If you're looking for a coffee maker that will make preparing a delicious brew as simple as possible, you're in the right place. I test over a dozen coffee makers each year here at TechRadar, and here I've put together the three I think are the most beginner-friendly, and accessibly priced too.

There are scores of sophisticated bean-to-cup machines around that will brew complex coffee drinks at the tap of a button, but they require a lot of cleaning and are usually very expensive. All the options here are simple to maintain and affordable, making them a better choice overall if you're new to brewing.

Here I've picked three different machines for different brewing styles: a drip coffee maker for brewing a large pot of coffee with minimal hassle, a simple bean-to-cup espresso machine that requires minimal maintenance, and an easy-to-use capsule coffee maker that eliminates the need to handle beans or grounds entirely.

Breville Luxe Brewer Thermal

Brewing a batch of drip coffee is, fundamentally, a very straightforward process — you just pour hot water onto ground coffee and let it drip into a carafe — and the Luxe Brewer Thermal keeps things simple while providing a handful of genuinely useful customization options.

In my tests, the default settings worked well, but if you don't get just the right flavor from your beans, you can tweak the bloom time (how long the coffee is pre-infused with hot water), bloom temperature, brew time, and brew temperature to fine-tune the extraction.

The machine can also prepare a batch of cold-brewed coffee. Load it up with ground coffee (the Luxe Brewer Thermal comes with a handy guide to help you measure out the optimal amount), add water to the line on the tank, remove the carafe lid so it doesn't begin to drip, and press the button to start. Your coffee will be steeped cold for 24 hours, and the machine will beep to alert you when it's ready.

Read our full Breville Luxe Brewer Thermal review

Philips Baristina

This is the smallest and cheapest bean-to-cup coffee maker I've ever tested, and it's so easy to use, it's ideal for beginners and a great option for anyone thinking of making the switch from coffee capsules.

Just load your beans in the top, fill the water tank, push in the empty portafilter handle, and slide it to the right. The Baristina will grind the perfect dose of coffee into the basket, tamp it down, then slide the whole handle to the left and pull the shot for you.

It's a piece of cake, and much easier to clean than a typical automatic espresso machine because there's no moisture or debris building up inside an enclosed case. The only drawback is that it can't steam milk (unless you pick up a bundle with the standalone milk frother), but Philips has just launched an updated version — the Baristina Latte — that solves that particular issue. I'm very much looking forward to testing it

Read our full Philips Baristina review

Bosch Tassimo Finesse Friendly

Friendly by name, friendly by nature — unlike most coffee pod machines, the Finesse Friendly can create rich foam using pods of long-life milk for lattes and cappuccinos in an instant.

You can get plain milk for regular cappuccinos and lattes, or capsules of flavored milk designed to pair with a particular coffee capsule (like cinnamon roll latte, for example). I'm not usually a great fan of flavored coffee capsules, but Tassimo pods are genuinely tasty, and not overwhelmingly sweet.

The Finesse Friendly is cheap too, and is often discounted to £49.99 (about $70 / AU$90). The downside is that the capsules can be quite expensive, particularly for drinks that require two pods (one for coffee and one for milk). It still works out cheaper than an elaborate takeout habit, but bear in mind that this machine isn't currently available outside Europe unless imported.

Read our full Bosch Tassimo Finesse Friendly review

• The Philips Screen Sync is available in the UK and Europe in two sizes
• Unlike the Philips Hue version, it uses the Wiz Wi-Fi platform and app
• Prices start at £79.99 (about $110 / AU$150)

The Philips Hue Play Screen Sync, which launched last month, is a more affordable way to synchronize your smart lights with your TV than using a Hue Play HDMI Sync Box. However, before you grab one, you should know that it now has an even more affordable rival — and, perhaps confusingly, that rival also comes from Philips.

The new system isn't Hue, however. It's branded as Philips Smart Lighting, and the Philips Smart Lighting Screen Sync with Lightstrip runs on the WiZ platform and app over your home's Wi-Fi network.

The big draw here is the price. There are two sizes, with the smallest coming in at £79.99 (about $110 / AU$150), making it significantly cheaper than the Hue Screen Sync — which also requires you to buy a separate light strip. Here, the light strip is part of the package.

If you're looking for a syncing solution for an existing Hue setup, this isn't for you. But if you want a Hue-esque sync system for not very much money, it's definitely worth a look.

Is the Philips Smart Lighting Screen Sync with Strip Light a bargain?

It certainly looks like one, as it's more affordable than any of the Hue options or the TV strips and AI sync box by Govee.

As with the Hue Screen Sync system, the core of the setup is a camera. It's a fisheye lens to capture the entire screen, and once you calibrate it in the accompanying app it then syncs the on-screen colors on its four-sided RBGIC strip mounted behind your TV. There's also a built-in mic so you can sync the lights with music if you wish.

Other than the price, the big benefit here is simplicity: stick it on your TV, use the calibration tool, and you're ready to enjoy a more immersive viewing experience, even if you're not using an HDMI source. Whether it's a native streaming app, a PS5, or an Apple TV 4K, if it's on the screen it's extended to your wall.

There are two models of Screen Sync with Strip Light, and the only difference between them is the size of the strip. The smaller one is made for 40- to 50-inch TVs and costs £79.99 (about $110 / AU$150), and the larger one is for 55- to 65-inch TVs and costs £99.99 (about $140 / AU$190).

Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro: two-minute review

In August 2026, Tineco launched its most advanced floor washer to date — the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet and Dry Vacuum. With a suction power of up to 25,000 Pa, it’s one of the most powerful wet-dry vacuums on the market, picking up fine materials like flour in a single pass and large materials like 8-12 leaves in less than a minute. With the lie flat design, you can reach further under furniture. Side edge cleaning doesn’t get better than this. You can clean along the front of the vacuum up to about one-half to one-eighth of an inch. With a battery that lasts 65-75 minutes on Auto mode and up to 100 minutes on Quiet mode, you can clean most houses in a single go.

Thanks to four cleaning modes, including a dirt detect mode, the Tineco Floor ONE Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet and Dry Vacuum soared through our various cleaning tests from dry debris to wet messes and stubborn stains. A HydroBurst sprayer that can spray solution on tough stains is a great addition, but kind of unnecessary since the mopping power is exceptionally good. Not only does the wet-dry vacuum use hot water to clean (and continuously washes the brushroll as it mops), but the brushroll presses against the floor for a deeper clean and utilizes a streak-free scraper when the wet-dry vacuum goes in reverse. This helps to remove tough messes and prevent streaks or water stains.

The most notable upgrade, however, is the Smart Refresh Station. Tineco clearly took inspiration from robot vacuum bases and created a base that automatically refills the wet-dry vacuum with cleaning solution and clean water from a 5-liter water tank. This reduces the maintenance required, which is already impressive considering the base uses hot water and hot air to clean the brushroll. Maybe soon enough Tineco will surprise us with a base that removes dirty water and debris too.

Perhaps the biggest drawback to this wet-dry vacuum is the price. It’s one of the highest on the market. If you’re willing to do a little more maintenance, the Tineco Floor One S9 Artist Pro cleans just as well. Still, I can’t deny that the Floor ONE Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet and Dry Vacuum might do better with larger debris and is a great investment for those with larger homes who want to clean their space on a single charge.

Keep reading for my full review of the Tineco Floor ONE Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet and Dry Vacuum and see why it’s currently my favorite on the market.

Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro: price and availability

• List price: $1,199 (about £880 / AU$1,660)
• Launch date: August 2026
• Availability: US

The Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum launched in the US in August 2026 at a list price of $1,199 (about £880 / AU$1,660), making it Tineco’s most expensive wet-dry vacuum and a premium-priced wet-dry vacuum on the wider market. It’s sold through Tineco, as well as third-party retailers like Amazon and Walmart.

The price is not surprising, considering it may be the first wet-dry vacuum to offer a base station that auto refills the unit with water and solution. I’ve been testing wet-dry vacuums for years, and though this isn’t new technology (in that we see it utilized with wet-dry robot vacuums), it is new for wet-dry vacuum bases. Add in the exceptional battery life, solution sprayer, and streak-free scraper technology, and this price makes sense.

Perhaps during the holidays, the Tineco Floor ONE Station S9 Scientist Pro will be discounted. For now, you could go with the equally exceptional Tineco Floor One S9 Artist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum if you’re willing to refill the water tank by hand. It’s usually $849, but it’s discounted to $599, and I can say firsthand that it has a similar cleaning prowess as the S9 Scientist Pro.

• Value score: 4 out of 5

Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro: specs

Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro: design

• 180-degree lie-flat design for hard-to-reach places
• Four cleaning modes and a solution sprayer for tough stains
• Self-cleaning and clean water auto-refilling base

It took minutes to put the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum together. All I had to do was remove it from the packaging, slot the handle into the unit, and put it to charge on the base. A bottle of cleaning solution, extra brushroll, and a cleaning brush were provided in the packaging.

The first few things I noticed about the design were the thickness of the vacuum head and the sleek rectangular box design of the body. It looks almost robotic-like, and as I delved further into the design, it makes a lot more sense why the vacuum looks the way it does.

The Tineco Floor ONE Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum is 30lbs, so it’s not lightweight, but thanks to a self-propel system, it doesn’t feel heavy. I liked that vacuum head and the body are flexible and twist and turn easily. The wet-dry vacuum can also lie 180-degree flat making it easy to reach under beds and sofas to clean. This is possible because the dirty water tank is on the back of the vacuum body and the clean water tank is on the top of the vacuum head — hence why the vacuum head is so bulky.

A streak-free scraper under the vacuum head lifts when you push the vacuum forward and drops when you pull it backwards, so that it can scrape excess water and tough stains. This results in a completely clean floor free of water stains and streaks. A white headlight helps to illuminate dark spaces, while a comb and scraper near the brushroll prevents the tangling of hair and other debris.

A small LED screen is placed on the handle with three buttons. The power button turns the unit on and off, while the change mode button lets you move between the four cleaning modes — Auto, Max, Quiet, and Suction. The mode in use and battery life appear on the LED screen. A HydroBurst button causes cleaning solution to spray from the front of the vacuum head onto tough stains.

Tineco has done something a bit different with the Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum in terms of the Auto Mode (or the dirt detect system). When using Auto Mode, a light blue digital ring on the front of the unit’s body appears. Parts of the ring turn red to notify you how dirty the floor is. The more red the ring is, the dirtier the floor.

While this digital display is intuitive, there are seven status displays in total that appear on the front of the vacuum’s body and not all of them are easy to remember. The seven displays are Dirt Level, Battery, HydroBurst, Self-Cleaning, Drying Mode, Malfunction, and Water Filling Indicators. Each one has a different shape and a different color indicator. This is probably the biggest design drawback for me, as I think Tineco could’ve displayed such indicators in an easier-to-understand method. With the voice commands, you’ll understand what each indicator means, but if you turn off the voice commands, you might find yourself slightly confused.

There is also a self-cleaning button on the top of the handle. It’s to be pressed when the wet-dry vacuum is on the base. Three buttons appear on top of the vacuum body when it’s on the base. The 'Hot Water Refill' button refills the wet-dry vacuum with hot water, while the 'Silent' button results in a longer brushroll drying period. The brushroll dries in five minutes if you press the 'Flash' button.

The base may be large, but consider this: it charges the wet-dry vacuum, self-cleans it with hot water and air, and auto refills the wet-dry vacuum’s clean water tank with water and cleaning solution. At the back of the base there is a cleaning solution compartment that can hold an entire bottle of Tineco cleaning solution. A 5-liter tank of clean water is then placed on top the cleaning solution compartment, so that when the wet-dry vacuum is on the base, the base can move hot water into the wet-dry vacuum hands-free.

While the design outshines other wet-dry vacuums on the market, I see some room for slight improvements in the future.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro: performance

• Phenomenal cleaning capabilities with great edge cleaning
• Does a outstanding job suctioning liquids and large debris like leaves
• Front edge cleaning varies between ½ and 1/8th of an inch from the wall

From the get-go, I really liked how the handle of the the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum twisted and turned so easily. This especially helped when I laid the wet-dry vacuum flat to clean under my bed. I was able to reach around the legs of my bedframe easily.

The dirt detection system was fantastic, recognizing even the smallest amounts of dust. My home is very dusty because it’s historic, and I was glad to see that the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum suctioned up the dust rather than spreading it about or pushing it back into the air. The headlight illuminated dust and debris in dark spaces, though I would’ve preferred a green rather than a white headlight as green lights make dust and debris more visible. At least, I could trust the Auto Mode to 'see' hidden stains or dirt that I couldn’t see under the white headlight or with the naked eye.

The suctioning capabilities of the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum are beyond impressive, which isn’t surprising considering it has a suction power of 25,000 Pa. (Trust me, that’s massive.) I used the wet-dry vacuum to pick up a lot of dried leaves that had fallen around one of my plants. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wet-dry vacuum accomplish such a task in such a short time. Most struggle to suction one or two leaves, much less 10. Even the reverse cleaning was better than most wet-dry vacuums.

One of the first things I tested was the edge cleaning. There was no space between the wall and the side edge of the vacuum head. However, I noticed that there was about half an inch along the front edge of the vacuum head and the wall. That was a bit disappointing, until I realized that with certain things, like my really tall thresholds, the space shortened to about 1/8th of an inch. After some experimenting, I realized that if I approached the wall slowly with the front of the vacuum head, the front edge cleaning improved and I could clean closer to objects or walls.

Because the wet-dry vacuum’s head is so bulky, I couldn’t reach under cabinet overhangs. This has been my biggest gripe with wet-dry vacuums since they started putting the clean water tank on the top of the vacuum head because it means I have to go back through the house with a vacuum to clean those spaces.

The clean water tank lasted about 30 minutes (which is quite long), while the dirty water tank had to be emptied at about 40 minutes. These results are well above average.

While most people may use a robot vacuum or vacuum to clean daily, the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum is a really great wet-dry vacuum to have on hand for weekly deep home cleanings and stubborn stains.

Cleaning tests

I ran several cleaning tests to see how well the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum Cleaner cleans on Auto mode and was impressed with the results. I sprinkled flour, coffee, and crunchy oats on my laminate flooring, and spilled a variety of liquids like water, soy sauce, and barbeque sauce. I also place an egg on the ground and sprayed some chocolate sauce and siracha sauce and let them both dry slightly.

The Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum Cleaner picked up all the fine and large materials in a single pass, though some flour got stuck on the wheels when I reversed over the flour. The Suction mode did a fantastic job suctioning up the water. I used the Auto mode for the barbecue and soy sauces just to ensure the floor wasn’t sticky afterwards. It cleaned both sauces in a single go without any remaining residue.

While the wet-dry vacuum picked up the slightly dry siracha sauce in a single pass, it took about four passes to pick up the driest and thickest parts of chocolate sauce on auto mode. The thinner areas of the chocolate sauce only took a single pass.

I test a lot of wet-dry vacuums throughout the year, and Tineco consistently beats every other brand in cleaning capabilities. The Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum Cleaner didn’t disappoint, and proves that this wet-dry vacuum cleans the most consistently and effectively (and with less effort!) compared to others on the market.

Maintenance

The Tineco Floor One Station Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum stands out among all wet-dry vacuums because of its base which is outfitted with a 5-liter water tank and a solution bay (that can hold a single solution bottle). The base automatically refills the wet-dry vacuum’s clean water tank in less than 30 seconds – and it’s pretty amazing to watch.

After each cleaning session, I placed the wet-dry vacuum on the base and ran the self-cleaning system which uses hot water to clean the brushroll. This hot water process is quite effective as the brushroll comes out super clean. I only found a very small amount of dust under the vacuum head when I removed the brushroll — far less than I have found with other wet-dry vacuums that I’ve tested.

The base dries the brushroll and filter with hot air that’s 230 degrees Fahrenheit. Flash dry takes five minutes to dry the brushroll, while silent dry results in a quiet (40 dB sound rating) drying process. I wish I could say that the brushroll was completely dry when using either of these settings, but there was a very slight amount of dampness. On the flash dry setting, the brushroll was 95% dry, while the silent dry mode made the brushroll about 98% dry.

The only thing the base can’t do is empty the dirty water tank – so you have to do it by hand. A brush is provided by Tineco to remove debris. The debris catcher design could be better, but it catches a decent amount.

• Performance score: 4 out of 5

Tineco Floor ONE Station S9 Scientist Pro: battery life

The battery life of the Tineco Floor One Station Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum is more than adequate for most homes. I was able to clean my 1,600-square-foot home in 30 minutes on Auto mode, and still have 50% of the battery life left.

Overall, the battery lasted between 65-73 minutes on Auto mode, which is in-line with Tineco’s predictions that the battery, on Auto mode, can last up to 75 minutes. Remember on Auto mode, the vacuum automatically increases the suction and cleaning power depending on how dirty the floors are. It could use more power and thus more battery life if your floors are especially dirty.

Battery score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro?

Buy it if

Don't buy it if

How I tested the Tineco Floor One Station S9 Scientist Pro

Testing the Tineco Floor One Station Scientist Pro Wet Dry Vacuum occurred over multiple weeks during a Texas summer in my 106-year-old house that produces a lot of dust and has multiple high traffic areas with dirt and debris.

My 1,600-square-foot house is a mix of laminate and historic hardwood flooring, making it a great testing space. I ran a variety of cleaning tests with various liquids, barbeque sauce, eggs, flour, coffee, and dried chocolate sauce, making sure to utilize different cleaning modes and taking notes on things like edge cleaning, battery life, and maintenance requirements. For more details, see how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.

First reviewed September 2026

Cosori may be better know for making some of the best air fryers we've tested over the years here at TechRadar, but now its engineers have taken on a new challenge: pour-over coffee. Getting a perfectly-extracted pour-over coffee calls for just as much skill and care as espresso, and the new Cosori Juni aims to replicate that technique mechanically with a system that mimics the movements of a trained barista within the brewer.

Unlike most drip coffee makers, which shower water over the basket of ground coffee in an attempt to achieve an even extraction, the Juni uses a rotating basket and an extendable nozzle to recreate the movement and speed of a barista wielding a goose-neck kettle.

According to Cosori, this mechanical process creates a 360-degree spiral flow that evenly saturates the coffee grounds while avoiding creating channels that would cause uneven extraction. Better yet, the process is consistent and repeatable, so once you've found the ideal brew settings for your preferred beans, you can be sure you'll get exactly the same flavor profile every time.

"The physics weren't the difficult part," says Pierce Barnard, Head of Product Innovation at Cosori. "The real work was understanding the human element: spending 18 months studying and mapping how skilled baristas move across the coffee bed and translating that motion into a system that can deliver the same result, every single morning."

The Cosori Juni can handle as much or as little of the brewing process as you like, whether you want to keep things simple of refine the brewing technique and temperature to suit your chosen coffee. The Juni can even use AI to help you pick the optimal settings, and warn you if you've not picked the ideal brewing profile. Just scan your bag of coffee beans, and the machine will generate a brewing profile based on the bean type and your chosen cup-size, then invite you to tinker with factors like agitation, temperature flow rate, and pause time.

It's not yet clear whether the Juni will only be able to scan a particular brand of coffee, as is the case with the Lavazza Assoluta espresso machine I tested earlier this year, which can only adapt its brew settings to Lavazza's own beans.

Alternatively, manual mode lets you take control yourself, though if you want a little guidance then the machine's AI can still warn you if any of the settings you've picked are likely to result in an under- or over-extracted drink. For simplicity, there are also one-touch presets for different coffees and roasts.

If you don't like the idea of such tinkering first thing in the morning, don't worry. Like most of the best drip coffee makers I've tested, the Juni has a timer, but Cosori has gone one step further by letting you set different times for each day of the week, and even allows you to set a reminder to prepare the machine the night before.

Despite its complexity, the Cosori Juni costs a reasonable $299.99 (about £220 / AU$430), which is significantly less than the similarly technical Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker, which has a list price of $365 / £365 (about AU$580). I'm hoping to put it to the test soon, to see how the two advanced brewers compare.

• The iRobot Roomba Duo is a robot vacuum concept
• One chunky, powerful mopping and vacuuming robot...
• ... with a regular, small robovac docked in its hat, for detail work

When it comes to robot vacuums, size matters. Robovac makers need their bots to be powerful, but also small enough to get into tight spots. The two things are often incompatible.

iRobot has come up with an imaginative solution. The iRobot Roomba Duo is a two-in-one bot in the truest sense. In its full form, it's a big, chunky floor cleaner, with a bulky body is large enough to contain everything you need for serious cleaning oomph. Then, in the upper part hides a regular robot vacuum that's compact enough to take care of detail work.

I spoke to Adam Pope, Chief Engineer & Vice President of Product Planning & Development at iRobot, to get some more insight into the unusual creation.

"The large base robot is really for heavy-duty cleaning," he tells me. "It's big enough to be able to have lots of water inside, and it can also have stronger vacuum. It's designed for heavy-duty cleaning and more open spaces and high-traffic areas in your home. You get that heavy-duty clean that you might use a stick vac or a wet-dry vac on today."

He explains that on top of all that, the base also deploys the companion bot — which is similar to the Roomba Plus 575 robot. That smaller robovac will clean under furniture, around chair legs, in corners and essentially "all those other spaces that the larger robot can't get to".

"They work together," he adds. "They each have their own job, and they kind of split the job up and go do those activities."

I saw a demo of the iRobot Roomba Duo in action at IFA 2026. The dock was lifted off the top of its cleaner base — like someone taking their hat off — and lowered gently to the ground, where the smaller robot vacuum exited. This then went on to successfully complete an obstacle course that looked far too tight for it to navigate, before returning to its hutch, to be lifted back to its charging home on top of the base bot.

Unfortunately, for those who like the sound of this, the iRobot Duo isn't going on sale quite yet. "It's a cool little innovation concept we're just showing here at IFA to see how the market reacts to it and if there's interest in that type of product," Pope tells me.

I suggest it's quite difficult to stand out in the robot vacuum market these days, given the speed at which brands are releasing new models. "There's a lot of spec war in that category," he responds. "Not as much innovation as we'd like to see. So this was our way of trying to get something different, something new. But it still does the job — the job that customers actually need."

• The Aqua20 Pro Ultra Roller X Complete is Dreame's new flagship robovac
• World's first robovac to use heated steam at 180°C as part of its mop system
• Can also clear double-step thresholds up to an impressive 3.9in / 10cm

When I spoke to a load of major robot vacuum brand execs about where they thought robovacs were heading in the next five-to-10 years, a common theme cropped up: the desire to close the performance gap between manual and robotic floor cleaners. That's not just the vacuuming power, but the mopping prowess too.

And so, at IFA 2026, we have the world's first robot vacuum with steam cleaning powers: the Dreame Aqua20 Pro Ultra Roller X Complete. It's an exciting prospect, but based on the demo I saw, I'm not sure I'd be throwing out my manual steam cleaner any time soon.

The Aqua20 Pro Ultra (I'm not typing the full name each time) vaporizes water into 356°F / 180°C steam, which is pushed out through four outlets along the roller edge. This steam is designed to loosen tough, dried-on stains. The roller then gently scrubs them away, using hot water.

On the demo I saw, the steam function seemed quite gentle — there wasn't enough to be visible on a still photo, although you can see it in the video clip above. My first concern about the system is that there might not be enough steam to really make an impact.

The second is that because the heating happens inside the bot itself, using it has a big impact on battery life. I spoke to Dawn Chen, a Director at Dreame, and he confirmed that with the steam function on, the robot's runtime is around 30 to 40 minutes, compared to around four hours with it off. Steam needs to be switched on and off manually, in the app, and can only be used for a zone that's less than 10 square meters in size. Chen explained that the function is meant for spot-cleaning only; to tackle stubborn and dried on stains.

That runtime is fairly limiting. It makes it difficult to use the steam function as part of a more extensive cleaning session, which is a situation I expect will be common.

Making it work

The process of adding the steam function caused Dreame a few headaches. "During this R&D process, we faced two main problems. The first is about the limescale. Because we are turning the water into steam, this process will produce a lot of limescale," Chen explained. "To solve this problem, we added some limescale remover inside the robot, in the pipeline."

The second — and perhaps bigger — challenge was to do with controlling the temperature inside robot itself. "Because we put this kind of heat inside the robot body, the heat it produces will affect other components, especially the electronic components inside the robot body," Chen told me.

To address the issue, the engineers had to add internal insulation to protect the different components. And that was easier said than done — Dreame had to completely redesign the inside of the robovac to add the steam components, and insulation, while still maintaining the streamlined shape and size.

All the talk of limescale and preventing damage to internal components instills a certain amount of fear in me. I can't help but wonder if iRobot might have had the better approach — that brand's new Roomba Max 875 expels warm mist rather than steam, and the active heating happens in-dock rather than on-bot.

The demo showed a much denser cloud of mist than Dreame's bot was expelling, and because the Rooma bot itself isn't doing any active heating, using the mist function has a minimal impact on battery life. Of course, the really important thing is how effectively each robot cleans, and we won't know that until we've had a chance to test them.

Other upgrades

Back to the Aqua20 Pro. Aside from the headline steam feature, you'll also find an upgraded 'Proleap' system that can now bump the bot over single steps up to 2in / 5cm, or double steps up to 3.9in / 10cm. That's the tallest threshold clearance I've seen from any brand (so far) although in the demo it sometimes took a couple of run-ups to make it over.

Dreame has also added enhanced AI vision with adaptive learning — so the robovac can apparently react to moving objects and re-plan its route, in real time, in response.

The roller can kick out from the side of the robovac by up to 8cm / 3in — much further than its predecessor, the Aqua10 Ultra Roller Complete — to get nice and close to the edges of rooms. To avoid unwanted dampness while all this is going on, the main vacuum roller and side sweeper can both lift (by 5mm and 10mm respectively) while the mopping is happening. The roller can also lift 15mm when the bot is traversing carpet.

The Dreame Aqua20 Pro Ultra Roller X Complete is due to launch on September 21 in Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland, followed by a number of other European countries. I don't have a launch date for the UK yet, but Chen promises it'll arrive before the end of the year. Due to FCC regulations, launch in the US is unconfirmed.

• iRobot has unveiled its new flagship Roomba Max 875 Combo
• It sprays out heated mist to dislodge dried dirt from hard floors
• There's a seal around the vacuum to maximize pickup power

iRobot has revealed its latest flagship robot vacuum, and I've just seen it in action at IFA 2026. The Roomba Max 875 Combo is a combination robovac-and-mop, and boasts some intriguing features on both of those floorcare prongs.

One that caught my attention in particular is the mopping setup. Robot vacuum mopping has historically been rather underwhelming, but the latest models are showing some significant improvements. iRobot's Roomba Max 875 Combo's USP is its 'ThermaMist' function. I got the low-down from Adam Pope, Chief Engineer & Vice President of Product Planning & Development at iRobot.

"The ThermaMist is a pretty interesting technology," he tells me. "It's an ultrasonic warm mist, meant to pre-treat stains. So it'll detect stains and pre-treat them before it mops. The customer can also activate it in a certain area if they want to just do that whole area.

"The heat gives you a little better power to break up some of the oily or sugary stains that might be sticky. So that's the reason that we have the heat in there, really, try to help break those up."

Unlike on Dreame's new mist-expelling robovac, which heats the water on the robot itself, here the heating happens in the dock. From an engineering perspective, what's interesting is that the on-bot process of creating ultrasonic mist also naturally generates warmth.

"The dock can put hot water in the robot, but the actual ultrasonic ThermaMist part of that process, it does actually heat the water as it's coming out," explains Pope. "When [the water] goes through that process, it comes out warm, even if there's room temperature water in the robot."

The fact there's no active heater on the robot itself is good news for battery life. "With the ThermaMist on, it's going to have a small impact on the battery life, but not a large one, because the process of heating is part of the ultrasonic component," Pope confirms. "It's not like there's a special heater that you're running all the time."

Unfortunately, iRobot wasn't demoing the ThermaMist feature when I visited the booth. However, based on the video (above) I was sent over later, it looks promising — there's a good amount of mist created, and it's being delivered evenly. In theory it sounds like a truly interesting innovation, and one that has plenty of potential to deliver strong mopping results.

iRobot has also extended the mop, which is larger in diameter and spins faster than its predecessors, for extra scrubbing power. It can kick out to one side to get close to the edges of rooms, and there's a shield that will slide under the roller as extra protection against unwanted sogginess when the bot is moving over carpet.

Sealing the deal

There's interesting innovation on the vacuuming front too. iRobot has added a 'SealForce' system, which is essentially a kind of skirt around the suction inlet on the Max 875 Combo, which lowers to form a loose seal against the carpet fibers.

"The SealForce brings a component of the cleaning head down to the floor, so you get all that airflow going right through the deep fibers of the carpet, trying to pull everything deeply out of the carpet, or even out of crevices, grout lines, that sort of thing," says Pope. "It's really kind of applying the suction where you need it most."

In the demo, the 'SealForce' seal wasn't as dramatic as I had been expecting. You can see the moving frame around the suction inlet below, and in the right-hand photo it's about as extended as it gets. That small shift could be enough to make a big difference to the suction, through — we'll need to test it out to find out.

iRobot is traditionally shy about publishing its suction specs, but here it has done: the Roomba Max 875 Combo offers 35,000Pa, which is right up there with the highest numbers you'll find anywhere. I'm increasingly of the opinion that it doesn't really matter anyway. The suction is only as effective as the wider design you put it into — and if it works as intended, this seal could make a big difference to the Max 875's pickup power.

Saving grace

The past few years have been a rocky time for once-supreme robot vacuum brand iRobot. Its bots have fallen behind the pack when it comes to features, so it's exciting to see the company starting to find its footing again when it comes to innovation.

The iRobot Roomba Max 875 Combo is on sale now in the UK, priced at £1,099. (equivalent to about $1,490 / AU$2,060). iRobot has a presence in Australia, but I don't yet have launch details for the 875 Combo there.

What about the US? Due to the new FCC ban on foreign-made "advanced" robots, the Max 875's launch is on pause for now. iRobot was founded in the US, but at the start of the year it was taken over by Chinese manufacturing company Picea. However, this takeover isn't to blame for the fact the brand can't now sell its new products in the US; the ban refers to where the product is manufactured, and Roomba bots have long been made outside of the US.

In terms of future plans, Pope has this to say: "We're working through with our advisors on how we continue to sell in the US. So we have multiple plans that we're working through and multiple strategies that will come to fruition, and we'll still be able to bring cool technology to the US as well."

• IKEA has launched a new wireless driver for its integrated LED lights
• Called Dubbelkisel, it connects your lights to IKEA's Bilresa hub
• It's Matter-enabled so you can integrate it into a wider smart home setup

If you have IKEA integrated lights in your cabinets or wardrobe, there's good news — the company has just launched a new driver that lets you control them wirelessly, with Matter compatibility, so you can integrate them into the rest of your smart home.

The new driver, called Dubbelkisel, is a successor to the Trådfri driver, which allowed you to control your integrated lights via a small remote control using the Zigbee protocol. The new driver is different; instead of linking directly to a remote, it connects to IKEA's Dirigera hub, which means you can operate your cabinet lights with any of IKEA's smart switches — or even non-IKEA devices as part of wider Matter setup.

As Notebookcheck reports, news of the Dubbelkisel leaked earlier this year, when the driver appeared in a database of Thread devices, but this is the first time we've seen it on sale.

Some users on Reddit managed to get their hands on the device early, and report that it generally performs well, though the older Trådfri has some advantages.

"No problems so far," wrote one poster on r/tradfri. "It’s paired via a gateway, so there’s a noticeable delay when turning on the light. The previous Trådfri power supply was connected directly to the remote and worked instantly. Also I preferred the old, small Trådfri remote over the current Bilresa model."

The new driver is currently available in a selection of European countries, and is expected to roll out more widely within the coming weeks. It's priced at €18, which is approximately $20 / £15 / AU$30.

• Dyson has launched an updated version of its 2020 Corrale straightener
• The Corrale CoolShine has a clever heat-removing attachment
• The brand has also unveiled a hot brush called the Airsmooth

In recent years, Dyson's hair gadget efforts seem have been mostly focused on its Airwrap styler and Supersonic hair dryer lines. So when I was invited to a showcase of the brand's new launches, I was expecting, perhaps, some cool new attachments or an upgraded Supersonic. I was equal parts surprised and pleased to see something altogether more novel.

There's a brand new tool — which I'll get into in a minute — as well as a surprise second-gen version of the Corrale straightener, called the Corrale CoolShine. If that name isn't ringing any bells, I don't blame you. The original Dyson Coralle came out in 2020 and never quite managed to set the haircare world alight.

I tried a Corrale out at the time and although I didn't hate it, it didn't make it into my regular styling routine. So I was especially pleased to see that the surprise second gen has tweaked or removed my least-liked features, and added some more that I'm genuinely excited to use.

One key feature of the original was that it was cordless. That's all well and good, but the knock-on effect was that it was also really very heavy and chunky. The Corrale CoolShine is not cordless, and as a result it can be nice and streamlined and lightweight. I'm very happy with this about-turn; the new, compact shape is much more comfortable to hold, and easier to direct precisely.

What a flex

The flexible plates from the first-gen version are still present here. They have to be, really — these are what 'corrale' the strands of hair, applying gentle pressure to, theoretically, allow for effective straightening at lower temperatures.

However, they've been downsized in line with the general shrinking of the straightener, and are slimmer in width. In their new format, they look much less likely to snag on strands of hair, as the previous version could sometimes do.

That's the 'Corrale' covered, but where does the 'CoolShine' come in? This refers to a unique-to-the-market cooling attachment. It comes in the form of a pair of frames that slide over each of the hot plates, and clip in place. They feature a heat-extracting copper pipe that contains water and is designed to help remove residual heat from hair.

So the central plate gets hot as usual, and then the bars either side of the plate pull the heat away immediately, helping you avoid heat damage. Dyson promises "hair that is cooler to the touch during and after styling, with a smoother, softer feel".

When it was initially announced, it sounded like kind of cold plumbing system, but speaking to a Dyson representative at the product showcase, I learned the system is subtler and more complex.

The tube has just a 'bead' of water in it — if you're envisaging cold water running through it, that's not the case — and it will absorb some of the heat of the plates as you style, so don't expect those bars to remain cold as you style. I'd be very interested to try it out for myself to see how much of a difference these plates make in practice.

There was a Dyson Corrale CoolShine being demoed at the event, and I was very impressed at how it managed to take the model's coily hair to perfectly smooth with an incredible glassy finish — but the kicker is that the stylist (and Dyson rep) wasn't using the CoolShine attachment.

The representative explained to me that the frame is removable to allow for precision styling, as well as in instances where you need to get right up to the root. Both were required here.

A final welcome touch is that Dyson has added universal voltage, so you'll be able to take the tool away with you when you travel abroad.

Full of hot air

The other new gadget is the Dyson Airsmooth brush dryer. This is a fairly traditional hot brush, for creating bouncy blowouts, but — of course — there's a bit of a Dyson twist.

The engineers have added two different types of bristles: some with loops at the top, and some with open bases. The former are engineered so they provide the right amount of tension for a smooth finish, without snagging on a range of different hair types. The latter are meant to diffuse and control the airflow for less turbulence and less frizz.

Dyson has given the Airsmooth a teardrop profile, to enable you to get closer to the root. I've seen this before, on the Shark Glam, and it works well there. There's also intelligent heat control keeping temperatures stable, and again, there's universal voltage — good news for your holiday hair.

The Dyson Corrale CoolShine straightener will have a list price of $329 / £TBC / AU$499. The Airsmooth dryer brush will cost $249 / £199.99 / AU$399 at sticker price.

The Airsmooth dryer brush goes on sale from Dyson US and Dyson UK today (September 8) in the US, with the Corrale CoolShine joining it on September 15.

At Dyson Australia, the hot brush is already on sale (launched September 4) and the straightener will arrive in November.

Can AI-driven NAS tech be sentimental? UGreen CEO Samuel Zhang seems to think so.

Launching the company’s new smart-home technology suite, he started by recounting a personal story. It was a hot summer’s day, and his family gathered in the backyard for a barbecue. They cooked together, chatted, played, and just had a genuinely fantastic time. But weeks later, when Zhang went to check his photo gallery and relive that cherished day, he was left feeling disappointed. The family hadn't taken any photos.

This, he said, got him thinking about home cameras — devices that are typically used for security. But, Zhang said, “it [a home camera] should see more than just danger — it should also be able to witness the joys of everyday family life”. And this, he said, was one of the key points of inspiration for UGreen’s new suite of local smart-home AI technology.

I got the chance to hear about, and see, UGreen’s home hubs, cameras, digital photo frames and more at IFA 2026 in Berlin. Here’s what I learned — and how the technology could transform the smart home.

Keeping it local

At the heart of UGreen’s smart-home suite is the new HomeAgent. This is an ‘agentic AI local hub' that brings local storage, computing, and control all together in a single device. Through this hub, users can connect up a range of UGreen AIoT devices, such as cameras, smart speakers, and digital photo frames, plus some select third-party products.

A crucial part of the HomeAgent’s appeal is its reliance on local storage and computing. This means that any data that runs through your hub — be that photos, videos, voice inputs, or other files — is processed locally, rather than through a corporate cloud server.

At a time when trust in large corporations is strikingly low, and major data breaches seem all too common, this could be a massive selling point for security-savvy customers. Keeping data local also removes the need for costly Cloud subscriptions, making the initial investment feel that bit more worthwhile.

There are three HomeAgent models scheduled for release. The first is the UGreen HomeAgent HA100, which is the most basic option. It provides all of the core functions you’d need from the hub, but offers slightly less processing power, memory, and storage, among other things, than its siblings. The HA100 Pro is the step-up model, which offers heightened performance, with 205 TOPS (as opposed to the standard HA100’s 26 TOPS), a 10GbE LAN port (compared to the HA100’s 2.5GbE), and a more advanced CPU.

The final boss, if you will, of the HomeAgent trio is the MA100. This is powered by the NVIDIA Jetson Thor T5000, and offers far superior AI performance to the other two models, and considerably more memory and storage.

However, this is certainly reflected in the price, with the MA100 commanding a list price of $19,999, compared to the HA100 Pro, which costs $5,999 and the HA100 at $1,799. Early bird offers are available, which make the HomeAgents about half-price across the board. Shipping is set to commence in early 2027.

AIoT in action

So what does UGreen’s smart home AIoT tech look like in person? Well, pretty impressive.

I was able to check out a demo, and take a closer look at all of the HomeAgent products, and other devices you can connect up to it. UGreen had a HomeAgent connected to a smart speaker, and a camera, among other things.

I tried walking towards a door, and a UGreen smart security camera started blaring after I walked past a certain point, telling me that I was on private property. This data is processed locally through the HomeAgent, so if you ask your connected smart speaker about any unusual activity, it can tell you if anyone approached your door, whether that was a delivery worker, or something more nefarious.

The smart speaker UGreen showed off has a new AI assistant, named Uliya. You can use the smart speaker to do just about anything around your home. You can ask Uliya to remind you of where you were at a specific time, to close the curtains, to play music, or even to identify the location of your pet and cast a live video feed. The functionality you get will vary depending on how invested you are in UGreen’s AIoT ecosystem, but the capabilities are pretty broad.

You can also ask Uliya to give you a summary of captured events throughout the day, display memories on a UGreen smart photo frame in real time, or to show you highlights from a special day — circling back to Zhang’s desire to revive memories that had been lost in time. One function I really liked was the ability to create an Away mode, so that when you step out of the house, lights will turn off, curtains will close, and a robovac will get to work.

UGreen’s new HomeAgents appear to be incredibly capable, feature-rich, and innovative products, and their local handling of data could be game changing for some households. At the product launch, Zhang said “In the future, we hope every family can have a HomeAgent”; and it'll be interesting to see how families adopt such tech moving forward.

• Dyson has launched three new fan-purifiers, all with star-shaped nozzles
• The nozzle is designed to be both powerful and very quiet
• I saw them in action, and they're super-effective... but the styling will be divisive

Dyson's loop fans are instantly recognizable. In the home appliance world, their sleek, bladeless design has gained somewhat iconic status. But now we are about to enter a new Dyson fan era — and the design could not be more different to those sleek loops. With their chunky, curving bodies topped with a gaping, star-shaped opening, the new Dyson HushJet fan-purifiers remind me of nothing more than the giant sandworms in the new Dune films.

I perhaps should have seen it coming. Dyson debuted the new look with the HushJet Purifier Compact in September 2025, and it's also used for the HushJet Mini Cool personal fan. But when I saw the new, full-sized range on show in Berlin last week (at Dyson's IFA 2026-adjacent event) I was momentarily stunned.

Both of the previous HushJet fans were compact gadgets, and there was something about seeing the design scaled up — to quite gigantic proportions, in the case of the largest options — that made it feel significantly more unsettling.

The star nozzle draws inspiration from aviation engineering. I spoke to a Dyson engineer about it last year, and she explained the shape was especially good at minimizing the turbulence in the airflow, to create a quiet yet powerful jet of air.

I got to try the new fans out, and I was blown away — pun intended — by how powerful they were. When it came to blasting air, they felt significantly more effective than the loop-style Dyson fans I've used. So while I wasn't immediately sold on the styling, I had no complaints about the effectiveness of the airflow. I'd very happily have one of these in my bedroom over the summer, regardless of the fact it wouldn't blend in at all.

Double-duty

Like most of Dyson's fan models, the HushJets are pulling double- or even triple-duty. They operate as air purifiers, too, and one can also be used as a heater. At the top of the range is the Dyson HushJet Big+Quiet Cool Pure+ Formaldehyde air purifier (and kudos to the Dyson engineer I spoke to, who managed to remember that name without having to check his notes).

The purification capabilities are the most advanced of any of the new models, with the ability to capture a huge range of pollutants, including formaldehyde, and shift a massive amount of air, very quickly. It's around the same diameter as the Dyson Purifier Big+Quiet — ie really very chunky. It's designed for use in large spaces like offices, but it can also be used to clean multiple rooms in a home.

There are also a couple of medium-sized options, built for at-home use. These are the HushJet Pure Cool+ Formaldehyde, and the HushJet Hot Cool Pure+ air purifier, which loses the formaldehyde-capturing capabilities but can be used as a heater over the colder months.

I have no doubt the new-look design will end up being divisive — I think the quirky styling might fit more naturally in an office or commercial setup than it would in a living room, where it'd surely stick out like a sore thumb in many cases. When I asked the Dyson rep if the plan was for the HushJet range to eventually replace the loops, he suggested perhaps not, given how instantly recognizable the loops are as Dyson appliances. I'll be watching with interest.

Pricing and availability

Pricing is as follows: the medium-sized HushJet Pure Cool+ Formaldehyde will cost $599 / £549.99 / AU$999, and the medium-sized HushJet Hot Cool Pure+ air purifier will be $599 / £549.99 / AU TBC. The large HushJet Big+Quiet Cool Pure+ Formaldehyde will come in at $1,099 / £899.99 / AU TBC.

In the US, all three will go on sale in fall 2026. In the UK, the large and medium Formaldehyde options will launch in October and the heater option will arrive in December. In Australia, it's October 2026 for the Cool Pure+ Formaldehyde and "early 2027" for the other two.

It's been a busy week for the team at Philips Hue. At its annual showcase event in Berlin, the company unveiled not just a new series of smart lights (including some particularly stylish additions to its Liane series), but also a whole new approach to AI, which it's using to take the complexity out of creating bespoke automated lighting setups specifically for your home. No more tinkering with toggles and timers — just tell the app what you want your lights to do and when, and the software will handle the rest.

This isn't Philips Hue's first foray into AI. In 2025, the brand introduced an AI assistant that allowed users to describe a lighting scene and would then either find a match in the library of presets or create a new scene from scratch if nothing suitable existed.

Earlier this year, it also launched SpatialAware for the Philips Hue Bridge Pro, which applies lighting scenes differently depending on the position of smart bulbs, light strips, and lamps in a room, with AI trained using expertise from professional lighting designers.

After this week's showcase, I spoke to Marco Merolla, Executive Vice President and Business Leader of Consumer Connected Lighting at Philips Hue's parent brand Signify, to find out his thoughts on the future of smart lighting and AI. I started by asking him about SpatialAware, and whether users had welcomed the new feature in their homes.

"It’s something that brings smart lighting to the next level, but also intuitiveness in getting to the result that you want as a user — to the desired ambience," Merolla said. "The reception of the base was very good in terms of adoption. This is an exclusive currently with the Bridge Pro, but the reception of the Bridge Pro was extremely good in terms of adoption, and that’s not surprising, because, as we said, ambience creation is key in smart lighting."

SpatialAware has been a success, but Merolla says the brand has now turned its focus to the custom AI automations demonstrated in Berlin.

"Really, in our perspective, [that is] the next step, because there is a lot that you could do, or may do today that is a bit limited by the system itself," he said. "By analyzing and assessing the user behavior and the consumer behavior, we create a lot of different layers with which they can create behaviors and automation."

That analysis doesn't mean monitoring the behavior of individual users, or automatically creating anything for you based on that behavior. Instead, Signify uses anonymised, aggregated usage insights and broader consumer research to understand patterns and usage, which help inform the behaviors and automation built into the system.

"Clearly there is a limit right now, but with the power of large language models, that is not there anymore, so we can give them the chance and [get them] into concepts that were completely unprecedented before — and that’s part of the things that we launched yesterday," said Merolla. "We’re super excited because the consumer experience will change dramatically in the way you can enjoy the system and create beautiful things."

Not AI for the sake of it

The Philips Hue showcase was packed with news and launches, so I asked Merolla which ones he was most excited about.

"I was super excited by three of them," he said. "Custom AI behavior is a great step because it’s not AI for the sake of it — it’s really AI at the service of the consumer experience. Not in the sense of wanting to enter into people’s lives or be intrusive, but in the sense of giving them a chance to unlock possibilities in a very intuitive way. Custom AI from this perspective is an amazing, lovely direction.

"The second key one that’s quite close to my heart is the entertainment area," he said. "You know that over the years we have worked a lot on making the lighting experience better and better, stronger and stronger. Here, the effort we made was really to make it more accessible."

Merolla explained that accessibility isn't just about price, although that is something Philips Hue has addressed with the Sync Box 4K — a more affordable alternative to the Philips Hue Play Sync Box 8K that launched in September 2024. Accessibility, he said, is also about compatibility, which is why Philips Hue has launched Screen Sync — an alternative to the Sync Box that uses a camera rather than HDMI input, so you can synchronize your Hue lights with your TV screen regardless of the source.

"In the area of accessibility, there is also the Bridgeless idea," he added, referring to the ability to use the Sync Box 8K, 4K and Screen Sync without buying an additional Philips Hue Bridge Zigbee hub. "You can have just one strip light in a Bridgeless configuration. And this is again because we believe that everyone should watch TV or watch video with at least one light connected to amplify the experience, and we don’t want to limit the user who, in that specific moment, only wants that kind of benefit [without] having to necessarily join the full ecosystem."

The final items on Merolla's list of exciting launches are the new Liane 360-degree rope and Signe pole lights.

"These are beautiful design objects — really beautiful design objects," he said. "We did not invent the archetype in the design world — that archetype is something that already exists, but of course we can create the mix between a beautiful design object and an amazing light structure. These two things very often don’t go together. Sometimes products that have a super cool design light effect, like gradient scenes and so on, are not necessarily associated with the most beautiful design from an object perspective.

"And as a direction for the brand in the future, I firmly believe that we need to put this world together — that the design of the external object and the light effect, the things that you can do with that, really need to merge. And I think Liane and the new Signe product are a strong step in this direction."

It will definitely be interesting to see how those two aspects join together in the future, and whether AI functionality begins to affect the design of Philips Hue lights, now that LLMs can remove the barrier to complex automations. I'm definitely looking forward to next year's showcase.

• The Anthbot R7 Series includes an 'EdgeEase' string trimmer
• Its mounted on an arm and comes with its own camera for safety
• There's also infrared animal detection

Effective edge trimming has long been the bane of a lawnbot-maker's life. After all, what good is a robot mower if you then have to go in with a side-trimmer to clean up all the lawn edges afterwards? Anthbot's newest robo-mower — the R7 Series, on show at IFA 2026 — has an innovative solution.

The brand has tacked a string trimmer onto the side of the lawnbot. Or, more accurately, onto a "robot arm", mounted to the side of the lawnbot. This arm is designed to adjust to follow winding lawn boundaries, ensuring "zero-gap edge cutting without manual touch-ups". Anthbot dubs the system 'EdgeEase'.

I saw it being demoed — albeit on an AstroTurf lawn, without any actual cutting. The arm movement is smooth and functions well, tucking neatly away when not required. (It's a little less visually impressive than Segway Navimow's own mechanical side-trimming system, but which system functions better remains to be seen.)

I've seen side-mounted blade trimmers before, but this string version feels like a slightly safer option to be protruding out into the open... at least when not in use. Of course, when spinning, those strings will be able to slice just as effectively as a blade.

On that point, I'm surprised Anthbot hasn't added any kind of protective casing. There is a camera specifically dedicated to keeping an eye on the trimming arm, but it's still putting a lot of trust in those obstacle-spotting skills.

Hedgehog spotting

The EdgeEase string trimmer is the headline addition, but I was also interested to see Anthbot has included an infrared sensor for animal detection. This is designed to pick up thermal signals from critters like hedgehogs that might be hidden in the grass, so the mower can avoid them.

These are two standout features in what looks like an altogether extremely capable lawnbot. For the main mowing, it uses two floating cutting discs, designed to adjust to uneven ground for a clean finish. There's also all-wheel drive — precisely powered by four drive motors and two independent steering motors. That's designed to help with traction and maneuverability.

The navigation suite includes LiDAR, RTK, and three AI-backed cameras (including that trimmer cam) to provide "robust, all-scenario positioning" that won't drop out if, for example, the satellite signal is blocked. Anthbot emphasizes the R7 Series is "designed to handle the complexity of real gardens rather than idealized, flat lawns".

The ANTHBOT R7 Series comprises two lawnbots: the R730 and R720. The R730 is designed for lawns up to 3,000㎡ and has the string trimmer included as standard. The R720 has a smaller battery and is meant for yards up to 2,000㎡, and the string trimmer is an optional extra.

Plug-in (or balcony) solar tech has been booming in Europe for a while now, but it seems as though the rest of the world is slowly catching on: these kits are now legal in the UK, while an increasing number of US states are approving them too.

The simplicity is the main appeal of these solar panels, which can be plugged straight into a standard outlet in your home, without any expensive roof mounting or time-consuming planning permission required. Any energy that you generate from free sunlight is used immediately for the appliances in your home, cutting down your electricity bill.

Now that the tech is legal in a growing number of places, we're seeing more and more certified kits and compatible batteries appear on sale. During our travels around the IFA 2026 tech expo in Berlin, the products below particularly caught our eye.

There's one big caveat here — in the UK and US, grid-tied plug-in batteries aren't currently a legal part of plug-in solar, so in those regions the products below will need professional installation (which slightly negates that 'plug-in' descriptor).

Still, there are hopes that plug-in batteries could soon be legalized in the UK and elsewhere, which means the bill-cutting products below could be a glimpse of our home energy future...

1. EcoFlow Stream 2 / Ocean 2

EcoFlow has been in the energy storage game for some time of course, and brings all of its expertise to bear on these two new products. Starting with the 3-5kWh Stream 2 home battery, we've got support for up to 5,000W of solar input and 3,000W of electricity output, so enough to power washing machines, dishwashers, and the like.

It's modular too, so you can stack these up like Lego bricks as your energy needs change, and the units offer four MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) inputs if you need to connect panels in different spots. There's also an AC version if you already have solar panels installed and just need somewhere to store the electricity.

As for the Ocean 2, this is a fitted home battery, replacing the PowerOcean line. It does up to 30 kWh with a single inverter, and can provide backup power if the grid goes down with an instant switchover so you'll never even notice. Both require professional installation, but you can take the Stream 2 with you when you move.

2. Anker Solix Solarbank Max

On to the Anker Solix Solarbank Max, and this impressive-looking home battery brings with it 7 kWh of storage capacity, which should be enough to keep an entire home going overnight (assuming it hits the average figure for usage).

Unlike the AC version that's already on the market, this can connect directly to your solar panels, and it can take on 10,000W of solar input across three MPPTs. You can also expand the capacity up to 42 kWh with extra batteries.

You do need to get an electrician to fit this to your home power network, just to avoid anything blowing up, but Anker reckons you'll have saved on up front costs and be getting pure profit within 2.5 years — though your mileage may vary.

3. Zendure SolarFlow 2400 Pro / 4000 Mix Pro

The Zendure SolarFlow 2400 Pro and 4000 Mix Pro aren't entirely new, but they were shown off at IFA, and we're including them here. Again the emphasis is on simple, easy to manage solar energy storage: the SolarFlow 2400 Pro can take on 4,800W of solar input across four MPPTs, and offers 2,400W bi-directional AC power (hence the name).

With the SolarFlow 4000 Mix Pro, we've got capacity for 13,000W of solar input across two MPPTs, and you get (you've guessed it) up to 4,000W of bi-directional power, so it's a more heavy duty operator and larger unit.

Both these batteries can be connected to plug-in solar panels as well as retrofitted to panels that are already on your roof, though obviously the SolarFlow 4000 Mix Pro can handle more of them.

4. DJI Power 2000 and solar bundle

We were very impressed with the DJI Power 2000 portable power station when it launched last year, and at IFA 2026 it told us that it's going to turn this into a fully fledged balcony solar system — complete with its own solar panels and a microinverter for connecting to a standard power network.

Details are a bit thin on the ground though, as we don't know how much it's going to cost or exactly how it's going to work. Apparently the bundled kit is going to be sold in Germany first, with no word yet on an international expansion.

What we do know is that DJI has the technical experience and nous to put together one of the most compelling plug-in solar packages out there — and one which you can pick up and take camping with you. We'll be keeping a close eye on this.

5. Bluetti Balco 260 / Balco 500

While the kits were unveiled shortly before IFA 2026, we've been able to get a good look at the Balco 260 and Balco 500 at the expo. They offer 2,400W (through four MPPTs) and 4,300W (through a single MPPT) of solar input, respectively.

As with the Zendure models, they're basically an entry level and more advanced version of the same pack: They can be hooked up to balcony solar or rooftop solar as needed, and connected to the mains electricity network in your home.

We were at the launch of these units back in May, and there was a big emphasis on simplicity throughout. The aim here is to reduce as many barriers to entry as possible, which is helped through the changes in regulations now happening in the US and UK.

• The Lissome R1 is a compact countertop dishwasher for small apartments
• Its water tank is filled manually, so it doesn't need to be plumbed in
• It has a surprisingly large capacity — designed for up to three meal sets

For the past decade I have been getting by without a dishwasher. My small apartment just doesn't have space for one — at least, not if I want to have, say, a sink. So when I saw Lissome's countertop dishwasher at IFA 2026, it was like my prayers had been answered at last.

The Lissome R1 is a compact dishwasher designed exactly for situations like mine: small households or apartments that don't have space for a full machine, or rented homes that you can't plumb something new into.

"Dishwasher ownership often assumes a cabinet opening, fixed plumbing and unused worktop space," says the brand. "R1 is designed around the homes where those assumptions do not hold, giving users a compact alternative without asking them to redesign the kitchen first."

It's a compact 280mm wide, 507mm deep, and stands 502mm tall. That means it should be able to squeeze into your kitchen without eating up all your counter space. More useful — for renters especially — is that it doesn't need to be plumbed in. Instead, the water tank is filled manually, giving you plenty of flexibility about where you put it . Plus, you can easily take it with you when you move homes.

Lissome is keen to emphasize that the R1 is designed to be a main dishwasher rather than an overflow machine. In fact, it's rather TARDIS-like, with the ability to hold up to 34 items — it's meant for up to three people's place settings.

It's not a plain white box, but instead has glass windows on three sides. Not only does it look good, but it also allows me to finally satisfy my long-held curiosity as to what actually happens inside a dishwasher. (How well the glass-forward design holds up after being exposed to many weeks' worth of cereal, sauce and coffee dribbles remains to be seen.)

Lissome says the inner workings are built around "the World's First Sweeping Jet Technology". Essentially, there are two rotating arms in the base, shooting out artfully coordinated jets of water that arc gracefully — picture the Bellagio Fountains — across the whole interior chamber.

There are six preset programs. These include Quick Wash, which combines 13 minutes of speed-washing with two minutes of steam-release and drying, and Smart Wash, which uses an AI-powered sensor that "detects water turbidity and grease levels, then adjusts the cleaning cycle and detergent dosage" to get your dishes sparkling without wasting water or cleaning fluid.

IFA, Berlin's huge annual tech expo, is where some of the biggest tech firms unveil their latest innovations — and this year is one of the strongest we've seen in a long time for interesting new releases.

IFA is a great place to find fascinating new gadgets and devices, ranging from next-gen AR glasses to self-driving personal mobility vehicles, and from weird new kitchen appliances to armies of humanoid robots.

We've chosen the top products from those that were nominated for our IFA 2026 'Best in Show' awards to produce this list of our 25 winners, based on how innovative they are, how well they serve their intended use, and the degree to which we think they'll influence their area of the tech market.

There were many more products that we really liked, of course, but we had to be ruthless — here are our top picks from IFA 2026.

Anker Soundcore Sleep Earbuds 4 Pro

The best technology delivers real-world benefits, and what could be more beneficial than a good night's sleep? The Soundcore Sleep Earbuds 4 Pro use in-ear PPG optical sensors to monitor your heartrate, which is more accurate than other optical tracking methods thanks to the rich capillaries and stable position of your ear canal. That monitoring delivers data to the smart-screen, phone-free SleepHub charging case.

The Sleep Earbuds Pro feature passive isolation as well as 30dB active noise cancelling, and the case-based snore monitoring system detects and masks the sound of your partner snoring using its built-in sounds. Despite the addition of multiple new components the housing is thinner than previous generations, and even more comfortable for side sleepers.

Anker's BioSync dynamic audio system monitors relaxation in real time, dynamically adjusting the audio content and structure to help you find the most effective sleep sounds. Sleep earbuds are something that can truly improve your health and happiness by improving your sleep, and these look like a really smart upgrade.

Agibot A3

Agibot is doing some amazing things with humanoid robots, and the full-sized Agibot A3 combines multiple capabilities in a lightweight, extremely dynamic model: if you're assembling a robot dance troupe or planning a big exhibition, the A3's the bot to buy.

The A3 weighs just 55kg, has a power-to-weight ratio of 0.218kW/kg, and delivers up to 12kW of instant peak power, enabling it to somersault. Its battery runs for up to 10 hours and is hot-swappable in seconds, so it's great for applications where it needs to last all day. It'll happily fit in an SUV for travel, too.

In addition to voice and app control, the A3 delivers industry-first touch sensing that adds physical interaction to its controls. It also has a 360-degree multi-array mic system for accurate voice recognition, even in noisy environments.

One of the most exciting features of the A3 is its large-scale swarm co-ordination, which uses precise UWB positioning to enable performances by up to 100 individual robots. That makes it possible to create very complex, high-impact performances for big events, as well as enabling multiple units to work smartly in environments such as factories or warehouses. The awareness and the uptime make this a great new approach to robotics.

Hypershell X Ultra S

The Hypershell X Ultra S exoskeleton helped mountaineer Adriana Brownlee in -30C temperatures on Mount Everest, supported athlete Aurélien Fontenoy's 4,037km Route 66 journey while recovering from injury, and is currently being trialed by search and rescue organizations worldwide.

Before Hypershell, exoskeletons cost $100,000 and above; the same capabilities are now available to consumers for less than $2,000, in a device weighing under 2kg.

The X Ultra S is an end-to-end AI motion-control system that uses an AI model to transform raw sensor data directly into motor torque, enabling faster response, smoother adaptation, and more natural human-machine synchronization.

There are 12 active modes, including walking, cycling and running, and a new Gentle Assist mode for older adults and users with short or shuffling strides. Fitness Mode adds resistance, turning a walk into a workout.

But it's the price that won us over here — this could be a game changer for getting people with limited mobility out and doing more things that they love, from hiking to just visiting the local stores.

JMGO IRIS Ultra Max

The IRIS Ultra Max is one of the world’s first true 4K 120Hz flagship smart projectors, delivering native 4K (rather than pixel-shifted) at 120Hz from input to output, all from its very compact case.

The Ultra Max's dual iris system has 6+9 blades, the highest count in its class, which promises to improve stray light suppression by 11.34% for a more accurate picture, while delivering class-leading contrast, with a quoted ration of 10,000:1. The MALC 6.0 Triple-Laser Engine delivers an impressive 6,500 ISO lumens of brightness, making it more visible in more lighting conditions, and with a promised ability to recreate 110% of the BT.2020 color space, with an astounding color accuracy of delta-E of 0.7, meaning it's truly capable of pro-level color range and accuracy.

The IRIS Ultra Max also introduces an industry-first 3-in-1 Optical System that integrates 0.88–1.7:1 Optical Zoom, Four-Way Lens Shift (V ±130%, H ±53%), and an AI-Powered Gimbal (360° H, 150° V) into a unified projection architecture. This makes it more more flexible than traditional projectors to positioning, because it has so many different options for correcting its picture. It gives small home theater setups top-tier performance without compromise.

DJI Osmo Pocket 4P

Designed for vloggers and movie-makers alike, the Osmo Pocket 4P is the world’s first dual-lens pocket gimbal camera. It delivers cinema-grade imaging in a pocket-friendly form, and features DJI's Academy Award-winning Ronin stabilization.

The main lens is a wide-angle 20mm equivalent with an f/2.0 aperture, and a new 1-inch CMOS sensor that offers 17 stops of dynamic range and over one billion colors via DJI's new 10-bit D-Log 2 color profile.

That's supplemented with a 60mm medium-tele portrait lens, which gives you 3x optical zoom and up to 12x digital zoom. Its f/1.8 aperture is particularly good for creating bokeh effects by compressing the background and pulling it closer to the subject.

The Osmo Pocket 4P also features the latest version of DJI's ActiveTrack, which uses AI algorithms to maintain tracking lock at up to 12x zoom. It can actively track up to eight people, framing groups and centering anyone new who steps into the field of view.

RayNeo GT Max AR Glasses

The RayNeo GT Max AR Glasses are the world's first AR glasses to support Dolby Vision playback as part of creating a virtual cinema experience. They deliver up to 1,200 nits of perceived brightness, a 120Hz refresh rate, and real-time SDR to HDR conversion for super-clear images, too. Their optical system is 29% thinner and lighter than traditional designs, and delivers an industry-leading 59-degree field of view.

One of our favorite features is the adjustable virtual screen sizes, with a choice of 227 inches, 267 inches or 307 inches. That's clever: the tighter size is ideal for spreadsheets and productivity apps if you're using them as a display for a phone or laptop, while the larger sizes deliver immersive gaming and video.

Steady, Pinned and Follow modes enable you to anchor the screen or have it move with you, and 3DoF spatial tracking maintains the screen position without straining your eyes, and keeps subtitles, taskbars and image edges within the viewing area as you move. These look like the most advanced way to take a screen with you everywhere, and they could be indispensable for long flights.

TCL P80 Ultra

If you spend as much time on your phone as we do, you'll be blown away by the screen of the TCL P80 Ultra. It's the first phone to integrate NXTPAPER eye-comfort technology, with a 1.5K sharp AMOLED display for reflection-free reading even in bright sunlight, and a button that instantly turns your P80 Ultra into an e-reader with paper-like viewing.

The P80 Ultra has nano-etched anti-glare glass, eliminating surface reflections without reducing brightness. It also features circular polarized light technology, which changes the light output to more closely replicate the characteristics of natural light, and flicker-free dimming.

The camera's pretty special too. It's a 50MP 3x periscope telephoto lens with a 50MP 1/1.56-inch large-format sensor, capturing more light per pixel than smaller sensors and enabling 6x lossless zoom. Image stabilization eliminates motion blur in photos and video, and TCL's MuseFilm filters promise cinematic-quality images. But it's the groundbreaking display that really won us over — a lot of people will find it much kinder on the eyes.

Lenovo ThinkBook 14x Gen 2

Lenovo's ultra-light laptop makes even ultraportables look positively porky: at just 2.18lbs / 990g and just 12.9mm thick it's one of the lightest and thinnest laptops around, making it ideal for business travelers and students alike — especially if you opt for the backlit keyboard, which is really helpful in dimly lit rooms and airplanes.

Lenovo has somehow managed to give the ThinkBook 14x the super-thin treatment without sacrificing connectivity, so in addition to its Wi-Fi 7 it features two 10Gbps USB-C ports, two 5Gbps USB-A ports and an HDMI 2.1 port, so there's no need to haul a hub around with you. It also has a spare M.2 slot that enables you to expand its storage, which makes this a solid long-term investment.

The ThinkBook 14x Gen 2 is also one of the most customizable ultraportables, powered by Intel Core 7 (Series 3) processors and with display options including vivid OLED and touchscreen LCD. It's good-looking too, with a choice of metallic finishes including Luna Gray, Celestial White, Mystic Violet and Veil Blue.

EarFun Wave Pro X

EarFun's headphones consistently deliver premium performance without the premium price tag, and the Wave Pro X are the brand's best yet. They feature a patented dual-driver system that places a 40mm diamond-like carbon driver and a 10mm liquid crystal polymer driver on a precisely aligned axis, creating a more natural and detailed sound than you typically get from multi-driver designs.

The Wave Pro X feature an 8-mic AI system that continuously optimizes the hybrid ANC system, even in wired AUX mode, and the Qualcomm QCC3095 chipset delivers Bluetooth 6.0, aptX Lossless, LDAC, USB Audio and Auracast. Add AI translation and up to 90 hours of battery life to the mix and you've got a truly excellent pair of headphones — EarFun has been working on these for a long time, and even delayed them in order to get the tuning just right.

Urevo CyberPad 3

The CyberPad 3 is a home/office treadmill that's designed differently to traditional models. Its WalkFree Adaptive Speed Control uses pressure sensors built into the running board, which detect your stepping motion to automatically start and stop operation; when you're walking or running it takes data from the motor to calculate speed adjustments in real time.

Its multi-user support is smart too, capturing raw weight and stride-rate data to generate a structured user profile that's directly linked to the speed-control algorithm.

The support structure is made from Q235 steel with a side frame of die-cast aluminum, and it utilizes a redesigned transmission path to deliver an exceptionally compact construction: the ultra-slim body is under 11cm thick. Despite its small size it features a 15% incline-lift mechanism and a 42cm running belt, with its size based on analysis of human shoulder widths.

Plaud One

Plaud One is a wearable AI companion that combines three key features that are usually separate: wearable conversation capture, context that builds across day-to-day conversations, and AI that can analyze data and take appropriate action. It can capture online meetings, and face-to-face discussions and phone calls, and it has built-in eSIM and 4G LTE for phone-free operation.

What makes Plaud One different is that it understands context. Instead of treating each recording as a standalone transcript, it can retain context across multiple discussions — so a conversation from one meeting can be connected to a later conversation or call.

That understanding enables the Plaud Agent to help you take action, identifying next steps and completing tasks across tools such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion, and Slack.

Minisforum MS-S1 Max-P495

The MS-S1 Max-P495 delivers large-model AI computing from an exceptionally small footprint with a very high specification. It combines AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 with up to 192GB of unified memory to run 128B+ LLMs locally, delivering up to 126 TOPS, and its unified memory architecture eliminates VRAM bottlenecks while also reducing latency.

That power is cooled by a high-performance thermal solution featuring a copper base, six heat pipes, dual fans and phase-change cooling, and it's encased in a fully scalable design, with a slide-out chassis for easy upgrading and a rack-ready form factor.

With 4x PCIe expansion, dual 10Gb Ethernet, dual 40Gbps USB4 v2, Wi-Fi 7, and a built-in 320W PSU, the MS-S1 Max-P495 delivers future-proof power for desktop systems and scalable AI clusters alike — it's a mind-blowing beast made to meet a new kind of research and development need.

XPPen Magic Pro 13

XPPen's Magic Pro 13 is a mobile drawing pad designed for creative pros, featuring an industry-first hardware-level drawing display mode that delivers low latency, native color output and higher bandwidth video transmission over a simple one-cable connection, giving you a paper-like experience with 16K pressure sensitivity and cursor hover support.

It's the first drawing pad in its category to come with dual-USB support, enabling you to benefit from a high-speed data connection while charging your Magic Pro 13.

The Magic Pro 13 features the new Shelf digital asset management system and XPPen's Canvas software, designed to deliver a simple and intuitive sketching experience for capturing ideas when inspiration strikes. And for creatives on the move it offers two thermal management modes, balancing performance and energy efficiency based on different creative scenarios.

Strutt ev1c

Strutt's ev1c reimagines the power chair with three major advancements: Strutt's evSense sensing array, a quad-drive drivetrain, and a modular, connected design.

eVSense uses two LiDARs, 10 time-of-flight sensors, six ultrasonics and two cameras to create 3D maps in real time, powering the Co-Pilot collision avoidance for people, pets, and edges, and the Auto-Pilot, which enables you to select on-screen destinations, or use LLM-powered voice commands such as "Take me to the kitchen" — basically it's a self-driving personal mobility vehicle.

The drivetrain features four-wheel independent suspension, ABS, active steering, and an integrated electronic stability program (ESP), safely managing 13-degree slopes, cobblestones and rough terrain without slippage or tipping. And when it's time to travel, it breaks down into five modules for easy trunk storage. It looks like a genuine move forward for this kind of mobility device.

xTool M2 Color Craft Laser

The xTool M2 is the first desktop machine to combine full-color CMYK printing, laser engraving and laser cutting into one enclosed Class 1 system, delivering a full print-then-cut workflow. Simply print your full-color design onto a piece of wood, leather or acrylic, and the xTool M2 Color Craft Laser cuts or engraves the exact contour with camera-guided precision. And there's a built-in air-assist pump, an industry first for a semiconductor laser, that keeps cut edges clean by reducing carbonization and yellowing.

Having these three capabilities in a single device is a huge power-up: instead of having to print on one machine and engrave or cut on another, you can turn your raw idea into a finished, professional-looking product in a single operation. It's ideal for stickers, labels, signage, personalized gifts, and small-batch products — you could start a whole business with this one device. And because it's an enclosed system, it's also very safe.

Perlegear AX1 Smart Adaptive Mount

The Perlegear AX1 Smart Adaptive Mount answers an interesting question: what if your TV mount was as smart as your TV? The AX1 is an AI-powered, motorized TV mount that can automatically adjust the height of your TV to different viewing positions, so for example you might have it low for solo TV watching, but raised for watching sports with friends, or for following an on-screen fitness app or motion-based game.

The AX1 is controllable via gesture commands, its mobile app, via remote control, or via Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri. It can distinguish between single- and multi-person viewing, with the latter calculating the best screen height for the group, and it's capable of moving a 200-pound / 90kg TV up to 15.7 inches / 400mm vertically, with real-time obstacle detection that stops and reverses the move if the path is blocked.

Speediance Gym Monster 3

The brilliantly named Gym Monster 3 delivers serious strength training for home workouts, combining the experience of a Smith machine, barbell, dumbbells, cable machine, rowing machine, pulley system, and squat rack into one streamlined setup with up to 200lbs / 90kg of intelligent digital resistance.

Twin 800W direct-drive motors deliver smooth, consistent resistance through every rep, and it's adjustable in one-pound / 0.45kg increments, so you can progress at your own pace, rather than make big jumps you might not be ready for.

The Gym Monster 3 is controlled via a clever Bluetooth Ring Control that enables you to make adjustments without stepping away or breaking your flow, and it features four dedicated training modes: Standard, Chain, Eccentric, and Fixed Speed. It also features a built-in AI coach that can guide you from your first session onwards.

Midea GreenApex Dishwasher

The humble dishwasher hasn't changed much since Josephine Cochrane's 1886 invention went electric in the late 1920s and gained spray arms in the 1950s. But the Midea GreenApex is very different from traditional grease-busters. It's a dual heat-pump system that uses a single coordinated heat pump platform to deliver washing, rapid drying, and dry storage in a single appliance.

The GreenApex is 50% more energy efficient than conventional dishwashers, delivers 30-minute rapid drying and 168 hours of dry storage without continued system operation, and offers gentle heat-pump drying at around 45°C, so you don't need to worry about high temperatures damaging more delicate items. It feels like a major leap forward for an appliance type that doesn't often have the phrase 'cutting-edge' associated with it.

Reolink OMVI 2i Ultra

The Reolink OMVI 2i Ultra Security Camera features an innovative, decoupled dual-lens tracking system in which the individual lenses operate fully independently of one another. Unlike in other dual-lens or hybrid zoom security cameras, the two lenses here are not mechanically linked, so the fixed 130-degree 4K wide-angle lens never moves, while the telephoto camera is free to rotate anywhere, including to cover areas outside the field of view of the main lens.

This means that when the 4K camera's on-device AI spots a person, vehicle or animal, it triggers the pan-tilt camera to lock onto and follow that subject even after they exit the wide camera's field of view — but you don't lose any recording from the wide camera's view during that time.

You can also use the wide-angle view to redirect the pan-tilt camera to a particular location by simply tapping that point in the live camera view, or have the wide camera and the pan-tilt camera monitoring two distinct locations, such as your driveway and a side gate.

Navimow H510 Pro

The Navimow H510 Pro features four key innovations: precise edge finishing, zero-turn steering, adaptive mowing intelligence, and 3D modelling.

Rather than edging with a trimmer line, which can be noisy and cause minor damage, the H510 Pro has an extendable robot arm that performs zero-gap edging quietly and safely — it's the most interesting and smart version of this technology that we've seen.

The all-wheel-drive system protects your turf too, with a zero-steering system that avoids dragging the wheels across the grass during lateral turns. And the Adaptive Mowing Intelligence feature analyzes grass growth patterns to determine the optimal mowing frequency, using the 1/3 cutting rule to preserve lawn health.

With 3D terrain modeling rather than the industry-standard 2D, and a sensor array including infrared as well as LiDAR and vision for low-light reliability, and triple-sensor avoidance to protect wildlife, the H510 is a smart solution for even the most challenging lawns.

DJI Romo 2 Series

The Romo 2 Series is a robot vacuum that won't be defeated by obstacles such as deep rugs, sliding door tracks and other barriers. That's because it has robotic legs that can step over obstacles as high as 4cm, and double-step thresholds up to an impressive 8.5cm.

It also features a built-in LiDAR-guided ultra-wide-swing robotic arm to extend the mop's reach, and its powerful suction system features an automatically lowering plate that forms a semi-seal on carpet for better extraction of dust and allergens.

The Romo 2 Series also benefits from the tech of DJI's flagship drones, with a Structured Light-Speckle projector and dual fish-eye vision sensors for full 3D depth perception. It can detect items such as cables and training pads as thin as 2mm, and its AI can distinguish between debris and liquid, as well as deal with transparent obstacles such as glass doors and mirrors.

Acer Vero 16

With so many laptops sacrificing easy maintenance and repairability for super-skinny styling, the Acer Vero 16 is a breath of fresh air. While it doesn't skimp on style or power — it's highly portable, delivers up to 180 platform TOPS with an Intel Core Ultra X9 processor 388H, and can be configured with a stunning 16-inch 3K OLED display — it's made with longevity in mind.

A tool-free latch provides easy access to the Vero's innards, and the battery and SSD are replaceable, while the system is designed to support the next two generations of processors if you want to upgrade. Fully 70% of the chassis consists of a blend of PCR (post-consumer recycled) and bio-based oyster shell material, and it meets US military standards for toughness. This is a laptop that's built to last, in a way that's rare to see — and very welcome.

Asus ProArt GR1X

The Asus ProArt GR1X is tiny, measuring just 150 x 150 x 51mm. But there's nothing small about its specification. Designed for advanced content creation and local AI workflows, it delivers data center-class compute inside a mini PC, removing the need to run LLMs remotely while eliminating cloud latency, cost, and IP protection concerns for pro creators.

The ProArt GR1X features the groundbreaking Nvidia RTX Spark 'superchip', which means you get a 20-core Grace CPU and a 6,144-core Blackwell GPU, delivering up to one petaflop of FP4 AI inference performance. With up to 128GB of LPDDR5X unified memory at 9,400MHz, it enables you to run up to 120B-parameter LLMs locally, and render entire 3D scenes on-device in Windows 11.

That kind of power demands highly efficient cooling, and Asus has developed an advanced precision-cooling system that delivers 1.6x more efficient thermal coverage than standard compact systems. Asus also solved the challenge of metal-enclosure signal attenuation by embedding the Wi-Fi 7 antennas behind a glass-like signal-transparent material. It's quite the design coup, and an impressive showcase for Nvidia's new elite chip.

EcoFlow STREAM 5000 / STREAM AC 5000

The EcoFlow Stream series is a plug-and-play modular system for residential solar energy generation and storage that's designed to be renter- and apartment-friendly. It can add battery storage and smart power-management to existing solar PV installations, as well as being employed to create a new home system from scratch.

The Stream Series features EcoFlow's Oasis 3.0 home energy management system, which understands dynamic energy tariffs, keeps an eye on the weather forecast, and continuously analyzes your home energy needs to optimize generation, storage and consumption.

That means you can give the EcoBot AI agent instructions such as "I need my car charged by 7am tomorrow at the lowest possible cost" and it will implement the necessary steps, or have your energy schedules reconfigured automatically when you have visitors or other instances of increased demand.

From October the EcoFlow Stream series will also get a new feature: Local Mode, which gives you uninterrupted operation and local app control even if there are cloud or connectivity outages. It's a very powerful (no pun intended) system that's been designed with the real world in mind.

Tapo D260

The Tapo D260 wired/wireless security camera is a video doorbell that delivers all the benefits of high-spec security without the potential downsides: it stores facial recognition data locally to protect privacy, and no features are locked behind a subscription. It's advanced, yet totally cost-free once you buy it.

It has 4K resolution, a wide 180-degree field of view to cover the entire doorway, and delivers sharp detail in subjects up to 30 feet away.

The D260 features multiple intelligent detection and recognition features, including radar as well as the obligatory infrared motion sensor. These enable it to discount false alerts from things such as moving branches or passing headlights, while on-device AI can recognize people, packages, vehicles, and animals.

If you wish, you can opt in to build a library of family and friends using facial recognition, and there's even a voice changer to disguise your voice when speaking to unfamiliar callers. In a world where people are sick of subscriptions, this offers a great security upgrade without the monthly fee.

• The Govee Sky Ceiling Light shifts according to time, weather, and mood
• It prioritizes flicker-free blue light when you want to concentrate
• It's Matter-compatible, unlike a recent skylight-style light from Philips

Smart lighting company Govee has launched a new smart ceiling light that changes color depending on the time of day, just like a real skylight — and can even use AI to shift its settings to suit your mood.

The Govee Sky Ceiling Light, which debuted at the IFA tech show in Berlin this week, can automatically adjust the light based on time and weather (ideal for rooms without natural light), and can prioritize Govee's sky blue spectrum when you want to feel energized (particularly handy if you're working from home).

A few months ago, Philips launched a new skylight-style light fitting that changes light temperature and brightness to suit the time of day. It looked very realistic, but without true smart home integration (the skylight is operated via a physical remote control), we found its starting price of €499.99 (about $580 / £430 / AU$810) a little hard to swallow.

The Govee Sky Ceiling Light, on the other hand, is Matter-compatible, so it can integrate with your other smart home devices. It's more affordable too, with a list price of $399.99 (about £300 / AU$560).

However, the Philips lamp has a few extra tricks up its sleeve, including an integrated UV-B module designed to support your body's natural production of vitamin D, and an IP44 rating for use in bathrooms — which often lack real windows. Its rectangular shape arguably looks more like a real skylight as well, particularly in homes with traditional styling.

I can see smart skylights becoming increasingly popular over the coming years, particularly for small homes, and it will be interesting to see how else brands manage to differentiate themselves. The Philips light isn't a Hue product, but it is made by the same parent company (Signify), so I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see a Philips Hue skylight this time next year.

• Segway Navimow has unveiled its Navimow H510 Pro lawnbot at IFA
• It features an extending, robotic arm for trimming lawn edges
• Also uses the brand's 'Xero-turn' technology for gentler turns

First, we had a robot vacuum with an arm for picking up socks. Now, limbs are making their way to robot lawn mowers too. The new Segway Navimow H510 Pro features its own mechanical arm, and this one is for trimming the edges of your lawn.

Effective edge-trimming has long been a problem for lawnbot-makers, and in recent years we've started to see side modules being added onto machines for exactly this purpose.

But Segway Navimow's solution is altogether cleaner: it has taken the main blade and mounted it on a robotic arm, so when the lawnbot is at the perimeter of a lawn the whole thing can reach out (by up to 2.9in / 7.4cm) to mow those edges. In fact, the brand promises 'zero-gap edge trimming' — no blade left unshorn.

I saw it being demoed at IFA 2026, and it was pretty majestic in action. You can see a clip below of the blade retracting back in.

The supporting software, called 'EdgeSense', coordinates the movement depending on the type of edge it's tackling. It'll react differently to hard edges (like walls and patios), soft edges (like flower beds) and irregular edges (table legs).

Because the edge trimmer and main mower use the same cutting deck, the results should be more consistent and even than if you were relying on two separate systems. Segway Navimow's aim is to "finally [close] the gap between robotic convenience and truly finished results".

One issue with finding a successful edge-cutting solution is how to handle the safety aspect of having blades protruding out from the bot's main shell protective casing.

On this front, Segway Navimow has added a side shield that provides a barrier against the blades. There's also "live-detection protection" that will shut off operation instantly when a human or animal approaches. The latter partly relies on heat-sensing to alert the lawnbot that there's a live creature about.

Smooth mover

The Segway Navimow H510 Pro uses the brand's 'Xero-Turn' technology. This tech was introduced at CES in January, and sees the lawnbot twist its wheels to effectively crab-walk its way around bends, so it won't churn up your grass.

There are further features to help the lawnbot tackle tricky terrain without risking damage to your turf. Each of the four wheels is independently powered (it's an AWD machine) to enable it to move with precision, and there's rear wheel suspension to maximize wheel contact at all times, even when the ground is uneven.

• Dyson has launched three new 'Nurovi' robot vacuums
• The R3 Nurovi Spot+Scrub UV has a roller mop and UV spill detection
• The R2 Nurovi Wash+Dry has two Reuleaux triangle mops, which move asymmetrically for no-gap cleaning
• The R1 Nurovi Dry is a vacuum-only bot, with no mopping

Dyson just unveiled a new fleet of robot vacuums with plenty of intriguing features. The range is called 'Nurovi' which is a portmanteau — the bots combine "Neural Intelligence technology" with Dyson's new "Vision system". It makes sense, but if anyone can remember how to spell it without checking, I'll be impressed.

There are three models in the lineup: the R3 Nurovi Spot+Scrub UV and R2 Nurovi Wash+Dry are both hybrid machines that can mop as well as vacuuming, and the R1 Nurovi Dry is a vacuum-only option.

I had a chance to check them all out at Dyson's IFA 2026-adjacent event in Berlin. Here, I also chatted to Nathan Lawson-McLean, a Senior Design Manager at Dyson, about the development process.

Light it up

Let's start with the flagship model: the R3. This is a second-gen upgrade of last year's Spot+Scrub Ai, and like that model it's designed to 'spot' concentrated messes and spills and scrub back and forth over them to clean them away. However, the R3 model's spill-spotting skills are powered by UV light.

"We continue to leverage our in-house vision systems and neural intelligence, to really build on this advanced stain detection," Lawson-McLean tells me. He explains that whereas with the Spot+Scrub Ai, Dyson focused on identifying a range of specific stains, here the team worked on tackling the invisible residue left by dried liquid spills. The UV light causes those stains to fluoresce.

"So as the robot's running around your home on its mission, it will now expose these totally invisible stains that become breeding grounds for bacteria," he explains. "And it will then go over it once, turn around, check, and repeat that movement."

I ask him what kinds of stains the system can tackle, and he tells me it's a wide range, including most sugary drinks, tonic water, sparkling water and milk. "I'll be honest with you, because I find you'd be surprised what fluoresces — a bit like a bowling alley in your own home," he adds.

Going in circles

Moving on to the R2 Nurovi Wash+Dry. A key difference between this and the R3 is that the R3 uses a roller mop for wet cleaning, whereas the R2 uses two spinning mop pads. Not just any spinning mop pads, though: rather than the circular pads we're used to seeing, Dyson has harnessed its geometry skills and given us a couple of Reuleaux triangles. You know — that triangular shape formed from three circular arcs.

Cleverly, the shapes move in tandem to create a straight-edged mopping finish with no center gaps — and they can get right into the corners of rooms too. As you can see in my photo image above, one of the pads can extend out to one side, to clean closer to the edges of rooms.

Both systems use heated water (158°F / 70°C on the R3, and 167°F / 75°C on the R2) to help cut through grease and tackle dried-on dirt. The heating part happens at the dock, rather than within the robot vacuum itself, to conserve battery. Some cooling will naturally take place as the mopping continues, but Lawson-McLean explains to me that the robovac is designed to return to the dock to top up with hot water when the on-bot reservoir drops below a certain temperature.

Large and small

The R2 has a sister model: the Dyson R1 Nurovi Dry. It's essentially an R2 but without the mopping functions, so those looking for a simpler and more afforable entry into the robovac market.

Both the R2 and R1 have a 'Twin-capture system' which separates fine and coarse debris in order to improve cleaning efficiency. "So traditional robot vacuum cleaners will just have one roller. And the balancing act is, well, I need to have a really open aperture to get large debris, — let's say like fusilli pasta, sweetcorn, things like that — but actually, when it comes to getting effective fine dust pickup from the floor, if I have a huge open aperture, all that airflow is wasted," says Lawson-McLean.

The solution was to have a large, open brush bar area for chunky particles, and a separate area for the fine dust, with, as Lawson-McLean describes it, "a highly concentrated and efficient airflow path that's sealed down to the floor."

Finally, both the R2 and R1 boast another feature ported over from Dyson's most advanced stick vacuums: a piezo sensor that intelligently detects the size and amount of dust around, and the floor type, and adapts its suction power to suit. The aim is to deliver an efficient clean without wasting any battery. This intelligent adjustment will kick in if the bot is set to Auto mode.

Dyson has a chequered history when it comes to robot vacuums. The Dyson 360 Vis Nav suffered from a too-high price given its feature set, and was crippled by navigation issues. Last year's Spot+Scrub Ai wasn't quite a roaring success, but did go some way to repairing the brand's robot vacuum reputation. Will Dyson continue its upward trajectory with these new launches? I'll be watching with interest.

Buying information

From Dyson US, the Dyson R3 Nurovi Spot+Scrub UV robot vacuum is scheduled to go on sale on 15 September, at a list price of $1,199. The R2 Nurovi Wash+Dry went on sale on 3 Sept, exclusively at Costco, for $699 (it'll be available direct from Dyson further down the line, but not via any other third party retailers). The R1 Nurovi Dry is also scheduled to go on sale this month, at an as-yet-unknown date, with a list price of $549.

At Dyson UK and Dyson Australia, the R2 and R1 went on sale yesterday (4 Sept) at a list price of £749.99/ AU$1,449 for the R2 and £499.99 / AU$949 fro the R1. In both territories the R3 is scheduled to launch in early 2027, pricing TBC.

George Yianni is excited about the future of smart lighting, and his enthusiasm is infectious. As the Chief Technology Officer and Founder of Philips Hue, Yianni has seen smart home tech move from niche to mainstream — and he has a clear vision for how you'll be lighting your home in years to come.

On September 2, Philips Hue held its annual showcase event in Berlin, just around the corner from the IFA tech expo. There, Yianni and other senior figures took to the stage to show off the brand's latest hardware (including some particularly artistic new lights and more affordable syncing devices), and to explain how new software developments will change how we all interact with lighting in the coming months.

After the event I had the opportunity to speak with Yianni, and to delve deeper into how Hue (and its parent company SIgnify) has identified practical uses for AI that aren't just a gimmick.

"There’s a push for AI for the sake of it, and we’ve really tried to shy away from that," he told me. "AI large language models are really good at processing the unstructured information and turning it into something structured, and vice versa, and that’s really where we applied it."

The first example he gave was SpatialAware — a feature that launched last year, which creates lighting scenes and applies them based on the position of lights in your room.

"We’re applying AI as a tool to deliver functionality," Yianni explained. "So what we launched last year is, we spent quite some time with our lighting designers to produce the right set of rules, tools, and training towards a large language model to codify and scale the lighting design process."

"So it can take all the unstructured information of where lights are in space, lighting design rules, and what colors look complementary, and then expose that to the user in a general way, so they can describe anything they want, and it uses its world knowledge and this lighting design skill set we’ve given it to generate new lighting design scenes for them. It’s really not something you could have done any other way."

The second example, which debuted at this year's event, is Custom AI Behaviors. This lets you use natural language to describe how you want your Philips Hue lights to behave. For example, you can ask them to behave differently on weekends and weekdays, or change scenes automatically at sunset — all without fiddling around with complex settings.

"There are so many different diversities and details about how a consumer might want their home to behave that we cannot build a user interface with buttons, toggles, dropdown menus for every possibility, and that’s why we put some limitations around automations to this point," Yianni explained. "Otherwise, the user interface would be impossible for most users.

"But natural language is a fantastic way to just describe arbitrarily how you would like your home to behave, and then we can use AI to translate that into a special programming language we’ve developed that runs the automation in the Bridge. So it’s a fantastic way to capture intent and translate into something we can just run in the background, and again, AI is the right tool to do that.

"We think of AI as a tool to be used to solve problems, and often it’s not the right tool, and then we don’t do it that way. But there are definitely are good use cases, and I think more in the works, which take advantage of it."

Exciting developments

The Philips Hue event was packed with new announcements, so I took the opportunity to ask Yianni which one he was most excited about personally. For him, accessibility was one of the biggest draws.

"It's a little bit difficult to choose, because I think we've made some great products for users that don't have smart lights yet," he said. "I think what we've done with entertainment is super exciting, to just make it so that even if people don't want a smart lighting system, they just want it around [their TV]. Now we give you a very simple, easy to use and understand kit that gives it to you."

This system is the Philips Hue Play Screen Sync, which is designed for people who aren't using an HDMI source for their TV, and may be using a native smart TV app, for example. Screen Sync uses a camera with a fish-eye lens to monitor what's on the screen, and then synchronize those colors with a light strip behind the TV. You don't have to invest in a Philips Hue Bridge to use Screen Sync either — you can use it with a single light strip via Bluetooth if you're not interested in a full Philips Hue setup.

If you do use an HDMI source for your TV, there's now a more affordable 4K version of the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, which also works with a single Hue light and no Bridge.

Yianni is also particularly proud of what the brand has achieved so far with artificial intelligence. "I think for our install base of users and for ourselves as users of Hue personally, the AI automations are a bit of a game changer," he said. "I now can finally have my home behave exactly the way I wanted to. I think that's a really big deal.

"So I'm a bit torn between those two, right? For me, it's AI automations, but I think for our business and for our overall mission of getting people to use lights in a in a richer way than just being on or off, I think the the bridge-less entertainment with just becomes so much easier to to step in with just that use case, which is a great way to start."

When it comes to the lights themselves, though, Yianni has a clear favorite: the Liane 360-degree rope light (pictured at the top of this article), which users can drape in any way they like, and which projects light around its whole circumference.

"I think it's hard to beat the statement of Liane," he told me. "I think it's really taking what we offer in a in a new direction, where you can really unleash a lot of creativity in users because it's really a product which has a lot of different ways of it being applied. I think it's something quite unique that doesn't exist in the world yet.

"Yeah, these as they omnidirectional rope lights exist in architectural lighting, but I really think we we add a new element of depth to it by making it controllable and having these subtle gradients that we can put on it. I think that's really exciting. It's something that doesn't exist in the world yet, and really adds something to an existing trend. I think that I think the most exciting lighting model."

I'm hoping to test the Liane rope light very soon to see whether it meets those expectations, so watch this space.

• Google has fixed a setup issue with the first-gen Chromecast device
• Owners have been complaining for months about their devices going missing from the Google Home app
• The update also fixes functionality issues

Have you been running into setup issues with your older Chromecast and Google Home devices? You’ll be happy to hear you’re not alone on this one — and even happier to know that Google has finally rolled out a fix.

These issues first arose when Google announced it would be ending support for its oldest Chromecast dongles back in May. From there, owners started reporting problems with setting up their devices after they started disappearing from the Google Home app on Android.

A Google Home app update made setting up Chromecast even more difficult which, understandably, sparked a lot of worry for those who are still using the first-gen Chromecast from over 10 years ago, convincing them that Google was officially pulling the plug on its OG streaming device. Similar issues then started cropping up for owners of the 2015 Chromecast model and Google Home Mini speaker, affecting functionality as well as the setup process.

At first, users were left to find their own workarounds and solutions, with many having to factory reset their devices, revert to older versions of the Google Home app, or even wipe their entire Home ecosystem to start afresh. Thankfully, Google has solved this, implying that these setup and functionality crashes were part of a software glitch.

The Google Nest Community account on Reddit replied to a series of frustrated posts with the following statement: ‘We've resolved an issue that was impacting the ability to set up some older Chromecast and Google Home devices. If you haven't already, factory reset your speaker or update your Google Home app to version 4.26 and try again’.

It hasn’t been the best time to be a first-gen Chromecast owner to say the least, but at least Google’s latest fix offers some reassurance that the company isn’t writing off its oldest streaming device yet — despite pulling the first Chromecast from shelves in early 2025. That said, Google isn’t the first tech giant to be accused of intentionally bricking older streaming devices to get users to upgrade.

Amazon received similar backlash when a user filed a lawsuit against the company, after reporting that two Fire TV sticks ran into severe performance issues just a few years after purchasing them. The user claimed that Amazon had been software tethering, while not disclosing the truth about the lifespan of its Fire TV stick streamers.

Now that Google has found a solution, hopefully it does the job at reviving your older Chromecast model. If the issues still persist, Google recommends reaching back out to the Nest community to let them know.

Philips Hue smart lights just got a major upgrade, with a new system that lets you sync lights with your TV screen regardless of its source. Signify, the company behind the Hue brand, showed off a new system called Hue Play Screen Sync at an event (no, not IFA) in Berlin yesterday, and it looks set to make immersive entertainment lighting a lot more accessible.

The Philips Hue Play system lets you use smart lights (including light strips and bars) to extend the colors from your screen, creating a more immersive viewing experience. However, until now, this could only be done using a Philips Hue HDMI Sync Box, which sits in between an HDMI source and your TV. If you want to watch content via a non-HDMI source, such as a native app on your smart TV, you were out of luck.

The new Philips Hue Play Screen Sync changes all that, using a fisheye camera to monitor the action on your TV screen and synchronize it with your smart lights, regardless of the source.

Similar systems already exist from rivals including Govee and Nanoleaf, so I'll be interested to see how the Hue Play Screen Sync compares. Camera-based systems usually have a few drawbacks compared to HDMI screen syncing (they can be affected by reflections on your TV screen and tend to have more latency) but hopefully the Hue system will offer performance comparable with the HDMI Sync Box.

A bright future

Another big update launched at yesterday's event is Custom AI Behaviors, which lets you use natural language to describe lighting automations, rather than having to create them manually — something that could be quite time-consuming or fiddly when done in the app. For example, you might choose to have your lights behave differently at the weekends, or activate a particular scene automatically after dark.

The Philips Hue app already contained an AI assistant the let you use text or speech to describe a lighting scene (such as 'something for Christmas' or 'a tropical sunset'), and would search the existing scene library for a match. If none existed, the assistant would create something suitable for you. This was a useful feature, but Custom AI Behaviors goes far beyond that, and should make advanced automations much more accessible, with no need to spend time fiddling with switches and sliders.

On the subject of accessibility, there is now a 4K version of the Philips Hue Sync Box to accompany the 8K version launched in 2024. The 4K Sync Box is more affordable than the 8K model, and for the first time, you can use it to sync a single light with your TV via Bluetooth, without a Philips Hue Bridge.

Third-party collaborations are coming as well, including one leaked last week, which allows you to integrate Nanoleaf Shapes lights into your Hue lighting setup, and a collaboration with Sonos that will let you control the brand's speakers with selected Hue switches.

There's a huge bundle of new smart lights too, including Festavia curtain, net, and icicle lights (ideal for Halloween and Christmas), a Philips Hue Liane 360-degree rope light, with LEDs around the entire circumference, and an OmniGlow outdoor strip light. Omniglow is a technology that uses tightly packed LEDs to create an extra smooth gradient, with no visible gaps, and this is the first time it's been available for an exterior light.

I'm hoping to test some of the new lights soon, and will bring you full hands-on reviews as soon as possible.

• A new IKEA device called the Liljebagge has appeared
• It's an affordable smart radiator thermostat
• We're still waiting to hear on international availability

IKEA isn't slowing down when it comes to launching smart home products — see the smart sensors and wireless lights it's already pushed out this year, for example — and the latest new device to catch our eye is a smart radiator thermostat called the IKEA Liljebagge.

We're relying on WinFuture and a fair bit of Google Translate to tease out the details here, but it seems there's support for the Matter and Thread standards, and a retail price of just €15 (that's roughly $17.40 / £12.90 / AU$24.30).

The WinFuture article talks about IKEA "preparing" to launch this thermostat, but it's already popped up on the IKEA website in Sweden. We can't see it on any other international sites as yet, though — we've asked IKEA for clarification on US and UK availability and will update this article if we hear back.

As per the official listing, installing the Liljebagge means you can "adjust the temperature in each room individually, control it when you’re away, increase comfort and reduce energy use", and it should fit "most water-based radiators".

Aggressively priced

You're able to control the smart radiator thermostat from the IKEA Home app on your phone, or directly on the device itself. If you want it cooler in the bedroom and warmer in the study, then this makes it possible without much hassle.

IKEA's contender is particularly cheap compared to other smart thermostats that do the same job, and price is typically something IKEA likes to compete aggressively on (see also its $10 / £10 speakers, for instance).

Some other details: the built-in display turns off when you're not using it, so your radiators won't always be glowing, and you're able to adjust the temperature in 0.5-degree Celsius increments using plus and minus buttons.

On the home network integrations, it seems you'll need a Thread border router to use this on a Matter network. If you're going to go the IKEA route, you'll need the Dirigera hub. Power is provided by two AA batteries, which should last you 18 months. We'll update this story as soon as we hear anything about international availability.

• Smart home brand Shelly announced its new security camera ahead of IFA 2026
• It lets you view and store footage to microSD cards with no additional subscription cost
• You can upgrade to Shelly Premium for cloud-based storage and other smart features

The early IFA 2026 product announcements have started, and home tech company Shelly has unveiled its new smart home security camera — and I think it has a shot at becoming the next cheap Ring alternative.

The new indoor Shelly Camera is the latest affordable smart home device designed for those who want similar features to those found in the best home security doorbells, but want to avoid the catch of additional subscription fees.

With a reasonable $49.99/£35 (approximately AU$65) price tag, the Shelly Camera sports all the basic features you need to ensure your home is covered to give you added peace of mind. Though the camera’s video quality isn’t as advanced as the Ring Outdoor Cam Pro’s 4K resolution (Shelly’s is limited to 1080P), its other features more than make up for it.

As well as 110-degree horizontal and 70-degree vertical fields of view, which should be enough to cover a single room, the Shelly Camera supports black-and-white night vision monitoring and is compatible with Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. It’s also built to slot easily into your existing Shelly smart home ecosystem, working with other devices to trigger automations and activate lighting when movement is detected.

While many leading smart-home brands require you to sign up to a subscription in order to use their devices to their full potential, that’s not the case with the Shelly Camera.

One of the best parts about this camera is that it packs a fair amount of features that aren’t locked behind a subscription paywall. This includes its resolution specs mentioned above, as well as automations and two-way audio — but its free video storage is what makes the camera a winner.

As well as simply viewing live footage from your smartphone without saving it, you can save recordings locally on microSD cards, and though you’ll have to purchase SD cards separately, it works out a whole lot cheaper than a monthly subscription fee.

For a $50 security camera that gives you access to basic tools and a way to store footage locally for free, you really can’t go wrong. And for those who aren’t too savvy about their smart-home tech, these features should be more than sufficient.

All that said, Shelly does offer a premium tier for additional smarts. At 3.99 euros a month ($4.40 / £3.40 / AU$6.50), Shelly Premium gives you access to cloud-based storage for one camera, and even smarter automation upgrades. This includes AI-powered object-detection capabilities, allowing your device to easily distinguish between faces, pets, and even vehicles to trigger specific alerts, which you can customize.

Having a Shelly Premium subscription opens the door to a handful of additional capabilities to enhance your home security ecosystem, but I don’t think you’re missing out on too much if you decide to stick with its free, basic tier.

For the most part, it’s the storage element that convinces users to cave into subscription models, and here that's not a factor if you're happy to go with the SD card option — and the camera comes with a free three-month trial of Shelly Premium, so you can try out those extra features before deciding whether or not you need the subscription.

• SweepLED can spot hidden cameras by varying its illumination
• AI can detect camera lenses by the light that gets reflected back
• The accessory fits on the back of a camera and works in seconds

Unless you're in the safety of your own home, there's always a worry that you're being surveilled without your knowledge — when you're in an Airbnb, hotel room, changing room, or restroom, for example. Now researchers have developed an LED-powered phone accessory to give you some extra peace of mind.

It's called SweepLED, and it's the invention of a team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). The portable device combines 15 LED lights, a cable to attach to your phone, and some AI processing.

According to the researchers, SweepLED can spot hidden cameras 94% of the time with a processing period of just five seconds per object. While this is only a prototype for now, the team has tested it on 30 different objects, reporting a high level of skill at identifying where hidden cameras are embedded (or not).

Here's how it works: SweepLED fixes to the back of a phone (over the camera). As video is recorded and the phone stays still, the add-on turns its LEDs on and off, comparing different reflection patterns against each other. Hidden camera lenses show up in those reflection patterns in a way that standard reflective surfaces don't.

Protecting your privacy

"Hidden cameras pose a serious threat to personal safety and privacy in everyday spaces," says Professor Jun Han, from the KAIST team. "This research is meaningful in that it combines low-cost smartphone-based hardware with AI analysis to present the possibility of a practical detection technology that even non-experts can use."

Previous devices along these lines required users to look for 'bright spots' manually as they were lit up by the detector, the tell-tale sign that there was a camera looking back at them. This should be more efficient, and better at spotting different camera types hidden in a variety of different housings (like clocks or mirrors).

There's still plenty of work to do to get this refined and commercialized, but it shouldn't be expensive: the KAIST team reckons the manufacturing cost of SweepLED would be in the region of $7 (about £5 / AU$10).

If you do a lot of traveling, it might be worth investing in something like this just to make sure you're not being spied on. The work has been presented at the ACM MobiSys 2026 conference and published online, though as yet there's no indication of when it might be available to the masses.

Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact: 30-second review

The Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact might be a bit of a mouthful to say, but there's plenty to like about this air fryer.

Things start off well when you open the box with a useful quick start guide and fun little cookbook with over 20 recipes, showing you the range of possibilities available with this appliance.

With roast, grill and bake modes alongside the standard air fry function, and with an 8.6L basket that also has a divider so you can cook two things simultaneously, the Twinfry Compact could replace multiple appliances in your kitchen.

From crispy chicken wings, roast potatoes and wonderfully baked cakes, to gooey cookies, grilled burgers, and reheated pizza, I enjoyed using this air fryer.

The controls are straight forward, the basket is easy to clean, and it's not going to set you back as much as some of the more premium machines - while giving you results which are almost as good as expensive rivals.

It's a large device, so those with smaller kitchens might struggle to fit it in, while the lack of a shake reminder means you'll need to be vigilant when it's in use to make sure your food is turned/tossed correctly.

But these are minor points against what is a very capable air fryer, and one you should consider buying — especially if you can find it discounted.

Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact: price and availability

• £159.99, but I’ve seen it discounted to £130
• This model isn't available in the US and Australia

The Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer price is £159.99, putting it in the middle of the larger-basket market, although I have seen it discounted to £130 at some retailers, so it’s worth shopping around to find the best price.

That means the Twinfry Compact finds itself up against some strong competition, including the Philips 1000 Series Dual Basket and Tower Elite 11 Litre Flexi Drawer.

The list price equates to around $220 / AU$300, but this particular model isn't available in the US and Australia.

• Value score: 4.5/5

Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact: specifications

Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact: design

• Well designed with clear buttons and useful quick-start guide
• You can split the basket in two, and there are six preset modes
• No shake reminder or window on the basket

The Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer is nicely designed, with a sleek matte finish and clear controls. Sure it’s on the larger side, but the sizable 8.6L basket has to go somewhere.

It does mean you’ll need a chunk of worksurface space to fit the 339cm (D) x 482cm (W) x 281cm (H) machine, so those with smaller kitchens might find it a struggle to comfortably place this air fryer, or have enough space in a cupboard to store it. If you are tight on counter space, consider a smaller basket air fryer, or a vertically stacked, dual-basket option such as the Philips 4000 Series Stacked Dual Basket or Ninja Double Stack XL.

You can split the 8.6L basket into two 4.3L offerings with the included divider in the box. This allows you to cook two separate foods, at different settings, simultaneously, offering greater flexibility.

Get past the size though, and there’s a lot to like. I was particularly impressed with the quick start guide in the box, which explained the main functions clearly and offered up a big table of different foods with the best cooking mode, temperature and time. This makes it really easy to get cooking.

What helps the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact stand out from the crowd however, is its four heating elements. Two above, and two below the basket, providing even heat above and below your food, for an improved cook.

You get six preset cooking modes too, with Air Fry, Roast, Grill, Bake, Reheat, and Dry - but there are no food-specific presets like you see on some air fryers.

I do like the button layout on this appliance, with clearly labelled buttons making it easy to select if you’re cooking on one side of the basket, or doing a large batch in the whole thing — Cosori calls this the 'grandzone'.

Temperature and time are easily adjusted with up and down arrow buttons, while the ‘match’ button can copy the settings from one side of the basket to the other, and sync allows you to cook two foods in each side of the basket for different durations, but have them finish at the same time by delaying the start of the side with the shorter time.

There’s no shake reminder though, which is a small miss as you need to remember to shake or turn the food yourself. There’s also no window on the basket, so you can’t keep an eye on the food while it cooks, you have to remove the basket which pauses cooking.

When you come to remove the basket from the air fryer, the large handle that runs the full width of the basket makes it easy to grip and move around. Although, if you’ve loaded up the basket with food it can be heavy, so you’ll need to use both hands.

Before you put any food in the air fryer for the first time though, you need to wash the basket and pop the air fryer through a test run. The manual says to run the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact for five minutes at 200C (give the basket, divider and trays a quick wash first) to ensure it's working and to remove any residue on components. During this time it will smell a bit, but don’t worry as it’s doing what it needs to.

Cleaning is pretty easy too. The basket, divider and trays are all dishwasher safe, while you can also hand wash them with warm water, mild soap, and a non-abrasive sponge. The size of the basket does mean washing it in smaller kitchen sinks can be a touch tricky, but it’s not a huge issue.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact: performance

• Great results from air fry, bake, grill and roast modes
• It takes time to fully understand the best temps and timings
• Opt for shorter cook times, to avoid burning food

At 60dB (from my own tests), the fans on this air fryer are noisier than some, so you’ll be well aware that it’s on and cooking. It’s not loud enough to drown out conversation, but you might want to take a step or two away from it if you are chatting to someone.

Whenever I review a large basket air fryer one of my go-to first cooks is pizza. When I tested the Tower Elite 11 Litre Flexi Drawer I was able to fit a small circular pizza in the drawer. With the Cosori, the basket isn’t as big, nor as deep as the Tower, which means I had to slice my pizza in half to fit it in the basket.

Round pizza

Cooked using Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer

Before

After

This wasn’t an issue as it was a fresh pie, but had I purchased a frozen pizza I wouldn’t have been able to cook it in this air fryer. I selected air fry mode, set the temperature to 180C and the time to eight minutes.

After six minutes the pizza was done, with a crispy base and melted cheese making for a satisfying lunch. I returned a few days later with an oval pizza that I could easily fit in the basket. Another six minutes at 180C and again I had a nicely cooked pizza. It’s quicker and easier than using the oven.

Frozen fries

Cooked using Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer

Before

After

I was also able to air fry a large batch of delicious homemade fries (200C for 20 minutes), that came out wonderfully crispy on the outside while remaining fluffy in the middle.

Frozen fries come out equally as well, with the same temperature and duration as their homemade counterparts to achieve a similar cook. The adjustment I made when I came to cook fries again was to reduce the time by a couple of minutes, to avoid the outside of the fries being quite so well done.

Chicken wings

Cooked using Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer

Before

After

Chicken wings, coated in a buffalo ranch rub, came out with wonderfully crispy skin and succulent meat after 20 minutes at 185C.

I was able to fit eight full size wings in the basket, and I might have been able to squeeze one or two more in if I bunch them up a bit, but I didn't want to compromise the cook.

While they were very good, they weren't quite as moist inside as the wings I steam fried in the Philips 5000 series.

Cookie cup

Baked using Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer

Before

After

I also tried a Marks & Spencer cookie cup, currently doing the rounds on social in the UK as a must-try air fryer treat. I went for the Smores Cookie cup, and after 10 minutes in zone 1 (the left side of the basket) at 160C I got a cup that oozed chocolate topped with nicely toasted marshmallows.

And while we’re on the subject of sweet treats, the bake mode was another favorite of mine, with the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact capable of excellent results. I cooked a simple banana bread in the grandzone for 25 minutes at 160C, and a further 20 minutes at 140C.

It rose wonderfully, and delivered an excellent bake that was soft, fluffy and flavourful. I also whipped up a batch of cookies, and on the bake mode for eight minutes at 175C I was treated to gooey-centered delights with a crispy exterior. The cook on them wasn't quite as impressive as the more premium Philips 5000 series I had recently tested, but they were still tasty.

Banana bread

Baked using Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer

Before

After

The roast mode is also a useful addition. I was able to cook fluffy roast potatoes (with a reasonably crispy exterior) in less time, and using less power than my oven. And there was no need to par boil them either.

I cooked them for 25 minutes at 200C using the roast mode, and while you'll get crispier results using an oven, the Cosori is a great option when you're looking for faster results.

I roasted the potatoes alongside broccoli and sprouts, using the divider so the vegetables could be cooked for 15 minutes at 190C (per Cosori’s own instructions).

This turned out to be too long, as after 10 minutes they were already overcooked. An example of the initial trial and error required when understanding a new air fryer. However, for chunkier veg — such as carrots and parsnips - this setting works much better.

One of the slightly more unusual cooking modes available here is grill, but it works surprisingly well. I tested it out with four beef burgers, with the quick start guide that came with the air fryer suggesting I cook them for 11 minutes at 230C.

I was initially worried when I pulled them out at the end that they could be overcooked, but I was happy to find they were still juicy in the middle. You wouldn’t know it was the work of an air fryer rather than a traditional grill, and it was incredibly easy to do.

If you are someone who grills a lot, the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact can replace your traditional grill, as well as being a strong air fryer and baking machine.

Burgers

Cooked using Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer

Before

After

Something I did notice was you want to lean towards the shorter end of cooking times, because if forget about the air fryer, or set the timer for the higher end of a cooking range, you might find food gets a little cremated.

This is all part of the air fryer ownership journey, and during the first couple of weeks you’ll need to spend some time closely monitoring how quickly food is cooking to get a better understanding of the performance.

The lack of a shake reminder means it’s easier to forget about checking how your food is getting. But don’t let this put you off. All air fryers come with this learning curve, and with the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact less tends to be more when it comes to cooking duration.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact?

Buy it if

Don’t buy it if

Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact: also consider

How I tested the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact

• I used the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact for multiple weeks in my kitchen
• I cooked a variety of food, including fries, cakes, vegetables, pizza and meat
• I tested the various cooking modes, and the cleaning process

For my review of the Cosori Dual Blaze Twinfry Compact Air Fryer, I used it for a number of weeks at home, cooking a wide variety of food and testing out the various functions.

I baked cakes and cookies, air fried fries, chicken wings and pizza, roasted potatoes and vegetables, and grilled kebabs and burgers. I even reheated leftover pizza the next day - which was sensational on a slight hangover.

I also hand-washed the components, and ran them through a dishwasher, to ensure cleaning and maintenance was easy.

First reviewed September 2026

Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer: 30-second review

The Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer is an air fryer and then some.

Sure it does a great job at being an air fryer, and so it should for the premium price tag it comes in at. The sizable 9.5L basket offers plenty of space for family-sized portions, while the handy divider allows you to cook two different foods, at differing durations and temperatures, simultaneously. It’s pretty par for the course these days, but the 5000 Series Megabasket is only just getting started.

Things are turned up a notch with the steam functionality Philips has built in. Being able to perfectly steam vegetables, fish and dumplings without the need for a separate appliance saves on counter and cupboard space, and the results here are just as good as the air fryer.

However, the versatility is kicked into overdrive with the streamfry function, allowing you to bring the best of both worlds to your food. The crispy finish of an air fryer combined with the moisture locking abilities of steam. The result? Some of the best chicken wings I’ve ever made.

All this functionality not only comes at a cost to your wallet, but also your counter top. This is a wide, tall air fryer that requires plenty of space — especially when using the steam or steamfry function, as the water vapor vents from the rear.

I’m a big fan of Philips’ controls though. The touch buttons are intuitively laid out, with easily recognizable icons that require little reference to the manual to work out - that can’t be said of all air fryer brands.

The basket, trays and divider are dishwasher safe, and you can also use the steam function to give the appliance its own steam clean. You will need to give the top a wipe every now and then, as the glossy finish attracts grime — but it’s a minor point in what is an overwise excellent appliance.

Whether you’re looking to make cakes, cookies, sausages, chicken wings, fish, vegetables, fries, dumplings or pretty much anything else, the Philips 5000 Series Megabasket delivers consistently great results.

Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer price and availability

• At £259.99 (about $350 / AU$490), it’s at the premium end of the air fryer market
• Available in the UK, but not in the US or Australia

The Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer price is £259.99 (about $350 / AU$490), putting it at the premium end of the market, and pits it against the Ninja Foodi FlexBasket in the larger-basket arena.

There are cheaper, big-basket air fryers on the market that also perform well, with the Philips 1000 Series Dual Basket and Tower Elite 11 Litre Flexi Drawer both coming in at around half the price of the 5000 Series.

This exact model (the NA465) isn’t available in the US and Australia, with these regions instead getting the $349.99 / AU$499 5000 Series Dual-Basket Airfryer with Steam (NA551) with two separate drawers, rather than one large one.

• Value score: 4/5

Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer: specifications

Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer: design

• Wide and tall, but for good reason
• Set of tongs included in the box is a nice touch
• Touch controls are easy to understand and well laid out

The Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer is big, it’s almost as if a UFO has landed on your worktop. Wide and tall, it dominates the kitchen counter — but for good reason.

The spacious 9.5L basket provides great flexibility as one large cooking space big enough for 2.5kg of fries, 1.9kg of ribs, or whole chicken, but can easily be split into 3L and 6L baskets with the included divider. This allows you to cook two separate things, at different temperatures and durations, at the same time.

You can even just choose to use one of the sides only, saving on power consumption when cooking smaller portions.

The only small issue with the basket is its handles, which consist of two small protrusions on either side. It means you have to use two hands to open the drawer, and to lift and carry it.

When the basket is fully loaded with food, it’s heavy so you’ll be using two hands anyway, but for times when you want to quickly check on cooking progress, you can’t open it with just one.

The additional height of this air fryer is down to the inclusion of Philips’ clever steam function, giving you more ways to cook from a single machine. You can steam food in this air fryer, as well as 'Steamfry', which combines both cooking methods.

What this means is you’ll need to consider where you want the air fryer to go, and whether you have suitable space for this 496mm x 329mm x 355mm model to fit - especially if you have low-hung wall cabinets over your worktops.

Hot air vents from the rear of the machine, so you need to leave space between it and the wall, and when using the steam function water vapor will also rise from the back of the machine.

The one meter power cable will be long enough for most kitchen setups, and the Philips 5000 Series comes with a clip-on cable tidy for the rear to keep things neat if you like to store your air fryer in a cupboard when not in use. Although, it’ll need to be a sizable cupboard.

A nice inclusion in the box was a set of tongs, a particularly useful addition when cooking with an air fryer, as it makes tossing food and removing it from the basket much easier.

There’s also a paper manual in the box that covers all the basics, mainly via pictorial guides, but for those who want a more detailed breakdown of functionality you’ll need to download the free HomeID app on your phone.

What isn’t made obvious out of the box is the need to run the air fryer empty initially to burn off the protective shipping coating.

Diving into the app deeper, Philips advises to wash the basket and accessories with a soft sponge, water and washing up liquid, dry them, and then run the air fryer empty, a 200C, for the maximum cook time (which for this model is 180 minutes).

That seemed excessive to me. I did an initial four minute cycle at 180C, allowed the basket to cool down, and then washed it, the divider, and the crisp trays, and set the machine at 200C for 50 minutes. The smell did get very strong during this time, but it did the trick.

When I came to cook with the air fryer for the first time, there was a slight smell during cooking, but it didn’t transfer to the food.

The controls here are excellent, just as they are on the Philips 4000 Series Stacked Dual Basket Air Fryer. The illuminated touch buttons on the top of the machine make it really easy to select the basket size you wish to cook with, and to set the temperature and time.

The only slight negative against this design is the glossy black surface quickly gets dirty, and shows up finger smudges. Plus, if your hands aren’t clean it can sometimes struggle to pick up your presses.

There are a number of presets to pick from too (frozen fries, mixed vegetables, chicken drumsticks, tray bakes, fish, dumplings, reheat), if you want to just press and play.

While the presets are useful, I did find during my weeks of testing they sometimes needed to be fine tuned to my preferred cook level. It’s all part of the early trial and error of using a new air fryer to work out the times and temps that work best for the food you’re cooking regularly.

When it comes to cleaning, the good news is the basket, trays and divider are all dishwasher safe. If you don’t have access to one, hand washing also works - although the sheer size of the basket means it can be tricky to clean in smaller sinks.

Another nice feature is the steam cleaning function. Simple to enact - just make sure the water reservoir is full and select the steam clean mode - it does a good job of loosening grease and marks in the basket. It means you can just run a cloth or paper towel round the basket and it’s pretty much clean. No need for hard scrubbing. It’s not going to remove stubborn marks or pieces of food debris, but it’s a handy option when only lightly used.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer: performance

Performance

• Steam and SteamFry functions are excellent
• Quiet operation
• Great all-round cooking performance

The Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer is one of the quieter models I’ve tested, making it an excellent cooking companion, especially in smaller kitchens as the noise doesn’t dominate the room.

As well as the presets, there are a couple of other useful features here. First is the shake reminder, where the 5000 Series will work out how many shake intervals are required based on the cook duration you’ve set, and will beep at set times to alert you to the fact you need to shake or turn the food in the basket.

This allows you to ensure an even cook, be it fries, chicken wings, vegetables, or pretty much anything else you’re cooking. If you’re not using a preset, you will need to manually enable the shake reminder by pressing the icon on the control panel.

The second handy feature is sync, allowing you to utilize the dual basket setup, and cook two different foods, at different temperatures, for different lengths of time, but have them finish at the same time.

The air fryer delays the start of the side with the shorter cook time, starting it when its duration matches that left on the other side. It’s simple to set up, and works really nicely.

The 5000 Series Megabasket is certainly well equipped, but how does it actually perform when it comes to cooking food?

As this is a large basket air fryer, and given my penchant for consuming pizza, I decided to kick things off with a simple, store-bought margarita. When I reviewed the Tower Elite 11 Litre Flexi Drawer, I was able to fit a whole round (admittedly small) pizza into the basket.

With the Philips, the basket isn’t as deep, which meant I had to slice my circular pizza in half and lay the two halves at an angle in the basket. It worked fine, but if this pizza was frozen rather than fresh, I would be forced to use the oven.

After warming up the air fryer for a couple of minutes first, I cooked the pizza at 190C for nine minutes. It turned out this was a minute or so too long, as the topping came out a little overdone. It was still fine to eat, but a glass window on the basket would have allowed me to keep a better eye on the progress being made. Alas, there’s no window on the basket.

I returned a few days later however with an oval shaped pizza. This easily sat in the basket, and having learned my lesson I cooked it for seven minutes at 180C.

The final cook was much better, with a crisp base and juicy toppings, although I noticed the part of the pizza towards the back of the basket was slightly more cooked than that at the front.

You don’t always get a completely even cook from this air fryer, but it wasn’t a problem during the weeks of cooking I did.

Fries came out great with this air fryer, whether they were frozen or fresh. Crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle, and using the frozen fries setting I got automatic reminders to shake the basket a few times during the 24 minute cook at 200C.

For the fresh fries I had to set the temperature (200C) and time (21 minutes) manually, as well as enable the shake reminder. Still, the results were great.

Baking is another highlight when using the Philips 5000 air fryer, with a simple banana bread recipe producing a moist inside, crunchy-topped loaf with an excellent texture. I cooked it at 160C for 25 minutes, and then 20 minutes at 140C.

I also produced delicious, gooey-centered chocolate cookies, with an eight minute bake at 175C doing the job nicely. The chicken breasts, mixed green vegetables and sausages I also cooked using the air fryer mode all came out well.

But air frying is only part of the story. The reservoir atop this device is the signal this device has more tricks up its sleeve. The Steamfry function, that utilizes both the air frying components along with generating steam, aims to lock in moisture and enhance tenderness, creating juicy and golden textures. Basically, the best of air frying and steaming in one.

And it works really well. I used the entire basket to Streamfry large, hand-seasoned chicken wings on the chicken preset (32 minutes at 200C).

During the cook there are periods of air frying and periods of steaming, the latter of which are obvious as you can hear the steam being produced, and see it vent out the rear of the machine. If you have it up close to a wall, or under a kitchen cabinet, expect significant condensation. I’d recommend giving it plenty of breathing room when using a steam function.

The results were superb. Wonderfully crisp skin, and juicy meat made for a delicious dinner, and had me returning the next day for lunch to cook the rest of the wings I didn’t need the night before.

And when it comes to solely steaming, the 5000 Megabasket performs well yet again. Popping a selection of Japanese chicken and vegetable gyoza into the right side of the basket (steam and steamfry are available in the whole basket, or the right side only) and using the preset dumpling mode produced perfectly steamed, silky pillows.

A word of warning on the presets though, they aren’t a sure-fire win every time. When I cooked some green beans, broccoli, sugar snap peas, I split the batch between the two compartments. The veg I put in the smaller side I air fried, while I opted for steam on the larger side.

I selected the vegetables preset for both, which gave me settings of 200C for 30 minutes for the air fried veg, and 100C for 14 minutes for the steamed side. I also selected the sync option, so both sides would finish at the same time. However, at the first shake reminder for the air fried side (after 15 minutes) it was clear my veg was already overcooked.

I completed the full cycle for both sides, and the air fried veg was cremated. Thankfully, the steamed side had cooked very well, with tender broccoli stems, beans and peas.

Put bigger, chunkier pieces of veg in the air fry side (such as roughly chopped carrots and parsnips) and the preset is closer to what you need. It’s a good reminder that you need to spend time with your air fryer in the initial weeks to find out which settings work best for the food you cook - even with premium models such as the 5000 series.

• Performance score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer?

Buy it if

Don’t buy it if

Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer: also consider

How I tested the Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer

• I used the Philips 5000 Series air fryer for multiple weeks in my kitchen
• I cooked a wide variety of food with it, including fries, cakes, vegetables, pizza and meat
• I tested the various cooking functions, and the cleaning process

I spent multiple weeks using the Philips 5000 Series Megabasket with Steam Air Fryer in my kitchen. During that time I cooked using the air fry, steamfry and steam settings, and used the various preset modes, along with manual setting.

I cooked a wide variety of food, including baking cakes and cookies, air frying chips, pizzas, sausages and chicken, steaming vegetables and dumplings, and steam frying chicken wings.

I also tested the steam cleaning function, and cleaned the basket, trays and divider both by hand, and with the dishwasher.

First reviewed August 2026

• There's more evidence of a tie-in with Philips Hue and Nanoleaf
• An official support page appeared and then disappeared
• We could get an announcement about this later in the week

A few days ago we heard some whispers that Philips Hue would be adding support for Nanoleaf Shapes, meaning these lights could be controlled in the app — and now the integration has almost been officially confirmed.

As spotted by Android Authority, a support page for the Nanoleaf integration briefly went up on the Philips Hue website, explaining the types of light that would be supported, and explaining a little bit about how the tie-in will work.

That support page has now promptly disappeared again, suggesting that it was put up too early by mistake. According to the initial rumor, Philips Hue will be adding support for Nanoleaf integration on Thursday, September 3, which seems about right.

Put together that first leak and the brief appearance of an official support page, and it's now looking extremely likely that this will happen. However, until Philips Hue makes the announcement, nothing is guaranteed.

Nanoleaf panels behaving like Hue lights

According to the support page that has now been yanked from the web, the integration means Nanoleaf panels will "behave like a Hue light, ready to be used across your entire smart lighting setup".

There was also a line saying that Nanoleaf panels behave similarly to a gradient striplight", so you should be able to use the standard color wheel in the Philips Hue app to adjust the colors of the Nanoleaf panels you've got connected.

All of this will be made possible through a Philips Hue Wall Light Module that will connect to Nanoleaf devices. The support document lists Nanoleaf Hexagons, Triangles, and Mini Triangles as the smart lights that are going to be supported.

While there are still some questions about exactly how the connectivity is going to work — with a lot of smart home standards to account for — this seems like good news for both Philips Hue and Nanoleaf users.

• Dreame has reportedly cancelled all its car projects
• The firm's expansion plans seemed "too fast and too wide-reaching"
• Rocket-boosted performance always seemed unlikely

When we went down to CES in January, we were in for a big surprise: Dreame, the brand we know primarily from its impressive robot vacuum cleaners, and hair stylers, was expanding into pretty much everything — including making a supercar.

As we said at the time, the world domination scheme didn't seem like the best of plans. "It all just seems too fast and too wide-reaching for it to have been done with the required care and expertise," we said, noting that we were finding it hard to get any actual details of the multiple proposed products.

But Dreame kept on going with the announcements, and in April it declared that not only would it be making a hypercar after its supercar, but the hypercar would be able to reach 62mph in 0.9 seconds thanks to its "custom-built dual solid rocket boosters".

This week, Car News China reported that Dreame was shuttering all its car programs, while another report cast serious doubt on whether there was any real intention of making those vehicles beyond prototypes.

What happened to Dreame's hypercars?

Dreame had announced two cars: the 1,867 horsepower Dreame Nebula 1, and the rocket-powered Dreame Nebula NEXT 01 Jet Edition. But it seems the products may have been inspired less by a desire to make production cars and perhaps more by a desire to emulate Elon Musk.

According to a report in China Economy, seen by the EV site Elektrek, internal sources told the publication that "the car was more of a marketing and fundraising effort rather than a genuine manufacturing effort" — which makes it sound much like the Tesla Roadster "flying" SpaceX edition that Musk has been promising since 2021. The latest news on that project predicted a demo "as early as this month", but there's no sign of it so far.

The report also suggests that Dreame's vehicle department wasn't really structured very effectively and may have encountered regulatory issues.

A tech firm pivoting into the car business isn't a ludicrous idea — Xiaomi's doing some fascinating things on four wheels — and the things robovac companies excel at, such as navigation, obstacle avoidance and autonomous driving are directly relevant to EVs. Global firms also have excellent supply chains and distribution networks.

But for every Xiaomi SUV there's an abandoned Apple Car, PlayStation Car or Dyson Car proving that for some gadget firms, getting into the car business sucks.

• China has tested an airborne blimp called the S4000
• It generates electricity from wind power at an altitude of 4,000 meters
• The airship can move to wherever it is needed most

If you thought the age of blimps was over, think again. China has just launched a successful test of a helium-filled airship that is used to generate electricity from the sky, and it could mean a return to the air of the skyfaring vehicles that went out of fashion almost 100 years ago.

According to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV (via South China Morning Post), the apparent world-first feat involved the airship ascending to 4,000 meters, generating power and returning to the ground. Measuring roughly the length of a Boeing 747 airplane, the craft is reportedly not far from being deployed on a wider scale.

The goal of the vehicle — named the S4000 after the height it climbs to — is to harness the strong winds that can be found high above the earth, which it does using turbines strapped to each side of its body. The winds at altitude are stronger and steadier than those closer to ground level, and any electricity generated is sent back to base using a long tether.

Returning to the skies

By operating in the sky, the S4000 has a few advantages over traditional static wind turbines. For one thing, it can move to windier areas as required, allowing it to adapt to changing conditions or transfer to where it is needed most. For another, it means less real estate is taken up on the ground, freeing up space for other uses and potentially reducing the complaints that are often directed at wind farms.

The S4000 was developed by Chinese firm Sawes Energy Technology alongside Tsinghua University and the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Previous models included the S1500 and the S2000, which drew a combined total of 500 million yuan (US$74.3 million) in orders, according to the SCMP.

The S4000 is far from the only recent effort to harness wind power. As we reported earlier this week, the Ventyra R1 portable wind turbine can be folded up into a backpack yet provides 50W of power output, taking around 35 minutes to fully charge a connected smartphone.

Combined with the S4000 — and the many other developments in the wind power industry — it’s clear that a lot is being done in the world of renewable energy. So don’t be surprised to one day see blimps make a return to the skies, this time in the service of generating electricity.

• Philips Hue could be launching a light module that lets you connect your Nanoleaf Shapes to the Hue app
• You'll be able to integrate Nanoleaf lights into your Hue schedules and automations
• It's not Matter-over-Thread, but you might be able to use a Hue Bridge for third-party connectivity

We’re just one week from IFA 2026, and we already have our ears to the ground for all the pre-event announcements and rumors — and this latest Philips Hue leak is bound to make Nanoleaf users very happy.

As spotted by the outlet Smartlights, Philips is reportedly launching the Hue Wall Light Module next week, meaning that users will be able to integrate their Nanoleaf lights into the Philips Hue ecosystem — which would be a huge win, especially since Nanoleaf is an affordable alternative to the Philips Hue range of best smart lights.

The Hue Wall Light Module is said to support the Nanoleaf Shapes LED panels, including Mini Triangles, Triangles, and Hexagons, while older panels (formerly known as Aurora) won’t be supported. Philips’ new module is also expected to be announced on September 3, and will go on sale for 39.99 euros, with international prices expected to follow.

Essentially, the rumored Hue module is a small white adapter around 8cm that you can plug directly into the connectors in your Nanoleaf panels, allowing you to integrate up to 100 Nanoleaf Shapes panels into your Hue system. That said, the Hue Wall Light Module shouldn’t be confused with the existing Philips Hue Wall Switch Module, which is installed behind a standard wall switch.

Once your Nanoleaf panels are connected via Philips’ new module, you’ll be able to include them in automations, Hue scenes, and schedules in the Hue app — but whether Nanoleaf’s flagship lighting tools will be carried over is unclear.

Similar to Philips Hue, Nanoleaf offers customizable color scenes and animations, but as far as the leaks go, the product images show the Nanoleaf integration working primarily with Hue scenes and effects. The leak shows at least five points in the color selection wheel, suggesting that there’ll be some kind of multicolor control function regardless, but we’ll have to see how this will work after the launch.

The other catch is that the Philips Hue Wall Light Module isn’t Matter-over-Thread, which, considering Nanoleaf’s devices are mainly Thread- and Matter-supported, is a bit of a departure. Instead, the module uses Zigbee and Bluetooth, the main connectivity protocols Philips has used for some time.

That said, using a Hue Bridge allows you to connect Philips Hue devices that are non-Matter to hubs such as the Apple HomePod, which is helpful if you use the best smart speakers to control your home lighting system — though we’ll have to wait and see how the new Philips Hue module handles third-party connectivity once it’s launched.

Despite these gray areas, the Nanoleaf-Hue integration is an unexpected yet possibly beneficial upgrade. When it comes to smart lighting brands, their respective devices tend to keep you locked into one ecosystem or the other, so having a simple but effective connectivity tool would give users much more flexibility.

• The Ninja CrushBOSS is a blender, food processor and to-go tumbler in one
• It has a 1,200W motor, with presets for precise chopping, slicing and dicing
• It's on sale now for $319 / £239 (about AU$460)

If, like me, you love a good kitchen device you'll be well aware of the perennial problem: finding space for all your gadgets and their accessories on your counter or in your cupboards. So I'm intrigued by the strangely-named but fun-looking Ninja CrushBOSS, which is designed to replace three distinct products: a blender, a food processor and a smoothie maker, all with the same shared base.

The CrushBoss has a 1,200W motor and a 2.1 liter / 72oz jug for blending and a 710ml / 26oz tumbler cup for drinking on the go. And it has a smart menu system that promises to make even the most tedious chores quick and easy.

Ninja CrushBOSS: key features and pricing

The Ninja CrushBOSS's jug has a curved square design to eliminate dead zones, and the SmoothSense system offers optimized blending, presets for chopping and mincing, and a custom control with 10 manual speed settings.

There's an integrated touchscreen display and a straightforward dial control, and it's designed to handle everything from smoothies and ice to shredding, slicing and dicing. There's an optional dicing kit accessory designed to deliver consistent dicing for more intensive tasks such as chopping ingredients for salads, salsa and other ingredients.

It's an interesting alternative to a full food processor whose various bits and bobs require quite a lot of storage: while there are still individual blades and bodies here they're not as numerous as the ones gathering dust at the back of my kitchen units. And if you've been disappointed by all-in-ones in the past, the high power here – 1,200W, which is 100W more powerful than the Ninja BlendBOSS — should make short work of even the toughest veg and effortlessly crush ice for your cocktails.

The Ninja CrushBOSS (including all attachments) is available for $319.99 in the US, and £239.99 in the UK. That's about AU$460, though the Australian release date has yet to be confirmed.

Portable and DIY energy tech is having a moment: more and more of us are installing balcony solar, setting up home batteries, and generally finding alternatives to the regular power grid — and a new appliance being crowdfunded on Kickstarter extends the trend.

It's the Ventyra R1, a portable wind turbine that's compact enough to fold away and put in a backpack. Like portable power stations and solar panels, the idea is you can get your gadgets recharged anywhere your travels take you — provided there's a strong breeze.

Given that a lot of outdoor locations are pretty blustery, including coastal roads and hillside trails, it's an intriguing innovation with a lot of potential. It seems popular too: over 600 people have now backed it on Kickstarter (via New Atlas).

Meet the Ventyra R1

While this isn't quite the first portable wind turbine we've ever seen, they're a lot rarer than portable solar panels and chargers, and the Ventyra R1 seems to get a lot right — as far as we can tell without testing it. It's simple to assemble and set up, and gives you a decent amount of power on the go.

The core specs are 50W of power output, 75W peak load, and 12V DC support, so it would take you around 35 minutes to charge a phone if the turbine was running at top speed (based on Ventyra's own testing). There's an integrated power hub for plugging your gadgets into when they need recharging.

A start-up wind speed of just 6.7 mph (3 meters-per-second) is listed, so it doesn't take much of a breeze to get some power going. At those speeds you're unlikely to see much in the way of charging though, so it might be an idea to charge up a power bank with the turbine over an extended period, then use that for your other devices.

The wind turbine pack comes with its own tripod stand and carry bag, and you also get four ground stakes for fixing it in place (just like you would with a tent). While it's marketed for being suitable for remote adventures, you could also set it up on a balcony at home and use it as an alternative power source there.

There's room for expansion here as well: multiple R1s can be used with the same power hub, expanding the amount of power you can capture at once, and there are also bundles available that include solar panels — these can connect to the same system as well, increasing the capacity of your on-the-go clean energy setup.

In fact, the marketing blurb for the Ventyra R1 says it's "designed to complement solar" rather than replacing it. "When connected through a compatible power station or charging setup, the two energy sources can create a more flexible system for changing weather, overnight use, and longer off-grid stays," explains the Kickstarter page.

Wind and rain

Another useful-looking feature on this unit is the automatic wind alignment. The turbine comes with a tail vane that automatically adjusts the position of the rotor and its blades, saving you from having to make multiple manual adjustments. You can simply set it up then let it get to work.

The turbine itself is 52 centimeters (20.5 inches) long, with the individual rotors measuring 38 centimeters (15 inches). The product page doesn't say how tall the tripod is, but judging by the accompanying video, you'll be able to get your wind-powered generator up to somewhere near head height if needed.

What's not mentioned is any kind of weatherproofing. It's possible that this isn't designed to survive heavy rain, which somewhat reduces its usefulness as an outdoor device, so bear that in mind. It also doesn't look particularly sturdy, so there may be issues with it blowing over in strong winds.

That's about all we can say without taking a proper look at this, but it seems to be a clever idea, well executed. As always with Kickstarter products though, there's no guarantee that a product will make it to market in the same form shown here, or even at all — especially when it comes to companies making their first product, as is the case here.

The Kickstarter goal was a mere $1,500 (or £1,100 / AU$2,090), which seems rather low. In any case, $140,020 (£102,646 / AU$195,390) has been pledged at the time of writing, from 661 backers.

If you're a believer in what the Ventyra R1 is offering, then you can put your name down for one for an early bird starting price of $179 (about £130 / AU$250). Shipping is scheduled for December.

If you're looking for an alternative for home or the outdoors, the Shine Turbine is now on its second incarnation, and comes with an integrated power bank that changes when the wind blows. Preorders are available on Indiegogo now for an early bird price of $399 (that's about £290 / AU$555).

• Google is rolling out a new Gemini for Home update to fix voice commands for Spotify
• The company is also fixing message broadcasting and smart light controls
• Despite the upgrades, users are criticizing Google for not fixing the issues they've been experiencing for a while

The transition to Gemini has been rough — even Google knows that, but the latest Google Home update aims to tackle a handful of pain points with voice commands.

In an announcement issued yesterday (August 20), Google shared three fixes coming to the Gemini for Home voice assistant, which is still in early access. Additionally, features in the Google Home app are also tipped to get a glow-up.

The first voice command fix is for Spotify requests, which Google says has been improved to better recognize the artists, songs, and playlists you ask your Google smart speaker to play. More often than not, Gemini for Home has struggled to register commands when you ask it to launch certain playlists, while other voice commands have been interpreted as music requests.

Now, you can get your smart hub to play specific personal playlists, such as your Liked songs, and it will produce smoother results, but Google adds that Personal Results need to be enabled to request things like Liked songs and personal playlists.

As well as Spotify improvements, Google says it’s updated message broadcasting, which now works as a two-step process. The first step requires you to say ‘Hey Google, broadcast message’, and after a short wait, you can follow up with your message as a second command. Previously, you had to broadcast your message in one long voice request, so this fix removes the chance of miscommunication.

Lastly, Google is letting you be even more precise with adjusting the lighting in your home. The Gemini for Home update now lets you set your smart lights to a specific color temperature to create the perfect ambiance for a movie night or an evening soiree with friends. You can try saying, ‘Hey Google, make the living room lights 2700 kelvins,’ and your lights will change accordingly.

Useful upgrades, but there’s more to be done

Google began phasing out the old Google Assistant across its ecosystem of devices in 2025, and it will be shut down for good on Android and Wear OS devices on September 4 in favor of Gemini. The same goes for smart home devices, but the switch to Gemini for Home has been far from smooth.

Though the Spotify fixes and other voice request updates are welcomed solutions, user have called Google out for glossing over the main issues that have been plaguing their experiences, and there’s still a lot more work to be done to fix surface-level features.

Redditors who are also long-time Google Home users have shared their struggles with the transition; one user says, ‘the move to Gemini has been rough for us,’ recalling that basic household commands such as setting alarms are still hit-or-miss for them. ‘I just hope this all gets fixed soon,’ they added.

Luckily, they’re not the only one riding the struggle bus. Another user says they’re still experiencing issues with creating and scheduling basic automations for their thermostat, while a user with multiple Google devices says that Gemini is still unable to answer simple questions like ‘how long to cook a sweet potato’ — despite resetting their devices four times.

Not all the best smart speakers are perfect, but the rising reports of Gemini for Home’s ill performance are worrying for the future of Google’s smart home ecosystem. The updates are rolling out at too slow a pace, and users are already starting to lose trust.

• Another next-gen battery upgrade has been reported
• Zinc-iodine batteries are now more stable
• The tech promises a more sustainable lithium-ion replacement

Lithium-ion batteries had a good run, but the next generation of battery technologies are rapidly approaching for consumer devices and large-scale industry use. One of the leading candidates to become the new default are aqueous zinc-iodine batteries (AZIBs).

Researchers from Flinders University in Australia have published details of the latest steps forward in zinc-iodine technology. Prototype battery elements based on these materials can now manage more than 60,000 recharge and discharge cycles, with recharges in just three minutes — though that's for a small battery compartment, in a lab, not a full battery.

As they're aqueous (water-based), the batteries don't come with the same risk of explosion and fire as standard lithium-ion batteries do. However, there are challenges to overcome: these batteries tend to deteriorate as they're used because of the chemical reactions happening inside, which isn't ideal for something powering your next tablet.

In their latest paper, the researchers outline a molecular cage that's strong enough to prevent the battery's iodine from escaping, but not too restrictive that it prevents the necessary chemical reactions from working. It means batteries that are more stable in operation and which last longer.

A viable alternative

The tech specs shared by the researchers indicate the fast-charging, long-life potential of AZIBs. In addition to those benefits and the reduced fire risk, they could also be easier to resource and manufacture — reducing the pressure on lithium-ion materials.

There are a couple of caveats to bear in mind. The researchers acknowledge that this technology is best suited to "large-scale energy storage", at least to begin with, so we're talking more about storing the electricity generated by a solar plant than something you can slot into the back of a smartphone

The technology still has a long way to go before you'll see it appear, as encouraging as these recent steps forward are. The researchers aren't yet at the stage of building fully working, full-size prototype batteries yet — although each of these upgrades to the battery science gets us closer to that point.

"Rechargeable aqueous zinc-iodine batteries are shaping up as a viable alternative to lithium-ion batteries for large-scale energy storage and our group is now working with industry to establish a prototyping platform for this battery system," said chemistry professor Zhongfan Jia, from Flinders University.

• Google is building on its new Insulin Resistance Trends health feature with PhotoScan
• PhotoScan is 'an investigational deep learning framework' that can estimate body fat using a phone's camera with 'near DXA accuracy'
• It's not yet available to the public, but the research 'demonstrate[s] the feasibility' of such features

As the Google Pixel Watch 5 launched last week alongside a slew of new Pixel phones, one of the most interesting new developments was the introduction of the Pixel Watch's new Health Guardian suite of tools, including Insulin Resistance Trends.

Insulin Resistance Trends showcases a month-by-month breakdown containing estimations of how your body responded to blood sugar spikes — a crucial component in weight management and the development of Type-2 diabetes.

Body composition — your ratio of different kinds of fat, skeletal muscle, and bone — is also an excellent marker of insulin resistance and metabolic health, so body scans are often used to help determine insulin resistance. Body comp is often measured with medical-grade 'DXA' scans, which use X-Rays, or commercially available devices at home.

These home devices can be the best smart scales or even some smartwatches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. Without medical DXA scanners, they usually use a process called 'bioelectrical impedence analysis', or BIA. A low-level electric current is sent through the user's body, moving through fat, muscle, and bone at different speeds. The speed of the electrical current helps the device estimate the percentages of each material in the body: a useful thing to have on a health-monitoring device like a smartwatch.

However, Google is busy researching an even more accurate version of a body scan without using any specialist equipment or BIA kit — in fact, it's just a smartphone camera and an onboard AI model. This in-development feature is called PhotoScan, appropriately.

According to its research blog, Google has been developing PhotoScan by matching smartphone photographs of subjects with medical-grade DXA scans, along with other subject information, then running it all through an AI model. The AI model eventually achieved 'strong DXA agreement' when estimating body fat percentage and other metrics, leading to 'near-DXA accuracy for predicting insulin resistance'.

The researchers conclude that 'clinical DXA imaging delivers the most accurate body composition but lacks scalability, whereas wearable BIA sensors offer convenience but are limited to basic body fat percentage.

'Our PhotoScan approach offers a promising middle ground, estimating granular body composition from standard smartphone imagery with near-DXA accuracy.' Sorry, Samsung — it looks like we'll be pivoting away from BIA sensors and towards smartphone cameras for body fat percentage calculation in future.

While the technology doesn't seem to be commercially available yet, it does 'demonstrate the feasibility of smartphone-based body composition estimation,' and I'd be surprised not to see it make its way to the best Pixel phones eventually.

Want to make delicious lattes and cappuccinos at home without using a steam wand? You need an electric milk frother — and as TechRadar's resident barista, I've put together the top three I recommend, whether you enjoy plant milk or dairy.

Before we get started, I should note that electric milk frothers and steam wands both have their pros and cons. A manual steam wand works much more quickly than an electric milk frother, and once you've got your eye in, it allows you greater control over the texture of the milk (more creamy for lattes, and 'drier' for a cappuccino, for example).

Electric frothers, however, can usually whip up cold milk foam as well as hot, and make it easy to prepare other drinks including hot chocolate and protein shakes. The inside of an electric milk frother usually has a non-stick coating, making it a breeze to clean. An electric frother is also a great option if you have limited mobility, often featuring just one or two physical buttons that can be operated with one hand. Sounds good? On with the recommendations...

Dreo Baristamaker

If you enjoy plant-based milk, the Dreo Baristamaker is the electric milk frother for you. While the other two in this guide are optimized for dairy, the Baristamaker also has settings for soya, almond, coconut, and oat — as well as half-and-half if you want something richer in your coffee.

The base of the unit contains the heating element and motor, and the two whisking attachments are held in position (and spun) using magnets. One attachment looks like your standard milk whisk, while the other has large blades to pull the milk in towards the center, where a mesh screen breaks up large bubbles and turns them into fine foam.

During the foaming process, the Baristamaker will alternate between stirring and foaming, which is intended to create an even texture. It's also the only electric milk frother here whose pitcher has a fine spout, which is essential for creating latte art, though in my tests I found that the foam was less smooth than milk steamed the old-fashioned way, and I couldn't achieve the same results when pouring it.

Nevertheless, for sheer versatility, the Baristamaker is my number one pick if you're looking for an electric milk frother, provided your budget can take the hit. If you're looking for something a little more affordable (or just smaller), read on for two more options.

Read our full Dreo Baristamaker review

Smeg Mini Milk Frother

The Smeg Mini Milk Frother is an ideal companion to the Lavazza A Modo Mio Smeg capsule coffee machine, but its clean, minimalist design would look right at home anywhere (particularly since it comes in a wide array of colors, including black, white, and pastels).

Its controls are extremely simple: just one button on the front, which you press once, twice, or three times to choose your preferred setting (hot milk foam, hot milk, or cold milk foam). There are no options for different milk types, and according to Smeg, it's intended to be used with chilled full-fat dairy milk, which it turns into quite a thick foam. I also tried it with barista-style oat and almond milk to see how it compared with the Baristamaker; oat milk produced similar results to dairy, while almond was 'drier' and less creamy.

Whether I used the hot milk or hot milk foam option, the milk was always heated to exactly 140F / 60C, which is optimal for coffee. However, it's a shame the milk vessel doesn't have a fine spout like the Baristamaker; the milk pours cleanly without drips, but the lack of fine control combined with the thick texture means it's impossible to create latte art.

Read our full Smeg Mini Milk Frother review

Philips Baristina Milk Frother

This smart-looking electric milk frother is available on its own, or bundled with the Philips Baristina coffee machine — one of my all-time favorite espresso machines. When my colleague Max Langridge tested this frother, he found it "consistently produces thick milk foam, whether hot or cold", but as with all the devices we've tried, the foam it produces tends to be on the stiffer side and not ideal for pouring latte art.

Unlike the other frothers here, the Baristina doesn't use a heating element underneath the pitcher to heat your milk. Instead, it has a heated coil, which needs to be removed first if you want your milk cold. There's no audible beep to tell you that your milk is ready, but there is an LED indicator, and at just 40dB the while heating and whisking process is very quiet.

There are no options for tweaking the texture of your finished froth, but unlike the Smeg Mini Milk Frother above, Philips says that the Baristina frother is designed to be used with all types of milk — plant and dairy. However, Max noticed that whatever type of milk he used, the foam was always on the thicker side, and like the Smeg frother, there's no spout for pouring patterns onto your coffee.

If you're considering the Baristina coffee maker and milk frother bundle, you should also be aware that Philips has recently launched the Baristina Latte, which bundles both into one compact package. I've not had the opportunity to test it yet, but I have high expectations.

Read our full Philips Baristina Milk Frother review

You might have a small kitchen, but that doesn't mean you can't make cafe-quality coffee at home. I test over a dozen coffee makers every year in my own small space, and I've found that when it comes to preparing delicious espresso, size really isn't everything.

If you want a machine that will prepare 40 different beverages at the press of a button then, yes, you'll need to dedicate a significant amount of space on your kitchen counter to a hefty fully automatic machine. However, if you just want to make delicious espresso, there are far smaller options that will do a superb job.

Here, I've picked out my all-time top-three compact coffee makers for small spaces, including one bean-to-cup brewer, one capsule coffee maker, and one more traditional manual brewer. I'd happily use any of the three myself — and they're all very reasonably priced as well.

Lavazza A Modo Mio Jolie Evo

I tested this coffee maker just a few days ago, and it's the smallest I've ever used, measuring a mere 4.9 x 8.3 x 13 inches / 124 x 210 x 330mm (W x H x D).

If you're looking for a compact coffee maker that will brew a good espresso with minimum fuss, this is the one for you. It takes Lavazza's own A Modo Mio pods, which you drop into a slot on top of the machine, before pushing back the large lever and hitting the "brew" button. Once you're satisfied with the quantity in your cup, tap the button again to stop the flow. Done.

You don't get Nespresso-like fancy flavors with Lavazza's pods, but I'd argue that's no bad thing. Coffee laced with added aromas often tastes unpleasantly sweet or artificial, and while Lavazza offers plenty of choice for beans and roasts, all the aromas come from the coffee itself, rather than from additives.

The only downside for me is that A Modo Mio pods are plastic, and can be difficult to recycle if you don't have a collection point near you. I'm lucky to have one quite nearby, but you can't send your pods in the mail — if there's no drop-off spot nearby, your only option is to start one yourself.

In all other respects, this is a superb little coffee maker. It's affordably priced, too, and its pods are some of the cheapest around.

Read our full Lavazza A Modo Mio Jolie Evo review

Philips Baristina

The Philips Baristina makes brewing espresso with fresh coffee beans just as simple as using pods. It measures 7 x 13.6 x 15 inches / 18 x 34.5 x 38cm (W x H x D), which is a fraction of the size of most bean-to-cup machines, and it's half the price too.

Pour your coffee beans into the hopper located on the top surface of the Baristina, fill its water tank, and slide the portafilter handle into place. Choose whether you want a single or double espresso and the machine will grind just the right quantity of coffee. Tamp it down, then slide the filter underneath the brewing group, and dispense a perfectly extracted drink directly into your waiting cup.

It's refreshingly simple, and cleanup is a piece of cake. Most bean-to-cup coffee machines do all the brewing inside a closed case, and the moist conditions combined with any leftover coffee grounds create the perfect conditions for mold to grow – unless you open everything up, clean it thoroughly, and leave the case open to dry overnight. With the Baristina, this isn't a problem.

The only drawback of the standard Baristina is that there's no steam wand for preparing milk. However, you can find the coffee maker bundled with a standalone milk frother, and Philips has recently launched a new machine called the Baristina Latte, which has a milk system built in. I've not had the opportunity to try it yet, but I have high hopes.

Read our full Philips Baristina review

De'Longhi Dedica Duo

We've had a capsule machine and a bean-to-cup coffee maker – now we have a traditional espresso machine, with a choice of portafilter baskets (both pressurized, making it easier to achieve a nice thick crema) and a manual steam wand. It measures 5.5 x 12 x 12.6 inches / 14 x 30.5 x 32cm (W x H x D), allowing it to slot onto even tiny kitchen counters.

The Dedica Duo has a list price of $299.95 / £279.99 (about AU$600), which is very affordable for a manual espresso machine, and would usually sound warning bells — espresso machines in this price bracket are usually pretty bad, and incapable of sustaining the steady temperature and pressure necessary for consistent brewing. That's not the case here, though; this is a De'Longhi machine through and through, with no compromises on build quality or performance. Everything feels solidly made, and it's a pleasure to use.

The "Duo" in the name refers to the fact that this little coffee maker can also make a cold-extracted espresso using water directly from the tank (bypassing the boiler). This takes longer then brewing hot, but works very well and produces a pleasingly mellow-tasting drink that's an ideal foundation for iced drinks. A superb little all-rounder.

Read our full De'Longhi Dedica Duo review

• Researchers are developing a tent that could produce its own electricity
• It's made out of magnetoelastic material
• It's still in early stages, but scientists intent to use them in off-grid camps and disaster zones

There are plenty of high-tech camping accessories you can get your hands on to spruce up your outdoor vacations — but have you ever thought about a tent that can produce its own electricity? Well, it could be the future of camping.

Researchers have been developing a ‘magnetoelastic’ tent that could generate and harvest its own electricity, kind of like a wind turbine, but one that you sleep in and use to power small devices. I thought I’ve seen my fair share of whacky tech, but this discovery is truly something else.

The tent is made out of a special material with ‘magnetoelasticity’, a textile property that can produce electrical energy from bending and stretching motions, which was first coined by physicist Emilio Villari in 1865. But it relies on fabric layering to harness its electrical production powers.

As mentioned in the Cell Press journal, Matter, the tent’s design consists of a magnetomechanical coupling layer and a magnetic induction layer. This is fused together with weaving patterns, layer stacking, and conductive fiber, allowing the tent to respond to movement.

The tent consists of two different components, one for the flooring and another for the roof. While the tent floor integrates woven fabric embedded with magnetoelastic ribbons, its roof features a layered material made of conductive fibers and magnetoelastic film.

The interesting part is that the material can respond to more than just human movement happening inside the tent — it can absorb action from environmental surroundings, too. Even motions such as wind and movement during the setup can also help — but how?

Essentially, the material’s fabric state shifts when it bends and flexes, converting mechanical movement into electricity through induction. During the testing period, researchers found that hand-tapping a small sample of the material could charge a 0.22-μF capacitor to 5.80V in 1.5 seconds. While this is nowhere near enough to power a smartphone, for example, it shows that the material certainly has potential.

Despite the successful early-stage experiments, there’s still a long way to go before it becomes a fully realized product, but the researchers behind it have a vision.

For them, the tent isn’t intended for leisurely camping trips. Instead, they see it as the ideal opportunity to provide sanctuary in shelters, disaster zones, off-grid camps, and areas where electricity access is limited or relies solely on sunlight.

That’s one of the clever elements of the tent: it doesn’t need the sun to power itself as solar panels do. Motion alone is enough to give the tent the power it needs to create its own source of energy, meaning that it can function in the shade and after sunset.

On paper it’s a genius product, but there are many tests that are yet to come — so don’t expect to score one in time for Glastonbury 2027.

KitchenAid KF2 two-minute review

The KitchenAid KF2 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine is the entry-level model in the company’s six-strong range of automatic coffee machines, and was launched in mid-2026 alongside the KF3 and KF4.

It adopts the exact same slim build as its two siblings, making any of them ideal for smaller kitchens. It also benefits from the exact same Intelligrind coffee bean grinder, which automatically determines the best grind size depending on the beans you’ve put in. The brewing unit is the same also, and in my taste tests, I couldn’t notice any obvious difference between the three. That means you’re going to get a wonderful, tasty espresso with each use.

What sets the KF2 apart — and where KitchenAid has made cuts to bring the cost down — is its feature set regarding drink presets and general usability. It’s also the only model in KitchenAid’s entire fully automatic coffee machine range to rock a steam wand for foaming milk — the others all use a hose-based system. While this may seem like a drop down in specification, I personally found the steam wand to perform the best when making foamy lattes and cappuccinos. What’s more, a steam wand is inherently going to perform better with non-dairy milk as it allows for greater control over temperature.

As with the KF3 and KF4, the KitchenAid KF2 is capable of making iced-coffee drinks, although as I found in my KitchenAid KF3 review, the results are a little underwhelming. This is because the brewed espresso is hot enough to quickly melt the ice in your cup or glass, despite KitchenAid claiming it’s brewed at a lower temperature.

Where the KitchenAid KF2 loses points slightly is the fact it doesn’t offer user profiles. I’ve been used to having profiles for some time at home, as I currently use the KitchenAid KF4 and have previously used the Philips LatteGo 4400, which offer four profiles and two profiles, respectively. Having them makes brewing a coffee incredibly quick and simple: just select a profile, select a drink and that’s it.

The fact the KF2 doesn’t have profiles means that brewing a variety of coffees will take longer, as you’ll have to select the drink and adjust any settings each time. It therefore might not be the best option for larger households, but for households of one or two people it’s still worthy of consideration.

The other slight niggle I have, which affects the KF3 and KF4 also, is that the unit can go through water relatively quickly due to it running a rinse cycle on start up and shutdown. The shutdown cycle I can understand, but I find the start-up cycle to be a little redundant.

All things considered, the KitchenAid KF2 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine is another fantastic option from the brand. It brews a well-extracted espresso each and every time and the steam wand works wonders for milk-based drinks.

KitchenAid KF2 review: Price & availability

• Launched in UK and US April 2026, Australia in July 2026
• List price $799.99 / £699 / AU$1,099

The KitchenAid KF2 Fully Automatic Espresso Machine launched in the US and UK in April 2026, before making its way to Australia in July 2026. It has a list price of $799.99 / £699 / AU$1,099, making it the company’s most affordable fully automatic machine.

The step-up KF3 adds a small color display to improve navigation and usability, four customizable profiles and a larger menu of drink presets, with a list price $999.99 / £749 / AU$1,349.

The top-tier model, the KF4 ($1,299.99 / £899 / AU$1,599) offers much of the same functionality as the KF2 with regard to grinder and brewing unit. It gains even more recipes, a large color touchscreen and KitchenAid’s hose-based milk-foaming system, complete with milk carafe.

I’m of the opinion that the KF2’s steam wand is the best option for expertly-frothed milk and for using with non-dairy milk varieties, instantly giving the machine a leg up over its siblings. And, since the actual coffee-brewing process is the same across all three machines, the KF2 represents excellent value.

That being said, the Ninja Luxe Cafe Premier offers more in the way of features, including a dedicated cold brew setting and cold-extraction for improved iced-coffee results, along with intelligent grind and dosage settings. Its list price is less than the KF2’s at $599.99 / £549.99 / AU$799.99, although it too doesn’t offer user profiles either and requires more hands-on input.

• Value score: 4 / 5

KitchenAid KF2 review: Specifications

KitchenAid KF2 review: Design

• Compact size will suit smaller space
• Steam wand suits plant-based milks
• No dishwasher-safe components

Of the three new compact automatic models, the KitchenAid KF2 sticks out the most for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s only available in a matte black finish (the KF3 and KF4 also come in Porcelain White, which I’m personally a fan of), and secondly there’s no color display.

The matte black finish is still sleek and smart-looking, it must be said, although there is a shiny, fingerprint-loving panel on the front at the top. You’ll want to keep a cloth nearby to keep it looking its best.

I don’t consider the lack of a color display to be a huge negative against the KF2, as the backlit panel is bright and clear when selecting a drink and adjusting settings. The color screens on the rest of KitchenAid’s espresso machine range do offer useful assistance with features like images of the drink you want to make, but it’s not something I missed when testing the KF2.

Physically the KitchenAid KF2 is the same as the other two compact models released in 2026, measuring 14.2 x 7.7 x 18.5 inches / 361 x 196 x 470mm (H x W x D). This compact form makes it easy to place the unit on a kitchen counter, and should be especially ideal for those with smaller kitchens. A couple of built-in wheels on the bottom at rear of the machine aid with manoeuvring into position.

Interacting with the KF2 is done via five buttons on the front panel. These select the drink type, dosage and strength — each of which can be pressed multiple times to cycle through options — one to activate cleaning cycles and a final button to initiate and cancel brewing. Each button press reveals a different backlit symbol on the front panel which are relatively self-explanatory.

Drink type cycles between espresso, coffee and over ice, dose lets you choose between one or two servings (either two cups under the dispenser or one for a double serving), and strength is a scale of one to three. This refers to how much coffee is ground into the brewing unit, from 7g (setting one) to 14g (setting three).

The bean hopper recessed into the top of the KF2 is large enough to hold 250g worth of coffee beans, which is accessed via a removable lid. While this does mean there’s no visual indication as to how many beans are left, it does at least mean the beans are kept airtight and away from light, helping to retain their freshness. There’s also a small chute for pre-ground coffee, and a scoop is included in the box.

The 1.8L water tank slides in and out the rear of the machine and has an integrated handle to make the process simple, although I personally prefer a side-mounted tank like the one found on the Philips LatteGo 4400 as I find it makes refilling that little bit easier. However, the KF2’s tank does at least feature a hinged lid, allowing you to fill it up from a jug if you wish.

KitchenAid supplies a water filter with the KF2 that it claims lasts up to two months when used with standard tap water. If you use filtered water, its life can extend to up to six months. The filter can seem to be a little fiddly to install due to the water tank being so tall. Thankfully the included coffee scoop doubles up as a tool that clips onto the filter, giving you the extra length needed to screw it into place.

The drip tray is deep and extends virtually the full depth of the KF2, and has a large spout integrated into its rear for easy emptying. However, as I found with the KF3 and KF4, when you pour water out it can occasionally spill onto the front panel section as it can’t be removed. It’s not a huge dealbreaker, just prepare for a little extra clean up. Used coffee grounds are deposited into a removable bin in the center that can be tipped out when full. An icon will light up on the front panel to let you know when it’s time.

One of the standout features of the KitchenAid KF2, in my opinion, is its Pannarello steam wand used for milk foaming. I was surprised to find one used, not only because KitchenAid uses a proprietary hose-based system in the KF3 and KF4, but also because other brands such as De’Longhi and Philips have also turned their backs on steam wands (in general) in the pursuit of an entirely automatic coffee-making process.

Personally, I appreciate KitchenAid's choice to include a steam wand here, as it enables you to create genuine milk foam, even when using non-dairy alternatives. In my experience, the hose system on the KitchenAid KF3 and KF4, the LatteGo system on the Philips 4400, and the LatteCrema system on the De'Longhi Magnifica Evo Next all fell short of producing a satisfactory level of milk foam for my taste.

The use of the steam wand does mean there’s some hands-on input required, as you need to hold the jug (which isn’t included in the box) under the steam outlet until the foam reaches your desired level. There’s also no built-in thermometer, so unless you use a third-party thermometer, you’ll have to judge when the milk is ready based on touch.

Whether you are crafting a flat white or a cappuccino, the wand features a small slider for 'more foam' or 'less foam' to ensure you get the perfect texture. By opening and closing the integrated air intake, this slider regulates the airflow: increasing the intake pumps more air into the milk, which creates a more voluminous and aerated foam. Keeping it closed is ideal for texturizing milk for lattes that don’t require as high a level of foam.

The KF2 features thorough cleaning cycles, including the ability to completely evaporate the internal system of water. There are also programs for descaling and cleaning the brewing unit, which require you to press a variation of buttons to initiate. A complete set of useful instructions is included in the box. Do note that none of the removable parts are dishwasher safe.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

KitchenAid KF2 review: Performance

• Consistently well-extracted espresso
• Steam wand delivers silky, well-foamed milk
• Lower brewing temperature for iced drinks still too hot

Having already reviewed the KF3, and knowing it uses the exact same brewing unit, I was expecting the same excellent results from the KitchenAid KF2. Fortunately my expectations were realised, as the compact KF2 produced a great-tasting espresso with each use.

Much of its success can be attributed to the IntelliGrind system that automatically determines the ideal grind size depending on your chosen beans. You can’t see the grinder at work, nor does the unit tell you what grind setting it’s chosen, you just have to put your trust in it to deliver optimal results. Your trust is rewarded.

However, if you're not completely satisfied with the crema or taste of your espresso, then the KF2 does offer the ability to manually adjust the grind to a finer or coarser level by way of a lever behind a compartment on the right-hand side of the machine. A finer setting is recommended for light-roast beans, while dark-roast beans benefit from a coarser setting. Since I was using medium-roast beans, I left the slider at the default setting in the middle.

Before you consider adjusting the grind level, you’ll first want to experiment with the strength of either the espresso or coffee drink presets. As mentioned earlier, there are only three coffee-based drink recipe presets: espresso, coffee and over ice. If you move up to the KF3 or KF4 you’ll gain recipes including latte macchiato, flat white and caffe latte, to name a few.

You can also adjust the volume of water used for each drink type, and the temperature it’s brewed at, by pressing and holding a specific set of buttons. You’ll find the full details in the supplied user manual. I was perfectly satisfied with the default settings, but it’s good to know KitchenAid offers the ability to personalize each drink.

Do note that if you do adjust any default settings, they will become the new norm until you change them again. Since there are no user profiles, you may want to consult with other people in your household before you make any tweaks.

If you want milk with your coffee, then the Pannarello steam wand is capable of producing thick, velvety foam that’s perfect for lattes, macchiatos and cappuccinos. It’s semi-automatic in use, as all you need to do is hold a milk pitcher under the wand and press the start button on the main unit (once you’ve cycled the ‘drink type’ menu through to ‘steam’). A word of warning, make sure you already have the steam wand submerged in milk. I pressed start with the pitcher still on the drip tray and ended up with milk all over the counter and myself.

A small slider on the side of the steam wand housing can be used to adjust the level of foam you achieve, either ‘less’ or ‘more’. In my tests this worked a charm, with the ‘more’ setting aerating the milk to such a high level that it nearly overflowed from the pitcher.

I much prefer the use of a steam wand compared to the hose systems used on the KF3 and KF4, as it’s capable of producing a much better level of froth. It’s also a hell of a lot easier to keep clean, as it doesn’t require constant rinse cycles to ensure the hose is free of residue. I actually wish the steam wand was featured on the company’s other machines.

Do note however that there’s no built-in thermometer to automatically detect when milk reaches your desired temperature. You’ll either have to invest in a dedicated one, or go off touch to determine when to shut the steam off. Also note that a milk pitcher isn’t included in the box. You can buy one directly from KitchenAid for $19.99 / AU$29. I wasn’t able to find a listing on the company’s UK store, but in all honesty, the pitcher available is relatively basic, so you could always get one from Amazon for the same or less money.

Where the KitchenAid KF2 falls down slightly — in a similar fashion to the KF3 and KF4 — is with its iced drinks function. KitchenAid has designed the KF2 to brew an espresso shot at a lower temperature compared to a regular shot when you select the ‘over ice’ drink type.

For starters, iced coffee fanatics will likely prefer a genuinely cold shot of coffee as opposed to having to pour a cooler shot of espresso over ice. Admittedly KItchenAid isn’t the only company to employ this function, as the Philips LatteGo machines also ask you to put some ice into a cup or glass before brewing an espresso.

However, I can’t agree with KitchenAid’s claim that the iced coffee espresso shot brews at a lower temperature, as I used a thermometer to check the temperature of a regular shot and iced shot, and both returned a measurements between 45ºC/113ºF and 50ºC/122ºF, which was hot enough to quickly melt the ice I had in my glass. It’s not necessarily a huge dealbreaker, but the fact remains there are other machines such as the De’Longhi Dedica Duo and the Jura J10 that are able to pour proper cold-extracted espresso for longer-lasting iced drinks.

It is, however, pleasing to find the KF2, like other KitchenAid espresso machines, is QuietMark-certified, signifying it should be whisper-quiet when grinding and brewing. And in reality, that’s certainly the case. I was able to record an average of 70dB while the machine was grinding and an average of 60dB when brewing. That, perhaps expectantly, puts it on par with the KF3 and KF4. That being said, we found the flagship KF8 to be quieter still with an average of 44dB during the entire coffee-making process.

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Should you buy the KitchenAid KF2?

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KitchenAid KF2 review: Also consider

How I tested the KitchenAid KF2

I used the KitchenAid KF2 over a one-week period. I was confident knowing how to use the machine, having previously reviewed the KF3 and from using the KF4 on a daily basis at home.

I prepared all of the available drink recipes — espresso, coffee and over ice — and used a thermometer to test the temperature of the ‘over ice’ espresso shot to determine if it was actually brewed at a lower temperature, as KitchenAid claims.

I also used the integrated steam wand in both its ‘less foam’ and ‘more foam’ settings to determine if there was indeed a difference in results. I also tested it with dairy milk and a barista-style oat milk to find out if it worked well with non-dairy milk varieties.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed August 2026

RunStar 4E Body Scale: One minute review

The RunStar 4E is an affordable smart scale that costs little more than a standard set of electrical scales. Considering it measures more than 20 different body composition metrics, the low price becomes even more impressive. As you’d expect at this price, there are limitations though, with the inability to measure composition accurately (fat-to-muscle ratios and so on) being the most glaring one.

Despite these shortcomings, everything, from app setup to using the scales, is smooth, straightforward, and wonderfully intuitive. Connecting the scales to the companion app is quick and easy thanks to a robust Bluetooth signal, and the option to create multiple users within the app is a nice touch for a family of my size and stage.

The weight measurement consistently measured around 0.4% more than the pricier RunStar 8E SmartScan Pro, which isn’t a massive deviation. For almost all the other measurements, the RunStar 4E adopts a bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) measuring method through four metal sensors located on the top panel of the scale.

BMI measurements were almost identical every single time compared to the 8E SmartScan Pro (probably because it's a mathematical calculation not dependent on the electrodes), but almost all other composition measurements offered up a deviation of between 3 and 30%. For these reasons, it’s not likely to make it into our best smart scales guide. That said, for the price, the RunStar 4E is a respectable set of scales for weight and quick BMI calculation.

RunStar 4E Body Scale: Specifications

RunStar 4E Body Scale: Price and availability

• $33.54 / £31.00
• Not available in Australia
• Budget-friendly smart scale

At $33.54 USD / £31.00 GBP, the RunStar 4E Body Scale is incredibly affordable as far as smart scales go. It might lack full body measurements for fat loss and fitness and muscle gain, but for that pleasure you’ll have to part with a lot more money and shoot for something like the RunStar 8E SmartScan Pro, Withings Body Scan series, or Wyze Scale X.

A comparable option in terms of price and features would be the Vitafit Smart Bathroom Scale, which scored a respectable four stars in our testing. Positives included the easy connection, extremely fast results, and the comprehensive app. Our reviewer had some concerns over accuracy, but overall it’s a solid choice.

The scales are FSA and HSA eligible, which means US users are able to use them in conjunction with designating pre-tax money to be taken from pay and put towards paying medical expenses.

• Value score 4.5/5

RunStar 4E Body Scale: Design

• LCD display with color graphics
• Compact and lightweight design
• Powered by 3x AAA batteries

At the heart of the RunStar 4E is a bright LCD display that provides an easy-to-access readout of six metrics: weight, body fat, BMI, muscle mass, body water, and bone mass. The display cycles through these with a few seconds given over to each stat. Unfortunately there’s no way to move to a specific metric using on-device controls, although the full list is available in the accompanying app.

At 11.02 x 11.02 x 0.78 inches and 3.17 pounds, the smart scale is both compact and lightweight. As a result, finding a suitable spot for it in a bathroom or bedroom shouldn’t be a problem. It can also be easily stowed on its side in a cupboard while not in use.

The scale is covered in 6mm tempered glass, which protects against scratches and cracks, neither of which I suffered despite my children doing their accidental best to inflict a dent or two. Underneath you’ll find four anti-slip silicone feet.

Quick and effortless connectivity is via Bluetooth, and power is delivered courtesy of three AAA batteries. USB-C charging would have been better for the environment, but with minimal power required, I don’t envisage getting through too many batteries.

• Design Score: 4/5

RunStar 4E Body Scale: Features

• 22 reportable metrics including weight, BMI, and muscle mass
• App supports multiple users

The RunStar 4E boasts an impressive feature set for such an affordable scale, or at least it would be if the extras were more impressive. At its core, the scale is capable of measuring over 20 metrics, including weight, BMI, body fat percentage, body mass, muscle mass, body water rate, bone mass, and visceral fat. Six of these are visible on the smart scale itself, while the full set is reported in the Starfit RunStar app.

To accommodate families, the Starfit app enables users to set up multiple profiles, one for each family member. By entering the height and target weight of each person, the app is able to provide more accurate and informed reporting. The app also tracks measurements over time and plots them on a chart for trend analysis.

• Features Score: 4/5

RunStar 4E Body Scale: Performance

• Quick results on-device and in-app
• Accurate weight, BMI, and metabolic age
• Some inaccuracies consistently reported

The first thing to note is that the RunStar 4E is quick. In a matter of seconds the scale is able to measure over 20 different body composition metrics and display them instantly in the app. There’s no waiting around for calculations to be made and zero lag when the display is cycling through the six core metrics.

Weight, as you’d expect, is measured prior to all the body composition elements. Having measured myself hundreds of times, I found that the 4E regularly mismeasured my weight by around 0.4% compared to the RunStar 8E SmartScan Pro and, indeed, my rudimentary pair of digital weight scales. It would be unfair to judge the scales too harshly for this small deviation, especially given the price.

According to research published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, one study conducted on smart scales shows a median margin of error of around 0.3kgs, so I can forgive it some small deviation. That said, if you’re requiring absolute accuracy, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

BMI was also consistently measured more or less accurately, with deviations of only 0.5%. If you’re only concerned with quick measurements such as weight and BMI, then the RunStar 4E won’t cause you any problems.

Getting into the specifics, musculoskeletal-related measurements using BIA include muscle, muscle mass, and skeletal muscle rates. The first two measured around a 3% deviation from the 8E SmartScan Pro, but it was the skeletal muscle rate which was most concerning, measuring a deviation of nearly 15%.

Unfortunately variable results continue with fat-related metrics. Compared to the SmartScan Pro, body fat percentage, subcutaneous fat, and body fat mass all reported a massive 30% deviation.

Despite comparably poor results on some metrics, it’s worth remembering that most of these are specialized measurements, and to expect too much from a smart scale that costs $33.54 / £31.00 might be a little unreasonable.

That said, it would be preferable for consumers if smart scale manufacturers would only include metrics that they could report on accurately. The RunStar 4E also measures consistently with itself, which means it can still be trusted as a weight loss tool assuming you allow for the margin of error.

• Performance score: 3.5/5

RunStar 4E Body Scale: Scorecard

RunStar 4E Body Scale: Should I buy?

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Also consider

How I tested

My family (two adults and three children) has been using the RunStar 4E for three months. We’ve used it to measure and track all types of metrics, including weight, BMI, and muscle mass. I carried out comparison tests with the more premium RunStar 8E SmartScan Pro. In addition, I’ve used every feature of the app to give the smart scales a thorough testing.

First reviewed: July 2026

Air fryers aren't just for small cooking tasks or one-to-two person households. There's a new wave of air fryers that come kitted out with two drawers, enabling you to cook two components of a meal at once. They offer more space than your standard, one-drawer offering, and provide an easy way to keep different foods separate, but they also go further than than that.

You can pick a different temperature for each drawer, and most will have a sync function that means the appliance will automatically figure out your timings and sync up cooking so both drawers of food are finished at once. If you have a small kitchen, there are a number of models that have the two drawers stacked one on top of the other, to provide a generous cooking capacity without eating up all your counter space. It's enough to make you want to retire your proper oven for good.

We have a general guide to the best air fryers, but in this roundup I've narrowed things down to just my favorite two-drawer options. The main name to look out for is Ninja — this brand makes a wide variety of dual-zone options of different sizes and with different functions. I've included a number of options below, but I've also featured alternatives from rival brands, including some budget-friendly options.

Double trouble

• The Do Hiemon Box will cool you down for 20 minutes
• It blasts air on you at temperatures of 5°C or 41°F
• The units are being sold to construction sites and golf courses

If you're in Japan, you have an alternative to air conditioning units and portable fans when it comes to staying cool in sweltering temperatures: a human-sized refrigerator that you can sit inside when the heatwaves get too much.

This is the Do Hiemon Box from Trusco Nakayama (via The Japan Times), and it'll blast your body with air cooled down to a refreshing 5°C or 41°F — about the same temperature as a chiller in a standard refrigerator.

It requires no installation, can be moved on wheels, and according to Trusco Nakayama it beats other solutions by cooling the entire body down evenly. After 20 minutes, the unit automatically switches off to prevent overcooling, and you're back out into the heat.

As per The Japan Times, a couple of hundred of these units have been sold across construction sites, golf courses, leisure facilities, and university campuses since the chamber went on sale earlier this year.

It'll cost you

You need a standard electrical outlet for this to work, and you also need access to the 1.5 million yen it costs (that's about $9,480 / £7,040 / AU$13,460). These personal cooling machines don't exactly come cheap.

The idea is that you get quick, temporary protection against heat exhaustion and heatstroke — a growing problem in our warming world — rather than using this as an air conditioned office or a space to relax in.

According to a Trusco Nakayama executive speaking to The Japan Times, enquiries about the fridge have come from as far afield as Germany and the US. The company is hoping to find more business at summer festivals and shopping malls.

Before long you might find yourself queuing up for a slot in the human fridge as well as for the loos at your next festival trip — another depressing sign of the consequences of climate change that show no signs of being reversed.