In my twenty years as a professional writer, I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to using a keyboard before. Some are good, some are bad, some, like the ones on modern ThinkPads, are easily the best you can get on a laptop and offer very comfortable typing experiences.
In fact, I’ve always hated changing to a new keyboard, with the inevitable typos and finger-slips as muscle memory goes right out the window and the brain tries to relearn the new key placement.
But never, ever, have I wanted to find excuses to type something, anything on a keyboard, or just pressed a few keys as I passed the desk for the thrill of it all.
Until, that is, I got my hands on the Keychron V6 Max mechanical keyboard. And if I could, I’d sit at my desk all day and all night just to feel that pleasing feedback, listening to the satisfying clackety-clack as my fingers depress the keys. It might just be the best office keyboard I’ve ever used.
Keychron V6 Max: Price & availability
This is no budget keyboard - but that’s expected with this sort of design and the features packed in here. It’s a definite ‘investment’ product for those who will be using it day in and day out.
You can also pick up from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and other online retailers, where it’s going for the RRP.
Keychron V6 Max: Design
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This little beast is beautifully designed, with its carbon black frame and light and dark blue keys. To me, it really looks the business, eye-catching but professional.
Unlike some Keychron keyboards, like the Q6 Max we reviewed, this model is built from a hardened ABS plastic rather than dense aluminum. It’s still pretty heavy, though, and not suited to portability. On the other hand, the weight also made it very stable, refusing to whizz across the desk under the slightest provocation while I used it. So, pros and cons.
The V6 Max comes in a range of configurations - first off, you can select between a barebones version and one that’s fully assembled.
In the US, you’ll get the double-shot OSA PBT keycaps, while in the UK, you can choose between PBT and ABS keys, with the latter allowing the backlight to shine through.
You can also choose between a few different mechanical switches (Gateron Jupiter Red, Brown, and Yellow), which will subtly adjust your experience (you can see the full differences between each by clicking here). In this review, I’m looking at the PBT version with Gateron Jupiter Red linear switches.
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Along the top row, nestled between F12 and Print Screen, is a sturdy volume knob that can be clicked to mute/unmute. It’s really useful if you want easy access to volume controls, and easily ignored if you don’t.
Around the back are two switches for changing compatibility between Windows, Mac, and Android devices, and alternating connectivity (2.4GHz, cable, and Bluetooth). Over to the right is a nub which houses both the USB and USB-C receivers.
In the box, you’ll also find a wealth of tools - a charging cable, keycap and switch puller, screwdriver, screws, hex (Allen) key, extension adapter for the receiver, and eleven replacement keys.
Keychron V6 Max: App
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One of the big highlights of the Keychron V6 Max is its near-total customizability, both physically and while using the app at launcher.keychron.com. You’ll need to run Chrome, Edge, or Opera, and connect the keyboard with the wire. I found the app found the keyboard pretty quickly - not instant, but quick enough. And I was pleasantly surprised by the host of options on offer here.
Arguably the most useful here is the keymap, where you can alter what each key does when pressed. It’s very straightforward to use. Then, alongside this, there’s a key test to make sure everything’s running smoothly, an option to create macros, which will be essential for coders, firmware updates and bug reporting, and backlight selection.
To my mind, this backlight tab is where every user should head first. To manually change the keyboard’s backlight, you’ll need to turn it on with Fn + Tab, then cycle through each option using Fn + Q. There’s loads of presets here, but let me tell you, it takes ages to find the one that’s right for you - and one wrong press and you’ll need to cycle through them all over again. In the app, on the other hand, you can quickly find your preferred style, and adjust the color using the palette. Job done.
All in all, I thought the app was a nice extra that gives you much more control over layout and style to fit how you want the keyboard to perform.
Keychron V6 Max: In use
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This keyboard is an absolute delight to use. Typing feels natural, comfortable, I used it for hours and hours at a time and never once had any issues. Every keystroke registered quickly and accurately, and there’s a pleasing softness to each one. What more could you want from a mechanical keyboard?
Of course, it helps that it’s incredibly customizable to suit your work, and the desk boasts a gasket mount design with sound-proofing foam under the hood. Saying that, it’s in no way silent during use. As a mechanical keyboard, it has a muted clack that will remind readers of a certain age of busy offices and typist pools.
Personally, I quite enjoy the sound it makes when in full writing flow- it’s somehow soothing. However, it won’t be ideal for those looking for a super low-profile keyboard, where a scissor-switch or rubber-dome keyboard will offer a quieter experience.
Keychron also claims the V6 Max has a polling rate of 1000Hz, which has a theoretical latency of 1ms. So, while it should easily handle competitive gaming, it isn’t strictly designed for this.
For me, it’s one of the best keyboards around, perfectly positioned for productivity-minded professionals, students, programmers - effectively anyone who’s going to be spending a lot of time at their desk. On that score, it delivers an awesome experience.
Should I buy the Keychron V6 Max?
Buy it if...
✅ You want comfort when typing I can’t fault the overall performance of the V6 Max when it comes to general typing, even at speed.
✅ You want to customize your set-up This keyboard can basically be configured any way you want, from switching out keycaps to redefining the key map using the app.
Don't buy it if...
❌ You don’t type much For the price and the specs here, it’s going to be overkill for sending the occasional email or replying on Teams - although it’ll feel good while you’re doing so, at least.
❌ You want a silent keyboard As a mechanical keyboard, this isn’t exactly quiet in use, which you may want in shared workspaces.
After testing the Xreal One glasses I declared them the best smart glasses you could buy, and as you’d hope from an upgraded model, the Xreal One Pro glasses have just bested them.
Overall the specs are more similar than different, but the ways in which they do differ make a world of difference.
The larger 57-degree field of view allows for a bigger image – perfect for a private movie night – and the image quality is better too, thanks not only to the Pro model using the latest Sony micro-OLED displays, but also to a new optic engine which allows the specs to achieve a higher 700-nit perceived brightness, and reduces distracting reflections and blurriness.
On top of the upgrades you can also look forward to the same solid audio tuned by Bose engineers, 120Hz 1080p visuals, an electrochromically dimmable lens backdrop, and a sleek design which helps make the Xreal Ones and now the Xreal One Pros excellent.
There are just two downsides. For one, the Xreal One Pro glasses are 3g heavier than the Xreal Ones at 87g, which is admittedly a fairly minor difference. The bigger issue is that they’re pricer – these glasses will set you back $649 / £579.
The Xreal Eye (Image credit: Future / Hamish Hector)
Factor in add-on costs like the $199 / £189 Xreal Beam Pro, prescription lenses (if you need them) and extra adapters (like an HDMI to USB-C cable), and the complete Xreal One Pro package can get very expensive. You don’t need these add-ons, as the Xreal One Pro glasses come with enough in their box to use them with a wide range of compatible devices, but they're a lot better with add-ons like the Beam Pro.
That said, the Xreal One Pro are meant to be a high-end offering, and you can absolutely see what you’re paying extra for. That's why they've cemented themselves as one of the best smart glasses of 2025.
If you have the cash to splash you’ll be delighted by what the Xreal One Pro offer as an entertainment and productivity device. If, however, you’re on a budget there are more affordable options that offer excellent value for money, even if they’re not able to match the Pro’s highs.
Xreal One Pro: Price and Availability
Costs $649 / £579
On the pricier side of things, but boast high-end specs
A pair of Xreal One Pro glasses cost $649 / £579 which puts them on the higher end of the smart glasses spectrum. For that you’ll get the glasses, a USB-C to USB-C cable, a cleaning cloth, and a hard carry case.
If you’re looking to improve them you can grab the Xreal Beam Pro for $199 / £189. It’s a phone-like Android device with nifty features like a camera setup for 3d spatial photography, easy access to a suite of apps for downloading and watching shows, and two ports so you can use your glasses and charge the Beam Pro at the same time.
There’s also the Xreal Eye for $99 / £99. Right now it is just a camera for snapping some simple photos, but it slots into the glasses comfortably and might allow for some other exclusive features in the future.
Value: 4/5
Xreal One Pro: Design
New optical design is best yet
Comfortable to wear for hours
Offer electrochromic dimming
At a quick glance the Xreal One Pro glasses look almost identical to the base Xreal One specs.
They both resemble typical sunglasses with a few noticeably technological features. For a start one arm has a USB-C port at the end so you can use a cable to tether the spaces to a compatible USB-C device (like a phone, computer, or console).
They have the same button layout – a button on the top of the right arm to quickly swap into transparency mode, as well as a brightness control button (which adjusts the electronic dimming, and the brightness of the image) and a red menu control button on the bottom.
There’s even the same interchangeable nose clips and hard carry case, though their cleaning cloths are different colors (the Pro uses a gray cloth while the regular model uses black).
But one obvious change is the optical setup.
(Image credit: Future / Hamish Hector)
Smart glasses like this use lenses to reflect an OLED screen into your eyes so you can see the screen and what’s going on behind it. The Xreal One Pro glasses have a new shape of lens which is flat and thinner, rather than being chunky and more triangular in shape.
This means the resulting image is disrupted by fewer reflections caused by light from the world around you, and it’s able to boast a wider field of view to boot (giving you a larger virtual image, more on that below).
It’s also easier to look through these lenses when the screen isn’t in use than with the Xreal One glasses. Previously transparency mode was good for simply quickly checking your surroundings, whereas now I’m comfortable moving around while wearing the Xreal One Pro glasses in this mode.
Design: 5/5
Xreal One Pro: Performance
700-nit bright 120Hz full-HD image
Bose tuned audio from in-built speakers
57-degree field of view provides a giant virtual screen
The Xreal One Pro glasses deliver a truly superb performance that’s a Pro-worthy upgrade over the base Xreal One glasses.
This is thanks to the new optical engine I touched on above as well as new Sony OLED panels which combine to deliver some top-notch stats.
You’re getting 700 nits of perceived brightness (100 more than the Xreal One) which helps to further improve contrast and make bright scenes dazzle – qualities which are further aided by the black backdrop provided by the outer lenses with electrochromic dimming.
The field of view is now larger too, at 57-degrees. This makes the virtual screen much larger at a max size of 171-inches – for comparison the 50-degree Xreal One boasted a max screen size of 147-inch.
It’s further enhanced by the optical engine’s reduced blurriness and lack of reflections. The old shape of lens used by other smart glasses can reflect light from the outside world into your eyes distorting the image. Thanks to its new design the Xreal One Pro has far fewer reflections which makes for a far superior viewing experience.
If I’m ever travelling with a pair of smart glasses again, it’ll be these – no doubt about it.
(Image credit: Future / Hamish Hector)
As for the audio the Bose tuned sound is just as impressive as it was with the Xreal One glasses.
That is to say at home you’ll be fine just relying on the glasses’ in-built speakers but while travelling you’ll want a pair of headphones – not only to reduce the noise from the outside world, but reduce the noise your glasses cause.
Headphones are still an upgrade when using the smart specs at home, but with the Xreal One Pro glasses (as with the Xreal Ones) they don’t feel like a necessity for a good sonic experience.
Thanks to its plethora of upgrades the only remaining gripe is still that the image quality is still only 1,080p (full-HD) rather than 4K. 4K is a barrier other smart glasses have yet to cross, and frankly the image looks pretty darn good even at this lower resolution and runs at 120Hz which is nothing to sniff at.
Performance: 5/5
Should you buy the Xreal One Pro?
Xreal One Pro scorecard
Attribute
Notes
Score
Design
The Xreal One Pro glasses don’t mix up the formula much, but there was already a lot to love and their new optical design has only elevated the experience.
5/5
Performance
With a bright 700-nit 120Hz full-HD display, Bose tuned audio, and reduced reflections which make combine into first-class performance.
5/5
Value
The Xreal One Pro glasses are expensive but they’re also an excellent pair of smart specs which makes them solid value for money.
4/5
Buy it if...
You demand peak performance The Xreal One Pro glasses are very very good. If you’re after the best pair money can buy for entertainment, that’s these glasses.
You want a (near) complete package Ignoring the need for a device to connect them to, thanks to their great visuals and solid sound the Xreal One Pro glasses feel like a complete package rather than necessitating add-ons like headphones to make up for their sonic deficiencies (something which can’t be said of many of their predecessors).
You appreciate privacy With the glasses on you can put your phone in your pocket or adjust your laptop settings to ensure only you can see your screen even in public places.
Don't buy it if...
You’re on a budget The Xreal One Pro glasses are great, but very pricey. You can spend less on alternatives like the base Xreal One glasses or non-Xreal alternatives such as the RayNeo Air 3S and still get something good (albeit not as good).
You don’t plan to get a Beam Pro You don’t need a Beam Pro to use the Xreal One Pro, but it’s easily the best Xreal glasses add-on out there and runs right up to the line of being a must-buy for Xreal’s specs.
You want Android XR The Beam Pro, even with the Xreal Eye, doesn’t seem like it’ll support Android XR – if you want Xreal’s Android XR glasses you’ll need to wait a little longer for Project Aura to launch.
Also consider
Xreal One The Xreal One AR smart glasses cost less at $499 / £449, and offer a solid HD image and Bose audio, but their overall picture quality isn't as impressive. Read our Xreal One review
RayNeo Air 3S These budget smart glasses punch well above their weight. Their overall quality doesn't match that of the Xreal One Pro, but if you're after the bets value pair you can find it's these.
Meta Quest 3 While not a direct competitor to the Xreal One Pro glasses, the Quest 3 is an XR product that you should consider if you want to experience what VR and MR have to offer – it’s simply superb. Read our Meta Quest 3 reviewView Deal
How I tested the Xreal One Pro
I tested the Xreal One pro glasses over a couple of weeks and predominantly used them with the Xreal Beam Pro, my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, and my computer.
I would also frequently use noise cancelling headphones with them as I love to wear them when travelling, but I made sure to test their in-built speakers in a range of environments to judge their performance.
I also directly compared them with the Xreal One glasses to get a sense of the upgrades the One Pros deliver.
Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PC Release date: June 10, 2025
Early on, while sprinting between rocky islands in Dune: Awakening’s desolate sandy seas, I began to wonder why it's taken so long for Frank Herbert’s fascinating world to be translated into a survival MMO PC game of this scale.
Making the most of the mythic beasts, warring factions, and an unforgiving setting, Funcom’s latest offering reimagines the core material, providing players the opportunity to step beyond the existing lore and carve out their own place amongst the stars. With so much to see and die as a result of, I still feel like I’m only scratching the surface of this monstrously sized expedition into the desert. But, despite the sizable journey ahead, one thing is for sure – I’m thoroughly enjoying the grind.
Dune: Awakening doesn’t take place in the Dune world you know from Herbert’s cult book, Denis Villeneuve’s cinematic duology, or David Lynch’s 1984 space opera. Instead, it’s set in an alternate timeline where Lady Jessica has a daughter instead of a son, and Duke Leto Atreides survives the assault on Arrakis, leading to an all-out war with the opposing Harkonnen dynasty. Without Paul Atreides and his Lisan al Gaib status, the Fremen are missing in action. Naturally, with all this drama, Arrakis has become a battleground over the most important resource in the galaxy – Spice.
(Image credit: Funcom)
Players enter this conflict as a prisoner, whose job is to find the Fremen people and awaken ‘the sleeper’. But before you dive into the many processes needed to uncover them, you first need to make some decisions about your character, namely what they look like and how they fit into the political landscape.
You’ll first get the chance to tweak the physical form of your character. There’s a decent variety of choices, from hairstyles to stature and tattoos, too. Naturally, I opted for a pre-distressed look, picking out murky blue eye makeup and some messy lipstick. Visual identity chosen, you’ll then pick some personality building blocks: your homeworld, social caste, and mentor.
Each option will provide you with alternative starting abilities and emotes. As someone who’s always wanted to use the Voice, I opted for a Bene Gesserit mentor and based myself in the frosty peaks of IX as a Bondsman. Sadly, it’s mainly your Mentor that factors into gameplay, with the other decisions acting more as role-playing flavor. Regardless, I was ready to feel the sand on my digital feet and test my survival mettle.
Fear is the grind killer
Needless to say, this planet is not exactly hospitable. (Image credit: Funcom)
You aren’t just dropped into Dune: Awakening without a clue, and are run through a pint-sized tutorial sequence first. Here, you learn the basics of combat and survival, which amounts to scavenging morsels of water drops from plants and swiping at enemies with a glorified box cutter, before witnessing a sandworm gobble up the remains of your ship.
Emerging into the open sand, your workload is split between maintaining your hydration and shelter while branching out into the surrounding areas of the map in search of story missions. Much of my first hour was spent cowering in the shade, fearing for my life as I followed my objectives to earn some scrappy sun protection and a ranged weapon. Suddenly, I wasn’t so afraid, and I began assaulting enemy camps with my newfound confidence.
As you run between pockets of shade, scavenging for resources and completing objectives, you’ll naturally start to earn Skill Points and Intel Points that fuel your skills, research, and crafting abilities. Soon, instead of scrounging around for a morsel of water and clipping enemies with a pea shooter, you’ll be drinking the blood of your enemies and hammering targets with the improved arsenal at your fingertips. Dune: Awakening has all the hallmarks of a classic survival MMO. However, it’s the clever grapple between feeling brave and weak that kept me interested beyond the climactic opening.
Best bit
(Image credit: Funcom)
To complete quests and rise up the ranks, you’ll eventually need to cross large portions of the desert. And, despite the isolation you might feel in the arid landscape, you’re never truly alone. In Dune: Awakening, Sandworms, otherwise known as the Shai-Hulud, are more terrifying than raiders or dehydration. If you’re unlucky, or simply not paying attention to your vibration meter, they can fleece you of all your precious items and leave you in the dust, literally, with nothing but your underwear. Regardless of how terrifying a prospect, the addition of these iconic creatures only makes the world of Dune: Awakening more immersive and entertaining to explore.
It’s not all desert roses, though, and unfortunately, as I sought out more enemies, I ran into issues with the rudimentary combat. You can block and parry, as well as deliver quick, slow, and ranged attacks, which is fine, if not a little underwhelming. Your limited toolbelt, early on, isn’t complemented by the limited enemy variation, and many of the baddies you face look much the same, and frankly, don’t seem too smart either.
On one occasion, while taking out a duo of scavengers, the firing stopped abruptly mid-fight. As I sheepishly wandered around the corner, I noticed that the second scavenger was standing frozen, as if they’d forgotten I was there. As you push into more difficult districts on the map, there are complicating factors like shields, and your opponents have more diverse combat skills, though that does little to make the combat more enticing, and as of right now, it feels like fighting still needs some fine-tuning.
Thankfully, when the combat excursions start to get old, you can tackle story missions called the Trials of AQL, which arrive as alternate challenges that test your dexterity while explaining the history of the Fremen. Hidden amongst the craggy horizons, the trials felt like a carefully constructed extension of the lore, rewarding your attention with gear essential to survival long term. It’s clear Funcom cares about the material that the studio is adapting, and the involved and thoughtful Trials feel like proof of that.
Hope clouds observational skills
See that weird glowing stuff? That's Rapidium - and Jan's going to need a lot of it to make more alters. (Image credit: Funcom)
While exploration will take up the lion’s share of your time, base building is another important aspect to your survival in Dune: Awakening. Say a sandstorm warning pops up on your screen, and you need to quickly assemble a dwelling. All you have to do is craft a useful 3D printing gun and pick a safe spot to place your cover.
Here, external walls and flooring all snap together nicely, while the inside of your home requires a bit more finicky work to get things to fit just right. If you do run into problems, the system itself is quite forgiving, and it’s easy enough to modify your floor plan to fit more appliances if things get a little tight. You can technically build a shelter almost anywhere you’d like, and with the speed at which items respawn, plopping down your possessions in open sand is an obvious no-go.
This brings me to the real antagonist of Dune: Awakening. Beyond the periodic sandstorms, trigger-happy enemies, or unwavering thirst, are the more terrifying and possession-destroying sand worms or Shai-Hulud. Hidden underground in the open sands, the worms are attracted to your movements, which you can track via a friendly vibrations bar that appears at the center of your screen.
Laying out your base smartly (as I have very much not done in this screenshot) is key to making the most of your limited resources. (Image credit: Funcom)
Simply put, the more you move in open sand, the more likely it is you’ll attract a sandworm. Once the bar turns red, it means your luck has run out and you need to sprint away to higher ground or risk losing everything you’ve worked so hard for. Short distances start to feel large, and I felt genuine pangs of fear as I tiptoed between the stone monuments that broke up this seemingly endless world.
Dune: Awakening looks solid in motion, but it isn’t always visually seamless, and there are plenty of frustrating bugs and bouts of texture pop-in that get in the way of the fun. Still, Dune’s desert landscape more than makes up for those small squabbles, and it's easy to get swept up in the carefully constructed details Funcom has embedded on Arrakis.
Visual accents like the billow of a water seal as you cut through it, or the sand particle texture on your windows, help to build the fantasy and commit your exploits to memory. Yet considering how large Dune: Awakening is, I’m sure there’s even more to uncover on my journey to ultimate power, and I’m excited to keep digging and discover more of these details.
Should I buy Dune: Awakening?
Buy it if...
You want a challenging survival MMO that’s connected to its setting Between sunstroke, thirst and the constant threat of sand (worms and storms), Dune Awakening’s survival mechanics do well to complement its sci-fi setting.
You’re looking for a game to sink a lot of time into The world of Dune: Awakening is sizable, and so it’ll take more than a few hours to grow your reach and power.
You think you’d make a better Lisan Al Gaib than Paul Atreides Do you think of yourself more as a Timothée Chalamet Paul or a Kyle MacLachlan Paul? Well, Dune: Awakening provides you with all the necessary tools to see if you can out-Lisan Al Gaib both versions of Paul Atreides to prove yourself the superior sandy survivor.
Don't buy it if...
You prefer a more forgiving survival game In Dune: Awakening, when you die to a sandworm, you lose everything, and I mean everything. As such, it might not be ideal for casual players looking to relax as they mine.
You like complex combat systems While there is a decent diversity in skills and upgrades, Dune: Awakening’s combat can feel repetitive as you continue to face the same few enemy variants to harvest loot.
Accessibility
You can access the settings from the pause menu while in-game, or at the bottom left of the main menu before you join a server. From the accessibility menu, you can toggle on and off camera shakes, controller rumble, and motion blur.
From this menu, you can also toggle on and off subtitles, choose the font size, as well as select an option to have previous subtitles on screen for a longer period of time. You can also tweak the gamma setting from this menu, too. Dune: Awakening allows you to rebind all your keys from the dedicated Keybinds menu.
Where audio is concerned, you can use a slider in the Audio submenu to tweak individual streams of sound (Master Volume, Music Volume in-game, Sound Effects Volume, Cutscenes Volume, Dialogue Volume, and Radio Volume).
The Nexar One is a 4K dash cam that employs a clever modular design and an always-on LTE data connection to offer automatic cloud uploads with unlimited storage, wireless video transfer, and remote streaming. It can be bought with either 128GB or 256GB of internal storage, but there's no microSD card support. Rear and internal cameras are also available.
Unlimited cloud storage and live streaming for as little as $71.90 a year feels like good value, but the One is reliant on a strong cellular signal to work properly; if you have patchy 4G at home, this might not be the dash cam for you.
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
Nexar One: price & availability
The Nexar One is priced from $329.95 for the 128GB model (which can hold up to 37 hours of recordings), or from $379.95 for the 256GB model (which has space for up to 78 hours). Adding the interior camera featured in this review increases those prices to $379.95 and $429.95 respectively.
Nexar’s LTE Protection Plan costs $9.99 a month or $71.90 a year. This includes the ability to live stream from the dash cam to your phone, plus unlimited cloud storage, a 24/7 parking mode, real-time GPS tracking, emergency alerts, and rear camera compatibility.
Nexar says the One will be available in the UK soon, but hadn’t announced prices at the time of review in June 2025. The cost of the LTE Protection Plan is also unknown for now, and the One is not available in Australia.
Nexar One: specs
Nexar One specs
Video
4K resolution at 25 to 30 frames per second
Field of view (FoV)
140 degrees (forwards), 160 degrees (interior)
Storage
Internal (128GB or 256GB), cloud (unlimited, fees apply)
GPS
Yes
Parking Mode
Yes, with remote streaming
App support
Nexar Connect app
Dimensions
3.5 x 2.75 x 1.2 inches / 88.9 x 69.8 x 30.5mm
Weight
7.4oz / 210g
Battery
Yes, used to record parking events
Nexar One: Design
The Nexar One is a clever piece of design, as far as dash cams go. It doesn’t have a screen, so there’s no chance of being distracted while you’re driving, and the unit itself is relatively slim, but with the LTE data module and interior camera connected, it’s quite large.
The clever bit is how the Nexar One uses magnets. Firstly, it connects to its windshield mount with a very strong magnet. You then stick the mount to your windshield with an adhesive strip, and a power cable runs from the mount to your car’s OBD2 port for a constant power supply, even when it’s parked and turned off. Power is then sent to the dash cam itself as soon as the magnets snap it into place.
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
There are more magnets on either side of the main unit. You can remove a cover from one end to attach what Nexar calls the connectivity add-on, which is basically an LTE (4G) antenna that gives the dash cam a cellular data connection for live streaming to your phone and cloud video storage – more on that later.
Removing the cover from the other end enables you connect the optional interior camera, which sold separately but was also provided by Nexar for this review. Overall, it’s a clever design that's been nicely executed, and I especially like how Nexar includes an OBD2 cable in the box, rather than a USB cable and a 12-volt socket adapter.
As mentioned, there’s no microSD card slot, with the One relying entirely on internal storage.
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
Nexar One: Performance
The setup process requires the Nexar Connect smartphone app and, for the dash cam, a decent 4G connection. Although I live in London, my street has awful cellular coverage, so it wasn’t a surprise to see the One fail to get itself online. I drove about half a mile, parked up, and the dash cam then quickly connected to Nexar’s cloud service and completed the setup process.
While video quality is the most important aspect of any dash cam, there’s more to this model than video recording. You can use either the Nexar Connect app or Nexar’s online dashboard to view every journey completed with the One installed. Your driving route is shown on a map, along with the distance and duration of your journey. It’s then easy to either view a low-resolution timelapse of a journey, or download a high-resolution portion.
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
If you’re away from your car (and therefore not connected directly to the dash cam via Wi-Fi), you can view the mapped routes and timelapses. And, while you can request to download a high-res portion of between 30 seconds and five minutes, the download won’t happen until the next time you turn your car on. Instead, it’s best to get in your car, connect directly to the dash cam over Wi-Fi, and transfer high-res recordings to your phone.
Another feature is live streaming, where the Nexar One’s LTE connection lets you view a live feed from the dash cam on your phone. This takes about 30 seconds to start and when using LTE (instead of a direct Wi-Fi connection) you’re limited to three minutes of live viewing at a time. This is understandable, given how much data would be swallowed up by longer streams. It’s a handy way to check up on your car, and means you can view a live feed right after the dash cam detects a collision while parked, as it will automatically start recording.
Since I live in an area with patchy cellular coverage, some driving routes and timelapses failed to upload right away. This process happens after you park up, while the dash cam is powering down, but a poor data connection can stop the upload from happening. The downloads are then unavailable until the next time you turn your car on and drive to an area with better signal.
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
If you live and mostly drive in an area with strong LTE coverage you’ll be fine, but if not – and you want to regularly use the Nexar One’s connected features – you’ll need to think twice about buying it. The Nexar One is designed to connect to a range of networks, instead of just one, so it should always hunt out the best signal. But I found it sometimes failed to connect, especially in known blackspots.
Incidents – where the dash cam detects a collision, either while parked or driving – are sorted into their own section of the app and dashboard, making them easy to find.
The app lets you pick from three video quality options, but frustratingly these use names – Basic, Standard and Premium – instead of recognizable numbers, like 1080p or 4K. Tapping on 'Learn more' opens Nexar’s website and explains that Basic is 720p (and 540p for the interior view), Standard is 1080p (and 720p for the interior), and Premium is 4K (plus 720p again for the interior).
Standard is the default option. These Full HD recordings look great on the phone app, but quality takes a dip when blown up onto a larger computer screen. Footage is okay, but details like the license plates of oncoming vehicles, even at just 20mph in bright daylight, are often difficult to read.
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
Bump the Nexar One up to Premium and the 4K videos are noticeably sharper, with more legible license plates and street signs. Files are also larger, with a five-minute clip weighing in at 1.5GB from the front-facing camera and 360MB from the lower-spec interior view.
The larger size of 4K files highlights the Nexar One’s slow Wi-Fi transfer speeds. Moving those five-minute, 1.5GB and 360MB clips to my iPhone, over a direct Wi-Fi connection, took a full five minutes.
The interior camera is of a lower spec, but still provides a decent view of the driver and front-seat passenger. Since I drive a small two-seater (a Mazda Miata, or MX-5 for non-US readers), this camera manages to capture an acceptable view out of the rear windshield too. However, due to my car’s tiny front windshield, I’ve had to partially hide the Nexar One behind the mirror, which blocks some of the camera’s interior view.
If I bought the Nexar One myself, and still owned a car tight on space, I’d likely do without the interior camera. That said, if you’re a taxi or ride-share driver, having recordings of your interior (and a sign telling your passengers as much) could be useful.
Lastly, there’s a parking mode. This works when the Nexar One is connected either with the included OBD II cable, or the optional hardwiring cable that powers it from the fuse box. When a collision is detected, the camera springs into life and starts recording. These videos appear in chronological order in the app, but can only be downloaded when you next switch your car on – and so long as the camera has a good cellular connection.
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
Parking mode, unlimited cloud storage, live streaming and other functions – including emergency alerts, GPS tracking and rear camera compatibility – are all part of a subscription plan. This is priced at $9.99 a month or $71.90 for a full year. Although the Nexar One works like any other offline dash cam without this fee, storing footage locally, not subscribing removes much of its functionality. If you don’t want to pay for a subscription, you’d be better off buying a different dash cam.
That said, I can see the value here – especially if you live in an area with solid cellular coverage. Having videos available online, through the app or any computer browser, takes away the usual dash cam pain point of having to eject the microSD card and transfer footage manually. I also like the idea of being able to check in on my car while I'm away from home, but my local cellular coverage made that tricky.
The dash cam occasionally sent phone notifications, promising more information when tapped. But doing so simply opened the app and showed me the home screen. It also sometimes told me a recording was in process (while the car was parked and switched off), then saved a five-minute journey in the Activity page of the app. Tapping on this brought up a page full of error messages, a map with no indication of where the car was, and the promise of a timelapse and high-res clip being “available shortly”.
Nexar told me it has had some issues with a recent firmware update, but after reinstalling the latest firmware I still experienced connectivity problems. The One connects to multiple phone networks, but it seems that none could provide the coverage it needed to function where I live. It worked fine elsewhere, but poor signal at home takes away a chunk of the One's functionality.
I asked Nexar if it can be connect to home Wi-Fi for video uploads and firmware updates but, and was told that while this is on the roadmap, there's no timeline for launch.
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
Nexar One: Sample videos
Front camera
Interior camera
Should you buy the Nexar One?
(Image credit: Future / Alistair Charlton)
Buy it if...
You need lots of cloud storage Nexar’s subscription fee generously includes unlimited cloud storage for your recordings. Low-res timelapses and location data are automatically uploaded after every journey, while high-resolution clips can be requested manually and are uploaded when the dash cam is next switched on. Incidents, like collisions, are uploaded in full.View Deal
You want 4K footage The Nexar One can record at 4K resolution, which captures a good amount of detail in your videos. The interior camera is limited to 720p HD.View Deal
You want live streaming Its LTE connection makes the Nexar One function like a security camera. You can view a live video stream on your phone or computer, so long as the dash cam is in an area with cellular coverage, which is handy for keeping an eye on your parked car.View Deal
Don't buy it if...
You live in an area with poor LTE coverage Since the Nexar One is so reliant on the cellular phone network, it struggles to function properly in areas with poor signal. Clips fail to upload, and even the setup process will fail without a decent connection.View Deal
You’re on a budget At over $300 for even the simplest model, the Nexar One is an expensive dash cam – especially when you factor in the ongoing cost of a data subscription. There are plenty of other dash cams that offer high-quality video recordings for less money, but go without the bells and whistles of the Nexar One.View Deal
You want a compact dash cam If you drive a car with a particularly small and/or shallow windshield, you should pass on the Nexar One. With the LTE module and interior camera attached, it’s a big dash cam that takes up plenty of space. You can tuck it behind the mirror, but that’s likely to partially block the view of the interior camera.View Deal
How I tested the Nexar One
I installed the Nexar One in my own car
I used the dash cam during multiple journeys over the course of a week
I downloaded footage, adjusted settings and experimented with the live streaming function.
I installed the Nexar One in my car and used it as my dash cam for about a week. I used it on numerous journeys, and recorded footage every time I used my car. I then downloaded (and uploaded) footage from the dash cam to check its recording quality, and used the live streaming function to see how well that worked.
This isn’t my first Viltrox lens review, and nor it will it be my last, because the Chinese lens maker is on a roll, producing a string of excellent optics for users of all skill levels and budgets. Coming in at the opposite end of a recent cinema lens that could cost up to $200,000, the 50mm f/2 Air costs less than $200 / £200 / AU$320, and offers excellent value for money.
It’s a tiny and lightweight prime that's available for Sony E and Nikon Z mounts – I had the latter for this review – with a decent maximum f/2 aperture for defocusing backgrounds. You don’t get the sharpest detail or creamiest bokeh I’ve ever seen – for those you'll want to check out the excellent Viltrox 135mm f/1.8 LAB – but the Viltrox 50mm f/2 is an excellent casual lens for enthusiasts, especially for portrait photography, and an ideal foil to a standard zoom.
I’d have preferred the lens’s minimum focus distance to be a little closer, which would bolster its everyday photography credentials, while a couple of external controls to speed up changing settings, such as an AF / MF switch, would be welcome. However, the Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air delivers performance and image quality that belie its price – and the fact it squeezes proprietary camera-brand alternatives with its aggressive pricing is the cherry on the cake.
(Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air specs
Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air specs
Type:
Standard prime
Mount:
Nikon Z-mount / Sony E-mount
Sensor:
Full-frame
Focal length:
50mm
Max aperture:
f/2
Minimum focus:
1.67ft / 0.51m
Filter size:
58mm
Dimensions:
Φ68 x 58.6mm
Weight:
7.8oz / 220g
Viltrox AF 50mm f/2 Air: Price and availability
Available for Sony E and Nikon Z mounts
$199 / £229 / AU$319 list price, but it usually can be found for less
Hovering around the $200 / £200 / AU$320 mark and often available for a little less, the Viltrox AF 50mm f/2 Air is an excellent value prime lens, especially when you considering its build quality and optical performance.
Price-wise, it reminds me of the old Canon EF and Nikon F-mount cheap nifty fifties for DSLRs, being an affordable first prime for enthusiasts. There's bad news for some though – Viltrox's lens is only available for Sony E and Nikon Z lens mounts.
Viltrox AF 50mm f/2 Air: Design
Weighs just 7.8oz / 220g
No external buttons or controls
Available for Sony E and Nikon Z mounts
The 50mm f/2 Air lens is, as the name suggests, designed with an emphasis on light weight over absolute performance – it’s positively featherweight, especially compared to alternatives such as Nikon’s own Z 50mm f/1.4.
It’s a small lens, too. I paired the 50mm f/2 Air with a Nikon Z6 II, and I could barely feel the lens. It's not often that I'd describe a camera / lens pairing as rear-heavy, but that's the case here.
This is also excellent value, with a sale price often dipping under $200 / £200 /AU$319, and the list price only a little more. For context, the Nikon-own f/1.4 lens is double the price (and double the weight), while Nikon's Z 50mm f/1.8 is four times the price.
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Viltrox’s lens well made too – a rugged metal barrel and rear mount instil confidence, even though there’s no proper weather-sealing to speak of (such are the compromises with such a low-cost lens).
There's a generously sized focus ring with smooth and easy rotation, and that’s it for controls. No AF / MF switch, no optical stabilization, no focus distance limiter – this is a simple bit of gear.
The lack of controls could, depending on which camera you pair the lens with, make changes to camera settings a little fussy. My camera doesn’t have an AF / MF switch, and because the lens doesn’t either I need to dive into a menu to switch between the two focusing methods, which can be frustrating.
Otherwise, there's little to talk about regarding design – this is a simple and lightweight optic that accepts 58mm threaded filters and comes supplied with a decent lens hood.
(Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Viltrox AF 50mm f/2 Air: Performance
Bright maximum f/2 aperture ideal for portraiture
Fairly limited close-focusing capabilities
Snappy autofocus speed
This is no pro-quality lens, but for beginners and enthusiasts the optical quality and performance of the Viltrox 50mm f/2 Air are perfectly sufficient.
The bright, zoom lens-beating maximum f/2 aperture ensures plenty of light intake and makes this lens great for low-light photography, as well as for defocusing backgrounds for dreamy portraits. Bokeh is smooth enough – I didn’t really spot the ugly ‘onion ring’ effect that can be evident in cheap optics.
(Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Optical clarity is perfectly acceptable, even if this isn't the sharpest 50mm lens I’ve used. With a little extra sharpening in post, most users should be perfectly happy with the results.
I shot all images in JPEG and uncompressed raw, and with lens corrections switched off there are slight signs of chromatic aberration, but the Viltrox has a reasonable handle on such distortions.
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Note the minor lens flare in the bottom middle of the frame when shooting straight towards sunlight (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
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For head and should portraits, bokeh is generally big, smooth and round, with a little cat's eye shaping the corners (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
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There's little sign of bokeh fringing either (technically known as longitudinal chromatic aberration) (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
I found the 1.67ft / 0.51m minimum focus distance a little limiting for close-up shots – the maximum magnification is a modest 0.11x. This isn't really a macro lens in any way, and perhaps even less of an everyday lens, with portraiture being its strongest suit.
With such a small and lightweight collection of ashperical (ASPH), ED and IF lens elements, the 50mm f/2’s STM autofocus motor has an easy job – those lens elements are moved with ease for quick and precise autofocus. Not once did I perceive sluggish autofocus on account of the lens rather than the camera.
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Shot using the maximum f/2 aperture, vignetting is evident in this bright scene (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
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I stopped the aperture down to f/5 at which point vignetting is pretty much gone (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
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Using the f/2 aperture helped to isolate the tree in the foreground. Chromatic aberration is well controlled, but vignetted means the corners are a little dark. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
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Stopped down to f/5, brightness is more consistent throughout the frame. (Image credit: Tim Coleman)
Overall, the Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air is a capable performer, especially when you consider its compact size, low price and bright maximum aperture. For users on a budget who are looking to step up from a standard-zoom kit lens, this is an ideal choice.
Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air sample gallery
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Should you buy the Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air?
Buy it if...
You want a low-cost fast prime
Mirrorless lenses can get pretty pricey, but the Viltrox 50mm f/2 Air is a true nifty fifty – it’s that cheap second lens you can pick up after a kit lens.
You have a small full-frame or APS-C camera
Mirrorless lenses can get pretty big and heavy, and aren't always the best fit with a number of today’s compact, rangefinder-style mirrorless cameras. Not so the Viltrox 50mm f/2 – its light, small, and pairs wonderfully.
Don't buy it if...
You’d like quick access to manual controls
There’s only one external control on the lens, and that's a focus ring. All other changes need to be made in-camera, which, depending on your camera’s external controls, could prove to be a menu-diving time sink.
You shoot a lot in adverse conditions
The Viltrox 50mm f/2 lens isn’t weather sealed. Its build quality is solid enough, but you’ll want to think twice about shooting with it in poor weather.
(Image credit: Tim Coleman)
How I tested the Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air
I've used it over a loan period of several months
I paired the lens with a Nikon Z6 II
I've used it in a range of scenarios, generally in fair weather, and checked image quality at the various aperture settings
I paired a Z-mount version of the Viltrox AF 50mm F2 Air with a Nikon Z6 II for several months, during which time it has seen moderate use, generally in fair weather. Size-wise, the camera and lens are perfectly balanced, with no hint of wrist strain due to front-heaviness.
To test optical quality I’ve snapped portraits with the aperture wide open at f/2, and also taken series of images at each aperture setting to compare sharpness and check for lens distortions.
Launching alongside the Nintendo Switch 2, Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is quite simply the same game, but better. Bless developer and publisher Epic Games for trying, but Fortnite on the original Nintendo Switch is hardly the most elegant way to play and feels like you’re at a significant disadvantage thanks to the decreased graphical fidelity, framerate, and draw distance. It’s forgivable on handheld, but with TV mode, it looks rough and feels rougher. But I’m glad to say the Nintendo Switch 2 edition is a great way to play, no matter where you are.
Review info
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2; Non-Switch 2 version available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, PC, Android, iOS (in some regions) Release date: June 5, 2025
I mean, what can you even say about Fortnite at this point? Epic Games’ 100-person Battle Royale game has taken over the world over the last eight years, and it’s only grown larger in the time since. In the vein of something like Roblox, Fortnite is both a battle royale and a user-generated game platform where you can find an endless amount of custom maps to play with your friends on.
But let's get into why the Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is such a great way to play.
Chug jug with you
(Image credit: Epic Games)
To really hammer that “you can play Fortnite without even touching its main mode” point home, I don’t like Battle Royale – the marquee mode – thanks to the game's building mechanics. However, when it comes to the Zero Build mode, it’s undoubtedly the best Battle Royale game on the market right now. Over the years, Epic has augmented the core mechanics of the game with a host of new movement options like wall kicking and roll landing that keep things fluid in what used to be the jankiest of movement systems.
Of course, the problem with any ‘evolving game’ is that it’s tough to give a review of the main mode because of how it changes. Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 was peak, while Chapter 4 and Chapter 5’s third seasons were two of the absolute worst seasons of a live service game I’ve played. This means there could be three-month stretches where you just simply don’t like the game. And considering Epic Games has been experimenting with seasons based around media franchises like Marvel, Star Wars, and a rumored upcoming Simpsons season, if you don’t like those, that’s all you get for months.
Thanks to the use of the Nintendo Switch 2’s feature set and specs, it's one of the best ways to play the game on console and by far the best handheld version.
Outside of that, there are the Epic Games-created modes. There’s Fortnite OG, which brings back the original Chapter 1 map (which can also be played in Zero Build, thankfully); Reload, which is a faster-paced 40-player battle; and Ballistic, a first-person mode that is a take on Counter-Strike. While none of these stand up to the core mode, they offer different ways to take on the mechanics of Fortnite and are solid games in their own right.
Then there are non-shooting modes like the Minecraft-inspired Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and the best side mode, Fortnite Festival, which is a rhythm game mode and the closest thing we’ll get to a new Rock Band game, considering it was developed by Guitar Hero and Rock Band creator Harmonix. This mode gets constantly updated with songs and artists, with a new singer taking center stage with a skin and big song drop every few months or so (with the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Metallica, and Hatsune Miku showing up).
And despite having so many options, the player base for each main mode is really healthy, meaning you’ll never wait too long to find a game of anything, with some custom games even having dedicated player bases. A few of these Epic-made modes have their own seasons and battle passes, too, which does add up if you don’t subscribe to the Fortnite Crew. However, Epic recently changed it so XP earned in any mode goes towards every single pass, which is a massive step up.
Mouse trap
(Image credit: Epic Games)
Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is the same game as it is everywhere else; there are no exclusive modes or anything of the sort. However, thanks to the use of the Nintendo Switch 2’s feature set and specs, it's one of the best ways to play the game on console and by far the best handheld version of Fortnite.
Compared to the Nintendo Switch version, which ran at 880p docked and 660p in handheld mode, FortniteNintendo Switch 2 Edition runs at 1224p docked and 900p in handheld, so it still isn’t 4K / 1080p, but it is a significant boost. However, the resolution isn’t where the upgrade matters; the improved textures as well as a far greater draw distance, which was one of the original console’s biggest hindrances – especially with how big the Fortnite map is. Most importantly, Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition runs at a solid 60fps as opposed to the 30fps of the Nintendo Switch – which in an online shooter that has cross-play with more powerful platforms – makes a world of difference.
Gyro aiming returns from the Nintendo Switch edition of Fortnite, but new to the Switch 2 version is support for mouse controls via the Joy-Con 2 controllers. Effectively, this allows you to use a mouse setup for aiming with the movement capabilities of an analogue stick, and is a wonderful combination.
Best bit
(Image credit: Epic Games)
As I was writing this review, Epic released a Hank Hill skin alongside an emote recreating the King of the Hill intro: my best bit can only be that and even how it looked on the Switch 2, which was excellent.
However, the mouse implementation is a touch awkward. Due to the lack of buttons available, you’ll still need to access the face buttons on your Joy-Con to jump and reload, which creates some uncomfortable moments as you crane your hand. Plus, the mouse controls need to be activated from the in-game menu, as opposed to just sticking the Joy-Con in mouse position like in other games. This isn’t the biggest pain in the world, but it doesn’t revert back once you use a controller that doesn’t support mouse controls (such as attaching your Joy-Con 2 to the Switch 2 itself), which means you’ll need to get the controller off and go through the menu with the mouse to deactivate it.
Fortnite is a phenomenon for a reason; if you let yourself get by the “popular game bad” noise that you often see with this and the likes of Call of Duty, you’ll find what is probably the best Battle Royale game in the genre. And even outside of that, it’s a massive game platform that has an endless supply of whatever you like, from racing, rhythm games, and even custom Fall Guys games.
However, the risks of an ongoing game persist because you’ll occasionally be hit with a season that makes the game bad for months, and there’s not much you can do to help it.
Having said that, Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is easily the best way to play on the go or on a handheld device, and while it’s outclassed in power by the PS5 and Xbox versions when it comes to TV mode, it’s still solid to look at, and the mouse controls give it an edge that those consoles don’t have.
Should you play Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition?
Play it if...
You want to play Fortnite on a handheld Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition outclasses the version on the original Switch in every way, taking what is a means to an end and making it a fantastic way to play in its own right. Plus, the mouse controls make tabletop mode a great way to play, too.
You want something free to play on Switch 2 Fortnite has a seemingly endless amount of modes and content, and is being updated constantly. And unless you want to pick up a skin of John Cena or Raiden from Metal Gear Solid, you don’t have to pay a single penny to play all of the game’s modes.
Don't play it if...
You need the best graphics and performance from Fortnite While the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Fortnite has a perfectly fine resolution and – in my experience – sticks at a solid 60fps, that’s where you cap out. The current-gen console versions and PC ultimately look better and support higher framerates.
Accessibility
Fortnite has a ton of accessibility options, including multiple color blindness filters, the ability to remap controls however you like, alongside multiple control options like gyro aiming and mouse controls.
A standout feature is the visual sound effects toggle, which displays a ring around your character to indicate the source of sound effects and their corresponding representations (footsteps, loot, gunfire, etc.). This is particularly beneficial for those with hearing difficulties or when playing the game with the sound muted.
How I reviewed Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
I played around eight hours of Fortnite Nintendo Switch 2 Edition on top of a good 300-400 hours played across PlayStation, PC, and Nintendo Switch. During my time with the Nintendo Switch 2 edition, I tested Zero Build mode, Fortnite Festival and a number of custom games.
I played this in a mixture of handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch 2 itself and on a Samsung Q60D TV and a Samsung HW-T450 soundbar using the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller and the Joy-Con 2 controllers when using mouse mode.
Peak Design’s tripods have a couple of unique design features. One is the leg design, which is not tubular but has a six-sided cross section with an inner edge that fits straight up against the center column, with no gaps. The center column is thinner than most but also has a six-sided cross section for the legs to fit neatly against the legs when folded. This non-tubular construction does seem to give both the legs and the center column unusual stiffness.
The Peak Design Pro Tripods don't use tubular carbon fiber legs. They have a more complex six-sided cross-section designed to fold up tight against a flat-sided center column. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
Peak Design's clever leg and column design means these new Pro tripods fold down to a very small diameter compared to regular tripods. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The other unique feature is a low-profile ball head with no protruding locking nut. Instead, it’s clamped with a rotating collar, and another, just above locks and releases the compact Arca Swiss compatible camera plate.
This low profile head design means that the original Peak Design travel tripod does not have to have its legs rotated 180 degrees from their folded position before you can use it. The low height of the ball head means that you can simply fold the legs in and pack it away without any complicated manoeuvers.
The new Pro Tripods also come with a new Pro Head. It still uses rotating collars to release the ball and the QR plate but it's bigger and more substantial than the original. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The Pro head takes regular Arca Swiss compatible plates and also accepts Peak Design's clever new Tilt Mod specifically for video work. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
These design features made the original Peak Design Travel tripod very different to anything else. Now Peak Design has taken those same design concepts and scaled them up into a Pro version designed for serious professional use.
In fact, there’s not one Pro tripod but three. The regular Pro tripod is the one I spent most time with for this review, but I also got to try out the Pro Lite and Pro Tall variants. The Pro Lite is almost the same height and folded length of the regular Pro Tripod, but has a lighter construction for easier portability. The Tall version has longer leg sections and can even reach eye level for tall people without any center column extension – it exceeded my eye level!
The new Pro tripods aren’t just bigger and more substantial than the original Travel Tripod – they have a new Pro ball head that’s larger and more substantial than the original, plus it has a neat ‘inverted’ design so that the pan axis is above the ball not below it. This means that you can level the pan axis for panning shots and panoramas without having to fiddle around with the leg lengths. It’s not a huge range of adjustment but it might be all you need.
For more extreme pan axis adjustments, or if a lot of your work is video, Peak Design has you covered. There are two new ‘mods’ to go with these tripods: one tilt head for video work, and the other a leveling bowl which you swap out with the standard center column, and which has a regular head attachment screw so that you can use your favorite video head if you want to.
This is Peak Design's new Tilt Mod, which attaches directly to the Pro head to offer a smooth tilt movement for video. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
Here you can see the Tilt Mod fitted. It clamps straight into the Pro head's Arca Swiss mount so it takes just a few seconds. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The Tilt Mod and the Pro head feel as if they were made to go together... but there's another clever touch. The Pro head uses an 'inverted' design so that the pan axis is above the ball. This means that it also acts as a basic but effective levelling head for video work. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
I love the original Peak Design Travel Tripod, so do the new Pro tripods leave me just as impressed? Yes! It is, literally, just like using scaled up versions of the Travel Tripod. The carbon fiber legs feel just as smooth and warm to the touch, the leg clamps are just as quick and positive, and because these Pro tripods have four leg sections rather than five, they’re a little quicker to set up.
The new Pro ball head is terrific. It’s big and chunky, it locks tight and it doesn’t add a whole lot to the tripod’s height when you’re packing away. As before, there are no protruding knobs or levers to get in the way either.
Peak Design’s use of a rotating collar to lock the QR plate does take a little getting used to. The head has two collars in close proximity and at first it can be a struggle to remember which does what and how they work.
The new Pro head, though, feels absolutely rock solid, and it’s with the pan and tilt mod that it gets really clever. All you need to do is take out the regular Arca Swiss plate and slot in the pan and tilt add-on for a proper fluid pan and tilt action.
There’s an extending panning handle which is stowed against the side of the head via a magnet (Peak Design loves magnets) and can be quickly screwed into the head ready for use. It sounds like a kludge, with one head mounted on top of another, but it absolutely isn’t. It looks like it was made to work this way, and feels like it too. The tilt axis is sprung, by the way, so if you use a longer camera plate you should be able to balance it up fairly well for light and controlled tilt movements.
If you're into more serious video work, you might want to take a look at the Pro Leveling Base. This replaces the center column with a shorter 'stub' column incorporating a leveling bowl. This also has a regular head fitting, so you can still use your favorite video head – it doesn't have to be Peak Design's. (Image credit: Rod Lawton)
The center columns on these tripods are longer than the one in the original Travel Tripod, which is useful, but even though they’re fixed with a small-looking locking knob, they lock down really tight and with no flex.
You can also get spiked feet but these are an optional extra, nor does it seem like Peak Design includes a phone clamp with these tripods, so that will be a paid extra too. It kind of makes sense because these Pro tripods are overengineered for phone use anyway. If you do get the phone mount, it will still slide up into the base of the center column for storage. Here, Peak Design has stuck with its slightly complicated pull-and-twist hook release which is easy when you’ve learned how it works but can be annoying at first.
So that’s a quick tour of the Peak Design Pro Tripods, but which is the best one to get? That’s quite tricky because they are somewhat similar, both in size and price. The standard Pro tripod is expected to sell for $899.95 when it goes fully on sale in November 2025, the lighter Pro Lite will be $799.95 and the Pro Tall will be $999.95. I haven't seen prices for the UK or Australia yet.
Personally, I wouldn’t go for the Pro Lite. I can understand the reasoning – it’s a slightly lighter, slightly cheaper alternative to the regular Pro model – but it’s not a lot smaller and I think I’d rather just pay the extra for the thicker legs of the Pro model. The Pro Tall is interesting, though. If I was 6ft tall and didn’t like using center columns, I would go for this one. It’s definitely longer when packed away, but all of these tripods are too long to fit inside a backpack anyway and would end up strapped to the outside. Besides, for those times when you didn’t need the extra height you could just extend three leg sections not four, for even more stability.
Peak Design Pro Tripods: key specs
Pro Lite
Pro
Pro Tall
Packed length
48.8cm
50.1cm
58.1cm
Packed diameter
8.5cm
9.3cm
9.3cm
Max height, center column down
133.2cm
138.0cm
162.0cm
Max height, center column up
162.5cm
168.4cm
197.4cm
Min height (low mode)
15.8cm
15.9cm
17.3cm
Weight
3.74lbs / 1.7kg
4.19lbs / 1.9kg
4.4lbs / 2.0kg
Max payload
15.9kg
18.1kg
18.1kg
Head
Integrated Pro Ball Head
Integrated Pro Ball Head
Integrated Pro Ball Head
Material
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber
Leg sections
4
4
4
Peak Design Pro Tripods price and availability
The Peak Design Pro Tripods launch on Kickstarter on July 17 2025 but are expected to go on general sale in November 2025. The Pro Lite tripod has an expected price of $799.95, the Pro tripod will be $899.99 and the Pro Tall will sell for $999.99.
The Tilt Mod and Pro Leveling Base will be sold separately and we’re currently waiting for price information on these, but we are told the option spiked feet will sell for $49.95.
Peak Design Pro Tripods: Also consider
Gitzo Traveler Series 1
If you like a tripod with style and quality but in a more traditional form, the Gitzo Traveler Series 1 could be a great choice. It has a straightforward, classic design with no frills or gadgets, just superb materials and construction. It doesn’t go quite as tall as the Peak Design Pro models nor fold so neatly, but it’s a classic design that’s stood the test of time.
3 Legged Thing Punks Brian 2.0 If you want a full height carbon fiber tripod, you don’t need to pay Peak Design money to get it. The Punks Brian 2.0 is from 3 Legged Thing’s more cost-conscious Punks line, but is both well-made and typically colorful and stylish. There is some flex at full height, though, and when it’s folded up the Punks Brian 2.0 is nowhere near as neat as Peak Design’s tripods. This is still a great value choice, though.
You already love the Peak Design Travel Tripod Good as it is, the Travel Tripod is not really set up for heavier gear or taller working heights, but the new Pro tripods have all the same design finesse but scaled up for pro use.
You’re more concerned with design quality than price Heaven knows the new Peak Design Pro tripods aren’t cheap, but they are beautifully designed, exceptionally compact and, based on our samples, very rigid
Don't buy it if...
You’re trying to save money! If all you need is rock-steady everyday value from your tripod, then you don’t need to pay these prices. There are plenty of cheaper carbon fiber or aluminum alternatives
You need flexible angle/boom options If you shoot nature close-ups in the wild or you’re working with flat-lays or table-top setups then you need the flexibility of a boom arm, and that’s no an option here
How I tested the Peak Design Pro Tripods
Operational speed and efficiency
Stiffness and rigidity
Ball head operation
Effectiveness of add-ons
I had just two weeks to try out the Peak Design Pro tripods because loan stocks were in short supply and shared between many different reviewers. However, I know the original Peak Design Travel Tripod very well and I review tripods as part of my work, so I already had a list of what I was looking for and expected from these new Pro tripods.
I particularly wanted to test the speed and ease of deployment and was pleased to find it was just as slick as with the original Travel Tripod but quicker, thanks to the 4-section legs and larger leg clamps. I also wanted to check if the excellent stiffness of the original Travel Tripod had scaled up to these new, bigger sizes, and it has. I don’t remember any other tripods I’ve tested with more torsional rigidity and lack of leg flex than these.
I was also keen to check how the new Pro Ball Head worked. The original was good but quite small and fiddly. This one is much better. Not only does it clamp tighter and hold heavier loads better, the inverted ball design makes levelling the camera for panning shots so much easier.
Lastly, I spent some time trying out the Tilt Mod and Pro Leveling Base and came away impressed. The Tilt Mod fixes so well to the Pro Ball Head that they feel like a single (very smooth) unit and the Pro Leveling Base took a minute or so to swap out with the regular column but lets you use your own tripod head.
One advantage of Wi-Fi 7 is its use of the high-speed 6.0GHz frequency band, which provides far higher speeds than previous versions of Wi-Fi. However, there are millions of people who are still using older computers and mobile devices that only support the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz bands used by the previous generations of Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6.
To provide a more affordable option for those users, Acer has also released the Predator Connect W6x, which provides basic dual-band Wi-Fi 6 support using the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz bands with a top speed of 6.0Gbps (and is also backwards-compatible with older devices that use Wi-Fi 5).
Acer uses the Predator name for its range of gaming PCs and accessories, and while the Predator Connect W6x certainly isn’t the fastest router around it can still provide a fast, affordable option for gaming, streaming and other tasks at a very competitive price.
The only problem is finding the right router with the right model number on Acer’s perpetually unhelpful website.
(Image credit: Future)
Acer Predator Connect W6x: Price And Availability
How much does it cost? $169 / £99 / AU$299
When is it available? Now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia
Your first task is to make sure you find the correct model on Acer’s website, as the company sells a number of routers in the Predator Connect range that look almost identical and have very similar model numbers.
We tested the Predator Connect W6x, which you can spot by counting its array of six external antennae. However, there are also models called the Predator Connect W6 (eight antenna) and W6d (four antenna), which have very similar designs, although they do have slightly different technical specifications.
And Acer’s Australian website carelessly manages to refer to the W6x as being both a tri-band and dual-band router, depending on which web page you look at, so you really do need to take care when ordering online.
Assuming you manage to find the correct model, then the Predator Connect W6x is available directly from Acer in the US and Australia, priced at $169 / AU$299.
That’s a fairly competitive price when compared to similar Wi-Fi 6 routers, but it’s customers in the UK who seem to get the best deal, as the W6x costs just £99. It’s not sold on the Acer website in the UK, though, so you’ll need to shop around online.
Value: 4.5/5
Acer Predator Connect W6x: Design
(Image credit: Future)
Low-profile design
Eight external antennae
Four Ethernet ports for wired connections
The Acer Predator Connect W6x certainly looks like a gaming router, with a sombre black, low-profile design and an intimidating array of dagger-like antennae (that’s six antennae - count ‘em, not four or eight).
The body of the router stands just 50mm high, 270mm wide and 187mm deep, but the adjustable, rotating antennae are 170mm long so you’ll need plenty of room when you’re setting it up to make sure that the antennae can spread out and zap the Wi-Fi signal far and wide.
The affordable W6x doesn’t have the array of glowing lights that you find on some gaming routers, but Acer hasn’t cut too many corners in order to keep the price down.
The back panel of the router provides a 2.5Gb Ethernet port for a high-speed Internet connection, and there are four Gigabit Ethernet ports available for a gaming PC or console if you prefer a lag-free wired connection for your online gaming sessions.
There’s even a USB port for adding a network storage drive as well. This uses a USB-A (3.0) connector, rather than the faster USB-C, but that’s hardly a criticism at this price.
Design: 4/5
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(Image credit: Future)
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Acer Predator Connect W6x: Features
Free security from Trend Micro
Free parental controls
QoS for gaming and streaming
The Predator Connect app provides a number of useful features, but it’s not as user-friendly as it could be.
The apps provided with many routers keep things simple by automatically combining the different frequency bands to create a single network, while others prefer to create a separate network for each frequency band.
The Predator app does neither of these things – it starts by simply filling the screen with the various network settings and leaves it up to the user to decide which options to choose.
That’s fine for more experienced users, but home users who aren’t familiar with terms such as ‘band-steering’ and ‘SSID’ may be a bit confused at this point.
Once that’s done, the app provides features such as the ability to create a guest network, or to block Internet access for individual devices. There’s also a QoS option – quality of service – that allows you to give priority to devices, such as a gaming PC or console, that require maximum performance.
Some features are made unnecessarily complicated, though. The app does include a number of security features and parental controls, and we were pleased to find that these are provided free of charge, with no need to pay an additional monthly subscription – as is the case with some of Acer’s rivals.
But, it’s strange that these are initially turned off within the Predator app, which simply tells you to leave the app and connect to the router using a web browser interface in order to activate these features.
Again, this is something that will appeal to more experienced users, but it could be confusing for people who have never used a browser interface to connect to their router before.
Features: 4/5
Acer Predator Connect W6x: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Dual-band Wi-Fi 6
Top speed of 6Gbps
2.5Gb Ethernet for broadband connection
Acer Predator Connect W6x: Benchmarks
Ookla Speed Test – 2.4GHz (download/upload)
Within 5ft, no obstructions: 150Mbps/150Mbps Within 30ft, three partition walls: 70Mbps/70bps
20GB Steam Download – 2.4GHz
Within 5ft, no obstructions: 150Mbps Within 30ft, three partition walls: 70Mbps
Ookla Speed Test – 5.0GHz (download/upload)
Within 5ft, no obstructions: 150Mbps/150Mbps Within 30ft, three partition walls: 150Mbps/150Mbps
20GB Steam Download - 5.0GHz
Within 5ft, no obstructions: 150Mbps Within 30ft, three partition walls: 150Mbps
The Predator Connect W6x isn’t a top-of-the-range router by any means, as it’s based on older Wi-Fi 6 technology.
Even so, its top speed of 6Gbps should be more than fast enough for most home broadband services. Our normal office router can only manage a top speed of around 80Mbps on the 2.4GHz band when running the Ookla speed test with devices in the same room.
That’s far short of the maximum 150Mbps available with our office Internet connection. Steam downloads struggle even more, at around 40Mbps. Switching to 5.0GHz on our office router provides some improvement, with the Ookla test rising to 120Mbp, and 100Mbps for Steam.
But, when connecting to devices that are nearby, the W6x breezed along at the maximum 150Mbps for both tests on both 2.4GHz and 5.0Ghz bands.
I also have an office at the back of my building that suffers from an annoying Wi-Fi ‘deadspot’ as my normal office router can’t provide a reliable signal in that location at all.
The W6x was able to reach that office, although its 2.4GHz band struggled a bit and dipped to 70Mbps for both Ookla and Steam.
Fortunately, the router’s 5.0GHz band stepped up to the plate and quickly boosted both Steam and Ookla tests up to the full 150Mbps once more.
So while the Acer Predator Connect W6x might not be the fastest router around, it does perform pretty well for an affordable Wi-Fi 6 router and could be a good upgrade for owners of older Wi-Fi 5 routers (especially for £99 in the UK).
Should you buy the Acer Predator Connect W6x?
Category
Verdict
Score
Value
It’s not going to break any speed records, but the W6x is a good, affordable upgrade for people who are still using an old router provided by their ISP.
4.5/5
Design
It doesn’t have any flashing lights for gamers, but the low-profile design looks smart, and the array of eight antenna provides good Wi-Fi coverage.
4/5
Features
The Predator app has some rough edges, but the W6x provides good wired connectivity, along with security features and parental controls that don’t require an extra monthly subscription.
4/5
Performance
The Predator app has some rough edges, but the W6x provides good wired connectivity, along with security features and parental controls that don’t require an extra monthly subscription.
4/5
Overall
It’s certainly not state-of-the-art, but if you just want to replace an old Wi-Fi 5 router then the W6x does the job at a very competitive price.
4/5
Buy it if...
You’re on a budget The latest Wi-Fi 7 routers are still fairly expensive, but a good Wi-Fi 6 router such as the Predator Connect W6x will be fast enough for most home broadband services.
Your devices are a few years old Millions of people are still using computers and mobile devices that only support Wi-Fi 5 or 6, so they really don’t need to splash the cash on a cutting-edge Wi-Fi 7 router.
Don't buy it if...
You’ve got a brand-new PC If you’ve bought a new PC that does support Wi-Fi 7 – especially a gaming rig – then it’s worth spending a bit extra to get a Wi-Fi 7 router that provides maximum performance.
You're a network newbie The Predator app has a few rough edges, and it might be a bit confusing for people who don’t know much about networking.View Deal
A kind of halfway house between Wi-Fi 6 and full Wi-Fi 7, the RS200 supports Wi-Fi running at 6.5GBps. However, it limits itself to just the 2.4GHz and 5.0GHz bands to keep the price down.
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from The Alters, the latest game from developer and publisher 11 Bit Studios. From the trailers I'd watched, it seemed almost like parts of several different games were grabbed and hastily cobbled together into something that shouldn't work - and yet, much like my hastily-cobbled-together base in-game, it does.
Review information
Platform reviewed: PC Available on: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S Release date: June 13, 2025
Following Jan Dolski, a construction specialist on a space mission to find the ultra-rare element Unobtaini- sorry, ‘Rapidium’, The Alters meshes together survival, management sim, third-person action adventure, and decision-based narrative elements with apparent grace and ease. There's a well-struck balance here, never tipping too far in any one direction, keeping you constantly engaged and on your toes. Less than two hours in, I was already having a blast.
Predictably, things go wrong almost immediately for poor Jan, and despite finding an abundance of Rapidium, he's left stranded on a hostile planet with an approaching sunrise that will scorch him and his base to an irradiated crisp. Alone, desperate, and running out of options, he follows the highly questionable directions of a crackly voice on the base comms to utilize Rapidium’s mysterious qualities and create a duplicate of himself: an ‘alter’. After all, many hands make light work - and the rest of the original crew are too dead to help out.
Seeing double
Needless to say, this planet is not exactly hospitable. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
The thing is, Jan’s duplicates aren't exactly that. The core premise of The Alters is right there in the name, with each alternate Jan Dolski having a distinct - though familiar - personality and memories of a life that went a different direction at one pivotal moment or another. It's an excellent central conceit for both a story and a game. Need a miner to help gather the resources required to survive on this desolate planet? Good news: in another life, Jan chose to pursue his father’s mining career. Bad news: Miner Jan has a substance abuse problem and crippling self-esteem issues, and you're going to have to deal with that now.
This is where the narrative segment of the game comes in, with a wide variety of both one-on-one chats and group interactions to be had with Jan’s parallel selves. It's reminiscent of chatting to your crew aboard the Normandy between missions in the Mass Effect series; although instead of a sleek spaceship, your base of operations in The Alters is a thin, blocky structure housed on a gyro inside a gigantic tire. It gives the story a sort of twisted road trip vibe, which I loved - check out Overland and Get In The Car, Loser! If you’re interested in some other very weird virtual road trips.
Best bit
(Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
Jan's rolling base is certainly unique - just don't question the physical logistics of how such a vehicle would remain upright.
The ‘mobile base’ is just one part of the fantastic and occasionally goofy world-building on display here. True to 11 Bit Studios’ Polish heritage, the life Jan left behind to join this mission is a corporate sci-fi dystopia with a distinctly Eastern European flavor. Janky Europop plays from a jukebox in the social room you can build for the Alters to relax in; Jan’s childhood home is a nondescript mining town with brutalist concrete architecture; two Jan Dolskis bond over their shared love of pierogi. While the planetary backdrop of Jan’s current predicament might be a bit more par for the course, the injection of a little cultural identity helps massively in creating a more unique, interesting setting. The soundtrack is pretty good too, an appropriate blend of synthy overtures and foreboding background music.
I won’t delve too much into the plot to avoid spoilers (this is a story best experienced as blind as possible), but I will say as a lifelong sci-fi lover that the story is solid. The writing and voice acting are both excellent, with some interesting supporting characters and plenty of dialogue that serves to flesh out the characters and move the story along. Particular props go to Alex Jordan, who voices not just Jan but also all of his titular alters - and make no mistake, despite sharing the same origins, this is a greatly varied group of characters who don't always get along. Listen up, Geoff Keighley, because I fully expect to see him nominated for Best Performance at the next Game Awards.
Too many cooks
See that weird glowing stuff? That's Rapidium - and Jan's going to need a lot of it to make more alters. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
Speaking of not getting along, though: we're all going to need to get along, or we're all going to die.
Befriending Jan’s alters isn't enough to survive with the radioactive sunrise mere days away. You need to put them to work, whether that's producing food or equipment aboard the mobile base or gathering resources in the dangerous environment outside.
This is mostly done through a series of menu screens, which have clean, well-designed UIs, and managing your alters takes up a decent portion of your time in-game. They're quite proactive; for example, if an alter in the workshop finishes building all the tools you've queued up for manufacturing, they'll suggest moving to a different assignment, prioritizing stations aboard the base with unfinished workflows and no assigned staff.
It's not the deepest management sim system I've ever seen - 11 Bit Studios previously developed Frostpunk and Frostpunk 2, which offers great complexity for hardcore fans of the genre - but it works well as one component of a broader story-driven survival game and keeps the focus on the micro rather than the macro. You can only have a maximum of six alters out of a possible nine (although two of them, Technician Jan and Scientist Jan, are mandatory for the plot - so it's more like picking four out of seven).
Laying out your base smartly (as I have very much not done in this screenshot) is key to making the most of your limited resources. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
You're also responsible for the base itself, meaning that you'll need an alter - or yourself - on hand to carry out repair work when needed, and you'll need to modify and expand the base to match the evolving demands of your journey across the planet's surface to a promised rescue rendezvous. Thanks to the two-dimensional nature of your base-in-a-giant-tire, rooms are laid out in a grid and can be moved and slotted together Tetris-style to make the most of your available space.
This is another balancing act; everything needs to be correctly connected to function, and every new room added increases the total weight of your base and thus the amount of resources you'll need to travel to the next area. There's always a tradeoff; should you build the alters private cabins to help improve their mood, or make them bunk together in a far more space-efficient dorm room? Do you really need that greenhouse for manually producing proper food, when you could all survive perfectly well on processed organic mush?
Venturing forth
Scanning for mining deposits as you explore each new area is a vital task if you want to stay alive. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
Of course, even with your alters hard at work, this is a team effort. Real boy Jan doesn't get to sit on his hands while his clones do all the heavy lifting, no, sir. You need to make use of every precious hour before sunrise comes, because every single job your alters can do is also something you could also be doing yourself.
This is where the third-person exploration and action elements of the game come into play - though I use the word ‘action’ quite generously here, since The Alters doesn't really have traditional combat. When I said ‘hostile planet’ earlier on, I wasn't talking about angry local megafauna or marauding aliens. The areas outside the base are populated by strange, pulsating anomalies, which can deliver a potentially lethal dose of radiation on contact. Luckily, you can research and build the Luminator: a magic UV flashlight that can be used to target the floating cores of the anomalies and shrink them into a stable ball of useful resources with an admittedly rather satisfying vwoosh.
It's perhaps the weakest component in The Alters’ otherwise flawless assembly of disparate parts, but it's far from a deal-breaker. The anomalies just aren't a particularly engaging threat, although later on, some more interesting variants do show up. One variety has two cores and rhythmically grows and shrinks in size; another warps spacetime in close proximity, causing you to lose hours in seconds while you remain within its radius.
I like the design of the Ally Corp spacesuits Jan and his alters wear - and even their standard-issue on-base clothes have little variations to help keep the alters distinct. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
The rest of the off-base gameplay is a bit more appealing; you explore, gather resources, and map out locations for fixed mining stations, which must then be connected to the base by setting up pylons before being operated by yourself or one of the alters. Your rolling base only makes pit stops at a handful of locations throughout the game, and the maps aren't that large, but they do feel densely populated and hand-crafted - no sprawling procedurally-generated wilderness here. Sometimes, you'll stumble across wreckage from your original crashed ship, and can recover personal effects that certain alters might appreciate, improving their mood.
Brothers in arms
Keeping those alters happy is no laughing matter, however. They can go hungry or become depressed, get injured on the job, or fall sick from radiation poisoning if you force them to work outside for too long. Sometimes you'll find two or more of them in disagreement, at which point you'll need to find a solution - and it's not always possible to stay on everyone’s good side.
Some of these disputes are key to the overarching plot, while others are merely for character development and establishing personal conflicts - but I really appreciate how The Alters makes you stand on your decisions, even the smaller ones. A lesser game would have you pick a side and mete out judgment, with corresponding mood shifts based on your choice, but here you have to back up your words with actions or deal with the consequences. When one alter argues that we need more protection from radiation, while another insists that we should stop gathering irradiated metals altogether, you're expected to follow through on your decision. Fail to build that radiation shield quickly enough after choosing to support that plan? Tough, now both alters have lost some respect for you.
I probably spent more time playing the beer pong minigame than I needed to. But I needed Jan's alters to understand that he's the king, and there's no beating him. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to boost your alters' mental states. Assigning them to work that fits their specialism is a good start, but you can also prepare better food, play beer pong (which has its own minigame), build a gym or a therapy room, or even settle in for a movie night with all of your alternate selves. Hilariously, the ‘movies’ you can uncover from the ship’s scattered wreckage are all live-action shorts made by YouTube comedy duo Chris & Jack, which can be viewed in their entirety while the Jans provide occasional commentary. It's weird, but great. Hell, the only thing you can't do is exactly what I would do in this situation, which is a sloppy make-out session with my clones.
Whatever your methods, ensuring that your self-made crew is healthy in body and mind is of paramount importance. An unhappy or rebellious alter will work fewer hours; an injured one can't work at all. It all plays into the core idea that Jan - perhaps every version of him, in fact - simply wasn't cut out for this job, and you're constantly flying from one near-catastrophe to another. I opted to pick Doctor Jan as my final alter quite late in the game, and I'm glad I did: Miner Jan decided to overwork himself not long after, and kept coming back to base with increasingly severe radiation sickness.
The human touch
It's nice to find your alters gathered to relax in their off-time during the (rare) periods when everyone seems to be getting along. (Image credit: 11 Bit Studios)
In short, The Alters is nothing short of an artistic triumph. It's a cheerfully strange game with a lot of heart, using its premise to ask genuine philosophical questions about the nature of memories and identity, but also managing to remain grounded in a story about people just trying to survive a terrible situation. At one point, Jan leads the alters in a (shockingly good) impromptu musical number. It's silly, but it's hard not to like how downright earnest it all is. It feels like something that was created with genuine love and care, an increasing rarity in today’s game industry landscape.
I wouldn't call it an extremely challenging game overall, so if you're expecting a gritty, difficult survival experience, you might be disappointed - although I've been a fan of management sims for a while, so players less familiar with the genre may find it a bit tougher to stay on top of each new crisis. There are separate difficulty settings for the anomaly combat and the resource economy, which is a nice touch.
The game isn't particularly long, either - my first playthrough clocked in at just shy of 20 hours, and I felt was taking my time with it - but there's certainly some room for replayability based on the different available alters and multiple endings. After getting what I'd like to call a ‘good’ ending, I'm already itching to start over and say all the mean things I avoided saying the first time around. Watch out, space: here comes Asshole Jan.
Should I buy The Alters?
Buy it if...
You want a meaningful story The Alters delivers emotional beat after beat across its whole plot, taking the time to muse on human nature while keeping its focus on Jan's struggle for survival.
You like base-building From fitting together rooms in your mobile base to laying out connected pylons and power lines to support your fast-travel mining outposts, The Alters has a little something for everyone who likes to build stuff.
Don't buy it if...
You want an intense survival experience Simply put, the various elements of The Alters all work to serve the central narrative - if you want a game that's all hardcore survival or management sim, look elsewhere.
You want fast-paced action This isn't exactly a slow-paced game - seeing 'SUNRISE IN 3 DAYS' will certainly get you galvanized - but the infrequent combat sections are fairly basic.
Accessibility
There are a small number of accessibility features available in The Alters, primarily focused on reducing some intrusive visual effects (like those caused by certain anomalies, or when Jan is drunk after too much beer pong). There's also the option to adjust the font size of the subtitles and change the entire HUD scale - potentially useful for anyone who struggles to read small text.
A notable omission is a colorblind mode, although this might be a game where it wouldn't actually make much difference; most of the management menu screens are fairly monochrome, and the game broadly manages to avoid overlapping UI elements.
How I reviewed Mario Kart World
I played through the majority of The Alters on a gaming PC equipped with an RTX 4080 GPU and Ryzen 9 5950X CPU, at 1440p resolution, and got a consistent 60+ fps at max settings. I also played a short segment of the game on my laptop, which has an RTX 3060, and found similarly reliable performance at 1080p once I'd tweaked the graphical settings a little.
It took me about 20 hours to complete a full playthrough of the game, which I spread out over the course of a week. I played with a mouse and keyboard, but you can use a controller too if that's your preference. The game is also available on PS5 and Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2 Release date: June 05, 2025
Nintendo is bringing enhanced versions of Nintendo Switch games to the Nintendo Switch 2 and has decided to introduce the new system with the original console’s most iconic launch game: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
I was unsure how it would feel going back to this game after playing the vastly expanded sequel Tears of the Kingdom (which also got a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition release), but even without the mechanical depth of its sequel, Breath of the Wild is still one of the finest games ever made.
Free bird
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Despite being the series’ first time tackling a true 3D open world format, Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is nonetheless exceptionally impressive. Outside of a very brief introduction, the player is given complete freedom to explore Hyrule at their own pace and leisure. You’re able to go have a scrap with Ganon right away after making it out of the starting area, or you can explore every inch of the world, befriending the various people of Hyrule.
This freedom extends to the game mechanics, too. Right away you’re given a set of tools, and from there you can do as you please. It’s the type of game where you have a really daft idea – like cutting down a tree to have it roll down and take out the enemy camp, throwing your metal sword at an enemy during a thunderstorm to have lightning strike them down, or picking up a laser turret to use as a makeshift weapon of your own – and it’ll (usually) work.
One of the game’s most derided mechanics is weapon durability, which means every single item you use can - and eventually will - break on you. But in many ways it’s a perfect encapsulation of what makes Breath of the Wild so brilliant, as that spark of experimentation is forced out of you as you have to think on your feet once your best weapon breaks. Even eight years on, there aren’t many open-world games that can stand up to this.
Switch it up
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Of course, this is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. Unlike other Nintendo Switch 2 editions of games, like the upcoming Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, there’s not actually any new content being added to the game this time around. You don’t even get the pre-existing DLC for Breath of the Wild by buying the full version of the game. Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are purely technical upgrades on Switch 2, which is somewhat remedied by the fact they are included with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription tier.
Best bit
(Image credit: Nintendo)
For anyone who played the game on Switch or Wii U, you’ll know just how choppy the framerate in Korok Forest was. Going there and seeing it stick at a solid 60fps was the moment I knew there was no turning back.
However, even if there’s nothing new, Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is well worth the upgrade. The game now runs at 1080p in handheld mode and supports 4K in docked mode, paired with HDR that makes the already wonderfully colorful game pop even more. Both modes run at a solid 60fps throughout too. Booting up Breath of the Wild and seeing it run at double the framerate almost felt wrong because of how used to it I am, but it's an incredibly welcome upgrade.
And of course, the first thing I did as soon as I went into my old save (there are two whole save slots now, which is both a godsend and underwhelming) was go to the infamous Korok Forest – which would absolutely tank the framerate in the original release. Lo and behold, it ran perfectly. Sure, that's the type of thing you might expect on more powerful hardware, but when you’ve suffered through that original Korok Forest on Wii U or Switch, it really puts things into perspective.
Note it down
(Image credit: Nintendo)
I said that Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn’t have anything new in-game, but that’s not the case for the Nintendo Switch Online app, which has added the Zelda Notes feature. This is a companion app that allows you to do a bunch of stuff in-game, such as finding the locations of remaining shrines with a GPS navigation voice telling you where to go and a daily bonus wheel that will give you a roulette wheel that includes prizes like free meals, full health, or even the ability to repair your weapons.
However, the most impactful part of Zelda Notes are the ‘Voice Memories’. These are scattered all across the map, and when you walk in the vicinity of one (of which there are over 100), you’ll hear a voice memo from Princess Zelda set 100 years before the events of the game while preparing for the first calamity. These are wonderful little lore dumps that made the experience of exploring Hyrule again a total joy. It goes without saying that actually having these added to the game as opposed to needing to keep my phone on would be a far more preferable option.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is a great – if barebones – update to what was already one of the greatest games of all time. However, the framerate and resolution updates alone make this one worth checking out, especially if you’ve never played it before. Though, if the technical side of things isn't a priority for you, you’ll probably be let down by the lack of new content – unless you fancy having your phone out the whole time for that Zelda Notes functionality.
Should you buy The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition?
Buy it if...
You’ve never played Breath of the Wild before or are looking to replay it There is literally no reason to go back to the original Nintendo Switch or Wii U version of Breath of the Wild if you have access to the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. The enhanced framerate and visuals make this the number one version of the game easily.
You’re into Zelda lore I can’t believe it either, but the Zelda Notes mobile app is actually a fantastic addition. The Voice Memories are a great addition to the game that give you narrated lore dumps as you explore the map and hear Zelda talk about areas of the map from before Link was put into a slumber.
Don't buy it if...
You don’t have a Switch 2 While it is the definitive version of the game, it’s not so transformative an experience that you need to rush out and buy a Nintendo Switch 2 right away to play it.
Accessibility
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn’t have much going on with it accessibility wise. While you still have access to gyro aiming and the ability to rebind your controls from the Switch 2 menu (which won’t translate to the correct button prompts in-game), there’s nothing much to write home about.
How I reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
I played 10 hours of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition on top of the 140 hours I played of the game on the original Nintendo Switch. During this time I first played the opening hours of the game again on a fresh save, got myself off the great plateau and explored the world. I then jumped into my old save to test out the Zelda Notes app by finding Shrines I missed the first time around and Voice Memories.
I played this in a mixture of handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch 2 itself and on a Samsung Q60D TV and a Samsung HW-T450 soundbar using the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller.
