• Original review date: November 2022 • Current entry-level Bose Dolby Atmos soundbar • Launch price - $499 / £499 / AU$799 • Target price now - $399 / £399 / AU$799
Update February 2024. The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 remains the entry-level Dolby Atmos model in the company’s soundbar lineup, slotting in beneath the mid-range Smart Soundbar 700, which recently received an official price cut. The 600 has also been getting regular discounts, with the new price target sitting at $399 / £399, though its price remains the same as at launch in Australia. At its new discounted price, the Smart Soundbar 600 is an excellent value for a compact soundbar with upfiring speaker drivers that can deliver convincing Dolby Atmos height effects. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Bose Smart Soundbar 600: One-minute review
The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 ($499 / £499 / AU$799) is the company’s new more compact and more affordable Dolby Atmos model, slotting in beneath the Smart Soundbar 900 ($899 / £1399 / AU$799).
While it's priced around half as much as its larger sibling, the 600 offers up a mostly similar feature set, but from a more limited speaker array. A total of five drivers, including two up-firing ones, are used to deliver Dolby Atmos soundtracks, allowing the 600 to provide stiff competition to the best soundbars that use virtual Atmos processing in the same price range.
It may be small, and not that expensive, but the 600 sounds both bigger and better than one would expect. Overhead Atmos effects extend above the TV screen, and the audio presentation extends well out to the sides, in the way you expect from the best Dolby Atmos soundbars. Bass depth and power are not things you’d expect from a compact soundbar, meaning there’s not much of either, but the sound balance here is both natural and pleasing, while the imaging it manages with stereo music is surprisingly wide and precise.
As for features, the Soundbar 600 is fairly packed, with its Atmos support helped along by TrueSpace processing for music and regular stereo and 5.1 soundtracks. Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, and Bluetooth are all onboard for streaming, and there’s also built-in Alexa and Works with Google Assistant voice control support.
The Bose’s connection options go a bit further than some budget bars in providing both HDMI eARC and optical digital inputs. Everything can be controlled using the full-featured Bose Music app, and a basic hardware remote adds to the bar’s voice control capabilities.
Given the price, this is a solid, high-quality hunk of soundbar, with the sleek industrial design the company is known for. You have the option to extend it with a wireless subwoofer (or two) from Bose, along with wireless surround speakers, though at a fairly substantial cost.
Setup is easy and app-guided, and there are plenty of adjustments to tune the sound to your liking. Overall, this is a fine entry-level Dolby Atmos soundbar option offering great value, and one you should be looking at if you want to add real Atmos sound to your TV without spending an arm and a leg.
Top-mounted drivers on the Soundbar 600 are used for Dolby Atmos overhead effects, while side-mounted speakers help to widen the soundstage. (Image credit: Future)
Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: Price & release date
Released in October 2022
$499 / £499 / AU$799
The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 was released in October 2022 and sells for $499 / £499 / AU$799. Sometimes, the latest Bose promo codes can bring prices down.
Pricing for the Soundbar 600 is slightly higher than for the Sonos Beam Gen 2, a model that Bose appears to be directly competing with. Similar to the Beam, the Soundbar 600 doesn’t come with a subwoofer for extended bass, but it does offer Wi-Fi for wireless streaming, as well as the ability to be paired with an optional wireless subwoofer and surround speakers.
Where the Bose beats the Sonos in terms of features is its inclusion of up-firing speakers for Dolby Atmos – the Bose, in contrast, uses virtual processing to simulate height effects in Atmos soundtracks.
Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: features
Dolby Atmos with up-firing speakers
HDMI eARC and optical digital connections
Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast, and Bluetooth wireless streaming
The Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is a compact, all-in-one soundbar that supports playback of Dolby Atmos soundtracks and uses proprietary TrueSpace processing for upconverting both stereo and regular 5.1 channel sources for Atmos presentation. DTS:X is not supported. A remote control is provided, and both setup and control can be carried out using the Bose Music app. The Soundbar 600 can also be expanded via the company’s optional wireless surround speakers and subwoofers (up to two).
A total of five transducers are used in the Soundbar 600: two side-mounted ones that combine with a center-mounted tweeter to deliver an expanded stereo image, and two top-mounted ones for Dolby Atmos overhead effects. Both driver size and amplifier power aren’t specified by Bose.
Connections on the Soundbar 600 include an HDMI eARC port plus an optical digital audio input for connecting an older TV that doesn’t support HDMI ARC/eARC. A second HDMI input to provide a passthrough would be a nice addition, though that’s something that isn’t always found on budget soundbars – the Sonos beam doesn't include one.
Wireless streaming options on the Bose include Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, Spotify Connect, and Bluetooth. The Bose Music app also integrates a range of services including Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, and Sirius XM for streaming over Wi-Fi.
Support for Alexa is onboard for hands-free operation over basic controls like volume and track skipping, as well as access to music apps supported by Alexa. The Soundbar 600 also works with Google Assistant, giving you similar functionality when a Google speaker is connected to the network. With the Soundbar 600 set up for Alexa support, you can also use its Voice4Video feature to control functions of a connected Smart TV – everything from turning it on and off to playing and pausing video playback and changing channels.
Along with Dolby Atmos, the Soundbar 600 features proprietary TrueSpace processing. This takes incoming stereo, mono, and 5.1-channel sound sources and upconverts them for an Atmos-like immersive presentation using the soundbar’s full speaker array.
Features score: 4/5
(Image credit: Bose)
Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: sound quality
Great dialogue clarity
Spacious presentation of Dolby Atmos soundtracks
Somewhat light on bass
Before I dove deep into evaluating the Bose’s performance, I simply used it as the soundbar for my TV setup in a relatively spacious room.
Basically, I had no serious complaints: movie and TV dialogue was routinely clear and full-sounding, music and sound effects were rendered in a spacious manner that extended the presentation well beyond the confines of the bar itself, and even music sounded well-balanced and with decent stereo separation – something many soundbars fail to deliver.
On action movies with Dolby Atmos soundtracks like John Wick 3, Bose’s bar created a believable sense of atmosphere in scenes with rain, the water appearing to fall from above the TV’s screen. Other demo-worthy Atmos scenes, like those from District 9 and Godzilla (2016), sci-fi films where there are plenty of helicopters flying overhead throughout, were well-served by the Soundbar 600, with the sound easily scaling up to match the onscreen action, and also extending above and beyond it.
While the Bose’s sound was mostly dynamic, even in my relatively large room, sound effects like the stomping of Godzilla through the streets of Honolulu lacked the bass oomph I know to be there – compact, all-in-one designs like the 600 can only do so much in the deep bass department. Even with that limitation, the bass the Soundbar 600 managed was clean and well-controlled, and it helped to add excitement to scenes from John Wick 3 where the protagonist fights would-be assassins in tightly enclosed spaces.
Music also sounded good on the Bose, and that’s not something you can say for every soundbar. Listening to the new stereo mixes on the just-released The Beatles' Revolverbox set (streamed from Tidal to the soundbar from my iPhone using Chromecast), Tomorrow Never Knows had a dense, psychedelic, swirling presentation, and Good Day Sunshine had a full quality, with the Motown-esque horn section accompaniment sounding brassy and crisp. Overall, music had a too-crisp balance on the Bose bar, but I’d attribute that to the missing bass octaves, and I can’t say I found the sound to be fatiguing overall.
Sound quality score: 4/5
Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: Design
Basic, compact form-factor
Excellent build quality
Small, throwaway remote control
The Soundbar 600 has the basic bar-like form factor as many other soundbars, and comes only in a black finish. At 27 inches wide by 2 inches high and 4 inches deep, it’s a fairly sleek and compact design for an all-in-one unit.
Given the Soundbar 600’s approachable price, build quality is excellent: a metal mesh grille surrounds the bar’s front and sides, and the back panel has left and right ports (to enhance bass output) and a metal sink to prevent the built-in amplifier from overheating. Lifting the Soundbar 600 up in your hands, its impressive heft tells you it’s been designed to last.
Bose’s included remote control is a compact type with basic buttons to operate power, volume, mute, and input selection. Those same functions can be carried out via the Bose Music app, and there are also touch controls on the soundbar’s top that let you power it on/off and activate or deactivate the built-in microphone for voice control.
The Bose's inputs include HDMI-eARC and optical digital connections. (Image credit: Future)
Design score: 5/5
Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: Usability and setup
HDMI eARC connection
App-based setup and control
No alphanumeric front panel display
With only HDMI eARC and optical digital ports available for connecting to a TV, setup is simple enough and will be based on which of those your TV provides. Using the HDMI eARC connection, of course, gives you access to advanced features like Dolby Atmos sound – something optical digital connections don’t support – and HDMI CEC control, which lets you adjust the soundbar’s volume level using the TV’s remote control, among other things.
Bose’s remote control is basic and tiny enough that it’s easy to forget about (there’s a high likelihood it will disappear into your sofa’s cushions at some point). For the most part, I used the Bose Music app for setup and control, which works well and is easy to navigate.
This guides you through initial setup, where you – annoyingly – first need to create a Bose account. Once that’s done, the app discovers your Wi-Fi network and links the Soundbar 600 to it. The next step is to add info to the app for any supported music services, a list that includes: Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, and Sirius XM. Other services not supported by the app can be streamed wirelessly to the Soundbar 600 using AirPlay, Chromecast, or Bluetooth.
App-based controls include center channel (dialogue) and height channel level, plus bass and treble adjustments. There’s also a wall EQ setting meant to adjust the sound for on-wall installations and a Dialogue Mode to enhance voice clarity on TV shows and movies if that’s ever an issue.
Like other budget soundbars, the Sonos Beam included, the Bose 600 lacks a front panel LED alphanumeric display, instead using color-coded lighting sequences to provide feedback to remote control commands. As usual, I couldn’t be bothered to memorize these, instead relying solely on the app for all of my adjustments and tweaks save for volume using the TV’s remote.
Bose's small remote offers basic controls, but you'll want to use the company's control app for setup and more advanced adjustments. (Image credit: Future)
Usability and setup score: 4.5/5
Bose Smart Soundbar 600 review: Value
Great overall value
Offers features the competition lacks
At $499, the Bose Smart Soundbar 600 is bumping up against some strong budget bar competition. The main one is the Sonos Beam Gen 2 ($450), but there are many others in the under $500 range from companies like Denon, Polk Audio, Samsung, Sony, LG, and Vizio.
Where the Bose distinguishes itself and provides value is its use of actual up-firing speakers to convey Dolby Atmos overhead effects, as well as its effective TrueSpace processing of sources with a lesser channel count. Its control app, while not at the same level as Sonos’ app, is also sophisticated, and there’s ample streaming support, with Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast built-in, and Bluetooth all onboard.
What’s lacking here is bass, which is something you can get with even modest soundbar systems that include an external subwoofer. Adding one of the company’s wireless Bass Modules ($499) should address that shortcoming, but then it bumps the system price up to $1,000 – a range where you can find other compelling options, including the all-in-one Sonos Arc.
Bitdefender is one of the big names when it comes to personal security, so it’s no surprise that the firm’s suite of products includes a password manager.
Bitdefender Password Manager includes an impressive range of mainstream features and security protocols, and because this app comes from a wider security provider it’s also available as part of Bitdefender’s extensive all-in-one security packages – that’s not a viable option from dedicated password manager software.
We’re going to find out if Bitdefender Password Manager is worth using as a standalone product or as part of your wider security regime – and if it’s worth a place on our list of the best password managers.
Bitdefender Password Manager: Plans and pricing
Bitdefender’s mainstream security status means it’s got a straightforward pricing structure – something we always appreciate.
If you want to buy Bitdefender Password Manager as a standalone product then you don’t have to choose from different tiers with different features. Instead, you simply pick the period you need: a one-year plan usually costs $29.99 / £24.99 / AUD$50 and is frequently discounted, while the monthly plan is poorer value at $2.99 / £2.49 / AUD$5 per month.
You can also buy a family version called Shared, which has up to four accounts for twice the price rather than quadruple. For many families, this will be satisfactory, but other companies offer family plans for up to five or six, so Bitdefender’s is a bit limiting on that front.
You’ll arguably find even better value from Bitdefender’s all-in-one plans. If you buy Bitdefender Premium Security it’ll cost you $63.47 / £49.99 / AUD$95.27 for your first year, and you get Password Manager, protection against malware, viruses, adware and spyware, unlimited VPN traffic and multi-layer ransomware protection. It’s valid for up to 10 devices and automatically renews at the end of the term.
Pay $76.16 / £59.99 / AUD$114.32 for a year of Premium Security Plus and you get all of those features alongside credit monitoring, identity theft insurance, and identity theft protection.
Those packages are far more expensive than conventional, standalone password managers, but they offer a far broader array of features – and, if you do just want Bitdefender Password Manager alone, it offers good value from its annual pricing.
(Image credit: Bitdefender)
Bitdefender Password Manager: Setup
This is a mainstream product, so it’s very easy to start. Once you’ve created an account, you need to pick a master password for account recovery – and Bitdefender immediately evaluates its strength.
Once that’s done, you can copy or download your recovery key and install the app. It’s available as an extension for Edge, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, and as iOS and Android apps. That’s it, though: while that support covers most people, there’s no desktop app or support for more obscure browsers.
Bitdefender’s app can import passwords from other key apps, like 1Password, Dashlane, LastPass, Bitwarden, and Sticky Password, and it’ll also import directly from Chrome and Firefox. It also supports CSV, XM, and text files, which can sometimes be a bit more hit-and-miss. That’s another area where Bitdefender impresses, although other apps go even further in terms of direct app and browser support.
(Image credit: Bitdefender)
Bitdefender Password Manager: Interface and performance
Bitdefender has a good range of mainstream password management features. It can automatically save your login details and payment cards, autofill all your details, and it’s got a module to search and identify weak, duplicated, or leaked passwords – so you can get on top of potential security risks.
When you want to add new accounts you can add notes, generate a secure password and have it evaluated by the app within the same window, and also enable automatic login and choose which accounts are your favorites for faster future access – it’s a very intuitive method. The password generator is good, too: you’re able to use special characters and specify if you want your new password to be easy to type. This isn’t unique to Bitdefender, but some other generators use a take-it-or-leave-it approach.
The interface is straightforward, too: the extension opens in a small window at the top of your browser and different tabs show you passwords and security reports. There’s an option to secure all of your browsing instantly. Delve further into the main menu and you’ll find the password generator, payment card details, and settings.
We really like the different categories of data you can store in Bitdefender’s password manager, including identities like driver’s licenses and passports. While there are some that have specialized sections for IDs (like Dashlane), the majority overlook this simple addition that can make booking flights online a smoother process.
This tool is good-looking, minimal, and easy to use, and its range of features tackles everything you’ll need for everyday password protection. Fortunately, the web experience reflects the mobile app experience so you should be able to jump between any device and pick up where you left off.
You’ll only want to look elsewhere if you need more robust organization and management settings for business use, for instance, or broader platform support. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something with good cybersecurity credentials, Bitdefender is one of the companies we would suggest.
Given the company’s overall outlook on privacy and security, and the fact that it’s geared toward regular consumers, it’s a shame that Bitdefender hasn’t yet announced any plans to bring passkey support to the password manager. Admittedly, rollout has been slow and major operating systems have held some elements of widespread adoption back (that will change in 2023), but many major rivals including Dashlane, NordPass, and 1Password have all declared their commitment to the passwordless login method that’s slowly emerging across the Internet.
(Image credit: Bitdefender )
Bitdefender Password Manager: Security
We have no qualms with Bitdefender’s security credentials. Your data is protected using AES 256-bit encryption and bolstered with SHA512 and BCRYPT, and all of your data is encrypted and decrypted locally – so no one at Bitdefender can access that information.
As with most other apps, you can use biometric login and various two-factor authentication methods for secure sign-ins. Bitdefender can automatically log you out after a period of inactivity. Users can also specify a PIN to lock the software quickly.
(Image credit: Bitdefender)
Bitdefender Password Manager: Support
Bitdefender has a comprehensive knowledge base that includes articles, tutorials, and videos that cover all of its products, so it’s a good start if you’re having issues with Password Manager.
Beyond that, an active forum is a good destination for anyone who needs help. A neat wizard can also direct you to potentially helpful articles before you have to get in touch with support. If you do need to make contact, there’s 24/7 chat, a form for sending an email and 24-hour worldwide phone support in English. It’s a very comprehensive offering.
Bitdefender Password Manager: The competition
BitDefender’s mainstream abilities mean it rubs right against apps likeLastPass and1Password. There’s not much between them, although LastPass is better for organization management and 1Password is improved for families. However, both of those alternatives are a bit pricier than Bitdefender’s tool.
If you’d like password management as part of a wider security package, then theNorton password manager and theKaspersky password manager products are your best alternatives. When it comes to password management, there’s little between Bitdefender and Norton, while both are better than Kaspersky.
If you’re not necessarily after the full cybersecurity package but you want to get access to a VPN, the newly launched Proton Pass is free of charge, though it’s available as a paid premium version and as part of an entire Proton package with VPN.
Bitdefender Password Manager: Final verdict
Bitdefender Password Manager doesn’t have the high-end abilities or business features you’ll find elsewhere, but it impresses in several other key areas. It’s got good mainstream abilities and great support, and if offers decent value in all of its guises.
If you need everyday password management with plenty of support the standalone product is ideal, and the all-in-one security packages are impressive too.
• Original review date: November 2022 • Add supported pricing tiers available
• Launch price: $119 / £94 / AU$179
• Official price now with ads: $99 / £84 / N/A
Updated: January 2024. The standard 2022 Kindle is an ereader that'll basically suit everyone. It's small, light, has a good battery life and represents an overall evolution over the models that came before it. It can now be had for a cheaper starting price in the US and UK if you're willing to put up with adverts. But paying a little more still gets you a very fine Kindle, hassle-free. Do bear in mind you can get a great price on the standard Kindle when seasonal sales are in full swing, but it's still great at full price. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Amazon Kindle (2022): One-minute review
Over 15 years after Amazon launched its first Kindle ereader, the retail giant has launched the latest Kindle (2022) model. Because Amazon is so huge these days, from turning into a shop where you can buy almost anything, while also making its own smart home Alexa-powered devices and even creating its own high-budget TV shows (such as the recent Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power), it can be easy to forget that it started out life as an online bookstore.
Still, with the Kindle range, it shows that books can still be a passion for the company, and with the launch of the Kindle (2022), you’d be forgiven for expecting an extremely accomplished ereader, considering the expertise and budget behind it.
The good news is that with the latest Kindle you get just that. While it lacks some of the bells and whistles offered by other ereaders – and even the more expensive Kindle models in Amazon’s growing range – if you want a simple and dependable device for reading ebooks on, the Kindle (2022) could be an excellent choice.
A higher resolution screen makes ebooks look fantastic, and as the most compact Amazon ereader, the Kindle (2022) slips easily into bags and some pockets, making it a good choice for travellers. However, the small screen size can be uncomfortable to read on for some people, as well as difficult to grip onto.
For people looking for a main ebook reader for home, the Kindle (2022) probably won't be the best ereader for your needs. However, starting at $99.99 / £84.99 / AU$179, it's one of the better value ereaders out there. It also comes with double the storage space (now 16GB), extended battery life, and its integration with Amazon's store and services remains excellent – as long as you don't mind buying from Amazon. If you do mind getting locked into Amazon's ecosystem, then look elsewhere. You'd be missing out on a decent and affordable compact ereader however.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Kindle (2022) review: Price and availability
Costs $99.99 / £84.99 for ad-supported model
No ad-supported version for Australia (RRP of AU$179)
More expensive than last model
The new Kindle (2022) is Amazon’s most affordable ereader, and costs $99.99 / £84.99 for the model with adverts on the lockscreen – there's no ad-supported version of the Kindle in Australia. For the non-advert version, you’ll need to pay $119.99 / £94.99 / AU$179.
While this makes the Kindle (2022) the cheapest current model, it does represent a price increase over the previous model, which sold for £69.99 / $89.99 / AU$139.
It remains more affordable than its chief competitor, the Kobo Clara 2E, although the rival offers a few more features that the 2022 Kindle misses out on. If you’re a regular user of Amazon's different services, though, then the Kindle’s integration with the huge retailer will likely appeal.
Price and availability score: 4/5
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Kindle (2022) review: Design and display
Smallest Kindle yet
Ideal for travelling
May be too small for some
The Kindle (2022) comes with a new design, and some changes are very welcome… and some less so. It’s now smaller and lighter than ever before, and weighs just 158g, with measurements of 6.2-inches x 4.3-inches x 0.32-inches (157.8 x 108.6 x 8.0 mm).
This makes it an excellent choice for travellers who want to take something to read while they globetrot. The Kindle (2022) can easily slip into a bag, or even a pocket, and you’d hardly notice it’s there. For short-haul flights where you’re limited to the amount of luggage you can bring on board, this could again be a great feature, as it takes up less space than even a rather slim book.
However, some people may not enjoy holding and reading on such a small device. It doesn’t feel as secure to hold as some of the larger, and more expensive, ebook readers out there, and the lack of a textured rear panel can make it feel a little hard to grip onto. There are Kindle cases on sale that can mitigate this, but without one, the Kindle (2022) can feel a little too slight for some people.
That’s not to say the build quality is lacking, however. Quite the opposite, in fact, as despite its budget price, the Kindle (2022) feels like a well-put-together device.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
The design is minimalist, with a single power button and a USB-C port for charging. Most of the controls for the Kindle are done via the 6-inch E Ink Carta 1200 touchscreen. The USB-C is a new addition, and means you can quickly charge the Kindle (2022) – and you can use any USB charger to do so.
The new blue color is a nice change from the standard black or white designs of other ereaders and, thanks to an update that happened in April 2021, you can set the cover of book you're currently reading to display on the sleep screen instead of cycling through a few wallpapers that were available on Kindles by default.
The screen itself has had a lot of attention lavished on it. It’s now got a 300ppi (pixels per inch) high resolution screen that is crisp and sharp on the 6-inch display. As an e-ink screen, it feels comfortable to read on, though we ended up making the text smaller to fit more of a page onto the 6-inch screen.
The screen has an adjustable front light for reading in the dark, and the Dark Mode option makes it more comfortable to read in low-light conditions. However, the front light cannot be adjusted for temperature, meaning you're stuck with white/blue light at all times, so people sensitive to blue light may find the Kindle (2022) less appealing for bedtime reading.
Unlike more expensive Kindles, the standard Kindle (2022) isn’t waterproof, but it does have a handy sensor that lets you know if there’s moisture in the USB-C port, so you can unplug it and wait for it to dry. We tried it out during the review, and it does indeed work.
In some markets the Kindle (2022) also comes with a ‘Kid’ version that features a rugged cover, one year subscription to Amazon Kids+ and an extended two-year guarantee (the standard model has one year).
Design and display score: 4/5
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Kindle (2022) review: Specs and performance
Good looking (yet small) screen
16GB capacity should be more than enough
As well as the improved screen, the Kindle (2022) also features twice the storage space of its predecessor. While the new 16GB capacity may seem a little low when compared to a phone or tablet, ebooks don’t take up much digital space, with an average ebook file size of 2.6MB. That means there’s room for well over 7,000 books – so even the most ardent bookworm won’t have to worry about space. There’s no microSD card slot, so you can't expand the storage space, but we can’t see many people needing to.
You can also download and listen to audiobooks using Amazon’s Audible service, and these obviously take up a lot more space than an ebook – though 16GB will still be able to handle a ridiculous amount. There are no built-in speakers, so you’ll need to pair a Bluetooth device, which can be done through the interface. We did find this to be a bit difficult to set up, with the Kindle becoming unresponsive at one point, but once paired, it works well.
Of course, the main reason you’d want to use the Kindle for is reading ebooks, and the good news is that it does this very well. The e-ink screen is comfortable to read on and, while the dark mode makes things comfortable at night, we didn’t find it was bright enough to read on without a light on. However, in both dark rooms and out in sunlight, the non-reflective screen performed well.
However, at 6 inches, we felt it was too small to read at the default text size, as it meant we had to keep flipping pages (done via tapping the side of the screen you want to turn the page to). Making the text smaller fitted more of the text on the screen, which reduced the number of times we had to turn the page – but some people may find the text size too small to read comfortably. As an ereader for travellers, this is great, but people reading at home may wish they’d gone for something bigger.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
The interface has been refreshed, and it takes a bit of getting used to. The minimalist design means there’s no buttons apart from the power button, and so if you haven’t used a Kindle before, you may be confused about how to get to your library. A nice touch is that when the Kindle (2022) goes into sleep mode, you can set the sleep screen to show the cover of the book you’re currently reading – though if you buy the ad supported version you’ll see adverts instead.
As you’d expect from an Amazon device, the Kindle is heavily integrated with the retail giant’s services. Once you’ve connected it to your Amazon account, you can buy Kindle ebooks and audiobooks through the Amazon website on other devices, and they will appear on the Kindle almost immediately, as long as it has an internet connection. This makes setting up the Kindle and filling it with books very straightforward, especially if you already have a Kindle library. You can also buy books directly through the Kindle’s interface. However, we prefer doing it on another device with a larger screen, such as a laptop.
While this means the Kindle is an easy and convenient gadget to use if you’re already invested in Amazon’s ecosystem – and many people are – but if you don’t use them or like Amazon as a company, then you may find the Kindle’s heavy reliance on Amazon frustrating. You can load non-Amazon ebooks onto it, but it’s not as easy and organizing them into collections aren't possible, leaving your library looking a tad dishevelled. So this really is only worth considering if you’re an Amazon customer.
When you purchase a Kindle (2022), you get three months of Kindle Unlimited free, essentially a Netflix-like subscription service for ebooks, which at least gives you a chance to check out the service and get access to a huge range of books before you spend any extra money. That said, you won't find a lot of big names (authors or publishers) on Kindle Unlimited but there is plenty to discover if you aren't too fussy about what you like to read.
Specs and performance score: 3/5
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Kindle (2022) review: Battery life
Better battery life than before
Drains slightly faster in dark mode
Amazon has not only upped the internal storage on the 2022 edition of the Kindle, but has also improved the battery life. Whether that’s due to improved efficiency of the same old battery or if it’s a bigger capacity is unclear as Amazon doesn’t ever reveal its battery secrets, but our guess is the latter.
The older 10th generation Kindle from 2019 offered up to four weeks of reading (according to Amazon’s own estimates), but we got about two weeks of reading for an hour each day on a single charge. Now, however, we’re getting a full 30 hours of reading – basically, four weeks of reading an hour each day.
In fact, we think you could get more. Our tests showed that there’s marginally more drain when using the Kindle in dark mode, and we measured battery life with the screen set to the usual view and dark mode. Not just that, we also set the front light to 7%, both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth always on, a mix of browsing Kindle Unlimited, the Kindle Store and using VoiceView (we were really curious how it sounded). If you aren’t going to be doing so much on your Kindle, you could push that battery a little more, and that’s pretty impressive.
Amazon has updated the charging port to USB-C in keeping with the 2021 Kindle Paperwhite (and other ereader) models and this makes the battery top up quicker. In our tests, the Kindle went from 9% to full in 1 hour 25 minutes. This, however, includes a little bit of trickle charging, which is actually better than what any of the latest Kobo ereaders manage. Where trickle charging on the Kobo Libra 2, for example, is super slow (an hour to go from 92% to full), the Kindle went from 9% to 93% in 1 hour 10 minutes, then another 15 minutes to finish the remaining 7%.
Battery score: 4/5
Should I buy the Amazon Kindle (2022)?
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Amazon Kindle (2022) report card
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If our Amazon Kindle (2022) review has you considering other options, here are three more ereaders that are great alternatives.
We pride ourselves on our independence and rigorous review-testing process, offering long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II come from the brand that practically invented noise cancellation. However, Bose’s initial venture into the true wireless earbuds space didn’t quite hit the same mark as its over-ear cans did, quickly losing out to the likes of Sony and Apple.
However, the master is back in form, with Bose’s second-gen QuietComfort Earbuds II (let’s call them QCE II for simplicity’s sake) getting a lot of what is important just right.
And it starts with a completely overhauled design that makes the new model so much more comfortable to wear as compared to the predecessor. The gen 2 is smaller, lighter and finally seems to be competing with Sony… although there are smaller buds out there.
Size definitely matters when it comes to true wireless earbuds, but so does the performance and Bose has actually improved on what it had with the older QC Buds. In fact, we thought the first-generation Bose QuietComfort Earbuds had pretty good active noise cancellation (ANC), and we weren’t entirely sure how the adaptive nature would perform in the new buds, but it’s remarkably effective... provided you get the fit right. High frequency sounds like sirens still get through, but not as much as they did with the older model.
And the improvements to ANC haven’t come at the expense of overall sound quality. In fact, we’d go so far as to say it’s even better this time round. Each bud adapts the sound to the contours of your ear canal to make what you hear beautifully balanced with very clear details and textures. Like the ANC performance, this is, again, dependent on how well the buds fit your ear.
While there’s a lot to commend Bose on, there’s not been a huge improvement on battery life – with the case only getting a bit more juice than before – and call quality is also nothing to phone home about.
The big improvements, however, come with a higher price tag than the first-gen’s launch price. And although it matches the launch price of the Sony WF-1000XM4, the rivals can now be had for a lot less in several markets.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Update (February 2023): On February 17, 2023, Bose began rolling out a new firmware update that adds a feature the company is calling Independent Single-Bud Use. This allows you to use the buds independently of each other, meaning you'll be able to continue listening to your tunes when you take one of them off (which would initially pause the playback) or switch them if one runs out of juice.
We've tested this update and added it to the Features section below.
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 review: price
Announced September 2022
Launch price: $299 / £279 / AU$429
Costs more than Apple and Sony rivals
It might have gone unnoticed, but the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II were announced on the same day as Apple debuted the iPhone 14 range and the AirPods Pro 2 – September 8, 2022 to be precise. Still, it got some fanfare at the New York Fashion Week where the launch event was held.
At the time of writing, only a single color option is available – Triple Black – with the Soapstone edition to arrive at a later undisclosed date.
At launch, the QCE II will set you back $299 / £279 / AU$429, which is a lot more than the current, now-reduced price of the Sony WF-1000XM4 and the launch price of the AirPods Pro 2, both of which can compete with the Bose.
While it’s easy to justify the premium price tag in relation to the QCE II’s upgrades over its predecessor, we could also take into account inflation rates around the world. That said, it's still pretty steeply priced but, that said, it didn’t take long for the Bose QC Buds to get discounted during big sale events, and we’re expecting the same to happen with the second-gen model as well. So if you’re not in a rush, you could wait for sales like Amazon Prime Day or Black Friday to pick up for less.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 review: Features
CustomTune audio
Excellent ANC prowess
Bluetooth 5.3
Bose has figured out a way to customize both the audio response and noise cancellation of the QCE II to the individual user’s ear canal. The company calls this proprietary tech CustomTune and it uses an audio signal – which is picked up by a mic inside each bud – to automatically calibrate ANC and sound frequency that best suits your ear. Bose doesn’t specify the details of the frequency response, but after having used the QCE II for a while now, we’re estimating they go from ‘extremely deep’ to ‘very high indeed’.
The sound itself is delivered via a couple of 9.3mm full-range dynamic drivers – one per bud, obviously – and the buds use Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connectivity. The only codecs supported are SBC and AAC, which is a little surprising as we were expecting Snapdragon Sound compatibility because of Bose’s involvement with Qualcomm (the QCE II use the Qualcomm S5 Audio chipset). Perhaps that might change in the future via over-air firmware updates.
Key Specs
Colors: Triple Black; Soapstone yet to arrive Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3; 9.1m range Codec support: SBC, AAC ANC: Yes; adaptive Water resistance: IPX4 Battery life: 6 hours (buds); 3 extra (charging case) Weight: 6.2g (per bud); 59.8g (charging case)
The first major firmware update we did get was the rollout of a feature called Independent Single-Bud Use. This allows you to use a single bud to listen to music or take calls instead of pausing playback as it did before. This also allows for playback to continue if the Bluetooth connection between each bud drops. And, finally, if you find one bud has run out of juice before the other, you can swap to carry on listening.
You can even change ANC modes when using a single bud, although since you can hear your surrounds anyway, the ability to do so is moot.
Another missing feature we were hoping would have made its way to the QCE II is multipoint connectivity which allows you to pair with two Bluetooth devices at the same time. To be fair, though, this is more common in wireless over-ear headphones and hasn’t quite made its way to the true wireless models, but it would be nice to have.
As would wireless charging. This also is a bit of a surprise considering rivals have cases that now support wireless charging and the Bose is a pretty premium set of buds to forgo this feature.
According to Bose, the QCE II offers up to six hours per charge on the buds alone, with an additional three top-ups in the case. That’s not really a huge improvement over the previous generation, which also gave you up to six hours on the buds, but just two additional top-ups in the case.
We didn’t quite get to wear the Buds for a full six hours, but we had ANC at full bore every time we used it and, after two hours of use, we lost just 20% of battery on the buds (down to 80% from a full charge) – meaning you could get more than the listed six hours.
Bose promises that the charging case will juice up the buds in an hour if they’ve been fully drained, while a quick 20-minute top-up will get you about two hours of playback if you’re impatient.
The new earbuds have a slimmer case and redesigned app. (Image credit: TechRadar)
Where the QCE II really shines, however, is noise cancellation. Bose boldly claimed that the QC Buds II have “the world’s best noise cancellation from any headphone”, and we will have to agree wholeheartedly. So, how has Bose managed to achieve this? With some fancy mic work – four in each bud (one inside) that sense unwanted noises – and an “exclusive” algorithm in a “proprietary” chip that’s able to cancel out the sounds in “a fraction of a millisecond”. While we can’t measure this claim, we can vouch that it works remarkably well. The QCE II will score top marks from us just on its ANC performance.
Another feature we really like is the ActiveSense technology that comes into play when the QCE II is in ‘Aware’ mode. This automatically adjusts the noise cancellation so your music isn’t entirely drowned out by loud environmental noises, while also letting you hear what’s going on around you. Auto Transparency is also pretty neat to have when you need to talk to someone. This comes automatically into play when you remove any one bud and the ANC level on the other is adjusted to its lowest level. Put the bud back on and you go back to how your ANC was set without you needing to do anything else.
The Bose Music app hasn’t changed at all but, not that long ago, received an equalizer to help you adjust the music to your liking, something that was missing when the older QC Buds first launched. Pairing the QCE II is super easy, and the app lets you save ANC modes (up to four) and reconfigure some touch controls – it’s full of instructions and very simple to use.
Features score: 4.5/5
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 review: Design
30% smaller than previous generation
More compact and lighter charging case
May not fit everyone too well
Unlike the original QuietComfort Earbuds, which were – let’s not be coy – absolute units, the new QC Earbuds II are altogether more realistically sized. This reviewer has been using the older model since they launched as her everyday earphones and the new ones are an absolute revelation to her ears in comparison!
Bose claims that the second-gen buds are 30% smaller than the previous model, which in itself indicates that there’s been a complete design overhaul. The QCE II are from the ‘dangly stem’ school of design, but the stem is brief and, thanks to three different ear tip and ‘stability band’ options, they’re comfortable and secure. That said, they didn’t feel very secure when we first started using them and it took some physical shakes and jumps to convince us that the buds weren’t going to fall out.
(Image credit: Simon Lucas / Future)
Of course, there’s a fit test on the Bose Music app to help you, but it takes a little while to build up that sense of security. While you might know what ear tip size works for you from previous buds you’ve used, it’s not easy to figure out which stability band is right for you. We found we had to try them all with our choice of ear tip, while also repositioning each bud in the ear with each band to come to a decision. This might sound tedious, but it doesn’t take long to find the right fit.
Perhaps it’s the all-in weight of 6g per earbud (as compared to 8.9g previously) that gives the false sense of insecurity, but it doesn’t do any harm either – that's fairly light for this kind of bud. Even the ear tips and stability bands are super soft, so the QCE II are really quite comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
And the build quality is everything you’d expect from a product costing a premium and, well, from Bose, including the IPX4 water resistance rating we saw previously.
Even the charging case has been given a revamp – it’s now taller, thinner and lighter compared to the one holding the older QC Buds, despite having a slightly bigger battery inside. Even with the size change, it’s still a sturdy case and much easier to open than its predecessor.
Excellent ANC aside, Bose has also improved on the sound quality with the QCE II. When we tested the older model, we thought it lacked bass, which Sony handled really well. Now, however, that’s been rectified and whatever CustomTune is doing behind the scenes makes the serenading of the new buds very enjoyable indeed.
Generous 9.3mm drivers are hidden in the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II's body. (Image credit: TechRadar)
The soundstage is beautifully balanced and you can pick up an exceedingly high amount of detail that wasn’t possible in the older buds. This is particularly evident when it comes to the low end, where bassy elements like kick drums and double bass get a pretty good amount of attention. For example, when listening to Miles Davis or John Coltrane you can pick out the double bass among the piano (mids) and the saxophone or cymbals. Bass drums when listening to the blues, pop or rock don’t get drowned out, with pretty much every instrument holding its own against the vocals. And at no point did the vocals get drowned out by the instruments.
We even upped the bass on the EQ to see how it would handle the change and listening to Klergy’s Caught In The Fire was glorious. From JJ Cale to Royal Deluxe, Sarah McLachlan to Beth Hart, even Beethoven and Mozart… there was nothing we could fault. Strings don’t drown out the lows, winds hold their own and the piano sounds wonderful – there were times when it felt like we were in a concert hall with great acoustics sitting right in front of the orchestra.
How exactly CustomTune is working or what it's doing is unclear as there’s no way to switch it off for a point of reference, but that’s fine by us. Honestly, we didn’t need to adjust the EQ at all, we did it out of curiosity – in short, you put on the QCE II and let them just do their thing.
Call quality, however, is a little lackluster. In fact, we found the older Bose QC Buds does a slightly better job in comparison. Even though Bose claims external sounds are filtered, this doesn’t happen in real-world use, particularly when it’s a little windy. The Sony WH-1000XM4 handle wind a little better, and other external sounds like traffic and loud chatter does seem to filter through when using the QCE II.
The SelfVoice feature, which you can adjust on the app, lets you hear yourself quite well, but most people we spoke to while using the QCE II said that we sound like we’re on a speakerphone.
Sound quality score: 5/5
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2 review: Value
ANC performance is worth it
Balanced sound is bang on
High price for a set missing wireless charging
As we've mentioned earlier, the Bose QCE II aren't cheap. While the best-in-class ANC performance and the excellent sound justify a small markup over the older model, the lack of wireless charging and no support for high-definition wireless audio makes the $299 / £279 / AU$429 price tag a little hard to swallow.
Then again, inflation has also come into play and, honestly, if you truly value noise cancellation and great audio, you might find the Bose is right on the money. Our advice, however, would be to wait till these get discounted at a major sale and then the QCE II will definitely be worth it.
Here at TechRadar, we hold ourselves to a high standard when it comes to reviewing and testing products. Not only do they undergo an initial thorough review, but if it’s still on the market, we’ll update and maintain our reviews to ensure they still maintain correct information.
The JBL Reflect Aero may look like most sports headphones on the shelves with their circular frame fringed with wing tips to help keep them in place when you’re exercising. However, there’s more to these headphones than meets the eye.
The one obvious thing that sets them apart from other workout headphones is their waterproofing. With an IP rating of IP68, these wireless earbuds aren’t just water-resistant. You can dive down 1.5 meters in salt or fresh water with them on for 30 minutes, and they’ll keep on blasting those tunes (although you do have to account for the fact that Bluetooth signals don’t travel well in water).
But wait, there’s more. JBL doesn’t stop there. It also packs the headphones with other premium features like active noise cancellation, touch controls, in-ear detection, and up to 8 hours of battery life (24 hours total with the charging case). That’s already a lot for that sub-$150 / £150 price without factoring in their great sound quality and the fact that you can actually customize their touch gestures to offer volume control.
Even though they're only a year old, the JBL Reflect Aero are still one of the best waterproof headphones sets you can get on the market right now.
JBL Reflect Aero: Price and availability
How much does it cost? $149 / £119
Where is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US and the UK
JBL Reflect Aero: SPECS
Interface: Bluetooth 5.2 Battery life: 8 hours per earbuds, 24 hours total with case Noise cancellation: Active Noise Cancellation Water resistance: IP68 Weight: 0.5 oz (13g) per earbud
The JBL Reflect Aero are surprisingly affordable for what they offer. These true wireless earbuds will set you back just $149 / £119.
Granted, that price tag isn’t in the budget range, but it still puts these earphones in the mid-range market, making them more affordable than the Sony WF-1000XM4, Apple AirPods Pro 2, and even the Beats Fit Pro. To be fair, those three models deliver superior sound and better ANC. But, none of them are submersible and have an app with a 10-band EQ so you can really customize the sound.
All things considered, the JBL Reflect Aero are definitely the best value out of all those headphones. They’re a terrific proposition not just for swimmers and active users, but also budget-minded consumers seeking some premium features.
Value: 5 / 5
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
JBL Reflect Aero: Design
Ear tips not the best for smaller ears
Touch controls are amazing
JBL Headphones app expands functionality
Design-wise, the JBL Reflect Aero aren’t that different from other sports earphones. In fact, they look very similar to the Beoplay E8 Sport earphones from Bang & Olufsen, except those are a little clunkier and definitely not suited for smaller ears, and the JBL Reflect Aero have that nice honeycomb pattern on the side that faces your ears.
So, we won’t get into the nitty-gritty of the design and focus instead on the details that set them apart. Their charging case, for example, comes with a strap that lets you wear it around your wrist or secure it to your backpack so they don’t pop out when you’re on the move.
Perhaps the best aspect of the JBL Reflect Aero’s design is the touch controls, which we have to commend for being responsive and customizable, with helpful sound prompts. You can even program two of those touch gestures to control the volume – something that the popular AirPods Pro line didn’t offer until the release of the second generation, months after the JBL Reflect Aero hit the streets.
To make these more inclusive of different ear sizes, these earphones come with not just silicone tips in three sizes but also three different-sized wing tip pairs. Unfortunately, those ear tips could stand to be a little smaller. Their smallest size might still be a little too big for users with small ears (or ear canal openings).
The JBL Reflect Aero come with app support, that app being the JBL Headphones (not to be confused with JBL Portable, which is for JBL speakers). You certainly do not have to download the app to use the earphones, but it’s well worth having. Not only does it expand their functionality, but also allows you to personalize their sound using the 10-band EQ, which lets you significantly customize those frequencies.
Design: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
JBL Reflect Aero: Performance
Ambient Aware is good, ANC only ok
Very good sound quality, bass a little weird
Mic has less low-end and no background noise rejection
There’s a lot to unload in terms of the JBL Reflect Aero’s performance as they do most things well. The Ambient Aware feature (JBL’s transparency mode), for example, is great. We’ve found that it lets you hear enough of your surroundings to have a conversation with another person while music is still playing at about 50% volume.
You can also pair two devices at the same time, so you can easily switch between your phone and your laptop, for example, when you’re getting a call on your phone while watching a movie on your laptop. There’s also the very reactive in-ear detection that’s very good at detecting when you’ve taken an earbud off or put it back on. Meanwhile, the mic sounds good for making phone calls – so you can rest assured that the person on the other end is hearing you clearly.
As far as sound quality (with the in-app EQ off), the vocals come through clearly and uncolored (not filtered). The high end in general sounds very clear and detailed, if a little on the bright side.
The rest are just ok, decent at best. The active noise cancellation is nothing to write home about as it doesn’t really block out higher frequency sounds – anything that’s in the mids or highs. The only way it works well is when you’ve got music playing at a louder volume.
While you can connect to two devices at once, you can only listen from one input at a time. Plus, you also have to stop or pause one source, wait a couple of seconds then play the other one, which can be inconvenient when you’re in a rush. The mic is also limited in its frequency range so there’s less low-end, and it doesn’t have background noise rejection.
As far as the sound goes, the mids sound a little recessed. In Gemma Hayes’ “Hanging Around,” the guitars sound polite when they should be more in your face as it is a rock song. They just don't hit as hard as they should. The low end is a little weird. In Taylor Swift’s “Maroon” and Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” the low end comes out thick and powerful. Yet in Japanese Breakfast’s “Paprika,” the bass sounds anemic.
Our guess is that the bass frequencies are inconsistent as if there’s a valley in the frequency curve somewhere in the low end. And, because the bass in “Maroon” and “Happier Than Ever” is distorted and getting into the mid-range a little, it’s not being affected by that dip. On the other hand, because the low end in “Paprika” is pure bass, it’s losing a chunk of it due to that dip.
Be warned: if those silicone ear tips do not fit properly in your ears, these headphones will sound terrible. The overall sound isn’t going to sound full and rich, with the mid-range sounding recessed, the bass being very restrained, and the high end not delivering the same level of detail. Be sure that those ear tips completely plug your ears before playing music or watching videos.
We’re pointing out those shortcomings to make it clear that the JBL Reflect Aero don’t sit at that premium, audiophile level, which means they’re not going to have the most superior sound or the most high-end features. However, that only really matters to folks who are much more discerning or used to pricey headphones.
As they stand, the JBL Reflect Aero are great sounding, feature-rich earbuds that, despite a few quirks, make good workout companions – especially if water is involved. With their IP68 rating, these can be fully submerged for up to 30 minutes without any effect on performance. Having tested this ourselves, we can confirm that only do they survive being submerged in water, but they also continue to play music. And, so long as your phone is nearby, and you’re not doing deep dives, you can swim laps with these on. Let’s see other earbuds do that.
Performance: 4 / 5
Should I buy the JBL Reflect Aero?
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Also consider
JBL Reflect Aero: Report card
First reviewed November 2022
How we test
We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.
The JBL Reflect Aero may look like most sports headphones on the shelves with their circular frame fringed with wing tips to help keep them in place when you’re exercising. However, there’s more to these headphones than meets the eye.
The one obvious thing that sets them apart from other workout headphones is their waterproofing. With an IP rating of IP68, these wireless earbuds aren’t just water-resistant. You can dive down 1.5 meters in salt or fresh water with them on for 30 minutes, and they’ll keep on blasting those tunes (although you do have to account for the fact that Bluetooth signals don’t travel well in water).
But wait, there’s more. JBL doesn’t stop there. It also packs the headphones with other premium features like active noise cancellation, touch controls, in-ear detection, and up to 8 hours of battery life (24 hours total with the charging case). That’s already a lot for that sub-$150 / £150 price without factoring in their great sound quality and the fact that you can actually customize their touch gestures to offer volume control.
Even though they're only a year old, the JBL Reflect Aero are still one of the best waterproof headphones sets you can get on the market right now.
JBL Reflect Aero: Price and availability
How much does it cost? $149 / £119
Where is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US and the UK
JBL Reflect Aero: SPECS
Interface: Bluetooth 5.2 Battery life: 8 hours per earbuds, 24 hours total with case Noise cancellation: Active Noise Cancellation Water resistance: IP68 Weight: 0.5 oz (13g) per earbud
The JBL Reflect Aero are surprisingly affordable for what they offer. These true wireless earbuds will set you back just $149 / £119.
Granted, that price tag isn’t in the budget range, but it still puts these earphones in the mid-range market, making them more affordable than the Sony WF-1000XM4, Apple AirPods Pro 2, and even the Beats Fit Pro. To be fair, those three models deliver superior sound and better ANC. But, none of them are submersible and have an app with a 10-band EQ so you can really customize the sound.
All things considered, the JBL Reflect Aero are definitely the best value out of all those headphones. They’re a terrific proposition not just for swimmers and active users, but also budget-minded consumers seeking some premium features.
Value: 5 / 5
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
JBL Reflect Aero: Design
Ear tips not the best for smaller ears
Touch controls are amazing
JBL Headphones app expands functionality
Design-wise, the JBL Reflect Aero aren’t that different from other sports earphones. In fact, they look very similar to the Beoplay E8 Sport earphones from Bang & Olufsen, except those are a little clunkier and definitely not suited for smaller ears, and the JBL Reflect Aero have that nice honeycomb pattern on the side that faces your ears.
So, we won’t get into the nitty-gritty of the design and focus instead on the details that set them apart. Their charging case, for example, comes with a strap that lets you wear it around your wrist or secure it to your backpack so they don’t pop out when you’re on the move.
Perhaps the best aspect of the JBL Reflect Aero’s design is the touch controls, which we have to commend for being responsive and customizable, with helpful sound prompts. You can even program two of those touch gestures to control the volume – something that the popular AirPods Pro line didn’t offer until the release of the second generation, months after the JBL Reflect Aero hit the streets.
To make these more inclusive of different ear sizes, these earphones come with not just silicone tips in three sizes but also three different-sized wing tip pairs. Unfortunately, those ear tips could stand to be a little smaller. Their smallest size might still be a little too big for users with small ears (or ear canal openings).
The JBL Reflect Aero come with app support, that app being the JBL Headphones (not to be confused with JBL Portable, which is for JBL speakers). You certainly do not have to download the app to use the earphones, but it’s well worth having. Not only does it expand their functionality, but also allows you to personalize their sound using the 10-band EQ, which lets you significantly customize those frequencies.
Design: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
JBL Reflect Aero: Performance
Ambient Aware is good, ANC only ok
Very good sound quality, bass a little weird
Mic has less low-end and no background noise rejection
There’s a lot to unload in terms of the JBL Reflect Aero’s performance as they do most things well. The Ambient Aware feature (JBL’s transparency mode), for example, is great. We’ve found that it lets you hear enough of your surroundings to have a conversation with another person while music is still playing at about 50% volume.
You can also pair two devices at the same time, so you can easily switch between your phone and your laptop, for example, when you’re getting a call on your phone while watching a movie on your laptop. There’s also the very reactive in-ear detection that’s very good at detecting when you’ve taken an earbud off or put it back on. Meanwhile, the mic sounds good for making phone calls – so you can rest assured that the person on the other end is hearing you clearly.
As far as sound quality (with the in-app EQ off), the vocals come through clearly and uncolored (not filtered). The high end in general sounds very clear and detailed, if a little on the bright side.
The rest are just ok, decent at best. The active noise cancellation is nothing to write home about as it doesn’t really block out higher frequency sounds – anything that’s in the mids or highs. The only way it works well is when you’ve got music playing at a louder volume.
While you can connect to two devices at once, you can only listen from one input at a time. Plus, you also have to stop or pause one source, wait a couple of seconds then play the other one, which can be inconvenient when you’re in a rush. The mic is also limited in its frequency range so there’s less low-end, and it doesn’t have background noise rejection.
As far as the sound goes, the mids sound a little recessed. In Gemma Hayes’ “Hanging Around,” the guitars sound polite when they should be more in your face as it is a rock song. They just don't hit as hard as they should. The low end is a little weird. In Taylor Swift’s “Maroon” and Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” the low end comes out thick and powerful. Yet in Japanese Breakfast’s “Paprika,” the bass sounds anemic.
Our guess is that the bass frequencies are inconsistent as if there’s a valley in the frequency curve somewhere in the low end. And, because the bass in “Maroon” and “Happier Than Ever” is distorted and getting into the mid-range a little, it’s not being affected by that dip. On the other hand, because the low end in “Paprika” is pure bass, it’s losing a chunk of it due to that dip.
Be warned: if those silicone ear tips do not fit properly in your ears, these headphones will sound terrible. The overall sound isn’t going to sound full and rich, with the mid-range sounding recessed, the bass being very restrained, and the high end not delivering the same level of detail. Be sure that those ear tips completely plug your ears before playing music or watching videos.
We’re pointing out those shortcomings to make it clear that the JBL Reflect Aero don’t sit at that premium, audiophile level, which means they’re not going to have the most superior sound or the most high-end features. However, that only really matters to folks who are much more discerning or used to pricey headphones.
As they stand, the JBL Reflect Aero are great sounding, feature-rich earbuds that, despite a few quirks, make good workout companions – especially if water is involved. With their IP68 rating, these can be fully submerged for up to 30 minutes without any effect on performance. Having tested this ourselves, we can confirm that only do they survive being submerged in water, but they also continue to play music. And, so long as your phone is nearby, and you’re not doing deep dives, you can swim laps with these on. Let’s see other earbuds do that.
Performance: 4 / 5
Should I buy the JBL Reflect Aero?
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Also consider
JBL Reflect Aero: Report card
First reviewed November 2022
How we test
We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.
• Original review date: November 2022
• Launch price: Body only $1,199.99 / £1,199 / AU$2,150
• Official price now: Body only $1,199.99 / £1,199 / AU$2,150
Update: March 2024. OM System does compact mirrorless camera systems for photography better than anyone, using a micro four thirds sensor that strikes an excellent balance between performance and size, not to mention a huge range of lenses available for all types of photography and budgets. The OM-5 feels great in the hand, looks the part and boasts superb image stablization meaning you can ditch the tripod and pack light. It was a minor update of the EM5 III, but in 2024 it remains one of the best travel cameras for enthusiasts.
OM System OM-5: two-minute review
The OM System OM-5 is kind of new, but not in a big way. It’s really a refresh and an update of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III, with new branding, improved stabilization and weatherproofing, and a couple of new features from higher-end models, including starry sky AF, and live ND filters for longer exposures in bright light.
The main specs stay the same, including the 20MP MFT sensor, 121-point phase-detect AF, and video up to 4K 30p. That might sound a little disappointing, but there’s more to the OM-5 than the headline specs.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Mic, HDMI Type D, USB 2
Size: 125.3 x 85.2 x 49.7mm
Weight: 414g (inc. battery and SD card)
For a start, like the E-M5 III before it, it packs a lot of features, controls and performance into a very small body. This is a pocket-sized interchangeable lens camera that can shoot at 10fps, or 30fps with 14-shot pre-buffer in Pro Capture mode. It has Live Bulb and Live Composite modes for watching exposure build ‘live’ at night, and its pixel-shift High Res capture mode can create 50MP images handheld, and 80MP images on a tripod.
The external controls are remarkably well laid out for a camera so small, with a real quality feel to them, and as well as an EVF you get a vari-angle screen. OM System is pitching this as a go-anywhere adventure camera and it’s certainly one of the best travel cameras you can buy, thanks in part to some excellent, compact and affordable lenses.
The OM-5 may not break any technical barriers, but as a piece of intelligent product design, it’s pretty remarkable.
• OM System OM-5 body only: $1,199.99 / £1,199 (about AU$2,150)
• OM System OM-5 with 12-45mm f/4 Pro lens: $1,599.99 / £1,499 (about AU$2,850)
• OM System OM-5 with 14-150mm f/5.6 II lens (UK only): £1,499
The previous Olympus OM-D E-M5 III was never a cheap camera, and that’s worth mentioning, because although the OM-5 has a new maker and a new model name, it's largely the same camera.
So if the OM-5’s predecessor seemed stubbornly pricey back then, the same applies now. The OM-5 is a powerful little camera, but it does not do anything remarkable for the money; it's worth its price tag in our opinion, but you're not getting a bargain in terms of value for money.
It’s up against some good cameras in the same price bracket, including the Canon EOS R10, Fujifilm X-S10, Nikon Z50 and Sony A6400, all of which have APS-C sensors. But then the Canon and the Nikon don’t have any lenses to speak of (it’s true!), and the A6400 is an old camera with no IBIS, which leaves the Fujifilm X-S10 as the most serious competitor.
The OM-5 has a smaller MFT sensor, of course. A lot of folk are convinced this gives it a serious image quality disadvantage – wrongly, as it happens. What it also has is a range of lenses that's broadar then those of it's rivals, and the lenses themselves are physically smaller. You can’t use a camera without lenses.
• Mini-DSLR style design
• Flip-out vari-angle screen
• Single SD card slot
• Twin control dials
• Dual mode function lever
For a camera packing this performance, power, and range of features, the OM-5 is very small. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether you're using big professional, constant-aperture lenses, or the smaller zooms and primes from the Olympus range – and whether you're looking for a tiny travel camera or a big do-it-all mirrorless with serious grunt.
With smaller lenses, the OM-5 is just divine. If you want to use larger lenses, it really needs the optional grip (this doesn't take extra batteries; it's just a bigger grip) in order for it to feel balanced and comfortable.
Regardless of that, OM System (not ‘Olympus’, remember) has done a remarkable job of getting a lot of very usable physical controls onto such a small body.
The EVF is good enough, though it lacks the outright resolution of newer and more expensive rivals, and the flip-out vari-angle screen on the back is a nice feature on a camera as small as this, and a useful one too.
The single SD card slot might deter power users looking for the additional security and backup options of a dual-card setup, but there’s a limit to how much you can fit into a body as small as this. One reason for choosing two card slots is to cover the possibility of card failure, which is rare. Another is to separate stills and video, JPEGs and raw, captures and backups – all of which are reasonable pro requirements, but somewhat outside the remit of a camera like this.
There are two control dials on the top of the E-M5 and these work really well, and are given extra versatility by the dual-mode lever on the back of the camera which switches their functions. You do have to remember what you’ve set these dials up to do for each function mode, but if you can do that you’ll get a very quick system for changing a multitude of settings from shutter speed to aperture, and from white balance to EV compensation.
The OM-5’s external controls have a quality feel, and a logic that’s very endearing. Olympus (sorry, OM System – it still takes some getting used to) is very good indeed at making the controls on small cameras work as well as, or better than, those on larger ones.
• Design score: 5/5
OM System OM-5: features and performance
• 6.5-stop IBIS (7.5-stop with sync IS)
• Extensive and customizable Art Filters
• Pro Capture with pre-shot buffer
• In-camera focus stacking
• 50MP/80MP High Res Shot
• Live Composite, Live Bulb, Live ND
Practically every camera maker in the world now offers 5-axis in-body stabilization systems which it considers the best on the market. But OM System (see, we didn’t say ‘Olympus’!) and Panasonic between them have, we would say, the best. It’s perhaps to do with the smaller sensor size and mass, or the algorithms used, but the OM-5’s stabilization is pretty remarkable. It has its limits for video – an IBIS system simply can’t smooth camera movements like a gimbal – but for all the perceived ‘faults’ of MFT systems, the stabilization is remarkable.
The OM-5 has many other strengths. One of these is its Pro Capture mode, which can capture still images at 30fps with a 14-shot pre-capture buffer to allow for your reaction time. So you can half-press the shutter release for a ‘rolling’ capture, then press it the rest of the way when the action starts, and the camera will record the half-second of action while you were still thinking about it. That’s clever. The only drawback is that the focus is fixed from the start – but that’s fine for setups where you know where the action is going to happen, such as the jumps in a horse race or the bar in a high jump.
The OM-5 uses a lot of computational features that include in-camera focus stacking, which you can use handheld, and a 50MP High Res Shot mode, also handheld, for those times when you might actually need the resolution of a high-res full-frame camera – and it really does generate natively higher-resolution images, not some kind of lame substitute.
On top of that, you've got Olympus’s Live Composite, Live Bulb and Live ND modes. The first two are really good for night shots – once you’ve worked out the settings and parameters – while the second promises the same effect as ND filters for blurring skies, surf and water. This is limited to a 4-stop reduction, however, when for long exposures in bright light you really need a 10-stop reduction.
Finally, Olympus’s Art Filters are worth a mention. These are not the pretty plain 'looks' you might get from other cameras, but actually rather good analog effects.
A lot has been said, and probably will continue to be said, about the perceived deficiencies of the Micro Four Thirds format. First, it's half the size of APS-C; however, it's also far larger than the 1-inch sensor format widely employed in compact cameras, and far larger again than the sensors in phones and point-and-shoot compacts.
At low-medium ISO settings, you won’t see much difference in quality between the OM-5’s images and those from an APS-C camera. At higher ISOs you might start to see more difference, but again, it’s not huge. If you compare the OM-5’s results to those from a full-frame camera you'll see more difference but, even here, you have to weigh this against the OM-5’s far lower price, its portability and unobtrusiveness, and the performance of its image stabilization system.
This is extremely effective for stills photography, and pretty good for video too. For static handheld shots it’s so steady that images can look as if they were filmed on a tripod, and with care it’s possible to produce smooth panning movements too. It’s less effective for walking and filming, but that’s true of every mirrorless camera's IBIS system. The stabilization in the OM-5 is just about the best on the market, aided no doubt by the smaller sensor.
The autofocus is competent without being game changing. It doesn’t have the AI subject recognition found in the latest cameras like the Sony A7R V or Canon EOS R6 II, but its face recognition and tracking seem to be pretty ‘sticky’. It’s easily good enough for casual vlogging and photography, especially since the shorter focal lengths used with MFT systems give you more depth of field latitude anyway.
For its size, this camera delivers excellent video and stills quality, with a stabilization system that gives you a really high hit rate of sharp shots.
It’s also worth mentioning the lenses. We tested the OM-5 with three Pro f/4 Olympus lenses: the 12-45mm f/4, the 8-25mm f/4, and the 40-150mm f/4 (which is actually branded OM System). These f/4 lenses are a good match for the OM-5’s size and price (the f/2.8 Pro lenses and f/1.2 primes are a little large). All three are really well made and finished, and deliver excellent results.
The OM-5 isn’t just small and powerful in its own right; it comes with a small and powerful lens range too, which isn’t just lighter than larger-format alternatives, but cheaper too.
DreamHost is a popular US web hosting provider with 400,000+ customers, managing 1.5 million+ websites, and with an impressive 25 years in the hosting business.
What types of hosting does DreamHost offer?
DreamHost has a wider-than-usual range of products for every level of user. (That's not just an advantage when you're shopping. Having plenty of alternative plans gives you more upgrade paths if your website grows.)
A website builder product is a very easy way to create a simple but good-looking website, while cheap shared web hosting plans are ideal for small or low-traffic sites.
Custom WordPress plans are specially optimized for speed and include useful WordPress-related site management tools and extras.
DreamCompute is a developer-friendly cloud hosting service with full root access and the ability to use DreamHost's object storage service, DreamObjects.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting gives your site more resources, improving speeds, and is often a better choice for heavy-duty or business-critical sites.
Dedicated server hosting plans provide an entire server for your own use, for maximum speed and control.
That's a lot to explore, but keep reading and we'll break down DreamHost's key products, look at where they score, and where they don't, and identify which plans might work best for you.
(Image credit: Dreamhost)
Shared hosting
Shared hosting is one of the most popular hosting types. It’s a simple scheme where one web server hosts multiple websites—everyone shares both the costs and the server's resources (CPU, RAM, network connection). This makes shared hosting very cheap, but speeds are lower than other types of hosting (although you can still handle thousands of visitors a month on a shared hosting plan).
Right off the bat, I like how DreamHost keeps things simple with just two shared hosting packages.
Shared Starter, priced at a low $2.59 a month over three years (renews at $5.99), offers exceptional value thanks to 50GB fast SSD storage, free SSL, automated WordPress migrations, a free WordPress website builder, free domain with free domain privacy (a valuable privacy protection feature), unlimited bandwidth, automatic backups, and so much more. In fact, DreamHost’s feature set is more or less on par with Hostinger, which is the best-shared hosting service in our testing.
The only noticeable downside to the Shared Starter plan is that it doesn’t come with any email accounts. Well, technically it does but that will be an additional purchase. This is a surprising miss by what's otherwise a well-rounded service, especially considering that almost every single rival on the market offers free email addresses even on their most basic plans.
Additionally, it allows you to host just a single site. Hostinger, for example, allows you to host a whopping 100 websites on its cheapest plan—and even InMotion offers a decent 2 website support.
Next is the Shared Unlimited plan, which as the name suggests, supports unlimited web space, sites and email addresses, and is priced at $3.95 per month for the first three years, $10.99 on renewal.
Overall, though, DreamHost’s shared hosting plans score high marks on affordability and pack enough features to keep most individuals and small businesses happy. Still, it’s tough to recommend it over Hostinger, our #1 shared web hosting service, as it supports 100 email addresses, has 100GB storage, can host 100 websites, and includes a free domain, SSL, backups, a free migration and more.
DreamHost really does stand out as a cloud hosting provider. It’s rightfully placed in my list of the best cloud hosting services because it’s one of the very few to offer true cloud benefits. These include geo-redundancy and auto-scaling, where you can automatically change your server resources through OpenStack-compatible API requests.
Auto-scaling helps you manage infrequent spikes in your website traffic by temporarily increasing More DreamHost featuresyour resources—and allowing you to only pay for resources you actually use.
DreamHost offers its cloud service under a product it calls DreamCompute. It’s among the cheapest cloud hosting services on the market right now (almost twice as cheap as OVHcloud). You can get started at just $0.0075 per hour and enjoy access to 512MB RAM, 1 vCPU, free bandwidth, and 80 GB SSD storage. Even better, it comes with a maximum monthly price, which is $4.50 for the above-mentioned plan.
As is the story with DreamHost, even its cloud hosting plans are more geared towards individuals and small businesses. This is because it caps out at 8 vCPU and 16GB RAM, so if you’re a large business with need for tons of resources, you’ll be better off with, say, ScalaHosting that comes with custom cloud hosting plans and can go as high as 24 CPU cores, 64 GB RAM, and 2,000 GB storage.
(Image credit: Dreamhost)
WordPress hosting
WordPress is a hugely popular website creator because not only is it easy to use for hosting newbies but also powerful enough to handle even the largest of business-critical sites.
DreamHost offers two tiers of plans for WordPress. The first one, WordPress Basic, is essentially its shared hosting plans, with the same features and the same price (from $2.59 a month). They're cheap, and if you're just looking to learn the WordPress basics, they should be more than enough.
These plans come with a handful of custom WordPress features, including a WordPress installer, free automated WordPress migrations, a simple website builder to create an elegant WordPress website, and automated WordPress updates.
However, if you're aiming to build a serious WordPress site, I'd recommend DreamPress, which is DreamHost's professionally managed WordPress hosting range, capable of handling anything up to one million visitors a month. The resources here are not shared, so other users cannot affect your website’s performance—and you get a high-performance cloud server environment, which is a huge plus on the reliability and performance fronts.
The starter DreamPress plan has 30GB SSD storage, unlimited email, free SSL, and on-demand and daily backups. In addition to the custom WordPress features in the shared hosting plans, you get specialist WordPress support and 1-click staging for easier website testing. DreamHost says the plan is built for 100k monthly visitors, and it looks good value at $16.95 billed monthly on a yearly subscription.
The second tier, DreamPress Plus, is an interesting one. It costs 50% more ($24.95 a month) than the above-mentioned plan for which it doubles your storage and increases the number of phone support callbacks to 3. That’s it. It’s worth noting that earlier this plan added the powerful Jetpack Professional toolkit (backups, malware scanning, CDN, and more), which is now offered on all the three plans. While this is undoubtedly a good thing, it does bring down DreamPress Plus’s appeal quite a fair bit.
Spending $71.95/month on the top-of-the-range DreamPress Pro gets your more resources, priority support (expedited help, advanced troubleshooting, and proactive monitoring), and lifts the suggested visits per month figure to one million. However, that's an advisory figure only, DreamHost won't cut you off if you have more.
A highlight of DreamHost is that it’s recommended by WordPress.org, the makers of WordPress. This is because DreamHost has been actively involved in the WordPress community and has contributed to WordPress’s development over the last 10 years.
Overall, DreamHost is one of the best WordPress hosting providers, offering very capable managed WordPress plans which are well worth considering if you're managing a high-traffic site. However, experienced or more technical users should check out Hostinger and InMotion Hosting's WordPress ranges, too.
DreamHost has four VPS hosting packages (Image credit: Dreamhost)
VPS hosting
VPS (Virtual Private Servers) improves on shared hosting by providing resources that only your site can use. That's great news on the performance front, because the less time a web server has to spend dividing up its RAM and CPU time, the more time it has to just serve your site, and the faster it'll be.
DreamHost has four very simple VPS plans.
All plans support unlimited websites, traffic, and email addresses. There's also free SSL for as many sites as you need.
A very important highlight of DreamHost’s VPS plans is that they're all managed, which means DreamHost handles complex low-level tasks like updating the operating system for you. However, the service isn’t a fully managed one as anything to do with managing your site comes under a different DreamHost service, which will cost extra.
Coming back to DreamHost, it offers a capable range for VPS newbies, with all the core features you need, and for a very fair price. If you have a simple goal—you're building a business-critical WordPress site and need better speeds (which are also more reliable) than shared hosting, DreamHost's VPS range could be a smart choice.
However, more experienced users may not be as happy. For instance, the plans don’t mention the amount of CPU resources they offer. This is because the CPU scheduler is based on time instead of the percentage of utilization. Next, there just aren't many features or configuration options here, no root access, nor do you get a choice of operating system.
DreamHost doesn’t have unmanaged VPS hosting, either. So, if you’re adept enough at handling server issues, and are willing to compromise support for a lower price, you can consider Hostinger’s unmanaged VPS plans.
Also, strangely enough, while the plans say that they’re VPS, you don’t actually get a VPS server. You get a Linux container with kernel-level isolation, which, in all fairness, is still more reliable than shared hosting plans, but you don't get the sort of security benefits you would with a typical VPS server. This is because OS vulnerabilities in a Linux container can cause isolation breakouts.
If you think you might need more than DreamHost's bare-bones plans, check out my guide to the best VPS hosting providers.
DreamHost provides a custom control panel of its own (Image credit: Dreamhost)
Dedicated hosting
Buy a dedicated hosting plan and you get a server just for you. This way, you can wave goodbye to sharing resources and unexpected slowdowns because someone else on your server is having a bad day. Dedicated hosting means great performance all the time.
DreamHost has significantly tweaked its dedicated hosting offerings of late, and the change is for the better. Where earlier it offered HDD storage for most of its plans and SSD only if you picked the 12-core CPU, it now offers SSD on all plans, and has completely done away with HDD storage.
However, this also means that the starting price which was earlier $149/month has been increased to $165/month (on a yearly subscription). This gets you a 6-core/12-thread CPU, 16GB RAM, and 480GB SSD.
You also have the option to opt for a more powerful 12-core/24-thread CPU where you can go as high as 128GB RAM and 1920GB SSD—meaning DreamHost’s dedicated hosting is large-business-friendly, which isn’t the case with its shared or cloud hosting services.
When compared to the best dedicated hosting services right now, DreamHost has one up on most providers thanks to 100% network uptime guarantee. With emergency generators, data centers around the world, redundant cooling, and constant monitoring, DreamHost is a must-have for you if you just can’t afford to have your site down.
However, services like InMotion and IONOS (this one has a pay-as-you-go pricing model) are certainly more value for money, and a better pick for the majority of users. InMotion, for instance, starts at $69.99 per month and gives you 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, a decent 4-core/8-thread processor, and a full-fledged security suite, as well as a choice of control panel.
The cost difference is even more substantial for large businesses who need tons of resources (think 128GB and more). DreamHost doesn’t allow you to pair an SSD with a secondary high-storage HDD, which is something you get with Liquid Web.
More DreamHost features
In addition to the above, I’d like to point out a few DreamHost offerings that caught my eye. The first one is dedicated email hosting, starting at $1.99 a month - or $1.67 a month if you go for a yearly commitment.
This will be a top-up to your existing hosting plan and get you professional emails @yourdomainname.com, 25GB storage per mailbox (Gmail’s free offering gives you 15GB), real-time syncing across mobile and desktop, and an ad-free experience.
Next, there’s integration with Google Workspace, which can be a value addition for teams. Here, you’ll get Google Meet voice and video conferencing, team chat, shared calendars, business email through Gmail, access to other Google products, 24/7 assistance from Google Workspace experts, and more.
It’s worth noting that the extent of features you unlock will depend on your chosen Google Workspace plan. There are two plans: one at $7.20 per user per month and the other more feature-packed one at $14.40 per user per month.
DreamHost Pro services
DreamHost offers a slew of professional services, including custom website designing, SEO marketing, social media marketing, dedicated web software and backend management, and web development.
Just note that these services cost a pretty penny. For instance, you’ll have to shell out $1,499 if you want DreamHost experts to create a polished, professional website tailored to your needs. Other services range anywhere between $59/month for website management to $399/month for social media marketing.
With that said, they offer excellent bang for buck for those who’d like to get things done by a professional and skyrocket their business’s growth without wasting time with a hands-on and trial-and-error approach.
Does DreamHost have a website builder?
If you don't have a website, and creating something with WordPress feels too much like hard work, a website builder could be the perfect solution. Most builders either come with a choice of prebuilt sites, or can create one for you from scratch. You can add elements like text, images, videos, maps or forms by dragging and dropping, then customize the content much as you would in Word or any editor.
DreamHost's website builder, which is included in all of its plans no matter the hosting type, is based on WordPress, but don't let that put you off: it's still an easier way to create a simple site. It comes with 200+ sample websites for various categories (photography, food, music, fitness, fashion and more). Next, you get a handy drag-and-drop mechanism using which you can choose from a selection of over 100 blocks, add some content of your own, and you could have a small site ready to go within a couple of hours.
The website builder is easy to use, block-based, and might just about be enough to create a small family site, or a low-traffic blog. It even comes with real-time SEO recommendations so that you can create content that’s optimized for search engines. There are enough customization options, too, and you can tinker around with pretty much everything, whether that’s the font size or text color.
However, the templates are basic and there aren’t any image-editing tools, either. If you want an out-and-out website builder with more than just the basics, I’d recommend choosing from one of the best website builders instead. Hostinger, for example, gives you the option to have a website created entirely by AI.
Like DreamHost, Bluehost, too, has a WordPress website builder. It includes website templates to help you get started, and has a simple drag-and-drop page editor. But even its most basic $2.99/month plan includes contact forms, social media sharing, and other useful business tools—and the top-of-the-range product even allows you to build a web store.
(Image credit: DreamHost)
Can I build a web store with DreamHost?
DreamHost doesn't have the range of ecommerce plans we see with some providers, but it does have one capable option: a VPS-based WooCommerce range with the power to build some very powerful web stores. WooCommerce is widely considered as one of the best ecommerce platforms for WordPress.
However, it’s worth noting that although DreamHost describes this as 'WooCommerce hosting,’ it's the company's regular WordPress hosting (DreamPress) underneath, with the same prices and specs. If you skipped the WordPress section, I like DreamPress a lot—it has plenty of features and the power to handle 100k to a million visitors a month, enough to cope with some very busy web stores.
Opting for the WooCommerce plans does get you a few tiny extras. WooCommerce is preinstalled with a few themes and plugins, for instance, and DreamHost updates both WooCommerce and WordPress. Good news, but that doesn't really help you build, manage, and troubleshoot your new web store.
If you like DreamHost's WordPress hosting and you're happy to work on the WooCommerce and web store building tasks yourself, then these powerful plans are well worth considering.
However, if you're looking for something simpler, many website builder plans include the ability to add a web store. HostGator supports a tiny three-product store with even its most basic plan, and Bluehost and GoDaddy both have capable ecommerce plans.
The support knowledgebase has helpful articles on many topics (Image credit: DreamHost)
DreamHost Customer Support
DreamHost’s customer support has come a long way since our last review. Now, it offers free 24/7 technical support via email and live chat across all time zones from three continents: North America, South America, and Europe. Supported languages include English and Spanish.
While DreamHost does not have a call-in phone number for technical support, you do get the option to request for callbacks. However, that’s only available with higher-end DreamHost hosting packages.
To test its claims, I throwed some genuine questions at the support agents. I’m happy to report that individual support agents performed well in my tests. Plus, live chat queries had responses within minutes, tickets in under an hour or two (as claimed by the company, so that’s good too), and replies were helpful and detailed.
Furthermore, it also has an in-depth knowledge hub with tons of helpful articles and step-by-step tutorials, which you can use for general know-how and help on the fly.
A standout DreamHost offering is its exceptional 97-day money-back guarantee (for shared hosting products). This also suggests that the company has real confidence in its service, long-term. If you decide to sign up, that's plenty of time to find out how DreamHost works for you.
DreamHost customer support issue (Image credit: DreamHost)
DreamHost performed quite well in our uptime tests and reasonably in our performance tests (Image credit: DreamHost)
How fast is DreamHost?
Uptime, the proportion of time your website is accessible to the outside world, is a key measure of any web host. A provider can have the fastest and most powerful servers around, but none of that will matter at all if your site is regularly down.
We tested DreamHost's uptime over a week, and those results were good, with our site showing 100% uptime, and an average response time of 0.342 seconds (that's the fourth fastest score in our last 15 tests).
(Image credit: DreamHost)
Next, we asked GTmetrix to access a page from our test site and calculate how long it takes to display its main content (a figure known as Largest Contentful Paint, or LCP). Most decent hosts manage somewhere between 0.55 and 0.90 seconds, and DreamHost scored a perfectly acceptable 0.732 seconds.
(Image credit: k6)
Fast load speeds are good news with a single user, but what happens when a site is busy? We use k6 to unleash 20 virtual users on a site at once, and see how the server copes. DreamHost handled an average 16 requests per second, fractionally outperforming most of the competition (the average score is 10-15 requests).
To conclude, DreamHost is an extremely reliable hosting service that delivers on its promises to load both light and heavy web pages without missing a beat. Its 100% uptime guarantee, especially at its price point, is nothing short of outstanding—top dogs such as Hostinger and Bluehost offer 99.96% and 99.95%, respectively, and HostGator doesn’t guarantee uptime at all.
Although DreamHost doesn’t offer the industry-standard cPanel—and offers a custom-built control panel instead—it’s fairly easy to use and get started with.
The control panel looks good, with colorful icons, and everything from your domains and websites to one-click installs and support options, as well as your account and billing info and hosting configurations, is available on the left-hand sidebar. This is when around half of that sidebar is just an ‘Add Product’ section displaying the different DreamHost plans you could subscribe to. Cheeky, yes, but it doesn’t pose any real navigation issues.
Installing WordPress is child’s play. You also get an option to pre-authorize the WordPress installation, meaning DreamHost will send you an email once WordPress is set up. I suggest opting for the pre-install option since DreamHost takes a while to install WordPress—around 20-30 minutes. This is in sharp contrast to other providers who either do it instantly or take no longer than just a few minutes.
What’s more, even creating a new email address is ridiculously simple. Just click the ‘Create New Email Address’ button, fill out your details, and that’s it. All in all, DreamHost is one of the easiest to use web hosts I’ve ever tried my hands on, meaning it’s great for beginners and the non-tech-savvy folks who’d very much like a plug-and-play solution.
Final verdict
DreamHost's lengthy down time got our review off to a bad start, but there's still a lot to like here: lots of products, WordPress solutions for personal to major business sites, fair prices, and a reassuring 97-day money-back guarantee for shared hosting customers. Worth considering.
What types of payment does DreamHost support?
DreamHost accepts payment via card and PayPal.
Does DreamHost offer refunds?
DreamHost offers a spectacular 97-day refund period for shared hosting products. The industry average is 30 days, and only InMotion Hosting gets close with its 90-day policy.
There's one potential complication. DreamHost accepts payment via credit card and PayPal, but the Terms and Services page says only those paying via card are eligible for the 97-day deal. A Refunds page in the Knowledgebase doesn't say that, and just says you should contact Support for help, but we'd recommend keeping that in mind. If you sign up and have a choice, paying via card could make for an easier life later.
There are different rules for other products. For example, dedicated hosting users can also get a full refund if they cancel within 30 days. And if VPS users cancel within 30 days of purchase, they're charged for the first month, but are refunded the rest of their fees.
Does DreamHost have an uptime guarantee?
DreamHost has a 100% uptime guarantee, hugely impressive in an industry where most hosts stop at 99.9% (which translates to an 'acceptable' downtime of 43.83 minutes a month.)
Even better, this isn't just about your website. If any part of its service is down - website, databases, email, FTP, SSH or webmail - is unusable due to 'failures in DreamHost systems' outside of scheduled maintenance, you'll qualify for compensation.
DreamHost says it will credit your account with one day of hosting for every hour (or partial hour) of downtime, up to a maximum of 10% of your next renewal fee.
It's an interesting idea, and an improvement on what we see with many providers. But there's a notable catch in the small print. DreamHost counts downtime as starting when you raise a ticket, so if your site goes down for a few hours when you're asleep, on holiday, or any other time you're not paying full attention to your hosting, you won't get any compensation at all.
Where are DreamHost's data centers?
DreamHost has two USA data centers in Ashburn, Virginia, and Hillsboro, Oregon.
Most top providers have data centers spread more widely around the world. For instance, GoDaddy can host your website in North America, India, Singapore or Europe.
If your website isn't primarily for the USA, you're able to choose a data center closer to your audience location, immediately improving performance.
(Image credit: DreamHost)
What is my DreamHost IP address?
Finding the IP address of your DreamHost web server can help you solve some initial website setup problems, such as how to point a domain registered with another provider to your DreamHost web space.
To locate the IP address for your server, first log into DreamHost's control panel (panel.dreamhost.com).
Click Domains in the left-hand sidebar, then Manage Domains.
Find the domain or subdomain in the list which you're hosting, and click its DNS link.
Scroll down to the DreamHost Records section. Your server IP address is displayed as the Value for most record types (www, @, more).
What are DreamHost's nameservers?
DreamHost's nameservers are ns1.dreamhost.com, ns2.dreamhost.com and ns3.dreamhost.com.
(Image credit: DreamHost)
How do I cancel a DreamHost product?
Log into DreamHost's control panel (panel.dreamhost.com)
Click your account name at the top right of the screen, and choose Account Information.
Scroll down to the Active Plans list.
Find the plan you'd like to cancel, and click its Manage button.
Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click the Begin Account Closure button.
Follow the instructions to complete the cancel process. Be sure to read any warnings carefully, because there's a lot of information here, covering everything from exactly when your files and email access will disappear to whether you qualify for a refund, and how to claim it.
