Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W Built-In Retractable USB-C Cable: review
(Image credit: Future)
The Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W Built-In Retractable USB-C Cable (don’t worry, I’ll shorten it from here on out), is exactly what it sounds like. It's a small-sized portable charger with a built-in cable for on-the-go charging, and boasts a 10,000mAh capacity and 45W maximum power output.
The real draw of the Anker 10K 45W is its convenience. Firstly, that integrated charging wire is a massive plus. Simply pull it out, and it auto locks to the length that suits you best. To unwind, all you’ve got to do is pull and release – easy as you like. In addition, this model is pretty compact, meaning it can easily slot into a pocket or small bag.
Is its charging performance as efficient as its build? Well, it would be hard to answer that question with a one-word answer. First of all, there are some restrictions worth noting. A 45W maximum power output means that it can’t charge more demanding devices, like laptops, at peak levels – something that a lot of the best power banks are capable of. Its 10,000mAh capacity isn’t the largest either, though it will be plenty to charge most phones and a pair of wireless earbuds a couple of times.
Anyway, I tried charging my Samsung Galaxy S24 FE – which has a 4,700mAh battery capacity – and fast charging was activated, enabling my device to go from 0-100% in around 80 minutes. That’s as fast as I’d expect, so no complaints there.
After a while, though, I wanted to recharge the portable charger, and performance could’ve been a bit better. After about 10 minutes, I realized it was only charging at 19W. This is because the model throttles charging input to keep temperature in check. Still, I got a full charge after approximately two hours, which is still fairly decent.
And let’s go back to that temperature control note. Sure, the charger can get a little warm, especially if you’re also making use of its additional USB-A and USB-C ports and edging towards maximum power use. But it never felt overly hot. You can also check the battery temperature and health of the model using its inbuilt display.
The display itself is behind a translucent exterior, and can also update you on the power output from the integrated cable and additional ports – pretty handy. It's not the brightest display I’ve ever used, but it’s certainly a nice-to-have.
(Image credit: Future)
Something I really like about this model is its well-designed cord, which you can adjust to fit onto a backpack or a belt loop, for instance. The exterior itself also has an attractive metallic, glossy finish, as well as a textured surface, which enhances grip. It can be yours in a range of colors too, specifically: Aurora White; Phantom Black, which is the variant I tested; or Sprout Green.
For the power and build quality on offer, I’d also say that this model is priced pretty well. It has a list price of $59.99 / £49.99 / AU$99.95. We’ve tested cheaper rivals – like the Samsung 25W 10,000mAh Wireless Battery Pack – but that model has a considerably lower wattage.
Combine that with the integrated table and the fact that this model is regularly on sale already, and I’d say the Anker 10K 45W is a strong value pick worth checking out. If you need to charge a laptop or power hungry phone like the the OnePlus 13, for example, something mightier will suit you better. Otherwise, I’m generally a fan of what Anker has to offer here.
Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W Built-In Retractable USB-C Cable review: price & specs
Price
$59.99 / £49.99 / AU$99.95
Total power output
45W
Number of ports
2 (excluding 1x inbuilt retractable USB-C cable)
Port type(s)
1x USB-C; 1x USB-A
Dimensions
3.2 x 2 x 1.4 inches / 81 x 50 x 36mm
Should I buy the Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W Built-In Retractable USB-C Cable?
Buy it if...
You only need to charge your phone For a lot of modern iPhones and Samsung phones, for instance, this is a powerful enough pick. 45W means you’ll be able to access fast charging, with the 10,000mAh capable of supplying multiple full charges.
You don’t already own a USB-C cable One of the best things about this power bank is that you don’t need to buy a separate USB-C cable to make use of it. Simply connect your device to the integrated cable, and you’re good to go. Also, Anker says that the cable can survive more than 20,000 bends and retractions, so it should last for quite some time.
Don't buy it if...
You want to charge your laptop Unfortunately, this model doesn’t have the firepower to charge more demanding devices like laptops or certain phones at maximum capacity. That’s due to its fairly modest 45W power output. I’d recommend a model with around 100W if you want to charge one of the best MacBooks, for example.
You’re looking for a super-cheap option I’d argue that this model is pretty solid value for money, but there are certainly cheaper options out there if you’re looking to spend a little less. Having said that, you can often find the Anker Nano 10K 45W for less than its $59.99 / £49.99 / AU$99.95 list price, so keep your eyes peeled for a sale.
Anker Nano Power Bank 10K 45W Built-In Retractable USB-C Cable review: also consider
(Image credit: Future)
Anker 20,000mAh 87W Power Bank Yep, I’ve got another Anker model for you, and this one’s really special. I used this one personally for a couple of weeks, mainly to extend the battery life of my Nintendo Switch 2. However, its 87W power output also means it can charge a lot of the most power-hungry phones at maximum capacity, and even juice up a good portion of laptops. With an integrated cable, additional USB slots, and a handy display, this power bank really has it all. Read our full Anker 20,000mAh 87W Power Bank review.
Consumables included: 4x setup cartridges (1,000 color x 1,500 black)
Dimensions/Weight: 318 x 455 x 421 mm (WxDxH)/21kg
The Xerox C320 is an upper mid-price laser printer packing all the features demanded by a busy workgroup, while also appealing to the home worker with high print demands. It’s built for volume printing with a fairly fast print speed of 35ppm (pages per minute), a paper capacity of 250 sheets and a duty cycle of up to 65,000 pages per month.
It has premium features like a touchscreen interface, USB Host port and is supported by optional components including paper cassettes. There’s also a separate manual feed slot and the strong security I’ve come to expect from Xerox products.
It looks a little clunky to my eye, with the square toner compartment raised up on the right side, rather than inside the body of the printer. However, the more easily accessible toner cartridges promise bright colors and it turns out, I’m not disappointed.
Xerox C320: Design and build
(Image credit: Xerox)
Relocating the four toner cartridges adds some height, making the Xerox C320 larger than the more affordable Xerox C230 in all dimensions. The boxy form factor makes more sense in the multifunction version of this printer, the Xerox C325, where the square toner compartment forms one of the two pillars holding up the scanner section.
I found that the toner compartment opens almost too readily and the toner cartridges disengage at the lightest touch. The front access flap also flops open very easily so the whole thing feels flimsy. It’s the same with the lightweight cartridges. Xerox is using 30% recycled plastic here, which is great, so long as all these moving parts are stronger than they look. It comes with the same one-year warranty as the C230 series.
Xerox C320: Features & specifications
(Image credit: Xerox)
As a step-up model, the Xerox C320 has a higher spec and a few more features than the C230. The small difference in price of around US$27 buys you a 2.8-inch touchscreen with a more intuitive user interface and a USB Host port, so it’s with paying a little more in my view.
It’s significantly faster at 35ppm and has twice the internal memory (1GB). The paper handling is the same, with room for 250 sheets in the main tray and a single sheet in the front-loading manual feed slot. Both inputs are able to print on media up to 216gsm in simplex mode and 105gsm in duplex mode. That’s somewhat limiting, but this is a printer that doesn’t much like heavy paper.
This variant comes with the removable Wi-Fi module included and it has AirPrint and Chromebook compatibility. It’s using a 1 GHz Dual Core processor and unlike the cheaper C230, the C320 is supported by a range of accessories. These include a 100-sheet bypass tray and 550-sheet feeder, which means your printer can grow in step with your print demands.
The only thing missing is NFC, which is often useful in a shared office where staff are able to pull down their own print jobs using NFC enabled ID cards. You’ll find this feature on more expensive models like the Xerox VersaLink B600DN.
Xerox C320: Setup and operation
(Image credit: Xerox)
The responsive 2.8-inch touchscreen, an uncommon luxury on a print-only device, makes the Xerox C320 easy to operate and set up. Once you have loaded some paper in the main tray, plugged in and turned on, the display will prompt you to select a language and print out a test page.
Another prompt advises you to download the free Xerox Easy Assist app onto your iOS or Android device. This excellent app helps you make a wireless connection with the printer and get it onto your Wi-Fi network. It connects to a MacBook or Chromebook just as readily.
Xerox C320: Performance
(Image credit: Xerox)
The Xerox C320 printed quickly and efficiently throughout my tests, and with very little noise. Laser printers are usually louder than inkjets, but this one has a quiet mode that keeps the sound pressure level below 51dB.
However, I did experience two paper jams involving both of the inputs. The first was a case of too many sheets of plain paper feeding from the main tray at the same time and was easily cleared. The second was my fault when I accidentally duplex-printed 210gsm paper, which is too thick for this printer to turn. It was easy enough to open the front flap and remove the offending sheet, but harder to convince the printer the problem was solved. It took some time and multiple rebooting to resume printing.
This glitch could be a one-off event and the strong print performance of the Xerox C320, makes up it. Black text on plain A4 paper looks as clean and crisp as any premium laser printer, with characters legible down to the smallest point sizes. The quoted print speed of 33ppm for consecutive simplex A4 pages (35ppm for slightly smaller letter format pages) is accurate. That’s significantly faster than the Xerox C235, but slower than the HP LaserJet Pro 4002dn. In duplex mode, the pages are turned quickly so overall, this feels like a very efficient print rate.
The speed is the same for printing color documents, at which this printer is especially good, thanks to the bright toner in Xerox’s square cartridges. The mixed color pages in my multipage Word presentation look vibrant with no sign of banding or fading. What really surprised me, was how well the Xerox C320 prints color photographs. In general, lasers are worse than inkjets at photos because they can’t print on the same coated photo papers (laser photo paper is much like regular paper) and their resolution is usually limited to 600x600dpi.
The Xerox C320 has its true 600dpi resolution enhanced to 4,800dpi, which makes images look more detailed and natural. Combined with the boldness of the C/M/Y toner, the result is a pretty satisfying photo. I used specialist laser photo paper for this test, which gives a further subtle uplift in image quality from plain paper.
Xerox C320: Consumables
(Image credit: Xerox)
The square toner cartridges are a departure from the usual elongated shape and they feel suspiciously light. Sure enough, the bundled setup carts contain less toner than standard carts and will only yield 1,000 color pages and 1,500 black pages. Happily, high-capacity carts are available that will give you up to 5,500 color pages and 8,000 monochrome. A set of those will cost around US$670 (£500 ex VAT), which works out at a competitive CPP (cost per page) that would please any business with high print demands.
Xerox C320: Maintenance
(Image credit: Xerox)
The good news is that the maintenance routine for your Xerox C320 is a simple case of dusting the outside and apertures and replacing the imaging unit, which is very easy to access and remove, after 125,000 pages, or when prompted. The bad news is that a new imaging unit costs around US$338 (£480 ex VAT).
But because these imaging units last so long and need replacing so infrequently, the CPP is still low enough to make this printer as efficient, or more so, than many rival lasers and inkjets. You can print out a device report and quality check that will show supply levels at any time, but be warned that this will eat up nine sheets of paper.
Xerox C320: Final verdict
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(Image credit: Xerox)
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(Image credit: Xerox)
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(Image credit: Xerox)
Despite my first impressions being lowered by the paper jam and insubstantial feel of the Xerox C320, I’m completely won over by its vivid print quality. It’s certainly well equipped with two paper inputs, Wi-Fi, USB Host port and helpful touchscreen interface. It prints quickly in duplex mode and text pages always emerge crisp and professional-looking.
Best of all though, are its vivid color prints. Photos in particular benefit from the bright toner and enhanced 4,800dpi print resolution. If you switch to the high-capacity cartridges for this printer, it’s quite economical to run too, making this a solid choice for any shared office with high print demands.
Last year, I reviewed Xodo, an excellent online PDF editor well worth checking out (you can read my review here). But did you know Xodo also offer a desktop version of their service for Macs, Windows and Linux?
After testing some of the best PDF editors and best free PDF editors, I was keen to see how the downloadable Xodo PDF Studio desktop version compares to its online counterpart, as well as other big players in the PDF space like Acrobat.
Xodo PDF Studio: Pricing & plans
A choice of subscription or perpetual licence is always welcome, and should be praised. The free trial is very short, so run the tests you need quickly to decide if it’s worth paying for
Whether you opt for Xodo’s online service or its desktop version, it’ll cost you the same if you opt for a yearly contract (which would be the equivalent of around $10 a month per license). Choose to pay on a month by month basis, and the value changes to $13 online, and $20 for the desktop version.
If you’re sick to the back teeth of subscriptions, Xodo have you covered, offering you a perpetual licence for the Desktop app, for $240 per seat.
Curious about the service but don’t want to financially commit just yet? Then grab their 3-day free trial. All its features are unlocked and hopefully three days should give you enough time to check out the software, and decide if it’s right for you or not.
You can check it out over on the official Xodo website by clicking here.
Pricing & plans: 4/5
Xodo PDF Studio: Interface
(Image credit: Xodo // Future)
Offering multiple ways of accessing the same tool is a very good thing… only the way the app’s menubar is setup could be given a little more love
Launch Xodo and you’ll find the interface to be… fine. It doesn’t scream ‘modern design’, nor does it bask in unwanted 90s nostalgia. It’s just… ok. All the tools and icons you need are located at the top of the window, in a basic black and blue minimalist style. It’s fine, really. It’s just not… that appealing.
What is a nice touch however, is that the first time you launch the app, it will automatically open a PDF which explains what its interface does. and where to find what you need. Full marks for that.
You’ll find the tools are accessible in multiple ways. For instance, by default, those you see are from the ‘Home’ menu, and pretty much all the ones you need are there, from selecting text, to searching inside the document, adding a comment, highlighting a section, even editing the PDF’s content, and adding shapes, among others.
However, above these large icons is a thin menu bar, which lets you focus on specific categories of tools, even though you can also access most of them from ‘Home’ already. For instance, if you want to add a comment, in ‘Home’, click on the ‘Comment’ icon to reveal a drop down list bearing multiple options. But if you were to click on ‘Comment’ in the thin menu bar instead, those icons are replaced with a new set, showing you all those that were in that drop down list we just saw.
It’s all the same tools, just available in different ways. It can get a tad confusing, especially as the selected menu in that thin menu bar only has a subtle blue line underneath it, which can be easy to miss, which can make you wonder why the icon you’re after isn’t displayed… until you realise you’re in the wrong menu.
Mac users have a third option, through the system’s own menu bar, from which you can also select all the tools you need. Don’t get me wrong: options are good, and being able to access the same tool in different ways is a good design decision… I just wish the app’s selected menu was at least more prominently highlighted to reduce possible confusion.
Interface: 4/5
Xodo PDF Studio: Tools
(Image credit: Xodo // Future)
Numerous tools, all incredibly easy to use, even if their layout at first can feel awkward
To start using the tools, take a quick trip to the ‘File’ menu to open an existing document, either from your computer, or directly through one of various online storage services, such as OneDrive, DropBox, GoogleDrive, or Xodo’s very own XodoDrive. This is also the place where you can create a new document, either from scratch, or by importing various files, like images, a scanned file, collate multiple files into one, or convert docs from MS Office or AutoCAD.
Once you’ve got a document loaded up, you’re free to annotate and alter it to your heart’s content. It’s actually pretty easy to make notes, highlight, draw on the PDF itself, add shapes to mask areas (although redaction is a much better tool for that should the info be sensitive and not to be divulged - Xodo supports this feature too).
Reordering pages and deleting some is a cinch and done through the left sidebar, but perhaps the most exciting option is the ability to edit the very existing content of a PDF.
Some tools, like Extract, do allow versatility, letting you reorder and rotate pages (Image credit: Xodo // Future)
This is not a feature that is available from all PDF applications - in fact, it’s usually seen as one of the most advanced features, and not every app that includes it does a good job of it, making editing more of a chore than it should be.
I’m pleased to report that the Xodo Desktop App excels at editing existing content. When that tool is activated, you’ll see a faint blue rectangle surrounding the various text and image boxes in your document. Click on one to select it and move it around, or once selected, click inside the text box to alter its existing content, using the exact same font and size as the original. Now it doesn’t work like a word processor or a desktop publishing application: you can’t link text boxes together and make your copy flow from one to the next. This is for minor edits, and changes that don’t require having to go back to the original document and make alterations from there instead. But with those limitations in mind, for a PDF editing tool, it works fantastically well.
(Image credit: Xodo // Future)
The only tool I thought was superfluous was the Snapshot, which as its name suggests, allows you to take a screenshot of a selected part of the PDF you’re working on. Sure, you have the option of selecting its format (PNG, JPEG, TIFF or GIF), or send it straight to a printer - which is novel - but every computer has screenshotting capabilities built-in, so why bother using that one? But that’s a minor quibble.
All in all, despite its icon design or tool organisation which could do with a little love, the Xodo Desktop App is an excellent PDF editor which makes it easy to perform even tricky tasks.
Tools: 4.5/5
Should I buy the Xodo PDF Studio desktop app?
(Image credit: Xodo // Future)
Buy it if...
You’re looking for a desktop PDF editor (ideal for increased security over an online service), with a boatload of tools that are easy to use, and includes well implemented, powerful advanced features.
Don't buy it if...
You only need to make a few changes to a PDF, like delete a page, or reorder another, but all the other tools Xodo has is just overkill for your needs.
The Ninja Prestige DualBrew System (which is almost identical to the Ninja Espresso and Coffee Maker Barista System solid in the US) is a Swiss army knife of a coffee maker, with a drip brewer on one side, a single-serve pod machine for espresso on the other, a measuring scoop embedded in one side, and a milk whisk that flips out from the back. Its price is around upper-mid level for a drip coffee maker, but when you consider that you’re getting a Nespresso machine thrown in, too, it’s great value.
It’s a sizeable machine so you’ll need a decent amount of countertop space to accommodate it, but it’s well designed and full of thoughtful little touches. Highlights include a height-adjustable drip tray for the Nespresso pod brewer (with a grippy surface to prevent your cup slipping and avoid scratches), a bin for used capsules that has its own mini-drip tray so they can dry out ready for recycling, and a fold-out platform so you can brew a single portion of drip coffee straight into your favorite cup or travel mug.
The DualBrew System uses a hotplate to keep your fresh drip coffee warm rather than an insulated carafe, which won’t be to everyone’s taste; many people prefer to avoid hotplates for fear of stewing their coffee and spoiling the taste. However, this one is more gentle than most, with a choice of heat settings and times so you don’t overheat your morning brew.
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The drip coffee maker comes with one basket, and a two-ended measuring scoop to help with dosing (Image credit: Future)
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You can brew drip coffee into a carafe, or directly into a cup or travel mug (Image credit: Future)
Unlike a double-walled carafe, this glass pitcher is dishwasher-safe, as are the machine’s other removable components – and the DualBrew System will alert you when it’s time to run its cleaning program.
Ninja suggests the Prestige DualBrew System is a good option for entertaining, letting you cater to the whims of different guests – and it is, but personally I love it as a way to get coffee into my system as quickly as possible in the morning. Set the timer and wake to a freshly brewed, nicely extracted jug of drip coffee, or pick a pod and have a tasty espresso in your hand within two minutes.
Espresso purists will prefer the Ninja Luxe Café, which combines a drip coffee maker with a semi-automatic espresso machine, and has a proper steam wand rather than a little electric whisk, but for sheer convenience, the DualBrew System is hard to beat.
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: specifications
Dimensions (H x W x D)
5.5 x 10.8 x 12.8 inches / 41.1 x 27.4 x 32.6cm
Weight
13.6lbs / 6.18kg
Water tank capacity
1.9 quarts / 1.8 liters
Filter baskets
One (cone)
Brewing modes
Drip and espresso (from capsules)
Timer
Yes
Insulated carafe
No
Hotplate
Yes
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: price and availability
Sold in the UK, and almost identical model available in US
Not yet sold in Australia
Costs $279.99 / £249.99
The Ninja Prestige DualBrew System is sold in the UK for £249.99, and an almost identical model called the Ninja Espresso and Coffee Maker Barista System is available in the US for $279.99. As far as I can see, the only differences between the two are the style of the display, and the color of the plastic panel on the right-hand side. Their features seem to be exactly the same.
Both variants carry an upper-mid range price tag for a drip coffee maker, but when you factor in the extra single-serve capsule coffee maker, they suddenly become very good value for money. You'll find today's best deals on both versions below.
Neither machine is available in Australia at the time of writing, but the Ninja Luxe Café is a good alternative if you want a two-in-one drip coffee and espresso machine.
Value score: 5/5
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: design
Thoughtfully designed by people who clearly love coffee
Milk frother isn’t perfect, but it's a nice extra
Dishwasher-safe components
The Ninja Prestige DualBrew System is quite a large unit, measuring 5.5 x 10.8 x 12.8 inches / 41.1 x 27.4 x 32.6cm (H x W x D), but there isn't an inch of wasted space.
Both the drip coffee maker and single-serve pod machine use the same water tank, which slots into the back of the machine. It’s easy to lift out for filling, and measurements are clearly marked on the side, although a handle would have been a nice extra touch for a more secure grip. There’s no water filter supplied with the machine, either.
The water tank is easy to remove, although it has no handle (Image credit: Future)
Both parts of the DualBrew System are controlled using a simple set of physical buttons on the machine’s face, plus a dial that has a pleasingly solid feeling when rotated and pressed. Information is conveyed via a monochrome LCD panel, which is clear and bright, and shows the current time when the machine is in standby mode.
The drip coffee part of the DualBrew (on the left-hand side) features a filter basket assembly that stands taller than the rest of the machine, so you may need to slide it forward to open the lid if you’re planning to keep it on a counter underneath a cabinet. It comes with a single cone-shaped filter basket, and a set of filter papers to get you started.
Choose your brew size and strength, then set the timer or start brewing immediately (Image credit: Future)
Unlike some drip coffee makers (such as the Sage Luxe Thermal Brewer and Fellow Aiden Precision Drip Coffee Maker) there’s no flat-bottomed basket for large, strong brews. However, unlike these two premium machines, the DualBrew System has a handy drip-stop function that prevents coffee leaking out of the basket when the machine has finished brewing.
The carafe itself is a traditional-style glass pitcher rather than the insulated ones used by the Sage and Fellow machines, and unlike them, has a hotplate underneath to keep your freshly brewed coffee warm. A small LED on the bottom left of the machine warns you if it’s hot, for safety.
If you only want to brew a single serving, there’s a small fold-down drip tray behind the carafe, which is just the right size for a coffee mug.
The DualBrew System takes Nespresso Original style capsules (Image credit: Future)
Moving to the right-hand side of the machine, you’ll find a slot in the top that accepts Nespresso Original style capsules (not the dome-shaped Vertuo pods). Nestlé no longer owns the patent to these top-hat-shaped capsules, so there’s a huge range available from big brands and indie coffee roasters alike.
Below this is a drip tray, which you can unhook and reposition to accommodate different-sized cups (anything from a tall mug to a tiny espresso cup). The tray has a rubberized surface to prevent your cup slipping, and although the sets of holes for repositioning it doesn’t look particularly stylish (it feels like a sliding system would look more sleek), it’s understandable that Ninja’s designers have taken a minimalist approach considering the waste bin for used pods is directly behind it.
Adjust the height of the drip tray to suit your cup (Image credit: Future)
That isn't all the DualBrew has hidden away. On the left-hand side you’ll find a two-ended coffee scoop with markings for brewing different quantities of drip coffee. There’s also a fold-out milk frother, which is activated by pressing a button on top. Unlike a steam wand, this doesn’t heat the milk, but it’s a nice addition if you want to use a coffee capsule as the basis for an espresso, and the machine has a sticker on the side providing estimated microwave and whisking times for different drinks.
Design score: 4.5/5
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: performance
Extremely simple to use and maintain
Drip-stop is a particularly helpful feature
Excellent adjustable hotplate
The Ninja Prestige DualBrew System is a particularly great option if you’re looking for a coffee machine that will help give you a boost in the morning. Its drip machine has a timer so you can wake to a freshly brewed mug or jug of coffee, and its single-serve capsule machine will have you sipping an espresso within a minute. They’re the two most convenient forms of coffee-making rolled into one easy-to-use machine.
Setup is straightforward: just use the dial to set the current time (necessary for scheduling the drip coffee maker), then "prime" the DualBrew System following Ninja’s instructions. For the drip brewer, this means running a brew cycle using a full tank of water, without coffee in the basket, and for the single-serve coffee maker it means running the "lungo" program three times without a capsule.
Your espresso will be ready to drink in about a minute (Image credit: Future)
As you use the DualBrew System, you’ll start to appreciate the various thoughtful touches Ninja’s designers have implemented. For example, used coffee pods drop into a bin with its own mini-drip tray underneath, which catches any mess from used capsules so they’re dry and ready to recycle.
The drip-stop function is particularly handy if you’re in a rush first thing in the morning, since it allows you to remove the carafe as soon as the machine has finished brewing without drips falling onto the hotplate (and making a mess). The machine will also display a warning icon and refuse to start if you try to begin brewing while the drip-stop is closed.
The drip-stop helps avoid mess when you've brewed a carafe or mug of coffee (Image credit: Future)
Another of my favorite features is the hotplate. Sometimes, drip coffee maker hotplates tend to become very warm and stew your freshly brewed coffee. However, this DualBrew System avoids this by offering a choice of temperatures (low, medium, or high), and can keep your coffee warm for up to four hours, which is the same performance you could expect from a coffee maker with an insulated carafe.
The glass carafe has a couple of key advantages: you can see how much coffee is left, and it’s dishwasher-safe, which isn’t true of double-walled pitchers. When you’re loading the dishwasher, you can also add the water reservoir and its lid, the brew basket, the cup tray and its base, and the milk frother, too, so you won’t need to spend time scrubbing by hand.
The milk frother is nice to have, but can't compare with a steam wand (Image credit: Future)
As mentioned above, the frother is just an electric whisk (similar to the hand-held type that can be bought for $10 at Amazon), but it’s a nice extra, and adding a steam wand to the DualBrew System would have been impractical. During testing, the whisk worked better with dairy milk than plant-based alternatives, and I found that it took longer than suggested by the guide to achieve a thick foam. Nevertheless, the recommended heating times for milk were handy as a guide. The whisk tucks away out of sight when not in use.
Performance score: 5/5
Should you buy the Ninja Prestige DualBrew System
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System score card
Attribute
Notes
Score
Value
A reasonable price for a drip coffee maker, and even better when there's also a Nespresso machine attached.
5/5
Design
Large, but thoughtfully designed and easy to maintain. The only weak point is the milk frother, which is nice to have but not amazing.
4.5/5
Performance
Makes brewing great coffee as close to effortless as possible, whether you're entertaining guests or just trying to jump-start your morning.
5/5
Ninja Prestige DualBrew System: also consider
If you're not quite sure whether the Ninja Prestige DualBrew System is the right coffee maker for you, here are two alternatives to consider:
Ninja Luxe Café
Another two-in-one coffee maker, the Luxe Café swaps the single-serve pods for a semi-automatic espresso machine. It also has a steam wand with automatic and manual settings for creating proper cappuccinos and lattes, and is still great value.
If you only want to brew drip coffee, the Luxe Thermal Brewer is my number-one pick right now. It has a small footprint, it's easy to use, and its thermal carafe keeps coffee piping hot for an amazingly long time (much longer than any others I've tested).
I used the Ninja DualBrew system for two weeks in place of my usual espresso machine and V60 coffee dripper. I used the drip coffee maker with light roasted Honduras Swiss water decaf coffee (freshly ground using my Sage burr grinder). I used the single-serve brewer with the same coffee in alumnium capsules. For more details, see how we test, review, and rate products at TechRadar.
The Turtle Beach Atlas 200 is a wired gaming headset. Available for $69.99 / £59.99 for the PC version and $59.99 / £49.99 for the PS5 and multiplatform versions, it sits firmly at the affordable end of the market. But don’t let the cheap price fool you: this is a surprisingly capable headset.
I’ll admit that the multiplatform version I tested here is not the most feature-packed headset I’ve ever gotten my hands on. While its 3.5mm jack means you’ll enjoy lossless audio, it can’t offer the hi-res audio its PC-focused stablemate can. Nor does it offer selectable sound profiles, EQ settings, or driver software. It’s an uncomplicated product, in every sense of the word.
When I stuck it on my head, though, any concerns I had about its feature set melted away. That’s because the sound it’s capable of happily rivals any of the best wired gaming headsets at this price range. Trying it out with Hades II, I was impressed with how clear it was, capturing the swish and slash of combat perfectly. Meanwhile, the crack of my rifle while taking out opponents on Counter-Strike 2 felt deeply convincing with plenty of low-end heft.
The Atlas 200’s soundstage also feels well apportioned – the stereo field feels nice and broad, while the separation of different sounds helps sound effects stand clear from atmospheric noise and background music. The only real criticism I have here is around the headset’s claimed spatial audio: while its audio definitely feels immersive, there isn’t quite the same height and rear-firing effects you’ll get from true Dolby Atmos style headphones. However, I imagine the immersive PC Audio enhancements offered by the PC version’s USB Audio Adapter go some way toward rectifying this.
And the Atlas 200’s foldaway mic offers yet more pluses to help compensate for this. Not only is it easy to flip away, but during my testing, this automatically muted any sound reaching our testing laptop. The mic is also crystal clear – thanks to its effective noise gate, I found that clacking keys and even the music I was listening to was very thoroughly quashed, making it far easier for those you’re gaming with to hear your every oath and utterance.
This is only the start of Turtle Beach’s smart design with this headset. Its plush memory foam ear cups and floating headband make it super comfortable to wear, even over longer periods. I often find the clamping force of many cheaper headphones makes my ears ache after not too long, but the Atlas 200 didn’t crush my cartilage.
There is one small misstep for me, though. Given that the headset’s height is adjusted by moving a velcroed strap on the inside of the headband, it’s impossible to adjust its height on the fly. This isn’t helped by the fact that the Atlas 200 seems to be designed with the larger head in mind – while my swollen dome happily fit it on every setting, colleagues of mine with more diminutive noggins did find the earcups sat quite low on even the tightest setting.
Despite this, though, it’s hard for me to argue that the Turtle Beach Atlas 200 is anything but an accomplished budget gaming headset. It sounds very credible for the price, and it’s all kinds of comfortable – at least if you have a capacious cranium. Fundamentally, if you’re looking to only spend around $50 / £50 on a gaming headset, I’d happily urge you to snap it up.
List price: PC – $69.99 / £59.99; PS5 and multiplatform – $59.99 / £49.99
Released on September 12, 2025, the Turtle Beach Atlas 200 is available now. The price you’ll pay is based on which platform you’re buying for: the PC version has a list price of $69.99 / £59.99, while the PS5 and multiplatform versions both have a list price of $59.99 / £49.99. Each version has slightly different specs, so bear in mind everything I’ve said in this review pertains to the multiplatform version.
In terms of additional options, the Atlas 200 PC and multiplatform versions only come in black. However, the PlayStation 5 offers black or white colorways – naturally, the latter is an excellent choice if you’re keen for your console to match your headset.
Turtle Beach Atlas 200 review: specs
Price
$59.99 / £49.99
Weight
9.9oz / 280g
Compatibility
Any device with a 3.5mm jack
Connection type
Wired (3.5mm)
Battery life
N/A
Features
Flip-to-mute mic with noise reduction
Software
N/A
(Image credit: Future)
Turtle Beach Atlas 200 review: design and features
Supremely comfortable
Height adjustment not well designed
PC-exclusive version offers far more features
Slipping on the Turtle Beach Atlas 200 for the first time, I was pretty impressed with its build quality. Despite being pretty affordable as gaming headsets go, they’re comfortably, even luxuriously, made. A featherlight 9.9oz / 280g build, floating headband, and memory foam ear cushions meant that they were comfortable even during epic gaming sessions – I often find cheaper headphones can make my ear cartilage ache after an hour or so, but these never outstayed their welcome.
Turtle Beach also claims that their ProSpecs technology means they offer ‘glasses-friendly’ comfort. Despite not being a specs-wearer myself, I asked my colleague Nikita Achanta from Tom’s Guide’s reviews team to give them a go, and she found them perfectly comfortable even with glasses.
One element of their design I find less persuasive, though, is how you adjust the height of that floating headband. As you need to unstick, adjust, then restick the velcro straps on the headset’s inside, it’s basically impossible to change their height while you’re wearing them, meaning I often had to use trial and error to get the right setting.
The headset’s height range is also not great – you can adjust its height by an inch / 2.5cm, max. Exercising some radical self-awareness here, I have a pretty big head, yet the Atlas 200’s entire height span seems to fit me pretty comfortably. This made me suspect that if you’ve got a smaller nut than I, you may struggle to find a cosy fit. And, indeed, when I asked Cesci Angell, my littler-noodled colleague, how she found them, she remarked they did sit a little low for her liking.
(Image credit: Future)
Fortunately, Turtle Beach doesn’t make this mistake elsewhere. The Atlas 200’s foldaway mic, for example, is simple to adjust, clicking firmly into place in three positions – up, out, and halfway between – with a satisfying clonk. It’s also poseable, making it easier to curve it to sit in the perfect position in front of your mouth when it is in use.
When it comes to features, the Turtle Beach Atlas 200 is uncomplicated to the point of being almost no-frills. Its chunky 50mm Nanoclear drivers offer an expansive frequency range of 20Hz - 20kHz and are optimized for spatial audio. Meanwhile, it offers no wireless connectivity, although its wired 3.5mm cable means you can enjoy lossless quality audio and can hook it up to any gaming device.
But that’s largely your lot: unlike its platform-exclusive PC version, the multiplatform version doesn’t offer high-fidelity audio, sound profiles, or driver software for tweaking settings. And on-device controls are limited to a single volume dial, which does at least offer granular control over the loudness of your game audio.
Design & features score: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Turtle Beach Atlas 200 review: performance
Expressive audio and wide soundstage
Mic does great job of isolating voice
Spatial audio not that convincing
But no matter how comfortably a headset is designed or how fully featured it is, that’s all irrelevant if it doesn’t have the aural grit to back it up. So does the Turtle Beach Atlas 200 deliver the goods?
At first, I wasn’t entirely sure. Firing up Hades II, I was impressed with how the wind noises surrounding me were crisp and immediate without being overly bright. Meanwhile, the mids were deftly handled, rendering the background music competently while allowing the slashes and impact of combat to cut through. But there was one element I was unsure of: bass, with it sounding decent but not necessarily booming like that of the Corsair HS55 Stereo.
That is, until I dived into Counter-Strike 2. Not only was the whizzing of the bullets rendered by the treble, but the heft of the low end ensured the combat I was plunged into felt sufficiently visceral. Every time I popped off a headshot, the boom of the sniper rifle in my hands made it feel every bit the instrument of death it should be.
Stereo separation is also impressive on the Atlas 200. During the opening titles of Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, I felt like I was submerged right in the middle of the soundtrack, with the piano sitting slightly to the left, beautifully textured strings to my right, and the vocals right down the middle. Once I’d gotten into the game, this persisted, with the cranking of mills around me in the opening moments perfectly positioned in the space.
(Image credit: Future)
Possibly the only thing I’d question about the Atlas 200’s performance is its ‘optimized for 3D audio’ claims. Yes, elements are well separated, but I’ve plenty of experience testing some of the best headphones for spatial audio, and I did not get the same sense of height or rear-firing audio that you can get from the Epos H3 wired headset, for example. Triangulating would-be assassins in Counter-Strike 2 often took a good half a second of wheeling around, so I would moderate your expectations of how immersive this headset actually is.
Fortunately, that foldaway mic did not disappoint. I tested it out by recording audio while playing some games, and it works perfectly, cutting out all registered noise the second I folded it away, making it great when you need moments of privacy. On top of that, its noise gate works well in minimizing background sounds – even while typing, I couldn’t really discern any of the clack of the keys in my recording.
Keen as ever to try to push things to breaking point, I even tried cranking out some drum & bass while testing, but the Turtle Beach was wise to my tricks. There was naturally a little pump of some trebly beats in the background that coincided with the syllables I spoke, but the gate kept things deathly silent in between, doing an impressive job of maintaining the clarity of my words.
Performance score: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Turtle Beach Atlas 200 review: value
All in all, I was seriously impressed with how the Turtle Beach Atlas 200 performed. Yes, it makes a few promises its specs can’t cash – I’m not totally swayed by its 3D sound credentials, for example – but it also offers excellent comfort and really rather decent sound.
And that’s before you even consider its cost. With a price of $59.99 / £49.99, this wired gaming set is very much at the affordable end of the market, and yet it never feels cheap – to the contrary, what it can do is actually pretty impressive for the price. If sound performance is your big priority in a budget headset, the Atlas 200 should make you very happy indeed.
Value score: 5/5
Should I buy the Turtle Beach Atlas 200?
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Design & features
Although it packs a limited feature set, the Atlas 200 gets high marks for its comfy, well-built design.
4 / 5
Performance
Aside from average 3D performance, the Atlas 200 sounds impressive and has a great quality mic.
4 / 5
Value
Once you view these strengths through the lens of the Atlas 200's price, it's pretty clear: this is a fantastic value headset.
5 / 5
Buy it if…
You want awesome audio for a great-value price For a headset that costs a mere $59.99 / £49.99, the Atlas 200 offers great audio, with accurate treble, expressive mids, and colossal bass.
You want excellent comfort If this headset is comfy even on my fussy ears, that should mean you’ll find them soft and forgiving enough to wear for even longer gaming sessions.
Don’t buy it if…
You’ve got a small head With the Atlas 200’s quite large height only being adjustable by about an inch, it doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for those who have smaller heads.
You want loads of features The Turtle Beach Atlas 200 doesn’t have all that many extra capabilities. If you’re looking for sound profiles, true 3D audio, wireless connectivity, or customizable settings, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
Turtle Beach Atlas 200 review: also consider
Turtle Beach Atlas 200
Corsair HS55 Stereo
Epos H3
Price
$59.99 / £49.99
$59.99 / £49.99
$55 / £57.82 / AU$104.31
Weight
9.9oz / 280g
9.6oz / 284g
9.5oz / 270g
Compatibility
PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck
PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck
PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck
Connection type
Wired (3.5mm)
Wired (3.5mm)
Wired (3.5mm)
Features
Flip-to-mute mic with noise reduction
Flip-to-mute mic
Flip-to-mute mic
Software
N/A
N/A
N/A
Corsair HS55 Stereo Another budget banger, this wired gaming headset has a list price of $59.98 / £49.99 but also offers excellent sound and superb comfort. The only criticism we did find however, is that its low-end can occasionally overplay its hand, so it might be one for pure bass-heads only.
Epos H3 Slightly pricier than the Atlas 200 but also slightly nice-ier, the Epos H3 is our top pick for the best wired gaming headset for a reason. It sounds fantastic for a headset that costs under $100 / £100 and is super comfortable to boot. However, its 3.5mm cable is proprietary and hard to replace, so if you’re prone to losing things, you might wanna give this one a miss.
I tested the Turtle Beach Atlas 200 over the course of several days. First, I used it while playing multiple games on several different platforms, including on PC and Steam Deck. I played Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to test out its capabilities with soundtracks, Hades II for general effects, and Counter-Strike 2 to try out its surround sound capabilities.
I also tested the foldaway mic by recording myself while gaming. Not only did I test out its general audio quality, but I also tried out its flip-to-mute functionality and assessed how well it filtered out background noise by typing and playing music.
In terms of my expertise, I've been reviewing audio gadgets for over five years and have gotten hands-on with dozens of cutting-edge headphones. I've also been a committed gamer for 35 years, first cutting my teeth on Super Mario Bros. and Alex Kidd in the halcyon days of 8-bit gaming. Now I regularly game on PC, Steam Deck, PlayStation 4 Slim, and Nintendo Switch 2.
The Honor Magic V5 is a truly impressive folding phone. It’s the thinnest booklet-style folding phone ever, with two excellent displays, a design that expertly balances ergonomics and aesthetics, and fantastic battery life. Its rear camera system stands up to some of the best folding phones, while its internal hardware is as powerful as you’d expect from a device marketed on its multitasking capabilities.
The first thing you notice about the Honor Magic V5 is just how thin it is. At just 4.1mm thick (not including the sizeable camera bump), the Magic V5 is thinner than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, Google Pixel 10 Pro, and even the region-locked Oppo Find N5, only beaten by the tri-folding Huawei Mate XT (another China exclusive). It’s so thin that it’s made me ask whether folding phones should keep getting thinner – its 7.95-inch inner screen really does disappear into your hand thanks to that ultra-thin frame.
Speaking of displays, the Magic V5 sports two excellent panels. Its 6.43-inch cover screen strikes a nice balance between compact and useable, and its 20:9 aspect ratio isn’t far off that of the iPhone 17 or Samsung Galaxy S25. The inner display measures 7.95-inches, with an approximate aspect ratio of 18:19.5.
That almost-square display is one of the best I’ve used on a folding phone, and makes reading articles, watching videos, taking photos a real joy. I also can’t get over just how similar the viewing experience is between the two displays – that’s a hard thing to nail given the change in material between the glass cover screen and plastic inner display, but Honor has done an excellent job.
The winning streak continues when it comes to the Magic V5’s battery, which is huge not only for a folding phone, but for a smartphone in general. With incredible engineering and straight-up alchemy, Honor has fit a 5920mAh battery into this phone – that’s larger than the battery in any comparable folding phone, and it's even bigger than the battery in the current-gen iPad mini. Charging is fast, battery life is long.
The Honor Magic V5 is the strongest contender to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. The Magic V5 outclasses Samsung’s latest booklet foldable in so many ways, and where Samsung does take the lead it isn’t by much. At £1,699 the Magic V5 decisively undercuts the Z Fold 7, which starts at £1,899 – though like all other Honor phones, the Magic V5 is unfortunately unavailable in the US. That limited availability will keep it off of our lists of the best phones and best folding phones, but if you’re looking for a folding phone in the UK or Europe, the Honor Magic V5 should be a serious contender.
Honor Magic V5: Price and Specs
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
Not available in the US
Costs £1,699 in the UK (512GB of storage)
Comes in three colors, including a unique gold option
Like all Honor phones, whether you can get the Honor Magic V5 depends on where you live. It’s not available in the US, but can be bought online or through carriers in the UK, Europe, and other regions.
In the UK, the Honor Magic V5 costs £1699.99 for the model with 512GB of storage – there are no other configurations to choose from. Honor is bundling a 66W power adapter and Magic Pen stylus in the UK – though as there is no stylus in the box, I'm not going to cover the accessory in this review.
Let’s address the elephant in the room – £1,699.99 is a lot of money for a phone. However, the Honor Magic V5 does manage to undercut its rivals quite significantly. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 starts at £1,899.99, while the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold starts at £1,799.99 – and both come with 256GB of storage, half of what the Honor Magic V5 offers.
And when you consider the Honor Magic V5’s impressive hardware specs, class-leading thinness and design, and impressive camera system, the value for money becomes even more apparent.
As for colors, the Magic V5 comes in Black, Ivory White (an online-exclusive option) and Dawn Gold, which has an eye-catching ripple effect on the rear panel. The specs below are for the Ivory White model I tested; the other two colors are actually a little thicker, at 4.2mm unfolded and 9mm folded, and are slightly heavier at 222g.
Honor Magic V5 specs
Honor Magic V5
Dimensions (folded):
156.8 x 74.3 x 8.8 mm
Dimensions (unfolded):
156.8 x 145.9 x 4.1 mm
Weight:
217g
Main display:
7.95-inch LTPO AMOLED
2172 x 2352, 120Hz, 403ppi
Cover display::
6.43-inch LTPO OLED
2520 x 1080, 20:9, 120Hz, 404ppi
Chipset:
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
RAM:
16GB
Storage:
512GB
OS:
Android 15 / MagicOS 9
Primary camera:
50MP, f1.6, 23mm
Ultrawide camera:
50MP, f/2.0, 13mm
Telephoto
64MP, f/2.5, 70mm (3x)
Cover Camera:
20MP f2.2
Inner Camera:
20MP f2.2
Battery:
5,820mAh
Charging:
66W wired, 50W wireless
Colors:
Ivory White, Black, Dawn Gold
Value score: 4 / 5
Honor Magic V5: Design
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
Looks simply phenomenal, and feels built to last
Very comfortable to use
Large camera bump and slightly noisy hinge
The Honor Magic V5 is the best-looking phone I’ve ever reviewed. This is a truly gorgeous piece of technology, and it’s clear that maximal attention has been given to achieving as much symmetry and ergonomic balance as the folding phone form factor will allow. The Ivory White color model is also the world’s thinnest folding phone at just 4.1mm thick when opened (not counting the substantial camera module). It’s a technical wonder that has me asking whether folding phones actually need to get any thinner.
Besides thinness, I noticed that the Magic V5 goes further than its contemporaries in providing a more comfortable experience. In the past, I’ve used folding phones with sharp edges and awkward bumps that make them uncomfortable to use for long sessions. On the Magic V5, Honor has flattened and rounded all the corners around the hinge, as well as the edges of the hinge itself – the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is almost as svelte, but has much sharper edges. The outer corners of the phone are also rounded off, which makes the unit very comfortable for one-handed or unfolded use.
Functionally, that hinge works well. It feels light to open, but not loose – it takes no real effort to open but won’t wobble much when partially unfolded.
Check out those rounded corners - this is the first foldable I've used that feels actually comfortable. (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
As for construction, the Honor Magic V5 is composed of an aluminum chassis and a woven fiber rear panel that feels as solid as glass or ceramic materials used in other phones. The cover display is glass and the inner display is plastic, with raised plastic bezels housing the magnets that keep the phone snapped shut. Moreso than any other folding phone I’ve used the Honor Magic V5 lays totally flat when opened – and the crease on the inner display is so minimal that I had to remind myself to look for it when I set the phone up for the first time.
The camera housing is also superbly designed, and perfectly walks the line between subtlety and flair with its all-black coloring, textured metal ring, and octagonal bracketing. The phone also sports dual IP58 and IP59 dust and water resistance ratings – better than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 but not quite dust-sealed as the IP68-rated Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Fresh water shouldn’t be an issue, but keep it well away from fine dust, gravel, and sand.
The Honor Magic V5 is a wonder of engineering and the most comfortable folding phone I’ve ever used. I’m a large guy with a pretty big handspan, so I sometimes found it a bit difficult to get enough purchase on the phone to get it open, but I’m sure this experience varies.
However... after my test period for this review had concluded and about two months of use in total, I noticed that the inner screen protector had begun to separate from the folding display. That's not the type of thing we want to see from any folding phone, especially after such a short period of use. For now, we can't say whether this is a design flaw or just a one-off issue: we've contacted Honor directly to ask for comment and another test unit.
Design score: 5 / 5
Honor Magic V5: Displays
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6.43-inch cover display
7.95-inch folding display
Both display have near-identical pixel density and top out at 3000 nits
The displays on the Honor Magic V5 are wonderful. The 6.43-inch cover display is amongst the sharpest and most vibrant screens I’ve used, and the 7.95-inch inner display is bright and immersive – what’s more, the viewing experience feels very consistent when switching between the two displays, something other folding phones have struggled to achieve.
In fact, when I unfolded the phone for the first time, I had to remind myself to look for a crease in the inner screen. It’s a far cry from the view-warping creases of folding phones from even a few years ago – I also noticed that, unlike some folding phones, the Magic V5 unfolds nearly perfectly flat, which makes it even easier to get lost in the expansive inner display.
In terms of technical specs, the Honor Magic V5’s cover display sports a resolution of 1060 x 2376 pixels, with 404 pixels per inch, while the inner display has a resolution of 2172 x 2352 pixels at 403 pixels per inch. What’s more, both panels top out at an absolutely ludicrous 5000 nits of brightness. Of course, those are theoretical limits, and your actual experience won't reflect those potentially harmful levels.
Compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the Magic V5 offers a sharper, higher resolution inner display, but can’t quite match the resolution and pixel density of the Galaxy’s cover screen.
Of all the folding devices I’ve used, the Magic V5 feels the most frictionless when switching between the two displays. Naturally, the glass cover display is a tiny bit sharper and looks a touch clearer, but Honor has calibrated these panels such that there’s little noticeable difference in color, brightness, or detail.
If there is an issue with the Honor Magic V5’s 7.95-inch folding display, it’s the issue common to all folding phones – that being that its larger screen space isn’t always efficiently used. Videos with a typical 16:9 aspect ratio can’t fill out the almost-square panel, and games often struggle to find a suitable safe zone (particularly first person games like Call of Duty). The inner screen is wonderful to look at, and perfect for reading, scrolling, and video calls, but a proper tablet might be better for streaming the best new shows.
Display score: 5 / 5
Honor Magic V5: Cameras
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
50MP main camera
64MP telephoto camera with 3x zoom
50MP ultra-wide camera
Twin 10MP selfie cameras
Folding phones have, until this year, had slightly weaker camera systems than their slab-phone counterparts – but times are changing. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 launched with a 200MP main lens, resetting expectations for the types of pictures that folding phones can produce.
The Honor Magic V5 sports three great rear cameras that come very close to producing flagship-standard images. Across a variety of shooting conditions I was able to take great photos with the Magic V5 – I was particularly impressed by how much detail the sensors captured; even noisy scenes with lots of foliage were reproduced with good definition, even if the contrast sometimes left me wanting. The image stabilization is also great all the way out to the maximum 100x digital zoom.
However, I found the post-processing could be fairly aggressive, and was often unsure of how much AI had impacted the final image, especially at long zoom ranges. That’s something to keep in mind if you prefer your photos to be a true reflection of the camera’s abilities, as there’s no way to fully disable the image processing pipeline.
The Magic V5 sports a triple-camera array housed on its rear panel, composed of a 50MP main camera, 50MP ultra-wide camera, and 64MP 3x telephoto camera. This gives the phone a lot of range and flexibility for still photography – the telephoto camera in particular strikes a nice balance between reach and usability for portraits and tighter landscape shots. Photos from all three cameras are bright and vibrant without looking unrealistically colorful, though there are some more vibrant profiles to choose from.
Taking photos with the inner screen's huge viewfinder is a real joy. (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
Taking photos with the inner display is really intuitive – that 8-inch panel makes for a great viewfinder, and the unfolded frame allows the phone to rest steadily in-hand. However, I found the default camera app a little bit clunky, with some quick options (most notably aspect ratio) hidden behind an in-app menu.
The Magic V5 supports video shooting at 720p, 1080p, and 4K resolutions at either 30fps or 60fps. That large display is a boost for shooting video too, with plenty of blank space around the 16:9 frame to place your thumbs (though, for some reason, some controls are still placed over the viewfinder).
One of the only true let-downs on the Magic V5 is its pair of selfie cameras. The inner and outer displays house identical punch-hole 10MP selfie cameras that prove lacking in almost every situation. This is allayed by the rear camera selfie feature, which uses the cover display as a viewfinder, but that won’t always be the most convenient option.
Honor Magic V5: Camera samples
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Cameras score: 3 / 5
Honor Magic V5: Software and AI
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
Android 15 with MagicOS 9
Honor AI and Google Gemini
Comprehensive multitasking tools
Like other Honor phones, the Magic V5 runs MagicOS 9, an Android iteration based on Android 15. As far as Android interfaces go, MagicOS sits somewhere between the speed and looseness of OnePlus’ OxygenOS and the stiffer, more structured feel of Samsung’s OneUI. It does the job.
As you might have guessed, the Honor Magic V5’s software shines brightest when it comes to foldable-specific features – the phone has a large suite of multitasking tools that allow for split screen and multi-windowed usage.
You can use a maximum of three apps at once in split screen mode (with one partially hidden off to one side), with another open in a floating overlay. To activate split screen mode you can either drag another app up from the taskbar or hold the bar that appears at the top of the screen. You can also open a single floating window when the phone is folded.
The situations that call for this level of multitasking are honestly pretty rare, but this is still an impressive amount of flexibility that helps the Honor Magic V5 feel like more than just a really big phone. Similarly to Apple’s Stage Manager tool for iPadOS, groups of windows stay together when you swipe up to see your opened apps, and I found it pretty easy to swap between split screen, multi-window, and full-screen modes with the on-screen buttons and contextual menus. However, some software isn't optimized for the folding display; I can give a pass to Honor on third party apps, but even pre-installed Google-made apps like YouTube sometimes gave me weird UI glitches. Luckily, this isn't too common.
MagicOS has a few more tricks up its sleeve. The phone can drive an external display at up to 1080p with the Magic Desktop feature, which is similar to Samsung’s DeX environment and allows for desktop-style usage with a keyboard and mouse. Back on the touchscreen, certain apps have a pull-down tab on the homescreen icon itself, which allows you to, say, quickly glance the time in another timezone or type down a quick note.
The phone is also loaded with AI tools from both Honor and Google (via Gemini, Circle to Search etc). These are found all over the OS, from generative note writing to AI image editing, and an uncanny feature that generates short videos from still images (first seen on the Honor 400 earlier this year). I personally found that Honor has been pretty heavy handed with implementing AI, to the point that it can be harder to find basic functions. For example, to crop an image in the photo gallery, you have to select “AI Edit”, which is now the catch-all term for photo editing.
Software and AI score: 4 / 5
Honor Magic V5: Performance
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset
16GB of RAM
Never slow, but does heat up a bit
As is typical for high-end folding phones, the Honor Magic V5 is fully loaded with top-end internal hardware, which translates to consistently great performance across multitasking and gaming. It’s got the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset and a full 16GB of RAM – that’s as good as it gets for Android phones, so you won’t come up against hardware constraints. The Magic V5 also comes with 512GB of storage, so no matter which configuration you choose you’ll have plenty of space for photos, videos, and apps.
I was able to make full use of the Magic V5’s software capabilities thanks to this array of high-end silicon. I never encountered any stuttering in the UI, and loading various apps was snappy and seamless, whether in full-screen or in MagicOS 9’s multitasking modes. There’s no lag when switching between apps or in games like Call of Duty Mobile – everything just runs, which is, in fairness, what you want from a phone that costs this much.
However, all that power in such a thin frame does mean the Magic V5 gets pretty warm. It never got uncomfortably hot, but it did seem to warm up very quickly compared to flagship slab phones. This is an these common to thin phone designs, as we’ve recently seen with the iPhone Air – the Magic V5 never got uncomfortably hot, but heat can have negative effects on battery life and potential performance over time, so it's something to keep an eye on.
With that said, I reviewed the Oppo Find N5 earlier this year – another ultra-thin folding phone with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset – and didn’t notice much in the way of heat.
Performance score: 4 / 5
Honor Magic V5: Battery
(Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future)
5820mAh battery capacity would be impressive on a slab phone, let alone a foldable
All-day battery life with plenty to spare
66W wired charging with 50W wireless charging
By some miracle of physics, the Honor Magic V5 has a 5,820mAh battery. Let’s put that into perspective – the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 has a 4,400mAh battery, the OnePlus Open has a 4,805mAh battery, and the Honor Magic 7 – a flagship slab phone – has a 5,650mAh battery. Folding phones are typically consigned to smaller batteries due to their split construction, but the Honor Magic V5 sports cells that add up to a fractionally smaller total than a massive Pro-grade cameraphone. It’s really quite something.
This translates to excellent battery life. I’ve used a few folding phones that sport ‘all-day’ battery life, but the Honor Magic V5 gets through a full day of mixed use so effortlessly that I might not think about recharging until midway through the next day. The phone supports 66W fast wired charging with Honor’s proprietary charging kit, but as there’s no brick in the box I could only test it with third party chargers (I got up to 80% in just under an hour with a 40W brick). The handset also supports an impressive 50W power draw in wireless charging. That’s much higher than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and many slab phones.
I will concede that the Honor Magic V5 seems to chew through battery a bit faster than slab phones, but the phone’s low-power mode is a real lifesaver when you’re caught away from an outlet. I felt fine leaving the house in the morning with around 50% charge, knowing that this would carry me through half a day or more of mixed use very comfortably. Of the folding phones I've used, this has the best battery life for sure.
Folding phones are known to be less efficient with their battery capacities than their slab phone contemporaries, as the cell is typically split between the two halves of the phone. That the Honor Magic V5 offers such impressive battery life is testament to Honor's engineering prowess.
Battery score: 5 / 5
Should you buy the Honor Magic V5?
Honor Magic V5 score card
Attribute
Notes
Rating
Value
The Magic V5 isn't cheap by any means, but offers more than the competition for less money.
4 / 5
Design
The thinnest and most comfortable folding phone on the market, and beautifully built too.
5 / 5
Displays
Two beautiful and remarkably consistent displays.
5 / 5
Cameras
Three great rear cameras that get close to flagship standard. Selfie cameras are terrible.
3 / 5
Performance
Never slows down, even in the throes of multitasking. Warms up quickly.
4 / 5
Software
MagicOS 9 is loaded with multitasking and AI tools. It can be a little complicated at times, but flexibility is always welcome.
4 / 5
Battery
A larger battery than most flagship slabs keeps things moving all day. No notes.
5 / 5
Buy it if...
You want a powerful all-in-one device
The Honor Magic V5 has enough hardware power and software flexibility to get through most everyday tasks with ease. It's a great pick for light productivity/View Deal
You want a beautiful phone
The Honor Magic V5 is the thinnest folding phone on the global market and looks absolutely gorgeous. Everything in its construction looks and feels premium.View Deal
You want a cheaper folding phone
At £1,699.99, the Honor Magic V5 costs a lot. That said, it's cheaper than the competition from Samsung and Google, and is possibly even more capable. View Deal
Don't buy it if...
You're on a budget
Despite the above, the Honor Magic V5 is still several hundred pounds more expensive than even the best slab phones. View Deal
You keep it simple
The Magic V5 has two screens, a suite of multitasking tools, an abundance of AI, and a total of five cameras. If you don't need loads of power, you might be better off saving some money on a simpler phone. View Deal
You want a familiar experience
The Honor Magic V5 runs MagicOS 9, which is a variant of Android, but those who value familiarity might prefer the simplicity of a Google Pixel or a phone in the well-known Samsung ecosystem. View Deal
Honor Magic V5: Also consider
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7
I've spent most of this review recounting the ways the Honor Magic V5 beats the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but if you're after a more familiar software experience, class-leading cameras, or Samsung DeX, you'll only get it with the latter.
If you just want a thin, light, and powerful phone but don't think you'll use the folding display that much, the iPhone Air is the new thin and powerful handset that's got the entire tech world talking about it.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold isn't the thinnest or most powerful folding phone, but it is the only one on the market that offers IP68 certification (that means it's dust sealed and submersion resistant). Our phones go everywhere with us, so durability is something to seriously consider.
I used the Honor Magic V5 for an extended review period, culminating in a week-long stint as my daily driver. I used the Magic V5 to make calls, send messages, scroll through the internet and social media, play games, take pictures, and shoot video. I made sure to balance my use between the cover screen and folding display, and found that both screens could handle most tasks very well.
The Blueair Blue Signature is a furniture-inspired air purifier for extra-large rooms, available from Blueair, Amazon, and other third-party retailers.
You can purchase the Blueair Blue Signature for a list price of $449.99 / £369, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for discounts to maximize the value. I’ve not spotted any in the UK so far, but at the time of writing, US customers can get a $50 discount at Blueair, bringing the price down to an even more reasonable $399.99.
(Image credit: Future)
While the mid-gray Light model is more to my preference, the navy blue Dark model I’ve been testing does a great job of blending into the room, rather than standing out like other white plastic air purifiers often do.
Like many of Blueair’s purifiers, the Blue Signature features an easy-to-clean fabric pre-filter, which is available in a range of colors to help it blend in with your decor.
At 15.5 inches / 39.4cm in diameter, there’s plenty of room to plonk down the remote or a magazine, but as I learned from my experience, you’ll need to be mindful about placing anything that could scratch the tabletop.
The Blue Signature is satisfyingly lightweight considering its size, making it easy to unbox and set up. I found it to be a little low for my liking, but this may well be down to personal preference.
(Image credit: Future)
There are two bases that can be purchased separately, a chrome ring or some wooden legs, that’ll increase its height and enhance its furniture-style aesthetic. Their prices are a hard pill to swallow, however, at a cost of $99.99 / £99.99 and $79.99 / £79.99, respectively.
The motion-activated controls on the top of the Blue Signature are responsive and easy to use, and remote controlling the purifier is straightforward on the well-designed Blueair app.
The app contains a host of useful features, including controls, automations, settings, and color-coded air quality graphs for up to a month of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 readings.
In addition to the four fan speeds, there are three modes available. These are Auto mode, which sets the Blue Signature to purify at speed one until contamination is detected, Eco mode, which operates the same as Auto, but the purifier remains idle, and Night mode, which lowers the purifier to its lowest speed and turns off most of the lights.
There’s a useful AirSense automation that provides a quick freshen up twice a day when the Blue Signature is in Auto or Eco mode, which runs regardless of the ambient air quality, though it can be turned off if desired.
(Image credit: Future)
In terms of performance, I was very pleased with the Blue Signature’s efforts. It promptly detected and cleared the contamination caused as a result of my spraying dry shampoo from a couple of feet away, and displayed the readings in the graphs on the app.
It appears that the Blue Signature does a better job of tackling odors than other purifiers I’ve tested, as it made short work of removing the fragrance from the dry shampoo following my testing.
The Blue Signature operates satisfyingly quietly despite its power, maxing out at just 55dB at top speed, and giving readings as low as 27dB on speed one, which is quieter than a whisper.
As the brand makes some of the best air purifiers, it hasn’t come as a surprise that there’s so much to love about the Blueair Blue Signature. It has many useful features and performs well at a pleasingly low volume for the price, making it the perfect choice for larger spaces, without being conspicuous.
Blueair Blue Signature review: price & availability
List price: $449.99 / £369
Launch date: Mid 2025
Available now in the US and UK
The Blueair Blue Signature has a list price of $449.99 / £369, and is available to purchase directly from Blueair or at Amazon.
This is a pretty good price considering it’s designed for large rooms, supports WiFi connectivity, and can detect and react to PM1, PM2.5, and PM10, meaning it’ll jump into action whether ultra-fine or coarse particles are present.
What’s more, I’m already seeing some great deals appearing in the US, with Blueair offering a $50 off the price at the time of writing, so you can pick the Blue Signature up for just $399.99. I’m yet to spot a deal in the UK just yet, but you never know.
Blue Signature 4.0 replacement filters look a little pricey at $99.99 / £99.99 each, but Blueair states that these filters can last up to a year, and their RealTrack algorithm calculates the lifetime left on your filter based on the fan speed, usage time, and pollution levels, meaning it should offer a more accurate expiry date compared to other models.
It’s worth noting that while the all-singing-all-dancing 7-stage filter uses Blueair’s HEPASilent technology, it’s not a true HEPA filter, though Blueair has insisted that their filters are actually more effective and operate at lower volumes.
(Image credit: Future)
I tested the Blueair Blue Signature without any accessories, but there’s the option of two different stand formats if you want to make it look more like a piece of furniture.
These don’t come cheap, however, with the wooden legs, referred to as the Leg Base in Wood, costing $79.99 / £79.99, and the Ring Base in Chrome costing an eye-watering $99.99 / £99.99. As nice an addition as these would make, I must admit that I consider these grossly overpriced, which is a shame, as they would greatly improve the aesthetic.
Accessories aside, considering the Blue Signature’s reliable performance, easy filter replacement, and simple controls, this Blueair purifier offers plenty of bang for your buck, even at the full list price, making it well worth your consideration.
Value score: 4.5 out of 5
Blueair Blue Signature review: specs
Type
Air purifier table
Fan speeds
1-4
CADR (Clean air delivery rate)
Pollen 450 cfm
Dust 434 cfm
Smoke 455 cfm
Air changes per hour (ACH)
4.8
Filter
Multi-layered HEPASilent filter with activated carbon
Particle sizes detected
PM1, PM2.5, PM10
Dimensions
15.5 x 15.5 x 17.2 inches / 39.4 x 39.4 43.7cm
Weight
13.2lb / 6kg
Control
Touch controls / App
Timer
Yes
Additional modes
Auto, Night, Eco
Extra features
Tabletop, machine-washable pre-filters
Blueair Blue Signature review: design and features
Pleasantly lightweight for the size
Four fan speeds, three purifying modes
The material of the tabletop surface could be better
The furniture-inspired design of the Blueair Blue Signature makes it pleasingly subtle for an extra-large room air purifier.
The Blue Signature comes in a choice of Light and Dark models, the former being a mid-gray color, and the latter being a navy blue, which is the model I’ve tested.
Both models come with a color-coordinated machine-washable pre-filter, a Nordic Fog with the Light, and a Midnight for the dark. At the time of writing, the Blue Signature Light model doesn’t appear to be available at Blueair in the UK, but it can be purchased from Amazon.
If you feel like mixing things up, there are four other pre-filter colors to choose from, which include a couple of neutral colors, a blue, and a green. Each pre-filter has a list price of $24.99 / £24.99, so it’s not too much of an outlay if you want to change up the color, or have a spare to put on while the other is in the wash.
(Image credit: Future)
Although rather large, at 15.5 inches / 39.4cm in diameter, the Blue Signature is surprisingly easy to maneuver, as it weighs only 13.2lb / 6kg, and I could use the gap between the pre-filter and the top section to carry it about.
The Blue Signature’s 17.2 inches / 43.7cm height might prove a little low to use as a side table for some, but it’s not inconveniently short. The wooden legs would definitely prove beneficial here, but I think I’d rather prop it up on something than pay that price for the four-legged base.
The smooth matte plastic on the top of the air purifier makes it look like what it is, the top of an appliance, rather than an item of furniture. I would have liked to have seen a slightly more premium finish, but it offers plenty of surface area for placing mugs, books, and remote controls.
Speaking of controls, the touch controls on the top of the Blue Signature are pretty nifty, as the motion-activation means they disappear along with the display. They’re pleasingly simple to use, and include buttons for power, Auto mode, night mode, a display lock, and cycling through the four fan speeds. It’s quick and easy to change the settings on the app, too, so I could switch modes without needing to move out of my comfy spot on the sofa.
(Image credit: Future)
There’s a steady blue light under the top surface of the air purifier when the air quality is rated as excellent. It changes color depending on the level of contamination, and is automatically dimmed when the Blue Signature is put into Night mode.
When Auto mode is enabled, the Blue Signature fan runs at speed one consistently, increasing the speed to suit whenever the Blue Signature detects PM1, PM2.5, or PM10 contamination.
I appreciate that the air purifier continues to purify at a low speed despite the air quality registering at a good level, as many air purifiers simply idle on Auto mode, so they fail to react and purify the surrounding air of contaminants they aren’t capable of detecting, such as VOCs.
Lastly, there’s an Eco mode, which works much the same as Auto mode, except it sits dormant until contamination is detected, thereby conserving energy.
Design & features score: 4.5 out of 5
Blueair Blue Signature review: app
Quick and easy device syncing
Simple and straightforward interface
Provides access to air quality graphs, settings, and automations
Adding a new device can be a headache in some cases, but as the Blueair app detected the Blue Signature straight away, I simply needed to select it and follow the instructions to connect it to my WiFi, which it did with no issues.
The Blueair app is simple to navigate, and the settings are easy to access and adjust on the dashboard for the Blue Signature. For day-to-day control, there’s a simple slider to amend the fan speed, buttons to enable each of the three modes, and the display lock function.
(Image credit: Blueair / Future)
There’s a useful feature linked to the Auto and Eco modes called AirSense, which means that my air purifier would stir into action for ten minutes at 10am and 6pm every day, though it can run for as long as twenty-five minutes if the air quality is a little lower.
This is particularly helpful if you plan to keep your air purifier set to Eco mode, as the air will still get a little freshen up twice a day. If you’d rather it didn’t embark on these mini cleaning sprees, it’s easy to turn off in the device settings.
There’s also a schedule feature, which can be used to set the air purifier to power on in a chosen mode at set times on your choice of days, before turning off at an allotted time.
(Image credit: Future)
Another nifty automation is the Welcome Home feature, which powers on the Blue Signature when you’re approximately fifteen minutes away from home, based on your location and specified transport method.
A color-coded graph makes it easy to review the collected air quality data on the Blueair app. There’s a different graph for PM1, PM2.5, and PM10, with the option to view the readings over the course of a day, week, or month.
Overall, the app provides all the essentials in an easy-to-navigate interface, and all functions appeared responsive, bar the few moments it can take for the graph to update and reflect the real-time air quality readings.
App score: 4.5 out of 5
Blueair Blue Signature review: performance
Quick and easy setup
Prompt detection and contamination clearing
The dark tabletop appears to scratch easily
Getting the Blueair Blue Signature setup was a quick and simple process, as it was just a case of plugging it in and setting it up on the Blueair app.
I didn’t feel quite as comfortable using the Blue Signature as a side table as I did with the SwitchBot Air Purifier Table, as it felt a bit wrong putting things down directly on top of an air purifier, and the material looks like it’d mark and scratch easily.
While the dark blue table top collected fingerprints easily, they wiped off without much effort. This was a relief, as some darker-colored matte surfaces can prove notoriously difficult to remove fingerprints from.
(Image credit: Future)
Sadly, it got a bit scratched not long into my testing. Presumably, this was from me balancing the plug on it as I pulled it out of the box, though it was only the plastic part of the plug in contact with the surface, which is a concern considering it’s meant to be used as a tabletop.
These scratches were only really visible when caught in the light however, and likely more noticeable due to the dark coloring of the plastic. Either way, I’d definitely recommend enforcing the coaster rule in your house if you plan to use it as a table.
(Image credit: Future)
All of the modes worked as expected. Night mode reduced the fan to its lowest speed and extinguished the indicator light, the display, and most of the touch controls, though curiously, the Night mode and power button remain illuminated.
In terms of purifying performance, I was pleased to find that the Blue Signature only took around sixteen seconds to detect the dry shampoo I’d sprayed around two feet away.
After detecting the contamination, the air quality rating was updated to “very polluted”, and so the Blue Signature ramped up the fan speed. The air quality returned to “good” levels around twenty seconds from detection, and was back to “excellent” after a further minute, at which point the fan speed was reduced back to its lowest setting.
(Image credit: Future)
The Blue Signature appeared to clear odors better than other air purifiers I’ve tested. While the strong smell of the dry shampoo usually lingers long after the air purifier I’m testing has dealt with the particulate contamination, it was cleared fairly quickly by the Blue Signature.
This may well be down to the fact that the Blue Signature runs at its lowest fan speed in Auto mode, rather than simply idling, meaning it could prove a good option if reducing ambient odors is on your list of priorities.
I was impressed by the Blue Signature’s low volume too, finding that it operated quieter overall than the majority of the air purifiers I’ve tested to date. The loudest reading I recorded was 55dB when it was running at top speed, making it no louder than a conversation, and it operated at just 27dB on fan speed one, which is quieter than a whisper.
(Image credit: Future)
While the tabletop may leave a little to be desired, all in all, the Blueair Blue Signature performed really well. Its capacity to purify an extra-large room's worth of air, in-app features, quick detection, and contamination tackling make this a great air purifier for the price, and, ignoring my personal preferences on its suitability as a table, it looks a whole lot more attractive than any large-scale air purifier I’ve come across to date.
Performance score: 4.5 out of 5
Should I buy the Blueair Blue Signature?
Section
Notes
Score
Value for money
The Blue Signature offers great performance, an attractive design, and a pleasant user experience for the price. I just wish it wasn’t so expensive to buy the base accessories to complete the look.
4.5/5
Design & Features
This furniture-inspired air purifier manages to stand out from the crowd without disrupting the decor. It’s easy to use, pleasingly lightweight, and has a large surface area for placing items.
4.5/5
App
The Blueair app makes it super simple to operate the Blue Signature. Its interface is attractive and easy to understand, making it easy to access the features and air quality graphs.
4.5/5
Performance
The Blue Signature reacted quickly during testing and made quick work of clearing the contamination. It also did a better job of clearing the strong fragrance of the dry shampoo than other air purifiers I’ve tested.
4.5/5
Buy it if...
You don’t want a typical-looking air purifier With a choice of fabric colors and optional bases, this air purifier is your best bet if you’re looking for something that’ll look more like a piece of furniture than an appliance.
You want constant purification Many air purifiers simply idle quietly in the background when the air quality is considered good based on what they can detect. It’s nice to have the option of constant purifying here, especially as it seems to aid in odor removal.
You appreciate nifty automations The Blue Signature offers some useful automations, including scheduling, powering on when you’re 15 minutes from home, and twice-daily ramped up purifying with AirSense.
Don't buy it if...
You want VOC detection While the Blueair does a great job of detecting particulates, it doesn't register the presence of VOCs (volatile organic compounds), like some more premium options do. However, the good news is that the filter is still capable of filtering them, which is another reason why the consistent purifying in Auto mode is beneficial.
You don’t like lingering lights Although not glaringly bright, it’s a shame the power and Night mode icons aren’t extinguished when said mode is triggered. This may only be a minor niggle for some, but it’s worth bearing in mind if you can’t stand any light at bedtime.
You don’t want to pay a premium for a pretty base The Blue Signature looks good as-is, but the furniture aesthetic would be nicely enhanced when teamed with one of the bases on offer. I just wish that these extras weren’t so eye-wateringly expensive.
Blueair Blue Signature review: Also consider
Blueair Blue Signature
SwitchBot Air Purifier Table
Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09
Type
Air purifier table
Air purifier table
Purifying tower fan
Price
$449.99 / £369
$269.99 / £299.99
$749.99 / £549.99
Fan speeds
4
3
10
Modes
Auto, Eco, Night
Auto, Sleep, Pet
Auto, Night mode, Diffused mode
Filter
Pre-filter, 7-stage HEPASilent with activated carbon
Pre-filter, HEPA and activated carbon
HEPA H13 and activated carbon
App support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dimensions
15.5 x 15.5 x 17.2 inches / 39.4 x 39.4 43.7cm
11.4 x 11.4 x 16.5 inches / 29 x 29 x 42cm
8.7 x 8.7 x 41.3 inches / 22 x 22 x 105cm
Weight
13.2lb / 6kg
10.7lb / 4.9kg
10.4 lbs / 4.7kg
SwitchBot Air Purifier Table If you love the idea of a multi-functional air purifier but haven’t got the budget spare for the Blue Signature, then this SwitchBot alternative might be for you. Its wood-effect tabletop offers plenty of space for a mug and remote, and comes with the bonus of an integrated wireless phone charger. It only detects and reacts to PM2.5 or smaller, but it operates just as quietly as the Blueair, and makes for a great lower-cost alternative. If you’d like to learn more, have a read of my full SwitchBot Air Purifier Table review.
Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 This Dyson air purifier requires a lot more investment, but it’s a fantastic choice if you want to get a clearer view of your air quality data. I love the attractive gold and white coloring, and can’t help but be impressed by its ability to detect and react to more than the standard PM contaminants, namely, VOCs, formaldehyde, and nitrogen dioxide. And, while it can’t be used as a table, it does operate as a bladeless fan. To find out more about this 4.5-star rated purifier, check out my full Dyson Purifier Cool Formaldehyde TP09 review.
How I tested the Blueair Blue Signature
I tested the Blueair Blue Signature over a few weeks
I explored the Blueair app and tested the modes and features
I tested the purifier's detection and reaction speeds
After assembling the Blueair Blue Signature and syncing it to the Blueair app, I tried out the onboard touch controls and app-based controls before having a good explore of the different settings and features.
Along with using the Blueair Blue Signature passively in my home, I also conducted our standard testing procedure of spraying dry shampoo from around two feet away to assess its performance. I then assessed the air quality readings on the app to ensure they were aligned.
I measured the sound levels emitted from different fan speeds and modes, and compared these readings to the measurements I’ve taken from other air purifiers.
Gym-goers or athletes who also care about their music quality surely know how few over-ear headphones are designed specifically for fitness; our list of the best workout headphones doesn’t have a single pair and my own fondness for them is tempered by just how rare they are. Most buyers instead have to buy workout earbuds, or repurpose normal over-ear headphones for their workout needs (and get very warm ears).
The Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active are a welcome addition to the anemic market segment, coming with a few features and design considerations which make them a step above rivals… though there are some curious deficiencies too.
You’d think US-based audio company Skullcandy would be a prime fit for workout headphones, due to its emphasis on bassy products and funky designs, and it is – its website has an entire section dedicated to ‘Gym & Workout Headphones’. But those are, like most companies’ offerings, just headphones that can be used to exercise. The Crusher 540 Active is different, as it’s designed intently for that purpose.
The ‘Crusher’ in the name points to one of the cans’ best features and the selling point for every member of this line. The 540 Active has a bass slider which can increase the bass from ‘normal’ to ‘quite bassy’ to ‘my head is shaking’, boosting the low end in an ill-tuned but energetic way. If you’re a gym user who loves bass-heavy thumping audio to help you push yourself to the max, this is a fantastic addition.
Dedicated Skullcandy fans might scroll down and notice that the Crusher 540 Active sounds startlingly similar to another pair of cans from the company called the Crusher Evo, and they cost exactly the same in most regions. I too was baffled by how similar these cans are and apparently fans were too, prompting Skullcandy to write a Reddit post detailing the differences.
The differences lie in a few design considerations: the soft pads can be removed and easily washed, perfect for people who get sweaty at the gym, and the band was designed to have a tighter clamp fit. This latter point, unfortunately, doesn’t have a noticeable effect, and the 540 Active frequently fell off my head at the gym when I was lying down. This could be a deal-breaker for some people, depending on your workout routine.
Audio-wise, you’re getting what you pay for; these headphones sound good but not quite great. However, the app offers perhaps the best personal audio test I’ve used in headphones so far, and the ability to crank the bass to 11 would make a nuanced audio design moot anyway.
I’ve mentioned a few features that I like so far, and they’re definitely the highlights of the Skullcandy, but beyond the bass and personal audio modes there’s a noticeable lack of extra features. I was surprised when first looking at the app to see how few tools were offered – but perhaps it’s best that you don’t use the app much, given the connection problems I had (more on these later).
You’re probably still wondering if I recommend the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active as workout headphones, and after testing them for several weeks, I’m not too sure either. They were great for running, great for workouts where I stayed upright, and good for general listening. But I found myself pre-emptively removing them during my gym sessions when I had to do a prone exercise, due to the fit – so you’ll have to ask yourself what your fitness life looks like and whether you need to do such workouts, before buying them.
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Price and release date
(Image credit: Future)
Released in summer 2025
Costs $209.99 / £169.99 / AU$349.99
Few similar rivals
The Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active were released in summer 2025, and you can pick them up for $209.99 / £169.99 / AU$349.99.
At that price they match the Crusher Evo and aren’t too far off other over-ears from the brand, slightly cheaper than the Crusher ANC 2 and more than the Hesh 540 ANC, so they’re a mid-range pick within Skullcandy's oeuvre.
Here’s where I’d normally compare the headphones to other options on the market going for the same thing, but the over-ear workout headphone market is so slim that there aren’t really any bespoke options to speak of.
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Specs
Drivers
40mm
Active noise cancellation
No
Battery life (ANC off)
40 hours
Weight
312g
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.0
Waterproofing
NA
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Features
(Image credit: Future)
Bass slider for extra... bass
40 hours of battery
Useful sound personalization
It might offend some that I’m going to discuss the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active’s titular feature in this section rather than the ‘sound quality’ one, but at the end of the day the crushing bass is more of a novelty and a boost mode than it is a genuine way of refining your music.
I’m talking about the slider on the Active’s left cup, my allusion to which in the ‘design’ section may have raised eyebrows (if you didn’t read the introduction and haven’t seen any of Skullcandy’s Crusher headphones before).
This slider lets you control how bassy your music is, with the lowest setting matching other workout headphones and the highest one literally making the cans shake on your head. I was blown away by just how bassy music can get if you pick the right track and turn the mode to full; it felt like walking into a sticky nightclub from one of London’s late-night streets.
Audiophiles won’t like this mode, as this boosted bass is somewhat formless and unreliable in what it augments, but I found it infectiously fun to play around with nonetheless. There’s an inescapable novelty to having your head literally shake as you listen to ridiculously-amplified house or hip-hop. Some music just isn’t affected by the boost though, especially acoustic and classical tracks, but it was great fun to see just how the Crusher 540 would affect a song.
(Image credit: Future)
There’s no ANC here to cut out the chaos of a gym, but I found the earcup cushions were pretty good at blocking out a lot of noise passively anyway.
The battery life clocks in at 40 hours according to Skullcandy, which is, roughly speaking, an average figure for over-ear headphones, but given the lack of active noise cancellation it might come off a bit low.
On your phone or tablet, the Skullcandy app gets you some extra tools (not the Skull-IQ app which I’ve used for the brand’s earbuds, as that won’t work – judging by Play Store reviews, lots of people have made the same mistake as I). I had a few connection problems wherein the app wouldn’t pick up the paired headphones, but usually hard-closing and reopening it fixed the issue.
The app offers you a Personal Sound listening test to apply an automatic EQ to your music, and it’s one of the simplest and easiest examples of this test that I’ve ever used, as you’re simply prompted to select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on whether you can hear a series of beeping tones played. Its analysis of my hearing also matched what other tests have told me, so it seems fairly accurate.
You can also use the app to switch between three standard EQ presets: music, podcast (which boosts treble but strips bass) and movie which reduced treble slightly. There’s no custom EQ for you to make your own mix, so audiophiles will have to rely on SkullCandy’s judgements.
Various EQ modes are the only features you get from the app, so if you were hoping for a smorgasbord of extra tools, you’ll be disappointed.
Features score: 3.5/5
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Design
(Image credit: Future)
Plenty of buttons on cups
Doesn't clamp onto head strong enough
Cups are removable for cleaning
On the surface, the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active might just look like your standard over-ear headphones, but the devil’s in the detail.
Just look at the cups, for one example of that – they’re loaded with far more buttons and dials than you’d usually see. The left cup has the USB-C charging port, a 3.5mm jack, the aforementioned bass slider and a surprisingly-small power button while the right cup has volume up, play/pause and volume down. Neat touches like slightly-different-feeling buttons ensure it’s easy to work out via touch what you’re reaching for.
The design changes continue to the material, with intentional picks for the gym-going intended buyer. According to Skullcandy, the foam cups have a coating to protect them against sweat, and can be easily removed and cleaned if you do get them mucky – I found them really simple to remove although reattaching them was a lot more fiddly. The band is designed to avoid grime as much as possible.
(Image credit: Future)
Thanks to the breathable material, and the cans’ light body, I found the headphones comfortable to use, even if I was exercising and sweating. The brand deems the cups ‘Sweat & Water Resistant’ although I couldn’t find an official IP rating anywhere.
Skullcandy’s also using a tech here which it calls Clamp Force Secure Fit, designed to give the cans a rigid fit so they’ll stay on your head when you’re working out, but while that’s great in theory it didn’t work in practice. The headphones would regularly slip off my head when I was prone, which is quite frequent depending on my workout routine, and I found myself taking them off every time I needed to lie forward or backward. That’s not exactly ideal for gym use, although I didn’t face the problem when staying upright or running.
A neat (though small) design trait is that you can fold the cups in on the body to make the headphones more portable – I wish more brands would let you do this.
You can buy the Crusher 540 Active in black, white or pink, which is a much more slender list of offerings than Skullcandy’s other Crushers (the ANC 2 has 10 options listed on the brand’s site, while the Evo has six).
Design score: 3.5/5
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Sound quality
40mm drivers per cup
Scooping bass, especially with slider
Vocals lack some sparkle
(Image credit: Future)
I’ve already mentioned that the bass slider lets you turn the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active into a head-worn sub-woofer, but for the purposes of this section let’s imagine I’ve got the slider set to its lowest setting.
Even when bass is stripped out like this, it’s still a prominent part of the sound mix – these are workout headphones after all, and ones made by Skullcandy no less, so scooping bass is part and parcel of what you’re paying for. The mids benefit from this to an extent too, though there were a few times in my testing when I found vocals lacking the power and sparkle that some other headphones lend to treble.
As you can probably expect from the price, you’re not getting the most crystal-clear audio quality or nuanced sound stage, and I did hear some distortion on certain songs. But those all reflect the changed priority values that gym-going or jogging users will want, and I wasn’t disappointed at all when listing.
Skullcandy says that both cans have 40mm drivers in them, which is the same as the Crusher Evo. Having heard the 540 Active and understanding how they tick all the workout-headphone boxes, the company’s confirmation that these are the Evos but tweaked for exercise users, makes total sense.
Sound quality: 3.5/5
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Value
(Image credit: Future)
Paying for novel features...
... which won't be for everyone
At $209.99 / £169.99 / AU$349.99, the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active aren’t the cheapest over-ear headphones in the world (although they’re certainly not premium models). That price isn’t going to the workout features – the Evo costs the same amount – and as I’ve already discussed, these didn’t always tick the boxes as workout headphones anyway.
What you’re actually paying for is the novel bass feature, which is what separates the Crusher 540 Active from other headphones you might be considering. And if this feature sounds great, then the price is certainly justified.
However if you don’t think you’ll make good use of the bass slider, or think the novelty will wear off quickly, there are other over-ears to pick up which are cheaper – and may perform just as well, or better, for a workout.
Value: 3.5/5
Should I buy the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active?
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active score card
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Features
The bass slider and listening test are great, though more features would have been appreciated.
3.5/5
Design
The loose grip hurts the suitability for workouts, but otherwise the design is fine.
3.5/5
Sound quality
While the sound quality is just decent, it's exactly what exercise-minded buyers will want.
3.5/5
Value
If you're buying the Skullcandy for the extra features, it's decent value, but other buyers will be paying unnecessarily more.
3.5/5
Buy them if…
You’re a huge bass-head Some people stopped reading this review when I mentioned a bass slider which gets your head literally shaking. I probably don’t need to tell you to buy Crushers if that sounds like a fantastic selling point to you.
You sweat a lot The easily-removable and cleanable ear pads will be great news to people who sweat a lot, as you’ll be able to easily freshen up your cans.
You’re not great at tweaking EQ settings No equalizer here, but the personal audio mode will help you find your perfect audio mix without you faffing over buttons and sliders.View Deal
Don’t buy them if…
You’ll need to lie down with them Wearing these rules out sit-ups, press-ups, bridges, skull crushers, and more – if your workout routine relies on these, then maybe earbuds are best.
You’re not interested in fitness Well done for reading a whole fitness headphone review without wanting headphones for this purpose, but some of the unique features here will only benefit people doing a workout.
You want funky-looking cans Skullcandy specializes in funkily-colored or -designed headphones, but the 540 Active are some of its few options that don’t come in all sorts of patterns and hues.
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Also consider
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active
SkullCandy Crusher Evo
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2
Earfun Wave Pro
Drivers
40mm
40mm
6mm
40mm
Active noise cancellation
No
No
Yes
Yes
Battery life
40 hours
40 hours
14 hours (buds) 56 hours (case)
80 hours
Weight
312g
312g
5g (buds); 47.5g (case)
268g
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth 5.3
Waterproofing
NA
NA
IP68
NA
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 The Jabra Elite 8 Gen 2 cost more than the Skullcandys and are in-ears instead of over-ears, but sound great and offer top noise cancellation. I include them here as we rank them as our best workout earbuds.
Earfun Wave Pro When I tested these older earbuds, I took them to the gym a few times and they worked fine. They have memory foam cups which won’t be damaged as much by sweat, have a fantastic battery life so you can forget charging them much, and sound really good for the price. Most importantly, they’re quite cheap.
I spent at least three weeks testing the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active before writing this review. They were paired to my Android phone for the entirety of it, using Spotify, Netflix and a few other apps.
I did a lot of the testing at my local gym and on runs around my local area, as I've mentioned. I also listened at home, on public transport and on walks too.
This isn't my first Skullcandy review for TechRadar although I didn't test the original Evo. I've been reviewing devices for the brand for six years now including in-ear, open-ear and on-ear headphones.
Gym-goers or athletes who also care about their music quality surely know how few over-ear headphones are designed specifically for fitness; our list of the best workout headphones doesn’t have a single pair and my own fondness for them is tempered by just how rare they are. Most buyers instead have to buy workout earbuds, or repurpose normal over-ear headphones for their workout needs (and get very warm ears).
The Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active are a welcome addition to the anemic market segment, coming with a few features and design considerations which make them a step above rivals… though there are some curious deficiencies too.
You’d think US-based audio company Skullcandy would be a prime fit for workout headphones, due to its emphasis on bassy products and funky designs, and it is – its website has an entire section dedicated to ‘Gym & Workout Headphones’. But those are, like most companies’ offerings, just headphones that can be used to exercise. The Crusher 540 Active is different, as it’s designed intently for that purpose.
The ‘Crusher’ in the name points to one of the cans’ best features and the selling point for every member of this line. The 540 Active has a bass slider which can increase the bass from ‘normal’ to ‘quite bassy’ to ‘my head is shaking’, boosting the low end in an ill-tuned but energetic way. If you’re a gym user who loves bass-heavy thumping audio to help you push yourself to the max, this is a fantastic addition.
Dedicated Skullcandy fans might scroll down and notice that the Crusher 540 Active sounds startlingly similar to another pair of cans from the company called the Crusher Evo, and they cost exactly the same in most regions. I too was baffled by how similar these cans are and apparently fans were too, prompting Skullcandy to write a Reddit post detailing the differences.
The differences lie in a few design considerations: the soft pads can be removed and easily washed, perfect for people who get sweaty at the gym, and the band was designed to have a tighter clamp fit. This latter point, unfortunately, doesn’t have a noticeable effect, and the 540 Active frequently fell off my head at the gym when I was lying down. This could be a deal-breaker for some people, depending on your workout routine.
Audio-wise, you’re getting what you pay for; these headphones sound good but not quite great. However, the app offers perhaps the best personal audio test I’ve used in headphones so far, and the ability to crank the bass to 11 would make a nuanced audio design moot anyway.
I’ve mentioned a few features that I like so far, and they’re definitely the highlights of the Skullcandy, but beyond the bass and personal audio modes there’s a noticeable lack of extra features. I was surprised when first looking at the app to see how few tools were offered – but perhaps it’s best that you don’t use the app much, given the connection problems I had (more on these later).
You’re probably still wondering if I recommend the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active as workout headphones, and after testing them for several weeks, I’m not too sure either. They were great for running, great for workouts where I stayed upright, and good for general listening. But I found myself pre-emptively removing them during my gym sessions when I had to do a prone exercise, due to the fit – so you’ll have to ask yourself what your fitness life looks like and whether you need to do such workouts, before buying them.
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Price and release date
(Image credit: Future)
Released in summer 2025
Costs $209.99 / £169.99 / AU$349.99
Few similar rivals
The Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active were released in summer 2025, and you can pick them up for $209.99 / £169.99 / AU$349.99.
At that price they match the Crusher Evo and aren’t too far off other over-ears from the brand, slightly cheaper than the Crusher ANC 2 and more than the Hesh 540 ANC, so they’re a mid-range pick within Skullcandy's oeuvre.
Here’s where I’d normally compare the headphones to other options on the market going for the same thing, but the over-ear workout headphone market is so slim that there aren’t really any bespoke options to speak of.
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Specs
Drivers
40mm
Active noise cancellation
No
Battery life (ANC off)
40 hours
Weight
312g
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.0
Waterproofing
NA
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Features
(Image credit: Future)
Bass slider for extra... bass
40 hours of battery
Useful sound personalization
It might offend some that I’m going to discuss the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active’s titular feature in this section rather than the ‘sound quality’ one, but at the end of the day the crushing bass is more of a novelty and a boost mode than it is a genuine way of refining your music.
I’m talking about the slider on the Active’s left cup, my allusion to which in the ‘design’ section may have raised eyebrows (if you didn’t read the introduction and haven’t seen any of Skullcandy’s Crusher headphones before).
This slider lets you control how bassy your music is, with the lowest setting matching other workout headphones and the highest one literally making the cans shake on your head. I was blown away by just how bassy music can get if you pick the right track and turn the mode to full; it felt like walking into a sticky nightclub from one of London’s late-night streets.
Audiophiles won’t like this mode, as this boosted bass is somewhat formless and unreliable in what it augments, but I found it infectiously fun to play around with nonetheless. There’s an inescapable novelty to having your head literally shake as you listen to ridiculously-amplified house or hip-hop. Some music just isn’t affected by the boost though, especially acoustic and classical tracks, but it was great fun to see just how the Crusher 540 would affect a song.
(Image credit: Future)
There’s no ANC here to cut out the chaos of a gym, but I found the earcup cushions were pretty good at blocking out a lot of noise passively anyway.
The battery life clocks in at 40 hours according to Skullcandy, which is, roughly speaking, an average figure for over-ear headphones, but given the lack of active noise cancellation it might come off a bit low.
On your phone or tablet, the Skullcandy app gets you some extra tools (not the Skull-IQ app which I’ve used for the brand’s earbuds, as that won’t work – judging by Play Store reviews, lots of people have made the same mistake as I). I had a few connection problems wherein the app wouldn’t pick up the paired headphones, but usually hard-closing and reopening it fixed the issue.
The app offers you a Personal Sound listening test to apply an automatic EQ to your music, and it’s one of the simplest and easiest examples of this test that I’ve ever used, as you’re simply prompted to select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on whether you can hear a series of beeping tones played. Its analysis of my hearing also matched what other tests have told me, so it seems fairly accurate.
You can also use the app to switch between three standard EQ presets: music, podcast (which boosts treble but strips bass) and movie which reduced treble slightly. There’s no custom EQ for you to make your own mix, so audiophiles will have to rely on SkullCandy’s judgements.
Various EQ modes are the only features you get from the app, so if you were hoping for a smorgasbord of extra tools, you’ll be disappointed.
Features score: 3.5/5
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Design
(Image credit: Future)
Plenty of buttons on cups
Doesn't clamp onto head strong enough
Cups are removable for cleaning
On the surface, the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active might just look like your standard over-ear headphones, but the devil’s in the detail.
Just look at the cups, for one example of that – they’re loaded with far more buttons and dials than you’d usually see. The left cup has the USB-C charging port, a 3.5mm jack, the aforementioned bass slider and a surprisingly-small power button while the right cup has volume up, play/pause and volume down. Neat touches like slightly-different-feeling buttons ensure it’s easy to work out via touch what you’re reaching for.
The design changes continue to the material, with intentional picks for the gym-going intended buyer. According to Skullcandy, the foam cups have a coating to protect them against sweat, and can be easily removed and cleaned if you do get them mucky – I found them really simple to remove although reattaching them was a lot more fiddly. The band is designed to avoid grime as much as possible.
(Image credit: Future)
Thanks to the breathable material, and the cans’ light body, I found the headphones comfortable to use, even if I was exercising and sweating. The brand deems the cups ‘Sweat & Water Resistant’ although I couldn’t find an official IP rating anywhere.
Skullcandy’s also using a tech here which it calls Clamp Force Secure Fit, designed to give the cans a rigid fit so they’ll stay on your head when you’re working out, but while that’s great in theory it didn’t work in practice. The headphones would regularly slip off my head when I was prone, which is quite frequent depending on my workout routine, and I found myself taking them off every time I needed to lie forward or backward. That’s not exactly ideal for gym use, although I didn’t face the problem when staying upright or running.
A neat (though small) design trait is that you can fold the cups in on the body to make the headphones more portable – I wish more brands would let you do this.
You can buy the Crusher 540 Active in black, white or pink, which is a much more slender list of offerings than Skullcandy’s other Crushers (the ANC 2 has 10 options listed on the brand’s site, while the Evo has six).
Design score: 3.5/5
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Sound quality
40mm drivers per cup
Scooping bass, especially with slider
Vocals lack some sparkle
(Image credit: Future)
I’ve already mentioned that the bass slider lets you turn the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active into a head-worn sub-woofer, but for the purposes of this section let’s imagine I’ve got the slider set to its lowest setting.
Even when bass is stripped out like this, it’s still a prominent part of the sound mix – these are workout headphones after all, and ones made by Skullcandy no less, so scooping bass is part and parcel of what you’re paying for. The mids benefit from this to an extent too, though there were a few times in my testing when I found vocals lacking the power and sparkle that some other headphones lend to treble.
As you can probably expect from the price, you’re not getting the most crystal-clear audio quality or nuanced sound stage, and I did hear some distortion on certain songs. But those all reflect the changed priority values that gym-going or jogging users will want, and I wasn’t disappointed at all when listing.
Skullcandy says that both cans have 40mm drivers in them, which is the same as the Crusher Evo. Having heard the 540 Active and understanding how they tick all the workout-headphone boxes, the company’s confirmation that these are the Evos but tweaked for exercise users, makes total sense.
Sound quality: 3.5/5
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Value
(Image credit: Future)
Paying for novel features...
... which won't be for everyone
At $209.99 / £169.99 / AU$349.99, the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active aren’t the cheapest over-ear headphones in the world (although they’re certainly not premium models). That price isn’t going to the workout features – the Evo costs the same amount – and as I’ve already discussed, these didn’t always tick the boxes as workout headphones anyway.
What you’re actually paying for is the novel bass feature, which is what separates the Crusher 540 Active from other headphones you might be considering. And if this feature sounds great, then the price is certainly justified.
However if you don’t think you’ll make good use of the bass slider, or think the novelty will wear off quickly, there are other over-ears to pick up which are cheaper – and may perform just as well, or better, for a workout.
Value: 3.5/5
Should I buy the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active?
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active score card
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Features
The bass slider and listening test are great, though more features would have been appreciated.
3.5/5
Design
The loose grip hurts the suitability for workouts, but otherwise the design is fine.
3.5/5
Sound quality
While the sound quality is just decent, it's exactly what exercise-minded buyers will want.
3.5/5
Value
If you're buying the Skullcandy for the extra features, it's decent value, but other buyers will be paying unnecessarily more.
3.5/5
Buy them if…
You’re a huge bass-head Some people stopped reading this review when I mentioned a bass slider which gets your head literally shaking. I probably don’t need to tell you to buy Crushers if that sounds like a fantastic selling point to you.
You sweat a lot The easily-removable and cleanable ear pads will be great news to people who sweat a lot, as you’ll be able to easily freshen up your cans.
You’re not great at tweaking EQ settings No equalizer here, but the personal audio mode will help you find your perfect audio mix without you faffing over buttons and sliders.View Deal
Don’t buy them if…
You’ll need to lie down with them Wearing these rules out sit-ups, press-ups, bridges, skull crushers, and more – if your workout routine relies on these, then maybe earbuds are best.
You’re not interested in fitness Well done for reading a whole fitness headphone review without wanting headphones for this purpose, but some of the unique features here will only benefit people doing a workout.
You want funky-looking cans Skullcandy specializes in funkily-colored or -designed headphones, but the 540 Active are some of its few options that don’t come in all sorts of patterns and hues.
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active review: Also consider
Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active
SkullCandy Crusher Evo
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2
Earfun Wave Pro
Drivers
40mm
40mm
6mm
40mm
Active noise cancellation
No
No
Yes
Yes
Battery life
40 hours
40 hours
14 hours (buds) 56 hours (case)
80 hours
Weight
312g
312g
5g (buds); 47.5g (case)
268g
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.3
Bluetooth 5.3
Waterproofing
NA
NA
IP68
NA
Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 The Jabra Elite 8 Gen 2 cost more than the Skullcandys and are in-ears instead of over-ears, but sound great and offer top noise cancellation. I include them here as we rank them as our best workout earbuds.
Earfun Wave Pro When I tested these older earbuds, I took them to the gym a few times and they worked fine. They have memory foam cups which won’t be damaged as much by sweat, have a fantastic battery life so you can forget charging them much, and sound really good for the price. Most importantly, they’re quite cheap.
I spent at least three weeks testing the Skullcandy Crusher 540 Active before writing this review. They were paired to my Android phone for the entirety of it, using Spotify, Netflix and a few other apps.
I did a lot of the testing at my local gym and on runs around my local area, as I've mentioned. I also listened at home, on public transport and on walks too.
This isn't my first Skullcandy review for TechRadar although I didn't test the original Evo. I've been reviewing devices for the brand for six years now including in-ear, open-ear and on-ear headphones.
It brings me no pleasure to find that the PowerA Fusion Pro Wireless Controller for Xbox is the most disappointing product I’ve tested in the brand’s catalog to date. PowerA is admittedly a brand I’ve had mixed feelings about in the past. Sometimes it provides real winners, like the PowerA Enhanced Wireless Controller, which I consider a solid alternative to the official Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. Other times it doesn’t quite hit the mark, like we’ve seen recently with the PowerA Advantage Switch 2 Wired Controller and indeed the Fusion Pro for Xbox here.
First and foremost, the best Xbox controllers should provide a satisfying play experience with minimal frustrations, but this PowerA pad is loaded with them. From its awkward d-pad and abrasive textured grips, to obnoxious Lumectra RGB lighting and trigger locks that simply don’t work most of the time, this is a controller that tries and fails to punch above its weight class with an absurdly high price tag to match.
It’s not all bad. You at least get a carry case and charging dock included in the box. Battery life is reasonably strong, and a neat audio switch lets you adjust headset volume or mute your mic in an instant. I also love PowerA’s quick-twist thumbsticks here, which provide three adjustable height levels. Plus, they’re Hall effect, meaning they’ll be able to resist stick drift much longer than traditional analog sticks. Still, these high points don’t do enough to outweigh the myriad frustrations I have with this controller.
(Image credit: Future)
PowerA Fusion Pro for Xbox: Price and availability
List price: $169.99 / £149.99 / AU$199.95
Comparable in price to the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited and Razer Wolverine V3 Pro
There are plenty of cheaper and better options available for Xbox and PC
I’d feel a bit more comfortable recommending the Fusion Pro for Xbox if it weren’t for that eye-watering price tag. At $169.99 / £149.99 / AU$199.95, it’s bordering on the premium territory of Xbox pads like the Nacon Revolution X Unlimited and Razer Wolverine V3 Pro.
If the Fusion Pro provided a stellar controller experience, the price would be an easier pill to swallow. The issue for PowerA is that there’s no shortage of superb Xbox and PC-compatible controllers like it that are available for less than half of its price, including the 8BitDo Ultimate 2, GameSir Kaleid, and even the official Xbox Wireless Controller.
PowerA Fusion Pro for Xbox: Specs
Price
$169.99 / £149.99 / AU$199.95
Weight
1.44lbs / 0.65kg
Dimensions
6.1 x 4.2 x 2.4in / 156 x 107 x 61mm
Compatibility
Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
Connection type
Wireless (2.4GHz), Wired (USB-C)
Battery life
Around 30 hours
PowerA Fusion Pro for Xbox: Design and features
The initial package out of the box is promising. The PowerA Fusion Pro for Xbox comes with a carry case and bespoke charging dock, both incredibly useful accessories that I welcome with any gamepad. Both are solidly made, too. Especially the charging dock, which is well-built, unintrusive, and can sit in any gaming setup ready to charge your pad up via USB-C. The carry case, meanwhile, is sturdy and has a compartment for the USB-C cable.
The pad itself bears a striking resemblance to the official Xbox Wireless Controller, which certainly isn’t anomalous in the wider Xbox controller market. It does feel slightly weightier than Microsoft’s pad, owing to inclusions like trigger locks and a magnetic charging dock connector.
Carrying on with the good, the controller’s quick-twist thumbsticks are genuinely brilliant. Turning them clockwise raises the thumbstick shaft, while lowering it when turned counterclockwise. There are three height levels here, and I personally found the middle setting to be the most comfortable. They lock firmly in place after adjusting, too, so there’s no unnecessary fiddling.
Besides a handy headset audio adjustment switch, that’s about where my praise ends for the PowerA Fusion Pro. To that end, I simply could not get on with the abundance of RGB lighting here. By default, a bright rainbow effect coats the controller, revealing a preset tribal-esque silhouette. It’s a nice pattern, but I found it to be really distracting during play.
You can change the RGB pattern profile (or switch it off entirely) via a dedicated button on the rear of the controller. I opted to keep it switched off, as some of the other pulse-like patterns weren’t much better.
The overall feel of the controller leaves much to be desired, too. The textured grips feel just a little too rough on my hands, making for rather uncomfortable long play sessions. The d-pad is also fairly listless, feeling fine on one end while awkwardly spongy and hard to press on the other. Admittedly, this could be an issue with my unit specifically, but something to keep in mind if you’re planning on buying.
(Image credit: Future)
PowerA Fusion Pro for Xbox: Performance
Despite my criticism, I can at least say the PowerA Fusion Pro does get the job done as a controller. If you can ignore the awkward d-pad and abrasive textured grips, performance is perfectly reasonable across the board.
A major gripe here, though, is that the 3-step trigger locks just don’t work. When set to the midpoint, you have to squeeze the triggers really quite hard to register the press. And on the most acute setting, the triggers stop working entirely.
This was the case across multiple games I tested with the controller, including Halo Infinite, Fortnite, and Final Fantasy 14 Online. I like a shallow trigger in games like these, as it lets me fire weapons (or access hotbars in the latter’s case) a good deal quicker, but I was unable to do this on the Fusion Pro.
On a more positive note, the Fusion Pro’s battery life exceeded my expectations, coming in at around 25-30 hours when used wirelessly via a 2.4GHz connection. I tested the controller over the course of a week, across both Xbox Series X Digital Edition and PC, and found I didn’t have to charge the controller until my very last few sessions with it. Impressive stuff, and beats many other Xbox controllers - both cheaper and pricier than this one - on battery life overall.
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the PowerA Fusion Pro for Xbox?
Buy it if…
You really, really like RGB I can’t lie, the RGB pattern itself on the PowerA Fusion Pro is really quite lovely, and I like the underlying tribal-like pattern. For me, it’s just a bit too distracting during gameplay, but might be worth checking out if you like color-filled controllers.
Don’t buy it if…
There are better, cheaper options available You don’t have to spend a fortune on a quality Xbox or PC pad. Most GameSir and 8BitDo controllers, for example, come in well under $100 / £100 while still being replete with desirable features.
Also consider...
I’m being honest here; the PowerA Fusion Pro for Xbox would be a hard sell at most price points. Consider these two excellent alternatives if you’re currently shopping for a new Xbox and/or PC gamepad.
PowerA Fusion Pro
Nacon Revolution X Unlimited
8BitDo Ultimate 2
Price
$169.99 / £149.99 / AU$199.95
$199.99 / £179.99 (around AU$229)
$59.99 / £49.99 (around AU$90)
Weight
1.44lbs / 0.65kg
0.72lbs / 0.33kg
0.54lbs / 0.25kg
Dimensions
6.1 x 4.2 x 2.4in / 156 x 107 x 61mm
6.5 x 4.5 x 2.2in / 164 x 115 x 56mm
5.7 x 4.1 x 2.4in / 147 x 103 x 61mm
Compatibility
Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PC
Connection type
Wireless (2.4GHz), Wired (USB-C)
Wireless (2.4Ghz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)
Wireless (2.4Ghz, Bluetooth), Wired (USB-C)
Battery life
Around 30 hours
Around 10 hours
10-15 hours
Nacon Revolution X Unlimited A superb premium controller and one of the brand’s best-ever. This Xbox and PC controller’s unique selling point is its handy on-board LCD display, which lets you quickly customize aspects of your pad and gameplay sessions, including button mapping and headset volume. It’s a real winner for the price.
8BitDo Ultimate 2 For a more budget-friendly choice, I can’t recommend the excellent 8BitDo Ultimate 2 enough. Pleasant and subtle RGB ring lights, drift-resistant TMR thumbsticks, and sublime build quality make this one a real budget powerhouse.
Compared to competitors from Razer, Nacon, 8BitDo, and more
I used the PowerA Fusion Pro for Xbox for a week in order to write this review. During that time, I played a wide range of titles on Xbox Series X Digital Edition and PC, including Fortnite, Silent Hill f, Tekken 8, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and much more besides.
Given this controller’s high price point, I compared it directly to similarly priced Xbox gamepad competitors like the Razer Wolverine V3 Pro and Nacon Revolution X Unlimited. These pads are slightly pricier, but offer more satisfying play with better build quality and high-end features (not to mention trigger locks that actually work).
Even then, I found a lot more to love with cheaper controllers, including the GameSir Kaleid and 8BitDo Ultimate 2. Both offer sublime features like Hall effect or TMR thumbsticks, clicky microswitch-powered buttons, and a tasteful amount of RGB that isn’t overly distracting to the eye.
