I would recommend the Lexar Play 2280 if you’re able to find it at a heavily reduced price. At the moment, the 2TB model will set you back around $229.99 / £174.99 and the 4TB is available for $379.99 / £329.99. This wouldn’t be too bad in most cases but it’s important to note that this is a dynamic random access memory (DRAM)-less model that uses host memory buffer (HMB) technology. A reliance on HMB would normally be associated with a much cheaper product and, although not a complete disaster on PS5, does mean that you lose a lot of potential speed on console.
When drives with DRAM, like the blazing fast Samsung 990 Pro and licensed models like the Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5, can easily be found at similar prices to the Lexar Play 2280, there are very few reasons to consider this model above the others.
It’s a shame, as the Lexar Play 2280 still manages to scrape by in real-world scenarios. Though slower than other models in our copy testing, it achieved an okay reading of 6,135MB/s on the internal PS5 benchmark and offered perfectly serviceable performance with no major hiccups in the games themselves. The 2TB and 4TB capacities are also a good fit for most modern game libraries, especially if you own lots of large titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Horizon Forbidden West.
With an 8TB model on the way later this year, I could still see the Lexar Play 2280 finding a good niche as a lower-cost alternative to many of the best SSDs for PS5 or best PS5 external hard drives. Lots of the manufacturer’s other drives have received substantial price cuts in the time after release, especially around major sale periods, so I’m optimistic that this will eventually be the case.
(Image credit: Future)
Lexar Play 2280: Price and availability
2TB is $229.99 / £174.99
4TB is $379.99 / £329.99
Very high price for the specs
You can pick up the Lexar Play 2280 via Amazon. A 2TB model is available, which costs $229.99 / £174.99, in addition to a 4TB variant for $379.99 / £329.99. Both of these prices seem extremely high for what you’re getting, especially considering the lack of DRAM. You can easily find higher-spec alternatives at roughly the same prices, including premium options like the Samsung 990 Pro, Corsair MP600 Pro LPX, or Seagate FireCuda 530.
Even other Lexar drives are much better value. The 4TB Lexar NM790, another HMB model with a PS5 compatible heatsink fitted, costs just $281.99 / £229.99 at the time of writing. This is about where I would expect the Lexar Play 2280 to be, so it’s a little baffling that it’s currently not available at around this price.
Lexar Play 2280: Specs
Lexar Play 2280: Design and features
The Lexar Play 2280 has quite a stylish design, though not as elaborate as some competitors. It's fitted with an absolutely mammoth heatsink, one so large that I was initially slightly worried that it wouldn't fit in the PS5. Thankfully, the installation process was very smooth and it slotted in nicely under the console’s SSD bay cover. The heatsink is predominantly black, though does have two silver fin-like shapes on top that give it some extra flair. It’s also labeled with a white Lexar Play logo, creating some pleasant contrast.
In terms of features, this is an HMB drive. As previously outlined, this means that it does not have any DRAM. DRAM is usually used to store mapping information, effectively telling your machine where to find certain pieces of data quickly. This can improve performance and drive longevity, but often makes SSDs with DRAM more expensive than other models. In an HMB drive, this information is all normally stored memory of the host device instead. This is no problem for a PC but is not something that is currently supported by the PS5.
In practical terms, this can lead to much more uneven performance on your console. Sony itself states that users with an HMB drive “may experience slower-than-expected performance because the PS5 console does not support HMB.”
(Image credit: Future)
Lexar Play 2280: Performance
Despite the lack of DRAM, I found that the Lexar Play 2280 performed acceptably on the whole when you don’t consider the price. The 4TB configuration achieved a 6,134MB/s read speed in the console’s internal SSD benchmark, which is towards the lower end of what you would expect but still above the 5,500MB/s recommended by Sony.
It’s the kind of reading that you would find with a budget drive, which goes even further to show that the current cost of this model is a little ridiculous. For the sake of comparison, this figure is far below the just over 6,500MB/s achieved by the Samsung 990 Pro in the same capacity - a top-end drive that is a little cheaper than the Lexar Play 2280 right now.
Performance was just about okay in my other testing, which saw me copying a wide variety of files to the drive from the PS5’s internal storage. A 69.75GB installation of Zenless Zone Zero took 34 seconds to copy, while the 49.97GB Star Wars Outlaws was fully playable in 24 seconds. A 90.23GB installation of Alan Wake 2 copied in a respectable 48 seconds and the 85.72GB The Last of Us Part 2 came in at 38. Stellar Blade, which is 31.46GB, was copied in 17 seconds.
The Alone in the Dark remake, which comes in at 30.67GB, was copied in 18 seconds, and finally, the 9.49GB Asphalt Legends Unite was copied in 17. That very last figure is particularly high for the relatively small file size, demonstrating some of the shortcomings associated with HMB drives.
Thankfully unless you sit around moving games all day, you likely won’t notice a lot of this. I’ve been using the drive for a few weeks now, playing my usual rotation of games on it. During that time I did not experience any noticeable in-game performance differences when compared to playing on the PS5’s internal storage. Don’t get me wrong, the performance of the drive is fine overall, but just nowhere near what you would want or expect for the price.
(Image credit: Future)
Should I buy the Lexar Play 2280?
Buy it if...
You want a high-capacity drive The Lexar Play 2280 is available in both 2TB and 4TB capacities. This could make it a solid option to consider if you’re after a particularly large model for your game library.
You find it on sale The one thing the Lexar Play 2280 needs to properly compete in the SSD space is a sizable price cut. If you can find it at the right discount, this model could be a great alternative to more premium options.
Don't buy it if...
You want top performance The performance of the Lexar Play 2280 is fine for a HMB model, but it’s not what you would expect for the price. Consider high-end options like the Samsung 990 Pro if performance is your biggest concern.
Also consider...
If you want to weigh up the Lexar Play 2280 against some other options, here are two great alternatives.
Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 The Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5 is a great officially licensed pick. It loses out in terms of capacity, with just 1TB and 2TB options, but is worthwhile if you want a drive that will deliver flawless PS5 performance.
Samsung 990 Pro The 4TB model of the Samsung 990 Pro is often available on sale for around the same price at the Lexar Play 2280. It’s significantly faster, features DRAM, and has a more stylish overall design.
I tested the 4TB Lexar Play 2280 for over two weeks, fitting the drive to my personal PS5 and ensuring that it was used during my daily play sessions. During that time I was careful to assess the performance of the drive, both in-game and when moving a wide variety of files around on the system. I also recorded the data from the in-built PS5 storage benchmark.
I constantly compared the experience using the drive to my previous hands-on testing with a wide range of other PS5 SSD models. This included the Samsung 990 Pro, WD Black SN850, WD Black SN850P, Seagate Game Drive M.2 SSD for PS5, Samsung 980 Pro, and more.
When Sony announced its 2024 AV lineup, it wasn’t just its TVs that received a more straightforward naming system, but its soundbars too. This year, the potentially tricky-to-remember model numbers have been replaced with a much simpler Bravia branding. The Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 replaces the HT-A5000 as the company’s mid-range model – sitting below the Theater Bar 9 and the Bravia Theater Quad four-speaker audio system – and arrives with the aim to be one of best soundbars.
As with the HT-A5000, this latest model is a standalone Dolby Atmos soundbar. There are no wireless rear speakers included, nor is there a wireless subwoofer, but these can be added as optional extras if you wish to create an even more immersive surround sound experience. Despite the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 cramming 11 speakers into its slimline body to create a “bubble of sound” in Sony’s words, we would recommend true movie buffs consider adding at least a subwoofer to handle the low-end.
The Bar 8 is smaller than its predecessor – by some 30% – and is low in height, meaning it slots effortlessly in front of a TV. Connectivity is good rather than great with just two HDMI ports, one of which is eARC to connect to your TV. Thankfully, however, the other HDMI input is the 2.1 standard and it supports 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz passthrough, meaning you can confidently connect external devices including games consoles and 4K Blu-ray players. Elsewhere there is Spotify Connect, AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth for streaming music.
While some may expect more from a soundbar that costs $999 / £999 / AU$1,499, where connections or additional rear speakers are concerned there’s no denying the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 does an excellent job of boosting the sound of your TV. Although as for true Dolby Atmos it does fall a little short of the competition. The company’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping tech does work in creating phantom speakers, but we found during our testing that the soundfield was more of a half-dome as opposed to a full-dome covering an entire room.
We also found that the Bravia Bar 8 performed at its best in small to medium-sized rooms, as it seemed to lack the power to fill a larger open space. Adding the optional rear speakers and/or a subwoofer will undoubtedly help (we didn’t have them for this review), but the total cost of such a package adds up to far more than tried and tested complete Dolby Atmos soundbar packages, despite the Bravia Bar 8 receiving what seem to be permanent price cuts globally (as of September 2024, it's typical street price is generally around $849.99 / £799 / AU$1,249).
So while it might not be the outright best option for your main TV viewing room, the Sony Bravia Bar 8 can certainly find a spot in a bedroom or smaller TV room. The only question you’ll need to ask yourself is if you’d rather opt for the Sonos Arc. It doesn’t cost that much more than the Sony, handles music better and has the added potential benefit multiroom functionality.
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: Price and release date
Launched in July 2024
List price of $999 / £999 / AU$1,499
Has received price cuts since launch
The Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 was announced in April 2024 and went on sale in July 2024 in the US, UK and Australia for $999 / £999 / AU$1,499. That puts it right in the firing line of the Sonos Arc, which also goes without a wireless subwoofer or rear speakers included.
It’s less than the MSRP of the Samsung HW-Q990D – our current favorite Dolby Atmos soundbar on our list of the best soundbars – although recent price drops against Samsung's soundbar make it approximately the same price as the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 in most regions.
Samsung’s flagship bar comes with a wireless subwoofer and rear speakers included, although the rears do require constant power. Sony’s selection of optional rear speakers run off rechargeable batteries and so could prove to be a more appealing option for anyone short on power outlets in their room.
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: Specs
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: Features
5.0.2 speaker channels
Phantom speakers for extra 'virtual' channels
HDMI 2.1 with 4K 120Hz support
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
As you’ll find with soundbars from the likes of LG and Samsung, the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 can connect to a Sony TV from 2021 or newer and use it as a center channel via Bravia Acoustic Center Sync. It would have been nice for this to have worked via HDMI – whereby the soundbar should be able to detect it’s connected to a Sony TV – but you have to connect them together using the included cable. If you don’t own a Sony TV, but your TV has an S-Center speaker input, you can take advantage of this feature via the same 3.5mm cable wired connection (the 3.5mm port on the rear of the Bravia Bar 8 can only be used for this feature and can’t be used as an input from external devices).
There are only two HDMI ports on the Bravia Bar 8, and with one needed to connect to a TV via eARC, there is just one spare for external devices. Fortunately, this input does support 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz passthrough and gamers will appreciate that it supports auto low latency mode (ALLM) and variable refresh rate (VRR). Having just one spare HDMI input shouldn’t alienate too many users, but the previous HT-A5000 had two spare, so it’s peculiar as to why Sony has dropped one this time around.
Setting up the Bravia Bar 8 is incredibly easy. Simply connect it to your TV via the aforementioned HDMI port, open up the Bravia Connect app on your iOS or Android device and connect it to your network. Once done, you’ll want to run a calibration to ensure the soundbar is optimized for your specific room. It’s a process that only takes around 20 seconds and sees the soundbar emitting various tones to determine the acoustics of your room to optimize the sound output based on your usual seating position.
Image 1 of 3
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
There’s no option to manually adjust speaker channel settings as you can with other soundbars such as the Samsung HW-Q990D, but you can choose from three height modes – lower, default and higher – and three different sound field settings. The default option here is Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping, but you also have the option of DTS Neural:X or Dolby Speaker Visualizer. You can also turn the sound field mode off entirely if you wish (I’ll discuss the effects of this further down in the performance section). And, when rear speakers are connected, the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 can deliver an IMAX Enhanced certified audio presentation.
There aren’t any sound modes along the lines of ‘Movie’ or ‘Music’, which is an interesting omission, and there’s also very little mention of AI being used. The only AI-related feature of the Theater Bar 8 is to detect human voices and make them clearer via “AI sound separation”.
If you want to play music through the Bar 8, you can do so via HDMI, Bluetooth, Spotify Connect or AirPlay 2. Hi-Res audio is supported from compatible sources along with Sony’s LDAC wireless codec. You can also stream songs mixed in Sony’s own 360 Reality Audio via Amazon Music Unlimited.
Features score: 3.5/5
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: Performance
Powerful with genuine height
Bass handling would benefit from a dedicated subwoofer
With 11 speakers inside the bar, including two up-firing and two new side-firing drivers, the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 is certainly capable of delivering powerful, expansive sound into your room. But expansive doesn’t necessarily mean enveloping, as I found it to produce more of a half-dome of sound rather than a complete bubble to include sounds coming from behind my viewing position.
I began my testing in a smaller room of the house, with the soundbar connected to the Sony Bravia 8 OLED TV and a scene from The Incredibles streaming on Disney Plus – the part where the children are in the jungle escaping from Syndrome’s henchmen. There was obvious height and width to the sound, with the flying saucer-like vehicles shooting across the screen and up above the listening position when they went off screen.
Image 1 of 2
The Bravia Theater Bar 8 nestles perfectly in front Sony's own 65-inch Bravia 8 OLED TV. (Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
Image 2 of 2
Optional feet can be attached to the Bravia Bar 8, so that it slides over the feet of 2024 Sony Bravia TVs. (Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
For the majority of my testing, I had the height sound setting set to ‘higher’ as it provided the most immersive experience. I toggled between ‘default’ and ‘lower’ settings but found both to have a negative impact on the movie I was watching. I wasn’t personally able to find a scenario where either of these settings would be useful when watching a film.
Sony says the Bravia Bar 8 is capable of bouncing sound off the ceiling to create phantom speakers behind the listening position, but I wasn’t able to distinguish these during my testing. Dedicated rear speakers would no doubt alleviate this, as they’ll be on hand to actually deliver sound from behind the viewing position.
Dialogue was notably impressive, however, coming through crystal clear even when the volume was turned up. I also found the Voice Mode – activated within the Bravia Connect app or on the supplied remote control – did indeed give dialogue a boost without sacrificing too much of the rest of the soundtrack. And as for the Bravia Bar 8’s bass handling during the same scene in The Incredibles, I was pleasantly surprised by the depths it could go to, especially given the absence of a wireless subwoofer.
But, those same opinions didn’t translate over to the chase scene in The Batman – I loaded upa 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on a PlayStation 5 and was left a little disappointed. The engine growl from the Batmobile was lacking impact and the chase as a whole lacked excitement. The bass output from the Theater Bar 8 is good, but it was apparent it had a limit to its capabilities. A subwoofer would help here as it would take away much of the low-end duties from the soundbar, leaving it to focus on other tasks.
A positive to come from this sequence, however, was that bullets fired at the Batmobile’s windows did pierce through the presentation, which is something I’ve found other soundbars such as the Sonos Arc can falter on.
There are just two HDMI 2.1 connections on the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 soundbar, one of which is reserved for an eARC connection. (Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
I also streamed music to the Bravia Bar 8 via AirPlay from my iPhone using Amazon Music Unlimited. I loaded up a few tracks that had been mixed in Sony’s 360 Reality Audio format, but that were also available in Ultra HD – Amazon’s version of Hi-Res – so I could switch between the two.
Put simply, songs streamed in the latter format sounded much better. Miley Cyrus’ Flowers, for example, was delivered with extremely good vocal clarity and decent low-end bass when streaming in the Ultra HD format. Having the soundbar’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping soundfield selected also added some extra expanse to the performance, resulting in something that was perfectly enjoyable and listenable. However, switching it to the default setting did yield a more natural-sounding performance.
It wasn’t such good news when moving over to the 360 Reality Audio version of the same song. Bass was essentially eradicated and the overall performance sounded tinny and not too dissimilar to a very cheap Bluetooth speaker. I tried to fix it by turning off the soundfield setting, but it didn’t make a huge amount of difference, other than removing any notion of height from the song.
Performance score: 3.5/5
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: Design
Premium build with cloth wrapping
Suits 55-inch to 75-inch TVs
A front display would be nice
Sony’s website claims the Bravia Theater Bar 8 outputs sound in a 5.0.2-channel configuration – the same as the Sonos Arc – but we’ve also been told directly from Sony’s product managers that this isn’t so definitive. This is because the sound output will be different for every room, as Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound Mapping technology calibrates the output on a room-by-room basis. Plus, it makes use of phantom speakers with the intention of creating a bubble of sound.
The Bravia Theater Bar 8 is pretty attractive by soundbar standards. It measures 1100 x 64 x 113 mm, making it slightly shorter than a 55-inch TV (which roughly measures 1200mm). I had it setup in front of a 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 OLED and a 77-inch LG G4 OLED TV (top image) during my testing and in both instances it looked perfectly fine, meaning it would be well-suited to be placed in front of a 75-inch TV, too. Coincidentally, 55-, 65- and 75-inch are the three sizes the Sony Bravia 8 OLED TV is available in and, to further highlight how both 8-series TV and soundbar are ideal partners, Sony includes a set of feet in the box with the soundbar to raise it slightly so that it can slide over your TV’s feet if your TV bench isn’t deep enough to accommodate both.
Image 1 of 3
Sony supplies optional feet and screws to attach to the bottom of the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 soundbar. (Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
Image 2 of 3
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
If you want to add rear speakers to the Bravia 8, you have a choice of the SA-RS3S or SA-RS5, although only the latter pair features dedicated up-firing speakers. As for subwoofers, you can pair the Bravia Bar 8 with either the 200W SA-SW3 or 300W SA-SW5.
The entire soundbar is covered in a cloth fabric which means when you’re watching TV the soundbar’s top panel won’t reflect the screen above it.
A small LED is the only indicator for power and input. (Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
One feature I would have liked to see is a proper front panel display for information such as current input or even volume level. There are two small LEDs on the front right of the Bar 8, one to indicate when you’re adjusting the volume and one to indicate the current source. An HDMI device shines white, for example, while Bluetooth is expectedly blue. For more information relating to volume level and source input, you need to open up the Bravia Connect app.
Design score: 4/5
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: Setup & usability
Quick sound calibration
Bravia Connect app and remote for easy control
HDMI eARC connection to TV
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)
Setting up the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 is a relatively straightforward affair. All you need to do is connect an HDMI cable from the soundbar to your TV (Sony supplies one in the box), wait for it to register and you’re away. You’ll need to turn to the Sony Bravia Connect app for iOS and Android to get it connected to your home Wi-Fi network and to carry out the speedy sound optimization calibration.
A remote control is supplied too, for those moments when you don’t want or need to use the app. There is a central button for volume control (you can’t press and hold to turn the volume up and down), along with a dedicated button to adjust the bass level, turn the soundfield mode on or off (but not toggle through them), and toggle voice mode and night mode. The Bar 8 does work via HDMI-CEC, allowing you to adjust the volume using your TV’s remote control.
Setup & usability score: 4.5/5
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: Value
Premium price
Similarly-priced competitors include rear speakers and subwoofer
Not a class leader
While it launched at $999 / £999 / AU$1,499, the Bravia Theater Bar 8 appears to have received a regular discount in all territories, seeing its price drop to $849.99 / £799 / AU$1,249. In the US at the time of writing, it can be picked up with a further discount of $150. At its MSRP, the Bravia Bar 8 was immediately pitted against the Sonos Arc, which we consider to be one of the best standalone Dolby Atmos soundbars and which does outperform the Sony.
Now it appears to have received a price cut, it’s a more appealing option and somewhat helps stomach the extra cost for a wireless subwoofer and/or wireless rear speakers, should you want to add them. Considering its performance isn’t quite at the level we were expecting, it’s not the obvious choice for anyone looking to create a Dolby Atmos experience at home.
Our current pick for the outright best Dolby Atmos soundbar is the Samsung HW-Q990D, which can regularly be found for much less than its launch price in all territories. If you have one of Sony’s 2024 Bravia TVs, then the Bravia Theater Bar 8 is a natural pairing, but for anyone else, the Samsung soundbar still gets our vote.
Value score: 3.5/5
Should I buy the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8?
Buy it if...
You want a simple solution for a smaller room The Bravia Bar 8 will struggle to fill a large space, but if you want boosted TV sound in a smaller room or bedroom, it's worth an audition.
You want a full-range soundbar that supports Dolby Atmos The Bravia Bar 8 can indeed deliver a expansive soundstage with good object placement, and it has the option of additional hardware to create a complete system.
Don't buy it if...
You want an authentic Dolby Atmos experience Without the rear speakers or subwoofer included, the Bravia Theater Bar 8 can't deliver a true Dolby Atmos experience, despite its best efforts through calibration techniques.
You own Sonos speakers This may sound strange, but if you already own Sonos speakers such as the Era 100 or Era 300, you're better off getting the Sonos Arc. It has the same speaker configuration as the Sony, but can be paired with speakers to create a full home theater. Plus, it handles music more confidently.
Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 review: Also consider
Sonos Arc It’s been mentioned throughout this review for good reason. The Sonos Arc doesn’t cost much more than the Sony Bar 8, yet delivers a more authentic and immersive audio performance. It’s much better with music and has the obvious additional benefit of being able to be added into a larger multiroom system.
Samsung HW-Q990D You may need to pay a little extra to pick up Samsung’s latest Dolby Atmos soundbar, but it is absolutely worth it. Wireless rear speakers and a subwoofer are included in the box to deliver a sensational home cinema experience. It also has an extra HDMI 2.1 input, making it better for owners of multiple playback devices or games consoles.
I tested the Sony Bravia Theater Bar 8 over a period of two weeks. I connected it to a Sony Bravia 8 TV in a small room to test its sound output and any same brand exclusive features. I also moved it to a much larger room and connected it to an LG G4.
The majority of testing was conducted with the highest soundfield setting enabled, although I did toggle between the other options to analyze the sound output.
I played content from streaming services and 4K Blu-ray discs to test the Bravia Theater Bar 8's ability to handle Dolby Atmos soundtracks, and analyzed not only its spatial sound performance, but also bass, trebles and vocal clarity.
I also streamed music via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to test music playback. I played hi-res audio, Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio tracks via Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music.
McAfee+ Premium is an easy-to-use security suite with some very welcome features. There’s supremely accurate antivirus for unlimited mobile or desktop devices, for instance; a full and unlimited VPN (no missing features, no data limits); a password manager; powerful data breach monitoring for email addresses, phone numbers, credit cards, bank accounts and more; mobile apps include a scam detector to spot and block links in dangerous texts, and privacy tools help you lock down your social media settings, find and remove your personal data from web brokers, and locate and close down old and unused web accounts.
It’s an appealing feature set, and in this review we’ll take a closer look at McAfee+ Premium to see just how well it performs in real world use, and whether it might be one of the best antivirus software.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: Pricing
McAfee+ Premium is available in two flavors.
McAfee+ Premium Individual includes antivirus for unlimited devices, a password manager, unlimited VPN for up to five devices, and online account cleanup and data management tools for one person. It’s priced at $49.99 in year one, $149.99 on renewal.
McAfee+ Premium Family extends the package with online account cleanup and data management tools for two people, and throws in parental controls, too. It’s a little more expensive at $69.99 in year one, $169.99 on renewal.
If you only need the security basics, McAfee Total Protection Essential offers antivirus, a password manager and unlimited VPN for up to five devices, and is priced at a low $35.99 in year one, $119.99 on renewal.
Alternatively, upgrading to McAfee+ Advanced gets you identity theft protection, credit monitoring, identity theft insurance and more. Prices start at $89.99 in year one, $199.99 on renewal.
These are extremely low first year prices, especially if you could use the VPN or have a lot of devices to protect. But if you don’t need unlimited devices then you might save a little money elsewhere. Norton 360 Deluxe has antivirus and a VPN for five devices, parental controls and 50GB cloud backup, for example, and it’s good value at $49.99 in year one, $119.99 on renewal.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: Getting Started
McAfee+ Premium looks similar to many Windows security suites, with a dashboard showing your security status, and common tasks like running an antivirus scan or activating the VPN just a couple of clicks away.
While this seems straightforward, we noticed that some of the status information didn’t match the details we saw elsewhere. The app warned us that its ID monitoring had detected ‘100 breaches’, for instance; we clicked the ID monitoring button, McAfee’s website loaded, and it listed 216 breaches.
Some important features require extra setup steps before they’re working properly. McAfee’s web protection is based on its WebAdvisor browser extension, for instance, which must be activated before it can protect you. The McAfee+ app does its best to help, though, warning you about key features which aren’t enabled, and pointing you to the right places (like the WebAdvisor app store download page) when necessary.
McAfee+ Premium keeps its dashboard relatively straightforward by tucking the more advanced features away in a left-hand ‘My Protection’ sidebar. We sometimes had to go searching for features (we expected the list of excluded files to appear on the main scanning page as it applies to every scan type, but McAfee placed it under Real-Time Protection), but after a few minutes exploring we began to find our way around.
McAfee scores well with the big testing labs right now. (Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: Protection
McAfee currently has great protection results in independent testing. As we write the company is currently equal third with Avira in AV-Comparatives Real-World Protection Test, just behind Avast and AVG, and it scored full marks in both AV-Test’s last Windows report and SE Labs’ consumer endpoint protection test,
We calculate an overall score covering nine of the most important reports across four different labs. Right now that places Avast in first and Bitdefender second, but McAfee is an excellent third, outperforming both Norton and Avira.
McAfee didn’t detect most of our test phishing sites. (Image credit: Future)
We began our own tests by attempting to access 50 brand new phishing sites, and logging what happened. McAfee WebAdvisor blocked a well below average 32%. It’s better than nothing - some VPNs who claim to shield you from malicious URLs don’t block a single site - but it’s also far behind even free antivirus from providers including Bitdefender (64%), Avira (90%) and Avast (94%.)
There’s a second problem. McAfee WebAdvisor is a browser extension, which means it can’t protect non-standard browsers or other apps. We use a custom browser for testing, and it was able to freely access every one of our phishing sites without McAfee even noticing.
McAfee scans downloads as they’re saved to your device. (Image credit: Future)
Moving to our malware test, we tried downloading dangerous files from 50 malicious sites. McAfee blocked a solid 88%, but was still a little behind Avira (90% in its last test), Avast (94%) and Bitdefender (an excellent 100%.)
Finally, we matched McAfee against our own custom ransomware simulator. McAfee got off to a great start, immediately killing the threat before it could touch a single file. But when we modified our file just a little, it got past McAfee and managed to encrypt thousands of documents.
That’s not bad, but others have done better. Norton spotted and killed our simulator after it encrypted six files, and Bitdefender stopped the threat before it could cause any damage at all.
Put it all together and we think our results broadly confirm the lab reports: McAfee does offer very strong protection, but it’s not quite leading edge, and Avast and Bitdefender score fractionally higher.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: Secure VPN
McAfee+ Premium comes with an unlimited version of McAfee Safe Connect VPN, which itself uses the popular TunnelBear VPN underneath.
The VPN is built into the McAfee+ app, making it very convenient to access. The app dashboard has a ‘Secure VPN’ panel which shows whether you’re connected or not, and if you need browsing protection, you can turn it on in a couple of clicks.
(Well, that’s the idea. During our review, the VPN once hung on ‘Connecting’ for several minutes. The app has no way to cancel a connection, a very basic design flaw, so all we could do was reboot.)
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee’s VPN has a marginally above average choice of 48 countries. Unlike TunnelBear, there’s no choice of city or regional locations (McAfee has one US location, TunnelBear has 13.)
McAfee’s location list doesn’t include five of the countries most commonly supported by VPNs: Hong Kong, India, Israel, Russia and Turkey. But it has servers everywhere else we would expect, and delivers more coverage than usual in Africa (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa) and South America.(Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia and Peru.)
Connection times could be slow on our test Windows system, sometimes ten seconds or more. If you’re used to faster services (ExpressVPN typically takes less than a second), that can become frustrating.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee VPN has very few settings. There’s a kill switch (called Safe Reconnect) to protect your traffic if the VPN drops, and some Automatic Connect options to automatically connect when using untrusted or specific networks, but no choice of protocol, no split tunneling or anything more advanced.
Testing revealed an issue with the ‘Safe Reconnect’ kill switch. It performed well in most cases, but we noticed that if the VPN’s driver failed, then the kill switch wasn’t able to fully activate, and our now-unprotected web traffic continued to flow.
This isn’t an issue you’re likely to see in real world use, but if privacy is a priority then it has to be a concern, and most specialist VPN providers do much better. When we put NordVPN through the same test, it didn’t just block our internet correctly, it also quickly diagnosed the problem, restored the driver, and automatically reconnected.
(Image credit: Future)
We test VPN download speeds by connecting to a number of speed test sites from a cloud PC with a fast 1Gbps connection. McAfee Safe Connect managed a best average speed across multiple sessions of 270Mbps, well behind the performance champions (Surfshark and others reach 950Mbps+), but enough for browsing, streaming and most other tasks.
McAfee sells Secure Connect VPN for its privacy and security, and doesn’t mention unblocking streaming sites at all. We ran unblocking tests for Netflix and a number of other streaming sites anyway, but with poor results. McAfee got us into ITV and Channel 4 in the UK, and 9Now in Australia, but it couldn’t unblock Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus or BBC iPlayer.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: True Key Password Manager
True Key is a basic password manager which allows users to create secure logins, store and share them across all their devices. With Android and iOS apps for mobile devices, and browser extensions for Chrome, Edge and Firefox covering everything else, you can run it almost everywhere.
We imported existing logins from Dashlane without any issues. True Key can also import stored passwords from Edge, Chrome, LastPass, and generic CSV support might allow True Key to read logins from elsewhere.
True Key also has a Wallet where you can store personal details - names, addresses, phone numbers, date of birth and more. But the app can’t use this information to fill forms, unlike Dashlane and other top password managers.
In terms of the password management basics, though, True Key works reasonably well. Usernames and passwords are captured automatically as you enter them. When you’re creating an account, it can generate and enter a secure password in a couple of clicks. When we opened a login page, True Key displayed any matching profile (that could include multiple usernames if you’ve several accounts on the site), and clicking the profile logged us in successfully.
There’s not much in the way of advanced functionality. True Key doesn’t have secure password sharing, for instance, and there’s no ‘Password Health’-type feature to warn you about reused or weak passwords.
(Image credit: Future)
True Key does a great job of protecting your account with its excellent two factor authentication support. You can still log in with a master password alone, but for extra safety you can optionally choose a second factor, including a known trusted device, a second device, your Windows Hello PIN or biometric authentication.
Overall, True Key is a basic but decent tool which handles simple login tasks with ease. It’s better than the typical password managers we see in security suites, but if you need form filling or other advanced features, you’re still much better off with Dashlane, LassPass or the best of the competition.
(If you’re unsure and would like to try before you buy, download True Key’s Freemium version. It only supports 15 logins, but that’s enough to sample the service and get a feel for how the app works for you.)
(Image credit: McAfee+ Premium)
McAfee+ Premium: Online Account Cleanup
McAfee Online Account Cleanup (OAC) is an interesting web-based tool which discovers and helps you remove old web accounts which you no longer need or use.
The service identifies old accounts by scanning your email Inbox for keywords, finding old account reminders or other messages you might have forgotten. That’s a clever idea, but has a few problems.
The first is that you might not want to give McAfee permission to regularly read your Inbox. We don’t see this as a major risk (McAfee tries to reassure by saying ‘We only review the sender’s name, subject line, timestamp, and a few words of each email…’), but it may be a step too far for some.
The second is that OAC can only scan inboxes for Microsoft, Google or Yahoo email accounts. If you use another service, Online Account Cleanup won’t work.
The third issue is that you can only choose one of these email addresses. If you set up web accounts using more than one email, OAC won’t be able to cover everything.
If these aren’t concerns for you, OAC works very well. The service can automatically access your email, scanning is fairly quick, and when it’s complete, you get to see a very long list of your current accounts.
(Image credit: Future)
If you’ve 50 or more accounts to explore, then that could be intimidating. OAC does its best to point you in the right direction, though, by highlighting accounts which hold financial information (bank account or credit card details), other sensitive information (passport number, social security numbers), or you perhaps don’t use any more (they’re very, very old.)
While that’s helpful in identifying accounts you really should remove, you mostly have to sort out the actual removal process for yourself. OAC gives you a link to the service website, but it’s up to you to figure out how each account can be closed.
McAfee Online Account Cleanup is an unusual service which could be very helpful for some users. It won’t help others at all, though, and if you’re really keen on closing old web accounts, spend an afternoon browsing your inbox and you can probably get almost as much done for free.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: Personal Data Cleanup
McAfee Personal Data Cleanup scans data brokers to see if your name, date of birth and home address are being sold on data broker sites. Sounds good, but McAfee+ Premium scans for data only, and won’t ask browsers to remove your information unless you upgrade to the top-of-the-range McAfee Total Protection Ultimate plan.
We ran a check anyway, and within a few minutes McAfee reported that it had found three data brokers which ‘may’ have ‘some’ of our personal data. We looked at the report for each broker, but these simply said: ‘this data broker collects a wide range of personal data in your country, but they don't provide a way to search for specific individuals, so we're unable to access their records to confirm if they're collected yours.’ In other words: they might have our data, they might, but there’s no way to help.
The advice the report offered was even less helpful, just 'we recommend visiting the broker's site to request the removal of any info they may have collected about you' (without even giving us a link to the site), or that, if we upgraded our plan, 'removal requests will automatically be sent.'
We can’t judge Personal Data Cleanup on a single search, and you may get much better results. But as most plans don’t help you remove data, and doing it manually can be complex (you’ll need to verify your identity and repeat the process regularly), we don’t think the feature adds any real value to McAfee+ Premium.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: Social Privacy Manager
McAfee Social Privacy Manager (SPM) is a browser extension which can scan your Facebook, X/ Twitter, YouTube, Google, Instagram, TikTok and Linkedin accounts for weak privacy settings, then recommend improvements and update your settings itself with a click.
Some products of this type give the same advice to everyone, but McAfee is smarter than that. It asks what sort of social media user you are - do you explore other posts, say, or share content, but rarely post yourself - and then tailors its recommendations to your needs.
Scanning your accounts can be surprisingly simple. If your browser is already logged into Facebook, say, then just choose Facebook on the McAfee site and SPM scans your settings and delivers its advice in seconds.
(Image credit: Future)
SPM organizes its recommendations into four sensibly-chosen categories. Content Visibility is all about controlling who can see your profile and content; Ad Preferences controls how the platform uses your data to choose ads; Social Interactions controls how others find and interact with you, and Platform Experience is all about general personalisations.
The amount of guidance we received varied widely, with YouTube (3 tips) and Google (6) a little disappointing, but the Facebook (21 recommendations) and LinkedIn (26) reports giving us far more to explore.
SPM gave us some useful advice. By default, LinkedIn uses all kinds of data to personalize ads, but SPM recommended we turn off 16 ad-related settings, and allowed us to do that with a single click. If you’re not the type to spend an age exploring the darker corners of your account dashboard, looking for important settings, this will save you time and improve your privacy.
If there’s a problem here it’s that SPM often has the most basic privacy settings only. We scanned our Google account, for instance, and SPM gave us a single Yes/ No option to prevent Google logging any of our web activity. Google’s own settings give you so much more control, allowing you to choose custom options for Search, Chrome, Ads, Maps, Google Play and more.
There’s no doubt that SPM is far simpler than the standard account dashboards, and if you’re just looking for a quick way to turn everything off, it could be all you need. But if you’re more about fine-tuning your privacy settings for the best results, Social Privacy Monitor won’t help you very much.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: Dark Web Monitoring
Many antivirus apps now include some form of dark web monitoring, where they raise an alert if your personal details show up in a data breach. But often they’ll only search for email addresses, something you can already do for free at sites like haveibeenpwned.com.
McAfee tramples all over these vendors with the ability to monitor up to 10 email addresses, 10 phone numbers, your date of birth, 10 usernames, two passports, two national IDs, two health IDs, 10 credit cards, 10 bank accounts and two tax IDs. Enter whatever details you like, launch a scan, and McAfee+ Premium displays the total number of breaches discovered both in its web dashboard and in the app.
As usual with this kind of service, the information you get may not be very helpful. For example, McAfee told us that our email address showed up in a breach which contained ‘birthdays, names, email addresses, physical addresses and other personal information.’ Interesting, but we don’t know which account our email came from, or whether the breach included any of those extra details. It’s telling us what we know already - some of our data is available online - but there’s no action we can take to address any of that.
(Image credit: Future)
If you’d like data breach monitoring anyway, there are similar (and maybe better) services around. Norton Identity Protection can’t match McAfee everywhere (no health IDs, no national IDs, no tax IDs, only supports five email addresses), but it does watch for a couple of important extra items in your real-world addresses and your mother’s maiden name.
Norton makes it easier to add some items, too. Add a phone number to McAfee and it sends a verification code by SMS to confirm that you own it; great for privacy, not so welcome if it’s a landline or can’t receive SMS. Norton doesn’t require verification, so it works with any number.
McAfee does have some welcome advantages, though. In particular, the web dashboard highlights especially important breaches which include a password; Norton just lists breach names, forcing you to open each one in turn to see what it contains.
Put it all together and while McAfee Identity Monitoring isn’t ground breaking in any way (and we really wish it looked out for addresses), it’s still a capable service which tracks more details than most of the competition.
(Image credit: Future)
McAfee+ Premium: More Features
McAfee+ Premium includes a basic firewall which prevents untrusted applications from making connections to the outside world. That’s useful, but it doesn’t do much else. The firewall has no significant configuration options, and McAfee+ doesn’t look at incoming connections at all (it leaves Windows Firewall to do that.) Bitdefender and Norton’s suites have far more capable firewalls.
McAfee File Shredder securely wipes files containing confidential data to make sure they can’t be recovered. Even if someone steals your laptop and manages to undelete some sensitive documents, they’ll only see the wiped and empty versions.
(Image credit: Future)
File Shredder is convenient to use. Delete private documents as usual, open File Shredder, and you can have it securely wipe the contents of the Recycle Bin in a click: done. We had an odd issue during testing - occasionally File Shredder simply told us that the files couldn’t be deleted, without any explanation - but mostly it worked very well. If you’re an experienced Windows user who would like more,, though, tools like Eraser or Microsoft’s command line SDelete give you many more expert-level secure deletion features for free.
Tracker Remover protects your privacy by deleting tracker and other browser cookies, browser history, temporary files and the contents of the Recycle Bin. It works as advertised, but there’s nothing here that you can’t do elsewhere. And as with File Shredder, you can get similar but far more capable cleanup tools - like Avast’s CCleaner, for free.
McAfee+ Premium: Final verdict
The McAfee+ Premium highlight is its antivirus engine, which does more to keep you safe than most. The dark web monitoring tracks way more personal data than the rest of the competition, too, but the browsing protection and the underpowered VPN let the suite down.
If price is your top priority then it might still be worth signing up for the first year deal: $49.99 for an antivirus this good covering unlimited devices, and a full VPN thrown in, is as good a deal as you’ll get anywhere. (A one year TunnelBear account costs $59.88 all on its own.)
If you expect more from a security suite, though, consider competing suites such as Avast One Gold or Bitdefender Total Security for extra features and even better protection.
Sometimes, a tiny change can make all the difference. So it is with the Iiyama ProLite XCB4594DQSN. It's a large, 32:9 aspect ultrawide productivity monitor with a native resolution of 5,120 by 1,440. The difference is that it measures 45 inches where 49 inches has typically been the norm for the best ultrawide monitors we've reviewed.
That makes it a touch more ergonomic in terms of desk space. But it also improves the pixel density by a small but arguably critical quotient. To that you can add VA panel technology with strong all-round specifications, including 165Hz refresh and sub-1ms claimed response, plus excellent connectivity including USB-C with 90W of power delivery and a KVM switch.
All told, this new Iiyama amounts to a single monitor with the desktop real estate of dual 1440p panels, plus good connectivity. It's a very appealing proposition for anyone who needs one of the best business monitors to multitask, view several applications in parallel and generally have plenty of on-screen elbow room.
Iiyama ProLite XCB4594DQSN: Design & features
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Needs lots of desk space
Excellent connectivity
OSD could be more intuitive
Specs
Panel size: 45-inch
Panel type: IPS
Resolution: 5,120 x 1,440
Brightness: 450 cd/m2
Contrast: 3,000:1
Pixel response: 0.8ms MPRT
Refresh rate: 165Hz
Colour coverage: 100% sRGB
HDR: DisplayHDR 400
Vesa: 100mm x 100mm
Inputs: DisplayPort 1.4 x1, HDMI 2.0 x1, USB-C with 90W power delivery x1
Other: USB-A hub, LAN, KVW switch
Iiyama doesn't traditionally go in for aesthetic theatrics, and that's no different for the Iiyama ProLite XCB4594DQSN. Sober suited, you could say anonymous, albeit with slim bezels on three sides that add a contemporary air, it's nevertheless well-built and has all the features you'll likely want for a high-spec productivity monitor.
The stand offers a good array of adjustment, including height and tilt, plus a touch of pivot to help get the horizontal level just right, though the lack of swivel is a disappointing omission. Still, it's good to have decent adjustability on a 45-inch panel like this where the sheer size alone makes for challenging ergonomics.
On the subject of size and scale, this is a curved panel but courtesy only of a relatively gentle 1500R arc. With such a large wide-aspect format, a little more curve would arguably make viewing the furthest extremities a bit more comfortable.
As for connectivity, that's the real highlight. For starters, you get USB-C with 90W of power delivery for effortless single-cable connectivity of a laptop. There's also a triple-port USB-A hub. Thus with the single cable you can not only drive the display and keep a laptop charged, but also connect peripherals like keyboard, mouse and external storage.
Even better, there's a LAN port, too, enabling comprehensive connectivity through that single port. Once you've gone single-cable, you won't want to go back to that old rat's nest of cables. The USB hub also allows for support for KVW switch capability, so you can easily share this display and any connected peripherals across two PCs.
Those highlights aside, the rear of the display also includes a pair of HDMI ports and DisplayPort, all of which support the full 5,120 by 1,440 resolution at 165Hz. The catch? All these various connectivity features are harder to set up than need be.
Iiyama has chosen some suboptimal default settings, for instance, which means you'll have to spend a fair amount of time in the unfriendly OSD menu just to get this monitor running at the right resolution and refresh over various inputs. Once you've got everything configured correctly, it's all good from there. But Iiyama would do well to look again at the OSD and default settings.
Iiyama ProLite XCB4594DQSN: Performance
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Punchy, quick VA panel
Decent pixel density
Limited HDR support
We've seen plenty of 49-inch panels with the familiar if still spectacular 5,120 by 1,440 pixel native revolution. The difference here is that the Iiyama ProLite XCB4594DQSN is a 45 incher.
That obviously makes it a touch smaller while still being a very expansive display. It also bumps the pixel density up from 108 DPI to 118 DPI compared to those 49-inch panels. That isn't a dramatic improvement. But it's just enough to make a visible difference to the crispness and quality of fonts.
For sure, a 27-inch or even 32-inch 4K monitor has much better pixel density again. But the increase to nearly 120DPI definitely helps and is particularly noticeable in MacOS, which arguably benefits even more from the DPI bump than Windows. That detail aside, this is a very nice example of the VA breed of LCD panel. It's very punchy, with a brightness rating of 450 nits, and boasts excellent contrast.
Image 1 of 8
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Image 2 of 8
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Image 3 of 8
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Image 4 of 8
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Image 5 of 8
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Image 6 of 8
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Image 7 of 8
(Image credit: Iiyama)
Image 8 of 8
(Image credit: Iiyama)
It's nicely calibrated, too, albeit this isn't a panel aimed at content creation pros and doesn't offer pre-calibrated Adobe RGB or DCI-P3 modes. Overall, this is a really vibrant, pleasant display. OK, it's no OLED panel. But then you'd be looking at far, far more money for an equivalent OLED monitor.
Speed-wise, this panel will almost certainly be plenty quick enough for most users. The 165Hz refresh ensures nice, low latency and the 0.8ms response spec is impressive. That said, there is some noticeable overshoot with the response-accelerating overdrive feature set to one of its more aggressive modes. It's not a huge problem, but if you're sensitive to that kind of thing, an IPS panel remains a better option.
Another relative weakness is HDR support. For starters, this isn't a true HDR panel. It offers basic HDR signal processing. But there's no local dimming, so the ultimate dynamic range is limited. Iiyama likewise hasn't done a great job of calibrating SDR content in HDR mode. So, you'll really need to jump between SDR and HDR modes depending on content types, which is a bit of a pity.
Iiyama ProLite XCB4594DQSN: Final verdict
(Image credit: Iiyama)
The Iiyama ProLite XCB4594DQSN doesn't do anything radical. However, the large panel and ultrawide format makes for an extremely effective productivity tool. For sure, it's an intriguing alternative to a pair of 1440p monitors.
The 45-inch as opposed to 49-inch diagonal also makes for slightly improved pixel density and font rendering. That also applies to the comparison with more conventional 27-inch 1440p monitors. This Iiyama is just that little bit crisper while still providing a huge canvas for multitasking.
The actual panel quality is good, too, with a slick 165Hz refresh and fairly speedy responses for a VA panel. Factor in the 450 nit brightness and basic HDR support and this panel is well up for some multimedia and games on the side.
Connectivity is another strong point, with USB-C, LAN and a KVM switch. All told, this is a genuine productivity powerhouse and the only obvious snags are a slightly frustrating OSD menu and some poorly chosen default settings, none of which are enough to spoil what is otherwise a strong overall package.
The BenQ MA32OU is one of those monitors, and the moment I connected to it, I knew there was something special about this display. I rotate monitors like some people rotate their socks. I've gotten pretty good at knowing if any of the best business monitors will be a hit after only spending a little bit of time with it. The BenQ MA32OU is from BenQ's line of monitors specifically designed for Mac users. It's sleek, white, minimal, seamless MacOS integration and incredibly similar color profiles to the MacBook.
The BenQ MA32OU is packed with color calibration and integration software with Mac, solving the color inconsistency between MacBook displays and larger external monitors.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
BenQ MA32OU: Pricing & availability
The BenQ MA32OU is a premium external display option for MacBook users at $600. While it's more affordable than Apple's Studio Display, it still holds plenty of advanced features tailored to MacOS users. As of September 2024, BenQ has made the MA32OU available for pre-order with a general release slated for later this year.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
BenQ MA32OU: Unboxing & first impressions
Like every other monitor I tried from BenQ, unboxing the MA32OU was straightforward and clean. The monitor was securely packed alongside essential accessories including a USB-C cable, HDMI cable, power cord, and necessary documentation. Setting up the monitor itself is super easy, and it took only a few moments. The MA32OU was up on my desk and operational moments after arrival, fitting beautifully on my monitor arm.
The overall design language fits the Apple ecosystem, with simplified ports on the back, much like an Apple monitor. However, what is remarkable is that, unlike an Apple monitor, this display has an HDMI option.
Whether this is the best monitor for MacBook Pro is a matter of taste. But the BenQ MA32OU features a MacBook-like inspired design with a sleek white chassis and slim bezels, making it a stylish addition to any workspace. The Ergonomic stand offers essential height, tilt, swivel, and pivot adjustments, making for a great and highly customizable viewing angle. However, my preferred use case for monitors is to put them on a monitor arm for aesthetics. The ports are great, just enough to give me everything I need. It has USB-C with PD charging, another with charging capabilities, a USB-C port, and two HDMI Ports. These ports were able to get me set up for success without much work at all. Lastly, I appreciate that this monitor doesn't use any barrel connector but uses IEC, making it easy to power.
The build quality is solid, and the picture quality is gorgeous. Plugging into this monitor makes my MacBook display feel monstrous, thanks to the high resolution and clean 16:9 aspect ratio, and since the port offering is simple, it works excellently alongside my Thunderbolt Dock.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
BenQ MA32OU: In use
I've had the opportunity to use the BenQ MA32OU monitor as my primary display for a couple of weeks now. Over this time, I have been thrilled with the performance of this screen. It shines with vivid color accuracy and high resolution, allowing for even more content on the screen at once, 99% sRGB, 95% DCI-P3 coverage, and proprietary Mac color-tuning technology. When I move between my MacBook Pro's screen and the MA32OU, I can't tell the difference between the two color-wise. This is a huge win, especially if I'm working on creative projects or just for my sanity of moving between displays constantly throughout my day.
Depending on my working setup, I try to balance simple, minimalist, and frictionless. What I mean by frictionless is that it doesn't take a long setup time or any time for me to get to work. When I used to do a lot of voiceovers and vocal work, I had a mic on my desk; now that I don't do that as much, my mic is still in my home office but not as readily accessible. I treat my entire setup with this same logic. Simple and minimal-ish while keeping frictionless. The MA32OU is that kind of monitor to me. It doesn't mess around by adding what could be in a dock, if needed, somewhere else. But it also hasn't minimized so far that it only has Thunderbolt. At my setup, in particular, I have (as you can see in the picture with the ports) the main computer Thunderbolt plugged into a Satechi Thunderbolt 4 Dock, giving me a few more ports to run to my MacBook Pro. However, I also have the HDMI running to an HDMI cable that can be used to plug into another laptop or desktop I am testing, and I am using the other USB-C ports to keep things tidy and run my BenQ monitor lightbar and my Insta360 Link.
Continuing down the line of frictionless work, Display Pilot 2 software makes using this monitor as seamless as if I were working with a first-party Apple monitor. I can sync brightness and volume controls in a way I cannot do with any other monitor. While it sounds small, it has been super handy to adjust to. For those working long hours, BenQ’s eye-care features, such as Low Blue Light and Flicker-Free technology, help reduce eye strain, making it suitable for extended use. The HDR performance is good but not exceptional, with the 600-nit brightness providing decent contrast but not technically being as bright as I would like it if I weren't in a basement dungeon of a home office (only one tiny window)
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
BenQ MA32OU: Final verdict
The BenQ MA320U is an impressive external monitor that excels at delivering a seamless MacBook experience with stunning color accuracy, flexibility, and frictionless usability. While it may not have the absolute best HDR performance or audio capabilities, it remains an excellent choice for creative professionals seeking a reliable, MacBook-optimized display at a competitive price. If you're a MacBook user looking for a great monitor, you must check this out. If you don't use a MacBook but want a reasonably priced monitor, the MA32OU may still be a great option.
Portable power stations have grown in popularity over the years with the rise in battery technology and the push for solar power. At first, these were backup-only solutions, now they can be used for off-grid power solutions as well. Over the years Bluetti has grown as a serious contender in the Portable Power Station realm, especially with powerful models such as the AC500 and AC300 inverters, with their respective batteries.
After reviewing all the best portable power stations, we can safely say the Bluetti AC500 represents the latest in modular energy solutions, offering homeowners, RV users, and off-grid enthusiasts a scalable, reliable, and eco-friendly backup power system.
The AC500 specifically boasts a 5,000W pure sine wave inverter and compatibility with up to six B300S batteries totaling nearly 24,000Wh of usable battery. The AC500 can power a wide range of devices, from small electronics to essential household appliances like refrigerators and HVAC systems. With solar input support, seamless expandability, and the ability to run silently indoors, Bluetti has positioned the AC500 as one of the most powerful modular plug-and-play energy systems available.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
Bluetti AC500: Pricing & availability
The Bluetti AC500 starts at $2,600 for the standalone unit, but you'll need to purchase compatible external batteries such as the BS300S to store the energy that the BS500 inverter will utilize. Bluetti offers a bundle with the AC500 and a single B300S battery for $4,500. For those who need a full setup with six batteries, it will cost upwards of $10,400.
While the upfront cost may be high, the modular nature of this portable power offering from Bluetti allows for incremental upgrades over time as needs -- or budget -- allow. Bluetti is also notorious for offering frequent discounts on its products, making this incremental build a bit more budget-friendly.
You can purchase the Bluetti system directly from Bluetti's official site, or through online retailers such as Amazon.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
Bluetti AC500: Unboxing & first impressions
The AC500 arrives in a hefty box that includes a lot of padding. The AC500 is fairly heavy, and from the first time I picked it up, I recognized the quality build and overall durability. Additionally, I could tell that this setup, while technically portable, is not fun to move around such as a power bank or something I'd throw in the back of my Jeep. This power station is more designed to be put in place and left there, with the understanding that it can be moved, thus the portable part of the name, however, it's not going to be something you move frequently, weighing nearly 70lbs / 30kg.
In the box are the Bluetti AC500, the power cables for both AC and DC input, a manual, warranty cards, and solar charging cables. My BS300S (I chose to start with one, but will most likely be expanding sometime in the future as my needs expand) came in a separate box.
Bluetti AC500: Design & build quality
Specs
Inverter: 5,000W continuous / 10,000W peak Battery (optional): B300S (3,072Wh each, up to 6 units) Max Capacity: 18,432Wh with six B300S batteries Solar Input: Dual 1,500W MPPT (up to 3,000W total) AC Output: 120V single-phase, multiple 20A/30A outlets, 50A port DC Output: 12V/30A, 24V/10A, 12V car port, USB-C (100W), USB-A (18W) Weight: 66 lbs (30 kg)
The Bluetti AC500 has a very boxy and rugged design with built-in handles on the top sides and wireless chargers integrated into the top. Bluetti chose durable and high-quality materials to help ensure a sturdy and reliable product, even with heavy use. The feet have non-slip rubber and the handles have a nice grip to them, plus Bluetti has designed the different elements to stack quite nicely, allowing for a sleek and streamlined setup. I have the battery on the bottom and the AC500 on top of that. If you have multiple units or multiple inverters, you can even intermix the stacking as seen in the picture below, which goes to show that Bluetti has used the same design and footprint across their product lineup.
The touchscreen interface is simple and easy to navigate, though the plastic finish and low resolution feel a bit dated especially compared to my iPhone 16 Pro. Similarly, the touch screen's response feels a bit sluggish compared to the same phone, but for the few times I use the OSD for checking battery levels and enabling outputs, it's just fine. Most of the time, I use my phone to control the settings anyway.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
Bluetti AC500: In use
The AC500 performs wonderfully, and even a bit better than expected in my real-world testing. Shortly after arrival, the area where I live experienced a huge storm. A good friend of mine lives in the country about 30 minutes away from my house and they lost power entirely to their house and outbuildings on their farm due to a downed power line. Since it needed extensive repair, we knew he would be out of power for quite a while (turned out to be only a couple of days). We were able to set up the AC500, AC300, and their appropriate batteries to run his entire farm with ease. On the AC500, we were able to run his freezer, fridge, lights, a well pump, and the first stage of his HVAC unit. The AC300 was able to easily run his barn with basic lighting and a corn dryer.
One of the major advantages is the ability to use this system indoors, as it produces no fumes and operates quietly even under high loads. Fans kick in under very heavy use, but they are still very quiet all things considered.
In this scenario, we didn't get a chance to integrate solar panels, but if we had the time, we could add up to 3,000W of solar panels, that can power the inverter, and any excess power can be stored in the connected batteries.
In off-grid use cases, the AC500 can also be re-charged with a standard car outlet, though it will charge considerably slower than a standard wall outlet.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)
Bluetti AC500: Final verdict
The Bluetti AC500 is an excellent choice for anyone in need of a powerful, expandable energy solution. Its ability to scale up to six batteries, combined with a robust 5,000W inverter, makes it ideal for backup power and off-grid living. While its lack of a built-in battery and 120V limitation might be drawbacks for some users, it excels in most scenarios, particularly with solar integration and modularity. At its price point, it’s a serious investment, but one that pays off in reliability and performance. If you are looking to get started in your power station journey, make sure to check out the Bluetti AC500 Portable Power Station System.
The Philips 5400 LatteGo is a bean-to-cup coffee machine capable of making 12 different types of coffee. With its easy-to-use TFT LCD display, you can customize each cup by tweaking the amount of beans, milk and water you want. Best of all, the 5400 remembers these settings, giving you the option to save it to one of four profiles, saving you the hassle of adjusting the options every time.
Setting up the 5400 LatteGo is simple enough, though some important details are missing from the instructions. For example, it doesn’t mention that a rubber band must be attached to the filter in order to slot into the water tank. Once you’ve placed the machine in your kitchen or office, the 5400 is easy enough to maintain. The water tank, found on the right side, can be easily slid out from the front for refills.
The machine's water tank is easy to remove, and you'll get an alert when it needs refilling (Image credit: Daryl Baxter)
Longevity is a big theme of the 5400, self-cleaning after each use to prevent any grime from clogging up its internal pipes. Though it’s worth noting that when it’s working, especially when grinding the coffee beans you’ve put in, it can be noisy. We measured noise levels of up to 79 dBA (about the same as a phone dial tone), so we’d recommend not making a cup during the night if others are sleeping nearby.
The 5400 offers plenty of customization options, such as different milk foam levels. However, the milk spout can’t be turned, so you have to carefully position your cup between the milk and coffee spouts. Nevertheless, the 5400 made a fantastic drink every time, and we didn’t experience any issues that dampered our experience of using it — apart from setting it up for the first time.
Overall, this mid-range coffee machine is designed to appeal to users with different skill levels when making coffee, and the 5400 succeeds in that regard. Granted, the Breville Barista Express Impress offers something similar, but it lacks a helpful LCD display and the useful modularity of the 5400 that makes it so easy to clean. If you’re new to machines like this, we can’t recommend the Philips 5400 LatteGo enough.
It's not possible to adjust the direction of the milk spout, so you'll need to be careful how you position your cup (Image credit: Daryl Baxter)
Philips 5400 LatteGo: price and availability
List price: £679.99 (around $900 / AU$1,320)
Launch date: December 2021
Availability: UK
At the time of writing, you can only buy the Philips 5400 LatteGo on Amazon UK, or the Philips website with a list price of £679.99 (discounted to £619.99 at the time of writing). The coffee machine isn’t available in the US or Australia, but the 3200 is a smaller version of the 5400 that's more widely available.
The best bean-to-cup coffee machines are never cheap, and considering what the Philips 5400 LatteGo is capable of, you’re getting a fantastic machine that sits comfortably at the mid-range price bracket, with a lot of features helpful for beginners.
Value for money score: 5/5
Philips 5400 LatteGo: specs
Philips 5400 LatteGo: design
The Philips 5400 LatteGo looks every bit like a £619 coffee machine — high-quality, big, and sleek with its chrome finish. However, taking it out of the box, we were surprised by its depth (14.6in / 37.2cm), and you may find it comes close to the edge of your kitchen counter.
Setting the machine up was straightforward. The instruction booklet outlined out how to put the right compartments in, such as the water tank and the waste tray. The 5400 LatteGo also comes with an optional filter, called AquaClean, which Philips claims can help avoid descaling for up to 5,000 cups of coffee. While the instructions explained how to install the filter, it left out an important point. You see, there’s a black elastic band that must attach to the filter - otherwise, it won’t slot into place. We only found this out after coming across a post on Reddit, as we were under the impression that the filter just had to be placed into the tank. Not so. Including this detail in the instructions would help prevent this frustrating moment for others.
Once set up, we switched on the 5400 LatteGo and followed the prompts on the bright TFT display to prepare it for its first cup of coffee. Putting in the coffee beans, bought from a nearby independent coffee shop, was easy enough. You simply pour them into the designated section of the machine, and the 5400 LatteGo does the rest. Every time you select a coffee from the display, you can choose how much coffee, water, and milk you want — even choosing whether or not to include milk foam.
The bright display makes the 5400 LatteGo very easy to use (Image credit: Daryl Baxter)
It’s worth noting that the colorful TFT display is very helpful, making it easy for beginners and advanced users to personalize their coffee. Best of all, the machine remembers your preferences, saving you the chore of tweaking the coffee, water, and milk every time.
When it comes to cleaning the 5400, everything is simple enough to take out, such as the water tank, the drip tray, and more. It makes the machine feel modular — almost like working on a car engine. Everything has its place, but it’s easy enough that you can put every part back in as before once they’ve been cleaned. The machine even takes care of its internals by rinsing its pips regularly. But the machine’s design ensures that cleaning never feels like a chore.
There’s little here we can criticize, except for the unclear instructions. Everything in the Philips 5400 has its place, and everything works as you expect. Just be sure to not put anything in the bin when you set up the machine for the first time.
Design score:4.5/5
Philips 5400 LatteGo: performance
When it comes to mid-range coffee machines in this price range, there are usually plenty of knobs and levers to get accustomed to - but not with the Philips 5400 LatteGo. Instead, the TFT display lets you easily pick the coffee you want, with a bunch of customization options to make sure the machine will brew the right amount of beans, foam the right amount of milk, and use enough water.
The Philips 5400 LatteGo offers 12 different drink options as standard:
Americano
Cappuccino
Café au lait
Caffe Latte
Caffé crema
Coffee
Espresso
Espresso lungo
Frothed milk
Flat white
Latte macchiato
Ristretto
It can also dispense hot water for making tea, and has a dedicated travel mug function.
First off, I picked a regular caffe latte from the TFT display, using the physical buttons on the machine to scroll through the list. Once selected, I could easily choose how much coffee, milk and water I wanted by tweaking the levels of each. After I pressed ‘OK’, the 5400 got to work.
It was noisy during the three minutes it took from pressing the button to having a fresh cup of coffee, but everything worked as expected. One important note is that the spout can’t be adjusted, so you have to make sure that the cup is lined up with both the milk spout and the coffee dispenser.
The color display is accompanied by physical buttons for selecting options (Image credit: Daryl Baxter)
Afterwards, I decided I wanted more milk foam, so I simply went back to the display, selected ‘milk foam’, and the machine delivered. The coffee tasted fantastic, especially using fresh coffee beans from Stokes Coffee in my home town of Lincoln. Once the machine finishes making a drink, it automatically self-cleans, which takes a minute, and is noisy. So, if you’re wanting coffee late at night, make sure there’s no one sleeping nearby.
Another useful feature of the Philips 5400 is its ability to save your preferences as one of four profiles. This allows you to quickly select your custom drink without having to manually adjust your settings every time. I found this very useful, setting up three profiles for the different types of coffee I usually have in the morning, afternoon, and when I need to get some urgent work done.
The 5400 LatteGo's interface is easy to understand and use, even for beginners (Image credit: Daryl Baxter)
Overall, I’ve been very happy with the Philips 5400 LatteGo. Although the initial setup process was frustrating in places, the daily routine of picking and choosing the types of coffee was a breeze. The water tank simply slides out from the front for easy refills, and maintaining the machine’s other parts were also straightforward when needed. Granted, the 5400 can be noisy, with sounds of up to 79 dBA when grinding beans and steaming milk. However, that’s admittedly part of the package when you want a freshly brewed cup with steamed milk. For everything it offers, the Philips 5400 is a fantastic buy for anyone looking for a high-quality coffee machine.
Performance score: 4.5/5
Should you buy the Philips 5400 LatteGo?
Buy it if
You love a variety of coffee-based beverages The 5400 isn’t sparse on the types of coffee it can make. If you want a latte with extra milk foam or one with none but more coffee in, it can happen. There’s plenty of customization here, so you may discover a type of coffee you’ll end up loving.
You want to save a trip to Starbucks A regular cup from Starbucks or another big chain soon adds up. With the 5400, there’s the potential to save a trip and some money for your coffee fix, especially with the many types of coffee it can make.
You want to explore the world of coffee beans Using this machine is a perfect opportunity to try out a variety of coffee beans that many independent stores offer. For instance, we tried this variant from Stokes Coffee, based in Lincoln, UK, which had a fantastic berry aftertaste, perfect for this time of the year.
Don't buy it if
You’re on a budget
A high-quality bean-to-cup coffee machine can be expensive, to be prepared to, not only buy the 5400 LatteGo at a high price, but to maintain it with good quality coffee beans, filters to prevent build up of grime, and more.
You’re looking for a small and simple coffee machine
There’s no escaping how long the 5400 is. If you’re short on space in your kitchen, you should reconsider where it’s going to be.
You want to make large amounts of coffee for you and your family
Don’t expect to make a round for your workmates or family — the 5400 is meant to do one cup well, so take that into account.
Philips 5400 LatteGo: also consider
Not completely sold on the Philips 5400 LatteGo? Here are two alternatives you should consider:
Smeg BCC13
The BCC13 is much pricier than the Philips 5400 LatteGo, but has a more stylish design and a boiler that can generate more pressure for better quality steamed milk.
If you want more of the barista experience, this machine gives you the fun of inserting the portafilter, pulling a shot, and foaming your milk, but guides you through the process to make it straightforward.
I used the Philips 5400 for several weeks at home in my kitchen, making three to four types of coffee every day via the display that allowed me to choose new variants every time.
With every coffee made, I noted the time it took for one to be made, the noise, and flavor, alongside what it was like to clean and maintain the coffee machine. I also made coffee with different levels of milk, water, and beans, as well as choosing different amounts of milk foam. Learn more about how we test.
Fezibo is yet to feature heavily in our best standing desks list, but don't write the standing desk maker off; it has a superb range of premium-looking desks and accessories, such as the the Executive B, that are competitively priced albeit typically at a higher price point to budget options.
Enter the Worland: it's a reversible L-frame standing desk, available in various finishes, multiple sizes and in single or triple motor options. This review is of the 'Rustic Brown' 63 x 47.2 inches / 160x120cm triple-motor version.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
Fezibo Worland: Unboxing and First Impressions
Two boxes securely hold and protect the Fezibo Worland parts, including those triple metal leg motors and robust tops, that when combined make for a very heavy setup.
On unwrapping, it's immediately clear that each part is well made, even if the tops are made from plastic board rather than solid wood, while the necessary tools are provided for the build; a simple spanner and hex key.
Clear your diary, the unboxing and build of the Fezibo Worland is a lengthy process, and for which you will need a second person for the final part given how heavy the triple-motor reversible L-frame standing desk is. I drafted my tweenager in for support, who also enjoyed helping with the straightforward project, and he was indeed able to be helpful.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
The build happens upside down from top to bottom, as in you begin with the slimmer raised tops face down on the floor – the part of the desk that is designed to hold items such as a monitor. You add the sides that support the raised tops and then you start attaching the main surface, at which point you ideally need to improvise to prop up those larger (and heavy) main surfaces to avoid them tipping, ensure they are level, and therefore the screws go in straight.
Specs
Desktop: 63 x 47.2 inches / 160 x 120cm (also available in 63 x 55.1 inches / 160 x 140cm)
LiftingCapacity: 308lbs / 140kg (for the triple motor version, or 180lbs / 80kg for the single motor version)
Leg shape: T-shape
Instructions are clear and easy to follow throughout, though there's crucial point in the build where you determine the orientation of the L-frame; an L or a reverse L so to speak. You therefore need to know ahead of time where the desk is going to live.
Figuring out my desired orientation for the build (a reverse L) was simple enough when piecing the three top pieces together, however I found it a head scratcher figuring this part out for the metal legs – I messed up and had to redo a small part of the project once I had figured out my mistake.
It also wasn't immediately clear in the instructions that the clear plastic tubes provided were in fact handy guides for dropping screws into the inside of the metal legs. Without these tubes, it's a near impossible task to feed the screws through the inside of the legs by hand and line them up with the holes on the other side for attaching the legs to the desktop.
With the metal frame / legs assembled and on the desktop, the controller needs to be attached and connected – easier done with the desk still upside down. Personally, I think the Worland's cable management is a tad rudimentary; the power supply is attached to the desk's underside with an adhesive pad, while it's tricky to fully hide the cables from the controller along the length of the desk with the cable fasteners supplied (see below).
Also, as elegant as the desk appears itself, the trailing cables down to your wall plug, which also includes the cables of your devices such as monitors and laptops, somewhat spoil the look.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
Still, I didn't have one of the optional accessories which could hide those cables, such as an underdesk filing cabinet (from £69.99), of which there are options to match the desk's aesthetic and are worth looking into.
There's also an optional cord management accessory (£19.99) that looks like it would do a much better job of organizing the cables than relying on the supplied fasteners, but I didn't have that for the review. It's a shame the cord management accessory doesn't come supplied with the Worland, or indeed a power strip for your devices which would reduce the number of trailing cables to the wall supply.
Rival standing desk brand Flexispot includes a magnetic sheath in models like the E7 Pro, designed to hold the cables between the two central metal struts of the frame. That same desk also includes a power strip and the result is a much tidier looking setup. This cable management solution by Flexispot helps keep those essential wires tucked away.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
If you don't mind forking out extra for the Worland's cord management and / or filing cabinet accessories, and you're industrious enough to pick up your own power strip and figure out a way of attaching it to the underside of the Worland, then you too can have a slicker-looking setup. It's just a shame that these are all extra steps.
With the entire desk assembled, you ideally need a second pair of hands to flip it over and to move it into position. There are wheels supplied for the legs to ease moving the desk around, but given I knew where I wanted to position the desk, I opted against adding these wheeled feet.
As for the fabric drawers, they simply need the firm base inserted in order to maintain their shape, and they slot in snuggly and securely.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
I figure that the entire build, from unboxing to being in position, took around 3.5 hours, not including the 30 minute u-turn I needed to make to reattach the legs for my desired orientation. That's a pretty lengthy build time, but it was overall really simple step-by-step.
Fezibo Worland: Design and Build Quality
As far as the best office desks go, Worland sure is one of the more attractive. It's sleek and understated, with tucked away drawer storage under the raised tops. Then there's the nice little details like the under desk hanger for items like headphones (see below).
It also comes in a variety of finishes that includes Rustic Brown, Black Walnut, Light Walnut, Oak, White and Black to cover any kind of decor. I gravitated to Rustic Brown – a classic look.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
I asked Fezibo what material the Worland desktop is made from because it's not listed on the site, and was told that it's particle board. Before you get disappointed, given the higher-than-average price for a desktop that isn't made from 'proper' wood, it's an extremely durable material.
I had the smaller of the two triple-motor stand options that measures 160x120cm. There's also a 190x160cm option, or a 160x140cm single-motor option.
The T-shape legs proved to provide deep enough clearance that my legs never once bumped into them.
Fezibo Worland: In use
The triple-motor option has a generous 308lbs / 140kg payload, which drop to 180lbs / 80kg for the (slightly cheaper) single-motor option.
That payload of the triple-motor version would easily be enough to support me sitting on the desk, not that I'm in that habit, and certainly enough for the super-large curved 32:9 aspect monitor (pictured), laptop and various bits that made up my office setup during this test. I'd have no qualms adding additional monitors, a printer and so on, given the desk's payload.
I opted to position my wide monitor in the desk's corner and tuck myself in when seated, with quick reach to my left and right and for a comfortable working position. However, the long 160mm side of the L-shape desktop would also be sufficient to fit the display.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
The controller features manual up / down keys, plus three presets and a button to save those presets, while the height adjustment range is 28 - 47.6 inches / 71 - 121cm (without wheels).
After using the desk for several months, I largely stuck to two settings; one for sitting and one for standing. However, I can see the use in a third preset for homes with multiple users with different standing heights.
Switching between sitting and standing is as simple as the press of a button, and the motors proved to be quiet when in action.
The lowest possible setting is roughly equivalent to a standard fixed desk height, which for someone like me who's 6ft 1in can feel a fraction low and not great for posture over a full day sitting at a desk.
What surprised me as a previously infrequent standing desk user, therefore, is how useful the option is to tweak that lowest height up by an inch or two to improve my posture when seated – standing desks aren't just about standing.
With the Worland, I can have my office chair to the height I wish for a comfortable position for my legs, and then tweak the height of the desk so my back is straight.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
For my height, around 43 inches / 110cm proved a suitable desk height for standing. There's an additional 4.5 inches / 11cm to work with on top of that, and so even the exceptionally tall are catered for here.
As for the desktop size, it is generously wide, albeit a fraction shallow. The total depth including the raised tops is 24 inches / 60cm, but the working space is 14.2 inches / 36cm, which proved a bit of a squeeze for my 16-inch MacBook Pro M1.
That shallow working distance also meant my curved monitor was a little close for me liking. My solution? Positioning the monitor in the corner of the desk.
I've been using the Worland for more than three months and have no doubt that it'll last many years. It's a superb-quality desk.
(Image credit: Future / Tim Coleman)
Fezibo Worland: Final verdict
Rudimentary cable management aside (which can be dealt with through extra accessories or industrious solutions), the FEZiBO Worland is a stellar standing desk, with a versatile reversible L-frame. The desktop might be made from particle board, but it's available in a range of attractive finishes and crucially, is robust. The same can be said for the powerful and quiet leg motors which can support a heavy payload, while offering precise and versatile height adjustment. I love the raised top that provides additional height for a monitor (and extra clearance above a laptop), plus the generous surface area with its elegant look with slick drawer storage, although the desk could do with additional depth for a better working distance from a monitor. It might take a while to build, but the Worland is a dream focal point for any office space and comes highly recommended.
The CRKD Atom is far and away the smallest controller I have ever tested. Billed as a collectible keychain controller by its manufacturer, the Atom is an impressively compact 3 inches (about 76mm) from left side to right. This alone makes it remarkably portable-friendly and is easily stored in your pocket or even on your keychain.
A range of attractive colorways also add to the Atom’s collectability factor, and the controller sits at a reasonable price, thus making that collectible nature broadly more achievable for those who are interested. And of course, for stalwart CRKD heads, the Atom has the manufacturer’s app integration, allowing you to scan for your product’s overall rarity and unique number via near-field communication (NFC).
It’s a neat little controller in the aesthetics department, then, but I’ve also been impressed by its overall gaming performance. Compatible with Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile devices, I found the CRKD Atom to have pin-sharp responsiveness across both wired and Bluetooth connections. As such, it’s an excellent choice for retro games or ones that don’t need to rely on analog sticks to play.
(Image credit: Future)
CRKD Atom: Price and availability
List price: $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$33
All colorways are the same price
Available at CRKD’s website and Amazon in all regions
The CRKD Atom is available to purchase now from the brand’s official website or its Amazon store page. All color options retail at $19.99 / £19.99 / AU$33, making for an affordable bite-sized controller that doesn’t price gouge on some of the nicer variants. There are eight colorways available, and they are as follows:
Atomic Purple: translucent, dark purple design
CRKD Grey: a matte grey finish with pink and orange face buttons
Glacier Blue: translucent, icy blue colorway
Hot Pink: a striking matte pink finish
Leaf Green: an airy, bright green finish
PAL Grey: a matte grey design with multi-colored face buttons inspired by the European SNES controller
Sky Blue: a light blue matte finish
Yuzu Yellow: bright yellow with nicely contrasting black face buttons and d-pad
Amazon stock tends to fluctuate greatly between designs, but all colors are more reliably available on CRKD’s official website. Do keep in mind, though, that as the Atom is under $25 / £25 on the brand’s own site, you will have to pay a little extra for shipping.
I mentioned the CRKD Atom is the smallest controller I've ever tested. It's also the cheapest, with the closest point of comparison being the GameSir Nova Lite which retails at $24.99 / £29.99 (around AU$40). Similar to the affordable GameSir wonder, the CRKD Atom is a cheap controller that I can wholeheartedly recommend.
CRKD Atom: Specs
(Image credit: Future)
CRKD Atom: Design and features
CRKD hasn’t skimped on quality despite the Atom’s small size
Very much a ‘what you see is what you get’ design
May just be too small for some
Like other impressively compact devices such as the Game Boy Micro, the CRKD Atom’s most striking design trait is its size. It’s so small that it could legitimately fit inside a Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controller. Of course, given its stature, the Atom has to miss out on analog sticks (though if CRKD does eventually make a follow-up with Hall effect thumbsticks, I’d be very impressed). Additionally, ZL and ZR - typically triggers on the best Nintendo Switch controllers - have been converted to tiny, tactile buttons nestled between the larger L and R bumpers.
Despite the omissions that keep the Atom’s size (and presumably, costs) to a minimum, CRKD hasn’t ditched its penchant for quality. Materials feel great in spite of the pad’s near-nonexistent weight, with solid casing and delightfully tactile buttons.
(Image credit: Future)
On the Atom, in addition to those bumper and ‘trigger’ buttons, you’re also getting a d-pad, four face buttons with the typical Switch layout, Start and Select, and a Home button in the center. There’s also a USB-C port at the top, an NFC touchpoint on the back for use with the CRKD app’s collection system, and a groove at the bottom-left of the controller where you can thread through the included wrist strap.
The Atom is a lovely collectible item - especially given its price - but if you are planning on playing games with it, definitely don’t underestimate its tiny size. True to its name, the Atom is minuscule and thus isn’t well-suited to folks with larger hands. It certainly isn’t best suited to longer gaming sessions, either, given your hands will be closely wrapped around its small casing. On the flip side, the Atom does make for a fun, affordable gift for younger players.
CRKD Atom: Performance
Excellent responsiveness
10-hour battery life is decent, given its size
Well-suited to retro gaming
A lack of analog sticks makes the CRKD Atom a poor choice for most modern games. However, it seriously excels at retro gaming, and titles that don’t require the use of analog sticks. Nintendo Switch Online’s retro libraries are a great example, and during my testing I found myself diving into games including The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Blaster Master, and Fire Emblem. Other Switch hits like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, and Vampire Survivors are also fantastic fits for the CRKD Atom.
You can expect solid results via Bluetooth connectivity, too. The Atom is brilliantly responsive when used wirelessly, and the pairing process on both Switch and mobile was near-instantaneous. However if you’d prefer a more reliable connection overall, the Atom does support a wired USB-C connection which also makes it usable on PC.
(Image credit: Future)
There are some ancillary functions available on the Atom, too, accessible via button input macros. For example, you can change the d-pad to instead function as a left or right analog stick by holding Select and left or right on the d-pad respectively for five seconds. I didn’t get much use out of this feature, really; the SNES-style layout already makes the Atom a poor fit for titles that primarily make use of analog sticks, and it certainly doesn’t benefit from the additional sensitivity that sticks provide. A more useful inclusion, however, is the ability to take screenshots by pressing the Start and Select buttons simultaneously.
In terms of battery life, you’re getting an impressive 10 hours with the CRKD Atom. That’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things, especially compared to the 20 hours from the 8BitDo Ultimate or the 40-50 hours from the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. However, given its size - and the fact that the Atom is best suited to shorter play sessions - this is more than an adequate amount of battery life, I feel.
Should I buy the CRKD Atom?
Buy it if...
You’re after a truly portable controller The Atom’s small size makes it a perfect choice for portable gaming on both Nintendo Switch and mobile devices.
You’re a collector Eight lovely color options and a relatively low price tag make the Atom a fantastic collector’s item.
Don't buy it if...
You want a proper controller There’s no avoiding the fact that the Atom is a novelty gamepad. A great novelty, for sure, but without analog sticks, grips, gyro, and other Switch controller hallmarks, those after a more fully-featured controller should consider something else.
Also consider...
If the CRKD Atom isn’t quite to your liking, we’ve highlighted a couple of other fantastic controllers that are well worth your consideration.
8BitDo Ultimate Having tested several Nintendo Switch controllers over the years, I still think 2022’s 8BitDo Ultimate is the best of the bunch. Sublime build quality, Hall effect thumbsticks, and the inclusion of a charging dock all make for superb value for money. You’re also getting full gyro support, but the gamepad does lack an NFC touchpoint for amiibo scanning.
Nitro Deck CRKD’s very own Nitro Deck is one of the best Nintendo Switch accessories you can buy. It’s a fantastic controller/dock for handheld Switch players who’re after something sturdier and more reliable than the Joy-Con controllers.
For more information read our full Nitro Deck review.
How I tested the CRKD Atom
Tested for one week
Platforms tested: Nintendo Switch, PC, mobile
Primarily used Bluetooth connectivity, with USB-C wired connection on PC
I tested the CRKD Atom over the course of a week, primarily playing titles on Nintendo Switch. Given its small size, I found the Atom to be better suited to shorter play sessions overall. That, paired with the SNES-style layout, made it a great fit for Nintendo Switch Online’s retro library, as well as games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Vampire Survivors that don’t require the use of an analog stick.
I also found the Atom to pair well with various retro compilations on PC, including Sonic Origins Plus, Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection, and the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster titles. As the Atom doesn’t include a 2.4GHz or Bluetooth adapter in the box, I went with a USB-C wired connection on PC.
24 inches? For a monitor aimed at photographers? Oh dear, this is going to be a blocky, low-res 1080p affair, right? Nope. The BenQ SW242Q is actually a 1600p panel. With a 16:10 aspect ratio, that makes for 2,560 by 1,600 pixels.
Many creative pros and photo editors might prefer a 4K panel, for sure. But a 4K monitor with the kind of feature set offered here costs serious money. So the BenQ SW242Q's proposition is to offer a slightly smaller screen that still offers decent pixel density, plus a very strong feature set at an appealing price.
What kind of feature set, you ask? Highlights include USB-C with 90W of power delivery, Pantone and Calman verification, factory calibration, broad colour coverage, plus a few extra frills like an SD card reader and more. Overall, it's a strong package in the field of best monitors for photo editing. And an intriguing value proposition versus a cheap 4K panel for similar money that doesn't come with the comprehensive creator-friendly feature set.
BenQ SW242Q: Design & features
(Image credit: BenQ)
Great build quality
Fully adjustable stand
Comprehensive connectivity
Specs
Panel size: 24-inch
Panel type: IPS
Resolution: 2,560 x 1,600
Brightness: 400 cd/m2
Contrast: 1,000:1
Pixel response: 5ms
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Colour coverage: 98% DCI-P3
HDR: HDR10
Vesa: 100mm x 100mm
Inputs: DisplayPort 1.4 x1, HDMI 2.0 x1, USB-C with 90W power delivery x1
Other: USB-A hub, SD card reader
When it comes to screens aimed at content creators, the 24-inch BenQ SW242Q feels distinctly compact. But it's very nicely built and feels like a quality item throughout. The stand is sturdy, while the faux-leather pad on the base adds an unusual aesthetic and tactile flourish, while the minimalist design looks contemporary and is unlikely to date.
You also get full adjustability, including height, tilt, swivel and rotate into portrait mode. Connectivity is another strong point. The usual HDMI and Displayport interfaces obviously feature. But given how popular laptops now are with photo editing pros, the USB-C connector with 90W of power delivery is the main highlight.
The single-cable connectivity it allows for laptops is something you won't be able to live without once you've experienced it. The BenQ SW242Q also has a two-port USB-A hub and an SD Card slot. So you can use that USB-C magic to do everything from drive this display, keep your laptop charged, and connect peripherals like keyboards, mice and external storage.
All told, it;'s a slick package and the compact proportions make it a great choice if desk space is at a premium. It's usefully smaller than the 27-inch and 32-inch panels that are more common in the creator monitor market.
BenQ SW242Q: Performance
(Image credit: BenQ)
Lovely IPS panel
Decent pixel density
Excellent accuracy and colour coverage
An immediate concern with any 24-inch monitor is pixel density. That's because 1080p is very much the norm when it comes to native resolution with 24 inchers. But not here. The first clue that the BenQ SW242Q does things a little differently is its 16:10 rather than 16:9 aspect ratio.
That give you a little more vertical space than usual. That slightly taller form factor means that this monitor offers 1,600 vertical pixels, a useful number more than commonly seen on 2,560 by 1,440 panels, otherwise known as 1440p.
Anyway, that higher resolution translates into 125 pixels per inch, a notable upgrade on the 92DPI of a standard 1080p 24-inch monitor. It's admittedly lower density than both 27-inch and 32-inch 4K monitors. But it still allows for nice, crisp fonts and plenty of image detail. Notably, this monitor looks great with MacOS and Apple MacBooks, which really benefit from decent pixel density.
Resolution aside, the main highlight is the quality of the IPS panel. It comes factory calibrated with sub 1.5 DeltaE across the board and you can really see that, whether it's the perfectly balanced colours or the accuracy of flesh tones.
Image 1 of 7
(Image credit: BenQ)
Image 2 of 7
(Image credit: BenQ)
Image 3 of 7
(Image credit: BenQ)
Image 4 of 7
(Image credit: BenQ)
Image 5 of 7
(Image credit: BenQ)
Image 6 of 7
(Image credit: BenQ)
Image 7 of 7
(Image credit: BenQ)
It's worth noting that you're getting a clear step up in terms of calibration, accuracy and validation with this panel compared to a generic IPS display, including Pantone Validation, Calman verification and 16-bit 3D LUT support and 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 digital cinema colour space. So, it's right up there with the best monitors for video editing too. You also get a year's free subscription to the Pantone Connect Premium smartphone app.
While this is primarily an SDR display and lacks features like local dimming, it can hit 400 nits, which is plenty punchy and also supports HDR10, and so is capable of showing HDR colours correctly.
What's more, the SDR colour calibration is actually excellent in SDR mode, giving you the option of leaving this display in HDR mode and thus not needing to toggle between modes depending on content type.
If you're looking for weak points, well, the contrast levels are nothing compared to an OLED panel. And the pixel response is nothing special. But these are givens with an IPS panel with no local dimming. If you want an OLED or mini-LED monitor with pro features, you'll be paying many, many times more.
BenQ SW242Q: Final verdict
(Image credit: BenQ)
A 24-inch monitor for content creators would normally be a hard sell. But the BenQ SW242Q is a surprisingly appealing package. Partly that's down to the strong feature set. The USB-C interface is central to that, with single-cable connectivity that includes 90W power delivery, an SD card reader and a USB-A hub.
Then there's the broadly excellent image quality, thanks to a quality factory-calibrated IPS panel and plenty of creatures for content creators, including Pantone validation and good colour coverage. `of course, the real kicker is the 2,560 by 1,600 resolution.
That's a notable step up on the 1080p norm for 24-inch monitors and makes for both more desktop working space and improved pixel density. It also means this monitor is a great companion for both PCs and Macs, with the latter particularly appreciating decent pixel density.
Granted, the BenQ SW242Q lacks true HDR support and the 24-inch panel size will be restrictive for some users. But if either your desk space or budget is too limited for the usual 27-inch and 32-inch suspects in the prosumer photo editing monitor market, the BenQ SW242Q is well worth a look. It's a very strong package at an appealing price.
