose-gold color.
T3 makes great hair tools, and this flat iron is among them. It uses what T3 calls HeatID Technology to set temperature based on hair texture, length, and whether it’s color-treated. Refresh Mode lets you touch up already straightened hair at a lower temperature based on the previous settings. It’s a small but mighty feature.
I’ve been testing this flat iron for the past few weeks, and it’s become one of my favorite straighteners. It’s a classic that I somehow had never tried before, but it seriously straightens my course curls quickly. There are five heat settings, but the buttons are right where my hands want to rest, so I often accidentally change the temperature.
GHD Platinum+ Styler Flat Iron
Photograph: Amazon
You’ll either love or hate this iron from popular tool brand GHD. There’s no heat control, so it’s always at 365 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s great for some hair types—it straightened one writer’s hair in one pass—and prevents people from needlessly frying their locks, but courser or curlier hair might be a struggle.
Like Dyson’s Airstrait, the GHD Duet uses air to dry and smooth hair, and some hair types will get pin-straight styles from just this step. But if you need more help to straighten it, you’ll still need to turn on the hot plates once your hair is totally dry. That means it might take a little longer than the Dyson, but it also cuts out having to have two tools.
WIRED contributor Victoria Woollaston-Webber says this is one of the best dryers she has tried, quickly getting her hair dry and shiny without burning her scalp. But the buttons are exactly where you want your hand to go, so you may end up changing the settings while styling.
The Dyson Supersonic is a solid hair dryer with accessories like a wide-tooth comb and flyaway smoother. It may even cut your drying time down. But no one needs to spend $400 on a dryer unless you really won’t miss the money. Like the Airstrait, it’s also available in a pretty rose color.
Photograph: Sephora
The version for curly and coily hair is discounted to the same price. This model took a bit longer to dry my hair than the brand’s HyperAir, but it worked and takes up less room. Its RapidGloss Finisher attachment did the impossible and actually tamed some of my frizz.
We haven’t tested this dryer, but it’s included here because we typically love and trust T3 tools. I tried the Aireluxe, which was super light and worked well but was lacking a diffuser. This one looks nearly identical but is more compact and has the diffuser I missed, plus other attachments. If you need something light, it may be worth a try.
T3 Switch Kit Wave Trio Interchangeable Curling Iron
Photograph: T3
T3’s Switch Kit tops of list of best curling irons. It’s one handle with three barrels for achieving different styles. This one comes with half-inch and 1.25-inch wands and a 1.5-inch clip barrel. If you don’t need something as small as the half-inch, the Wave Trio swaps it out for a 1-inch wand.
We have cheaper wand recommendations, but we like the SinglePass because its tapered barrel goes from 0.75 inch to 1.3 inches. It gives long hair nice beachy waves and allows you to make smaller curls around your face.
If you’re a GHD fan, you’ll like this curling iron with a 1-inch barrel that works for short and long hair. It uses a clamp, which takes some getting used to if you primarily use wands, but our writer suggests testing it out while it’s off so you can become accustomed to the movement. It also has a cool tip that’s larger than others we’ve tried, so you can safely control the tool without singeing your fingers.
Blow-Dry Brush and Multi-Tool Deals
Shark FlexStyle Multi-Styler
Photograph: Shark
If you’ve been eyeing the Dyson Airwrap but can’t fathom spending the money, you simply don’t have to. Shark’s FlexStyle (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is nearly identical, letting you dry your hair, blow it out, or curl it. The Airwrap barrels attracted hair a little better, but for the money saved, it was manageable. The curly and coily hair bundle comes with a diffuser.
Want to stick with Dyson instead of the Shark? This set comes with the new barrel that can create curls in both directions instead of the need for two—it’s the bigger one for longer hair. It also has other curl tools like a comb and diffuser. There are other bundles and accessories available, including the long barrel without the curly tools and a regular set in rose gold and blue and orange.
I have too much hair to figure out how to efficiently use a blow-dry brush, but people love them. This one comes from a brand we like and has both a paddle brush and round brush attachment for whatever style you’re trying to achieve.
GHD Rise Thermal Hot Brush
Photograph: GHD
This hot brush made our list of best curling irons because even though it’s meant to lift your roots for volume, it made effortless waves and tight curls, too. Like other GHD products, its only setting is 365 degrees.
You’ve probably seen Revlon’s blow-dry brush all over social media. The newest version is great for a fraction of this price, but our tester found that the Double Shot gave her smoother, straighter hair. It just required a little bit more work given the smaller air-flow openings.
The rumored Nothing Phone 3 could switch back to Qualcomm chips and use a Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 to help power onboard generative AI features, according to 91mobiles’ “industry sources who work closely with Nothing.”
This suggests that we could see something more powerful than the recently launched Nothing Phone 2a. This aligns with the idea that the Phone 3 will offer near-flagship performance while maintaining Nothing’s reputation for making affordable phones. After all, both the Nothing Phone 1 and Phone 2 used slightly older hardware and some speculation pointed to Phone 3 following suit.
Snapping up Snapdragon
Unveiled in March, the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip is designed for affordable flagship phones. It integrates advanced AI features such as on-device generative AI and intelligent photography tools, which can fill in missing details from photos. While it shares technology with the premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 used in this year’s best Android phones, the more modest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 offers slightly less power.
It could also provide Phone 3 with improved battery life depending on the battery size due to the more efficient 4-nanometer technology from TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co).
However, the addition of the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip would provide a significant boost in performance compared to both Phone 2 and Phone 2a. It features a Cortex-X4 core clocked at 3GHz, three performance cores reaching up to 2.8GHz, and four efficiency cores at 2GHz. This will place the chip between the 8 Gen 2 and 8 Gen 3 in terms of performance.
If the rumor is true then Nothing won’t be the only one taking advantage of the new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip as Honor and Xiaomi will also be using it in some upcoming phones that are yet to be announced.
The insider sources also claim that the phone will be released around July and will cost around 40,000 Rupees, which is approximately £380 / $479 / AU$737. This seems unlikely as it would put the proposed Nothing Phone 3’s price very close to the Nothing Phone 2a, which was $349 / £319 /AU$675, and make it cheaper than the Nothing Phone 2’s release price of $599 / £579 / AU$1,049.
This all coincides with Nothing posting a teaser for an unidentified product showing a frog jumping over a Beatle and promising “a big leap.” Another post clarifies slightly by saying “Want to hear more? Don’t miss our next Community Update,” which will be 18 April 2024.
This could refer to a new phone, but it’s more likely it could point to another audio product like the Nothing Ear 2 earbuds or headphones.
Get the hottest deals available in your inbox plus news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more from the TechRadar team.
