The Coros Pace Pro is a higher-priced model for the brand as the company sets its sights on the Garmin, Suunto, and Polar competition. As such you have a watch that's crammed with all the best features you'd expect from a premium all-sports smartwatch.
So why pay for this over a similarly priced Garmin Forerunner 265? Well, the AMOLED screen on this is the same one found in the Apple Watch with a whopping 1500-nits of brightness, making it a stunner you can read in all light conditions. It does this while remaining battery efficient too for a top class 38 hours with all sensors up and running, or a good 20 days of standby time – with a zippy two-hour recharge time.
It is a lot lighter than a lot of the competition too, as light as 37g with the right strap, yet is still made from robust casing materials and features a useful rotating crown button. The display covering does let it down though, as it's made from mineral glass rather than the hardier Gorilla Glass you'll find from the competition.
GPS and HR accuracy aren't perfect but will be more than good enough to serve most needs, and it's the best on a Coros device yet. If you want even more accuracy you'll need to pay more for the top-end kit or factor in buying a chest or arm strap HR monitor too.
Coros Pace Pro: Specs
Coros Pace Pro (Image credit: Future)
Coros Pace Pro: Price and Availability
Coros Pace Pro (Image credit: Future)
$349 / £349 / AU$599
Cheaper than some premium smartwatches
Relatively affordable despite AMOLED
The Coros Pace Pro steps out from the usual business model for this company - of undercutting the competition - instead standing more alongside. As such it is more expensive than many models that have gone before.
The Coros Pace Pro is available to buy now starting at $349 / £349 / AU$599.
For all the specs this offers - including AMOLED display, multi-band GPS, mapping and navigation, and music onboard - this is a really well-priced option. The mineral glass screen is not as impressive as the competition and means it will be more prone to damage.
The watch comes in Black, Grey, or Blue options. There are silicone or nylon band options, which vary the weight from 49g for silicon to just 37g for nylon. The silicon comes as standard but these bands are in the optional extras section, charged at $29 on top of the standard price if you want a second type.
All decent, but when you consider you can buy a Garmin Forerunner 265 for the same price, which is a far more established and reliable brand, this price doesn't seem quite so impressive.
Value score: 4/5
Coros Pace Pro: Design
Coros Pace Pro (Image credit: Future)
Useful rotating crown
Bright AMOLED display
Super lightweight
Right from the outset the Coros Pace Pro feels so light compared to the competition, which is great news for runners and longer-distance triathletes. I did think it felt a bit less premium as a result, but once I got used to it I realized it's built to a very high-quality finish just with lightness in mind rather than flashy materials.
The watch features a stunning 1.3-inch AMOLED, with a whopping 1500-nits brightness. This is actually the same screen technology used in the recent Apple Watch models – meaning a very bright and color-rich display no matter the conditions. Even reading it underwater feels better than any of the competition.
Unfortunately, the use of mineral glass, instead of the sapphire crystal that Garmin uses, can mean more damage is likely from this less resilient material. Not that I got any damage while testing this, even with heavy gym use.
The watch is a touchscreen, which works fantastically well in a super responsive way, but there is also a rotating crown option. This doubles as one of the two buttons on the watch. Press and hold to unlock then push again to access the various sports which you can scroll through using the rotation. This is so effortless and effective that I found myself using that instead of the touchscreen mostly – keeping the screen lovely and smudge-free.
The second button can be touched to cycle through on-screen metrics, like steps, heart rate, sunset and sunrise, and more. Or press and hold that to access the system settings, alarms, maps, music, and more.
Coros Pace Pro (Image credit: Future)
The menus in general deserve a mention as part of the design section as they're clearly well thought out with a minimalism that makes use intuitive and – crucially – fast. You can go from locked to run tracking in as little as four button touches. That crown comes into use again when training as a quick roll can often be easier than using the touchscreen, thanks to that very tactile analog feel.
Round the back, you've got a new optical heart rate sensor with green lights, which also come with the more advanced red light for the detection of SpO2 data and even ECG recordings. Despite the case size moving up to 46mm from the Pace 3's 42mm, this is still compact enough to be worn comfortably on most wrists.
The charger is similar to Garmin's, but is bespoke. It uses a cable that plugs into USB-C so can work with many outlets and charger blocks too. All that and it charges back to full in just two hours.
Design score: 4/5
Coros Pace Pro: Features
Lots of sensors
Always-on display
Offline TOPO maps
Coros Pace Pro (Image credit: Future)
The Coros Pace Pro is packed full of smart sensors meaning you can enjoy a broad range of tracking. That includes – deep breath – Optical Heart Rate Sensor, Barometric Altimeter, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Electronic Compass, Pulse Oximeter (SpO2) and ECG.
That all means this will offer tracking while exercising, sleeping, walking, and on-demand for things like SpO2 measurement. But it also means everything can be combined to offer smarter overall measurements and more effective feedback on things like training readiness or recovery needs.
That super bright display is also worth mentioning here as it's very clear even in direct sunlight, but won't cost you too much battery – with a decent 38 hours with all systems tracking. There is the option to go for always-on, or intermittent, with the former costing you about 6 days on that 20-day standby battery life. In always-on, you'll see the clock dimmed and it will brighten when you lift to look, as opposed to only doing that to turn on with the intermittent option. I found it super responsive either way.
Coros Pace Pro (Image credit: Future)
The inclusion of offline TOPO maps elevates this model forward over its predecessor. It means you can have maps and routes, although it doesn't offer auto re-routing when on the move, unfortunately. Much like the maps, which can be a faff to get routes loaded onto the watch, music is also a drag-and-drop affair as there's no offline Spotify support – although the 32GB storage is plenty.
Run-specific features are fantastic, with this clearly aimed at the racers or those who want to get to that level. You have a workout builder to plan training with dedicated plans, training status so you know if it's time to rest or get out there, a virtual pacer, and a race predictor. All really useful features that can be viewed both in the app and on the watch itself.
The watch does offer notifications for text and WhatsApp messages which come through right away and with that big screen, messages are clear and easy to read. Unfortunately, there isn't yet support for emojis, which might have been a nice touch given the AMOLED display.
Features score: 3.5/5
Coros Pace Pro: Performance
Coros Pace Pro (Image credit: Future)
Decent battery life
Fantastic display
Good GPS but average HR
To start on a really positive point, the display is stunning not only to view but also to control. Thanks to a new processor in this model that doubles the speed, the sensitivity and responsiveness are super-premium meaning accessing all the menus is a pleasure. The large and clear display is good for going through your data, including graphs, without the need to reach for the phone and app as it's so fast, responsive, and clear. That applies to mid-training too where even movements don't seem to put off that tactile responsiveness.
Tracking is good but not amazing when you consider how many GPS systems are at play here. GPS acquisition is fast and a helpful bar system shows you signal strength too. While tracking is very accurate over longer distances (5K+), you may find that shorter than that and with hills in the mix can leave you a little less clear. And cycling performance was a little off too, even over longer distances. We're talking meters here, nothing huge, but still not quite as accurate as the smarter algorithms that the competition uses to work out your movements. To be clear, it performs well compared to most watches – and is the best Coros yet – just not quite as well as the latest top-end premium offerings from more established brands.
Heart rate tracking is the other area that wasn't perfect. While some longer runs and gym sessions were well-recorded – compared to a leading brand chest strap there were some inaccuracies. For higher heart rate bursts or longer rides, the accuracy wasn't as good as it perhaps could have been. That said, I've found similar issues with higher-priced competitors so it's not a deal breaker – I'm just being super clear. Coros does offer an armband heart rate monitor which may help improve this output if high-intensity work is what you need to track very accurately – or you're working in zone training.
Coros Pace Pro (Image credit: Future)
Battery life is excellent with the 20-day standby time easily being reached or surpassed in my testing. Even training, with all sensors on and music playing over a Bluetooth headset, was still as good as predicted at 38 hours, if not better. I did use the watch with the display off when not in use though, so if you want the always-on display option expect the standby figure to drop by a few days. The USB charger and two-hour charge time combination do make battery something you won't really need to worry about often – which is the goal right?
Get into the app and you're met with clear, bright, and helpful displays that give you data in various forms without getting too complex as some of the competition does. I found it refreshing to have everything I needed there, with breakdowns available front and center, but without feeling like I had to dig around menus or be overwhelmed with too much information in my face. A difficult combination to achieve which Coros seems to have managed in record time.
I did have a few connectivity issues where the WiFi wouldn't work on the watch until I tried to sync a few times. Usefully you can also sync over Bluetooth, which takes longer but gets the job done. Hopefully, the WiFi issue will be fixed with updates although I've had two while testing this and it's still not working perfectly.
The silicon strap is super comfortable, very accurate to fit many wrist sizes, and it doesn't move about at all. That secure fit does mean it's a bit fiddly to get back on each time, so if you remove your watch regularly this might be worth keeping in mind if you're considering buying a different strap.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Coros Pace Pro: Scorecard
Coros Pace Pro: Should I buy?
Buy it if...
You want a superb display
That 1500-nits of brightness on the rich AMOLED display is stunning and the responsiveness of the touchscreen is second-to-none.
You want better battery life
The battery life is long enough that you don't need to charge often, and can use it regularly.
You want comfort
This is super lightweight and a perfect fit with that strap making it ideal for longer distance training and sleep tracking comfort.
Don't buy it if...
You want durability
The mineral glass display cover isn't the strongest so you'll have to be careful not to damage it.
You want music streaming
Yes, this has onboard music but not streaming support for the likes of Spotify making loading up a bit more effort.
You want adaptive navigation
You have maps here, and navigation, but it won't adapt on the fly so it's not ideal for all uses.
Also consider
Apple Watch Ultra 2
A fully fledgedhigh-performance premium smartwatch.
Writing this Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active review, I wasn’t exactly expecting it to hit our list of the best fitness trackers on the market — it’s startlingly cheap, designed for people who just need the fundamentals of health tracking. However I wasn’t expecting it to miss the mark so much.
Released as an even-more-affordable alternative to the already-affordable Xiaomi Smart Band 9, the Active model cuts the cost, as well as some corners, from that predecessor. However, it cuts so many corners that, like a really bad lapidarist, it leaves nothing left to appreciate.
Testing a cheap fitness tracker like this, you have to expect some compromises, but the Band 9 Active takes it too far. Many different health tracking metrics were easily proven wrong, with GPS reading poorly compared to data from our smartphone and heart rate information being laughably inaccurate. Calorie burn predictions were also dubious, unless I truly did only burn double-figure calories in an hour-long weights session.
One surprise exception was sleep tracking, which to me seemed vaguely reliable — at least, compared to distance or heart rate. If you just want a cheap and feature-sparse sleep tracker, this could be a valuable option.
Still, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active really struggles to prove itself as a useful health tracker given how ropey the testing results were. It fares a little better with its ‘smartwatch’ lifestyle functions as it was quick to send through notifications and let you control music.
It’s par for the course for fitness trackers to opt for offering a range of features, with the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active trying to track loads of metrics and health considerations. However, it seems that Xiaomi’s focus on breadth over depth has resulted in a wearable that’s hard to recommend. If you want a fitness tracker that has all the good bits of the Band 9 Active and few of the issues, opt for the standard model or the bigger and pricier Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro.
(Image credit: Future)
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active: Specifications
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
Costs $44.99 / £19.99 / AU$42.99
Cheaper alternative to Band 9
Released in October 2024
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active was unveiled in China in October 2024, alongside the Band 9 Pro, and was slowly rolled out globally over the subsequent months. It’s now available to buy in most countries globally including the US, UK and Australia.
You can buy the Band 9 Active for $44.99 / £19.99 / AU$42.99, so it’s an incredibly cheap fitness tracker — though you don’t need to know currency conversions to know that some folks get it cheaper than others. I found some significant price fluctuations on Amazon, with Australian shoppers on the retailer getting a variation of a few dollars depending on the color option, and UK buyers being shown prices literally twice as high as on Xiaomi’s own website! So shop around to find the best price.
That’s a roughly $15 / £15 / AU$20 drop in price compared to the Xiaomi Band 9, a healthy discount that means that the budget band will likely undercut the original one even when the middle child is on sale. The cost also roughly matches the Xiaomi Band 8 Active from last year.
There aren’t many cheap fitness trackers at this price bracket that bear mentioning, so the Active’s competitors are all (relatively) pricey alternatives like the other Smart Band 9 models and options from Samsung and Fitbit if you can find them reduced. More on competition later.
Value score: 4.5/5
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active: Design
(Image credit: Future)
Display doesn't look great
Rectangular body plus strap
Fairly well protected against bumps and water
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active has a pretty utilitarian design. Its body measures 4.6 x 2.7 x 1cm and weighs 16.5g, so it’s pretty small, and it totes a 1.47-inch display with a 172 x 320 resolution.
The band is made of TPU, which feels like a rubbery plastic, and can be adjusted for a wide range of wrist sizes. You can pick up the Active in black, beige or light pink, and your choice is reflected in the band’s body and strap.
With a 5ATM water resistance, the watch can withstand submersion in water at up to 50 meters — however, there are no swim tracking modes on the band, making this a feature you won’t need to test.
(Image credit: Future)
I bumped and bashed the Band 9 Active a fair few times during testing and it didn’t show a mark — it’s a good pick for clumsy wearers. It’s also small enough that you can wear it to bed without it being too noticeable and annoying.
The display, frankly, doesn’t look great, but that’s what you’re getting for your low entry fee. You can put your own photos as your watchface too which is a nice touch, even if faces end up looking a little like old-school RuneScape characters.
Design score: 3/5
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Many metrics seem inaccurate
Poor at pulling data from smartphone for GPS
50 sports tracking modes in all
The Xiaomi Smart Band 9 offers about 50 different fitness tracking modes, roughly a third as many as its two siblings though all the basics are covered (and then a few). Before you remark about how many that is, bear in mind that not all fitness tracking modes are equal.
Basically all of the fitness modes track time and heart rate, and some throw GPS in on top — the reason you’d pick between different tracking modes is so it’ll show up as a different entry in your fitness log, and because you can set different workout goals for different activities.
For testing purposes I used outdoor running, outdoor cycling and strength, but the fill list includes everything from badminton and baseball to billiards and ‘back’ (back workouts, that is).
Unfortunately, they’re not great: most of the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active’s fitness tracking features don’t work as they’re supposed to.
Here’s an example: one testing day I ran to my gym, which is usually 1.6km but the ‘outdoor running’ mode only recorded it as 1.4km. Then at the gym, I turned on ‘strength’ mode for my workout, and it told me I was at a low heart rate — despite the fact I hadn’t caught my breath after the run, and could feel my heart rate to be elevated.
(Image credit: Future)
The GPS issue is the most pronounced; multiple times during testing the watch wouldn’t report the full distance of a run or cycle (or, on one occasion, any distance at all, instead of the 4km I had cycled). From my testing, I seemed to lose on average 20% of the distance I actually traveled. It seems to be an issue with how the watch connects to your phone, as the Active only has Connected GPS (which utilizes your phone’s GPS, instead of having it built-in). I would have considered it being an issue with my phone, had I not tested the Band 9 Pro immediately before the Active.
The heart rate issue is also a shame — it’s one of the most important metrics that people use fitness trackers for, so the fact that it’s so obviously inaccurate is a real shame.
Now for a surprise: sleep tracking worked pretty well, surprisingly so given the rest of the performance. It was acccurate in terms of timing, even if I lay in bed reading before sleeping or remained prone for a while after waking up. It also offered basic-but-useful breakdowns of types of sleep (REM, deep, etc) as well as wake-up times and your resting heart rate (for however accurate that is…). If all you want out of a fitness tracker for is sleep tracking, this budget option might be alright.
Performance score: 2/5
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active: Features
(Image credit: Future)
Mi Fitness app used on phone
Music playback, notification handling and more
14-day battery life
Beyond the iffy fitness tracking options, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active more or less ticks all the feature boxes you’d expect for a cheap fitness tracker.
Through Bluetooth with your phone it can tell you the weather, control your music (well, skip, back a track and play/pause) and ping you with notifications. I recommend customizing which notifications get sent to your tracker, lest you want to be pinged every few minutes with the latest weather report.
The Band 9 Active connects to your phone via Bluetooth 5.3 and the connection was faultless during my testing — except, of course, for the weird GPS issue. You connect to the Mi Fitness app, which can bring you a few extra ways to use your band.
The main one (for me) is that it gives you more depth to examine your past workouts, with a rough GPS map and other metrics. You can also see the results of various metrics tracked via the watch like training load, stress, energy and your vitality score.
You can also use the app to customize your watch to a limited degree — like I said you can set a background photo or pick from a wide range of other displays. You can also tweak some settings of the fitness tracking metrics and set a password for the tracker.
Xiaomi cites the battery life for the Band 9 Active at being 18 days, or about two-and-a-half weeks. From my testing, I’d say you can reliably get two weeks of use out of the band before needing to charge it, but that extra four days may be a stretch if you’re not sparing with your use.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active: Scorecard
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Active: Should I buy?
(Image credit: Future)
Buy it if...
You're only in it for sleep tracking If you only want a sleep tracker, and don't care about other health features, then you'll find the Band 9 Active fit for purpose.
You don't care about health at all Just want a way to control your music, see notifications and check on the weather from your wrist? Then the Band 9 Active is fine for you and you won't need to spend any more.
You want a simple user interface The Band 9 Active strips some features from its siblings, but this makes it very simple to use for technophobes or seniors..View Deal
Don't buy it if...
Your budget goes any higher For only a small price increase, you can buy the Smart Band 9 which is a lot better in every way.
You care about tracking heart rate, calories or location I've already mentioned in detail how iffy the fitness tracking modes of the Band 9 Active are. Don't use it if you actually care about tracking your health.
Also consider
Xiaomi Smart Band 9
For only a small price increase, you can buy this fitness tracker which fixes all of the Active's problems, plus looks nicer and lasts for longer.
A few years of price cuts means that the Fitbit Inspire 3 is fairly affordable, though it'll still set you back the equivalent of several Band 9 Actives.
Chinese tech company Xiaomi is almost single-handedly keeping the cheap fitness tracker market alive, and the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is its new entry for people who want to monitor their health on the cheap, but want a nice big screen at the same time.
This health gadget is a follow-up to the Xiaomi Smart Band 9, released in mid-2024, and for all intents and purposes, it’s a very similar fitness tracker – too similar, for reasons we’ll get to. It has the same software, is largely as accurate for measuring your health, and connects to your phone in the exact same way.
Its key selling point is that, unlike its non-Pro predecessor, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 has a big display. This won me over more than I thought it would – it doesn’t feel much more of a burden on the wrist yet is much easier to press while you’re sprinting down a park path or balancing on a parked bike. I also see it being much more convenient from an accessibility viewpoint, so if fiddly fitness tracker screens put you off, this is the Smart Band to buy.
However with great screens come great price tags and the Smart Band 9 Pro pushes the price up a lot more than its older sibling – it’s not reaching the price point of Garmin’s cheapest options or second-hand Fitbits, but if you’re on the market for something really affordable, its price might give you reason to pause.
Size and cost upgrades aside, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro ostensibly has some improvements to sleep, blood oxygen, and heart rate monitoring – it didn’t feel that different to me. But I was disappointed in how lots of my issues with the previous band weren’t fixed, namely regarding buggy software.
My experience of using the Smart Band 9 Pro was punctuated by notifications waking me up in the early hours, alerts being hidden by other alerts, and the watch maintaining a very lackadaisical approach in waking when I raised it up. These are all issues I reported in my review of the first band, and they’re back here.
As a tech fan, I wasn’t impressed by how similar the Smart Band 9 Pro is to the Band 9, but the perk of its limited number of upgrades is that it functions just as well as that stellar fitness tracker did. Its activity tracking modes aren’t in-depth but they are handy for workout fans and I found the watch very accurate and useful for tracking distance and heart rate on runs.
When it’s working bug-free, the Band 9 Pro is also a useful lifestyle companion with music control, timers, and notification handling, all features that came in handy during testing.
So the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is definitely an upgrade over the Band 9 you should consider if the price doesn’t put you off, but you really should ask yourself if you need the bigger display.
(Image credit: Future)
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Specifications
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future)
Unveiled in October 2024
Goes for £62.99 / AU$99.99 (roughly $75)
Matches Smart Band 8 Pro
Xiaomi announced the Smart Band 9 Pro as well as the Active model in late October 2024, initially for its Chinese market, but it slowly released it globally in the following months.
You can pick up the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro for £62.99 / AU$99.99 (roughly $75). That’s a fairly significant price hike, in the UK at least, over the $60 / £24.99 / AU$79.99 ‘standard’ Band 9, though it matches its predecessor the Smart Band 8 Pro.
The price cements the Band 9 Pro as the premium member of its tripartite, with the Band 9 Active coming in at £19.99 / AU$44.99 (roughly $25). The price puts the tracker equal to, or above, some of the best cheap fitness trackers in terms of cost, and I don’t quite feel that the feature set has seen an increase in step with the price hike.
In a few regions, Xiaomi sells extra straps for the Band 9 Pro, and it sent TechRadar one of these alongside the fitness track for testing. However, at the time of writing, these aren’t for sale in the UK.
Value score: 4/5
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Design
(Image credit: Future)
Bigger body than rivals, but not much
Large 1.74-inch AMOLED screen
Screen space is really useful
Its suffix is ‘Pro’ but that could well be ‘Gro’ because the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro is, in effect, a bigger version of the non-Pro model in terms of design. That is to say, it’s a standard fitness tracker that’s been scaled up a notch.
The band that comes in the box is made of TPU, and I found it pretty fiddly to clasp but comfortable when worn. It supports a pretty large variance in wrist size, which isn’t something you can say about all fitness trackers. It has an easy-release mechanism so to remove or replace the bands, you simply press a small button on the Smart Band’s body, and I found this easy to do.
You can pick up the band in three color options: black, silver (with a white strap), and rose gold (with a pink strap). As you can see in the images, I used the latter.
The body itself measures 43.3 x 32.5 x 10.8mm, not including the band, and weighs 24.5g. That makes it a little chunkier and portlier than many svelte fitness trackers on the market but its weight wasn’t noticeable on the wrist. In fact, I found it just as comfortable as any other tracker I’ve used.
(Image credit: Future)
Next, we come to the screen, the biggest change over the ‘standard’ Band 9 (literally). It measures 1.74 inches diagonally, and like the body, it’s wider and shorter than its sibling. Its resolution is 336 x 480 and the max brightness is 1200 nits, though unlike on the Band 9 I found the automatic brightness wasn’t always that quick. I sometimes struggled to see what I was looking at on my band when outdoors until it had taken a few seconds to adjust the brightness.
This extra screen space will be fantastic for people who don’t get on with the teenie icons of most fitness trackers and smartwatches, and it was especially useful when running so I could easily press a button without needing too much precision.
In terms of protection, the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro has 5ATM water resistance: it can survive at depths of up to 50 meters for 10 minutes. Xiaomi advises you not to take it in heated water, though, like a sauna or in the shower.
Design score: 4/5
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Performance
(Image credit: Future)
Uses phone's GPS but has heart rate and other trackers
Over 150 fitness tracking modes
21-day battery life
In the ‘specs’ section above, I quoted Xiaomi’s estimate for the Smart Band 9 Pro’s battery life of 21 days. However in my testing, I found that the band far exceeded this – it lost a third of its charge in eight days, which included multiple runs (including a three-hour one), several weights training sessions, and sleep tracking on most of the nights. That would put the battery life at closer to 24 days although your mileage will vary.
A 14-day battery life is pretty standard for fitness trackers but 24 days is stellar, so I don’t imagine that the band will let you down. Charging is done with a proprietary charger that plugs into any USB port.
The range of workouts is the same as on the standard band, so there are over 150 fitness tracking modes. Most of these are pretty barebones: they monitor time, your heart rate, and a rough count of the calories burned, so whichever of them you select from the watch largely just dictates how it shows up in your app workout log.
A few of them have more information though, with some like running and cycling using GPS. This isn’t standard GPS but connected GPS, which means the band uses the GPS from your paired smartphone – you can’t go on workouts without your mobile by your side.
(Image credit: Future)
This is therefore as accurate as your smartphone, but that’s nothing to turn your nose up at – I ran a distance that was measured to be 5K, and the watch told me I ran 5.05km, which is a 1% error margin.
Sleep tracking is present, and it’s not as in-depth as on a fancy smartwatch: you find out how long you slept, how it’s broken down into deep and light sleep and wake-ups, and what your average heart rate was. According to Xiaomi, the sleep tracking has seen an upgrade in the Band 9 Pro.
Other metrics that are tracked – to dubious levels of reliability – are your stress, energy level, and ‘vitality score’ or cumulative exercise over the last week. The watch also tracks blood rate oxygen and heart rate and these are, according to Xiaomi, also improved over the original band.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Features
(Image credit: Future)
Mi Fitness app used on phone
Music playback, notification handling and more
Some bugs with app and watch
I found the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro quite buggy, which isn’t something that I’m too surprised about given other fitness trackers from the maker that I’ve tested, but it was more pronounced here as some examples disrupted my experience.
Both my most prominent examples come from the band’s otherwise effective notification handling. Sometimes notifications would appear at the same time as, and therefore override more important information; the Pro was very confused when an interval pop-up was immediately succeeded by a message notification, meaning I couldn’t see how many kilometers I’d just hit. And the more annoying one is that, even with do not disturb enabled, notifications would buzz on my wrist in the middle of the night – I was woken multiple times, once at 1 am, by notifications appearing on my wrist.
This latter one is something I experienced with the Band 9, as is another lesser issue: raise-to-wake is unreliable, and sometimes you can lift up your wrist and be met by a black screen.
I shouldn’t compare those two fitness trackers too much, though, because the overall experience of using the Band 9 Pro is great thanks to the larger display. A lot more information can be shown at once using its various widgets: you can see the weather for the next few days, your heart rate on a graph, and a music player to let you pause or skip songs. Buttons overall are naturally a lot bigger, which is a great accessibility win.
Well, most buttons are great, but the exception is in the app drawer which you open by swiping up from the bottom. This is a grid of 26 buttons for different features, and none of them are labeled, so you have to guess which does what. Many of them are identical: two are icons of running people, in different colors, and it’s a real trial-and-error experience. Luckily most of the features that I found myself using can be accessed in other ways, namely by swiping through the home page widgets.
More features come from the tie-in Mi Fitness app, which you download on your phone. It lets you see your fitness and health details in much more detail as well as change your watch face from a huge range of options (including custom photos), see historical data, and set up various features.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Scorecard
Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro: Should I buy?
(Image credit: Future)
Buy it if...
You want a big screen Whether it’s for accessibility or convenience, a big screen can be a huge draw for some people, especially with how small fitness tracker displays tend to be. If that’s you, step right up!
You need a long battery life I was impressed with how well the Band 9 Pro lasted, despite some intensive testing – if you can’t reliably charge wearables, a long-lasting option like this is handy.
You bring your phone on workouts The Smart Band is an extension of your phone – you’ll need your mobile to track GPS and send your watch the music and notifications it handles. You’ll need to buy a smartwatch if you want to do away with the phone.View Deal
Don't buy it if...
Budget is a key consideration While it’s definitely cheap, the Smart Band 9 Pro isn’t cheap – not compared to its siblings and not compared to the fare that populates Amazon. You can find cheaper options that still work well.
You get frustrated by malfunctioning tech I’ve detailed how the Smart Band 9 family has buggy software – if this kind of thing in tech drives you up the wall, you might find yourself using the 9 Pro’s stress measuring feature more than you’d like…
Also consider
Xiaomi Smart Band 9
This cheaper option works much the same as the Pro but with a smaller display.
Fitbit's cheapest health band lets you try the brand's range of features and thanks to price cuts, it generally sells for around the same price as the Band 9 Pro.
The Miele Blizzard CX1 range is available in multiple territories, but in various different configurations. These have the same base model, but different tools and accessories. For this review, I tested the Blizzard CX1 Flex.
The Miele Blizzard CX1 is a bagless cylinder vacuum that plugs in via a power cable for endless vacuuming time. It offers four suction levels and four vacuuming accessories in addition to the main floorhead.
Miele is a German brand with a reputation for quality across many appliance categories. And since it's been making vacuums for around 100 years, it knows a thing or two about designing the best vacuum cleaners. Miele offers two distinct ranges of bagless plug-in cylinder vacuums, the Miele Blizzard CX1 range and the Miele Boost CX1 range.
There are a few different CX1 options which use the same base model but have different tools and accessories. For this review, I tested the CX1 Flex.
On the whole, its size, coupled with features like its large dust canister make it well suited to larger homes. And while performance was good, it's not the best I've tried on carpet and it isn't suited to homes with pets either. But it's quiet and easy to use, plus the super long flexible crevice nozzle allows you to clean those awkward, tight spaces between your large appliances and the wall.
(Image credit: Future)
Miele Blizzard CX1 review: price & availability
Various options in Blizzard CX1 range, depending on territory
Price: $479-$999 / £429-£499 / AU$849
The Miele Blizzard CX1 range is available in multiple territories, but exactly which models you can get depends on where you live.
For this review, I tested the Miele Blizzard CX1 Flex, which is only available in the UK, and costs £429. It can be bought directly from Miele, or via large electrical retailers such as Currys or Hughes. In the UK there are four Miele Blizzard CX1 vacuums ranging from £429 to £499 and at the time of writing some of them were available at a discounted price, so it's worth shopping around, especially around the time of seasonal sales.
In the US there are three Miele Blizzard CX1 models, which have the same main vacuum as the one I tested, but different accessories and floorheads. They range in price from $479 to $999.
In Australia there's one model available, it's the Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog Powerline and it'll set you back AU$849. Take a look at the Miele website in your country, for more details on the models available.
No matter which model you go for, the Blizzard CX1 is in the premium price bracket, and while that's not unexpected for this brand, I think it's a little overpriced given the overall performance.
Value for money score: 3.5 out of 5
Miele Blizzard CX1 specs
Miele Blizzard CX1 review: design
Big and bulky for a cylinder vacuum
Not all tools stored on board
Good size dust canister
When I first removed the Miele Blizzard CX1 Flex from its box I was surprised at how chunky it felt. And maybe that is in part because I've just reviewed the super compact Miele Boost CX1, nevertheless it's worth checking out the dimensions if you're short on storage space.
The cylinder itself measures 51.5 x 31 x 29cm/ 20.3 x 12.2 x 11.4 inches (h x w x d) when stood upright on its end. The advantage of a larger vacuum is usually a larger dust canister and the Miele Blizzard CX1 has an ample 2 liter bagless canister. Though I would argue that its 7.5 meter/ 24.6ft power cord is on the short side.
(Image credit: Future)
This particular model comes with an upholstery nozzle and crevice tool, both of which are stored on board the vacuum, at the back. There's also a dusting brush, which frustratingly isn't stored on the vacuum. And lastly, there's an extra long and bendy crevice nozzle that's ideal for reaching down the sides of large appliances such as a fridge or dryer.
The crevice nozzle is what makes this the Flex model, the standard UK Miele Blizzard CX1 is exactly the same but without the flexible crevice nozzle. Other models in the range include different floorhead types such as parquet floorhead for very delicate hard floors, or a motorized floorhead for optimized pet hair pickup.
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(Image credit: Future)
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(Image credit: Future)
The floorhead included with this model is called an EcoTeQ floorhead and Miele describes it as being designed for energy efficient vacuuming with maximum cleaning. For the best performance cleaning carpet and collecting pet hair, you'll need to fork out for the top-of-the-range Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog model which comes with the motorized floorhead.
The controls are very simple, there are just two buttons and a dial on the body of the vacuum. The power button and the cord rewind button can both be foot operated to avoid the need to bend down. But when you want to switch between the four suction levels you will have to bend down to adjust the dial.
The only other control is the foot pedal located on the floorhead. The position of this switch dictates the position of the brushes on the underside of the floorhead, and you have to adjust it depending on whether you're vacuuming carpet or hard floors.
(Image credit: Future)
Between the floorhead and the handle is a telescopic wand, which is an adjustable height tube. That means you can adjust it to suit your height, or, if you're trying to reach under furniture, you can extend it to lengthen the reach.
The dust canister lifts straight up and out of the vacuum simply by grabbing its handle and pulling upwards. Then it's easily emptied by pressing the bright yellow release button which flips open the bottom of the dust canister, allowing all the dirt and debris to fall directly into your bin.
(Image credit: Future)
Once the dust canister has been removed and emptied, there are two filters inside it that can be cleaned periodically. The filter frame slides out from inside the canister and the pre-filter can be found at the back of the canister. Both should be cleaned when obviously dirty by removing dust and rinsing.
The main fine dust filter can be removed and cleaned manually in water. But it also has a handy self clean function called ComfortClean. When it reaches a specified degree of soiling, the vacuum will switch off for around 20 seconds and carry out this cleaning process. Or, you can start the ComfortClean process simply by pressing the ComfortClean button.
Design score: 4 out of 5
Miele Blizzard CX1 review: performance
Quiet in use
Not effective at hair pick up on carpet
Excellent edge cleaning
In general I found the suction to be effective on all hard floors and was particularly impressed when I tested the pickup at the sides of the floorhead. I did this by sprinkling flour along baseboards and no matter which side of the floorhead I vacuumed with, the results were flawless and no flour was left lingering at the edges of the room.
Due to there being no brushes at the front of the floorhead, it does feel like it clatters along on my uneven, rustic slate tiled floors as opposed to gliding smoothly. And if I had very expensive or delicate hard floors, this might concern me more. On my wood floors, which are flat and not uneven, it glides more smoothly.
(Image credit: Future)
To test the performance on very fine particles I dusted flour onto my hard floors and vacuumed it back up again. For the most part it collected the flour in one sweep. On wood floors it collected all the flour that had settled into the grooves between the boards but I could see that some flour was still embedded into the wood grain and this took a couple of sweeps to remove.
Depending on the direction I vacuumed towards the flour it did sometimes push a small pile of flour out in front of the floorhead. It was swiftly and easily sucked up by approaching it from a different angle, but I'd prefer this didn't happen in the first place.
(Image credit: Future)
Overall pickup on carpet was good, but it wasn't faultless. I've got both a wool carpet and a synthetic carpet. On the synthetic carpet the suction felt really strong and I had to turn it down in order to actually be able to vacuum the room. It left the floors looking very clean.
On the less fluffy wool carpet, suction was fairly decent and having just reviewed the Miele Boost CX1, I do think the Blizzard CX1 offers better suction on carpet. But it still didn't feel like it was giving the carpet a thorough clean; I'd much prefer a motorized floorhead.
Picking up hair was effortless on hard floors, but on carpet, the hair got dragged around and clumped up before eventually being sucked into the vacuum after several passes. If you've got pets and carpet, you'll find models better suited to your needs in TechRadar's guide to the best vacuums for pet hair.
(Image credit: Future)
The body of the vacuum could just about balance on a step when vacuuming stairs, but it hangs over the edge of the step. So in all honesty it's a bit too big, and I didn't feel confident that it wouldn't topple. I found it best to move it up with me one step at a time and position my body in front of it, so it could only tilt into me and not fall.
By attaching the main floorhead directly to the handle, I found vacuuming stairs to be pretty quick and easy. When needed I could grab the crevice tool from its position onboard the vacuum to easily get into corners and edges.
I like the long crevice nozzle that gave me the opportunity to vacuum some areas that I can't normally get to with most vacuums. Awkward thin gaps like down the sides of my washing machine were finally within reach. Admittedly, I couldn't easily see how well it was doing, but I could hear debris being sucked up the pipe so it's safe to assume these areas were left cleaner than they started.
(Image credit: Future)
The upholstery tool is a bit basic in my opinion and it's also very small. And I found it frustrating that unless I remembered to push it very firmly into place, it would end up falling off mid-use. Having said all that, it works fine for sprucing up sofas and chairs.
(Image credit: Future)
The dusting brush is good and effective. I like that by twisting it, the angle of the brush adjusts, so you can set it up perfectly for the job at hand. It made short work of dusting a huge shelving unit in my living room.
Overall, in my small home with its cottage proportions, this cylinder vacuum was quite simply too bulky. In tight spaces it can feel like the vacuum itself is always in the way. It was much more at home and user-friendly in larger, more open spaces.
(Image credit: Future)
In the car I was able to use the main floorhead to clean the boot, but had to switch to the upholstery tool for most other jobs including the seats, mats, and carpet. The issue is that it's a very basic and small upholstery tool, so this took a bit of time.
The crevice nozzle was able to reach down most of the awkward gaps. For the really hard-to-reach spots, I got out the long bendy nozzle and it managed to reach some areas down the sides of the seats that have long been neglected. The dusting brush was useful for the dashboard and other hard surfaces.
Even on maximum suction, this is a quiet vacuum. On carpet it averaged 70-75dB and it was slightly louder on hard floors at 75-80dB. The noise level decreases as you decrease the suction, so even though it's not particularly loud, you can still make it quieter.
(Image credit: Future)
In practice, emptying the dirt was straightforward, though when the base of the canister flipped open, it often didn't open up as wide as it could, and in these instances some dust and debris would settle on it and need a quick shake to remove.
Performance score: 3.5 out of 5
Should you buy the Miele Blizzard CX1?
Buy it if...
You live in a larger home
The two liter dust canister and longer power cord make the Miele Blizzard CX1 range more appropriate for larger homes than the Miele Boost CX1 range.
You want a vacuum that doesn't need charging
It might seem obvious, but a plug in vacuum offers you endless vacuuming time and removes the worry of running out of power, which is a common problem with cordless vacuums.
You want a straightforward vacuum
With just four power levels to choose from, this is a straightforward vacuum that's easy to operate and maintain, it won't befuddle you with unnecessary settings and controls.
Don't buy it if...
You're on a budget
If money is tight and you want a Miele canister vacuum, take a look at the cheaper Miele Boost CX1 range, the vacuums are smaller but much cheaper and still come with the Miele pedigree.View Deal
You've got pets
Due to the style of floorhead, this vacuum isn't designed for homes with pets. For effective and efficient pet hair pick up you'll need a vacuum with a motorised floorhead.
You lack storage space
This isn't the most compact canister vacuum you can buy from Miele, so if storage space is tight take a look at the Miele Boost CX1 range instead.
How I tested the Miele Blizzard CX1
In my career testing and reviewing home appliances I've tried out well in excess of a hundred vacuums. This gives me a pretty good understanding of what makes a good vacuum and what features and design details will quickly become annoying.
I set up this vacuum in my own home and used it for my regular cleaning tasks. Not only that, but I cleaned my car with it, and set up some tests to see how well it performed very specific tasks such as cleaning right up to the edges of a room.
I also checked the noise level, maneuverability and comfort in use. Furthermore I checked that any maintenance wouldn't be too complicated or overwhelming, and that emptying out the dirt would be easy and mess-free.
With relative upstarts likes DJI, Rode, Hollyland and more all releasing tiny wireless microphones recently, veteran audio manufacturers have started to get in on the action. Sennheiser’s Profile Wireless is an attempt by the company – long famed for its excellent studio mics and headphones – to muscle in on the market, and I’ve found it to be yet another very impressive compact mic, ideal for anyone who wants to elevate their recorded content for vlogs, podcasts, interviews and more.
With a lightweight, compact design (each of the two transmitters weighs just 27g, while the whole package including a charging bar weighs 290g) and a solid 20-ish hours of battery life, the Profile Wireless is easy to carry around all day, and its 24-bit audio quality beats the pants off the internal mics used by smartphones, laptops and cameras – the things you’ll likely be pairing it with when recording content. It can also be used completely independently of other hardware, thanks to each of the transmitters having internal storage space for recordings.
While its lack of so-called ‘premium’ features like Bluetooth recording, 32-bit float and automatic noise cancelling might give would-be completionists and professionals pause, I don’t think there’s much wrong with Sennheiser’s less-is-more approach. By keeping things simple and effective, the Profile Wireless makes for a worthy affordable alternative to the likes of the DJI Mic 2 and Rode Wireless Pro.
The whole kit includes two transmitters, one receiver and a charging bar (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Sennheiser Profile Wireless: price and release date
$299 / £259 / AU$549 for 2-Channel Set with receiver, two transmitters and charging bar
Replacement receivers and transmitters sold separately
Available now
I think the best way to purchase the Sennheiser Profile Wireless, which is on sale now, is as a complete kit. The 2-Channel Set package includes a receiver, two transmitters, a charging bar/interview mic, three adapters (for mounting the receiver on a camera cold shoe, or on a USB-C or Lightning device), two magnets for attaching the transmitter to clothing, a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, a USB-C to USB-C cable, three windscreens (two for transmitters, one for the interview mic) and a soft zip-up carry case to hold everything securely.
The transmitter and receiver components can also be purchased separately, but I’d see that more as an option for replacing damaged or lost components (or buying spares) rather than for building a wireless mic setup.
The Sennheiser Profile Wireless is a bit cheaper than premium rivals like the DJI Mic 2 and Rode Wireless Pro, but more expensive than the compact DJI Mic Mini and Rode Wireless Micro. I think the pricing is about right, as the Profile Wireless can’t match the premium models on features such as 32-bit float recording.
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Sennheiser Profile Wireless: specs
(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Sennheiser Profile Wireless: Design
All main elements slot into charging bar
Entire package weighs 290g
Adapters for USB-C, Lightning and cold shoe included
The main two elements of the Sennheiser Profile Wireless package are the transmitter and receiver units. The transmitter is a small and lightweight mic that can be attached to clothing via a built-in clip or a magnet (the latter being suitable for thin fabrics like t-shirts only), and can be used in tandem (for stereo or two-person recording) or solo (for mono recording). It links wirelessly to the receiver, a slightly larger unit that can be attached to smartphones, tablets, laptops or cameras; the receiver takes the audio signal and converts it to digital audio data on a video or audio recording, and also features an OLED touchscreen for adjusting settings and viewing input levels in real-time. The touchscreen is tiny, which can make tweaking things tricky at times, but given one of the key features of the setup is its compact size, I think this is just par for the course.
The charging bar doubles as a handheld broadcast mic, perfect for thrusting into the faces of interviewees (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Both the transmitter and receiver elements are handsome (if not showy or fancy) to look at and constructed well, just as I would expect from a Sennheiser product. They also come with a cleverly designed charging bar, which features space to dock them for storage and recharging, plus room to store adapters and magnets. Its long, narrow shape, and the fact that the transmitters are stored at one end, means it can be repurposed as a traditional handheld microphone, held by the user and pointed towards interviewees – much like you’d see a news reporter wielding for a vox pop or red carpet interview. That’s something I’ve never seen on other wireless mics, and a good reason to consider buying the Profile Wireless if you’re planning on creating that sort of content. The charging bar also has a standard tripod mounting point on one side, so you can attach it to a tripod or mic arm if you wished.
As with most small wireless microphone packages, the Profile Wireless can be attached to various devices. Included in the box are adapters to attach the receiver to Lightning devices, USB-C devices and cameras (the latter using a cold shoe mount). The transmitters can also be used completely independently, thanks to onboard recording controls and 16GB of built-in storage space – enough for about 30 hours of audio. Each also has a 3.5mm input for attaching an optional lavalier mic, and it’s a nice high-quality metal connector too, with a screw fit for firmly securing the lav mic cable. Again, that’s a nice premium touch that I haven’t seen on similar wireless mic systems – the DJI Mic 2 has a lav input, but it’s just plastic with no screw fit.
The receiver can attach directly to your smartphone, tablet, camera or laptop (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Sennheiser Profile Wireless: Performance
24-bit audio quality
Automatic backup recording
Wireless range of up to 245m
Like most 2.4GHz wireless mics, the Profile Wireless records audio at 24-bit quality. Some recent mics, like the DJI Mic 2 and Rode Wireless Pro, offer an option to record at a higher 32-bit float quality, but that’s not available here. I don’t think most users will find that a huge loss, as the 24-bit audio sounds great here, and 32-bit float (the files of which take up a lot more space than 24-bit files) is something that’s really designed for professionals and uncompromising perfectionists rather than regular users.
As stated above, I found the Profile Wireless’s audio quality to be excellent, having tested it both in and outdoors in various ambient noise conditions. The lack of active or intelligent noise cancelling means you may want to consider alternative microphones if you’re likely to be consistently recording in loud environments, but as long as you can live with some background noise I don’t think it’s a feature you’ll miss too much. There are removeable furry wind shields included to help reduce noise on blustery days, too.
The 24-bit audio does a fine job of making voices sound clear and weighty, whether you’re recording onto an external device via the receiver or directly onto a transmitter using the on-board controls. There are adjustable gain controls included on the receiver, plus a Safety Channel mode that, when using two transmitters, records a second version of the recording at -6dB in case the main channel clips out due to an unforeseen loud noise.
Adapters for Lightning, USB-C and camera cold shoes are included in the charging bar (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
Another feature not included here but present on some rivals is direct Bluetooth recording, where you can pair a transmitter directly with your mobile device to record audio, bypassing the receiver altogether.
One great audio feature Sennheiser has added is Backup Recording Mode, which automatically switches to on-board recording when the wireless signal is weak or drops. The wireless range is good (up to about 250m in clear conditions) but having this as a fallback option in case of connection issues may turn out to be a godsend for some.
Battery life is fairly decent, with around 7 hours of operating time on each transmitter and the receiver, plus an addition 15 or so hours in the charging bar. So you’re looking at an overall recording time of around 21 hours when using a single transmitter at any one time – roughly the same as you’d get from the Rode Wireless Micro.
Should I buy the Sennheiser Profile Wireless?
Buy it if…
You want a no-nonsense way to improve your recordings
With no app required, auto-pairing and everything included in one small package, the Profile Wireless’s simplicity makes it a great one-stop way to get great audio.
You want protection against signal drops
Profile Wireless comes with an automatic backup mode, which kicks in to rescue recordings that might otherwise be lost if the wireless signal becomes weak.
You want to interview people while out and about
The charging bar’s ability to double as a handheld broadcast-style microphone makes it ideal for recording vox pops and similar interviews.
Don’t buy it if…
You need 32-bit float recordings
32-bit float recordings are overkill for most users, but those perfectionists who do want them will need to opt for a pricier alternative such as the DJI Mic 2.
You often record in very noisy places
With no noise cancellation tech included, you’ll be hearing background sounds in the Profile Wireless’s recordings. If recording in noisy environments is commonplace for you, it might not be the best choice.
You want to buy components separately
The Profile Wireless is only available as a two-transmitter kit with the charging bar, with extra transmitters and receivers being sold separately – but only as replacements or backups.
Sennheiser Profile Wireless: also consider
DJI Mic 2 If you're operating at a pro level, want audio quality a cut above the Profile Wireless’s, and are prepared to do a little work in the editing suite, then the pricier Mic 2 is the better bet thanks to its 32-bit float audio option and built-in environment noise cancelling. It is slightly pricier than the Sennheiser, accordingly.
Rode Wireless Micro If you're keen for a fuss-free mic and only shoot with a smartphone, the tiny Rode Wireless Micro is a sensible choice. However, if you might branch out to vlogging with a camera, or want more flexible buying choice, the Sennheiser Profile Wireless remains a better bet.
The whole kit and caboodle fits into a nice zip-up carrying case (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)
How I tested the Sennheiser Profile Wireless
Used regularly for two weeks in quiet and noisy environments
Paired with iPhone 13 and Panasonic Lumix GH6 II
I tested the Profile Wireless both in and outdoors, both with its receiver physically connected to devices (my Apple iPhone 13 smartphone and Panasonic Lumix GH6 II camera) and in solo mode, making sure to record in a variety of environments, in order to see how it handled different background noises and weather conditions.
If you’re going to get serious about money management then it’s a good idea to explore the best budgeting apps and personal finance software. However, if you’re after a free quick fix for your finances then NerdWallet is well worth investigating.
This is a quirky little package that works best in its app incarnation for both iOS and Android, allowing quick and easy access to lots of features and functions on the move. However, the desktop website edition offers another useful perspective on your finances, so to get the best from the NerdWallet arsenal of money tools, it’s probably best to use both from time to time.
This convenience aspect is a big pull factor for NerdWallet users, who once they’ve imported all their financial transactions into the software, can check income and expenditure in one fell swoop.
Of course, being free means that NerdWallet does have to raise revenue in other ways, which largely revolves around offering financial products and services from within the software itself. If you can live with that aspect, rather than spending money on more complex and ad-free personal finance software, it makes a lot of sense.
NerdWallet comes in desktop and app editions and can be used for free. (Image credit: NerdWallet)
NerdWallet: Pricing
NerdWallet is currently free to use, both in its desktop guise and also as the app edition, which is available for both iOS and Android. While there is no fee to pay for enjoying NerdWallet, there is a focus on the software offering finance-related deals and offers, which isn’t at all unreasonable given the overall appeal of the package.
NerdWallet offers a range of financial tools within its slick interface. (Image credit: NerdWallet)
NerdWallet: Features
One of the most appealing features of NerdWallet is its capacity for giving you access to your credit score. This can be incredibly useful for checking its current status, but also for learning about how to improve it and, also, for spotting anything that might not be right. Nestling within NerdWallet are nudges towards financial products, but that’s still worth living with for the valuable insight the software gives about your financial wellbeing.
The credit score information is dynamic too, so is useful for getting an up-to-date overview of your current financial situation as well as piecing together a more historical picture. There’s also a neat credit simulator that can help give users an idea of what would happen if a new credit card is applied for and so on. This all works nicely alongside allowing users to keep a close eye on incomings and outgoings from their bank accounts and other financial interests.
NerdWallet rounds out the appeal with a comprehensive helping of advice shop features, which can help shine the light on any aspects of personal finance that you’re not really sure about. Used regularly, the package really can help with becoming more knowledgeable about money matters.
The NerdWallet app experience offers an insight into finances on the go. (Image credit: NerdWallet)
NerdWallet: Performance
There’s a lot to like about NerdWallet and one of its most appealing aspects is the slick and simple interface of both the app editions and the desktop website. It all runs very well and, while there are financial deals and offers present on that journey, this is never enough to make you feel like going elsewhere to one of the rivals.
NerdWallet: Ease of use
As you’d expect from a quick and easy app, NerdWallet is equally straightforward to get to grips with. There’s a short sign-up process, which requires users to input personal information including a social security number, along with any relevant bank account details where the system pulls in transactional records from. It’s all well laid-out and NerdWallet follows all the same security protocols as other competitors in the personal finance space.
The app is also wonderfully simple to operate and, unlike some rival products, is easy to pick up and get the hang off. Rather than giving the user too much information, the NerdWallet approach is more minimalist and tailored. This is another aspect that makes NerdWallet useful for anyone who’s time poor and frequently checks their finances while they’re on the go, or in transit.
Meanwhile, the desktop experience is similarly slick, although it’s interesting to note that neither have exactly the same level of features and functions. It therefore makes sense to use the two in tandem where possible, though you don’t need to do this at the same time, obviously.
NerdWallet is easy to use either via the desktop website or the excellent app. (Image credit: NerdWallet)
NerdWallet: Support
A big part of the appeal of NerdWallet is the wealth of help that’s on tap, with lots of guides and advice available for no cost at all. Using the app edition, or even the desktop incarnation for that matter, is also very straightforward, so there’s really not too much that can go wrong. Setup is a no-nonsense affair, but if you do run into problems there is plenty of guidance on offer to help get you back on track, plus a support email address for registered users.
NerdWallet: Final verdict
NerdWallet has to make money somehow, so this app and website combination does present users with deals and offers along the way. However, there’s no escaping the usefulness of NerdWallet, both for getting an overview of personal finances but also for getting monetary matters into better shape. Anyone looking for a quick and easy way to do this should investigate it, although there are rivals out there that offer similarly useful options, albeit for a fee.
The LG XBoom Go XG8T has a pretty tough task – standing out in a field with extremely strong competition from some of the biggest names in audio. That’s right, this large portable speaker finds itself pitted against some tough rivals from the likes of JBL, Bose and Ultimate Ears. So, how does it fare in its battle for supremacy?
Well, firstly, LG has looked to focus on this speaker's design – specifically its phenomenal durability. The LG XBoom Go XG8T is said to have "military grade" protection against the elements, having passed seven different durability tests. It also has an IP67 waterproof rating and high-quality build, protecting it against impact and underwater submersion.
As well as that, this has neat, customizable LED lights, an attractive wraparound speaker grille and conveniently adjustable handle/strap. It's looking good so far, right? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but outside of its looks and design, the LG XBoom Go XG8T really struggles to outdo some of its similarly-priced competitors that have made our list of the best Bluetooth speakers.
There are some standout reasons for that. First, battery life. This is the XG8T's fatal flaw. LG says you get up to 15 hours of playtime – but there’s a real emphasis on the ‘up to’. If you’re playing at 50% volume without EQ adjustment or LED lights, sure, that might be attainable. But with lighting on and the booming Sound Boost feature activated, you’re going to see that battery percentage fall way faster. 15 hours isn’t particularly impressive anyway, so given depletion happens much faster with core features like Sound Boost is a real shame.
Next, let’s talk sound – another area where the XG8T can’t quite usurp some of the best waterproof speakers around. Bass, thankfully can get pretty deep and hits with impact, especially with Sound Boost on. Generally, elements like vocals and percussive elements in the treble range are clear too, although you may sense a bit of harshness at top volumes. However, this isn’t going to offer a massively detailed listen and there are no fancy audio codecs – think LDAC – to play with, so you end up with solid, yet fairly unremarkable sound in the end.
There are a couple of other smaller issues that arise too: slightly outdated Bluetooth connectivity, lacking EQ presets and a hefty AC adapter stick out. When you combine all of that with a high list price of $379.99 / £400 (about AU$600) it’s hard to justify buying this portable speaker.
Having said that, there’s another factor to consider. Since it’s release, the XG8T has frequently been available on sale, sometimes even for around half price. This, of course, changes the game significantly. Is the battery life still a big issue? Sure. But the power and bass on offer here would certainly be a lot more impressive in this context. So, if you can grab it at a massively cut price, it could possibly be worth considering the XG8T.
But all in all, this speaker just misses the mark. It’s not by any means a bad option, with impressive low-end power, generally clear all-round audio and incredible durability. But unless you’re a massive LG fan specifically, you’re likely to be better served elsewhere. Some of 2024’s big hitters like the Bose SoundLink Flex and JBL Xtreme 4 are regularly on sale for well under the list price of the XG8T and they are some top alternatives – so why not read more about those in the ‘Also Consider’ section below…
(Image credit: Future)
LG XBoom Go XG8T review: price and release date
$379.99 / £400 (about AU$600)
Launched in March 2024
OK, so if you buy the LG XBoom Go XG8T at its list price, you’ll have to shell out a fair amount of cash. Its usual price is $379.99 / £400 / AU$600, pitting it against competitors like the JBL Xtreme 4 and Ultimate Ears Epicboom.
However, as you may expect for a speaker that launched early in 2024, you can regularly find the XG8T available at a cut-price. In fact, this model can be as low as half price. I've spotted it going for less than $200 / £200 with some online retailers. It’s also worth noting that this speaker is only available in Black.
(Image credit: Future)
LG XBoom Go XG8T review: specs
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LG XBoom Go XG8T review: features
LG XBoom app compatibility
Sub-par battery life
Outdated Bluetooth version
The LG XBoom Go XG8T has a pretty tidy set of features and it owes this, in part, to the LG XBoom companion app. Using this, you can access some fairly typical options: multi-point connectivity, Party Link for pairing multiple speakers and EQ adjustment, for instance.
And on the topic of EQ adjustment, this app offers a pretty mixed experience. One key positive is that there’s a fully customizable, six-band equalizer available through the app, so you get a decent amount of control over the sound you get here. But I was frustrated at the real lack of presets available here. You can use Sound Boost, which provides a boost to volume and low-end power, but this counts as a preset in itself. Other than that, there’s only Standard mode. I would’ve liked to have seen some gene-specific presets, for instance, to make it easy to get your preferred sound from the offset.
Another cornerstone feature is LED light customization. There are three main categories to switch between – Ambient, Nature and Party. Within these are three preset choices, such as ‘Passion of youth’, ‘Cheerful celebration’ and ‘Gorgeous night view’ in the Party category. However, you can also save a custom pick within each of the three groups – making for a user experience that’s not only highly customizable, but highly convenient. If only EQ settings were this fully-fledged!
One more nice touch here is Healing Therapy. This provides access to a set list of calming sounds, all of which have to be downloaded separately. A few examples include ‘A Still Summer Night with Insect Sounds’ or ‘The Sleepy Sounds of the Deep Sea’, which I really enjoyed listening to. You can also set a sleep timer with Healing Therapy, just in case you find that you’ve nodded off. I think it’s fair to say that this feature is a bit of a gimmick, but gimmicks can still be fun. I still liked it, anyway.
But alas, there are a couple of issues I have with the XG8T, feature-wise. First of all, it doesn’t have the most up-to-date Bluetooth version. This speaker harnesses Bluetooth 5.1, even though a handful of speakers are already using version 5.4 now. But that’s not a deal-breaker, in my view.
The killer issue here is battery life. LG says you get up to 15 hours, that is if you keep volume at 50% or lower and have EQ and lights off. Activate Sound Boost and crank up the volume and battery depletes way too quickly. I’d lost 20% in about an hour with an average of about 50-60% volume, intermittent Sound Boost use and LED lights turned on – that’s pretty poor for a modern Bluetooth speaker of this size. So, if you want to get the best out of the XG8T, expect sub-par battery life. In fact, it may not even last an entire event without dying unless you’re conservative with volume and lighting.
Features score: 3/5
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LG XBoom Go XG8T review: sound quality
Impactful bass
Mighty volume levels
No ‘hi-res’ codecs for more detailed listening
In the audio department, the LG XBoom Go XG8T puts in a pretty solid performance, with the main attraction being… you guessed it, bass. Now, out of the box, you may feel low-frequency audio output is a touch underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong, it’s by no means pathetic, but it could definitely do with a leg up. And that’s where Sound Boost mode comes in, an essential option for bass-heavy bangers or if you want to flood large or outdoor spaces with your favorite tunes.
When listening to Voyager by Daft Punk, I was impressed by the pumping deep bass on offer, which produced a ground-shaking, head-bopping performance ideal for a party setting. The funky guitar playing throughout the track didn’t sound distorted either, even at about 70% volume. Getting higher than this was quite the task though – not because it sounds terrible, but because this thing can get very loud, thanks to its 60W woofer. And that certainly improves its credentials as a capable outdoor speaker.
One complaint I had when listening to Voyager and a host of other tracks, such as Moloko’s I Want You, was that higher-pitched percussive elements didn’t have perfect clarity and sharpness. This was emphasised more at top volumes, where this could get a bit grating – something that wouldn’t typically bother me too much, but for the price you're paying here this level of critique is valid.
Another slightly disappointing aspect of this speaker is its lack of support for more ‘hi-res’ Bluetooth codecs, such as LDAC. And this was a contributor to some songs occasionally lacking, or underplaying details in tracks. For instance, when I listened to Didn’t Cha Know by Erykah Badu, smaller percussive and string elements were kept under wraps, making for a slightly constricted listen.
Sure, vocals sounded decently balanced and overall audio was clean, but in all honesty that’s to be expected at this price-point. If you want a more detailed, nuanced listen for the money, this speaker is not your best option. You can pair it with another Go XG8T speaker (in dual mode, or multiple speakers in multi mode) via LG's Wireless Party Link, however, if you’d at least like access to even bigger sound.
Ultimately, this speaker’s success hinges much more on its talents in the bass and loudness departments. This is designed more for outdoor or party use and it works very nicely for that. Just make sure you have Sound Boost on to really add some meat in the low-end. You get great volume levels too and although things can get a little edgy at the top of the speaker’s range, it will still be capable of filling a larger room or cutting through pesky background noise in an outdoor setting.
Sound quality score: 3.5/5
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LG XBoom Go XG8T review: design
Military-grade durability
Decent looks with classy LED lights
Adjustable strap can work as handle
The LG XBoom Go XG8T has a pretty standard look about it – which is by no means a bad thing. It’s a large, black Bluetooth speaker with passive radiators on each side, lined by LED lights and a wraparound speaker grille. I found this to be an attractive looking speaker, with its build quality perhaps being indicative of a higher price point.
But this is more than a classy-looking speaker, it’s super practical too. First of all, one of the speaker’s main selling points is that it offers military-grade durability. LG says that the XG8T has passed seven tests against: dust, high temperatures, rain, salt fog, shock, vibration and water immersion. On top of that, it’s IP67 certified, so it can even survive being submerged under a meter of water for up to thirty minutes.
Another big win in terms of practicality is the inclusion of an adjustable strap. The attached strap is more of a handle at first, which is ideal for carrying this fairly hefty speaker over short distances. But let’s say you’re going for a beach trip and have to carry the XG8T over a bit more ground. Fear not! You can extend the attached strap to a considerable length, in order to sling it around your shoulder.
This speaker also has some useful button controls just below the handle. These are all well-sized and serve their purpose well. You have the obvious inclusions, play/pause, volume controls and power on/off. But there’s also a Bluetooth button to swiftly connect devices and a Sound Boost option to crank up volume and boost the low-end. On top of that, there’s a tab on the reverse side of the speaker to access the USB-A port or the charging slot.
And that leads onto the only design element that bothered me with the XG8T: charging it up. The included AC adapter gives off the vibe of an oversized laptop charger from about 15 years back – not a good look. This really juxtaposes the high practicality of every other aforementioned element – and as much as it’s no deal breaker, I would’ve preferred slightly more lightweight charging equipment for the XG8T.
Design score: 4/5
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LG XBoom Go XG8T review: value
List price is high
But it's often available at a reduced price
Outdone by too many competitors
If we are judging the LG XBoom Go XG8T’s value on list price alone, things aren’t looking too good. You’d need fairly deep pockets to pick up this speaker without a discount – for reference its official price is $379.99 / £400 (about AU$600). And this speaker doesn’t do a ton to set itself apart at that price point.
Audio, although good, isn’t massively detailed or perfectly clear all the time. Combine that with a disappointing battery life and unimpressive EQ presets and its clear: this speaker isn’t worth its list price, especially when you consider the incredible quality of competitors in this price range, like the JBL Xtreme 4 or Bose SoundLink Max (more on those in ‘Also Consider’).
But luckily, there’s more to the story here. Since its release this speaker has been heavily discounted on a number of occasions – even for as little as half price in the UK and US. Even still, it's not free of competition. There are speakers like the Tribit Stormbox Blast, for instance that offer booming, talented audio for under $200 / £200.
Even if the XG8T is a solid speaker in its own right, it's hard to justify its list price. And even at a cut-price, I wouldn’t argue it's best-in-class either.
Value score: 2.5/5
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Should I buy the LG XBoom Go XG8T?
Buy it if...
You want booming bass I wouldn’t necessarily argue that the LG XBoom Go XG8T has the most impactful bass in the game, but it certainly offers a healthy serving of low-end power. If you’re hosting a house party or outdoor event, there’ll certainly be enough bass on offer to fill a larger space with big, booming audio.
You want ultimate protection against the elements If durability and reliability are at the top of your priority list, this speaker is sure to serve you well. Not only does it have the IP67 dustproof and waterproof rating, but it offers military-grade protection against impact and harsh weather conditions.
Don't buy it if...
You want top-tier audio quality If you want an elegantly balanced, beautifully detailed listen, you could do better than the LG XBoom Go XG8T. Audio quality is by no means bad here, but I didn’t get an amazing sense of nuance from this speaker, with the lack of ‘hi res’ audio codecs holding it back further.
You want a top value pick If you’re paying the list price for this speaker, you’re not getting great value, unfortunately. Of course, it’s often available at a significantly cut price now, but there are so many fantastic, low-priced speakers out there, including the Tribit Stormbox Blast, for instance.
LG XBoom Go XG8T review: also consider
JBL Xtreme 4 For me, the JBL Xtreme 4 was one of 2024’s best Bluetooth speakers, bringing fantastic audio quality, high build quality and fantastic features to the table. When I initially reviewed it, my main issue came with its high list price, but you can regularly find it for far less now, making it a top-tier option for speakers in this size and weight class. Read our full JBL Xtreme 4 review.
Bose SoundLink Max Another one of 2024’s big hitters was the Bose SoundLink Max – a speaker that offers punchy, agile and ultra-clean audio. It also has beautiful looks, an IP67 waterproof rating and a handy two-way USB-C socket, making it the perfect marriage of style with practicality. Read our full Bose SoundLink Max review.
LG XBoom Go XG8T review: how I tested
Tested for one week
Mainly used at our music testing space at Future Labs
Predominantly tested using Tidal on the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE
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I dedicated hours when listening to the LG XBoom Go XG8T and tried it out in a range of spaces. However, I did predominantly use it in our music testing room at Future Labs to assess audio quality in a quiet, controlled environment. I also conducted a battery test to validate LG’s claim about playtime.
When I listened to music, I mainly harnessed the power of Tidal via the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, from which I streamed tracks within our expertly curated TechRadar reference playlist. But that's not all – I also tapped into tunes from my personal music library as well as podcast episodes. Finally, I used the similarly-sized JBL Xtreme 4 as a point of comparison across areas like sound quality, features and battery life.
Dreame Technologies hasn’t been around long but, since its inception in 2017, the brand has made some excellent robot vacuums, including the Dreame L20 Ultra. The X40 Ultra succeeds the older model (as well as the X30 Ultra), bringing much-improved intelligence and tracking compared to lesser bots, as well as a fairly unique collection of features. For those who want something slightly cheaper, it's well worth checking out our Dreame L40 Ultra review.
Like most robovacs, the X40 Ultra handles both vacuuming and mopping and comes with a base station that empties the robovac’s dustbin, dispenses water, and cleans the mopping system. Where it stands out is the ability to leave the mop pads behind when vacuuming, the automatic dispensing of floor-cleaning fluid, the wide array of sensors, and the ability to recognize a large number of objects using its cameras.
Getting the X40 Ultra up and running is relatively simple, and upon first activation, it will map your home with an array of sensors. The test space for this review was my own home with a built-in area of 80 sqm, and it took the bot about 10 minutes to poke its robotic nose into every room. The quality of the resulting map is excellent, and any adjustments are easy to make within the Dreamehome app. The X40 is great at identifying and avoiding obstacles like shoes or cables and can even recognize your pets and give them space when cleaning. While very functional overall, the app can be a little clunky at times, like lack of consistency in how navigation gestures work, and a convoluted layout to reach certain settings.
If activating a scheduled or single-time clean, selecting CleanGenius mode lets the robovac use its own smarts to decide exactly what is needed, and it will vacuum, mop, and go back over areas as it sees fit. While the results were good, I found the robovac went a bit overboard and wanted to mop my polished wooden floors every day. Instead, I set a schedule for a daily vacuum and reduced mopping to once a week. I also configured shortcuts in the app to trigger custom cleanups, like an extra vacuum or mop by the front or back door for when my dog walked in with muddy paws.
The X40 Ultra is equipped with an extendable and liftable side brush for getting into corners and under furniture, plus dual spinning mop pads – one of which can also protrude further out as needed. The mop pads are magnetically attached, so the bot can leave them behind at the base station when vacuuming carpets, avoiding any chance of spreading damp mop water or contamination.
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After three months of daily use, it’s hard to find fault with the vacuuming prowess of the X40. It works equally well on hard floors, carpets, or rugs, and the extendable brush does a great job of getting into corners and cleaning debris from along walls. The spinning extendable mops are likewise very effective, and the X40 Ultra can keep your floors shiny or quickly get rid of sticky messes. It also very thoroughly cleans the mop pads with hot water – then dries them with hot air – to avoid odors. Overall, the wearing parts on the X40 Ultra (like the mop pads, filters, and corner brush) are fairly robust and don’t need to be replaced too often.
Importantly, it has pet feces detection – and it really does work – which allows the robovac to spot and avoid any accidents, ensuring you won’t come home to a horror show of smeared messes. It can also detect wet patches, so it won’t spread or vacuum over any puddles it encounters.
As great as the robot itself is, the suction on the auto-empty station is a bit weak. I found I had to change the bag more often than expected – and these can get quite expensive. The X40 Ultra itself is not cheap – it’s one of the more expensive models on the market – but when you compare the actual technology and features included, it provides decent value overall.
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Dreame X40 Ultra review: Price and availability
How much does it cost? Starting from $1,899 / £1,299 / AU$2,799
When is it available? Available to buy now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia
The Dreame X40 Ultra was announced in May 2024 and can be bought directly from the Dreame website if your country has a local online storefront or from authorized local retailers, which can include Amazon. It has a rather steep asking price of $1,899 / £1,299 / AU$2,799 and, so far, has only attracted modest discounts. That said, it shouldn’t be too long before we start seeing worthwhile discounts, which would make the X40 Ultra worth investing in if you want a complete and autonomous cleaning solution for your floors.
However, using the X40 Ultra will incur ongoing costs, specifically the replaceable dust bags. I’ve included the accessories pricing below for the US, UK, and Australia. Notably the Dreame website doesn’t sell the side brush in the US, or the brush cover in Australia. You can also get a kit that contains 2x dust bags, 2x dust filters, 1x main brush, 2x side brushes, 6x mop pads – rather useless ratios of these consumables as they don’t match the usage rates.
For households like mine that have people (or pets) with long hair, Dreame sells an optional TriCut brush that’s designed to shred hair and avoid tangles and clogs. This upgrade does a much better job at keeping hair from tangling compared to the standard brush, and I think it’s well worth the added $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$199.95 – though Aussie buyers pay a very steep premium compared to the US and UK.
If you don’t need all the features offered by the X40 Ultra, or have a simple home layout with few obstacles, then a cheaper robovac like the Dreame L10s Ultra or D10 Plus may be a better buy. You can also opt for options from Ecovacs, with some models like the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus ($649.99 / £499 / AU$999) and Ecovacs DEEBOT T20 Omni ($1,099.99 / £951.65 / AU$1,799) offering good value for money.
The X40 Ultra has a fairly standard design and complements the typical round robovac form factor with a base station for charging, dustbin emptying, floor-cleaner dispensing, mop washing and drying – plus containers for clean and dirty mop water. In the box, you get the robovac itself (including mop pads), the base station, two dust bags, a cleaning tool, and 200ml (6.7 ounces) of floor-cleaning solution. Setting it up is very easy – the base station needs the ramp attached, but otherwise, it’s ready to go once plugged in and charged. After installing the app, you scan a QR code on the robovac, and it walks you through the rest of the process in just a few minutes.
The base station is tall (60cm / 24-inches) but relatively skinny (35cm / 14-inches) and only needs 5cm (2 inches) of clearance on each side. The dust bag and floor cleaner dispenser are hidden under a front-opening cover on the dock, while the mop water is accessed from under a hatch on the top – meaning it’s not suited for placement under a bench. Dreame will also soon release an optional kit to allow the base station to be plumbed into a fresh-water supply and a waste-water outlet, enabling the mop water changes to be fully automatic. The availability of this kit is to be confirmed.
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The robovac sports a multitude of sensors to help navigate your home, ensure the best clean, and avoid any pets or places where it could get stuck. The front of the bot has two cameras (one infrared), as well as 3D Dual-Line Laser sensors and LED headlights. The underside has a carpet sensor, along with downward-facing cliff sensors to detect steps or other drops. The sides of the robovac have edge sensors, and on top, it features a microphone and a laser distance sensor (LDS). All these work together to allow the bot to recognize over 120 different types of objects – including obstacles like cables that could cause a tangle when vacuuming.
The X40 Ultra offers four suction levels – Quiet, Standard, Turbo, Max, and Max+ – with up to a very high 12,000Pa of pull. Notably, the highest suction level (Max+) is only available for a one-off clean and can’t be used with a schedule or a customized shortcut clean. This means the full advertised suction (up from the X30 Ultra’s 8,300Pa) feels like marketing spin, rather than an actually useful upgrade.
The robovac can extend its side brush to get deep into corners, clean along edges or under the lip of low furniture – and even lift it to avoid spreading liquids. The bot can also magnetically drop and pick up the mop pads from the base station, giving it extra cleaning flexibility. While the bot can lift the pads when vacuuming carpet, the clearance is 10.5mm (0.4 inches), so for deeper carpet piles or rugs, leaving the mop pads behind ensures there’s no chance of dampness or cross-contamination. The right-hand side mop pad is also extendable – meaning the X40 Ultra can reach into corners, mop along the edges of kitchen cabinets, or even clean a little way under the edge of low appliances like a fridge.
Design score: 4 / 5
Dreame X40 Ultra review: Performance
Somewhat noisy at full power
Amazing obstacle recognition
Weak base station automatic emptying
Overall, the X40 Ultra does a very thorough job of vacuuming and mopping – and aside from picking up larger debris by hand and the occasional spot clean, I didn’t have to do any extra floor cleaning myself. The robovac has a CleanGenius mode that lets it choose the cleaning parameters for you – though I found it mopped much too frequently, and I preferred using the scheduled cleaning function (as well as shortcuts) to create my own customized cleaning regime.
The X40 Ultra isn’t especially fast, and during my testing, it took around 1 minute per square meter when vacuuming, and takes about the same amount of time to mop. That said, it can vacuum and mop at the same time if needed, which allows for a quicker cleaning run. The 6,400mAh battery is rated to provide up to 198 minutes of vacuuming and mopping at Standard suction strength, covering up to an area of 308m² (3,315ft²) in Quiet mode. It’s a little frustrating that Dreame rates the runtime and area coverage at different vacuum power levels – the exact amount of coverage per charge depends on your specific home and cleaning settings. During my testing, the X40 Ultra was able to vacuum my small 80m² two-bedroom home at Max suction level, then do a full mop, and still have 80% charge remaining. Extrapolating from that, I think it will have no trouble cleaning up to 200m² per charge.
Overall performance score: 4 / 5
Mapping and obstacle avoidance
After setup, the X40 created a very accurate map of my home – with no adjustments needed in the app aside from giving rooms specific names. When vacuuming, the array of sensors and cameras does a great job of spotting anything on the floor, and it’s especially careful to stay clear of anything that might cause a tangle – like shoelaces or cords. Handily, the bot records a picture (viewable in the app) of any obstacle it encounters, making it easy to move it before the next clean.
The X40 Ultra has the smarts to recognize your pets (in my case, just the paws of a Great Dane) and will keep clear if it spots them snoozing. It records a few pictures of any interactions – viewable in the cleaning log via the app – so you can see how your pet reacts to the vacuum. It’s also possible to set up zones for the robovac to stay out of, like around a pet's bed or feeding area. Even more importantly, the robovac can recognize any pet droppings and will steer well clear when cleaning. My dog doesn’t make any messes at home, so I faked a test using food, and the X40 Ultra had no trouble identifying the fake feces and dutifully stayed well clear.
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Using the app, you can also stream live video from the robovac’s main camera while it’s working, or take over and remotely steer it – though this can be a bit laggy. You can also command the bot to navigate to a specific spot in your home, use it to have a two-way conversation, or even have it automatically search for your pets and snap a picture.
Impressively, the robovac only got stuck twice in three months of testing – and both times were my fault. The first time was because it half-ingested a USB-C cable I had knocked down next to the base station, and the second was from vacuuming up a loose tile in my (very old) bathroom. In both cases, no damage was caused, as the bot knew it was stuck and waited patiently until freed.
Overall, the X40 Ultra did an amazing job of navigating my home and had no problem cleaning around always-changing obstacles – big and small – left in its way. It’s a great choice for anyone with a busy, complex home, or if you don’t want to have to worry about picking every last thing up from the floor before cleaning.
Mapping and obstacle avoidance score: 4.5 / 5
Vacuuming
I tested the X40 on polished wooden floors, as well as tiles and rugs. Aside from vacuuming every day for three months, I also performed a number of specific tests to gauge how effective the robovac is at cleaning up a variety of spills and debris types. I used flour, sand, rice, oats, dry dog food, and some dry leaves – scattered in a corner on hard floors and then on a short-pile rug.
Whether on carpet or hard floors, the flour, rice, oats, and leaves were 90% (or more) cleaned up after one pass – and fully gone after two. The dry dog food was all sucked up in one go, while the sand took three passes to capture it all (although a few grains remained on the rug). Importantly, the X40 Ultra’s side brush is relatively slow-spinning, so it doesn’t tend to flick any material away from the vacuum. Anything larger than about 10mm x 8mm (0.4 inches x 0.3 inches) will generally be recognized and avoided by the robovac, as it could get stuck behind the main brush.
I found that the standard vacuum level is fine for picking up pet fur, dust, and light debris on hard floors – but needs to be bumped up to Turbo or Max for carpets. The higher suction modes were also best for sand, heavier dirt, or chunkier debris like oats and dry dog food. This means a daily vacuum in the standard mode with a single pass will capture almost all the lighter debris in your home, but may leave a small amount of heavier debris behind. This isn’t much of a problem, as you can customize scheduled cleans on a room-by-room basis to accommodate different needs.
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On lower suction levels, the sound isn’t too intrusive – and could be set to vacuum overnight – but with the suction turned up, the noise level is not far off a stick vacuum. Measuring at 1 meter (3.3 feet) with a decibel meter, the bot produced 43 dB on Quiet, 46 dB on Standard, 51 dB on Turbo, 55 dB on Max, and 60 dB on Max+. When the robovac is driving without vacuuming, it produces 41 dB, while mopping sits at 35 dB most of the time – with occasional peaks up to 45 dB when moving fast. The base station emptying the robovac dustbin hits 57 dB, while mop washing is 33 dB with peaks up to 50 dB when the water pump runs. These results are normal, but not particularly quiet – so you'll want to position the base station away from living areas where you relax or watch TV.
My home has two people who shed a lot of long hair, and in my testing, the side brush stayed relatively tangle-free – as did the main wheels and mop pads. The front roller does slowly collect hair – as does the main brush – though the TriCut brush (which is available to buy separately) is much better in this regard. Thankfully, both these areas are very easy to maintain, and the X40 Ultra’s design keeps the hair from getting sucked deeper into the inaccessible innards of the robovac.
Vacuuming score: 4.5 / 5
Mopping
I’m not a frequent mopper at the best of times, so I started my X40 Ultra’s testing with a deep clean – then reduced the mopping frequency to once a week – and my floors have never looked better! I found it handy to turn on an extra mopping schedule during wet weather, so areas near the front and back door were kept clean of muddy shoe and paw prints.
Like its side brush, the X40 Ultra can also extend the mop pad on the right side, and I found the robovac easily cleaned areas where a handheld mop struggled to reach. The automatically dispensed cleaning solution (a bottle is supplied in the box) also helped cut through grime in a way that robovacs using plain water can’t manage.
To further test the mopping ability, I spilled two puddles of soy sauce – one of which I allowed to dry – and also smeared wasabi paste and sticky honey on a section of tiled and wooden floor. I found that the liquid soy sauce was cleaned away in a single pass, while the thick, dried soy took two passes to remove. A third pass was needed to get the floor squeaky clean. The wasabi paste and honey both took two mopping passes to fully clean up, leaving no trace behind.
The bot washed the mop pads between each test – removing any contamination from previous cleanups. That said, the X40 Ultra is not designed to mop more than a small amount of liquid, as the pads are meant for scrubbing, not sponging.
The only issue I noticed is that the strong magnet in the mop pads (used to attach them to the vacuum) tends to pick up tiny particles of magnetic dirt. It’s normal for some dirt to be slightly magnetic (due to iron content), and this accumulates on the plastic spindle of the mop pads. The mop washing process doesn’t remove this dirt – in fact, it increases wear on the base station – and the slightly rusty residue can stain the mop pads or potentially other flooring during mopping. To avoid this, regularly wipe away any residue remaining on middle of the mop pads.
Mopping score: 4.5 / 5
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Dual scrubbing mop pads.
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The mop pads can be left behind in the base station.
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One mop pad can extend out to reach into corners and under the edge of furniture.
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The magnetic mop pad attachment can accumulate iron rich dirt.
Base station performance
Dreame rates the 3.2-liter (108 oz) dust bag in the base station for up to 75 days of use – but how long it lasts for you will depend on how large or dirty your home gets. The robovac itself has a 0.3-liter (10 oz) dust bin that is emptied by the base station as needed when full, or it can be set to empty after every room.
While I was impressed with the suction on the bot itself, the base station suction is weaker than expected. I found it didn’t always manage to fully empty the bin in the robovac, leaving debris to build up if not manually cleaned. Worse, despite all its smarts, the robovac couldn’t sense when the base station had not successfully emptied its bin – or tell that it was clogged and not vacuuming effectively. That meant it would often do an entire home vacuum while clogged and not pick up anything.
Even when the base station successfully empties the robovac’s dust bin, the low suction means the debris tends to form a clog right at the mouth of the dust bag. This clog would further reduce the suction, worsening the emptying problem. I found the situation could be somewhat alleviated by setting the base station’s auto-emptying frequency to the highest setting and occasionally manually triggering an extra empty cycle. It also helped to ensure the dust bags were very carefully installed with no folds of fabric near the inlet – or to occasionally manually shift the collected debris further into the bag. Even so, I needed to change the bags well before they were full, and I found they only lasted half as long as the 75-day rating from Dreame.
This is the main reason I would find it hard to recommend the X40 Ultra for a household with pets that shed hair (like golden retrievers or huskies) or one with a lot of debris to vacuum up – as the base station suction just isn’t powerful enough to ensure problem-free operation and economical use of the dust bags.
On the plus side, the mop washing system works very well, and I only encountered one minor downside during my testing. The base station heats water and dispenses it into the washing system, then circulates it against the mop pads while the robovac spins the mop pads against plastic scrubbers to remove any contamination. The used water is then sucked out and stored in the dirty water container, and the mop pads and cleaning system are dried using hot air to avoid any odors. The washing process is a little noisy at time, like when the pumps runs, and the drying fan does make a quiet whir for a few hours.
Base station performance score: 3 / 5
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Dreame X40 Ultra review: App control
Deep customization of scheduled cleans
Homescreen widgets and shortcuts
The app is sometimes laggy and feels unpolished
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While the X40 Ultra can be controlled in a limited way using the buttons on top of the circular bot, the app is the best option for everyday use. It makes it easy to interact with the map of your home – created immediately after setup and updated during each clean – and allows you to customize cleaning sessions. The depth of control is noticeably better than competitors such as Ecovacs, and you can fine-tune much of the robot’s day-to-day operations, as well as check the comprehensive cleaning history.
I found the layout and navigation of the app frustrating at times. For example, many frequently used options – like adjusting scheduled cleans – are buried a few layers deep in the menu system, and such settings are locked out when the robovac is in operation.
In my three months of testing, the X40 Ultra only failed to start a scheduled clean once (with no discernible reason) and completed the next day's clean without a problem. The robovac will only connect to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, and I found it sometimes had issues with a typical dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) mesh network – like you’d find in our guide to the best mesh Wi-Fi systems. At one point, the X40 didn’t want to connect to my network, and a few times it reported low signal strength despite being right near the router. I found it much more stable to configure a dedicated 2.4GHz Wi-Fi SSID for the robovac to connect to.
While the Dreamehome app is less polished than expected for such a premium robovac, it’s not better or worse overall compared to the competition. Sure, brands like Ecovacs and Eufy offer apps that are nicer to use in many ways – but neither provides the same depth of control options, and they still suffer from lag and the occasional missed clean.
App score: 4 / 5
Dreame X40 Ultra review: Consumables and maintenance
The X40 Ultra comes with everything you need to get started right away, but there are only two dust bags included, along with one small refill of floor cleaning fluid. This means you need to either buy spare bags when purchasing the vacuum, or order them within a month or two. The X40 Ultra consumables (main vacuum brush, mop pads, floor cleaning solution, vacuum bags, side brush and robovac dust bin filters) are mostly only available via the Dreame website in the UK and Australia, whereas in the US they are easier to buy from Amazon than they are from Dreame.
The Dreame app keeps track of each cleaning session and provides an estimated remaining life (in hours) for the consumables and wearing parts. The estimates generally seem quite conservative, and I expect many parts – like the main brush – will last longer than rated and need less frequent changing than expected. Maintenance for the Dreame X40 Ultra is fairly simple and takes about 10 minutes a month. It’s not messy or difficult to do and mostly involves giving the robovac a check-over, dusting off the sensors, and removing any trapped hair if needed. The latter involves removing the main or side brush and simply sliding the wrapped hair off – and I didn’t have to cut any free during my testing.
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Extrapolating my three months of testing to a full year, and using the remaining life estimates in the Dreame app, the X40 Ultra consumables include 10 to 12 dust bags, one filter, one side brush, a container of floor cleaner, one set of replacement mop pads, and one replacement TriCut brush – adding up to around $200 / £163 / AU$500. For a larger home, this cost could easily double or triple. Notably, in Australia (where the X40 Ultra was tested for this review), the TriCut brush is 170% more expensive compared to the US and UK – so using the normal brush saves AU$150 a year.
While using the official Dreame accessories is recommended, there are third-party consumables available from online retailers like eBay and Amazon. The best are nearly indistinguishable from the official Dreame parts, while the worst are of very poor quality and won’t work correctly. Until Dreame offers affordable bulk packs of dust bags, it’s hard to pass on third-party alternatives – provided you can find good-quality ones.
Consumables and maintenance score: 3.5 / 5
Should I Buy the Dreame X40 Ultra?
Buy it if…
You want a premium robovac with the latest features There are very few competitors that can come close to matching the extensive functionality offered by the X40 Ultra.
You need excellent obstacle avoidance The X40 Ultra is very skilled at avoiding anything that might cause it to get stuck, as well as cleaning around obstacles or even accidents from your pets.
You have deep pile carpets The X40 Ultra’s party trick is being able to leave the mop pads at the base station, allowing it to vacuum through the plushest of carpets with zero chance of dampness or cross contamination.
Don’t buy it if…
You have pets that shed more than average The robovac itself is great at picking up fur and other debris, but the base station auto-empty system lacks suction and the bag needs to be changed before it’s full to avoid clogging.
You only have carpet The X40 Ultra does a fantastic job of mopping and keeping its mop pads clean, but if you don’t have much in the way of hard floors, you’ll save a lot of cash opting for a cheaper vacuum-only robovac.
You want a cheaper option The X40 Ultra is great, but it’s also one of the most expensive robovacs available. For those on a budget, there are plenty of other great options at more affordable prices.
Also consider
Not sold on the Dreame X40 Ultra? Below are a few alternatives that are worth considering.
Dreame L10s Ultra This slightly older model doesn’t have quite as many features as the X40 Ultra and isn’t as powerful, but it’s still a great option and can often be found for less than half the price. Read our full Dreame L10s Ultra reviewView Deal
Eufy Omni S1 Pro One of the few robovacs that can compete directly with the X40 Ultra, the Eufy Omni S1 Pro is a feature packed robovac with an innovative rolling cylinder mopping system. Read our full Eufy Omni S1 Pro reviewView Deal
Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo While not as good at dodging cables as the Dreame X40 Ultra, the Deebot T30S Comboi stands out with a stick vacuum that slots into the base station, keeping it ready to go for any extra cleanup. Read our full Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo reviewView Deal
How I tested the Dreame X40 Ultra
I used the X40 Ultra as my main vacuum cleaner for three months
My testing space included hard floors and carpet
I performed specific grain-size and wet-spill tests
I used the Dreame X40 Ultra daily for three months in a home with a dog and two adults. I tested the X40 Ultra on polished wooden floors, tiles, carpet, and medium-pile rugs. The weather during the test period included both wet and dry conditions. I started with an initial deep clean, followed by ongoing daily vacuuming, with mopping once or twice a week – plus extra spot cleans as needed. I tested both the automatic CleanGenius mode and customized cleans using schedules and shortcuts.
I documented cleaning performance over the testing period and conducted a range of specific tests with different debris sizes to further gauge vacuuming ability. I also tested dry and wet spills to evaluate the mopping prowess. Additionally, I strategically placed debris – including fur, leaves, and hair – in problem areas such as corners to assess the robovac’s effectiveness in daily use.
During my testing period, I changed the base station vacuum bag three times, manually cleaned the mop cleaning system in the base station, and performed the full range of maintenance checks.
When it comes to budgeting apps and personal finance software, lots of folks are drawn towards free or low-budget options. However, sometimes it’s worth spending more in order to enjoy a rather more premium experience. If you care about your finances, or they can be complicated and perhaps problematical too, Monarch could be an alternative.
This software, which is supported by excellent apps for both iOS and Android, has been evolving over the last few years and is now one of the most potent power tools you can own. While it packs many of those handy everyday features and functions that other budgeting and personal finance tools offer, Monarch also boasts options that can help make life easier when it comes to more complex money matters.
However, there is indeed a cost for these extra power tools and Monarch is not the cheapest option out there in the financial software marketplace. It is possible to pay an annual fee, rather than going down the route of monthly payments, which makes the product slightly cheaper. Monarch, though, is essentially going to appeal to people who are very serious about getting their finances in order.
Monarch is a quite way to track finances without breaking the bank. (Image credit: Monarch)
Monarch: Pricing
Anyone who has been used to enjoying their preferred personal finance and budgeting apps for very little outlay will find Monarch an altogether different proposition. Currently, it’ll set you back $14.99 per month, or there’s the annual payment option for $99.99, which equates to $8.33 per month over the course of a year, which shaves a little off the outlay.
In that respect, Monarch is a premium product and, thankfully, its features, functions and overall usability go a long way to justifying the higher price.
Monarch offers tracking, budgeting and planning tools within its slick interface. (Image credit: Monarch)
Monarch: Features
Monarch revolves around three core areas, all of which will be of interest to those with a keen eye on keeping their finances in order. First up is tracking, which, thanks to the powerful interface and ease of use, makes keeping tabs on all of your accounts in one handy location a big bonus of the personal finance app. There are tools for charting your net worth by pulling in data from bank accounts, real estate, investments and more.
The next core component of Monarch is its budgeting capability. This Is not only powerful but a really well laid out aspect of the software. There are plenty of automated power tools, but the way everything is presented in delicious graphical colour makes the experience all the more impressive.
Following on from that is the third core component of Monarch and that revolves around planning and goals. Knowing what sort of shape your finances are in is one thing, but Monarch also offers lots of potential for planning for the future. Again, the way the graphics drive this section makes it a joy to use, while the power tools inside make working with your data simple but effective.
The Monarch interface is wonderfully easy to use and makes light work of budgeting. (Image credit: Monarch)
Monarch: Performance
Although there are app versions for iOS and Android, Monarch works best initially via a laptop where there is more space on screen to pick through the many and varied component parts. Again, the experience is a treat thanks to logical page layouts, great graphics and the clean, no-nonsense use of easy-to-read typefaces.
Monarch: Ease of use
Monarch is an easy thing to configure too, from linking bank accounts through to customising personal preferences. There’s even a helping hand given where it’s needed from AI elements. Better still, the way Monarch can be heavily tailored and personalised to suit your own financial situation makes it much more potent than many rivals. Transactions, in particular, is an area that can be tweaked and fine-tined with pinpoint precision.
Monarch offers plenty of support for any users who become stuck along the way. (Image credit: Monarch)
Monarch: Support
While Monarch is very nicely designed, and beautifully thought out, there is plenty of help at hand should you need any support along the way. Some of the tools and functionality do take a while to explore and exploit to their full potential and a pick through the advice pages can prove to be highly beneficial. Outside of that, there are also options for messaging support services who should be able to help with anything not covered in the comprehensive and nicely laid out Monarch website.
Monarch: Final verdict
If you lament the demise of Mint, which was an excellent personal finance software tool, it’s well worth having a look at Monarch. Even more so when you consider some of the original team on Monarch also worked on Mint back in the day. The product has evolved a lot in recent years and now has plenty going for it, although that does come at a price.
It’s also interesting to note that the Monarch website has an area that allows potential users to compare it with YNAB, Simplifi, Credit Karma and, yes, Mint too. They’re all similar and obvious rivals, but Monarch holds its own, and then some.
If you’re in the market for a statement coffee machine, few options catch the eye quite like the Aarke Coffee System. With an unmissable chrome finish, it cuts a dash on any countertop, and the luxe design cues don’t stop with the stainless steel construction: from the knurled control knob to the weight of the grinder itself, there’s a lot about the setup that feels premium.
Comprised of a bean grinder and drip coffee maker, which can be bought and used independently, the two parts make most sense when connected together by wire. The cable itself is slightly unsightly, but automation is the pay-off: set the control knob to A and the grinder will churn out the right amount of coffee based on how much water is in the tank.
It’s a clever trick that reflects the streamlined approach of the whole system. Just a single button manages the maker, its hot plate and the descaling mode. You’ll find more controls on the grinder, including a collar that clicks as you twist to set the grind size, as well as a satisfyingly sturdy on/off switch.
What you don’t get is a great degree of manual influence over the brew. While you can fine-tune the quantity, strength and grind size, you can’t change the temperature – either for the brew or the hot plate. You might expect that option for the money, but the Aarke automatically regulates temperatures instead. That’s because this system is more about making slick and efficient brews in style.
(Image credit: Future / Christian Rowlands)
In that sense it excels. Fill the tank and a light inside automatically illuminates so that you can see the water level. Hit the button and it heats up quickly, with the water head evenly wetting the coffee bed for maximum extraction. The result every time is an enjoyable pot of coffee with plenty of depth and flavor.
For such an expensive system, we encountered more niggles than we’d expect. The grinder jammed up twice, even with regular brushing. The supplied catch cup doesn’t sit perfectly against the grinder, which can lead to overshoot. And the carafe doesn’t keep coffee especially hot once it’s off the plate.
So the Aarke Coffee System is an interesting proposition. It’s beautifully built, simple to operate and has some clever automated features. Yet it’s not quite automated enough for uninitiated users to master without a demonstration, nor is it faultless. But if you want an exquisite solution for reliably good coffee and you’re happy to pay for it, there’s nothing quite like what Aarke is offering.
Aarke Coffee System: price and availability
Coffee System costs $758 / £620
Coffee Maker costs $379 / £300 (standalone)
Coffee Grinder costs $379 / £300 (standalone)
Bean-to-cup coffee rarely comes cheap – and the Aarke Coffee System is no exception. Priced at $758 / £620 (about AU$1,200) for the Coffee Maker and Coffee Grinder combo, it’s a pretty serious investment – especially for a drip filter system which has limited controls.
That makes the Aarke Coffee System more expensive than any other machine in our list of the best drip coffee makers, including the De'Longhi TrueBrew CAM1025MB – a US-only bean-to-cup machine with a more sophisticated digital interface.
It’s worth noting that the constituent parts of the Aarke system can also be bought individually. The Coffee Maker costs $379 / £300 (about AU$450), while the Coffee Grinder is priced at $379 / £320 (about AU$600). That means you don’t save anything by buying the Coffee System versus purchasing each element separately – so you could start out with one and add the other later.
You can also pick up an optional Thermal Jug, which is vacuum-insulated and designed to keep your brew warmer for longer than the carafe included with the Coffee Maker. It’s yours for $99 / £80 (about AU$160).
Price score: 4/5
(Image credit: Future / Christian Rowlands)
Aarke Coffee System: specs
Aarke Coffee System: design
Separate grinder and coffee maker
Polished stainless steel finish
Streamlined, tactile controls
With its chromed stainless steel finish, the Aarke Coffee System is an unmissable presence on any counter. There’s an industrial quality to the design, from the bolted-on nameplate to the way that the filter basket locks into place. It’s a beautiful bit of kitchen kit, even if its polished surfaces leave nowhere for fingerprints or spilt coffee to hide.
The system is comprised of Aarke’s Coffee Grinder and Coffee Maker. These can be bought and used separately, but they work best when paired together. Connecting them by a coiled cable unlocks the system’s party trick: fill the brewer’s tank, set the quantity to automatic and the grinder will churn out coffee to match the volume of water.
It’s a clever trick that works well in practise, but the cable feels like an unsightly piece of clutter in what is otherwise a streamlined setup. You can wind away some of the wire underneath, but with a pair of power cables also trailing away from the two machines, these leads do feel like a distraction. For a design-first coffee maker with a serious price tag, we think Aarke could have done more to neaten up the wiring.
Load beans into the hopper, and ground coffee into the chute (at the top right) (Image credit: Future / Christian Rowlands)
Because the grinder and brewer stand separately, the Aarke Coffee System isn’t the most compact bean-to-cup option on the market. If you want the two to sit side-by-side, you’ll need to clear a fair amount of counter space. That said, the overall footprint isn’t unmanageable.
Both units are weighty in the right way. At 9.5lb/4.3kg, the grinder in particular has a heft that feels nicely premium. So do its tactile controls. A knurled knob on the side sets the grind quantity, with an additional dial built-in to fine-tune the strength. The collar twists with a satisfying click to set the grind size, while a satisfyingly sturdy lever starts and stops the grinding.
One unmarked button is all you’ll find on the brewer itself, to control the brewing, hot plate and descaling mode. You can also hold it for three seconds to bloom the coffee before the main brew. This setup reflects the minimalist approach of the whole system. You don’t get the kind of manual control offered by drip makers like the De’Longhi TrueBrew CAM1025MB, with no option to change the water temperature.
The large, bright touchscreen makes it easy to fine-tune your perfect coffee (Image credit: Future / Christian Rowlands)
Because everything’s pared back and unlabelled, there is a little bit of a learning curve across the grinder and brewer. That said, once you’ve got the hang of it, this is a very easy machine to use.
There are several neat features which show the thought that’s gone into the setup: a grind size guide on the bean basket lid; a light inside the tank which illuminates when you add water; a valve beneath the filter basket, which stops coffee from dripping onto the hot plate when the carafe is removed. The hot plate also detects when the carafe isn’t in place, turning off to save energy.
There are some oversights, though. Chief among them is the included catch cup, which doesn’t sit flush against the grinder. As a result, ground coffee will often overshoot and spill around the base. The carafe also doesn’t feel as premium as the rest of the machine and doesn’t offer much insulation when taken off the hot plate.
These imperfections detract from what is otherwise a beautiful coffee maker. In that respect, the Aarke Coffee System falls just a little bit short for the money, but the aesthetics and interface do a lot to make up for it – especially if you want something slick, without too much complexity.
Design score: 4/5
Aarke Coffee System: performance
Relatively straightforward to use
Brews quickly and consistently
Grinder spout can block up easily
As a premium bean-to-cup setup that brews consistently tasty coffee without much fuss, the Aarke Coffee System performs well. With the grind quantity set to automatic, there are four human inputs: beans in the grinder, water in the tank and a filter paper in the basket – plus freshly ground coffee transferred from the catch cup to the filter.
Once you know the process, the Aarke Coffee System is fundamentally straightforward and – crucially – makes good coffee. With capacity for up to 10 cups’ worth in a single brew, you can easily churn out batches for yourself and guests. It’s pretty quick, too, taking just a few minutes to fill the carafe.
The milk dispenser is easy to attach, and unlike most fully automatic espresso machines, the KF8 keeps the container covered at all times. (Image credit: Future / Christian Rowlands)
The showerhead covers pretty much the whole of the filter basket and does a decent job of wetting the coffee bed. According to Aarke, water temperature and flow rate are optimized based on the quantity in the tank. This automated approach means you don’t get any modes for different coffee styles. The system is simply designed to brew consistently good filter coffee.
In our experience, that’s what it does. With a range of different beans, the Aarke Coffee System delivered good extraction and nicely balanced flavors, without any bitterness. Using the bloom mode pre-soaks the grounds to reduce sourness, although whether you’ll notice a difference depends on both your palate and the beans you’re using.
Each member of your household can have their own profile for their custom drinks (Image credit: Future / Christian Rowlands)
We also found the hot plate temperature pretty much spot on. We never tasted any bitterness from burnt coffee at the bottom, which is down to how the hot plate operates: it isn’t designed to keep your brew warm indefinitely. Instead, the system gradually reduces power to the plate over 40 minutes. This is better for taste but because the time setting can’t be overridden, it’s not ideal if you want a pot of coffee to keep going back to throughout the morning.
As mentioned above, you get much more control over the grinder. We didn’t test all 50 of its grind settings, but we did find that it produces a consistent grind and quantity of coffee. Dialled in for espresso, French press or drip filter, it’s a quality flat burr grinder that would work well as a standalone option with a different brewer – albeit without the automatic hook-up.
Espresso was consistently well extracted, with rich, golden crema (Image credit: Future / Christian Rowlands)
On its default setting, we found the automatic mode resulted in coffee that was a little strong for our taste. That’s easily adjusted using the fine-tuning dial or by manually setting the grind quantity to one cup less for the same amount of water.
It is loud, but that’s the nature of the beast. More frustrating was the fact that it jammed up twice, due to ground coffee clogging up at the top of the spout. This happened after only a few uses. You’ll need to regularly and vigorously clean the spout with the included brush to avoid this, which is a slightly messy process and means the Aarke Coffee System requires more maintenance than something like the De'Longhi TrueBrew CAM1025MB.
Performance score: 4/5
Should I buy the Aarke Coffee System?
Buy it if
You want a stunning bean-to-cup setup With a polished stainless steel build, streamlined controls and tactile knobs and buttons, the Aarke system is a seriously sophisticated way to enjoy drip coffee.
You want some automation Connect the grinder and maker by wire and the system will automatically calculate the correct quantity of coffee for the amount of water in the tank.
You want a reliable brew Once you’ve got your strength and quantities dialled in, the Aarke system produces tasty filter coffee every time – and keeps it at the right temperature.
Don't buy it if
You have a limited budget Sophistication comes at a price and the Aarke system commands a pretty hefty premium, especially when compared to rival drip coffee makers with similar features.
You want total control While you can adjust grind size, quantity and strength, the Aarke system doesn’t allow you to change the temperature of the water or hot plate.
You want a mess-free setup The grinder spout requires regular cleaning with the bundled brush, while the shape of the catch up means coffee often ends up on the counter.
KitchenAid KF8: also consider
Not completely sold on the Aarke Coffee System? Here are a couple of alternatives to consider.
De'Longhi TrueBrew CAM1025MB
If you’d like a bean-to-cup machine which gives you more options for adjusting the brew, De’Longhi’s drip maker is worth a look. It’s not as stylish as the Aarke system and still doesn’t come cheap, but it is easy to use, with convenient automation and minimal maintenance required.
If you don’t need to grind your own beans or already own a grinder, the Moccamaster is our favorite drip coffee maker overall. With just two buttons to push, it’s a seriously easy machine to operate. It brews tasty coffee quickly and consistently, plus its functional design is strikingly industrial.
To test the Aarke Coffee System, I used it as my main coffee maker for a month. Every morning, I would grind a fresh batch of beans, tip them into the filter basket and brew several cups’ worth for me and my partner. I also brewed up the occasional afternoon boost – and because I tested it in December, the system was also put to use making coffee for guests over the festive season.
To fully understand the capabilities of the system, I tried a range of different grind sizes and strength settings. I used the grinder on its automatic mode, as well as manually adjusting the cup quantity to find a setting that suited my taste.
I also tested the system with a range of different beans over the course of the month, to put the grinder through its paces and understand how well the Aarke Coffee System extracts different flavor profiles.
While I haven’t reviewed too many coffee machines in my many years as a product tester, I know what makes a good coffee: I’ve been drinking the stuff for a long time – and I’ve made brews using everything from French presses to pod machines to portable hand pumps.
