SiteBuilder has now been absorbed by Network Solutions website builder platform. You can read our full Network Solutions website builder review to learn more about what the platform has to offer.
SiteBuilder is a website builder that makes it easy to create a site quickly. One great bonus to SiteBuilder is the affordable plans. You can purchase the Pro plan for as low as $4.00 per month when you sign up for two-years. If you’re new to building your own website, SiteBuilder isn’t hard to start using.
You can easily browse the website without being overloaded by tons of features and confusing technical language. Everything is kept simple and easy to see. However, the downside is that there’s limited information on the website and not as many details as there could be. But if you’re looking for a web builder that’s easy to start (and less expensive) SiteBuilder has more affordable options.
Here's a snapshot of the plans and prices (Image credit: SiteBuilder)
Plans and pricing
SiteBuilder has three main plans on the website. There’s no free version listed which is difficult especially if you want to test the web builder before purchasing it. However, there is a great support system available for you to ask questions you have. Here’s a quick summary of the plans and prices:
The Pro plan costs $4.00 per month when you sign up for the two-year plan. It comes with a mobile optimization feature, web hosting, your own domain name, and website statistics. This plan is the most popular one and good for anyone new to building a website.
The Premium plan costs $4.80 per month as long as you choose the two-year plan. It includes web hosting, customizable templates, $100.00 in advertising credits, and priority support to help with your questions. This plan is very close in price to the previous plan.
The Ecommerce plan costs $7.20 per month (with the two year plan). You’ll have access to all the features in the Premium plan (such as a domain name, web hosting, and advertising credits) and you’ll also be able to make an online store to sell your products.
It's easy to access plans and browse the website (Image credit: SiteBuilder)
Interface
The interface is clean and the website is well-organized. For example, it’s easy to compare various website builder plans or to contact the customer support. SiteBuilder offers live chat, so we tried it. This worked really great, with an agent responding to us within four minutes and giving useful answers to our product questions. If that's still not enough, there's phone support available. The live chat and phone support are well worth having, and it was very helpful to be able to reach out.
Marketing tools and the editor are key features (Image credit: SiteBuilder)
Features
SiteBuilder's editor offers a surprising number of ways to customize most site objects. Click in a text box, for instance, and you're not just able to edit, style or align the text. You can change the color of the box, change its border width and radius, add drop shadow or glow effects, make low-level font changes to letter and line spacing, or even apply a host of text animation effects (fades, flips, bounces, shakes, fly-ins and more).
That's not all. SiteBuilder pages are constructed from sections, and if you click the space around a header (or an image, or a gallery, or any other section element) you'll find many more customization options. Some of the settings replicate what you can do with an element, but at the section level. Adding behaviors allows objects to control other functions, perhaps playing or stopping a video, submitting a form or navigating around the site. And interesting site-level options include the ability to show a section on all web pages with a click.
There's a lot of power here, but it does come at the expense of some on-screen clutter. Just hovering your mouse over a section is enough for the editor to display one section-level toolbar, and left-clicking displays the full section toolbox.
There's a powerful integrated photo editor, too, with more functionality than some standalone apps. It can crop, rotate or resize your images, adjust brightness and contrast, tweak colors and tone, fix red-eye and whiten teeth, add captions, frames, overlays and stickers. It’s also capable of tweaking sharpness or applying focus effects, and allows you to draw freehand on the image, create vignettes, paint a custom color splash effect, and more.
There's helpful customer support (Image credit: SiteBuilder)
The competition
There’s so many web builders out there (Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress to name a few). So what’s unique about SiteBuilder? The editor stands out along with the customer support center. You can easily look through lists of questions or search ones you have. Also, once you've created a blog, it appears as a new page in the SiteBuilder editor, and can be customized like any other. If you don't like the default photo backgrounds then you can replace them with something simpler, and you can add new text to tell readers about yourself and what the blog is for.
Final thoughts
SiteBuilder's wide selection of templates and versatile editor are capable of building some quality sites. The prices are a good range too for what is included in each plan. There’s not very many media features, but SiteBuilder is easy for beginners to use, especially if you want to create a website quickly.
Gone are the days of It's A Wonderful Life! and Miracle on 34th Street – it's a given that modern Christmas movies are unironically bad, and the new Netflix film A Merry Little Ex-mas is no exception.
This sounds like a dig, but I don't really mean it as one. Sure, I'd prefer to spend my time watching the best movies creators have to offer, but Christmas films in the 2000s play by their own rules. We're almost willing them to be awful, totally zoning out and thinking about absolutely nothing while we binge them in the cold winter months.
Starring Oliver Hudson and Alicia Silverstone as a couple who are trying to "consciously uncouple" (aka divorce) during the festive period, A Merry Little Ex-mas delivers the no-thoughts goods. It's the same way you have to occasionally read a rubbish book just to feel something again... there are no stakes and nothing important to note. Just you, a cosy blanket, and vibes.
Given I actually get paid to talk about film and TV for a living, and have to earn that responsibility, I need to dig a little deeper into A Merry Little Ex-mas via the standard industry criteria (e.g. saying "it's vibes" doesn't quite cut it). As you might expect, it doesn't score very highly in those areas.
A Merry Little Ex-mas has nuggets of gold amid its seasonal rubbish
First, let's set the scene. Kate (Silverstone) and Everett (Hudson) are getting divorced simply because they seem fatigued by each other. While the entire town knows about it, each is keeping a secret: Everett is dating someone new (Jameela Jamil), while Kate plans to move away to Boston after their youngest goes off to college.
Kate wants the family to have one last Christmas as a unit, adhering to all the traditions they've made over the years. As their secrets spill out, however, a normal Christmas is the last thing that Kate and Everett have, and it's incredibly clear that their feelings for each other haven't gone away either.
From my brief synopsis, you can probably work out exactly how A Merry Little Ex-mas ends, and I can basically guarantee that you are correct. This is one of the many problems the new movie has, if we're really scrutinizing it.
Not only can we see the conclusion coming with our eyes closed, but the overarching storyline and B-plots are all too ridiculous to believe. As an act of rebellion to try and make Everett jealous, Kate immediately dates a young guy called Chet (Pierson Fodé), who is the most stereotypical American muscle man you've ever seen.
The fact this chiseled dude just happens to be working at every business in town and on board with Kate's jealousy plan is as unbelievable as the fact Tess (Jamil) moved her luxurious life to suburban American for a man she's only know for just four weeks.
Every decision everybody makes is a questionable one, including the team's collective decision to make Harry Pottergreat again (you'll see what I mean, but really? In 2025?) There's nothing believable enough to sink your teeth into, you just have to go off of pure whimsy.
Our cast are putting in solid performances, but there's nothing remarkable. You'd think putting grown-up Cher Horowitz from Clueless and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Melissa Joan Hart) in a film together as BFFs would be a slam dunk, but Joan Hart isn't included as much as she could be.
It's quite literally all smiles and rainbows. (Image credit: Netflix)
But that doesn't mean everything in A Merry Little Ex-mas should be written off. If you're a Hallmark fan, or live to consume rubbish, the new Netflix movie is literally made for you.
Every frame looks like the quintessential American holiday you want to immerse yourself in, both picture-perfect and wholesome at every turn. Add a level of 'hamming' to proceedings (by which I mean everything that happens borders on being camp) and you've the perfect cocktail of Sunday viewing.
There's also an incredible amount of representation that isn't made into an unnecessarily big deal. Kate has two dads, who own the local hardware store and are responsible for the biggest amount of laughs in this otherwise humorless film.
They shower her in nothing but love, and it's clear they've been an integral part of the grandchildren's childhoods too. It's a beautiful relationship to watch, and a timely reminder of how the 2020s blended family can be easily included onscreen.
My star of the show? Jameela Jamil. She's been so busy being brilliantly herself (her Substack is must-subscribe reading), that I think we've forgotten just how brilliant of an actress she is. Tess is the antithesis of who she really is, but you'd never be able to tell if you didn't know her. I'm aware that's how acting works, but you get my point.
Will I be rushing to press play on A Merry Little Ex-mas again? No, and I doubt I ever will. Was it a nice, mind-numbing way to spend a Sunday evening curled up in bed? You bet.
I rely on a power bank daily, and only the most powerful options can keep up with the demands of laptop charging or topping up portable gaming devices.
While there are plenty of great options in our guide to the best power banks, most don’t have built-in cables, so you need to carry some extras when on the go.
And that’s where the Lenovo Go slots in, with up to 65W output and a built-in cable that hides away in the power bank itself, so it's ready to go whenever needed.
Aside from the cable, it also has both a USB-C and a USB-A port and can charge three devices at once.
The Lenovo Go features a typical 20,000mAh, 74Wh (though the unit itself says 77Wh) capacity, which makes it ready to take on flights without permission, and capable of topping up a laptop at least once or keeping your phone charged for days. It’s also enough to give the 50Wh battery in the Steam Deck a full charge.
The Lenovo Go power bank includes a built-in 44 cm USB-C cable. (Image credit: Future)
At 170 × 72 × 23 mm (6.69 × 2.83 × 0.91 inches), it’s reasonably compact, and the 390 grams (0.86 lb) weight is fairly typical considering the capacity. The design is slim enough to slip into a bag (including briefcase-style laptop bags) without adding bulk.
The built-in USB-C cable is 44 cm (17.3 in) long and wraps around a recess in the power bank for storage. While secure and easy to deploy, it’s very slightly fiddly to put back into place neatly once you are finished charging.
The USB-C end is slightly bulky, so it may not fit in some USB-C ports with tight access, such as phones with thicker cases.
Image 1 of 7
(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 7
The power bank shows the remaining capacity with LEDs – each representing a 25% increment. (Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 7
The power bank includes USB-A and USB-C ports on the end. (Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 7
The built-in USB-C cable has a handy pull tab to help release it. (Image credit: Future)
Image 5 of 7
(Image credit: Future)
Image 6 of 7
The USB-C connector on the end of the cable has a slightly bulky protective cover, so may not fit in tight ports. (Image credit: Future)
Image 7 of 7
The built-in USB-C cable is tough, but does not sit neatly unless firmly pushed back in. (Image credit: Future)
The power bank uses a simple four-LED system to display remaining capacity in 25% steps, which works fine but isn’t quite as nice as a digital readout. The plastic shell feels solid in hand and is quite tough, and despite rattling around in my bag for a few weeks, it shows no signs of undue wear.
The Lenovo power bank does face stiff competition from similar-spec power banks, such as the often slightly cheaper Anker 20,000mAh 87W power bank. The Lenovo is slightly slimmer (but longer) and lighter, but to give comparative value for money, it needs to be picked up when on sale.
Image 1 of 4
The power bank is about the same horizontal dimensions as the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, but of course much thicker. (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 4
The power bank looks chunky compared to the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i laptop, but it's slim enough to slip into a bag without adding bulk. (Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Future)
The Lenovo Go USB-C laptop power bank outputs USB PD3.0 spec voltages on the USB-C cable and USB-C port – 5V 3A, 9V 3A, 15V 3A and 20V 3.25A. This means it will happily fast charge most phones, laptops and other devices like handheld gaming machines at up to 65W. The USB-A port supports the QC3.0 protocol, with 5V, 9V, 12V or variable from 3.6V to 12V, at up to 18W.
Notably, it doesn’t support PPS (Programmable Power Supply), so it won’t do 45W Samsung Super Fast charging like the Iniu P50 can.
The Lenovo power bank also doesn’t output 12V on the USB-C ports, which isn’t a problem for most users, but it’s still worth mentioning. There aren’t many devices that exclusively need 12V USB-C charging, but, for example, a 12V option is needed to get the fastest charging on DJI Mini drone batteries.
So while the Lenovo doesn’t have the latest protocol support, for normal use it’s still more than capable of fast charging any of your devices.
Lenovo Go USB-C laptop power bank: Price & specs
You can buy the Lenovo power bank directly from Lenovo or various other marketplaces and retailers.
List price is $140.99 / £84 / AU$138, but it's often sold for much less during sale events, so it's well worth waiting for a discount if you don't need it right away.
The power bank has a standard 1-year warranty, and we are a little disappointed that Lenovo didn’t offer at least 2 years.
Price
$140.99 / £84 / AU$138
Capacity
20,000mAh / 74Wh
Single Port Output
65W
Number of Ports
3
USB-C
2x in/out
USB-A
1x
Dimensions
170 × 72 × 23 mm (6.69 × 2.83 × 0.91 inches)
Weight (measured)
391 g (0.86 lb)
Phone charges
3 to 4 times
Laptop charges
0.5 to 1 times
Lenovo Go USB-C laptop power bank: Test results
Many power banks make bold claims, but in real-world testing they don't live up to the hype. So to weed out the duds, I do comprehensive testing to verify charge voltages, confirm protocol support and log capacity tests.
Overall, the Lenovo power bank gives solid results considering it is slimmer and lighter than many similar-spec options and has a built-in cable.
Test
Usable Capacity
Efficiency
Score
65W laptop charging
61.5 Wh
83.1%
3.5 / 5
30W laptop charging
62.5 Wh
84.4%
3.5 / 5
20W phone charging
65.3 Wh
88.2%
4 / 5
10W charging
68.1 Wh
92%
4.5 / 5
For 65W laptop charging, the Lenovo Go outputs 61.5Wh of the rated 74Wh available, giving a typical 83.1% efficiency rating. Lenovo also rates the power bank at just 48Wh when outputting 65W (20V 3.25A), so the real-world test results of 61.5Wh are much better.
I will note, though, that after it hits about 45% capacity remaining, it does renegotiate to a slower charge rate to protect the battery cells. This is fairly typical, and when testing it on a laptop that is being used the lower average power draw does not trigger this mode.
At an average 30W output when running a laptop, efficiency is slightly better, at 84.4%.
For phone charging at 20W, the Lenovo power bank hit an excellent 88.2% efficiency, and if charging slowly at 10W, it can output 92% of the rated capacity.
The power bank is rated for 74Wh by Lenovo online, but the actual power bank notes 77Wh. This is a slight over-provisioning of capacity by Lenovo, which is a good thing, and for the efficiency calculations above I used the 74Wh rating.
The Lenovo power bank includes detailed specs on the sticker underneath. (Image credit: Future)
When pushed hard with a sustained maximum output until empty (such as when charging a laptop), the Lenovo power bank reached a warm but not problematic 42°C (108°F), while phone charging only saw it reach 28°C (82°F). While it’s generally best to charge a laptop on a desk, the Lenovo power bank stays cool enough that I would have no problem using it in a bag.
The power bank can charge at up to 100W via the built-in cable or USB-C port and takes about 1.5 hours to top back up.
Rated Output Capacity
2400 mAh / 48Wh at 20V 3.25A
PPS support
No
Included cable
Built-in, 5A
IN1 (USB-C port)
5V⎓3A; 9V⎓3A; 15V⎓3A; 20V⎓5A
IN2 (USB-C cable)
5V⎓3A; 9V⎓3A; 15V⎓3A; 20V⎓5A
OUT1 (USB-C port)
5V⎓3A; 9V⎓3A; 15V⎓3A; 20V⎓3.25A
OUT2 (USB-C cable)
5V⎓3A; 9V⎓3A; 15V⎓3A; 20V⎓3.25A
OUT3 (USB-A port)
5V⎓3A; 9V⎓2A; 12V⎓1.5A
Should I buy the Lenovo Go power bank?
Buy it if…
You need laptop charging The 65W output is ideal for quick top-ups.
You want a power bank with a built-in cable The 44 cm cable helps cut down clutter in your bag.
Don't buy it if…
You need PPS charging The Lenovo power bank does not support PPS so it can’t hit the full Samsung Super Fast charge speeds.
You are after a more affordable option While not too bad when on sale, the Lenovo power bank is expensive at list price.
Also consider
The Lenovo Go laptop power bank is a great option for everyday laptop and phone charging, but below are a few other options if you are looking for something different. For even more recommendations, check out our guide to the best power banks. Or, if you are planning a holiday soon, get a full rundown on the airline rules when traveling with power banks.
Iniu P50 power bank Need something smaller for charging a phone? With 45W fast-charge capability and a 10,000mAh (37Wh) capacity, the Iniu P50 is a great power bank to slip into your bag when on the go.
ZMI No.20 This power bank uses premium components, has a large 25,000mAh (90Wh) capacity and is able to fast-charge anything from a phone to a laptop at up to 100W.
What's your favorite power bank for everyday carry? Or is there a specific model you think I should test?
Let me know in the comments below.
How I test power banks
I get hands-on with every power bank I test and conduct extensive evaluations in both lab and real-world scenarios. Using tools like the ChargerLab POWER-Z KM003C, I measure charge voltage, check protocol support, and log capacity tests.
Each power bank is also tested with everyday devices, including phones, tablets and laptops, and is connected to a programmable load tester for multiple charge cycles. I carry a selection daily in both pockets and bags to assess their durability and ability to withstand everyday use.
All measurements and weights are personally verified, ensuring accuracy beyond the manufacturer’s listings. It’s worth noting that many power bank reviews don’t do this sort of testing, so they should be taken with a grain of salt.
It's been a long time coming, but Football Manager 26 is finally here. With 2025 being the first year we haven't seen a new Football Manager game — or Championship Manager before it — since 1992, it was clear that when Sports Interactive decided to cancel last year's planned entry to the highly regarded football management simulation game, it must've been in a bad way.
Review info
Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S Release date: November 4, 2025
It was always an ambitious sequel, with the developers being transparent about the switch to the Unity engine, with plans to use it for a huge graphical leap. For a modern-day football game, the matchday experience should be the flagship feature, but until now, it wouldn't have looked out of place on an original PlayStation. On Unity, it now looks at least like a PlayStation 2 game.
What's funny is that I'm not exaggerating in the slightest, but it isn't a criticism by any means. It isn't quite the dramatic jump forward we long-term virtual managers were hoping for, but it's still an improvement. Match intros have league-specific cutscenes, player animations are much more fluid, and the way the ball travels looks way more realistic. Football Manager is more than just the match engine, but this is hopefully a solid start to consistent graphical improvements over the course of the next few entries.
(Image credit: SI/Sega)
A couple of highlights
That will, unfortunately, be a running theme because Football Manager 26 is, for all intents and purposes, still very much a beta. There are improvements, and the important thing to keep in mind amongst all of the drawbacks is that this is still Football Manager at its core.
You're still going to be hooked, playing for hours on end, sacrificing sleep to try and take your beloved local club to glory… It's just that, despite all the hype and excitement around 26 being a full revamp for the series, it has significantly missed the mark.
Alongside the visually improved match engine, though, there is one other area where Football Manager 26 has genuinely improved on: tactics. For the first time in series history, you can now use two tactics simultaneously: one when you're in possession of the ball, and another when you're out of possession. The available player roles for any given position change, you can use an entirely different formation, the whole works. It adds an extra dynamic to tactics that we didn't have prior, and is one of the only genuine selling points for the new game.
I'd also be remiss not to mention the inclusion of women's football for the first time ever, and done to an impressive degree, too. There are 14 women's leagues across 11 countries, from the world-famous Women's Super League in England to the not-so-well-known Adran Premier next door in Wales.
Sports Interactive has 40 researchers dedicated to just the women's game, and even though there's no denying the mode won't be as popular as managing in the men's leagues, it's a great step for representation and is crucial in helping the sport become as recognised as it deserves to be.
(Image credit: SI/Sega)
Delivered a year late yet still undercooked
Unfortunately, even with the post-launch 26.0.4 update, Football Manager 26 is still a buggy, feature-barren, poor excuse for a full-priced video game launch, especially one that has 20+ years of history and consistency to fall back on.
There are so many missing features in this year's instalment that were available in previous iterations of the game, including but not limited to: International management, touchline shouts, squad depth tab, live cup draws, the data hub, create-a-club mode, versus mode, challenge mode, transfer deadline day, end of season summaries/fanfare, advanced match stats, the ability to save preset line-ups, and so many more slightly less significant removals that I could be here all day.
Best bit
(Image credit: SI/Sega)
Even though it still pales in comparison to other modern football games, the match engine is a huge visual upgrade, and one that's long overdue.
Not to mention the heaps upon heaps of not-quite game-breaking, but still infuriating bugs. Being able to select bench players to take penalties in a shootout, in-match text commentary that doesn't make sense, long text wrapping and obscuring other text… again, these are just a few examples of a considerably long list.
Even though Sports Interactive revealed touchline shouts were effectively useless, providing only the most minimal of morale boosts when performed correctly, I still find my muscle memory looking for them in almost every match.
That placebo effect was very real in Football Manager 2024, and while I understand the need to revamp them before bringing it back as a feature, it's perhaps the one I miss the most. That and transfer deadline day, specifically, thanks to missing out on a signing because the paperwork wasn't filed until 15 minutes after the deadline, which was something the dedicated deadline day mode in FM24 would've prevented. Damn fax machine.
(Image credit: SI/Sega)
Teaching an old dog new tricks
Finally, there are the many, many UI changes. As more and more players pick up Football Manager on console — despite for the longest time, it being a PC exclusive — development caters more towards them, leading to a complete UI overhaul.
As a diehard, decade-plus player, it was hard to get used to. Even though I know how the game works at its core, I had to learn where everything was again, and it was beyond frustrating when I'd go somewhere I expected something to be, and it inexplicably wasn't, so I had to resort to the search function.
I hesitate to call it bad UI design, though, because there's every chance I only dislike it because it's such a drastic change from what I'm familiar with. If you present a brand new player with both Football Manager 24 and 26 side by side, task them with learning each one, then ask which they prefer? I suspect their answer may be 26, even if we veterans are finding it tough.
As mentioned before, though, this is still Football Manager. It may be one of the worst launches the series has had, receptively from both critics and fans alike, but if you love the series despite all of its flaws, you're going to enjoy Football Manager 26.
Especially the improved tactics and match engine, because playing tiki taka with Manchester United, in a way I know for a fact we could never do in real life, is so worth it when compared to the match engine we put up with in the series prior to now. This game is essentially a beta for Football Manager 27, and it should be treated as such.
(Image credit: SI/Sega)
Should you play Football Manager 26?
Play it if...
You're a Football Manager diehard Those committed to the series will truly appreciate the in-possession/out-of-possession tactical changes, and if you've exhausted your time with FM24 then this is the logical next game for you to pick up and get stuck into.
Don't ply it if...
You were looking to continue enjoying some staple features of the series If you take great delight in some of the features that have been removed for this latest iteration, such as international management, create-a-club mode, saving lineups, and more, then you'll likely be disappointed here.
You're not happy essentially being a beta tester for Football Manager 27 Football Manager 26 is a half-baked product, and you’ll have a more complete experience playing FM24. It may not look quite as pretty during matches, and you’re forgoing slightly more in-depth tactical options, but 24 has far more features, and you’d be hard-pressed to find many bugs, if any, while FM26 has the distinct air of being a step onto something bigger in the future.
Accessibility features
As Football Manager has always been mostly spreadsheets, accessibility options come in the form of larger text, a color blind mode, the option to toggle flashing commentary when a goal is scored, and plain colours for commentary text to help distinguish them from a background.
The game also supports 19 different languages, has a number of camera settings when mid-match, but there are no difficulty modes or anything of that ilk, as they aren't required.
How I reviewed Football Manager 26
As with every Football Manager game, I began a one-season save with my beloved Manchester United, with an aim to place as high as possible in the league, but also not worry about long-term finances or transfers. At the time of writing, I have played around 17 hours of playtime according to Steam.
I've toyed around with the new tactics considerably, spent lots of time scouting and signing players that can make an immediate impact, and also sold a few (it really helps when Saudi Arabian clubs come in with ridiculous offers for your squad players).
I tested managing in the women's game for a short while, too, and experienced plenty of bugs. All of this was played on a Windows 11 PC via Steam. Football Manager 26 isn't particularly intensive, as the series has famously been able to run on basically any hardware, but my gaming PC sports an RTX 3080 and 32GB of memory.
The Roborock F25 Ultra is a premium cordless upright wet-and-dry cleaner that seeks to outshine the competition with its three USPs: a sanitizing steam function, grease-busting hot water mopping and adjustable power-assisted wheels.
And outshine the competition it does: this is the best wet-and-dry vacuum I've tested. On test, I found the steam function excelled at lifting dried grime and killing bacteria, while the hot-water mopping dissolved sticky kitchen spills with ease. Powerful suction makes it an exceedingly dab hand at sucking up liquid and debris spills like cereal, porridge, soup and wine. There's a built-in floor cleaning fluid tank for even dispensing, too.
Although rather heavy, the power-assisted wheels make the F25 Ultra super-easy to drive, and you can even hook up the companion app, lie it down and remote-control it under low-slung furniture if you desire. Once you're finished cleaning, a thorough self-cleaning mode takes care of the majority of maintenance. All the user has to do is periodically empty the contents of its dirty water tank into the toilet bowl.
While I would have preferred a full-width roller for true edge cleaning, the F25 Ultra is an excellent performer in all disciplines. Whether all this state-of-the-art tech is worth the asking price is open to debate but I'm personally very much smitten.
(Image credit: Future)
Roborock F25 Ultra review: price & availability
List price: $599.99 / AU$1,499
Launched: Fall 2025
Availability: US and Australia
The Roborock F25 Ultra was unveiled at IFA in September 2025, and is available to buy in the US and Australia. At time of writing, the Roborock F25 Ultra isn't available in the UK or Europe but I suspect it'll be launched this side of the Atlantic in due course.
At full price, it costs $799.99 / AU$1,499 – although I'm not sure it'll be sold at that price very often, because while I've been writing this review I've seen it for $599.99 and $549.99 in the US, and AU$899 in Australia. It's available to purchase direct from Roborock as well as via a range of third-party retailers, including Amazon.
That's quite a slice of cash for a hard floor cleaner given that you can find something similar without the bells and whistles for substantially less, including Roborock's base-level F25 LT which comes with the bare essentials like standard mopping and a slightly lower suction power of 20,000Pa.
Nevertheless, if you want a true state-of-the-art hard floor cleaner that covers all bases from sucking up spills to hot water mopping and hygienic steaming, the F25 Ultra is most definitely worth splashing out on.
Value for money score: 4 out of 5
Roborock F25 Ultra specs
Type:
Cordless wet-and-dry vacuum
Water tank volume:
Clean 1L, dirty 0.72L
Weight:
11.5 lbs / 5.2kg
Dimensions (H x W x D):
43.1 x 10.4 x 9.7 in / 109.6 x 26.5 x 24.6cm
Max runtime:
60 mins
Max suction:
22,000 Pa
Modes:
Sponge, Auto, Steam, Hot Water
Detergent dispenser:
Yes
Lie flat:
Yes (4.9in / 12.5cm tall)
Hot water cleaning temp:
187F / 86C
Steam temp:
356F / 180C
Self-clean cycle:
Yes (steam at 356F / 180C; water at 194F / 90C)
Self-dry:
Yes (5 min fast dry; 30 min quiet dry)
Roborock F25 Ultra review: design
Hot water mopping and new steam function
Power-assisted wheels and the ability to remote control via an app
LED headlamps, and can lie flat to the ground
I always get a bit excited whenever Roborock announces a new product (this brand makes some of the very best robot vacuums I've tested) and, believe me, this new addition to its F25 range of hard floor cleaners is definitely cause for a spot of childlike jumping up and down.
But it wasn't always like this. I remember Roborock's first attempt at making a hard floor cleaner. It was called the Dyad and it wasn't great, it must be said, mostly because it was cumbersome, difficult to maneuver, and it couldn't stand up on its own. I'm sure the latest range of Dyads have improved but I still can't see them holding a candle to the newer F25 range.
I've already tried out the Roborock F25 ACE, but this newer model excites me even more because it comes with a 356F / 180C steam function and hot-mopping feature. These are a godsend for blitzing ingrained stains that most hard floor cleaners' standard mopping functions may have trouble removing.
(Image credit: Future)
While it's difficult to muster up much enthusiasm about the styling of most wet-and-dry cleaners, for my money the models in the F25 range are the best lookers I've laid eyes on in a long time. Nevertheless, it's what goes on beneath the skin that matters most and in this regard the F25 Ultra trounces much of the opposition by dint of its three main USPs: the aforementioned steam function, the newly added hot mopping option and its adjustable power-assisted wheels.
But before I discuss these in detail, let's take a closer look at the design, starting with the floorhead. While the F25 Ultra's 720ml dirty water tank is housed on the main body like most wet-and-dry models, its fresh water reservoir is positioned lower down on top of the brushhead housing, and this not only lowers the weight on the handle while providing instant line-of-sight to its water level, it also reduces the body's overall profile which means it can be lowered parallel with the floor for reaching deep under low-slung furnishings like sofas and beds. In fact, there's a tiny wheel behind the handle section for this purpose, but more on that in a moment.
(Image credit: Future)
The 870ml clean water reservoir features two sealed fillers, one for fresh water and a much smaller one for adding the contents of Roborock's supplied 200ml bottle of floor cleaning solution. Both liquids are mixed automatically during cleaning and you'll be pleased to learn that the floor solution lasts for many cleaning sessions. To fill the fresh water tank, simply grab its rose-gold handle while pressing on a latch behind to lift it off its plinth.
The F25 Ultra's floorhead measures 10.5in / 26.6cm in width. However, the cloth roller itself measures 9.8in / 25cm with 0.4in / 1cm of space at one outer edge and 0.2in / 0.6cm at the other. That's par for the course for most models of this nature, but I recently reviewed a Eureka RapidWash 730 that uses a split roller that runs the full width of the housing, even protruding a couple of millimeters beyond the housing on one side. I'd like to see other manufacturers adopt this innovative approach because it allows for cleaning right to the very edge.
According to the product blurb, the F25 Ultra's brush housing is equipped with 32 outlets for heating the water to 187F / 86C as it hits the roller, and six steam outlets delivering a volume of 2,000mg/min at a whopping 356F / 180C. The roller itself exerts a force of 33 Newtons – equivalent to 7.4 lbs / 3.36kg of deep scrub-ability – while a pair of ‘jaw scrapers' behind the roller help keep the floor streak-free and the roller tangle-free. The floorhead also has a set of bright LEDs that emit a purple hue for cleaning the darker recesses of a home.
(Image credit: Future)
The F25 Ultra comes with four main cleaning modes – Sponge, Auto, Steam and Hot Water. All modes are accessed via the mode button positioned on the main handle, along with the on/off button and another button for selecting the self cleaning function when the unit is placed in the charging dock.
Although confusingly named, Sponge mode is for sucking up large liquid and debris-based spills so you don't have to get down on hands and knees with a handful of paper towels. This single suction task is one of the main reasons why these wet-and-dry machines are so popular. Spilt bowl of cereal or bowl of soup? Check. Small water leak around the sink? Check. Dog sick in the kitchen? Check. You get the gist.
(Image credit: Future)
In Auto mode, the F25 Ultra uses a sensor to detect dirt and automatically adjust cleaning intensity to clear it. This mode leaves only a thin veneer of dampness in its wake and is the best option for light day-to-day mopping duties. But when the going gets tough, you also have the option of either hot water mopping or, for deep down germ-killing cleanliness, the power of steam.
In fact, you can tell that the machine is steaming because there's a plume of the stuff wafting up from the front like some special dry ice effect at a rock concert. According to Roborock, this steam function is also suitable for use on wooden flooring and I second that because I detected no tell-tale signs of damage on my floors.
(Image credit: Future)
If you find pushing and pulling vacuum cleaners around a bit of a workout, you'll love this model's adjustable power-assisted wheels. With a brushless motor in each wheel and some AI-enhanced tech to govern it all, Roborock's SlideTech 2.0 system functions like a power-assisted electric bicycle. As soon as you push or pull the cleaner, the wheels instantly provide a level of self-propulsion that feels extremely natural while making the unit feel really light in the hand.
The adjustable power assistance also applies to the turns, giving the F25 Ultra the ability to effortlessly glide around furniture and walls with 70-degree steering. And unlike its predecessor, the F25 ACE, the motorized wheels are disengaged the moment you stand it up.
Couple this dextrous motorized ability with the wherewithal to remotely control the F25 Ultra via the excellent Roborock app and you have a hard floor cleaner that you can quite literally drive under the entire length of a super king bed by lowering the handle to the floor and steering it using the app's virtual joysticks.
Whenever you have finished a task, simply place the unit into its square tub-shaped dock and tap the self-clean button on the vac's handlebar to automatically engage the cleaning process which washes the roller and areas around it with hot water at temperatures between 194F and 356F (90C to 180C) before drying the roller with hot air at a substantial 203F / 95C. When it's finished cleaning, chuck the contents of the F25 Ultra's dirty water tank into the toilet bowl.
The Roborock F25 Ultra weighs 11.46 lbs / 5.2kg which is about average for a hard floor cleaner. While it's light enough for most able bods to haul up a flight of stairs, a carrying handle on the rear wouldn't have gone amiss.
Design score: 4.5 out of 5
Roborock F25 Ultra review: performance
Stupendous suction power sucks up solids and liquids easily
Groundbreaking steam function clears even dried stains
Very easy to push, pull and maneuver
I tested this model in a number of disciplines. Firstly, I used it as a bog-standard mop on my engineered wooden flooring and was pleasantly surprised by how little water it left behind – just a thin perfectly uniform film with no streaking or signs of missed areas.
Some models I've tested have had a habit of leaving a small pool of water around the roller when turning the unit off. But, like the Eureka SpeedWash 730, this model gave a quick blast of suction just before it switched itself and I have no pools of water to report. I'm happy with that.
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Future)
My second test was using the Sponge mode to collect a nasty spill using a variety of wet and dry ingredients, including oats, ketchup, milk, a crushed biscuit and an egg for extra grunginess. Cleaning up something as disgusting as this the conventional way involves a pile of paper towels and a pair of Marigolds. But not with this gunk swallower, which I would say performed better than any model of this nature that I've so far reviewed. It quite literally sucked up every last vestige of the mess without leaving any sign that anything was there.
(Image credit: Future)
All I had to do was unclip the dirty water tank and empty its revolting contents into the toilet. Hint: there's a recessed yellow handle on top of the firm-fitting dirty water tank that's designed to release the lid. If you try to force the lid off, there's a very good chance of spilling everything all over your legs.
For my third test I switched it to hot water mopping and it took about a minute for the roller to feel warm. While I was a bit nervous of using this mode for too long on my wooden floor (hot water seeps more easily), I was mightily impressed by the results when I tested it on some ingrained stains left behind by the dogs.
My final test used the new steam mopping feature on two patches of dried soy sauce stains on my bathroom's tiled floor, but they may as well have been wet because the combination of steam and the fast-spinning roller obliterated both stains in a single pass.
(Image credit: Future)
It's good to know that, according to Roborock, the F25 Ultra's steam function is wooden floor-friendly. My floors are made from engineered wood and I've seen no evidence of any harm after using this model's steam function. (As an aside: the act of mopping wooden floors can leave them looking tired and a bit dull, but I've started using Bona Wood Floor Gloss Finish, which works a treat to counter any dryness and leaves a beautiful sheen. Here's more on how to clean a hardwood floor, if you're looking for some general guidance).
The Roborock F25 Ultra's self-cleaning system automatically washes the roller mop in hot water followed by an efficient drying sequence using wafts of hot air to keep odors and mildew at bay.
In terms of battery usage, Roborock states a running time in Auto mode of 'up to 60 minutes'. I sadly don't have the floor space to have kept it running in Auto mode till the battery ran out or my wooden floors would have been soaked and possibly damaged. However, I did test both the hot water and steam modes which use a lot more battery power and the hot water function gave me 20 minutes of mopping while the steam function continued to operate for another five minutes. I call that a very decent set of stats and more than enough time to cover three or four average-sized rooms using a mix of all three cleaning functions.
Performance score: 5 out of 5
Should you buy the Roborock F25 Ultra?
Attribute
Notes
Rating
Value
Expensive at full price, but discounts are very common. You're getting an awful lot of practical and efficient tech for your money.
4 / 5
Design
Fully featured and looks great too. A smidge away from 5 stars due to its fractionally short roller.
4.5 / 5
Performance
Exceptional in all disciplines, whether it's mopping the kitchen, cleaning up big spills or steam-cleaning the bathroom.
5 / 5
Buy it if...
You want something for tough stains
With its mix of powerful suction, hot water mopping and steam cleaning, the F25 Ultra can handle the toughest of stains and spills.
You aren't as nimble as you used to be
The F25 Ultra's power-assisted wheels make it feel light and easy to maneuver, and you can even remote-control it into awkward spaces.
You need something to sanitize floors
The steam function here is ideal for sanitizing flooring, as well as for lifting dried dirt.
Don't buy it if...
You just need something for light cleaning
There are cheaper, less powerful wet-dry vacuums that can handle day-to-day cleaning of hard floors.
You have lots of stairs
The F25 Ultra is quite heavy to carry, and if you're going to be mopping on different levels, you might want to opt for something lighter.
Roborock F25 Ultra: alternatives to consider
Roborock F25 Ultra (reviewed)
Roborock F25 ACE
Dyson WashG1
Type:
Cordless wet-and-dry vacuum
Cordless wet-and-dry vacuum
Cordless wet cleaner
Water tank volume:
Clean 1L, dirty 0.72L
Clean 0.74L, dirty 0.72L
Clean 1L, dirty 0.8L
Weight:
11.5 lbs / 5.2kg
10.4 lbs / 4.7kg
10.8 lbs / 4.9kg
Dimensions (H x W x D):
43.1 x 10.4 x 9.7 in / 109.6 x 26.5 x 24.6cm
45.6 x 13.9 x 21.4in / 115.7 x 35.2 x 31.6cm
44.9 x 8.9 x 11.8in / 114 x 22.5 x 30cm
Max runtime:
60 mins
60 mins
35 mins
Max suction:
22,000 Pa
22,000 Pa
None
Hot water mopping:
Yes (at 187F / 86C)
No
No
Steam cleaning:
Yes (at 356F / 180C)
No
No
Self-clean cycle:
Yes (hot water, steam, hot air)
Yes (hot water, hot air)
Yes (cold water)
Detergent dispenser:
Yes
Yes
No
Roborock F25 ACE
The ACE sits lower down the F25 range. It's still an exceptional cleaner has most things the Ultra does, but lacks steam cleaning and hot water mopping.
Dyson's wet cleaning effort relies on agitation and hydration to clear spillages and lift stains – there's no suction here. The WashG1 isn't as fully featured as the F25 vacuums, but it does have a clever separation system for solid and liquid waste.
I knew what to expect with the F25 Ultra since I reviewed its stablemate, the F25 ACE, earlier this year. Hence putting it all together and setting it up was a breeze.
The first thing I did was let it charge, before taking it for a spin in the kitchen to see how well it performed at general light-duty mopping. I then tried out the hot water mopping function on some dog stains followed by my main suction test using both liquids and solids. Finally, I tried out the steam function to see how well it removed a couple of dried soy sauce stains.
I’ve spent this past week being seriously impressed with the BattlerGC Pro.
To me, it’s everything a modern take on the iconic GameCube controller should be, making it one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories to date. Compatible with Switch and Switch 2 as well as PC, its real ace in the hole is the included wireless GameCube adapter, which works brilliantly with Nintendo’s sixth-generation purple wonder as well as its successor, the Wii.
While the Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube controller is a great recreation, it’s very much a case of ‘what you see is what you get.’ The BattlerGC Pro takes that template and fully modernizes it, bringing Hall effect sticks, remappable rear buttons, and multiplatform compatibility to the table. Its d-pad and clicky triggers, especially, are a monumental improvement over Nintendo’s official controller.
The BattlerGC Pro is probably not going to be your go-to for many of the best Nintendo Switch 2 games, given its adoption of the GameCube controller’s unorthodox face button layout. But it’s a dream to use with Nintendo Switch Online’s growing GameCube library. And of course, compatibility with original hardware and PC means it’s excellent if you still have a GameCube or Wii game collection, or you enjoy your games enhanced via emulation.
There are some slight issues to make note of here. Battery life isn’t particularly impressive, and the Home button is smack in the center of the pad, meaning you really have to reach your thumbs over to press it. But these are very tiny blemishes on what is otherwise a very accomplished retro-facing controller.
In short, don’t feel like you have to shell out for a second-hand WaveBird to enjoy wireless play on GameCube or Wii. The BattlerGC Pro is much more cost-effective and, ultimately, a much better controller overall.
(Image credit: Future)
BattlerGC Pro review: price and availability
List price: $69.95 / £59.99 / AU$99.95
Available to buy now from Retro Fighters or regional retailers
Slightly pricier than the official Switch 2 GameCube controller ($64.99 / £58.99 / AU$89.95)
You can pick up the BattlerGC Pro controller today for the retail price of $69.95 / £59.99 / AU$99.95. It’s available in various colors from manufacturer Retro Fighters’ website (Black, Purple, and a translucent ‘Glacier’ color, too), or regional big box retailers.
The BattlerGC Pro actually comes in slightly more expensive than the official Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube controller, which retails at $64.99 / £58.99 / AU$89.95. That said, I think the features offered by the BattlerGC Pro - not to mention its multiplatform compatibility - certainly make it well worth the extra asking price.
BattlerGC Pro review: Specs
Price
$69.95 / £59.99 / AU$99.95
Weight
7oz / 198g
Dimensions
6 x 3 x 2.8in / 152 x 76 x 71mm
Compatibility
Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, GameCube, Wii, Wii U (requires Wii U GameCube adapter)
Like the OG Xbox’s ‘Duchess’ to the ‘Duke’ controller, the BattlerGC Pro looks and feels like an intelligent revision of the Nintendo GameCube controller. Or more accurately - given the feature set - the wireless WaveBird variant.
Years and years of third-party controller features and refinements have clearly informed the design of the BattlerGC Pro.
First of all, the BattlerGC Pro does address some of the original GameCube controller’s shortcomings. There are two shoulder buttons here as opposed to just the one, and the triggers have been completely redesigned. As has the d-pad, which is slightly bigger and offers a more satisfying press. The thumbsticks can also click inwards now, offering L3 and R3 button inputs. But for the most part, that GameCube layout remains unchanged.
The rear of the BattlerGC Pro houses two remappable buttons, as well as a switch for swapping between 2.4GHz and Bluetooth wireless connectivity options. You’ll also find a small ‘program’ button back here, which can be held in conjunction with other buttons to assign those remappables to your liking.
I’m a huge fan of the GameCube’s aesthetic, and it’s been successfully replicated and modernized with the BattlerGC Pro. The color scheme is on point, from the purple casing to the green, red, and yellow of the A and B buttons and C-stick, respectively. New additions are made tastefully, and are discreet enough (like those remappable buttons) that they don’t intrude on that classic GameCube look.
(Image credit: Future)
BattlerGC Pro review: Performance
One look at that GameCube-style button layout should be enough to tell you that the BattlerGC Pro is not designed with modern games in mind. I confirmed as much by jumping into Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonmentand Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, and had to actively look at the controller to reorient myself.
But realistically, you’re not buying the BattlerGC to enjoy the latest releases on Switch 2 or PC with. It’s specifically designed for use with GameCube titles, or other games that aren’t hampered by a reliance on that unorthodox button layout. On this front, the BattlerGC Pro really delivers.
I sampled games across systems that the BattlerGC Pro is compatible with. Starting with Luigi’s Mansion and F-Zero GX on Nintendo Switch Online, then moving onto original GameCube hardware with killer7, Tales of Symphonia, and Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 & 2, using that wireless GameCube adapter, which slots into the console’s controller ports. The pairing process was blissfully simple, too; I just had to hold in the Home button, and the adapter recognized the controller in seconds.
The experience felt incredible across both platforms and certainly helps to breathe new life into the GameCube library. Even over a wireless connection, input latency was impressively untraceable. There’s just something so nice about revisiting an older platform with a wireless connectivity solution.
The biggest disappointment, though, is definitely with the BattlerGC Pro’s battery life. 10 hours is far from awful, but do expect to be topping it up a lot more often than Nintendo’s own Switch 2 GameCube controller, as well as the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller.
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the BattlerGC Pro?
Buy it if...
You own original GameCube or Wii hardware The BattlerGC Pro presents a fantastic excuse to dust off your GameCube or Wii console and get stuck in with some classic games. Especially with its wireless connectivity options.
You want a multiplatform-capable retro-friendly controller Compatible with both Switch consoles and PC, as well as Wii and GameCube, the BattlerGC Pro is great for arcade-style titles on more modern platforms, as well as the classics.
Don't buy it if...
You hate the GameCube controller layout The GameCube controller’s weird button layout certainly isn’t for everyone. And you’re going to be stuck with it here.
You were hoping for more battery life At just 10 hours, the BattlerGC Pro does falter somewhat on battery life. Consider the official Switch 2 GameCube controller or the Switch 2 Pro Controller if you want to charge your pad up less often.
BattlerGC Pro review: Also consider
If the BattlerGC Pro isn’t impressing you, here are a couple of strong Switch 2-facing alternatives for you to consider as well.
BattlerGC Pro
Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube controller
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller
Price
$69.95 / £59.99 / AU$99.95
$64.99 / £58.99 / AU$89.95
$84.99 / £74.99 / AU$119.95
Weight
7oz / 198g
7.4oz / 210g
8.3oz / 235g
Dimensions
6 x 3 x 2.8in / 152 x 76 x 71mm
5.5 x 3.9 x 2.6in / 140 x 100 x 65mm
5.8 x 4.1 x 2.4in / 148 x 105 x 60mm
Compatibility
Switch, Switch 2, PC, GameCube, Wii, Wii U (requires Wii U GameCube adapter)
Nintendo Switch 2 GameCube Controller Specifically designed for use with Nintendo Switch Online’s GameCube game library, the Switch 2 GameCube controller is a warts-and-all re-release of the original. It adds gyro aiming and a GameChat button for online play, but expect a very similar-feeling pad overall. Great battery life, too.
Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller Easily the best controller for Switch 2. It offers impressively smooth thumbsticks, rock-solid build quality, and class-leading battery life of around 40 hours. It’s pricey, but worth every penny and a massive upgrade over the Joy-Con 2 controllers.
Used across Switch 2, PC, and original GameCube hardware
Compared to the official Switch 2 GameCube controller and Switch 2 Pro Controller
I tested the BattlerGC Pro for this review over the course of a week. While I primarily used it to play games on Nintendo Switch 2 - including Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Arcade Archives 2 Ridge Racer, and Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S - I also had the chance to try it out with original GameCube hardware.
This is an edge the BattlerGC Pro has over the likes of the Switch 2 GameCube Controller and Switch 2 Pro Controller - its multiplatform capabilities. I can highly recommend it to those who own an original GameCube or Wii console, thanks to its wireless connectivity solution.
In recent years, Huawei has dedicated itself so aggressively to wearables that in 2025 they shipped more watches than any other brand – including Apple. In the past year I’ve reviewed a number of the best smartwatches from Huawei, including the GT5, the D2 and the Fit 3. I awarded all three an impressive 4.5 stars, which just goes to show what a good track record Huawei has created thus far.
The Ultimate 2 represents Huawei’s most advanced smartwatch to date and is perhaps the pinnacle of what is currently possible with smartwatch technology. It’s packing sonar communications, a world first for a smartwatch, and an X-Tap feature for measuring blood flow through the finger. Huawei has aimed high, and as far as specs on paper go, they’ve achieved exactly what they set out to do. Look out, Apple Watch Ultra 3.
This is not a smartwatch for the casual user but rather a dedicated device for professional athletes and serious recreational fitness enthusiasts. The primary focuses are diving and golfing, although Huawei promotes the watch as being ideal for a much broader range of activities. As you’d expect, there’s also a full set of health tracking capabilities.
As well as rugged and premium materials, performance across the board is very strong, indeed. The display is super-bright, even when being used in direct sunlight. The interface is fast, responsive, and finely tuned for an optimum user experience. GPS tracking is quickly found and always accurate. Extreme waterproofing is engineered to perfection. The positives go on. I think if it could have been made slightly smaller and dealt with the pesky Huawei app side-loading issue, Huawei would have had the perfect package.
Huawei Watch Ultimate 2: Specifications
Component
Huawei Watch Ultimate 2
Price
£899.99 (Blue) / £799.99 (Black)
Dimensions
47.8 x 47.8 x 12.9 mm (Blue) / 48.5 x 48.5 x 12.9 mm (Black)
Weight
80.5g without strap
Caze/bezel
Zirconium-based Liquid Metal (Amorphous Alloy) / Nanocrystal Ceramic
Display
1.5 inch AMOLED (466 × 466 pixels)
Operating System
HarmonyOS
GPS
GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BeiDou, and QZSS
Battery life
4.5 days typical usage, 11 days in power saver mode
Connection
eSIM (for phone-free calls), Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi, and NFC
Water resistance
20 ATM
Huawei Watch Ultimate 2: Price and Availability
Blue: £899 / Black: £799
Not available in the US or AUS
It’s expensive, but very advanced
There’s no getting away from it. The Ultimate 2 Blue, at £899, is one of the most expensive smartwatches on the market, only beaten by the likes of the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, which retails for £1,119. If you’d like the Black version, then that retails at £799.
The most similar price is the Apple Watch Ultra 3, which costs £749 and will always be a winner amongst Apple fans. If you’re not concerned about sonar communication but want a premium rugged offering, then the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra for £599 is a great shout and works well with Android phones, being compatible with Google’s Play Store.
Value score: 4.5/5
Huawei Watch Ultimate 2: Design
(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)
One of the largest smartwatches on the market
Premium and rugged materials throughout
Bright and high-resolution AMOLED display
It’s difficult to make any mention of the design without first stating that this is one of the largest smartwatches I’ve ever worn. With a 47.8mm case diameter and a 12.9mm thickness, it’s in the realm of the chunky Garmin Epix Pro (although they range up to 51mm) and the Apple Watch Ultra 3. I get that this is a rugged smartwatch packed full of innovative hardware, but this size of watch won’t be for everyone. I, for one, didn’t like wearing it while exercising. You can see it in the photos, but even on my reasonably sized wrist, the watch looks and feels odd. Slender-wristed folks, you’ve been warned.
That being said, everything else about the design of this watch is incredible. Beginning with a zirconium-based liquid metal case, the Ultimate 2 packs high-performance materials for a premium and rugged build. This metal is strong, hard, and allegedly more corrosion-resistant than stainless steel, which means users will have no problems exposing this watch to saltwater environments, even for long periods of time.
The bezel (blue and white on mine) is nanocrystal ceramic (sometimes dual-color) which is smooth, durable, and most importantly, scratch-resistant. If I'm honest, I think it looks a little too much like a plastic finish, which detracts from the overall premium feel.
The display is a 1.5-inch LTPO AMOLED screen made of sapphire glass. You'll be hard-pressed to find a harder or more scratch-resistant material when it comes to smartwatches. I experienced zero scratches or cracks during my few weeks of testing, and I do not expect to have any problems in the future either.
The strap I've been testing is a durable fluoroelastomer strap with a blue/white color combo. It suits the overall watch aesthetic and is flexible enough to get a comfortable fit. It’s ideal for adventuring and exercising, but if you'd prefer a more polished and professional look, then there's also a metal link strap in the box. Huawei also throws in a longer diving strap when you purchase the blue package.
Design score: 4.5/5
Huawei Watch Ultimate 2: Features
(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)
Industry-leading waterproof rating
New X-TAP for PPG and ECG
No third-party apps
One of my biggest bugbears with all Huawei watches is the copious number of legal agreements that have to be agreed to. Rather than providing a single agreement that users consent to before using the watch, Huawei has determined that it's better for users to provide specific consent at the point of using each individual feature. This is the only smartwatch company that seems to do this, and I think it significantly interrupts the user experience.
The diving and water-related features are by far the biggest selling points of the Ultimate 2, and the 20ATM waterproof rating means it can be subjected to rain, swimming, diving, snorkeling, and high-speed watersports. It also boasts a diving certification of 150m.
Despite not being able to test the more extreme parts of these claims, I can confirm that I had no performance issues after submerging it for several minutes. By way of comparison, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 tops out at a waterproof rating of 10ATM, which makes the Ultimate 2 the industry leader at the time of writing.
The Ultimate 2 is also the first smartwatch to feature a sonar-based underwater communication feature, which lets two Ultimate 2s exchange messages up to 30 metres apart. You can say goodbye to traditional forms of underwater communication, although the requirement for both users to need the exact same Huawei watch is limiting. It'll be interesting to see whether the diving industry begins to adopt this technology or whether Huawei has gone more niche than they needed to.
Aside from these groundbreaking features, the Ultimate 2 includes top-level health tracking. It centers around a Distributed Super-Sensing Module that is paired with Huawei’s TruSense system. This combines multiple sensor types (optical, electrical, acoustic, and mechanical) to improve health tracking accuracy.
Huawei has integrated a sensor, named X-TAP, on the side of the watch which measures blood flow through the finger, making it capable of taking ECG and PPG readings. Taking health readings from the wrist has always been notoriously inaccurate, so a feature like this that uses more reputable sensor technology is very welcome indeed.
Features score: 4.5/5
Huawei Watch Ultimate 2: Performance
(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)
Accurate metrics
Between three and eight days of use
Too bulky
We've recently seen a rise in silicon-carbon battery technology that adds silicon to the graphite anode and thereby increases the capacity of the battery. Huawei has brought this new tech to their Ultimate 2 smartwatch, although it's labeled the battery technology 'high-silicon'.
As a result, we're looking at an 867mAh battery rather than the 510mAh battery that was found in the first version of this watch. That's quite the upgrade considering the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra sit just below 600mAh batteries.
While testing the watch, I achieved between three and eight days of use depending on how intensely I was using it and whether I was using GPS on a regular basis. Having always-on-display activated significantly reduced the battery life, but there are no surprises there. My normal smartwatch habit involves performing daily GPS tracking for around 30 minutes, tracking health metrics regularly, and actioning dozens of notifications each day. Doing this drained the battery in just under five days.
The specs state that normal use will result in 3.5 days of use on iOS and 4.5 days on Android. The additional life on Android is on account of having to perform less frequent refreshes to maintain the connection. Either way, having a smartwatch that can last several days between charges is fine by me, especially given the rich feature set.
After comparing it to other Huawei smartwatches and my Suunto Race S during activity tracking, I have to say I was very impressed with both the responsiveness and the accuracy while tracking metrics, including heart rate, SpO2, and ECG.
(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)
Huawei has upgraded its Sunflower GPS technology. I tested its GPS capabilities in built-up urban areas as well as in dense woods, and it was capable of finding a signal quickly, with and without fuss. There was absolutely no inaccuracy or drift while tracking my runs and bike rides. If you need GPS that you can rely on, then there are very few watches on the market that will match it.
As accurate as the Ultimate 2 is in terms of tracking exercise, I actually think the watch is just too bulky to make it comfortable for most types of exercise. You certainly wouldn't want to wear it for long periods of time while running, swimming, or when in the gym. As a result, I'm not quite sure who this watch is designed for. If Huawei could reduce it by a few grams and slim it down a little, I'd be giving it a five-star rating without reservations.
If you can cope with the size, you'll be pleased with the user experience. The software, HarmonyOS, is fast and well laid out and integrates surprisingly well with Apple and Android phones. I especially like the addition of text labels to icons, which significantly helped me find features quickly and efficiently. Interaction with calls, texts, and other types of notifications was equally seamless.
Performance score: 4.5/5
Scorecard
Category
Comment
Score
Value
An expensive smartwatch but the technology is very advanced.
4.5/5
Design
It's large but there are premium and rugged materials throughout
4.5/5
Features
A range of innovative features set it apart, including sonar communications.
4.5/5
Performance
Accurate health metrics and solid fitness tracking alongside a reasonable battery life.
4.5/5
Huawei Watch Ultimate 2: Should I buy?
(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)
Buy it if...
You’re a serious diver that needs the tech to back you up
With a range of diving-specific features, including sonar communication, the Ultimate 2 is hands down the go-to product for divers.
You want finger-based health measurements
The sensor on the side of the watch is capable of measuring blood flow through the finger, a type of measurement that is regarded as more accurate than through the wrist.
Don't buy it if...
You have a slender wrist
It’s big, chunky, and not always that comfortable. This is a watch for larger wrists or medium-sized wrists at a push.
You’re not into diving
With cheaper and more lightweight alternatives, the Ultimate 2 is not ideal for runners and gym enthusiasts.
Also consider
(Image credit: Future / Paul Hatton)
Component
Huawei Watch Ultimate 2
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
Price
£899.99 (Blue) / £799.99 (Black)
$799 / £799 / AU$1,399
$649 / £599 / AU$1,299
Dimensions
47.8 x 47.8 x 12.9 mm (Blue) / 48.5 x 48.5 x 12.9 mm (Black)
49 x 41 x 14 (mm)
47.4 x 47.4 x 12.1mm
Weight
80.5g without strap
61g
60.5g
Caze/bezel
Zirconium-based Liquid Metal (Amorphous Alloy) / Nanocrystal Ceramic
Titanium
Titanium
Display
1.5 inch AMOLED (466 × 466 pixels)
49mm poly-silicon always-on OLED Retina Display
480 x 480 full-color AMOLED
Operating System
HarmonyOS
watchOS
Wear OS
GPS
GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BeiDou, and QZSS
Dual-frequency (unspecified)
Dual-frequency GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo
Battery life
4.5 days typical usage, 11 days in power saver mode
36 hours
590mAh, up to 100 hours
Connection
eSIM (for phone-free calls), Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi, and NFC
Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, LTE
Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi
Water resistance
20 ATM
Yes, WR100 (diveproof)
10ATM + IP68
Apple Watch Ultra 2
The best all-rounder running smartwatch for iPhone users.
I tested the Huawei Watch Ultimate 2 in much the same way as we test all smartwatches here at TechRadar. Over the period of several weeks I wore and interacted with the watch on a daily basis. This included daily activity tracking using the built-in GPS and regular health metrics monitoring, as well as responding to dozens of notifications each day.
In addition to this, I also ran tests on numerous other features found in the watch, including listening to music and playing games. One of the biggest selling points is the set of diving features, including tech that allows for diving down to 150 meters. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to verify Huawei’s claims that the watch can cope with the pressure at this depth, but I did test its ability to cope with water submersion.
To my knowledge, the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 is the first smartphone stabilizer to come with three distinct types of subject tracking. Not only is it able to track faces, bodies, and other objects when the mounted phone is running the DJI Mimo app – it can also track using third-party apps, either through Apple DockKit compatibility or the new Multi-Functional Module, a tiny camera-equipped add-on that also includes a fill light.
To be clear, none of the above is new exactly – we've seen both DockKit-compatible tracking stabilizers and those that use modules to track before. What is new is having both options in a single device. It's a best-of-both-worlds approach, and one of the things that sets the Osmo Mobile 8 apart from its myriad competitors.
The other is the low price: it's just £135 or AU$219, which is slightly more affordable than contemporaries like the Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra (£169 / AU$299) and the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro (£144.99 / AU$289.99). You'll no doubt have noticed that I haven't included a US dollar price. That's because, like other recent DJI launches, it's not coming to American stores. At least not officially.
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Design-wise, it's pretty much the same as every other compact smartphone stabilizer, which is no bad thing in my book.
It folds down to near pocket-size – you'll get it in a coat pocket, maybe, but not your jeans – and powers on automatically when the gimbal is pulled out. Your smartphone is mounted via a magnetic clamp, which can accommodate a good range of device sizes and weights (if not quite as wide a range as the Hohem iSteady V3) and is easier to deploy than a clamp that's permanently fixed to the gimbal arm. The arm also includes a USB-C output, allowing you to charge your phone from the stabilizer's own battery.
The Osmo Mobile 8's handle includes a pull-out extension rod to add up to 21.5cm / 8.5 inches of extra distance between the user and the phone (which I found valuable for self-shooting, as it allowed me to get more into the frame), plus a plastic mini-tripod for setting up the stabilizer on the floor or a flat surface for hands-free use. There's also a standard tripod thread on the bottom of the handle for fixing it to third-party mounts.
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
The handle felt comfortable in my hand, and I found the controls simple and ergonomically sound; I was able to access them all with one hand, including the zoom/focus wheel. A trigger on the front offers various functions, including the ability to rotate the phone 180º or turn tracking on and off. There are dedicated buttons to stop/start recording and flip between front and rear-facing cameras on your phone, plus a thumbstick for manual gimbal arm control and a mode button to cycle through the four follow modes.
These are PTF (pan and tilt follow), PF (pan follow), FPV (pan, tilt, and roll follow), and SpinShot (a special mode that rotates the phone through almost 360º for bizarre shots). Basically, it's exactly what I'd expect from a smartphone stabilizer, and I can't see how any content creator would need anything more from one, particularly given the improved tracking capabilities.
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Image 2 of 4
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Image 3 of 4
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Image 4 of 4
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
I've already mentioned the fact that the Osmo Mobile 8 has added DockKit tracking to the module-based or Mimo app-based tracking previously offered by the Osmo Mobile 7P. I should also point out that the Multifunctional Module now tracks dogs and cats as well as people, and that it can wirelessly connect to the DJI Mic Mini, Mic 2, and Mic 3, whereas the Osmo Mobile 7P's only worked with the Mic Mini. In fact, it can connect to two mics simultaneously.
Another upgrade over the Osmo Mobile 7P is 360º horizontal rotation, allowing the Osmo Mobile 8 to track a subject "infinitely" as they circle around it. This is something I've previously seen on rival gimbals, so it's good to see DJI keeping up with the competition.
Overall, the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 is yet another impressive, well-designed smartphone stabilizer that content creators looking to shoot smooth, stable footage should consider. With similar battery life and tracking performance to its rivals, I can't say it's worth ditching your existing Hohem or Insta360 stabilizer for, but if you're buying your first stabilizer and already own a DJI wireless mic, it makes a lot of sense to pick this up – particularly given its affordability.
It's sold in a standard bundle including the stabilizer itself, a Multifunctional Module, a magnetic clamp, and a soft fabric carrying bag for £135 / AU$219, which I feel is a very good price considering the features and build quality.
It can also be purchased in a bundle with a single DJI Mic Mini transmitter for £165 / AU$274, which oddly doesn't represent a discount on the transmitter (it costs the same when bought separately).
DJI Osmo Mobile 8: specs
Dimensions:
190 x 95 x 46mm (folded)
Weight:
370g / 13.1oz
Compatible phone weight:
170 to 300g / 6 to 10.6oz
Compatible phone thickness:
6.9 to 10mm
Compatible phone width:
67 to 84mm
Connectivity:
Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C
Battery life:
4 hours (using tracking and fill light) / 10 hours (balanced and stationary)
Should I buy the DJI Osmo Mobile 8?
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Buy it if...
You own a DJI Mic Mini, Mic 2 or Mic 3 already With built-in support for the OsmoAudio ecosystem, the OM 8 works brilliant with DJI's wireless mics – aside from the first-gen model.
You want an affordable, compact gimbal The Osmo Mobile 8 is smaller and cheaper than the Hohem iSteady V3, so if you want to travel light and save a little cash, it's the best option around.
Don't buy it if...
You own a heavy phone If your smartphone weighs over 300g or is more than 10mm thick, the Osmo Mobile 8 can't grip it.
You want to control gimbal movements from a distance Aside from basic gesture controls, there's no way to remotely control the Osmo Mobile 8.
Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra review: Also consider
Insta360 Flow 2 Pro The Flow 2 Pro’s big party trick is native support for subject tracking in hundreds of third-party iPhone camera apps, plus an included LED fill light. With no tracking module, Android users are left out in the cold, however, and trackable subjects are limited to people and pets.
Hohem iSteady V3 Ultra A little pricier than the Osmo Mobile 8, Hohem's stabilizer offers excellent module-based tracking plus a touchscreen-equipped remote control unit. It doesn't have a quick-release mount option, but it can grip heavier, larger handsets than the Osmo Mobile 8.
I tested the DJI Osmo Mobile 8 for several days, using it both handheld and set up on its built-in mini tripod. It was used with my Apple iPhone 13's front-facing and rear cameras, both indoors and outdoors, and I recorded video using a range of apps (including the iPhone camera, DJI Mimo, and Instagram).
Half-frame cameras have garnered a bit of a cult following – enough for Pentax to make the Pentax 17 half-frame film camera (which we love) and for Fujifilm to make the X half, which is more of a digital ‘tribute’ to half-frame cameras than a faithful replica.
Film cameras have become a big thing among photographers trying to recapture the feel and mood of analog media, and the camera designs that went with it. Check out our guide to the best film cameras to see a long list of all the new film cameras on the market, and some classic oldies that are definitely worth seeking out on the used market. If you're new to all this, we also have a guide to camera film sizes and types.
The basic principle of a half-frame analog camera is that it uses regular 35mm film, but instead of capturing images horizontally using the 24mm height of the film and a horizontal width of 36mm, it captures images vertically, so they're 24mm high and 18mm wide (or 17mm if you allow for the extra gap between the half frames).
You get twice as many shots on the roll as they're roughly half the size – and the camera takes vertical rather than horizontal photos (of course, you can rotate the camera to swap from vertical to horizontal if you need to).
Looks like a regular 35mm film camera inside, right? Not quite – usual horizontal 35mm film gate is replaced with a vertical 'half-frame' format. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
You do get twice as many exposures on a roll of film, which sounds like a cost saving, but then you have to find a lab that will do half -frame prints, and printing will cost more because there are more prints.
But by a strange twist of fate, half-frame cameras are particularly well suited to social sharing because they match the vertical orientation of mobile devices in a way that camera makers of old could never have anticipated.
Back, then, to the Kodak Ektar H35N. This is an improved version of the Ektar H35 we reviewed in 2024, replacing that camera's plastic lens with a glass one. We weren't over-impressed with the Ektar H35 at the time, but since then we've been swept along by a huge surge of interest in analog photography, so maybe this improved point and shoot Kodak deserves a second look.
Where half-frame cameras have so far been a somewhat expensive hipster fad, the Kodak is about as cheap as it’s possible for a camera to get. It’s also extremely crude, and is essentially no more sophisticated then a disposable single-use film camera.
The Kodak H35N takes a single AAA battery, but this is solely to power the flash – the camera doesn't need it to operate. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The difference is that you can open the back to load and unload film, and you can swap out the single AAA battery for the flash. If you don’t use the flash, you don’t need the battery.
And in case you’re wondering what kind of exposure system it has and how the focusing works, it doesn’t really have either. It relies on the huge latitude of analog negative films to capture images in daylight ranging from bright sun to heavy overcast, and indoors you simply have to use the flash and stick to close-range subjects. The harsh flash look is really trending right now for its retro vibes, and this little Kodak does it brilliantly.
The focus is fixed. The lens has an aperture of f/11, so it has enough depth of field for distance of 1m and beyond, depending on how much sharpness you expect. This camera is all about the look, not technical precision.
The lens has a fixed aperture of f/11 and there are no exposure or focus controls. The ring around the lens is just to switch the flash on and off (if you can budge it). (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
This may not sound like the kind of camera you could be even remotely interested in, but hold on. You do have to shoot in the right kind of light (daylight or with flash), and you do have to trust your film to deal with degrees of overexposure and underexposure which would send a digital sensor into a tailspin. But you adapt surprisingly quickly. It’s a simple camera designed to do a simple job, and it does it brilliantly. If you could even contemplate using an Instax, this is cheaper and gives you much bigger and better prints with all the same character and more.
Bottom line? I started out in film photography and I know the limitations of analog film and its particular charm. The Kodak H35N took me straight back to simpler times and simpler cameras. I thought I would hate it, but I loved it.
Kodak Ektar H35N: price
$64.99 / £67 (around AU$98)
Factor in the cost of developing and printing – half-frame is more specialized and expensive
The Kodak Ektar H35N is a cheap camera! Its price is a million miles from the (expensive) sophistication of the Pentax 17 half-frame camera. The Kodak is also very basic. In fact, you can think of it as a bit like a disposable camera that you can re-use. It's available in a variety of colors and styles, and at a typical price of $64.99 / £67 (around AU$100), it’s a cute, inexpensive buy.
It’s crude, but at this price you probably won’t care. Do factor in the cost of developing and printing, though. You’ll need to find a lab that will process film from half-frame cameras, and the cost of prints will double – after all, there are twice as many per roll of film!
Kodak Ektar H35N: specs
Format:
35mm half-frame
Lens:
22mm f/11 (approx. 30mm effective)
ISO:
ISO 200 or 400 film recommended
Focus:
Fixed at approx. 1m-infinity
Flash:
Built in
Exposure:
Auto plus bulb
Battery:
1x AAA (for flash)
Viewfinder:
Optical, direct vision
Size:
110mm x 62mm x 39mm, 110g
Kodak Ektar H35N: design
Plastic build but looks smart
Simple controls (well, no controls really)
No issues with film loading, shooting and rewinding
Small but effective optical viewfinder
The metal-look front panel gives the H35N a touch of class, but it really is a very basic camera. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
There's a catch on the side for opening the film back, but it's not easy to move by accident, thankfully. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The film leader slides into a slit in the take-up spool. I usually pull a bit more out to make sure it's gripped properly (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
There's a tiny frame counter on the top which shows you how many frames you've taken (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The film is finished when you can't wind on any more. You then hold down the transport release button, fold out the rewind crank and rewind the whole film back into the canister (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The Ektar H35N might be lightweight plastic, but the front panel has an attractive metallic finish that looks rather smart. Kodak has a knack for making cheap cameras look rather better than they are.
The lens is surrounded by a switch to activate the flash mode. This was extremely stiff on my review sample, so not exactly as convenient as it should be. To one side of the lens there’s another switch for the built in ‘star filter’. Is this useful? Possibly.
On the top, there’s not much to see at all. There’s a big shutter release, a cable release socket for bulb exposures – so you can actually do night shots if you don’t mind estimating how long you need to hold the shutter open for – and there’s also a frame counter to let you know how many shots you’ve taken.
Round the back it’s all semi-matte black plastic. There’s a somewhat stiff and vague switch at the side for opening the back to load and unload film, but you do not want to open the back accidentally, so it’s no bad thing if it is a little fiddly.
Once the film is loaded you use a thumbwheel at the bottom left to advance the film. In standard film camera style, you can’t take a shot until the film is wound on and the shutter is cocked – and once you’ve taken the shot, you have to wind on again to re-cock the shutter. It’s foolproof. And, plastic or not, the film advance and shutter release worked perfectly.
A second little switch alongside the lens activates the Star Filter. Useful? Hmm, maybe (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
Even film loading is straightforward. I had to pull out just a little more of the film leader to engage properly with the take-up spool, and then I did my usual thing after the back was closed, which is to take up the tension on the rewind crank and check it’s turning as I advance to the first frame. It worked fine.
You know when the film is at the end because you can’t wind on any further, so you press a button in the base to disengage the film transport mechanism, and wind it all back into the film canister with the crank handle.
The Ektar H35N might be cheap, but mine worked fine, with no film jams, no accidental double exposures, and no dramas at all.
Kodak Ektar H35N: performance
Good picture quality
Surprisingly tolerant to changing light
Nice vintage flash look
Good colors and contrast (I used a good lab)
If you fancy Lomography style images without Lomography prices, this is your camera! (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The in-built flash gives a harsh, short-range light, but this look is really on-trend right now (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
This trip to a pumpkin patch in late-October gloom worked out really well, despite me using ISO 200 film (ISO 400 would have been better) (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The resolution is limited so the fixed-focus lens isn't much of a disadvantage, and you can shoot objects quite close up (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
I started out in film photography before switching to digital right when digital cameras first came in – and there are a few things I'd forgotten about shooting with film.
First, there's nothing quite like opening a pack of prints from the photo lab and looking through them. It doesn’t matter what kind of monitor you have on your desktop – I have a 27-inch 4K BenQ – or what kind of phone or tablet; a digital display is simply not the same as holding a stack of prints in your hand and going through them one by one. Maybe you don’t care – that’s fine – but for me it was a reminder of just how much value simple physical objects can have.
Of course, you can get your digital camera or smartphone images printed too. But they don’t look like this. Digitally-captured images are so technically superior that there’s almost no comparison. By contrast, my images from the Ektar H35N were softer, with crushed shadows and a faint ethereal glow characteristic of analog color negative films. I review photo-editing software as well as cameras, and I haven't yet found a film simulation or plug-in that can give quite the same look.
In good light the colors are very good and details look crisp in 6 x 4-inch prints – though you wouldn't want to blow these pictures up any larger (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
This was shot with the Star Filter engaged. It does seem a bit of a gimmick, to be honest (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
And here’s the thing. Imperfect and murky as they sometimes are, the photographs from this camera are just like the ones in the photo albums of your mum and dad, your aunts and uncles. The Kodak's images have a kind of connection with these old photos.
Have you noticed that we’ve all got pictures separated by a great digital divide, when digital cameras took over from film? Your digital photos have a clinical ’now-ness’ that separates them from these older analog photos. Does that make sense? The Kodak H35N, for all is cheapness, crudeness and its limitations, shoots in that older style, and fits right in with your analog family archives.
No, I’m not going to shoot with it every day. My photography is digital now. But that doesn’t stop me from appreciating just what this cheap little Kodak does, and what it brings back that perhaps we'd forgotten.
Should you buy the Kodak Ektar H35N?
(Image credit: Rod Lawton)
Buy it if…
You want to get a taste of the analog look
The Kodak Ektar H35N is so cheap there’s nothing to lose. Film, developing and printing can be expensive, but you can still just try it once to see if it’s your thing.
You want a break from digital overload
Once you’ve got the film loaded, the Ektar H35N is incredibly simple to use. There are literally no controls – you wind it on, look through the viewfinder, press the shutter button.
You want album- or frame-ready prints
This is the beauty of analog negative film – prints come as standard. There's nothing like the anticipation and satisfaction of opening a packet of prints fresh from the photo lab.
Don’t buy it if…
You’re expecting high-quality art
The Ektar is a snapshot camera, pure and simple. The prints you’ll get back have that classic lo-fi snapshot look. You could scan the negatives, but you won’t be printing them big.
You want to learn about analog photography
You won’t learn anything from this camera. It’s as basic as a camera can get, with no shutter speed, aperture or focus control. You might, however, learn how amazingly tolerant film can be.
You’re looking for a classy classic camera
The Ektar H35N looks cute enough, but this is not a camera you’ll want to show guests at a dinner party or flash around at photo meets (unless you like winding people up).
Also consider
The Pentax 17 is a ‘proper’ half-frame camera; in other words it has a good lens, proper focusing and exposure controls, and is built to last. If the Ektar H35N inspires you, the Pentax is the obvious step up.
If you like your photography truly hands-on, get the Lomography Konstruktor F (best film cameras), a plastic 35mm camera you have to make yourself. It’s cheap to buy, though a little challenging to make (yes, I’ve made one).
The Olympus Trip 35 (in our best film cameras round-up) is an all-time classic 35mm compact with auto exposure, zone focusing and a selenium metering cell around the lens that requires no batteries. A good used one won’t cost the earth and will give you great results.
How I tested the Kodak Ektar H35N
I tested it in different lighting conditions, inside and out
I checked the flash illumination in low light
I assessed how well it coped with subjects near the camera
I also checked that the film transport/rewind worked properly
I took the Kodak H35N on a series of days out and family outings, as well as testing it out in different lighting conditions at home. I used it on bright sunny days, overcast days, the gloom of late afternoon in October and even at dusk with flash.
It’s not like a digital camera where you can check to see what’s worked straight away. Instead, you have to trust in the inherent latitude of color negative film, and a big part of this test was to find out just how many prints I would lose, which makes a difference when you’re paying for developing and printing.
I tested how easy it was to load and unload films – a key point for novice analog users – and the reliability of the film advance/shutter release mechanism. I also tested the in-built flash and even the ‘star filter’, choosing shots with the sun in the frame or showing through trees.
I chose typical ‘snapshot’ subjects that families might shoot, but also the kind of compositions made popular by Lomography and its legions of analog fans. Could you really use a cheap camera like this for this kind of anti-mainstream retro-graphy?
Anno 117: Pax Romana is a marked return to simplicity for the long-running city-building strategy game franchise. Some returning fans might find what it offers a little basic, but for others, the more relaxed progression will be a welcome, more relaxed change of pace - especially paired with the countless quality of life features that are available from day one.
Review info
Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, PC Release date: November 13, 2025
In contrast,its forbear Anno 1800 is one of the most complex city builders that I’ve ever played. The act of constructing a civilization is an intricate dance of lengthy supply chains that has you micromanaging the production of resources across two continents (or more with all the downloadable content) while simultaneously juggling a wealth of overlapping effects generated by the buildings in your town center.
It was incredibly rewarding to master, but doing so required plenty of YouTube tutorials, and a fair number of panicked searches on the community wiki.
A fresh start
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Anno 117: Pax Romana is much more approachable for newcomers, an area that was clearly a key concern for developer Ubisoft. This is especially evident in the campaign, which is one of the most engaging in series history.
Don’t get me wrong, the story mode in Anno games has always been little more than a glorified tutorial - basically showing you what you need to do to get started in a safe environment before setting you loose into the wider sandbox - and that’s no different here, but the choice to have you playing as a named character does add an extra layer of narrative detail.
Best bit
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
Anno 117: Pax Romana is absolutely gorgeous, and will delight true history nerds. Its Roman setting is recreated wonderfully with intricate details that lead to stunning and life-like streets. There are even some authentic painted statues, which is always great to see.
Out of the two options, I picked Marcia Tertia, a wealthy Roman daughter who has been married off to a troubled governor whom she’s never met. After a series of events in Latium (the game’s Roman region) that I won’t spoil, she winds up banished to Albion (Celtic England), where she ends up acting as the governor in secret to try and get back into the emperor’s good books. In typical Anno fashion, dialogue is comedic throughout, and I found myself enjoying some of the twists and turns.
This is a much shorter campaign than 1800's, lasting just over six hours rather than about 15, though it’s tightly paced and doesn’t overstay its welcome as a result. I couldn’t resist diving into my own sandbox games once I hit the end, though I’m still eager to try the story as the other protagonist - Marcus Naukratius. There are a handful of narrative decisions and some side activities that I wouldn’t mind going back to for a replay, too.
The best thing I can say about the mode, though, is that it does a very good job of telling you what you need to know. I finished the 1800 story with more questions than answers, but a new player here would feasibly be fully qualified to dive into sandbox or even online multiplayer.
Soggy sandals
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
But what exactly is it that you’re doing exactly? Anno fans will know the drill, but for everyone else, this is a city-building game that’s all about constructing supply chains to collect the resources that your citizens need to level up. Anno 117: Pax Romana lets you choose whether to start your game in Latium or Albion, and each region plays out in a slightly different fashion.
In Latium, there are four population tiers: Liberti, Plebeians, Equites, and Patricians. Needs become more complex as you move between the levels, with citizens that initially required porridge and straw sandals eventually demanding access to running water for communal baths, education through libraries, flashy jewellery, and even yummy bird tongues in aspic to nibble.
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
The map is split into multiple islands, with each island only capable of harbouring specific resources. No one island will offer every resource that you need late in the game, so at some point, you will inevitably need to load up a ship and start settling them. Funnelling resources back to your main city center becomes a game in and of itself, as you set up trading routes and, on higher difficulties, deal with the disruption caused by frequent attacks from raiders.
It’s the same formula that fuelled 1800, but importantly, in 117, you don’t actually need to fulfill all of a specific group’s needs to progress.
If you’re struggling to get enough fine glass, for example, you can ignore it and focus on olive oil instead. It cuts down the complexity massively, and while you are rewarded for meeting all needs at once, so less confident players don’t need to worry about overwhelming themselves with too many types of resources to manage.
More refined than ever
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
You shouldn't take all this to mean that Anno 117: Pax Romana feels incomplete, though. There’s plenty here, including a wealth of quality of life changes that long-time fans will love.
This ranges from small things like a day and night cycle (which wasn’t available in 1800 at launch) and the ability to play using a keyboard and mouse on consoles, to substantial changes such as the option to place buildings diagonally for the first time and a planning mode that lets you visualize your city with blueprints.
Some major DLC features from past games are also included for free. Your governor villa, for example, is effectively identical to the Palace from 1800’s Seat of Power expansion, allowing you to buff parts of your island with well-placed Specialists. Once built, the villa is also the primary target for invaders because land combat, a feature entirely missing from Anno 1800, is back too.
Fighting has always been the weakest part of any Anno game in my eyes. It largely boils down to clicking on enemies, and battles are usually won by whichever side has more soldiers. Unfortunately, there haven’t been many strides in this regard, though I hope the fact that ground combat is back will prove a good foundation for some combat-focused DLC or updates in the future.
(Image credit: Ubisoft)
There were also some weird bugs that I hope will be addressed. The most annoying of these was with my island’s fire safety rating, which would randomly decrease a few thousand points without warning. Hovering over the icon told me that this was due to “City Status", whatever that means, and there was seemingly very little I could do to remedy it.
I tried moving all my most flammable buildings, like bakeries and kilns, to a separate island, making sure that they were well spaced to avoid their areas of effect, and filling every street corner with Vigilies (the Roman fire department) in vain.
Actual fires didn’t even seem that much more frequent, but this big red number did cause some frustrations with diplomacy as other leaders looked down on my apparently highly combustible settlement.
That aside, I’ve been very much enjoying my time with Anno 117: Pax Romana. It's a more relaxed take on the Anno formula than 1800, and while not as complex, it’s still easy to lose track of the hours as you watch your city grow.
Should I play Anno 117: Pax Romana?
Play it if…
You want a high-quality city builder Anno 117: Pax Romana is more polished than lots of competing city builders like Cities: Skylines 2. It also offers significantly more content in the form of a single-player story and online multiplayer.
You love the Roman setting Both Rome and England are beautifully recreated in Anno 117: Pax Romana, with plenty of details that will delight history nerds and lovers of the past.
You were overwhelmed by 1800 Anno 117: Pax Romana is much easier to manage than 1800, with fewer complex supply chains needed to progress. If you love the idea of an Anno game but bounced off the last entry, then this is the perfect time to come back.
Don’t play it if…
You expect even more complexity If you go into Anno 117: Pax Romana expecting a game that’s even more complicated than Anno 1800, then you will be disappointed. Stick with that past entry and wait for some new expansions to up the difficulty.
Accessibility features
There is no dedicated accessibility menu in Anno 117: Pax Romana, which is a bit of a shame given Ubisoft’s leading track record in the area.
There are still some useful options in the settings, though, such as the ability to rebind your keys and increase the scale of the UI. Dialogue features subtitles throughout, with the option to use only sans-serif fonts for reliability or to remove italics.
How I reviewed Anno 117: Pax Romana
I played close to 20 hours of Anno 117: Pax Romana on PC using a copy provided by Ubisoft, with a small amount of time spent also trying the PS5 version, including testing its mouse and keyboard support.
My system is a 5070 Ti-powered model from retailer Scan that features a compact Corsair 2000d RGB Airflow case, Asus ROG Strix B860-I Gaming Wifi motherboard, Intel Core Ultra 7 265K CPU, a 2TB WD Black SN770 SSD, 32GB of DDR5 Corsair Vengeance RAM, and an Nvidia 5070 Ti manufactured by Asus.
This setup allowed me to play the game smoothly on its highest graphics settings with the use of Nvidia DLSS. For peripherals, I relied on my trusty Razer DeathAdder V3 Pro mouse and Cherry XTRFY K5V2 keyboard, plus an Astro A20 X PC gaming headset for audio.
Throughout my time with the game, I constantly compared my experience with my significant experience playing other Anno games, including 1800, 2205, 2070, and 1404.
