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I tested Samsung’s unique ‘two-way’ Dolby Atmos soundbar, and it sounds great in both setups

6:00 pm | June 15, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Televisions | Tags: TV | Comments: Off

Samsung HW-QS700F: Two-minute review

The Samsung HW-QS-700F is one of the company's latest soundbars. It combines the performance of Samsung’s Q series models with a stylish lifestyle-friendly design usually found in Samsung’s S series soundbars. Does this mean this crossover soundbar is twice as nice, though, or has becoming a jack of all trades made it a master of none?

At first glance, you might be forgiven for not understanding why the Samsung QS700F might be considered a designer ‘lifestyle’ example of the best soundbars. With its long, angular, hard-finished main soundbar and compact, roughly cubic subwoofer, it looks mighty similar to the components of Samsung’s latest performance-led Q series models.

That’s not to say it’s ugly; it’s slender enough to fit beneath most TV screens, long and deep enough to promise some potent sound, and robustly finished enough to feel like a premium product. And the new subwoofer design Samsung has adopted across most of its soundbar range this year might even be called cute thanks to its relatively small footprint, rounded edges, crisp black finish and jauntily large circular drivers.

In the end, though, despite unfortunately not joining most of Samsung’s performance-oriented Q series models in carrying a proper built-in LED display, it shares more immediate DNA with the Q series than the usually sleeker, smaller S Series.

The S part of the QS700F deal heaves into view with its so-called Convertible Fit feature. This “dynamic dual set-up” system means that, unlike the vast majority of other soundbars, the QS700F can be configured to truly work in either a wall hanging or stand placement.

Of course, many other soundbars out there can either be attached to a wall or placed on a bit of furniture. Practically none of those other soundbars, though, do what the QS700F does and actually adjust their speaker configuration to optimise their performance for their separate wall-hanging or stand placement options.

What happens with the QS700F, essentially, is that the front and up-firing height speakers in play when the soundbar is sat on a TV stand can reverse their functionality if you tip the soundbar up into a vertical position and turn it upside down to place it flat on a wall. There’s even a gyro system built into the QS700F’s main bar component that can automatically tell if the soundbar is being used flat or vertically, adjusting the sound channel configuration accordingly.

Pictures are worth a thousand words when it comes to explaining this extremely rare feature, so I suggest you take a moment to peruse the below images if you’re still struggling to figure out how it does what it does – and why the result is so different to simply sticking a regular soundbar on a wall bracket.

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Samsung HW-QS700F on tabletop — A gyro system built into the QS700F reverses the front and the up-firing height speakers when the soundbar is tipped up into a vertical position to place it flat on a wall for a wall-mount installation (see next slide). (Image credit: Future)

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The QS700F isn’t the first soundbar that’s been expressly designed to look good and work well when mounted on a wall. Most wall-based soundbar designs, however, can’t also be used in a stand set-up. And soundbars that can do what the QS700F does and completely reconfigure their driver array to support both horizontal and vertical setups are very rare indeed. The main current model I can think of is the Devialet Dione, with its ‘rotating ball’ centre channel speaker, but that will currently set you back £1,800 / around $2,440 – two and a half times what the QS700F costs.

Delivering genuine wall or stand placement flexibility isn’t the QS700F’s only attraction, though. Its 3.1.2 channel count is also more numerous than might have been expected with such an affordable and customisable soundbar – especially given that the .2 bit indicates the presence of two up-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos height effects that are available in either of the soundbar’s two orientation options, and the .1 bass channel bit is delivered by an external subwoofer.

This subwoofer manages to combine likeable, compact aesthetics, too, with two startlingly large drivers on two of its opposing sides. One of these is an active 8-inch driver, while the other is a smaller, passive unit, with the dual-sided approach intended to make it possible to underpin music and, especially, film soundtracks with smoother and less directional bass than Samsung’s previous sub designs did.

The Dolby Atmos playback support (for music as well as movies) mentioned earlier is joined by support for DTS:X soundtracks too, while music lovers can enjoy their favourite tunes streamed in via direct Chromecast, Spotify Connect, Airplay and Tidal Connect support. Supported music file formats are expansive, too, including MP3, AAC, OGG, FLAC, WAV, ALAC and AIFF.

Stereo music can be played in its basic two-channel format by the QS700F, as you would expect, but its sound presets also include a couple of options that can upmix two-channel music to take advantage of all of the system’s available channels. The Surround mode is the most straightforward of these two options, while an Adaptive option brings AI into play, with a particular focus on optimising volume and enhancing detailing and clarity.

A Game preset, meanwhile, emphasises the multi-channel directionality of the surround sound (often Dolby Atmos) audio tracks modern games typically use, to both make the game world feel more immediate and intense, and to give you a better idea of exactly where approaching or attacking enemies are relative to your own position.

Samsung HW-QS700F remote control — The QS700F's compact remote control (Image credit: Future)

While the QS700F doesn’t carry nearly as many channels as you get with Samsung’s flagship soundbars for 2025, there’s still enough going on to potentially present you with a bit of a setup headache. Happily, though, Samsung has equipped the QS700F with a so-called SpaceFit Sound Pro system that automatically and constantly works to optimise the tone and impact of the bass to keep it in line with the rest of the soundstage, as well as keeping dialogue and effects in balance.

If you decide you want to make the QS700F a full surround system, you can either add a pair of Samsung’s SWA-9500S speakers for £249 / $299, or a pair of Samsung’s Music Frame speakers for a £800 / $600. As well as being much cheaper, I’d suggest the SWA-9500Ses would be the much better option for adding to the QS700F because they include extra up-firing speakers as well as the main forward-facing drivers, enhancing Dolby Atmos’s hemisphere of sound effect.

The QS700F is decently connected considering how affordable it is for such an innovative design, with an HDMI pass-through being joined by an optical digital audio input and the now expected Bluetooth and Wi-Fi streaming options. The Wi-Fi functionality even extends to support for Samsung’s Wireless Dolby Atmos streaming, where the soundbar can receive Dolby Atmos soundtracks from compatible Samsung TVs without the need for any cables.

The QS700F supports Samsung’s Q Symphony system, too, where the speakers in the TV can work alongside those in the soundbar to create a more detailed and well-staged soundscape, rather than the soundbar just taking over all sound duties by itself.

The one disappointment with the QS700F’s connections is that the HDMI pass-through doesn’t join the HDMI ports on Samsung’s Q990F flagship soundbar in supporting 4K 120Hz gaming feeds. So if you have a console or PC capable of outputting graphics to that format, you’ll have to connect your gaming device directly to your TV and use eARC functionality to send game sound from the TV to the soundbar. That approach can sometimes, though thankfully not that often these days, cause a loss of synchronisation between the pictures on your TV and the sound coming from the soundbar.

Samsung HW-QS700F closeup of control buttons — The QS700F's top surface control buttons (Image credit: Future)

The QS700F’s performance turns out to be startlingly uncompromised by its innovative multi-placement design. There are some mild differences in how it sounds in its two usage configurations, but overall, it sounds excellent whichever way round you use it, and better, in fact, than most ‘standard’ soundbars at the same sort of price point.

Looking first at performance features that remain consistent regardless of whether you’re using the QS700F in its vertical or horizontal stance, the most immediate thing you notice is how powerful it is. Despite its fairly compact two-piece design, it’s capable of both getting seriously loud and projecting its sound far beyond the boundaries of its physical form. The result is a sound that’s capable of filling at least the front half of even quite a substantial room with a really potent soundstage.

There’s much more to the QS700F’s power and projection than just brute force and loudness, though. Its speakers are also sensitive enough to deliver impressive amounts of detail, be it a mild background ambient sound or a more specific, placed effect. Yet it does so with an excellent sense of balance, where no sound stands out artificially brightly from the mix.

Spot effects are accurately placed in the three-dimensional sound space the QS700F creates in either of its vertical or horizontal placement configurations, too, and sound transitions as noisy objects move around the three-dimensional space are tracked with strong and involving accuracy, clarity and consistency, even if there are multiple moving objects to track at the same time.

Impact sounds are delivered with a degree of venom and projection that’s rare indeed at the QS700F’s price point, while the subwoofer performs well beyond its size, underpinning action scenes with seriously deep and distortion-free rumbles. These also, crucially, feel like natural extensions of the dynamic range delivered by the main bar, with no sense of bagginess or dislocation in the way the subwoofer’s sound ‘attaches to’ it.

Treble effects, finally, also emerge without sounding distorted or overly shrill, especially as the subwoofer’s contributions at the other end of the spectrum provide such a potent counterpoint.

While the QS700F is at its absolute best as an ultra-flexible movie soundbar, it’s also a strong music performer. In either of its vertical or horizontal configurations, music enjoys good staging, with effective but not over-stated stereo separation, nicely positioned vocals that sit at the centre of and slightly above the rest of the mix, and some tight and typically well-timed and consistent bass from the subwoofer.

They might not be to everybody’s taste, but the surround sound upmixing options the QS700F provides for stereo sources work unusually well, too. There’s a level of intelligence and naturalism about the way elements in a stereo mix are separated out and redirected around the system’s 3.1.2 channels that you don’t get with arguably any other soundbar brand bar except, perhaps, Sony. Add a pair of the optional rear speakers and the upmixing becomes even more effective, sounding at times more like a professional surround mix than something that’s being essentially made up on the fly by Samsung’s processing.

Samsung HW-QS700F rear ports — The QS700F's rear ports include HDMI pass-through for connecting an external source like a Blu-ray player (Image credit: Future)

Looking at the differences in the way the QS700F sounds in its vertical and horizontal configurations coincides for the most part with the weaker aspects of the soundbar’s performance.

Due I think to its rather unusual configuration, where it sits tucked up into the upper edge of the soundbar when it’s placed on a desktop so that it can also work when the soundbar has been turned upside down and placed vertically on a wall, the centre channel speaker isn’t a total success. It can sound a touch muffled at times when using the soundbar in its TV stand set up, and in the wall-hanging configuration, while dialogue sounds clearer, it can also sound like it’s coming from slightly below the onscreen action. (Simply overriding the auto-calibration system and turning the centre channel volume output up a couple of notches helps the stand set up centre channel issue, mind you.)

With the QS700F used vertically, for wall hanging, height and ambient effects in a Dolby Atmos mix aren’t spread quite as far and wide or with quite as much authority and polish as they are when the soundbar is in its desktop position. Finally, stereo music sounds slightly more open, rich and detailed with the QS700F in its vertical stance. In stand mode, stereo music sounds a bit hemmed in, not quite escaping from the soundbar’s bodywork as cleanly and effectively as movie soundtracks do.

In the end, I’d suggest sticking with Standard mode for stereo music playback if the soundbar’s hanging on a wall, but at least giving an extended trial to the Surround mode for two-channel music if the soundbar’s sat on a surface.

I need to wrap all this up, though, by circling back to the point I made earlier that while there are one or two mostly minor performance differences in how the QS700F sounds in its two different set ups, Samsung’s new soundbar’s unique convertible fit design doesn’t stop it from still sounding much better, especially with movies, in either of its configurations than the vast majority of normal soundbars do.

Samsung HW-QS700F review: Specs

Dimensions (W x H x D)	Main bar: 1160 x 51 x 120mm/45.67 x 2 x 4.725 in, Subwoofer: 249 x 252 x 249mm/9.8 x 9.92 x 9.8 in
Speaker channels	3.1.2
Connections:	HDMI input, HDMI output (eARC), Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, Airplay, digital optical input, wireless Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos/DTS:X	Yes/Yes
Sub included	Yes
Rear speakers included	No
Features	4K 120Hz passthrough, voice assistant support, room calibration

Samsung HW-QS700F review: Price & release date

Samsung HW-QS700F subwoofer on table — The QS700F comes with a compact, dual-driver subwoofer (Image credit: Future)

First available: April 2025
Price: £749 / $699.99 / AU$999

The QS700F was released globally in April 2025. While the brand launched a slim-design Q700D soundbar in 2024, the QS700F’s unusual convertible fit design means that it stands as a new product category for Samsung rather than just being an evolution of a previous soundbar model.

The HW-QS700F costs £749 in the UK, $699.99 in the US and $999 in Australia. These prices make the QS700F great value for such a flexible but still high-performance model.

Should I buy the Samsung HW-QS700F?

Samsung HW-QS700F soundbar
Attributes	Notes	Rating
Features	3.1.2 channels of sound, Dolby Atmos and DTS support, Bluetooth, and a rare true multi-placement design	4.5 / 5
Performance	Outstanding power, detail and staging that mostly holds up no matter which way round you use it	4 / 5
Design	The way the speakers change their role to suit different setups is genius, and both the main bar and wireless sub are surprisingly compact for such a powerful system	4 .5/ 5
Value	Considering the combination of performance and features it provides, the QS700F looks like a pretty good deal	4.5 / 5

Buy it if...

You want a soundbar that can truly switch between wall and surface use

The QS700F joins the rare breed of soundbar design that can swap speaker duties around depending on whether the soundbar is hung on a wall or sat on a tabletop.

You want much more powerful sound than your TV could ever manage

Worries that the QS700F’s extremely unusual focus on delivering a low-profile design, whether it’s wall- or stand-mounted, would compromise Samsung’s usually powerful soundbar performance proved spectacularly unfounded. No TV sound system can sound anywhere near this good.

Don't buy it if...

You want an out-of-the-box full surround sound experience

While the QS700F creates a large soundstage, it doesn’t include any rear speakers and so can’t extend its sound behind you.

You’re sure you will only ever want to sit your soundbar on a piece of furniture

If you don’t envisage ever wall-hanging your soundbar, then I guess you could get a ‘normal’ soundbar instead. Though the QS700F sounds good enough in its simple desktop mode to stand tall against most of its ‘standard’ mid-range rivals.

Samsung HS-QS700F soundbar: Also consider

	Samsung HW-QS700F	Sonos Arc Ultra	Samsung HW-Q800D
Price:	£749/$699/AU$999	£999/$999/AU$1,799	£699/$699/AU$799
Dimensions (w x h x d):	Main bar: 1160 x 51 x 120mm/45.67 x 2 x 4.725 inches, Subwoofer: 249 x 252 x 249mm/9.8 x 9.92 x 9.8 inches	1178 x 75 x 110.6mm/46.38 x 2.95 x 4.35 inches	Main bar - 1110.7 x 60.4 x 120mm/43.73 x 2.38 x 4.73 inches; Subwoofer - 403 x 210 x 403mm/15.87 x 8.27 x 15.87
Speaker Channels:	3.1.2	9.1.4	5.1.2
Connections:	HDMI input, HDMI output (eARC), Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, Airplay, digital optical input, wireless Dolby Atmos	HDMI input (eARC), Bluetooth, Ethernet port, Wi-Fi, Airplay, Sonos Multiroom	HDMI input, HDMI output (with eARC), Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi, digital optical audio, Airplay, Wireless Dolby Atmos
Dolby Atmos/DTS:X:	Yes/Yes	Yes/No	Yes/Yes
Sub / rear speakers included:	Yes/No	No/No	Yes/No

Sonos Arc Ultra

The Sonos Arc Ultra is one of our current favourite one-box soundbars. The scale and detail of the sound it’s able to produce from its surprisingly compact form is incredible, and while it doesn’t ship with a subwoofer, its integrated low frequency system still delivers startling amounts of rumble and bass. You can add optional rear and subwoofer speakers too. The Sonos Arc Ultra doesn’t support true multi-position placement like the QS700F, though, and it also costs £250 more.

Read our full Sonos Arc Ultra review

Samsung HW-Q800D

The Samsung HW-Q800D was rated by us in our recent best soundbars of 2025 selection as the best soundbar for most people. A position it earns by virtue of being an excellent all-rounder that combines outstanding sound quality, a compact two-piece design, good connectivity and a great value price considering what it offers. It’s a 2024 model, though, so if you want one, you’d best be quick about it – and again, it doesn’t truly support multi-position placement like the QS700F does.

Read our full Samsung HW-Q800D review

How I tested the Samsung HW-QS700F

Samsung HW-QS700F on tabletop with sub — (Image credit: Future)

Tested across 9 days
Used in both a regular living room environment and a dedicated test room, in both its wall-mount and stand mount orientations
Tested with a mixture of music and video sources

Testing the Samsung QS700F was more complicated than usual, thanks to its Convertible Fit technology, requiring it to be used for half the time in a regular surface-mounted stance, and half the time in a vertical wall-mounted stance. I tested it extensively in both of its configurations with a range of CDs, high-quality audio streams and 4K Blu-ray movie soundtracks.

The 4K Blu-ray soundtracks I used included both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X mixes, since the QS700F supports both, while stereo music was tested both in native two-channel mode and using the soundbar’s multi-channel upmix feature.

First reviewed: June 2025

Fairy-ly Strategic

Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster — (Image credit: Square Enix)

And strategize you must. Success against bosses hinges on correctly utilizing this system, as well as the jobs. These are the various classes you may already be familiar with, such as mages, thieves, and knights, alongside more exotic jobs like merchants.

Mastery of these classes allows you to inherit some of their abilities to other classes, essentially allowing a character to embody the best of two jobs at once. Battles require not just good strategy but knowing your limits, all while taking advantage of this job system to craft a mage with the speed of a thief, and so on.

One typical frustration when it comes to turn-based RPGs is that combat can soon feel slow or repetitive. These systems combine to avoid that. If you do feel the need to grind to increase your level, earn money, or improve a character’s class proficiency, you can assign actions for characters to take in auto-battles or change encounter rates and battle speed.

Best bit

After first struggling to beat a boss, stepping back to adjust your jobs and equipment before tackling it with the right balance of offense and defense takes advantage of every aspect of the battle system, and makes victory feel oh-so sweet.

It’s hard to find much to complain about when it comes to Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster. It was praised in its time for being one of the best RPGs, and that remains true today. The script and characters charm, the battles thrill, just as they did before. Next to nothing has changed.

The character models and world are the same low-polygon 3D models as the 3DS release, bar a few upgraded textures, a fact only more apparent in the models for minor characters or the stiff, limited animations in cutscenes. It’s a testament to the timeless art style of the original game that the towns and select areas remain at times stunning and never feel garish when blown up on a larger screen.

A lingering legacy

The only real differences in Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster are more of a necessity than anything else: the old game made heavy use of the network features of the 3DS, encouraging players to send combat support to other players while walking out in the world via StreetPass, or linking the abilities of your party with friends. These have been adapted to the Nintendo Switch Online ecosystem somewhat awkwardly, the joy of encountering strangers while walking outside replaced with much less interesting ghosts in towns.

There are two new minigames, but these feel like they exist primarily as an excuse to justify Nintendo Switch 2 exclusivity. They each use mouse controls, but not very effectively. Luxencheer Rhythm Catch is a rhythm game timed to a few iconic songs from the game’s soundtrack while a character of your choice dances along. It’s serviceable, but doesn't feel as natural as a proper rhythm game should.

Ringabel’s Panic Cruise is easily the more involved and interesting of the pair, putting you behind the controls of an airship as you steer around a course and react to commands by pulling switches and knobs or blowing whistles. I could imagine myself enjoying a full game with this concept and controls, but here it feels like little more than a tech demo. With both hidden in submenus, these will be forgotten almost immediately.

Take these minimal bonus features away, and this is almost exactly the same game as it was before. Excluding a few quality of life changes and an adaptation from a two-screen handheld to a single-screen hybrid console, this is identical to the original release. Often, titles like Bravely Default may receive a new translation ahead of a new release, but even that remains unchanged here.

This, at least for me, is fine. In retaining as much of this 3DS experience as possible, Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster stands apart from its contemporaries as something unlike other RPGs on the market right now, faithfully making a classic of the genre accessible to a new generation.

While it’s a tough sell to those who played the original game upon its release due to the unchanged nature of this story and gameplay, I’ve personally enjoyed the excuse to revisit it, exactly as I remember.

For all it isn’t pushing the new hardware to the limits while the limited new features are more of an excuse and obligation to test new hardware than enhance the experience, it’s hard to complain when you have one of the best RPGs of the last 15 years on the largest or smallest screen you could desire.

Should I play Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster?

Play it if...

You never tried the original game
An adventure inspired by the classics but updated into something singular, Bravely Default is still not only timeless, it’s one of the best RPGs of the past 15 years

You love to strategize
No matter your level or job, an overly offensive or poorly strategized boss fight can leave you vulnerable to defeat in any fight. You’re always on your toes in your journey to save the world.

Characters and story drive your play
Bravely Default has such a charming core cast of characters whose chemistry will leave you laughing from the moment you meet. Their jokes and spirit alone can keep the adventure going.

Don't play it if...

You’re a returning player wanting something new
There’s nothing here you haven’t seen before if you played the original game. While Bravely Default is an enjoyable enough experience worth replaying, don’t come expecting a new perspective on this classic.

You want to push your new Switch 2 to the limits
This is a Nintendo 3DS game at its core, and the title has been given minimal visual upgrades. New content is limited to two minigames. This won’t test the power of the device or push all the new features of Nintendo Switch 2.

Accessibility features

While it’s possible to adjust language and subtitle options in Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster, and there is hardware-level limited button remapping for those using the Switch 2 Charging Grip or Pro Controller, there are no other accessibility features for those needing features such as colorblind mode.

How I reviewed Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster

I played 20 hours of Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster and tried all features, including town rebuilding and bonus minigames.

This brought me partway into the second chapter of the game, although I did complete the game upon its initial release on Nintendo 3DS and compared the experience between the two titles.

Much of the game was played on a Nintendo Switch 2 in handheld or tabletop mode, as well as on an ASUS VG27AQL1A gaming monitor. Audio was utilized in a mix of the system’s internal speakers, Apple AirPods Max connected wirelessly to the device, as well as Denon speakers connected to the monitor via a Yamaha A-S301 Amplifier.

First reviewed June 2025

I’m delighted by Brother’s switch to ink tank printing for the DCP-T580DW but my tests showed there are better options out there

9:47 am |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro | Comments: Off

I’m happy to see Brother boarding the bulk tank bandwagon at last. Given the outrageous profit margins to be had from inkjet cartridges, its reluctance is understandable, but Brother is expecting to catch up with the launch of this compact and competitively priced supertanker.

The Brother DCP-T580DW is the more affordable model in a new refillable range that’s aimed at the home office or micro business. It’s a basic color A4 all-in-one with key features such as auto-duplex printing, hi-res scanning and Wi-Fi with AirPrint compatibility built in. There’s no automatic document feed (ADF), rear paper tray or color display, which are reserved for the slightly more expensive Brother DCP-T780DW, which also performed better on test.

But what puts this modest multifunction printer ahead of the cartridge-bound competition are its four ink tanks and four bundled bottles of ink, enabling you to print up to 7,500 black and white pages and 5,000 color. For comparison, the HP Envy 6530e comes with cartridges containing enough ink for 120 back pages and 75 in color. You can see why consumers are choosing tank printers. But how does this entry-level model from Brother compare to the best ink tank printers? I tested it to find out.

Brother DCP-T580DW: Design and build

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Brother DCP-T580DW during our review — (Image credit: Brother // Future)

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Specs

Type: color tank inkjet printer

Functions: Print, copy, scan

Connectivity: Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi

Data storage slots: none

Max print speed: 16ipm (mono)

Max paper size: A4/legal

Print quality: 1,200 x 600 dpi

Apple AirPrint: yes

Consumables included: 4 bottles (7,500 black, 5,000 color pages)

Dimensions/Weight: 15.35 x 13.50 x 5.87in (WxDxH) / 17.42lb - 390 x 343 x 149 mm (WxDxH)/7.9kg

The Brother DCP-T580DW is really a second generation tank printer, following the odd-looking Brother DCP-T525W, which was sold exclusively through Amazon. This version sees Brother take its tank printers to the UK for the first time and it looks much more refined, with the four tanks integrated into a commendably compact design that looks no bigger than a cartridge printer.

To achieve this neat form factor, instead than having the ink reservoirs bulging out at the side as before, their capacity has been reduced. At 48.8 milliliters, these tanks are smaller than Epson’s 65ml EcoTanks, or HP’s 70ml Smart Tanks.

In fact, it’s slightly less than some of Brother’s high-capacity INKvestment Tank cartridges. However, it’s still way more than your average cartridge and it allows this printer to be small enough to sit on your desk without stealing too much space.

There’s only one paper input and its cassette, which holds up to 150 sheets of letter, legal or A4 paper, protrudes slightly from the front. There’s a flatbed scanner on top, but no ADF and the display is a very basic single-line affair surrounded by the usual array of buttons on a tilting panel. The two ports for connecting power and USB cables are at the left side, rather than the rear, which might suit your setup, or it might not.

Brother DCP-T580DW: Features & specifications

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For an entry-level business inkjet, the Brother DCP-T580DW has a sensible specification. The print speed is quite fast for an inkjet at 16imp in black and white pages or 9ipm in color, while the Wi-Fi is 5GHz with AirPrint compatibility. The print resolution is given as 1,200 x 600dpi, with ink droplets delivered through 420 nozzles. That’s 70 nozzles for each color and 120 for black.

The main paper tray is your only input option and it can hold up to 150 sheets of plain A4, letter or legal paper and the weight limit is 220gsm. It’s worth noting that the step-up model adds a rear multipurpose paper input which is able to take thicker paper weighing up to 300gsm. The DCP-T780DW also has a larger display with a color screen and a 20-sheet ADF that makes the DCP-T580DW look pretty light on features.

Brother DCP-T580DW: Setup and operation

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The printed quick start guide is very clear, and you probably won’t need it. Simply load your paper, plug in and turn on. The on-screen prompts will tell you to enter the date and time and when to fill the ink reservoirs. I recommend downloading Brother’s accompanying app called Smart Connect, which will help you get your printer connected to your Wi-Fi network.

This iOS/Android app is also great for printing remotely and checking your printer’s status. With such a small black and white display on the printer, your smartphone offers a much better user interface.

Pouring ink into the tanks is a clean and easy process, or at least it should be. The bottles are the same capacity as the tanks and their necks only fit their corresponding tanks, so you can’t make any catastrophic mix-ups. I didn’t spill a drop, until I made the mistake of only part-filling the tanks and replacing the half empty bottles in the box. What a mess!

Unlike Epson, HP and Canon’s bottles, Brother’s bottles don’t re-seal, even when you think you screwed the lids on tight. To be fair to this printer, it did tell me to ‘fill’ the tanks, so I won’t mark it down for human error.

Brother DCP-T580DW: Performance

For me, the Brother DCP-T580DW worked well, starting up promptly and printing as quickly as promised. It makes a slightly annoying wining noise when printing, so it’s less quiet than most inkjets, but there were no instances of jamming, creasing or smudging during the test. The ADF managed to pull in multi-page documents and copy them without any problems and the duplicates were faithful enough.

The print quality is acceptable, but somewhat disappointing at this price point. Starting with black text documents on plain paper, it’s evident that Brother is using a dye-based black ink, which is fine, but the characters look slightly less bold than a pigment black. With office oriented printers you often find dye-based C/M/Y and a pigment BK because text looks sharper and is more scratch and fade resistant, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect it at this budget level.

The colored inks look bright enough, so mixed color documents look fine. It’s when you get to printing images and photos on coated paper that you notice a lack of fine detail resolution. The quoted resolution of 1,200 x 600dpi is the same as the more expensive Brother DCP-T780DW, but it’s achieved using exactly half the number of nozzles. The lower-spec printheads on the Brother DCP-T580DW deliver a very noticeable dip in image quality. The overall print performance is probably good enough for most office documents, homework and handouts, but it’s not great for photos.

Brother DCP-T580DW: Consumables

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Brother comes with three bottles containing 48.8ml of yellow, cyan and magenta and a 108ml bottle of black. This should yield up to 5,000 color pages and 7,500 black and white and a replacement ink set from Brother costs around US$47 or £35, which is a very low cost-per-page. And there’s nothing to stop you using cheaper third party ink.

Brother DCP-T580DW: Maintenance

Being an inkjet printer, the Brother DCP-T580DW is liable to dry out and print badly or not at all if left unused for a length of time. The problem is ink clogging the nozzles and the solution is flushing them through with more ink. At least bottled ink is affordable enough to do that without getting upset. This printer has unusually versatile maintenance options with a choice of three flushing cycles of varying strength depending on the state of your nozzles.

Brother DCP-T580DW: Final verdict

I found much to admire about the Brother DCP-T580DW, from its compact size and fast duplex printing, to its low TCO (total cost of ownership). The features list is rather thin as there’s no ADF, the display is tiny and there’s only one paper input. But at least it ticks all the key boxes, such as auto-duplex printing, A4 scanning, dual-band Wi-Fi and plenty of bottled ink in the box.

It’s a pity the print performance is below average for this price category, with dull dye-based blacks and photos that lack fine detail. For most purposes, it’s probably good enough, but it’s hard to recommend the Brother DCP-T580DW, when the slightly more expensive Brother DCP-T780DW offers all the missing features, more ink and much better print quality.

For more print solutions, I've tested and reviewed the best home printers you can get right now.

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The lack of smart features made me quick to judge this Dyson purifying fan, but its impressive performance quickly turned things around

9:00 am |

Author: admin | Category: Air Quality Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances | Tags: Australia, UK, US | Comments: Off

Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan: two-minute review

The Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan is a tower fan and air purifier combo that helps you beat the heat while improving the quality of the surrounding air.

Available in the US, UK, and Australia, you can find the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan with a list price of $429.99 / £449.99 / AU$799 at Dyson or third-party retailers. As I write this, there are discounts available at Dyson US and Amazon UK, reducing the price to $299.99 / £349.99, so it’s worth checking if there are savings to be made before you buy.

With its bladeless loop amplifier, glossy plastic, and metallic finishes, the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan has the modern, clean aesthetic we’ve come to expect from the brand. Generally, it’s available in a white and nickel colorway, but there’s a bonus option of black and nickel over in the US.

A woman has the remote control for the TP10 purifying fan in her hand. — (Image credit: Future)

Unlike most of the best fans and best air purifiers, the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan lacks onboard controls and app compatibility, and can only be controlled with the included remote control. While this in itself isn’t an issue, as the remote works well and has a magnetic, curved design that makes it easy to store on the top of the loop amplifier, it does mean that you’d be a bit scuppered if you happened to lose the remote. Not to mention that, at this price point, it’s verging on stingy that Dyson hasn’t given the TP10 the app compatibility that’s included with their more expensive products.

In terms of the fan performance, I got the results I expected when testing the TP10 Purifying Fan; namely that it produced a smooth and cooling flow of air, the strength of which was particularly impressive when running at top speed, as I could still feel the cooling effects 14ft / 4.3m away.

As the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan’s sensors can only detect particulate matter and not VOCs (volatile organic compounds), it won’t automatically react to all airborne nasties, but it’s still capable of filtering them thanks to the HEPA H13 and activated carbon filter. The LCD screen displays the real-time levels of PM2.5 and PM10 in micrograms per cubic meter, with color coding making it clear how this translates to air quality, ranging from good to very poor. There’s also a 24-hour graph, which offers a basic indication of the changes in air quality over time.

The HEPA 13 and activated carbon filter can be seen inside the outer panels of the purifying fan. — (Image credit: Future)

I was happy with the speedy detection and prompt air clearing I recorded during my time testing the TP10 Purifying Fan, with it detecting and clearing contamination from dry shampoo within a minute of me spraying it, and automatically upping its power when my two fluffy cats paid a visit. It didn’t make a noticeable impact on food odors or the dry shampoo fragrance, however.

The noise levels were also commendable, with the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan giving whisper-quiet readings as low as 26dB and 33dB in auto mode and on fan speed one, and the highest reading on fan speed ten being just 52dB, which is equivalent to light traffic.

Despite my frustrations around the lack of app support, I’d still recommend the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan, thanks to the overall good performance from both elements. If you’ve not got your heart set on a Dyson, or don’t want to have a tower fan running in the colder months, I recommend teaming up the Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max with the Shark TurboBlade. Both performed well in our testing, and thanks to regular deals, the two together often work out cheaper than the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 alone.

Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan review: price & availability

List price: $429.99 / £449.99 / AU$799
Available now in the US, UK, and Australia

Available from Dyson and other retailers, the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 purifying fan has a list price of $429.99 / £449.99 / AU$799. It’s available in white and silver, with an additional option of black and nickel for shoppers in the US. It’s worth keeping a lookout for potential savings, as at the time of writing, there’s a generous $130 saving on the white model at Dyson US, bringing the cost down to $299.99. Meanwhile, in the UK, there’s a 22% discount in effect, lowering the price to £349.99.

According to Dyson, the 360 Combi Glass HEPA + Carbon air purifier filter used in the TP10 could last around 12 months of 12-hour use. Replacement filters have a list price of $79.99 / £75 / AU$99, so it’s worth considering whether you’re happy to commit to paying this out on a fairly regular basis before making a purchase.

I initially considered the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan a little overpriced, largely due to the lack of app support for the cost, but the TP10 won me over with its strong airflow, prompt particulate detection, and quick reaction times. Could you get a separate tower fan and air purifier that would do the job just as well for less money? Probably, but if you’re a Dyson fan who wants a Dyson fan, plus an air purifier, I’d recommend this combo.

Value score: 4 out of 5

Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan review: specs

Type	Purifying tower fan
Fan speeds	10
Oscillation	45, 90, 180, 350 degrees
Timer	Yes
CADR (Clean air delivery rate)	Requested
Filter	HEPA H13 and activated carbon
Particle sizes detected	PM2.5, PM10
Dimensions	8.7 x 8.7 x 41.3 inches / 22 x 22 x 105cm
Weight	10.4 lb / 4.7kg
Control	Onboard power button and remote control
Timer	Only in sleep mode
Additional modes	Sleep mode

Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan review: design and features

Offers real-time, color-coded PM2.5 and PM10 readings
No smart features or app compatibility
HEPA H13 filters are easy to access and replace

Featuring the classic Dyson aesthetic with its bladeless fan and smooth curves, this is a purifying fan I didn’t mind having out on display. That being said, I did find the glossy white plastic was a bit of a dust and lint magnet. The metallic nickel-color plastic was too, but it was barely noticeable compared to the white.

A useful combo for the summer months, the Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 consists of a bladeless tower fan that sits on a purifying unit. This purifying unit houses a HEPA H13 filter, with H13 being considered to be within the highest tier of HEPA air filtration, and is understood to capture 99.95% of particles as small as 0.2 microns. The filter comes in two halves, with one half clipping into the front of the purifying unit, the other at the back. Both halves are easy to get to thanks to the push-down catches on either side of the unit.

A woman is removing the front panel from the body of the purifying fan. — (Image credit: Future)

There are ten fan speeds to cycle through, as well as an auto mode, which uses the sensors on the TP10 Purifying Fan to detect and react to the presence of particulate matter with a diameter of up to ten micrometers. It can’t detect VOCs (volatile organic compounds), which can be emitted by paint and cleaning chemicals, among other sources, but the carbon element of the 360 Combi Glass HEPA and Carbon air purifier filter means it’s still capable of clearing them from the air.

One thing that frustrates me with some Dyson devices is the lack of smart features and app compatibility. Considering this functionality is available with the more expensive Dyson products, and far cheaper brands offer remote control and air quality data via their apps, it seems a little unfair for Dyson to hold this feature back unless customers are willing to pay an even higher premium.

Aside from the power button, there’s a distinct lack of onboard controls on the TP10. This isn’t an outright issue, as I’d have used the included remote control nine times out of ten anyway, but with no app compatibility, it does mean I’d find myself in a bit of a pickle if I managed to lose the remote. As with all of the Dyson remotes I’ve used, the one for the TP10 is curved and magnetized, meaning it can be kept on the top of the fan.

A woman is placing the remote control on top of the loop amplifier. — (Image credit: Future)

The round LCD screen on the front of the TP10 is bright and large enough to read easily. It was easy to cycle through the multiple different displays using the information button on the remote control. The information I was most interested in was the particle readings, and I was happy to find there were dedicated screens showing the ambient levels of both PM2.5 and PM10. Both readings are independently communicated in numerals and color rating, making them simple to understand. The TP10 has been programmed to classify readings below 35 micrograms per cubic meter as good air quality, with higher readings colored either yellow for fair air quality, orange for poor, or red for very poor.

While the lack of a companion app means it’s not possible to view historical data, or real-time data when away from home, there’s a 24-hour graph on one of the display screens, so I could at least see if there’d been any spikes in contamination throughout the day – though that was as detailed as it got. It’s worth noting that the continuous monitoring needed to support this function isn’t enabled by default, but it’s a simple case of holding the auto button on the remote for five seconds to enable it.

Design score: 3.5 out of 5

Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan review: performance

Returned air quality to an acceptable level within a minute of air contamination
Didn’t reduce or eliminate odors from cooking or fragrances
Quickly reacted to the presence of cat fluff and dander

All of the fan functions performed as expected during my time testing the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan. It was good to have a wide range of oscillation options, with four choices from 45 to 350 degrees, and I appreciated that, unlike the Dyson Cool CF1 desk fan, the TP10 remembered the last oscillation setting I’d used, so I didn’t have to cycle through the options each time. I find it curious that the timer on the TP10 Purifying Fan is only available in sleep mode, which dims the display, so I had to use the remote to wake the display if I wanted to view the current air quality reading whenever I used the timer.

The airflow felt smooth, but seemed to fluctuate a little at times. In terms of fan strength, I found I could feel a noticeable, cool breeze around 4ft / 1.2m away from the TP10 Purifying Fan on setting one, 7ft / 2m on setting five, and 14ft / 4.3m on speed 10, which is admirable considering it doesn’t run very loud.

A woman is about to press the power button on the TP10 air purifier. The LCD screen shows the particle and that the fan is on speed two. — (Image credit: Future)

To test the PM2.5 detection while the fan was on auto mode, I sprayed some dry shampoo around two feet away from the front of the TP10. The sensors picked up the presence of the dry shampoo particles in about 16 seconds, and I saw the levels of PM2.5 per cubic meter rapidly climbing on the LDC screen.

It was interesting to see a numerical representation of the speed at which the Dyson TP10 cleared the air, as not all air purifiers offer this level of data. In this case, the contamination dropped from 89 micrograms per cubic meter to 35 micrograms per cubic meter, which was back within the green range, within a minute of me spraying the dry shampoo. While it made quick work of clearing the particulates in the air, it didn’t have any effect on the odor from the dry shampoo or from the food smells from the minestrone soup I had on my lunch break.

It’s very easy to tell whether the larger-particle sensors on an air purifier are doing their job once I get my two very fluffy cats involved in the testing process, after evicting them from my living room for the initial stages of my testing, so that I can set a baseline. It was clear the particle sensors on the TP10 were sensitive to pet-related particles like fur and dander after both kitties came to investigate, as both the PM2.5 and PM10 readings rose by around eight micrograms, and the fan speed increased slightly to compensate. It stayed at roughly this level, with the occasional ramp-up in speed, for the entire time they were in the room. Once they’d wandered off, it took less than ten minutes for the purifier to bring the reading back down to its usual level.

A view of the back of the TP10 purifying fan, showing the apertures for the particle sensors. — (Image credit: Future)

The Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan operated really quietly, considering its size, with a lower than whisper-quiet reading of just 26dB when idling on auto mode, rising to 33dB on fan speed one, 38dB on speed 5, and just 52dB on speed ten, which is comparable to light traffic or background music. This is particularly positive when compared to the readings I got from the Molekule Air Pro, which gave an output of 38dB at the lowest fan speed, 51dB on speed three, and a pretty shouty 78dB at speed six, though admittedly the TP10 doesn’t have any where near as many bells and whistles.

As an added testament to the quiet functioning of the TP10 Purifying Fan, my very timid female cat spooks at most things, but was comfortable enough to touch her nose on the display even when the purifier was ramping up in response to her presence. It’s also worth mentioning that it was quiet enough to fall asleep next to, and I could happily watch TV with the TP10 running at level five fan speed nearby.

The quick detection, reaction, and purifying times meant I was pleased with the performance of the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan overall, though I didn’t find it made the air feel quite as fresh as the GoveeLife Smart Air Purifier Lite.

Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Should I buy the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan?

Section	Notes	Score
Value for money	The TP10’s premium design, pleasant cooling, and powerful purifying performance mean you won’t be disappointed, but you could save money by ditching Dyson and combining a well-performing fan and purifier instead.	4/5
Design & Features	The smooth curves, bladeless design, and nice material finish make the TP10 an attractive purifying solution. It detects and communicates the ambient levels of particulate matter before they’re captured by the HEPA H13 filter. It’s just a shame there’s no smart features.	3.5/5
Performance	I appreciated the satisfyingly strong airflow and prompt purifying performance, with the TP10’s sensors making quick work of detecting and removing particles from the air. Its quiet operation meant it wasn’t disruptive, so much so that it didn’t phase my flighty feline.	4.5/5

Buy it if...

You want something that’ll purify around your pets
The TP10 reacted promptly to my kitties’ presence, yet was still quiet enough that it didn’t unsettle my timid rescue cat.

You want detailed, real-time air quality readings
It’s easy to see the level of contamination with the usefully color-coded PM2.5 and PM10 readings. Plus, once continuous monitoring is enabled, there’s a 24-hour graph to get a view of the changes in air quality over the last day.

You want two functions in one device
If you’ve been tempted by a Dyson tower fan before, and want to make some improvements on your air quality, too, then this purifying fan is a good way to save space.

Don't buy it if...

You want a purifier that’ll detect VOCs
While the carbon element of the 360 combi filter can tackle VOCs (volatile organic compounds), the TP10 doesn’t have the tech to detect and react to raised levels.

You want to use the purifier independently
The 2-in-1 format of the TP10 worked well for me as I tested it in warmer weather, but as the purifier doesn’t work independently from the fan, it’s worth considering whether that’ll prove problematic in the colder months.

You want to keep an eye on your air quality data
As the TP10 isn’t compatible with the MyDyson app, short of registering your purchase and viewing user guides, there’s no way to view the air quality remotely or to keep track of the trends in air quality readings over time.

Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan review: Also consider

	Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10	Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i	Shark TurboBlade
Type	Purifying tower fan	Air purifier	Multi-directional tower fan
Price	$429.99 / £449.99 / AU$799	$169.99 / £169	$299.99 / £249.99
Fan speeds	10	3	10
Additional modes	Auto, sleep mode	Auto, night mode	Natural Breeze, Sleep Mode, BreezeBoost
Oscillation	Up to 350 degrees	N/A	Up to 180 degrees
Filter	HEPA H13 and activated carbon	HEPASilent and activated carbon	N/A
App support	No	Yes	No
Dimensions	8.7 x 8.7 x 41.3 inches / 220 x 220 x 1,050mm	18.9 x 10.6 x 10.6" / 481 x 269 x 269 mm	11.8 x 31.6 x 44.8" / 300 x 800 x 1,120mm (max)
Weight	10.4 lb / 4.7kg	7.5 lbs / 3.4 kg	15lb / 8.8kg

Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i
If you’re after a purifier with smart capabilities that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, then this super-lightweight alternative will fit the bill. It’s better suited to smaller rooms, has fewer speed settings, and only detects and reacts to PM2.5, but it can still filter out the same nasties as the TP10. A key detail is the washable fabric prefilter, which helps reduce the amount of dust that reaches the HEPA filter within, and comes in a range of colors. To find out more, have a read of our full Blueair Blue Pure 411i Max / Blue Max 3250i review.

Shark TurboBlade
This tower fan twist offers multi-directional airflow and a range of adjustments to help customize your cooling, and is a fantastic alternative if you happen to like the bladeless aspect of Dyson fans, but not the price. Tower fans don’t typically offer height or vertical angle adjustments, so this clever concept from Shark is a breath of fresh air. If you’d like more information, go ahead and take a look at our full Shark TurboBlade review.

How I tested the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan

I used the TP10 purifying fan in the office and at home
I observed its detection and purification skills
I evaluated the strength of the airflow and the sound levels

I used the Dyson Purifier Cool Gen1 TP10 Purifying Fan in our photo studio, my home office, and my bedroom for one week. I evaluated how easy it was to operate, along with the build quality and aesthetics, and explored the available functions and features.

I tested the strength of the airflow by determining at what distance I could still feel a cooling breeze. I also observed the TP10 Purifying Fan’s detection and purification skills, both passively and during standardized testing.

I used a decibel meter app on my iPhone to record the noise levels, taking readings from around 2ft / 600mm away, ensuring the fan wasn’t blowing directly into the microphone.

I checked the timer worked as expected, and tested out the sleep mode to see whether the TP10 Purifying Fan was quiet enough for me to be able to sleep well with it running overnight.

First reviewed: June 2025
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After more than 12 hours with Survival Kids on Switch 2, I’ve found it to be a kid-friendly puzzle platformer that’s equal parts simple and satisfying

6:00 pm | June 14, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Computers Consoles & PC Gadgets Gaming Nintendo | Tags: Nintendo Switch, Super Mario Odyssey | Comments: Off

The Nintendo Switch 2 has finally arrived, and along with it, so have a handful of launch games. Some old, some new, and some, well, they land somewhere between those two categories.

Meet Survival Kids, a cooperative platformer, built on the bones of the 1999 Konami Game Boy Color game of the same name, and developed by the minds behind the wildly popular game engine Unity. Its inception is a mouthful, and yet when it comes to the reality of the game itself, it’s very simple – perhaps too simple.

Review info

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: June 6th, 2025

In Survival Kids, you play as a (you guessed it) kid who, after being capsized in a mythic storm, must craft their way across an ancient archipelago in the hopes of escape.

The twist on this classic survival set-up is that the islands themselves aren’t static and are, in fact, living turtles that can cause the islands to flood. While it’s an interesting premise, Survival Kids commits to a more casual play style, and the submerging occurs only when the player is ready. It’s a reasonable choice for a game built for a younger demographic — I only wish there were multiple game modes for players of all ages, or those who may be more adept.

As you progress, you’ll uncover new biomes and take on chaotic environmental hazards like purple-goo firing turrets and body-barrelling wind tunnels, using earnable tools like fishing rods, trampolines, and comically large leaf fans to best them. Much like the premise, the levels are similarly straightforward and offer an occasionally moreish workload of mindless tasks to complete with friends or by yourself.

Rinse and repeat

Every level in Survival Kids begins with a capsizing, and players wash up on the shore of a new island. From this point on, the aim of the game is to consolidate resources and move your base camp to the highest point, where you’ll construct a raft and start the cycle all over again.

The parts you need to complete this objective range from easily-accessible vines and stones (which can be harnessed by chopping down trees or mining rocks) to hidden aeroplane wings and half-buried propeller parts. It’s not as complex as something like Astro Bot by any means, but the diversity of islands and the platforming challenges embedded in them were varied enough to keep me entertained as I continued to explore.

In place of any towering challenges or punishing mechanics, the biggest antagonist you’ll face here is your stamina, which dictates how far you can climb on a climbing net and whether you can unearth objects. To increase your stamina, you need to find and cook food, making sure not to burn your precious meal in your camp’s cooking pot by leaving it on the castaway-hob too long. The more food you load into the pot, the better the quality of the meal, providing you with extra precious stamina.

Beyond staying fed, there aren’t really any stakes to speak of. Sure, you can fall off a cliff and lose your items or fail to wrangle a fish. But you can simply go back and pick them up again or just cast your line at the same fish a second time.

You’re never really punished for your mistakes in any meaningful way, which has its pros and cons. By keeping the workload accessible and forgiving, Survival Kids feels like a great introductory game for kids who may not be familiar with the Survival genre. Still, at times, it feels as though it’s underestimating what younger players are capable of, especially when you consider the alternatives on the market like Nintendo’s own appropriately challenging Super Mario Odyssey.

Upon completing a level, you’ll earn stars depending on how quickly you escaped the island or how many collectables — called Treasure Stones — you found in the process. Early on, these stars mean very little, and you can breeze through the game - no questions asked. However, as you near the end, there’s a good chance you’ll need to revisit an island to collect a few more to surpass some star-based progress gates.

With little else to latch onto, Survival Kids often feels a bit dry and lacks the personality to really make its mark. It says something that not even a quirky British narrator can lift the tone. In fact, their chatter quickly started to grate.

Play nice

Between island hopping, you’ll also get a chance to customise your cartoon avatar with a selection of kitschy castaway garb. There isn’t a great deal of diversity at first, but it’s plenty to set you apart from your co-op collaborators, and it’s good fun to tweak your hair colour, skin tone, and ocular scenario before hopping into a level. Thankfully, this small pool of outfits is just a jumping-off point, and you can unlock more by completing challenges layered throughout the game.

Alongside meeting the essential crafting criteria, you can complete optional tasks like fishing ten times in a row or cooking with a certain number of ingredients in your pot. By achieving these optional objectives, you can unlock themed outfits to jazz up your mini-me. Many will be achieved automatically as you play, but at the very least, I was pleased to have something else to shoot for outside the confines of the repetitive campaign.

Best bit

Survival Kids is at its best when played with friends. Between the simple control scheme and the plethora of comfortably mindless processes to complete, I could chat to my heart's content without needing to maintain an intense back-and-forth to complete objectives.

Survival Kids can be played in single-player mode, however, it’s just not nearly as much fun as it is when you’re playing with friends. Aside from helping collect loot, the most fun I had was antagonising, and subsequently being antagonised by, my co-op partner. On one occasion, I led my fellow-survivor into a wind tunnel where they were gust into oblivion.

The repercussion was that after spending ages fishing and cooking up a delicious meal, they threw it off the edge and out of my reach. When playing solo, these kinds of light-hearted interactions aren't possible, and instead, you’re just left with the workload.

It’s clear there’s been an effort to scale things back in solo mode and make the levels more approachable, like reducing the stamina needed to pull up objects. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t make up for the tedious nature of completing the same tasks alone.

When playing through the later levels in the game, I found myself frustrated, not by the turrets shooting me off the map, but rather the boring nature of carting materials back and forth with no help. It’s admirable that the team at Unity wanted to give solo players a chance, but it doesn’t do justice to the obviously communal aspects at the core of Survival Kids' gameplay loop.

Should you play Survival Kids?

Play it if...

You want a silly co-op game to play with friends
The simple nature of Survival Kids makes it a great backdrop for chatting with friends and cracking jokes, as you don’t need to focus too hard when solving puzzles. View Deal

You want Nintendo Switch 2 features like GameChat and GameShare
Survival Kids makes great use of both GameChat and GameShare, so it's a good game to pick if you want something that uses those console features.View Deal

Don't play it if…

You want a complex platformer
Survival Kids does offer a decent variety of platforming puzzles, though many repeat over time. View Deal

Accessibility features

In Survival Kids, you can access the settings menu from the main menu or anytime in-game by pressing the pause button and selecting the Options button.

From here, you can toggle on and off subtitles and a level timer, as well as level objective arrows and banners. In the Controls submenu, you can toggle between two layout options. Where audio is concerned, you can use incremental notches to tweak Music, SFX and Narration Volume.

How I reviewed Survival Kids

I played Survival Kids' main campaign over twelve hours in a mixture of single-player, local co-op, and online co-op.

I used a Switch 2 console in both handheld and docked modes. When docked, I used an LG OLED C2 55-inch TV, with no additional soundbar or external speaker system.

First reviewed June 2025

Every time I put these over-ear noise-cancelling headphones on during testing, it felt like they were giving my lobes a big fuzzy hug

1:30 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Audio Computers Gadgets Headphones | Tags: Alien Isolation, ANC, Resident Evil | Comments: Off

Earfun Wave Life: two-minute review

To misquote Futurama’s robotic delinquent Bender, you’re in for “Earfun on a bun” if you take the plunge on the Chinese brand’s latest budget cans. Assuming I still have a job to take this review any further [only just – Ed.], I’ve been taken aback by the quality of the Earfun Wave Life. Seeing as they only cost around $50 / £50, these over-ear headphones are far better than I was expecting.

The Earfun Wave Life pack in enough features and sufficiently robust audio performance to make them absolutely worth considering if you’re on the hunt for a new pair of cheap over-ear cans. Sturdily built, extremely easy on the ears thanks to their lush foam cups and sporting an app that’s both intuitive and comprehensive with its EQ options, there’s a lot to like about these competitively priced noise cancelling headphones.

It’s a pity the Wave Life’s ANC features don’t fully convince. For the price Earfun are selling them, I was never expecting these over-ears to rival the best noise-cancelling headphones out there. Still, when it comes to snuffing out distracting ambient noise, ANC performance with these cheap cans is almost aggressively average.

On the flipside, if you’re lucky enough not to have to endure regular noisy commutes, the Earfun Wave Life have more than enough plus points to make them worth recommending if you’re on a tight budget.

Bolstered by stellar software, a dedicated game mode and 40mm drivers that hand in convincingly deep bass levels, Earfun’s affordable headphones are thoroughly enjoyable. They might be cheap, but they certainly don’t feel it.

Not only are the Wave Life some of the most comfortable cheap cans I’ve ever worn, they’re also great for hands-free voice calls. During one of my least glamorous chats in recent memory – one that involved asking a plumber pal of mine about a broken toilet seat – I was reassured my voice was clear during the entire abode-centric chinwag despite me being in a different room than my phone during the call. Thank you very much, Bluetooth 5.4.

Will these cans' soundscape blow you away (even after you tweak frequency settings with Earfun’s fantastic EQ software)? Probably not. Yet for the price, these supremely comfortable headphones, which also boast staying power of up to 60 hours if you switch ANC off, deliver more than they disappoint even they may not quite make it into the best over-ear headphones available.

If you want a pair of budget over-ears that will be comfortable on your cranium while (mostly) delivering satisfying sounds, you could do a whole lot worse than the Earfun Wave Life.

Earfun Wave Life over-ear noise-cancelling headphones on a wooden surface — (Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

Earfun Wave Life review: Price and release date

Release date: February, 2025
Price: $59.99 / £49.99 / AU$105 (approx.)

The Earfun Wave Life are priced super-aggressively at just $59.99 / £49.99 / AU$105 (approx.). They can often be found even cheaper than their official retail price courtesy of Amazon sales, too.

Though they’re obviously not as premium as the $79.99 / £79.99 / AU$167 (where sold) Earfun Wave Pro that impressed us big style early last year, they still deliver a satisfying sonic experience.

Sure, they’re not going to make audiophiles’ socks roll up and down. Yet considering their budget price point, I reckon most folks will be pleasantly surprised by these over-ear headphones’ pleasingly deep bass and relatively convincing trebles. The Earfun Wave Life are also far more comfy than I was expecting from such an affordable pair of cans.

In terms of alternative options, if you’re looking for some of the best cheap headphones for under $/£100, you’ll struggle to do better than the superb 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 (catchy moniker, right?). The Sony WH-CH520 are another great option if you’re in the market for a budget pair of noise-cancelling cans.

Earfun Wave Life review: Specs

Weight:	264g
Drivers:	40mm Composite
Battery life:	37 hours (ANC on); up to 60 hours (ANC off)
Control:	app; physical/touch; voice
Connectivity:	Bluetooth 5.4; USB-C

Earfun Wave Life review: Features

Up to 60 hours' battery life
Intuitive app improves sound quality
Two devices can be paired simultaneously

Aside from their stellar battery life – more on which shortly – the Earfun Wave Life feature that impresses me most is their excellent software. The Earfun Audio app is available on both Android and iOS, and I’d consider it an essential download if you want to squeeze the best sound out of these cheap over-ear cans.

Easy to use, sporting an uncluttered design and with intuitive custom EQ calibration tools, the Earfun app can significantly improve the Wave Life’s already decent out-of-the-box audio.

I’m a big fan of the software’s custom equalizer that allows you to adjust the headphones’ soundscape across a variety of frequencies via a set of sliders. It’s a doddle to use, as you simply tweak each frequency until the app’s repeating ‘drip’ sound fades away.

After a couple of minutes of adjustments, I found the customized results to be significantly more satisfying than any of the 30 preset EQ profiles Earfun’s software offers. These span various musical genres, while various bass and treble boost presets are also provided.

The wide variety of profiles the firm serves up may be impressive, but I found the majority to be a little too quiet. And not to be overly nitpicking, but flicking between these presets on both my iPhone 14 Pro and iPad Pro (2024) is painfully sloooooow.

Earfun’s app also lets you switch between the Wave Life’s four ANC modes. First up, there’s ‘normal’, which somewhat confusingly turns noise cancelling off. There’s then ‘ambient sound’, ‘wind noise cancellation’ and ‘noise cancelling’; with the latter two options snuffing out sounds most effectively.

Screenshot of the Earfun Audio app's adjustable EQ settings, an optional extra for the Earfun Wave Life headphones — (Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

Sadly, Earfun hasn’t really cracked the ANC code with its cheap cans and I could still easily make out passing traffic when going out for strolls. Next to my Apple AirPods Max, noise cancelling on the Wave Life isn’t up to scratch. That said, comparing $60 headphones to Crew Cupertino’s $500 over-ear cans is like pitting a Morris Minor against a Lamborghini Aventador in a drag race.

Another selling point of the Earfun Wave Life that thankfully proves more effective is their multi-phone connectivity that lets you pair two devices simultaneously. During my testing it proved largely reliable, with the headphones syncing to my tablet and smartphone with little hassle. The only slight hitch I’ve encountered is when I enter the app on my duo of Apple devices, which often requires me to unpair one gizmo before I can tweak software settings on the other.

The Earfun Wave Life are battery beasts. On a full charge, they’ll last for 60 hours, with that number dropping to a still-impressive 37 hours with ANC enabled. During my fortnight of testing these cans, I only had to charge them twice, which is super-commendable considering how kind these headphones are on your change purse.

However, there’s no getting around the fact the bundled-in USB-C charging cable is comically short. I’m talking Smurf short. Still, I’m not going to grumble too much when I can get the Wafe Life to 100% juice in less than 30 minutes on my GaN charger.

As mentioned in the two-minute review, the four-mic, AI-assisted algorithm also makes hands-free calling a breeze. With a 49ft range, you don’t have to worry about being cut off when wandering around your apartment/house, either.

Features score: 4 / 5

Earfun Wave Life over-ear headphones, the earcups folded inwards, on a wooden surface — (Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

Earfun Wave Life review: Design

Incredibly comfy to wear
Easy-to-reach on-cup controls
Materials feel premium for budget cans

No-frills is the name of the ultra-plain game when it comes to the Earfun Wave Life. With an inoffensive yet entirely forgettable design, these cans won't keep you from hitting the hay and dreaming about how alluring they look.

Crucially, though, they don’t feel cheap. The quality of the plastics used in the construction of these over-ears feels far more premium than I’d expect from $60 headphones. I also appreciate the brushed metal that appears when you extend the Wave Life’s headband.

In terms of comfort, Earfun has absolutely nailed it with its latest budget cans. I wore them on a three-hour walk with my husky on an uncommonly warm Scottish afternoon recently and never once did they cause me any discomfort. That’s mainly due to their super-comfy foam cups which rotate 90 degrees, making them both easy to fold up and an absolute pleasure to wear.

The Earfun Wave Life weigh a relatively breezy 264g, which also means you don’t have to worry about neck strain or earache. Every time I put these cans on, it feels like giving my lobes a big fuzzy hug. I’ll take comfort over style all the livelong day.

The on-cup controls are also enjoyable to interact with. A soft plastic power button is wedged between equally squishy and easy-to-locate volume up/down controls, while I also had no problems switching between noise-cancelling controls thanks to the dedicated ANC button. My only slight beef? You have to hold down the power button a little too long for my liking.

There’s also a USB-C slot for both wired play and charging. As I stated previously, the cable that comes in the box is way too short, so you’d be better off investing in a longer third-party one if you want to go down the wired listening route.

As for colors, you’re limited to a single shade of black. If you like your headphones to be unfussy and not make you stand out on, say, a crowded train or bus, the Wave Life’s bog-standard noir won’t bother you. Personally, I like both white and colored cans, so I would have appreciated more than one hue.

Design score: 4 / 5

Earfun Wave Life over-ear headphones, folded inwards, held in-hand over a wooden surface — (Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

Earfun Wave Life review: Sound quality

A touch quiet without app tweaks
Software EQ adjustments save the day
Well-judged bass levels

Considering how affordable the Wave Life are, I don’t want to overly dunk on their sound shortcomings, and there are few glaring weaknesses with these cheap cans’ audio quality. There are, though, some that warrant mentioning.

My biggest bugbear is the default sound profile when you first unbox these over-ears. This is subjective, but the Wave Life were a tad too quiet when I first clamped them around my skull. Although initially underwhelmed by their audio, I calibrated a custom EQ via the Earfun Audio app to produce a listening experience that felt far more well-balanced and punchy.

Without software tweaks, vocals during my favorite tunes and dialogue on some of the best Netflix movies on my iPad felt muted and flat, so I definitely recommend downloading Earfun’s app. Considering the firm’s software is both robust yet never feels daunting to interact with, it would be uncharitable to slam the Wave Life’s default soundscape when it’s so simple and quick to make it appreciably better through minor app adjustments.

Within minutes of fiddling about with its frequency sliders, I landed on a custom profile that delivered a soundscape with decently weighty bass that dovetailed well with the treble levels I settled on. Yes, mids on the Wave Life get lost in the sonic shuffle somewhat, but overall, I’ve had far more enjoyable audio sessions with these cans than disappointing ones.

When testing headphones for the first time, I’ve got a small clutch of go-to bangers I always fire up. The almost hymn-like electronic stylings of Death in Vegas’ Girls sounds way more impactful than I was expecting from sub-$100 cans, while the pulsating trance beats of F*ck Buttons nine-minute The Lisbon Maru delivered all the bass my eardrums craved – thank you, Wave Life.

Reviewer wearing the Earfun Wave Life over-ear headphones in his home — (Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

I was less taken with my favorite live performance ever when listening to The Verve’s astonishing rendition of Sonnet from their spellbinding 1998 home concert from Wigan’s Haigh Hall, though. This classic Cool Britannia tune sounds amazing on my Sony Inzone H9 – surprising, considering it’s a gaming headset first and foremost. But on the Wave Life, Richard Ashcroft’s normally haunting vocals lack the audio oomph my Inzone cans drum up.

Speaking of which, Earfun’s budget over-ears come with a low-latency Game Mode that automatically kicks in if you fire up a title on either your Android or iOS device. Not that I actually noticed much difference when I disabled the feature when playing some of the best iPad games.

That’s not to say the Wave Life don’t do a more than passable job at being a decent gaming headset. Even though gamers aren’t Earfun’s target market, their latest over-ears' ability to pick out subtle sounds during gameplay is admirable. I was particularly impressed (and oh so flustered) by how effectively they conveyed the constant nearby Xenomorph screeches in the nerve-shredding Alien Isolation. The Resident Evil 4 remake’s undead-slaughtering gun battles also popped in an impactful way I wasn’t expecting from such cheap cans.

It’s best to go in with low expectations regarding the Wave Life’s noise cancelling, though. Even the most effective of its modes isn’t great at kiboshing ambient sounds, so if quality ANC is important to you, look elsewhere.

Sound quality score: 3.5 / 5

Earfun Wave Life over-ear headphones, with extended headband and folded inwards, on a wooden surface — (Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

Earfun Wave Life review: Value

Great value for money, given the features
Sound quality expectations met for the price
No carry case

Considering the amount of features and general build quality, there’s zero doubt the Earfun Wave Life represent fantastic value for money.

Overall sound quality also surpasses the expectations I’d generally go in with when it comes to reviewing such a cheap set of headphones. Unless you’re a real elitist audiophile, you’ll be pretty smitten with what your $60 / £50 / AU$105 (approx.) outlay serves up sound-wise.

While a carry case would have been appreciated, that’s a bit too much to ask for such affordable cans. Earfun deserves a lot of credit for selling its Wave Life over-ears at such an attractive price point.

Value score: 4.5 / 5

Earfun Wave Life over-ear headphones on a wooden surface — (Image credit: Future / Dave Meikleham)

Should I buy the Earfun Wave Life?

Section	Notes	Score
Features	Bluetooth 5.4; excellent 60-hour battery life; simultaneous device pairing	4 / 5
Design	Incredibly comfy; easy-to-reach on-cup controls; another color would be nice	4 / 5
Sound quality	Optional app essential to overcome limited EQ presets; a touch quiet; ANC could be far better	3.5 / 5
Value	Fantastic value for money; sound quality to be expected at the price point	4.5 / 5

Buy them if…

You want strong sound on a budget
For $60 / £50 / AU$105 (approx.), you’re going to struggle to find a better all-round, feature-packed set of cans than the Earfun Wave Life. They’re awesome value for money.

You value comfort
Reasonably lightweight and with lovely foam earcups, these budget headphones are so comfortable, it’s often easy to forget you’re wearing them.

Don't buy them if…

You need strong ANC
The Wave Life’s noise-cancelling features are merely adequate at best. If you regularly deal with noisy environments, there are far better options out there.

You don’t want to tweak settings
Straight out of the box, these headphones’ audio performance underwhelms. To get the most out of them, tinkering with Earfun’s app settings is essential.

Earfun Wave Life review: Also consider

	Earfun Wave Life	1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51	Sony WH-CH520
Drivers:	40mm composite	40mm dynamic	30mm
Active noise cancellation:	Yes	Yes	No
Battery life:	60 hours (37 hours ANC on)	100 hours (65 hours ANC on)	50 hours
Weight:	264g	246g	137g
Connectivity:	Bluetooth 5.4; USB-C	Bluetooth 5.2; 3.5mm	Bluetooth 5.2
Waterproofing:	N/A	N/A	N/A

1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51
The current king of cheap headphones offer granite-strong battery life, effective ANC and a super-sleek design.
See our full 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51 review

Sony WH-CH520
If noise cancelling isn’t a deal-breaker for you, consider these well-balanced Sony cans that boast a great app.
See our full Sony WH-CH520 review

How I tested Earfun Wave Life

Tested for nearly three weeks
Tested at home, on long walks and in ride shares

I tested the Earfun Wave Pro in a variety of conditions spanning songs, streaming content and video games over roughly a three-week period. This gave me the chance to get to know how versatile these over-ears can be.

Most of my time with these budget headphones was spent listening to music and podcasts on my iPhone 14 Pro. Away from revisiting my favourite tunes, I also used the Earfun Wave Life for Netflix and Disney Plus streaming, plus playing several games on my iPad Pro.

While most of my background centres around covering the best TVs and almost 20 years writing about video games, I’ve owned an absurd amount of headphones and earbuds in my life – from $500 Apple Airpods Max to budget buds from brands you’ve probably never heard of.

Currently, I have more sets of cans in my apartment than I do meals in my fridge. I should perhaps adjust my priorities in life, but hey, what can I say? I really love the best headphones.

Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction: two-minute review

If you want to make sure you’re getting the best possible flavor from your coffee beans, the Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction will help you achieve it with minimum fuss and zero mess. It guides you through the process of dialling in the grinder and preparing exactly the right amount, so that each shot of espresso is extracted in optimum time for a well-rounded flavor. It isn't the quickest way to make coffee (for that, look for a fully automatic espresso machine), but if you want to do justice to your beans, this is a great option.

The Impress Puck System is my favorite feature, letting you pull down a lever to tamp your freshly ground coffee without having to remove the portafilter handle from beneath the grinder. You never have to move a filter basket full of loose coffee and risk spilling it, and the tactile feeling of the lever is very satisfying.

Coffee ground and tamped using Sage Barista Touch Impress machine — The lever-operated tamping system is satisfying to use, and produces a neat, even bed of ground coffee (Image credit: Future)

Once you’ve got your basic espresso just right, you’ll unlock the whole menu of 14 hot and cold drinks. Some popular coffees are conspicuous by their absence (flat white and macchiato, for example) but everything in the list is easy to customize, so you can tweak a preset to create your own creation quite easily.

Cold brewing involves allowing the bed of ground coffee to infuse in cold water (a process known as blooming) before it’s extracted at high pressure. The result is a smooth-tasting drink that’s a good alternative to traditionally made cold brew, in a fraction of the time.

For me, the only real disappointment was the AutoMilq system, which struggled to create a smooth microfoam with dairy milk. The plant preset worked much better, particularly with oat milk, and using the steam wand manually was a piece of cake. The angle of the wand and shape of the pitcher make it easy to create a good whirlpool, and steam pressure remains consistent.

Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction: price and availability

The Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction is available direct from Sage for £1,199.95 (about $1,600 / AU$2,500). That’s the same price as the original Barista Touch Impress, so you’re essentially getting the cold-brew option thrown in for free.

The Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction is currently only available in the UK. When it does launch internationally, it will be under the "Breville" brand rather than Sage.

If you’re looking for something more affordable, take a look at the Ninja Luxe Café. It's also a semi-automatic espresso machine, meaning it grinds beans directly into the portafilter basket, and guides you through the process of preparing different drinks. Like the Sage machine, the Ninja also has a cold-brew option for chilled drinks. The Ninja Luxe Café is available for $499.99 / £499 (about AU$750).

Value score: 3.5/5

Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction: specs

Name	Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction
Type	Semi-automatic espresso machine
Dimensions (W x H x D)	14.2 x 13.4 x 16.3 inches / 36 x 34 x 41.5cm
Weight	24.18lbs / 10.97kg
Water reservoir capacity	2.1 quarts / 2 liters
Milk frother	Automatic and manual
Bars of pressure	9
User profiles	a

Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction: design

The Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction comes in four colors: stainless steel (shown here), black stainless steel, black truffle, and sea salt. When it comes to size, it’s one of the biggest home espresso machines I’ve tested to date, measuring 14.2 x 13.4 x 16.3 inches / 36 x 34 x 41.5cm. For comparison, the similarly specced Ninja Luxe Café is 12.99 x 13.39 x 14.57in / 330 x 340 x 370mm.

When you’re measure your work surface to see whether you have enough space, it’s also worth bearing in mind that the water tank slides onto the back of the machine, so you’ll need enough room to pull it away from the wall when it’s time for a refill. The tank is easy to remove thanks to a robust carry handle on the top, and has a hinged lid that snaps into place to keep the water clean.

Cleaning kit for Sage Barista Touch Impress coffee maker — The machine comes with a full set of cleaning products, plus a brush and needle tool for the steam wand (Image credit: Future)

The machine is supplied with a water filter to remove impurities, which can affect the taste of your coffee. The package also includes a water hardness testing strip, so you can configure it to suit your tap water. If your water is particularly hard, Sage recommends using pre-filtered water instead.

You’ll also need to make sure there’s sufficient space on the left-hand side of the machine to use the manual lever that compresses your freshly ground coffee. The grinder and tamper (together known as the Express Puck System) mean you’re never handling a portafilter handle full of loose coffee grounds, making the process of brewing espresso much less messy.

The Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction has a large power button on the front of the case, but everything else is operated via its bright touchscreen. This feels smooth and responsive – and, unlike the screens on some other coffee machines, it isn’t prone to fingerprints.

Drip tray from Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew with storage drawer behind — A handy drawer behind the drip tray offers a place to store accessories (Image credit: Future)

Something I particularly like about the Sage Barista Touch Impress is the number of accessories included in the box. You get a stainless steel milk pitcher with a fine spout that’s ideal for latte art; the usual set of single-wall and pressurized filter baskets; a cleaning pin tool for the steam wand; a barista towel; a water filter; and a full set of cleaning products. Open the Eco Starter Kit and you’ll find enough descaler, group head cleaner, grinder cleaner, and milk wand cleaner to keep you going for several months.

If you’re wondering where you’ll keep all that, don’t worry – pull out the machine’s drip tray and you’ll find a handy little accessory drawer. It’s a thoughtful touch.

Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew bean hopper full of coffee — The bean hopper is tinted plastic, helping keep light away from your beans while still allowing you to see how many are left (Image credit: Future)

The bean hopper is tinted, which reduces the amount of light reaching your beans (something that can cause the flavor to degrade) while also letting you see how many are left – a smart compromise. The hopper also has a good rubber seal to help keep unused beans fresh.

The grinder offers 30 settings, and can be adjusted using a dial on the left-hand side of the machine, near the tamping handle. The dial isn’t marked with numbers, but each time you switch between grind sizes you’ll hear a small beep, and the display will show the new setting. This is far easier than having to peer round the side of the coffee maker.

Design score: 4.5/5

Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction: performance

The Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction guides you through the process of brewing a well-rounded espresso, handling the more complicated tasks for you to turn the usually tedious process of choosing the correct grind size into something fun.

The first time you use the machine, you’ll be guided through the process of configuring it for your particular coffee beans. This involves calibrating both the grind size and the dosage.

Usually this process (known as dialling in) involves brewing several shots of straight espresso, but the designers at Sage have acknowledged that people have different tastes, so you can pick from a short menu of different drinks right from the start: espresso, long black, latte, cappuccino, and flat white. You’ll unlock the more extensive menu of hot and cold beverages once the initial setup is complete.

Portafilter handle ready for grinding in Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew — You don't need to remove the portafilter handle from beneath the grinder for tamping, so there's no risk of spilling loose coffee (Image credit: Future)

Pick a grind size by turning the large dial on the left-hand side of the machine (near the lever), then follow the onscreen instructions to grind the beans into the filter basket. You’ll then be instructed to pull down the tamping lever to create a nicely formed puck. This is the most pleasing part of the process, and the machine recommends doing it twice for the best results. It doesn’t take much pressure, but you get some satisfying resistance with the right dosage.

If you don’t have enough ground coffee in the basket, the machine will offer to grind a little more, then let you try tamping again. If there’s too much coffee, you can use the trimming tool provided in the box to remove a little without creating cracks in the puck.

Person using tamping lever on Sage Barista Touch Impress machine — The tamping lever is extremely satisfying to use (Image credit: Future)

Once the machine has worked out the optimum amount of coffee, it will save it for future use. Don’t worry if you want to use different beans later on, or your coffee’s properties have changed as the beans age – the Barista Touch Impress will check each time you make a drink and make adjustments on the fly.

Once your coffee is nicely tamped, it’s time to insert the handle into the brewing group and start making your first coffee. The Barista Touch Impress will time how long it takes for your shot of coffee to pour, and warn you if it’s taking a long time (and is likely to be over-extracted and sour) or has poured too quickly (making it watery). I like the fact that the machine won’t insist that you discard over- or under-extracted shots, recognizing that some coffee-drinkers have different preferences.

Espresso made using Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew — After a little experimentation, you'll be able to brew consistently well-balanced shots of espresso to enjoy alone, or as part of a longer drink (Image credit: Future)

Once the machine is dialled in, you’ll have access to the full menu of 14 hot and cold presets. It’s a pretty impressive list, but some (such as hot chocolate, shakerato, and espresso martini) are recipes rather than drinks you can prepare using the machine alone. It’s also worth noting that unlike the Jura J10 and the De’Longhi Primadonna Aromatic, there’s no way to foam cold milk.

The options are:

Flat white
Latte
Cappuccino
Espresso
Long black
Babyccino
Café crema
Hot chocolate
Tea (ie. hot water)
Cold brew
Cold espresso
Espresso shakerato
Latte shakerato
Espresso martini

I was a little surprised that Sage chose to forego some popular coffee drinks (such as caffe latte, flat white and macchiato) while including so many esoteric options such as shakeratos; but all drinks are editable, so you can easily create your favorites by tweaking the presets. The original Barista Touch Impress offered just eight options.

Latte shakerato recipe on Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew screen — There are recipes for some uncommon drinks in the menu, but a few classics such as the trusty flat white are absent (Image credit: Future)

When you select a cold brew drink, the machine will pulse cold water over the bed of freshly ground coffee in the filter basket and wait a moment to let it bloom before passing cold water through at high pressure.

The result isn’t quite as full-bodied as that from the Jura J10, but it's still noticeably sweeter and smoother than coffee brewed hot, and a very good alternative to traditionally made cold brew when you don’t have hours to spend steeping grounds in the fridge.

The only feature I found lacking was the Sage Barista Touch Impress’s AutoMilq system, which is designed to heat and froth dairy and plant-based milk automatically.

During tests, AutoMilq seemed to struggle, in particular with full-fat dairy milk. This is surprising, because this is usually the top choice for creating a silky microfoam. Rather than creating a fine foam with the texture of emulsion paint when preparing a latte, the steam wand pumped in too much air, creating a lot of large bubbles, which were unstable and burst as it switched to heating the milk. The result was nicely heated milk, but barely any foam.

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Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew steaming milk automatically — The AutoMilq system created a lot of large bubbles in dairy milk, and the foam was unstable (Image credit: Future)

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Dairy milk foamed using Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew — Even foam created using the thickest setting turned out thin (Image credit: Future)

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Oat milk foamed using Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew — Oat milk produced much better results, with thick and creamy foam (Image credit: Future)

I had more success with oat milk, with the machine creating smooth and pourable microfoam for lattes, or thicker and "dryer" foam for cappuccinos. You can choose between milk texture options when making your drink, and the machine will incorporate different amounts of air to suit.

I had no problem using the machine to steam milk manually, though, and the angle of the raised wand made it easy to position the jug correctly to get a good whirlpool going.

Latte made using Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Brew — If you want to steam dairy milk, use the wand manually (Image credit: Future)

Cleaning the machine after use proved straightforward. The machine rinses its brew head when powered on, the steam wand purges automatically after each use, and tapping the "settings" button at the top-right of the screen will let you access step-by-step instructions for descaling, using the blank disc and cleaner to refresh the brewing group, and cleaning the milk wand.

However, it won’t explain how to use the grinder cleaner, and the manual only explains how to dismantle the grinder and use the brush to remove debris. There's no explanation about how to use the sachet of milk wand cleaner, either.

Performance score: 4/5

Should you buy the Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction?

Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction score card
Attribute	Notes	Score
Value	Well made and feature packed, but over twice the price of the Ninja Luxe Café, and closer to the price of machines that can also foam cold milk.	3.5/5
Design	Easy to use, with clear instructions on displayed on the bright touchscreen. Lever-operating tamping system is satisfying to use. Large footprint won't fit some kitchens.	4.5/5
Performance	Excellent hot and cold coffee brewing and smart guidance for dialling in grinder, but AutoMilq system seems to struggle with whole dairy milk. Plant milk foams better and wand works fine manually.	4/5

Buy it if

You want optimum flavor from your beans

This machine guides you through the process of dosing coffee and choosing the ideal grind size for a perfectly extracted shot. It might take a while to get it just right, but it’s worth the time, and there’s zero mess involved.

You want tasty cold brew without the wait

The latest version of the Barista Touch Impress does a good job replicating the smooth taste of traditionally made cold brew by allowing the coffee grounds to bloom before pulling a shot.

Don't buy it if

You don’t want to steam dairy milk manually

Sage’s AutoMilq system struggled to create a good texture with fresh whole dairy milk, although it worked much better with oat milk. Raising the wand and using it manually yielded good results.

You just want coffee as fast as possible

The Barista Touch Impress is all about perfecting your espresso, and getting the optimum extraction for the best flavor. If you don’t have time to spend making multiple shots and configuring the grinder, a fully automatic espresso machine might be a better option for you.

Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction: also consider

Ninja Luxe Café

Like the sound of the Barista Touch Impress, but don’t have the space? The Ninja Luxe Café is a more compact alternative, and it can make filter coffee as well. You don’t get the tidy tamping system, though.

Read our full Ninja Luxe Café review

De’Longhi Primadonna Aromatic

If you like cold brew but want more variety, this superb espresso machine not only creates great-tasting coffee, it can also foam cold plant and dairy milk for iced lattes. It works brilliantly; the iced latte macchiato was my personal favorite during testing.

Read our full De'Longhi Primadonna Aromatic review

KitchenAid KF8

If you want a well-extracted coffee but don’t have the time to spend configuring a grinder, this is easily one of the best fully automatic espresso machines I’ve tested. This version has a preset for plant milk, but if you only drink dairy then you can save a little cash by opting for the KF6 instead.

Read our full KitchenAid KF8 review

How I tested the Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction

I used the Sage Barista Touch Impress with Cold Extraction for two weeks in place of my usual coffee machine, and brewed coffee using a blend of freshly roasted Brazilian and Colombian arabica beans. I spent time dialling in the grinder for the beans to begin with, and followed the directions to tweak the grind size each time I made a new drink.

I went through the whole drinks menu, and tested the steam wand using full-fat dairy and oat milk. I used the AutoMilq system, and steamed milk manually.

Once I’d finished testing, I ran through all of the machine’s cleaning and maintenance programs.

First tested June 2025

I tested the Eufy E15 robot lawn mower, and it’s so easy to use even technophobes will love it

9:00 am |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances | Comments: Off

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower: two-minute review

To date I've tested quite a few wire-free, autonomous lawn mowers, but of all of them, the Eufy E15 is the easiest to set up and use. Much of that is down to the robot's AI algorithm-rich software, its superb dual camera system and the simplicity and excellent navigability of the Eufy app.

This admittedly odd-looking lawnbot uses Full Self Driving (FSD) technology, which means there's no need to lay a perimeter wire or install an RTK GPS antennae. In fact, setup took all of about 15 minutes – it can automatically map a lawn up to 800 square metres by cleverly distinguishing the textural differences between grass and planted borders. It then goes out and cuts the lawn in pristine parallel stripes before finishing off with an edge cut along the borders.

Like many robot mowers, the E15 is equipped with a small 20cm cutting deck comprising three razor-like blades attached to a spinning disk. These blades are so sharp that they snip grass with the cleanliness of a pair of scissors, leaving the tips of the nitrogen-rich cuttings to fall back to earth, which in turn fertilise the lawn.

There are a few minor niggles – the navigation system means it can't mow at night, and it can't handle gradients over 18-degrees – but overall, this is an extremely impressive lawnbot and a very strong recommendation for technophobes in particular. Aside from an easily-fixed map-making mistake, and one expected issue regarding small obstacle avoidance, the E15 hasn't put a foot wrong during several weeks of testing. It just works out of the box. That's the short version; read on for my full Eufy E15 review.

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower on tester's lawn — (Image credit: Future)

Eufy E15 review: price & availability

List price: $1,799.99 / £1,499
Available: US / UK
Launched: June 2025

Eufy's first robot mower is available in two variants – the E15 I'm reviewing here, and the E18, which is only available in the US. Both machines are the same size and spec but the E18 has a larger capacity battery which allows it to cut lawns up to 1,200m² / 0.3 acre – that's 400m² more than the E15.

If you live in the UK, you can purchase the E15 direct from Eufy UK for £1,499. Granted, it's an awful lot of money but that's the price one pays for new tech that saves a ton of time and effort. I personally think it's very competitively priced, especially given the fact it comes with a roofed garage to protect it from the elements. It's also exceedingly well built, using highly-quality materials with expert fit and finish.

Stateside dwellers, meanwhile, have a choice of either the E15 or E18. The US Eufy site lists the E15 at $1,799.99 but if you have a lawn larger than 800 square metres (0.2 acre), I would suggest the E18. Eufy sells this model for $1,999.99.

Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Eufy E15 specs

Max lawn size:	0.2 acres / 800m²
Navigation:	Dual V-FSD cameras
Cutting deck width:	8in / 20.3cm
Cutting height adjustment:	1-3in / 2.5-7.5cm, motorized
Drivetrain:	Rear wheel drive
Maximum zones:	More than two
Maximum climbing ability:	40% / 18 degrees
Obstacle avoidance	3D Perception camera system
Connectivity:	Wi-fi, Bluetooth & 4G (sim optional)
Noise:	56dB
Waterproof:	IPX6
Rain sensor:	Yes
Mow time per charge:	About 100 minutes
Lawnbot size:	23.7 x 15.5 x 12.5 in / 60.3 × 39.4 × 31.8cm
Garage size (L x W x H):	28.6 x 18.9 x 17.8 in / 72.7 x 48 x 45.2cm
Lawnbot weight:	39.7 lbs / 11kg

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower review: design

Full self driving lawnbot, uses cameras to navigate
Comes with a charge dock but requires no boundary wires or RTK receiver
Otherwise relatively standard lawnbot design, with 20cm cutting deck

Eufy (a subsidiary of Chinese electronics manufacturer Anker) has approached the development of its first robot mower with the same set of design principals it has applied to its burgeoning range of excellent robot vacuum cleaners. Hence, the E15 is probably the most robot vacuum-like lawnbot on the market right now. And that's a very good thing for anyone who already owns a robot vacuum cleaner and is familiar with the way it is set up and used from day to day.

Although it's not the prettiest looker on the lawn (at least when compared to the F1-inspired Mammotion LUBA Mini), the E15 feels very high quality. It is also the only robot mower I know of to come with a roof for its charging dock as standard – that can be considered a major benefit because, while the E15 is IPX6 rated for waterproofness (IPX6 means ingress protection against powerful water jets), it's direct summer sunshine rather than rain that could have the biggest affect on batteries and electronics.

Incidentally, like all modern robot mowers, this model is fitted with a rain sensor so if it starts raining while it's out cutting, it will return to base and wait a predetermined number of hours before it heads out again.

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower on its charge station — (Image credit: Future)

Although size and weight is pretty inconsequential given that, once in situ, the E15 pretty much stays on the lawn until the end of the cutting season around late autumn, for the record the E15 measures 23.7 x 15.5 x 12.5 in / 60.3 × 39.4 × 31.8cm, weighs 39.7 lbs / 11kg and comes with an integral handle on the front so it's easy enough to lift if necessary.

Like all robot lawn mowers, the Eufy E15 is equipped with a cluster of manual control buttons on the top of its outer casing, including a large red Stop button for any unlikely emergencies. These buttons are handy for quickly pausing or cancelling a task, commanding the robot to return to its dock and turning it on and off without the need for the accompanying app. There is also a master on/off switch on the base of the cutting deck, which is only used when putting the robot into storage or transporting it in the car.

Top-down view of Eufy E15 robot lawn mower — (Image credit: Future)

Before we tackle the E15's clever navigation system, let's head below and take a closer look at the business end. This model is good for lawns up to 800m² (0.2 acres) and has an 8in / 20.3cm cutting width – that's the norm for a robot of this size, but still way short of the Mammotion LUBA 2 which has a generous 15.7in / 40cm deck.

Like almost all current robot mowers, the E15 uses an array of small razor-like blades for the cutting process. Put simply, a silent motor spins a circular disc with, in this case, three double-sided 1.5-inch razor blades attached to the disk's outer edge.

Since the blades are attached loosely and are able to spin 360 degrees, the disk's centrifugal force causes the blades to whip round at immense speed so the grass is cut to a much finer degree than any large-bladed rotary mower. Likewise, if they hit something hard like a stone, the easily replaced blades are less likely to be damaged. (Here's more on how robot lawn mowers work, if you're interested.)

Underside of Eufy E15 robot lawn mower — (Image credit: Future)

Aside from the whisper-quiet sound the cutting system makes (and believe me this thing is near-silent in operation), the main bonus of a system like this is that the fine nitrogen-rich cuttings the robot leaves in its wake are fed back into the lawn as future fertiliser. This 'mulching' method of grass maintenance is not only good for your lawn, but it also means you don't need to figure out what to do with all the cuttings.

The Eufy E15 is rear-wheel drive and those wheels are an ample 7.9 in / 20cm in diameter, with deep treaded paddles that provide excellent traction without causing any grass damage. The front end is fitted with a robust castor wheel that allows the robot to turn on a sixpence. Eufy states a maximum gradient of 40% (18 degrees) which is a few degrees steeper than much of the competition but still nowhere near the Everest-scaling, all-wheel-drive Mammotion LUBA 2 and LUBA Mini's 80% (38.6 degrees) ability.

Robot mower navigation tech has come on in leaps and bounds since the first models were introduced way back in the mid '90s. These early models required a boundary wire around the perimeter of the lawn and many robot mowers like this are still available to purchase today. However, recent advances in RTK GPS, LiDAR and camera-based navigation technologies are quickly making these types of wired robot mowers obsolete.

Take this model, for instance. The Eufy E15 is equipped with a FSD (Full Self Driving) camera tech that works in a similar way to many autonomous cars. The system itself is comprised of two side-by side cameras that produce a stereoscopic image with some depth to it, rather like a pair of human eyes. This, along with a smorgasbord of AI algorithms and heaven knows what else it has hidden beneath the bonnet, ensures that the robot can not only find its way around a lawn but also differentiate between grass and border plants.

Close up of cameras on Eufy E15 robot lawn mower — (Image credit: Future)

Like a human, it can spot the textural and height differences between grass and plants and map the lawn accordingly. And for those who love driving RC cars, you can easily do that with this mower, too, and even view a high-definition livestream of what the camera sees.

The downside to a camera-based system like this is that the E15 cannot mow beyond sunset because it won't be able to see where it's going. Eufy might elect to fit a bright headlamp on the next incarnation but for now, your best bet for night mowing is either the Mammotion LUBA 2 or its new smaller sibling, the LUBA Mini.

The upshot of this robot mower's superb navigation system is that it gives it the amazing ability to cut a lawn in a series of perfectly straight parallel stripes that never fail to impress. Granted, they're not bona fide stripes like a cricket ground, but they're the next best thing. I guarantee you'll be blown away by how smart your lawn looks after just one cut.

Finally, a shout out to the E15's security measures. Firstly, it's bonded to the user's account and Wi-Fi system making it useless to any light-fingered thieves. But as an extra precaution it also features GPS tracking over optional 4G while the unit itself will sound an alarm, enter a locked state and send a notification to the user if it's ever taken beyond its working boundary.

Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower review: setup

Charge dock requires power source and good Wi-Fi signal
- Mapping is fully automated – and no-go zones can be added in-app if required
- Extremely fast and east to set up

No question, the Eufy E15 is one of the easiest robot mowers I've ever set up; there is no RTK GPS antennae to install and not a perimeter wire in sight. All you need is an electricity source within the eight metres of cable provided and a decent WiFi signal to the robot so you can initiate its setup procedure, update the firmware when required and program weekly schedules and other parameters in the Eufy app.

Once you've created a Eufy account in the app and mounted the charging dock using the provided ground screws, it's simply a case of firing it up and selecting the auto map function. I'd say the whole process took me about 15 minutes and most of the time was spent screwing in the dock's ground screws using the provided Allen key (a cordless driver with an Allen key bit speeds this process up considerably). The E15's excellent mapping ability is fully automatic – the bot can tell the difference between grass and plants, and uses this information to map the lawn.

Screenshots from within the Eufy E15 robot lawn mower app — Click to enlarge (Image credit: Eufy )

However, there may be instances when it treats a scrubby patch on the edge of the lawn as grass and map that too – as was the case in my testing. With some robot mowers you need to physically steer the robot like an RC car to the area in question and modify it by driving the bot on a different trajectory and then saving the map. With this model you simply add a no-go zone or a virtual boundary by drawing a square or line on the app's map. A big high-five to the designers for bringing this robot vac-style editing approach to the table.

While this whole process was very simple, I still hope Eufy will include a manual mapping option in a future update for those who want full hands-on control. Manual mapping – where you drive the robot around the perimeters of a lawn like an RC car – allows the user to fine-tune the map right from the off, with no need to add no-go zones or virtual boundaries.

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower on reviewer's lawn — (Image credit: Future)

Once the mapping has finished, it's time for the robot's first mow. But before you do this, make sure your grass isn't too long or the cuttings it creates could litter the lawn. Instead either opt for the highest cutting height first (these range from 25mm to 75mm in 5mm increments and are set using the app).

Alternatively, use your standard mower with grass catcher to cut the lawn to about 40mm (position 4) and set the robot off on its first cut a day later – I find that 35mm is a perfect height for UK rye grass. Once the grass is ready for the robot, chances are you may never need to use your standard mower again, though you will still need your line trimmer to tidy up some edges every now and then.

If you have a few different lawns separated by pathways and boundaries, that's not a problem. The Eufy E15 can be programmed to cut all of them in succession, even when they're many meters apart. Simply map the lawns individually and set a virtual passageway between them by steering the robot from one lawn to the next. The robot will then follow this set path from lawn A to lawn B and so on and so forth every time it's on a cutting session. Just make sure that there are no gates or stairs in the way and that the passage the robot takes is free of clutter and wide enough for the robot to navigate.

Setup score: 5 out of 5

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower review: performance

Neat, methodical cutting performance
Motorized cutting heights
Expert navigation and very good obstacle avoidance

In terms of cutting performance, I've been exceedingly impressed by how well this robot mower has navigated and cut my lawn, and in such methodical fashion too. It's a joy to watch the E15 as it trundles up and down the lawn in perfect parallel lines, and I love the pseudo stripes the wheels leave in their wake.

The fact you can easily adjust cutting parameters in the app – cutting height (from 25mm to 75mm), edge spacing (how close it cuts to the edge), path spacing (the amount of overlap between each pass), and travel and blade speed (slow, standard and fast) – is the icing on the cake. And if you're looking for the cherry on top of that, it'll be the Path Direction (cutting angle) setting, which is as simple as placing two fingers on the map of your lawn and swiveling the two arrows to the angle of cut you want, whether it's perfectly vertical, horizontal or any angle in between.

Despite this model only having three cutting blades against the Mammotion LUBA Mini's six, I haven't been able to detect any noticeable differences in cut quality. Yes, I prefer the wider tract of the big 40cm Mammotion LUBA 2 – the width of a small push mower – but I'm nitpicking here.

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower changing direction when it meets a dog toy — (Image credit: Future)

Obstacle avoidance on indoor robot vacuum cleaners is essentially for the convenience of not having to untangle a loose sock from under the robot, but a robot mower with fast spinning razor blades is an altogether different kettle of danger. Just as well that all autonomous robots and most wired models have various levels of obstacle avoidance built into their navigation systems.

The Eufy E15's obstacle avoidance is excellent for anything larger than about the size of a tennis ball. I tested it on a number of occasions using some dog toys. Amazingly, the E15 avoided every item including – surprisingly – a small whale-shaped toy with a slim tail. In fact I was especially impressed by how well it managed this last feat because the whale was off-centre to the robot, and yet its camera caught the obstacle in its periphery.

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower mowing neat stripes in reviewer's lawn — (Image credit: Future)

However, as expected, the E15 didn't spot a table tennis ball on two occasions and rode over it, almost slicing it in half. As a result, I wouldn't trust this model to avoid pet mess unless, perhaps, you have a Great Dane, or a horse. (This has been the case with every robot mower I've tested, and for that matter every robot vac, too.)

I'm pleased to report that everything has run smoothly with this model, from its initial auto mapping to its weekly routine of keeping the lawn looking spick and span. It has never got lost or failed to find its charging base, and it's always remained within the confines of its boundary. And that's not a bad accolade for any manufacturer hitting the market with a first-time product. Well done Eufy.

Performance score: 5 out of 5

Eufy E15 robot lawn mower review: app

Easy to navigate
Excellent interface
Could do with a couple of extra features

While I'm a huge fan of the Mammotion range of robot mowers, its accompanying app is quite technical and, in some areas, difficult to get a handle on. By contrast, the Eufy app (which also covers Eufy's security cameras) is mostly a joy to use, and mercifully free of any technical jargon. It's as simple as simple can be, but there is room for improvement.

Screenshots from Eufy lawnbot companion app — Click to enlarge (Image credit: Eufy)

What I'd like to see is an option to manually map a lawn and an option to mow in a chessboard pattern (i.e. cut vertically and horizontally) in one go. But I'm pretty certain we'll see something like this in a future update. It is, after all, early days for this newcomer.

App score: 4 out of 5

Should you buy the Eufy E15 robot lawn mower?

Attribute	Notes	Rating
Value	The Eufy E15 isn't cheap but it's in the same ballpark as other similarly-styled models on the market.	4.5/5
Design	Odd looks aside, the E15 is robust and extremely well equipped to deal with most lawn layouts, bar those with steep slopes.	4.5/5
Setup	Setup is also extremely fast and straightforward, thanks to accurate automatic mapping.	5/5
Performance	The E15 is a sterling operator that cuts grass brilliantly well while avoiding almost all obstacles in the process.	5/5
App	There is no simpler mowbot app on the market, though a few tweaks wouldn't go amiss.	4/5

Buy it if...

You're a technophobe

I haven't come across an easier model to set up and operate.

You want lawn stripes

The E15 is a deft lawnsmith that cuts in ruler-straight stripes.

You need simple reliability

This model has proved to be very reliable with great obstacle avoidance.

Don't buy it if...

Your lawn is very large

This lawnbot's smaller battery and cutting tract mean it's not well-suited to extra large lawns.

You want night mowing

Because it relies on cameras to navigate, the Eufy E15 can't mow in the dark. If that's a priority, consider the Mammotion LUBA Mini.

Your lawn has steep gradients

This bot will struggle on steep slopes – it's good up to 18 degrees.

How I tested the Eufy E15 robot lawn mower

I've been using this lawnbot for the past few weeks, and I've been working it hard during that time. It has been out on regularly scheduled mowing tasks, and I've also put it through a range of tests – including assessing its obstacle avoidance using dog toys. I also assessed the ease of setup, how user-friendly the app is, and how the cutting performance compared to other lawnbots I've reviewed.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2025

I finally got the Purple MacBook I’ve been begging for, it just turned out to be the 13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop

6:06 pm | June 13, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, GPU, HDR | Comments: Off

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch: Two-minute review

I have been begging Apple to release a purple MacBook for a few years now and have been repeatedly disappointed year after year, so when I found out that the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch was going to sport a pastel purple colorway, it really was Microsoft's game to lose here.

And while it doesn't quite come close enough to dethroning the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch, performance-wise, it's a very solid everyday laptop that looks undeniably superior to Apple's rather boring MacBook Air design over the past couple of years.

The Surface Laptop 13-inch starts at $899.99 / £1,099 / AU$1,699 on Microsoft's website, which is roughly the same price as the MacBook Air 13-inch (which starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699), but its performance, at times, is substantially slower than Apple's best laptop, making it an iffy value proposition for those who could go either way as far as operating systems go.

Had the Surface Laptop 13-inch shipped with an Intel Lunar Lake chip rather than the underpowered Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus 8-core SoC, this would be an entirely different review, as I'd be giving this laptop six-out-of-five stars, because in just about every other way than its performance and minor compatibility issues, this is the best ultrabook I've ever put my hands on.

Aesthetically, it's an upgrade over its larger Surface Laptop 7 sibling that launched last year, with a tighter form factor that is exceptionally lightweight and sleek. It's 3:2 display offers plenty of real estate for a laptop this small, and its keyboard and trackpad are a dream to type on.

Best of all, it comes in purple (technically 'Violet'), though you will pay slightly more for this color option than the base platinum colorway as it is only available on the higher capacity configuration.

Meanwhile, the ARM-based Snapdragon X Plus is an incredibly efficient chip, getting just over 17 hours of battery life on a single charge in my testing, which easily translates into two full workdays or more without recharging, outlasting even the latest MacBook Air 13-inch models.

If all you're looking for is a gorgeous-looking laptop that is great for everyday computing tasks, school work, and general productivity—while liberating you from having to keep a constant eye out for power outlets to recharge day after day—then the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch is one of the best Windows laptops you can buy. It just isn't the knockout blow against the MacBook Air that Windows fans might be hoping for.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch: Price & availability

A Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch on a desk — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How much does it cost? Starts at $899.99 / £1,039 / AU$1,699
When is it available? It's available now
Where can you get it? You can buy it in the US, UK, and Australia

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch is available now, starting at $899.99 / £899 / AU$1,699 directly from Microsoft or at retail partners. It comes in slightly cheaper than the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 in the US and UK, (starting at $1,099.99 and £1,039, respectively). In Australia, however, the larger Surface Laptop 7 13.8-inch starts out cheaper at AU$1,597 (and it comes with more powerful hardware to boot).

The Surface Laptop 7 13.8-inch also features a more powerful Qualcomm chip, a sharper screen, and better port support (though no Violet colorway, you'll have to settle for the equally gorgeous Sapphire option).

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch starts with an 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus SoC, 16GB LPDDR5x RAM, 256GB storage, and a Platinum colorway. You can increase the storage by 256GB for an additional $100, which also gives you the option of picking either the Violet or Ocean colorway.View Deal

Similarly, the Surface Laptop 13-inch is also slightly cheaper than the MacBook Air 13-inch with M4 in the US (starting at $999), while being slightly more expensive in the UK (the base MacBook Air 13-inch start at £999), while there is no difference in starting price between the two in Australia.

Compare this, however, with a similar memory-and-storage-specced Dell 14 Plus, starting at $799.99 / £999 / AU$1,298, but which comes with more powerful x86 processors from AMD and Intel, meaning that you get better performance without any compatibility worries that comes with ARM-based chips.

Granted, none of these competing laptops look anywhere near as good as the Surface Laptop 13-inch, but if your main interest is performance, there are cheaper options that will get you what you want.

All that said, however, this is the best-looking laptop you're going to find at this price, in my opinion, and yes, that includes the entire MacBook lineup. If you want to look good at a cafe while reading emails, or streaming Netflix in an airport lounge while waiting for a flight, this laptop will turn heads (at least in Violet) without totally breaking the bank.

The only real knock I can point to is that the long-term value of the Surface Laptop 13-inch is lower than a MacBook Air 13-inch with M4. The latter is much more performant and it will stay 'current' for a few years longer than the Surface Laptop 13-inch, in all likelihood.

Value: 3.5 / 5

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch: Specs

The ports on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus 8-core SoC
16GB LPDDR5x
The display could be better

There isn't a whole lot of variation in terms of spec configurations for the Surface Laptop 13-inch, with the biggest difference being some extra storage and two additional colorway options.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch Base Specs
Price:		$899.99 at Microsoft.com \| £899 at Microsoft.com\| AU$1,699 at Microsoft.com
Colorways:		Platinum
CPU:		Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus 8-core
GPU:		Qualcomm Adreno X1-45
Memory:		16GB LPDDR5X-4300
Storage:		256GB SSD
Screen:		13-inch, 3:2, 1920x1280p 60Hz, 400-nit, Touch PixelSense
Ports:		2 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 w/ DP and Power Delivery, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 1 x combo jack
Battery (WHr):		50WHr
Wireless:		WiFi 7, BT 5.4
Camera:		1080p
Weight:		2.7 lbs (1.22 kg)
Dimensions:		11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 ins \| (285.65 x 214.14 x 15.6mm)

For $100 / £100 / AU$200 more, you can upgrade the storage on the Surface Laptop 13-inch to 512GB and get additional Violet and Ocean colorway options, but otherwise the more expensive configuration (which I tested out for this review) is identical to the base configuration.

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch Max Specs
Price:		$999.99 at Microsoft.com \| £999 at Microsoft.com\| AU$1,899 at Microsoft.com
Colorways:		Platinum, Violet, Ocean
CPU:		Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus 8-core
GPU:		Qualcomm Adreno X1-45
Memory:		16GB LPDDR5X-4300
Storage:		512GB SSD
Screen:		13-inch, 3:2, 1920x1280p 60Hz, 400-nit, Touch PixelSense display
Ports:		2 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 w/ DP and Power Delivery, 1 x USB Type-A 3.1, 1 x 3.5mm combo jack
Battery (WHr):		50WHr
Wireless:		WiFi 7, BT 5.4
Camera:		1080p
Weight:		2.7 lbs (1.22 kg)
Dimensions:		11.25 x 8.43 x 0.61 ins \| (285.65 x 214.14 x 15.6mm)

There's no option to upgrade the memory or storage on any of these models beyond the configuration options at the time of purchase, which does make the longevity of the Surface Laptop 13-inch's specs more limited than laptops like the Dell 14 Plus, where you can at least upgrade the storage if you'd like.

And while the specs on the MacBook Air 13-inch with M4 might not be upgradable either, they are simply better overall for a relatively small increase in price, meaning the long-term value of the MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) is superior overall.

Specs: 3.5 / 5

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch: Design

A masculing hand holding the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch at an angle — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Beautiful color options and fantastic aesthetics
Light and portable
Display resolution is only 1280p with no HDR

The design of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch is simply stunning. There's no other way to describe it. Starting with the exterior aesthetics, the Surface Laptop 13-inch is as close to a MacBook Air for Windows as you're going to find on the market, and in my opinion, it's even better looking thanks to the additional Violet and Ocean colorways alongside the default Platinum look of the base model. You pay extra for the splash of color, but it's a worthwhile investment. The machined aluminum finish of the laptop chassis, along with the pastel-ish hue of the chassis and the darker, more matte color of the keycaps and trackpad.

The keyboard on a Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The display on the Surface Laptop 13-inch is a step down from the larger 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7 from 2024, which had a maximum resolution of 2,304x1,536p (a PPI of 201, compared to the 1,920x1,280p Surface Laptop 13-inch's 178 PPI) and 120Hz refresh compared to just 60Hz for the Surface Laptop 13-inch.

It also has a lower contrast ratio of 1,000:1 compared to the larger version's 1,400:1. The Surface Laptop 7's display is also made of Corning Gorilla Glass 5. In contrast, the Surface Laptop 13-inch's display is only "Strengthened glass" according to Microsoft's official spec sheet for the Surface Laptop lineup.

The display does max out at 400-nits, though, which is nice and bright enough for most people and situations, but you might struggle to see the screen properly if you're using the laptop outside on a bright sunny day.

I found that carrying the Surface Laptop 13-inch around was very easy, as it fit in pretty much any bag and was thin and compact enough that I was able to use it sitting in an airplane seat during my 15-hour flight to Computex 2025 last month with almost no issue.

Speaking of using the laptop, the key switches are quiet and have good travel and responsiveness, and everything is well-spaced, so you don't feel cramped despite the laptop's smaller size. The trackpad is likewise responsive and smooth, making navigation and clicking around the desktop a breeze.

A Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch next to a dime to show its thinness — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

One thing that's not that great is the port selection, which is limited to two USB-C Gen 3.2 ports, a USB-A Gen 3.1 port, and a 3.5mm jack for a headset. It'd have been nice to get some USB4 ports in there like you get with the larger Surface Laptop 7 models, but both USB-C ports do support power delivery and DP 1.4 output (though if you're trying to connect to more than one monitor, you need one port per monitor, rather than being able to daisy-chain them to just a single port).

The webcam of the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

The webcam, meanwhile, is a 1080p Surface Studio Camera that is crisp enough, but unlike the larger Surface Laptop models from last year, it does not support Windows Hello authentication, and it doesn't have a physical privacy shutter, which in 2025 should be pretty much mandatory, so along with the port and display downgrades, I've got to ding what is otherwise a nearly perfect design.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch: Performance

A Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch on a bed — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

A performance downgrade from last year's Surface Laptop
Some compatibility issues with ARM architecture still linger
Gaming is functionally a no-go

What holds the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch from really being the fierce MacBook Air competitor that many of us hoped it would be is the 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus SoC.

When I reviewed the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 last year, I was genuinely impressed by the performance of the Snapdragon X Elite chip, despite the compatibility challenges that Windows-on-Arm is still working through. That was a much more powerful chip, though, and even the 10-core Snapdragon X Plus SoC offers noticeably better performance than what the Surface Laptop 13-inch is packing.

The 8-core chip isn't awful, to be clear. It's perfectly good for general computing tasks like streaming, school work, and office productivity, and it's probably one of the best student laptops out there for those who want a little bit of style to go along with their studies.

But if you need this laptop to do anything other than writing up papers and reports, streaming movies, or using web-based cloud software, you will likely be unhappy with what you're getting here for the price.

The most direct and obvious comparisons I can make with this laptop is the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch with Apple Silicon (starting with the Apple M2), the larger 13.8-inch Surface Laptop 7, the recently released Dell 14 Plus, last year's Dell XPS 13 (with both Intel and Qualcomm SoCs), and the Asus Zenbook A14 with the entry-level Snapdragon X SoC.

Only the M2 MacBook Air 13-inch and Dell 14 Plus are cheaper than the Surface Laptop 13-inch (at least at the time of review), and all of these laptops start around the same price, give or take a hundred bucks or so.

The models I've tested and that TechRadar has reviewed in the past vary by spec, so it's not entirely an apples-to-apples comparison laid out in the charts above, as some of the Dell and Apple notebooks' advantages can be easily chalked up to more expensive processors.

If you go with any of those systems at the same price as the Surface Laptop 13-inch I tested, the performance difference might not be nearly as dramatic on paper, and almost certainly won't be all that noticeable.

Still, it's pretty clear that the Surface Laptop 13-inch either lands somewhere in the middle of its competition, or comes in second or third from the bottom. Add to that some performance issues stemming from Microsoft's Prism software layer that translates x86-architecture-designed programs, which is pretty much every Windows program, to be ARM-compatible.

Generally, this works rather well, but it does introduce system overhead that will slow things down. In short, unless you're running a piece of rare ARM-native software, you will almost never get as good an experience with Windows software on ARM as you would with the x86 architecture powering Intel and AMD chips.

The question really comes down to whether or not the performance is good enough, and I think that for most people, it will be (unless you want to load up Steam and get into PC gaming. The best gaming laptop, this is not).

A masculine hand typing on a Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Much like the MacBook Air 13-inch, the Surface Laptop 13-inch is more geared toward casual computing needs and productivity work, and it excels at these tasks.

So, even though the MacBook Air 13-inch with M4 gets roughly twice as many FPS as the Surface Laptop 13-inch, the MacBook Air 13-inch still struggles to maintain playable frame rates unless you seriously scale back your graphics settings.

The MacBook's gaming advantage, then, only really looks intimidating as a percentage, but in practice, none of the laptops I tested were suitable for the task of playing, say, Cyberpunk 2077 at max settings and native resolution.

What it really boils down to, then, is whether you're just looking for a new laptop to keep up with friends and family, maybe do some office work, or write that Sci-Fi novel at the local coffee shop that you've been meaning to finally get around to this year.

If those are the boxes that need ticking, any of the laptops listed above will get the job done, but none will look as good as the Violet Surface Laptop 13-inch.

Performance: 3.5 / 5

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch: Battery Life

The battery life indicator on a Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

How long does it last on a single charge? 17 hours and 14 minutes
How long to recharge from empty to full? With the included 45W charger, it takes about two and a half hours to charge to full.

One other key area where the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch shines is its stellar battery life. In my testing, it ran about 17 hours and 14 minutes on average in my battery test, thanks to the super efficient ARM architecture. This puts it in fourth place overall in my 10 laptop test group, but it does outlast all three MacBook Air 13-inch models in the group by an hour or more.

So even though it's not officially in the battery life winner's circle, you can't ask for much more from a laptop this thin and light.

Battery Life: 5 / 5

Should you buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch?

A masculine hand holding the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch — (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)

Microsoft Surface Laptop 13 Scorecard
Category	Notes	Rating
Value	While not as cheap as something like the Dell 14 Plus, it is on par or cheaper than similar offerings from Dell and Apple.	3.5 / 5
Specs	There aren't a whole lot of configuration options, and the lack of USB4 is unfortunate.	3.5 / 5
Design	It's simply gorgeous and a joy to type on. If it had a physical camera privacy shutter, better ports, and a better display, it'd be a 6 out of 5.	4.5 / 5
Performance	For a casual use notebook, it's in line with similarly specced Windows laptops, but the MacBook Air 13-inch with M4 runs circles around it.	3.5 / 5
Battery Life	At just over 17 hours of battery life in my testing, this is one of the longest lasting Windows laptops around.	5 / 5
Final Score	It's not perfect, and had Microsoft flexed some muscle to get a 10-core chip in this laptop without raising its price, it'd truly be the Windows MacBook Air we've been waiting for, but it'll be more than close enough for most people and looks better than anything Apple has put out in years.	4 / 5

Buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch if...

You want a truly eye-catching laptop
This is the look we should have gotten on the M2 MacBook Air redesign, rather than the dull, uninteresting colors we got. Apple's mistep is Microsoft's advantage.

You want an all-day laptop
At 17+ hours of battery life in my testing—including using it throughout an almost 15-hour flight to Taipei—this laptop has the juice.

Don't buy it if...

You want a high-performance laptop
If you want a laptop for serious professional workloads like video editing or for PC gaming, you're going to want to opt for a beefier device.

You want worry-free app compatibility
While most Windows apps will work on this device thanks to Microsoft's Prism compatibility layer, you will still occasionally run into some apps that won't work on ARM devices.

Also consider

If my Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch review has you looking at other options, here are three other laptops you should consider instead...

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4)
The most recent Apple MacBook Air 13-inch offers substantially better performance than the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13, making it a much better value.

Read our full Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review

Dell XPS 13 9350
If you don't want to hassle with the quirks of Qualcomm's ARM-based chips, the Intel Lunar Lake-powered XPS 13 is a fantastic alternative.

Read our full Dell XPS 13 9350 review

How I tested the Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch

I spent about a month with the device
I used our standard suite of benchmarking tools and performance tests
I used it as my primary work laptop, including taking it on an international work trip

I spent about a month with the Surface Laptop 13-inch, far longer than I usually spend with a device under review. While this was mostly due to circumstance (Computex and WWDC, in particular), this did allow me to do a much deeper dive.

In addition to my normal benchmarking process, I took extra time to retest some competing laptops we had in the office to come up with a more thorough comparison against the Surface Laptop 13-inch's competitors.

First reviewed June 2025

Mario Kart World just about makes the podium, but some strange design decisions have left me scratching my head

2:28 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Consoles & PC Gadgets Gaming Nintendo | Tags: Final Fantasy, Mario Kart | Comments: Off

Review information

Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: June 5, 2025

Mario Kart World has launched alongside the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2. And with it, the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe curse has finally been broken. Of course, it’s reasonable to expect Nintendo to have supported its 68 million+ selling Switch game for as long as it did, but the time certainly felt right for something new.

And Mario Kart World absolutely feels new. Not in the literal sense, of course - that’s a given. Rather, it genuinely takes Mario Kart to fresh new heights with utterly stunning visuals and transformative racing techniques that feel so much more tactile than the underwater or anti-gravity gimmicks of the series' past.

The big draw to Mario Kart World? Well, the clue’s in the name. The game offers a gigantic open world for players to explore in Free Roam mode - either solo or in local or online multiplayer. The game’s circuits are also integrated into this map, as are hundreds of mini-challenges and collectibles.

World also introduces Knockout Tour, a non-stop endurance race from one end of the map to another, in which the goal is to remain above a constantly dwindling placement threshold to avoid being eliminated. It’s hands down the best mode in the game and really comes to life online, where races are almost impossibly chaotic.

While Mario Kart World does offer the most exceptionally satisfying driving model the series has ever seen, I can’t quite bring myself to say it beats out the excellence of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe just yet. Its main Grand Prix mode actually does the game’s otherwise wonderful circuits a bit of a disservice, and there’s a pile of frustrating design decisions that all add up to muddy the overall experience to a degree.

Namely, Nintendo has fumbled the bag somewhat with its open world here. While the act of simply driving about and unlocking outfits for your favorite characters can be a lot of fun in and of itself, there’s little in the way of actual content here outside of short challenge missions. Even the main form of collectible here - stickers you can place on your kart - falls flat. But more on that in the review proper.

Overall, Mario Kart World has moments where it’s easily the best game in the series. The handling of the karts here is sublime, and learning courses and routes with the new rail grind and wall ride techniques is endlessly fulfilling. There aren’t even any major issues with online play, which, for Nintendo, is an accomplishment. It’s just such a shame that certain design decisions lead to a game that feels lacking in some crucial areas.

There’s a whole world out there, but is it worth seeing?

The big draw to Mario Kart World is, as mentioned, its Free Roam mode. For the first time ever, Nintendo has created a fully explorable Mushroom Kingdom without any load times. Even pressing the ‘+’ button from the main menu will seamlessly transition you into Free Roam, which is super impressive and is a strong indicator of how much more powerful the Switch 2 is compared to its predecessor.

The only load times you’ll experience in Free Roam come from switching characters or fast traveling to a named location on the map, and even these are extremely brisk. Pair this with impressive draw distance, rock-solid 60fps performance, and simply stunning visual fidelity, and you have a mode that acts as a real showcase of the console’s hardware chops.

It’s a massive open space, dotted with the game’s many circuits and plenty of scenic routes to travel between them. It’s also exceptionally varied, featuring everything from lush forests and arid dunes to a haunted swamp and an industrial space port. There’s a great amount of fun to be had in simply driving around, taking in some breathtaking sights, and vibing to World’s eclectic soundtrack.

That said, Free Roam leaves a lot on the table. Don’t get me wrong, going on a drive with your friends (Free Roam is also playable in multiplayer) is joyous, and I can see it being a wonderful experience for groups of friends and families. But once the novelty wears off, there actually isn’t all that much to do here.

Best bit

Mario Kart World’s driving is sublime. Drifting feels more fine-tuned than ever, while new techniques like wall riding and rail grinding offer an incredibly high skill ceiling and avenues for creativity during any given moment out on track.

Aside from character costumes, which you can unlock by picking up Dash Food items at various drive-thrus dotted throughout the map, your main collectible in Free Roam is stickers. This irks me on so many levels.

The stickers themselves are inoffensive, and many have very cool and eye-catching designs. It’s their implementation that’ll leave you wanting more. You can choose a single sticker, which will be placed on your kart of choice, and they also act as a miniature icon during online play. However, the stickers simply don’t show up on half the karts in the roster, and on most, they’re far too tiny to be noticeable.

Furthermore, stickers are pretty much the main form of collectible in this game. Completing one of many P-Switch challenges dotted around the Free Roam map? While these are fun little distractions, all you’re getting for your troubles is a sticker. Running over a hidden Question Block panel found tucked away in the map’s circuits? Sticker. Collecting Peach Medallions? For that, you’ll at least get a cool alternate kart livery! Nope, I’m joking, it’s stickers.

As a result, the joy of driving around in Free Roam can quickly diminish if you’re not racing about with friends. It does feel like what we have now, at least, is a foundation on which Nintendo can build upon with more activities and potentially new areas. We’ll have to see how things pan out in the future, but for now, don’t be surprised if Free Roam starts to feel a little vacuous for you over time.

Catch my drift

So the open world in Mario Kart World leaves a lot to be desired, but I’d be a fool to completely write the game off because of it. What saves World for me, and why I still consider it to be my new favorite game in the series, is that its driving and racing feel so, so good.

Previous Mario Kart games had gimmicks like gliding, underwater, and anti-gravity racing. All of which were cute and fun, but little more than fluff that was broadly used for set-piece purposes. There’s nothing wrong with that at face value, but World’s additions do genuinely feel transformative.

World introduces charge jumping, rail grinding, and wall riding to the karting mix, and all work in tandem with one another to actively raise this game’s skill ceiling compared to previous entries. By themselves, these individual mechanics don’t necessarily make you faster, but when chained together to take advantage of a circuit’s level design and shortcuts, they’ll make you feel like Nintendo injected some of that Neversoft Tony Hawk game goodness into Mario Kart World.

It helps that Mario Kart World rewards skillful driving a good deal more. Drifting has also been fine-tuned, feeling more precise and satisfying than ever. Drafting a kart in front of you for a quick slipstream boost has also been greatly enhanced, feeling much faster and a more viable tactic for getting ahead.

The whole thing feels very carefully balanced, which is where items come in. The iconic Spiny Shell - which makes a beeline for the player in first and explodes on contact with them - is still devastating, but you maintain some forward momentum after getting hit, making the punishment slightly less severe. Common ‘last to first’ items like the Bullet Bill and Lightning have been considerably nerfed, with their benefits and debuffs having less of an effect on the overall race.

There’s a smattering of new items to help keep things fresh, too. The Coin Shell follows a set path down the track, dropping coins for other players to pick up, thus increasing their top speeds. Kamek can be summoned to transform players into other characters and place random obstacles at the front of the pack. There’s also the Ice Flower, which is a bit of a dud, being practically identical to the Fire Flower in effect.

Then there’s the Feather, which hasn’t been seen in the series (outside of Battle modes) since the SNES original - so long as you’re not counting Mario Kart Tour. The Feather simply makes your kart jump into the air, which seems underwhelming, but write it off at your peril. In truth, the Feather can be extremely useful for accessing loftier parts of a track or initiating a grind or wall ride without needing to take a few seconds to rev up a charge jump. They’re also great for accessing various shortcuts on any given circuit.

At the races

Let’s talk about modes, then. Outside of Free Roam, you’ve got the expected appearance of Grand Prix mode, which comprises eight cups - all featuring four races each. It’s joined by other mainstays, including Time Trial and Battle modes.

Grand Prix is something I have pretty mixed feelings on in Mario Kart World. That’s because the bulk of each event is made up of intermission segments where you race along a portion of the open world map, with your destination being a single lap of the featured circuit.

Needing to drive from one circuit to the next is something Nintendo made a big deal of in World’s marketing. I do like their inclusion, and they lead to some interesting and unique racing. However, they’re far better suited to the excellent Knockout Tour mode, where the whole point is driving a route from A to B across the entire map, OutRun style.

In Grand Prix, while you’ll get to do a three-lap race of the first track on the docket, you actually end up doing very little racing on the tracks themselves. This makes it harder to learn each circuit at first, and also means they don’t live very long in the memory.

And that’s a huge shame, because again, track design is some of the best the series has ever seen. The winding alleyways and shortcuts of Shy Guy Bazaar. The spectacle of being transported into a movie world in Boo Cinema. And the sheer moment-to-moment set piece that is Bowser’s Castle. They all have the wind taken out of their sails somewhat, as we simply don’t get much racing time on them.

There does exist a workaround here, though. By selecting VS Race from the menu, you can set up custom race rules. By setting the track selection rule to ‘open’, only then can you do a full-length race on each circuit. The absence of a traditional Grand Prix setup, then, is baffling. Especially as those intermission routes really shine in the Knockout Tour mode.

Speaking of Knockout Tour, it’s another highlight in Mario Kart World, and easily the best way to play the game, especially in an online 24-player race. Each of the eight Knockout Tour events smartly blends open roads with segments of circuits, going from ascending steep mountains to weaving through busy traffic in a matter of minutes.

The goal of Knockout Tour is in its name. Each checkpoint will eliminate the racers in the back four places, eventually whittling the grid down to just four for the final stretch. It’s constantly thrilling and rewards skillful driving, clever usage of shortcuts, and an understanding of rail grinds and wall rides for quick bursts of speed.

Needs a few upgrades

While I have greatly enjoyed my time with Mario Kart World so far - in both solo and multiplayer environments - it still can feel rushed or incomplete in certain areas. I’ve already spoken about my frustrations with the Grand Prix format and lack of meaningful activities in Free Roam, but those, unfortunately, aren’t my only issues.

It’s not the end of the world, but the character selection screen is objectively a total mess. Things aren’t too bad at first, but you’ll soon realize that each unlocked costume acts as its own slot on the roster. There’s no dropdown list here, letting you choose an outfit after selecting a character. It’s all just one large jumble with only rudimentary organization.

This is actually something Nintendo has gone backwards on since its last game in the series. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, certain characters like Yoshi, Inkling, and Shy Guy let you choose an alternate look or color after picking them. There’s nothing like that in Mario Kart World, so I seriously hope this gets patched in soon.

Furthermore, the unlocking process for some characters is frustratingly random. A handful are tied to beating cups in Grand Prix mode, which is completely fine. The rest, though, are tied to the Kamek item transforming you into a random character, meaning you genuinely might not complete the roster for weeks if not months, based on how much you play.

These gripes aside, I still really do love Mario Kart World. Its driving is sublime, Knockout Tour is a fantastically chaotic new mode, and I’m so serious when I say the game’s massive soundtrack is worth the price of admission alone. Outside of Final Fantasy 14 Online, I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a soundtrack this varied and of this quality. It covers everything from jazz and techno to rock and ska, classical, big band, and everything in between. Even after 30 or so hours, I don’t believe I’ve come close to hearing the entire track list. There’s just so much here, especially if you’re nostalgic for the wider Super Mario franchise.

Should I buy Mario Kart World?

Buy it if...

You want a kart racer that’s as fun as it is chaotic
The best driving in the series, paired with hilarious items and the new Knockout Tour mode, makes Mario Kart World a chaotic blast in both single and multiplayer.

You’re playing with family and friends regularly
Mario Kart World’s Free Roam mode is excellent for parents who want some simple racing fun with their kids, or even as a casual pick-up-and-play mode with friends.

Don't buy it if...

You were hoping for more meaningful unlocks
Aside from characters and costumes, the main form of unlockables is stickers. When you realize this is much of what Free Roam has to offer, it may be enough to turn you away.

You’re not keen on randomness or items
The Kamek item tied to unlocking some characters aside, getting three red shells up your rear end on the final corner of a race remains uniquely infuriating.

Accessibility

While there are no accessibility options in the traditional sense, such as colorblind filters, Mario Kart World does offer some driving options to make things easier in some regards. These include smart steering, which veers you away from track edges, as well as auto-accelerate and auto-item use options.

It's also quite strange and frustrating that there are no dedicated volume control options - nothing for either music, voices or sound effects. This isn't uncommon for Nintendo games, but the omission of such audio options continues to be utterly baffling.

How I reviewed Mario Kart World

I played Mario Kart World on Nintendo Switch 2 for around 30 hours for this review. I tested more or less everything the game has to offer, including Grand Prix, Knockout Tour, Free Roam, VS Battles, and online play. During that time, I also unlocked the majority of characters and outfits and completed close to 100 P-Switch challenges in Free Roam.

During my playtime, I primarily used the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller in docked mode on an LG CX OLED TV which allowed me to enjoy Mario Kart World at its native 1440p resolution, transitioning to the Joy-Con 2 during handheld play on the Switch 2’s 1080p vivid LCD display.

First reviewed June 2025

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