There was a moment late last year when I thought I'd lost my wallet. I searched everywhere, in every nook and cranny. It was nowhere. I began walking through all the steps I'd have to take to secure my life; my IDs, my credit cards, even some memories stuffed inside. I was, for a moment, devastated. Then I remembered something: I'd had the wallet on me the other day when I briefly wore a pair of pants... then I switched into shorts.
The wallet was in the pocket of those pants, folded, and laying a shelf in my closet. Now, if I'd had an AirTag on it, I could've located the wallet with some ease. The irony is that this wallet came with a perfect circle cut-out to hold Apple's popular tracking tag. After that scare, I decided to slip an AirTag in, and now I can find it in my house.
And if I had the new AirTag (Second Generation or AirTag 2), I'd find it even more easily – because, as promised, it's got far better range, and can chirp loud enough that you can easily hear it from a room away.
Apple AirTag 2: Price and availability
$29 / £29 / AU$49
Available now at Apple Store and retail
Apple AirTag 2: Setup
Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / Future
If you own one of the best iPhones, setting up the new AirTag is as easy as it was with the original tracking disc. After unpacking the AirTag, I pulled the thin plastic covering off and then tugged until the tiny bit of embedded flexible plastic pulled out of the AirTag.
With that, the AirTag started looking for its iPhone mate. My iPhone 17 Pro Max, which was sitting nearby, immediately detected the AirTag and lit up. On-screen steps guided me through the process of pairing it with the phone and naming the tag (you typically choose a name that aligns with what you want to track, so 'Backpack,' 'Luggage,' etc.).
There's also a pretty stern warning about how AirTags are not intended to be used to track people without their consent. The new AirTags support all the same privacy features, like alerting you if an unknown AirTag is somehow on your person. Plus, if the AirTag is separated from its owner for an extended period, it will start making noise.
Since Apple sent me one of its $35 / £40 / A$59 FineWoven Key Rings, I slipped the AirTag into it and attached it to my backpack.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Apple AirTag 2: Test drive
From the outside, the Apple AirTag 2 is indistinguishable from the original AirTag launched in 2021, but inside it's a whole different story.
Apple replaced significant components, including the ultrawideband chip, which now matches what we've had in the iPhone since 2023 (iPhone 15), and new speakers. Both of these changes are critical to the AirTags 2's biggest updates.
When I learned about the new Apple AirTag, I noted Apple's claims of 1.5x better range and a 50%-louder speaker with some skepticism. Those sounded like big leaps, and I wondered, at first, how I might test them.
The answer was simple, and it resided in my wallet. I simply compared the original AirTag to this new and improved one.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Finding things near and far
The AirTag is useful for finding stuff you've misplaced in your home, but even more impactful when you, or say, your airline has misplaced your luggage, for example. Apple has partnered with dozens of airlines that can now use an AirTag to help locate your lost luggage and let you know it's been found; a reunion with your luggage should soon follow.
Like the original AirTag, the new one can tap into a network of one billion Apple devices to phone home. Basically, an AirTag separated from its owner can ping, for instance, a nearby iPhone, and that connects with the iCloud network to deliver the AirTag's location information (based on that original iPhone's location) back to the owner in the Find My app. All of this information is delivered anonymously, and it's also end-to-end encrypted.
A locally misplaced item can be found via the AirTag's ultrawideband capabilities.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
To be clear, I had no intention of losing my wallet or backpack, but I thought I could test out the new range and audio capabilities.
My house is about 40ft front to back and 50ft diagonally from one corner to the other. I placed my backpack with both the AirTag 1 (in my wallet) and the AirTag 2 in one corner, and then I walked to the opposite, far corner of my house.
In the FindMy app, I started by selecting my wallet and then choosing 'Find' to launch Precision Finding. The app reported that my wallet was 'far' and, though connected, said the signal was weak and suggested I move to a different location.
AirTag (2026): The range is much better.FutureAirTags (First Gen): It works but the range is much shorter.Future
I started walking in the direction of the wallet and AirTag 1. When I was almost two-thirds of the way to its location, the Find My interface picked up the wallet at 22ft away, but could not identify the direction.
It wasn't until I was within six feet of the AirTag 1 that I got directional information, which is a giant white arrow on a green background that points you to your missing bag, wallet, or whatever.
Next, I returned to the far corner of my house and selected the backpack, in which I had placed the AirTag 2.
Even from that location, the phone connected to the AirTag and told me it was 47 feet away. By the time I was just a third of the way across my home (roughly 32ft), Find My started displaying directional information – a significant improvement over the original AirTag.
I reran the test with the wallet and backpack AirTags fully exposed, and the results were the same.
Sound off
The new AirTags are also advertised as being significantly louder than the original tags, thanks to new speakers.
Keeping the AirTags in the same location, I first selected the wallet AirTag in Find My devices and then chose 'Play Sound'. I heard the familiar two-tone sound.
From inside my backpack, I could just make out the muffled dat-dat-da-dat-dat, which plays three times before ceasing.
I made sure the AirTag 2 was similarly seated inside the backpack, and then selected 'Play Sound' for that AirTag. The difference in volume was stark; I could hear it clearly, even over the din of a nearby television. Impressive.
Watch this
If you have an Apple Watch 9 (or above) or Ultra 2, try this with the new AirTag. (Image credit: Future)
The new AirTag also works with the Apple Watch (Series 9 and above or Ultra 2), though enabling it was slightly less intuitive than I'd prefer.
To add an AirTag to your Apple Watch, you open the Control Panel, hit Edit, and then select 'Find AirTag'. The system walks you through selecting a compatible AirTag, in my case, the backpack one, and once that's done it's just a press of your Apple Watch Side Button and a tap on the Find AirTag icon to launch a search for that item.
When I did it on my Apple Watch 9, the screen immediately transformed into a searching graphic similar to what I see in the iPhone Find My app's Precision Finding feature. It instantly showed me how many feet I was from the backpack, and when I started walking toward it, it switched to a circular wayfinder, with one portion of the circle turning bright white to indicate the proper direction. When I arrived at the backpack and its AirTag, the screen turned green with a bright check mark.
While I can't test battery life, you'll be pleased to know that the new AirTag uses the same CR2032 3-volt lithium coin battery, and is rated to last a year. Finally, the IP67 rating remains, which means the AirTag (2026) can handle splashes of water (rain) and dust.
Overall, this is an excellent little update that retains all that's good about the original AirTag, and updates crucial features to make them much more useful when you're trying to find your lost item. And Apple earns extra points for not raising the price or altering the design, which might have forced you to buy new AirTag accessories.
There was a moment late last year when I thought I'd lost my wallet. I searched everywhere, in every nook and cranny. It was nowhere. I began walking through all the steps I'd have to take to secure my life; my IDs, my credit cards, even some memories stuffed inside. I was, for a moment, devastated. Then I remembered something: I'd had the wallet on me the other day when I briefly wore a pair of pants... then I switched into shorts.
The wallet was in the pocket of those pants, folded, and laying a shelf in my closet. Now, if I'd had an AirTag on it, I could've located the wallet with some ease. The irony is that this wallet came with a perfect circle cut-out to hold Apple's popular tracking tag. After that scare, I decided to slip an AirTag in, and now I can find it in my house.
And if I had the new AirTag (Second Generation or AirTag 2), I'd find it even more easily – because, as promised, it's got far better range, and can chirp loud enough that you can easily hear it from a room away.
Apple AirTag 2: Price and availability
$29 / £29 / AU$49
Available now at Apple Store and retail
Apple AirTag 2: Setup
Lance Ulanoff / FutureLance Ulanoff / Future
If you own one of the best iPhones, setting up the new AirTag is as easy as it was with the original tracking disc. After unpacking the AirTag, I pulled the thin plastic covering off and then tugged until the tiny bit of embedded flexible plastic pulled out of the AirTag.
With that, the AirTag started looking for its iPhone mate. My iPhone 17 Pro Max, which was sitting nearby, immediately detected the AirTag and lit up. On-screen steps guided me through the process of pairing it with the phone and naming the tag (you typically choose a name that aligns with what you want to track, so 'Backpack,' 'Luggage,' etc.).
There's also a pretty stern warning about how AirTags are not intended to be used to track people without their consent. The new AirTags support all the same privacy features, like alerting you if an unknown AirTag is somehow on your person. Plus, if the AirTag is separated from its owner for an extended period, it will start making noise.
Since Apple sent me one of its $35 / £40 / A$59 FineWoven Key Rings, I slipped the AirTag into it and attached it to my backpack.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Apple AirTag 2: Test drive
From the outside, the Apple AirTag 2 is indistinguishable from the original AirTag launched in 2021, but inside it's a whole different story.
Apple replaced significant components, including the ultrawideband chip, which now matches what we've had in the iPhone since 2023 (iPhone 15), and new speakers. Both of these changes are critical to the AirTags 2's biggest updates.
When I learned about the new Apple AirTag, I noted Apple's claims of 1.5x better range and a 50%-louder speaker with some skepticism. Those sounded like big leaps, and I wondered, at first, how I might test them.
The answer was simple, and it resided in my wallet. I simply compared the original AirTag to this new and improved one.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
Finding things near and far
The AirTag is useful for finding stuff you've misplaced in your home, but even more impactful when you, or say, your airline has misplaced your luggage, for example. Apple has partnered with dozens of airlines that can now use an AirTag to help locate your lost luggage and let you know it's been found; a reunion with your luggage should soon follow.
Like the original AirTag, the new one can tap into a network of one billion Apple devices to phone home. Basically, an AirTag separated from its owner can ping, for instance, a nearby iPhone, and that connects with the iCloud network to deliver the AirTag's location information (based on that original iPhone's location) back to the owner in the Find My app. All of this information is delivered anonymously, and it's also end-to-end encrypted.
A locally misplaced item can be found via the AirTag's ultrawideband capabilities.
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)
To be clear, I had no intention of losing my wallet or backpack, but I thought I could test out the new range and audio capabilities.
My house is about 40ft front to back and 50ft diagonally from one corner to the other. I placed my backpack with both the AirTag 1 (in my wallet) and the AirTag 2 in one corner, and then I walked to the opposite, far corner of my house.
In the FindMy app, I started by selecting my wallet and then choosing 'Find' to launch Precision Finding. The app reported that my wallet was 'far' and, though connected, said the signal was weak and suggested I move to a different location.
AirTag (2026): The range is much better.FutureAirTags (First Gen): It works but the range is much shorter.Future
I started walking in the direction of the wallet and AirTag 1. When I was almost two-thirds of the way to its location, the Find My interface picked up the wallet at 22ft away, but could not identify the direction.
It wasn't until I was within six feet of the AirTag 1 that I got directional information, which is a giant white arrow on a green background that points you to your missing bag, wallet, or whatever.
Next, I returned to the far corner of my house and selected the backpack, in which I had placed the AirTag 2.
Even from that location, the phone connected to the AirTag and told me it was 47 feet away. By the time I was just a third of the way across my home (roughly 32ft), Find My started displaying directional information – a significant improvement over the original AirTag.
I reran the test with the wallet and backpack AirTags fully exposed, and the results were the same.
Sound off
The new AirTags are also advertised as being significantly louder than the original tags, thanks to new speakers.
Keeping the AirTags in the same location, I first selected the wallet AirTag in Find My devices and then chose 'Play Sound'. I heard the familiar two-tone sound.
From inside my backpack, I could just make out the muffled dat-dat-da-dat-dat, which plays three times before ceasing.
I made sure the AirTag 2 was similarly seated inside the backpack, and then selected 'Play Sound' for that AirTag. The difference in volume was stark; I could hear it clearly, even over the din of a nearby television. Impressive.
Watch this
If you have an Apple Watch 9 (or above) or Ultra 2, try this with the new AirTag. (Image credit: Future)
The new AirTag also works with the Apple Watch (Series 9 and above or Ultra 2), though enabling it was slightly less intuitive than I'd prefer.
To add an AirTag to your Apple Watch, you open the Control Panel, hit Edit, and then select 'Find AirTag'. The system walks you through selecting a compatible AirTag, in my case, the backpack one, and once that's done it's just a press of your Apple Watch Side Button and a tap on the Find AirTag icon to launch a search for that item.
When I did it on my Apple Watch 9, the screen immediately transformed into a searching graphic similar to what I see in the iPhone Find My app's Precision Finding feature. It instantly showed me how many feet I was from the backpack, and when I started walking toward it, it switched to a circular wayfinder, with one portion of the circle turning bright white to indicate the proper direction. When I arrived at the backpack and its AirTag, the screen turned green with a bright check mark.
While I can't test battery life, you'll be pleased to know that the new AirTag uses the same CR2032 3-volt lithium coin battery, and is rated to last a year. Finally, the IP67 rating remains, which means the AirTag (2026) can handle splashes of water (rain) and dust.
Overall, this is an excellent little update that retains all that's good about the original AirTag, and updates crucial features to make them much more useful when you're trying to find your lost item. And Apple earns extra points for not raising the price or altering the design, which might have forced you to buy new AirTag accessories.
The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is the very latest premium laptop from the South Korean tech giant. While Samsung is better known for its TVs, smartphones, and home appliances, in recent years it’s been steadily releasing some of the best laptops we’ve ever tested through its Galaxy Book lineup, and the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra was launched at CES 2026 alongside the Book6 Pro and more affordable Galaxy Book6.
They all come with Intel’s brand-new Core Ultra Series 3 mobile processors (also known as Panther Lake), which have been seriously impressing us, as well as Samsung’s increasingly sophisticated ecosystem that allows these laptops to interact with other Samsung devices, especially smartphones and tablets, and gives, in my mind, the closest experience to Apple’s slick Mac/iPhone/iPad integration for Windows 11 and Android devices. More on that later.
As a Galaxy product, this is naturally a high-end flagship device, and with a price tag of £2,999 (around $4,000 / AU$6,000) for the base model, this isn't going to be a laptop for everyone.
However, if you can afford it, you should be pretty happy with what you get for your money. The latest hardware from Intel and Nvidia means this is a brilliant performer for basically any task you require, and Samsung has made sure this is a solidly-built laptop with excellent build quality - and comes with one of the best screens you can get.
But that high price and abundance of power mean a lot of people simply won't need the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra, and a more affordable laptop (such as the standard Galaxy Book6) will be a much better choice.
(Image credit: Future)
Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra: Price & Availability
Starts at $2,449.99 / £2,999 (around AU$6,000)
Launch seems to have been delayed
As with Samsung’s other Galaxy products, the Galaxy Book6 series of laptops are premium devices with designs, specs, and price tags to match. The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra, as the name suggests, is the highest-end model, and starts at $2,449.99 / £2,999 (around AU$6,000) for the model that comes with an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU and 1TB of storage.
That’s expensive for a laptop. Very expensive. It makes the Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5) from last year seem like a bargain at $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,499, and while you can argue that the Galaxy Book6 Ultra is a much more powerful laptop, mainly thanks to its high-end CPU, discrete GPU and more RAM, if you’re making a product that’s a more expensive rival to an Apple device, you’ll need to justify the extra cash.
Arguably, comparing the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra to the more powerful 16-inch MacBook Pro with either M4 Pro or M4 Max chips (which, despite being last-generation, are more powerful than the M5) is more fair. The MacBook Pro 16-inch with M4 Pro and 24GB of unified memory is $2,499 / £2,499 / AU$3,999, while the model with an M4 Max chip and 36GB of unified memory is $3,499 / £3,499 / AU$5,699.
Thunderbolt 4 (2), USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1 port (Supports 8K@60, 5K@120), SD, Headphone/Microphone
Thunderbolt 4 (2), USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1 port (Supports 8K@60, 5K@120), SD, Headphone/Microphone
Thunderbolt 4 (2), USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1 port (Supports 8K@60, 5K@120), SD, Headphone/Microphone
Battery
80.20Wh
80.20Wh
80.20Wh
Dimensions
14.05 x 9.76 x 0.6 inches / 356.9 x 248 x 15.4mm
14.05 x 9.76 x 0.6 inches / 356.9 x 248 x 15.4mm
14.05 x 9.76 x 0.6 inches / 356.9 x 248 x 15.4mm
Weight
4.2lbs / 1.89kg
4.2lbs / 1.89kg
4.2lbs / 1.89kg
Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra review: Design
Very smart looking
Excellent display
Manages to be slim
As with previous Galaxy Book laptops, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is a great-looking product, with a sleek, understated design in silver that is reminiscent of Apple’s Intel-based MacBook Pros (before they underwent noticeable redesigns with the switch to Apple’s own M-series processors). This won’t be the last time I’ll mention the Book6 Ultra’s similarities to a MacBook.
Unlike the Galaxy Book6 Pro and Galaxy Book6, which come in both 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra comes in a single 16-inch size. While this might mean that if portability is your biggest concern when buying a new laptop, you might not want a large-screen device like the Book6 Ultra, Samsung has done a good job of keeping this laptop feeling thin and relatively light.
It measures 14.05 x 9.76 x 0.6 inches (356.9 x 248 x 15.4mm) and weighs up to 4.2lbs (1.89kg). This means it’s slightly thinner than the 14-inch MacBook Pro (M5), despite its larger screen and discrete GPU, although because this is a 16-inch laptop, the overall footprint is larger than the M5 MacBook Pro.
(Image credit: Future)
Despite the thin design, there’s a decent selection of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports, a standard USB Type-A port, HDMI 2.1, and an SD card reader. Thankfully, Samsung’s decision to drop the headphone jacks from its smartphones hasn’t made it to its laptop division, as the Galaxy Book6 Ultra comes with a port for plugging in headsets and microphones.
Fans of USB-C formats (come on, there must be some) will note that the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra’s two ports are Thunderbolt 4, rather than the newer (and faster) Thunderbolt 5. While this means the Book6 Ultra isn’t quite packed with the very latest components, it’s worth noting that its main competitor, the MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5, 2025), also comes with Thunderbolt 4 ports.
(Image credit: Future)
The keyboard, which again invites comparisons with the MacBook Pro, is decent, and while the keys themselves are rather shallow, they still feel responsive and comfortable to use. As with Apple’s laptops, there’s a dedicated button on the top-right of the keyboard that’s used to scan your fingerprint. This allows you to securely log into Windows 11 with just a touch, and it also means you can use features such as the controversial Recall tool that require advanced biometric security.
The main appeal, design-wise, of the Galaxy Book6 Ultra, however, is its screen. Samsung is known for using excellent screens for its devices, especially TVs and smartphones, and the Galaxy Book6 Ultra continues that tradition.
(Image credit: Future)
The 16-inch touchscreen comes with a sharp WQXGA+ (2880 x 1800) resolution, and AMOLED screen technology that results in an incredibly vibrant and detailed image quality. That, combined with a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz, makes Windows 11, its apps, and pretty much any media you play on the Galaxy Book6 Ultra look absolutely fantastic.
The display is surrounded by a thin, modern bezel, which means Samsung can maximize the screen size without bulking up the rest of the laptop, and there’s no controversial ‘notch’ that modern MacBooks have around the webcam.
Design: 4.5/ 5
Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra review: Performance
Excellent Windows 11 performance
Can even play games
Gets very hot
Coming with Intel’s latest, and very impressive, Panther Lake processors, and able to be configured with up to an Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics card, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra offers an exemplary Windows 11 experience, with the operating system and apps all running smoothly.
Whilst testing the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra, I had no problem at all running various apps, and with plenty of RAM, multitasking between apps is smooth and responsive.
The model I reviewed comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 laptop GPU, something that’s often found in the best gaming laptops. The inclusion of this high-end GPU doesn’t mean the Galaxy Book6 Ultra is a gaming laptop, however, as it can be used for graphically-intensive workloads, such as ultra-high-definition video editing, 3D animation, and advanced AI tasks. So, this model of the Galaxy Book6 Ultra is a great choice for creative professionals, especially thanks to its gorgeous OLED screen.
(Image credit: Future)
The Galaxy Book6 Ultra certainly had no issues while I was editing a 4K movie in Adobe Premiere, with clips loading quickly, and scrubbing through the video’s timeline was instant. This was also while I had numerous apps and websites open at once, and Windows 11 felt incredibly fast and smooth.
Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra: Benchmarks
Here's how the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra performed in our suite of benchmark tests: 3DMark:Fire Strike: 26,767; Time Spy: 12,309; Steel Nomad: 2,758; Port Royal: 7,687 Geekbench 6.5: Multicore: 16,655; Single-core: 2,852 PCMark 10: 6,827 Crossmark: Overall: 1,880; Productivity: 1,669; Creativity: 2,275; Responsiveness: 1,514 Cyberpunk 2077: (1080p, High, DLSS Quality): 111.86fps Assassin's Creed Shadows: 1080p, Medium: 54fps; 1080p, Ultra High: 32fps, 1080p, Medium, DLSS Quality: 65; 1080p, Ultra High, DLSS Quality: 39fps Total War: Warhammer III: 1080p, High: 101.3fps Battery Life (TechRadar video test): 13 hours, 39 minutes Battery Life (Battery Informant): 15 hours, 11 minutes
Also, while the RTX 5070-toting Galaxy Book6 Ultra is not a gaming laptop, it can still play games, though you’ll want to enable DLSS upscaling where possible. At 1080p with DLSS on and graphics set to ‘High’, I got Cyberpunk 2077 running at a very impressive 111.86fps. Meanwhile, Assassin's Creed Shadows at ‘Medium’ settings with DLSS switched on hit 65fps.
Sure, these aren’t the most mind-blowing numbers, and there will be plenty of PC gamers who turn their noses up at the need to use DLSS, but the fact that such a thin and light laptop can play these games at all, let alone at those kind of frame rates, is really impressive, and again thanks to the OLED screen, they look incredible.
The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra also remains impressively quiet. Even when performing intensive tasks, fan noise was kept to a minimum. The lack of distracting whirring is nice, but it does mean that at some points, primarily just above the keyboard, the laptop can get very hot to the touch. Using it for prolonged periods of heavy workloads (including gaming) could lead to the performance getting throttled to stop the Galaxy Book6 Ultra from overheating, though it didn’t happen during my tests. Packing such powerful components into such a slim chassis does mean that this is a risk, however.
One of the key features of the Galaxy Book6 Ultra is how it can work with other Samsung devices, much like how MacBooks can work with iPhones, iPads, and other Apple devices.
(Image credit: Microsoft / Samsung)
I connected the Galaxy Book6 Ultra to my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and with a bit of tweaking, I was able to easily share documents between the laptop and the smartphone. 'Multicontrol' is a particularly impressive feature, whereby dragging the mouse cursor to the edge of the Galaxy Book6 Ultra’s screen, the cursor will jump to the smartphone, and you can use the Galaxy Book6 Ultra’s trackpad and keyboard to interact with the phone.
I used this to type out some long messages that would have been a pain to write using the phone’s touchscreen. You can also use Samsung’s tablets as a second display for the Galaxy Book6 Ultra, a nice touch if you have invested in Samsung’s ecosystem.
If the Galaxy Book6 Ultra is going to be your first and only Samsung device, then sadly you won’t be able to make use of most of these features, though Windows 11’s Phone Link feature remains a great way to access your phone via your laptop, and it’ll work on the Galaxy Book6 Ultra without the phone needing to be a Samsung model.
You’re missing out on some really useful features, though, many of which make life easier – and Samsung has made it the furthest out of any of its rivals when it comes to providing an Apple-like experience with its ecosystem.
This is all the more impressive as Apple has complete control over its ecosystem: it builds both the hardware (including many components) in its Macs, iPhones, and tablets, as well as the software those devices run on. That means making everything interact with each other is a lot easier (relatively speaking, I mean. I’m certainly not downplaying the hard work and effort that’s still required).
Meanwhile, Samsung’s laptops and smartphones are mainly made of components made by other companies, such as Intel, and the software they run (Windows 11 for laptops, Android for smartphones and tablets) is also made by other companies (Microsoft and Google, respectively).
(Image credit: Microsoft / Samsung)
So, making its various products all work together is an impressive feat, and for the most part works well. It does mean that you need to use Samsung’s own apps for a lot of things, and you need to sign into your Samsung account (on top of your Microsoft account, Google account), so if you’re not a fan of extra apps (sometimes uncharitably called ‘bloatware’) on your laptop or smartphone, then you’ll be frustrated with Samsung’s penchant of preinstalling its own apps.
Also, it’s not quite as slick as Apple’s implementation, and there are a few performance niggles. While using Multcontrol to use the trackpad and keyboard of the Galaxy Book6 Ultra on my Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone was helpful, it prevented the onscreen keyboard on the phone from appearing when I moved control back over to the laptop. Not the end of the world, but a bit annoying if you forget and then wonder why you can’t type out a message. It’s easy to fix by reenabling the touch keyboard, but it’s an example of how Apple’s ecosystem works so much better.
As well as the excellent OLED screen, which offers beautifully dark blacks, high contrast, and vibrant colors, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra comes with six Dolby Atmos speakers with four force-cancelling woofers and two tweeters, which allows the laptop to handle both deep bases and high details. It can reach loud volumes without the audio distorting, and there are no annoying vibrations thanks to the speaker design.
As a Copilot+ PC, it’s also been designed with on-device AI in mind, but even though both Microsoft and Samsung seem fully committed to AI, I’ve yet to find a compelling case for it in a laptop. Sure, it’s nice to have and means this laptop is certainly future-proof, but it’s the least exciting part of the Galaxy Book6 Ultra.
Performance: 4.5 / 5
(Image credit: Future)
Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra review: Battery Life
Over 15 hours
Gaming drains it in 2 hours
Despite what many companies, including Microsoft, insist, AI is not the most interesting or exciting feature of this new generation of Copilot+ PC laptops (ugh, I hate that name) – but rather, it's the battery life.
The processors powering these laptops are getting ever more efficient, which means they can offer excellent performance as well as longer times between charging, and the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is an excellent example of this, managing over 15 hours in our benchmark tests. That’s not the longest we’ve seen, and the MacBook Pro comfortably beats it by about five hours in the same test. It’s still very good for a laptop that offers this kind of performance.
I was able to use it for multiple workdays without needing to plug it in, and when I did, the battery charged quickly. I used the included power adaptor, but any USB-C charger should do the trick – and it’s worth noting that in the UK and EU, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra does not come with a power adaptor, similar to the MacBook. This is supposed to help reduce e-waste, and while that’s an admirable goal, it does add to the expense if you’ve not got a spare charger already.
Battery Life: 4.5 / 5
Should I buy the Acer Aspire 16 AI?
Acer Aspire 16 AI Scorecard
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Value
This is a stylish and very powerful laptop that predictably comes at a very high price that will likely put off a lot of people.
2.5 / 5
Design
The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is one of the nicest-looking laptops on the market right now, and its AMOLED screen is a particular highlight.
4.5 / 5
Performance
Windows 11 is incredibly fast, and even the most intensive workloads are handled with ease. It can also play games.
4.5 / 5
Battery Life
Scoring over 15 hours in our tests, this is very impressive for a laptop that offers this level of performance.
4.5 / 5
Total
The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is one of the best laptops you can buy right now thanks to its awesome performance and stunning design. It's especially great if paired with a Samsung phone, though the high price means it won't be for everyone.
4.5 / 5
Buy the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra if...
You have other Samsung devices The Galaxy Book6 Ultra really comes into its own when you pair it with a Samsung smartphone, tablet or headphones.
You want a thin and light creative workstation Intel’s latest chips and the ability to configure the Galaxy Book6 Ultra with an RTX 5070 GPU mean this is an incredibly powerful laptop that’s ideal for creative workloads, all wrapped up in a thin and light chassis.
You want a fantastic screen to work on The 16-inch AMOLED screen of the Galaxy Book6 Ultra is one of the best displays you can currently get in a laptop.
Don't buy it if...
You have a tight budget The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is a flagship laptop with cutting-edge components and features, which makes it very expensive.
You want a gaming laptop Despite coming with an RTX 5070 GPU, this is not a gaming laptop, and while it certainly can play games, you’d be better off buying a machine specifically designed for gaming, as they will offer better cooling and other gaming features.
How I tested the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra
Tested for several weeks
Used for various tasks
Connected it to my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphone
I tested the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra over the course of several weeks, using it for work and writing the bulk of this review on it. I also played a few games on it to see how the dedicated GPU copes.
I also edited a 4K video using Adobe Premiere Pro and streamed several movies and listened to music. I've been reviewing laptops for nearly 20 years, and I've used my extensive experience to rate this device.
It's rare that I don't know where to start when it comes to writing a movie review, but there's a first time for everything. I'll just give the bad news to you straight: like a vet's trip to get your old pet put down,"Wuthering Heights" is about as spicy as a plain meal at Nando's, and as basic as the restaurant choice.
But we knew this going into it, didn't we? We've had the collective debate about the death of modern literacy, the outrage about the casting choices and Emerald Fennell's outright refusal to include the Emily Brontë novel's original themes of race and colonialism. They're all necessary conversations and causes for concern, and I agree with them.
On the other hand, I also agree with freedom of interpretation and creative license. I'm a huge fan of Promising Young Woman and Saltburn, so it made sense that Fennell was the director who could reinvent a classic into something jaw-dropping, pushing the boundaries of how we interpret a classic tale.
Alas, we've actually ended up with something superficial that can be commercially marketed, inspiring 10-second TikToks instead of critical thinking. Add two and two together, and you get boring... the most mortal sin in cinema.
From the impeccable first trailer with Charli XCX's Everything is Romantic remixed into it (as it's better than the entire movie, I'll link it below for you to enjoy), "Wuthering Heights" sold itself as lustful yearning confirmed to get you hot under the collar. I thought this would make it messy and overbearing – but I never expected it to be as dull as dishwater.
From teaser to feature, something's gone wrong
If I'm completely honest, I so badly wanted to fall head over heels for "Wuthering Heights" just so I could spite the masses who hate it. Perhaps I'm as petty as Fennell's version of Cathy (Margot Robbie). But that dream wasn't to be, so let's dig deeper into what didn't work.
Here's the infuriating part – you can completely buy the chemistry and sense of longing happening onscreen, even the unhinged behavior that makes up being driven made with selfish desire. But you'll struggle to care about any of it.
Working with deeply unlikeable characters needs a master at the helm, and I wonder if Fennell is too focused on translated her own personal experience of reading the book as a young girl. In essence, what's happening in the movie might mean a lot to her, but not to anybody else.
A friend of mine described "Wuthering Heights" as a two-hour Taylor Swift music video, and I think she's nailed it. We're looking at something that could easily have been featured on The Life of a Showgirl, laced with vibrant colors and ostentatious production design shaped by period drama Instagram.
While the costuming is easily the star of the show, production often reveals Yorkshire to actually be on a soundstage, with props so 2D you'd fear squashing them into cardboard mulch if you got too close.
Charli XCX's tailor-made album for the film is in scant supply too. The orchestrated soundtrack is hauntingly melodic, but I was promised some electro-pop bangers in between this snoozefest, and I only counted three.
Everything isn't always romantic. (Image credit: Warner Bros.)
Then there's the wayward casting. Perhaps somebody like Mia Goth, Mia Wasikowska or Elle Fanning might have been a better fit for Cathy than Robbie, who can never truly shift that beautiful Gold Coast glow. Her performance is solid and she's clearly done the groundwork for it, but full suspension of belief doesn't follow.
I've got a lot more time for Jacob Elordi's Heathcliff, especially after his riveting role of The Creature in Frankenstein. He sells the hard done by Yorkshire grafter better than anybody else, but the press tour had helped solidify our yearning for him. Holding Robbie's dress, making sure she doesn't get soaked in the rain and taking the time to answer every endless press question thrown his way... yeah, that's a man raised right.
While Hong Chau's Nelly Dean remains constantly stone-faced and Shazad Latif's Edgar Linton looks like he doesn't even know he's in a movie, I'm bowled over by Martin Clunes' Mr. Earnshaw. It's hilarious for a Brit to see the Doc Martin star scold Elordi and crawl on a dirty floor for coins, but God does he pull it off. Both cruel and captivating, we definitely don't spend enough time with him during "Wuthering Heights'" 132-minute runtime.
Owen Cooper and Charlotte Mellington are the exceptional ace up Fennell's sleeve though. Matured and emotional beyond their years, they reel us in during the movie's opening 20 minutes with such vulnerable honesty that I almost had a tear in my eye. Thank you Netflix and Adolescence for giving us a star being born in Cooper.
But surely it's erotic... right?
Get ready to see this sort of pose a LOT. (Image credit: Warner Bros.)
Where "Wuthering Heights" removes the socio-political context of Brontë's novel, it fills out with a 50 Shades of Grey approach to what's left. Again, this leaves a bland taste. Aside from one truly erotic scene – Fennell seems to pull her lust off best when she stops just shy of sex – nothing is sexy, shocking, or particularly inviting. If you want sexual scandal, try Rivals on Disney+.
As I said in the headline, if this film was a spice, it would be flour. You can't market something solely on the promise of hedonistic lusting and then deliver something you'd actually feel comfortable watching with your parents. I doubt it would even have made ripples 20 or 30 years ago. But sure, Elordi will get some cheers when he takes his top off.
Will I be watching "Wuthering Heights" again? No. Do I remain a Saltburn truther? Yes. Will Fennell's latest make a shed-ton of money at the box office despite being widely panned? Absolutely. I've got a sneaking suspicion that Fennell kicks into full gear with original stories, so don't count me out of her work completely.
Chris Hemsworth can't seem to catch a break away from the MCU.
Best known for playing Thor in Marvel's cinematic juggernaut, his CV largely reads like a list of critical darlings that underperformed at the box office (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Rush) and critically-panned flops (Spiderhead, Men In Black: International, and 2017's Ghostbusters). Sure, there have been successes, such as Netflix's Extraction franchise, but even those are considered to be unoriginal overachievers by plenty of people. Not exactly the consistent hitmaker some might have expected him to have become, then.
And so comes the turn of Crime 101, an action-heist thriller fronted by Hemsworth. At first glance, it looks like the kind of gritty and pulsating film that'll go down well with fans and critics alike, and be the big, non-superhero box office success that the Aussie actor needs. Enjoyable for what it is, though, Crime 101 commits too many offences to be a must-see film and/or an immediate genre classic.
To catch a thief
Chris Hemsworth plays Mike Davis, a careful but effective jewellery thief (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios/Sony Pictures)
Written and directed by BAFTA-winning crime genre fanatic Bart Layton (The Impostor, American Animals) and based on Don Winslow's short story namesake, Crime 101 introduces us to Mike Davis (Hemsworth).
An extremely meticulous and seemingly untraceable crook, Davis' penchant for committing armed robberies – often of the jewellery variety – along the Hollywood Freeway puts him in the crosshairs of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
Davis is a walking contradiction in every sense of the word – and, by proxy, an incredibly interesting individual
When a routine diamond heist goes awry, Davis soon finds Detective Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo), who's hunted him for an extended period of time, hot on his trail once more. The only way to evade capture and set himself up for life, it seems, is to successfully carry out one last money-spinning crime. And, for that, Davis will need to employ the services of Sharon Colvin (Halle Berry), a disillusioned insurance broker who holds the key to his $11 million plan.
Detective Tillman (left) joins Mark Ruffalo's Lou Lubesnick in pursuing Davis throughout the film (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios/Sony Pictures)
There's no question that Hemsworth has the charisma and acting qualities to be a leading man, which he's demonstrated as Marvel's heroic God of Thunder and Furiosa's the love-to-hate villain Dementus. It'll come as no surprise to learn, then, that he turns a potentially one-dimensional character in Davis into a fully rounded individual with real emotional depth and complexity
Okay, given his line of work, Davis has learned to become a enigma whose vulnerabilities only surface with people he's close to. Once the soul-shuddering moment that spooks him during the near-botched diamond robbery occurs, though, a window is opened into Davis' life and mysterious backstory that suggests he's not the run-of-the-mill thief you might expect.
Neither a master of his craft nor a perfect executor of a plan, and armed with an unexpectedly strict moral code that juxtaposes the criminal world he operates in, Davis is a walking contradiction in every sense of the word – and, by proxy, an incredibly interesting individual to accompany as Crime 101's story unfolds.
Davis enlists the help of Berry's Sharon Colvin (right) to land his next – and potentially last – score (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios/Sony Pictures)
It's the journeys that Davis and his fellow alienated individuals in Lubesnick and Colvin embark on, plus the broken systems they operate in, that makes Crime 101 shine as a character-led crime drama.
Crime 101 shines as a character-led crime drama
Whether it's Davis' faith being shaken by his near-death experience, Lubesnick's hands being tied by red tape and lacking the support of his law enforcing counterparts, or Colvin being overlooked by her peers due to her gender and age, Crime 101's core trio are all pushed to their breaking point.
Watching these individuals grapple with their conscience and fully transform into morally ambiguous individuals, especially once their worlds collide, is arguably the Amazon and Sony flick's best feature. My only criticism? That these engrossing interactions, which I was fully invested in alongside their individual arcs from the outset, aren't revisited as often as I'd have liked.
Under pressure
Crime 101's romance-laced subplot between Maya and Davis is trite (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios/Sony Pictures)
Outside of these character interactions, Crime 101's story is as disappointingly derivative as they come.
Its action, while slick, kinetic, and at-times edge-of-your-seat viewing, is pretty par for the course. When you consider the Mount Rushmore of genre movies that Layton says Crime 101 was influenced by, especially from an action spectacle standpoint, I expected more from its rubber-burning set-pieces and gun-toting stand-offs.
I expected more from Crime 101's rubber-burning set-pieces and gun-toting stand-offs
The same can be said of Crime 101's romantic sub-narrative, which sees Davis fall for, and later date, Maya (Monica Barbaro) after they're involved in a car accident during its first act. Hemsworth and Barbaro have a mostly natural chemistry that bubbles with sexual anticipation, and its inclusion certainly adds some amorous spice that's missing from Winslow's original tale. Contextually, though, it's a storytelling addition that's hokey at best and, at worst, is an unnecessary distraction from the primary plot.
Despite Barry Keoghan's best efforts, Ormon isn't a villain who'll live long in the memory (Image credit: Amazon MGM Studios/Sony Pictures)
Even Ormon, a belligerent, overeager, and violent criminal portrayed by the ever-excellent Barry Keoghan, lacks originality. A one-note pantomime villain, his inclusion is nothing more than simply being a deeply unlikeable, antagonistic foil to the multifaceted Davis, and play a vital role in Crime 101's nail-biting albeit formulaic final showdown.
Crime 101 feels like a throwback to movies that aren't made anymore – but maybe that's the point
And that's a pity, because Crime 101 could've saved face if said confrontation had built upon the suspense-riddled foundations that it had done a largely good job of laying throughout.
Sure, it's not the worst face-off in movie history, and it would be remiss of me not to mention that the Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures venture dispenses with the usually grim endings that the crime genre is renowned for. Spoilers notwithstanding, I respect that it wraps up many of its characters' individual stories in a satisfying manner.
Nevertheless, the slow but purposeful ratcheting up of the tension throughout its two hour and 20 minutes runtime doesn't get the payoff it deserves once things come to what should be a thrilling, high-stakes head.
My verdict
Crime 101 is a serviceable albeit puzzling film. There's a fair amount to admire about the first feature that Layton has directed that's based on a work of fiction rather than a real-life crime. That's especially true from a character-first perspective, with the action-thriller anchored by many strong performances.
Still, while it's commendable that it's a largely authentic retelling of Winslow's original tale, Crime 101 just isn't ground-breaking or genre-bending enough as it needs to be to stand out.
It's honorable that one of this year's new movies tries to evoke films of its ilk of yesteryear, and feels like a throwback to movies that aren't made anymore – but maybe that's the point. Filmmaking and storytelling has moved on so much since the crime movie genre's heyday of the late '80s and early '90s. Such big-screen offerings need to do or say something fresh and exciting to drive the genre forward. Put simply, Crime 101 doesn't.
Crime 101 arrives in theaters worldwide on Friday, February 13.
Wix Studio is an all-in-one website creation platform that extends the capabilities of traditional website builders to meet the demands of agencies, consultants, and professional web designers. While not a typical choice for the best website builder, this platform deserves serious consideration for specific businesses.
We have spent thousands of hours testing 140+ website builders. We've seen the market evolve dramatically. While we named the Wix website builder as our pick for the best website builder in 2026, Wix Studio takes things even further for professionals and agencies.
Built by the same company that led the concept of accessible web design, Wix Studio was specifically engineered for agencies managing multiple client sites. It includes enterprise-grade features like team collaboration, client handoff tools, and centralized workspace management that standard platforms simply don't offer.
Wix Studio: 1-minute review
Wix Studio delivers a compelling package for agencies and consultants. It combines sophisticated design tools with practical business features that simplify client work. Unlike consumer-focused builders, it provides role-based permissions, real-time collaboration, advanced design tools, and automated client reporting — all from a unified dashboard.
What is Wix Studio?
Wix Studio is a website development platform that agencies and consultants use to build, manage, hand off, and maintain client websites at scale. Think of it as a complete workspace where you can collaborate with team members on different designs, then seamlessly hand off projects to clients without leaving the platform.
With Studio, you get custom breakpoints for responsive design, Figma integration for importing designs, several AI website management tools, and a no-code CMS for content-heavy sites. It also includes features like personalized onboarding kits, content mode for safe client editing, and automated performance reports. Everything runs on Wix's enterprise-grade infrastructure with built-in security, automatic updates, and SEO tools.
Features
(Image credit: Wix Studio )
Wix Studio packs an impressive feature set tailored for professional use. Its design tools offer precision control with grid systems, API management, custom CSS, and advanced typography. Responsive AI automatically adapts layouts for different screen sizes, while custom breakpoints let you fine-tune designs for specific devices. The Figma-to-Studio plugin lets you import your wireframes and prototypes directly into functional sites.
For agencies managing multiple clients, you get real-time collaborative editing, commenting, and role-based permissions that keep teams synchronized. Your workspace lets you manage unlimited client websites from a single dashboard, accessible via web or mobile app. Client handoff is smooth thanks to personalized kits and content mode, which lets clients update copy and layouts safely without breaking design fundamentals.
With the StudioCMS, you can create dynamic pages with custom collections, schedule content for later, and design your own multi-author workflows. Built-in analytics track traffic, signups, sales, and behavior across categories, with customizable reports you can schedule and export. Native integrations with Google, Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn connect to your social media campaigns seamlessly.
Unlike with Wix standard, AI tools extend beyond basic text and image generation. They help you create meta tags, Google Ads copy, CMS collections, and even generate code through the AI assistant. However, low-level code control is restricted, and certain integrations require complex workarounds. Starting at $19/month for the Basic plan and scaling to $159/month for Business Elite, this won't be the platform of choice for most individual and business users. But for agencies and freelancers managing multiple high-volume projects, this pricing is worth the toolset it offers.
Tools
(Image credit: Wix Studio )
Wix Studio bundles multiple specialized tools into one platform. They cover everything from design and development to marketing and client management. Each one addresses specific needs that agencies face daily, for example:
Design tools
Studio's design system includes grid layouts, flexbox controls, section stacking, and custom breakpoints for responsive design. You can also use CSS overrides to adjust specific style settings beyond the default options. There's an AI assistant that can make advanced layout suggestions, create workflows, and even write code for you.
Figma integration
There's a Figma-to-Studio plugin that exports high-fidelity designs directly into Wix Studio, saving you the trouble of manually recreating the entire design. It speeds up the design-to-development process, which works great for designer-developers who can get to deliverables more quickly. Your designs still retain their structure and can be enhanced with Wix's interactive features.
CMS collections and pages
Wix Studio's no-code CMS builds content-rich sites with multiple dynamic content streams like blogs, wikis, and knowledge bases. Create custom collections, connect them to repeating layouts, and generate hundreds of pages from a single template. Content translates into 180+ languages directly from the dashboard.
Ecommerce
Build fully customized online stores with flexible product pages and category layouts. Wix handles the inventory, orders, returns, and refunds from the same dashboard. Native integrations add gift cards, loyalty programs, and dropshipping connections, reducing the reliance on third-party software.
Collaboration workspace and hub
Manage unlimited client websites from one centralized hub. Role-based permissions control team access, while real-time editing and on-canvas comments keep everyone aligned on the current designs. A mobile app lets you manage projects on the go.
Analytics and reporting
Track website performance across sales, traffic, bookings, subscriptions, and SEO. Schedule automated reports daily, weekly, or monthly to keep clients informed without manual work. Export data or create custom reports tailored to specific metrics.
Lots of AI tools
AI features generate text, images, and videos directly on canvas. Wix's AI code assistant provides code snippets and troubleshooting help. Responsive AI makes layouts mobile-friendly in one click, while AI-powered content marketing tools create meta tags, Google Ads copy, and CMS collections at scale.
Client management features
Personalized client kits include brand assets, guidelines, and templates for smooth handoffs. Content mode gives clients controlled editing access to update copy and media without disrupting layouts. Automated status reports keep clients informed automatically.
Ease of use
(Image credit: Wix Studio )
Wix Studio walks a fine line between accessibility and power. The interface is sleek and minimal, with an inspector panel on the right that controls styles, spacing, and layout. You start with a clean dashboard offering three options: use a template, start from scratch, or import an existing site. This works for both resourceful beginners and professional designers.
The drag-and-drop editor uses WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) functionality, so changes appear instantly. There's no need to understand code for basic website creation. However, there's a learning curve when mastering advanced features like responsive behavior and custom breakpoints. Some users suggest the platform is more complex than its marketing implies, particularly compared to the standard Wix Editor. There are also a few outdated components from the classic editor that haven't been updated, which can affect responsiveness.
For agencies, the interface works great for collaborative workflows. On-canvas commenting, role-based permissions, and centralized multi-site management make coordination a breeze. The mobile app extends accessibility while travelling, letting you manage projects remotely. Yet while beginners can grasp basic functions with a bit of effort, professionals will need time to unlock the platform's full potential.
Wix Studio pricing and plans
Plan
Starting rate (paid annually)
Renewal rate (paid annually)
Basic
$19/month
$19/month
Standard
$27/month
$27/month
Plus
$34/month
$34/month
Business Elite
$159/month
$159/month
Wix Studio's pricing structure scales with your agency's needs. The Basic plan at $19/month includes 10GB storage, 3 site collaborators, and 1,500 CMS items. It's good for freelancers or small teams managing a few client sites. Standard ($27/month) and Plus ($34/month) increase storage, collaborators, and CMS limits, with Plus adding priority support. All plans include unlimited bandwidth, a free domain for one year, site analytics, and payment acceptance.
Business Elite at $159/month is built for large agencies. You get unlimited storage, 100 site collaborators, advanced ecommerce tools, and the full developer platform. Compared to similar options, Wix Studio is competitively priced. Webflow starts at $18-$29 but charges more for ecommerce and CMS features. Meanwhile, WordPress requires separate hosting costs and paid plugins that can exceed these prices.
Security
(Image credit: Wix Studio )
All websites automatically include SSL certificates that encrypt data between visitors' browsers and your site using HTTPS and TLS 1.2+. Data at rest uses AES-256 encryption, the strongest commercially available standard. Payment processing complies with PCI DSS Level 1, the highest industry security standard, with anti-fraud protection included.
Wix Studio maintains multiple certifications, including SOC 2 Type 2, SOC 3, and several ISOs, while remaining compliant with GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD. Real-time detection systems guard against DDoS attacks, keeping sites available during threats. Machine learning monitors pattern changes to block suspicious activity across accounts and sites.
Account security features include multi-factor authentication via email, SMS, phone, or authenticator apps, plus social login through Facebook and Google. Enterprise users get additional protections: SSO integration with Azure, Okta, Auth0, and Google; IP whitelisting for access control; full audit trails of user activities; and SCIM for automated identity management.
Wix also runs a Bug Bounty program with independent security researchers and maintains a strict third-party risk management program for vendors.
How good is Wix Studio support?
(Image credit: Wix Studio )
Studio offers multiple support channels tailored to different user needs. 24/7 live chat provides quick troubleshooting and help for common issues, accessible through the floating chat icon. Response times are fast, particularly for premium plan holders dealing with design or functionality questions. Email support operates through a guided contact form that routes requests to the correct department, with response times typically ranging from 24 to 72 hours.
For phone support, Wix uses a callback system rather than direct phone numbers. You request a callback through your account, then representatives reach out during business hours (Monday through Friday, with timing varying by region). The Plus plan includes priority support, giving agencies faster response times. The Help Center features tutorials, videos, community forums, and step-by-step guides covering everything from design basics to SEO.
Enterprise account holders receive white-glove service with a dedicated customer success manager available 24/7. This manager handles technical questions, business strategy, and platform migration with regular check-ins. While standard support is solid, the lack of direct phone numbers frustrates some users when dealing with urgent issues.
Wix Studio alternatives
Wix Studio occupies a unique position between beginner-friendly builders and developer-focused platforms. It's best for agencies and consultants who want advanced design control without diving into full code development.
Some of the best website builders for agencies include Webflow, which offers more code-level flexibility and appeals to developers comfortable with technical customization. You can see how the two stack up in our Wix Studio vs Webflow guide.
WordPress provides maximum customization but requires more technical knowledge and separate hosting, along with advanced design and management plugins like Elementor or Duda. Shopify still dominates the market for ecommerce-focused agencies.
Non-website building professionals may find WiXx Studio a little overwhelming. If you are just looking to build an individual website for your business, Wix's AI website builder may be a better option for you. You can see how they compare in our Wix Studio vs Wix AI website builder guide.
Wix Studio review: Summary
Wix Studio delivers a complete platform tailored specifically for multi-client agencies and consultants. It combines powerful design tools with practical business features like collaborative editing and role-based permissions.
A powerful CMS and Studio's ecommerce capabilities handle content-rich sites and online stores without any add-on subscriptions. Security is enterprise-grade with automatic SSL, PCI DSS compliance, and multiple certifications.
While there's a learning curve for advanced features, the platform balances accessibility with professional power. Pricing scales from $19/month for small teams to $159/month for large agencies — making it a worthwhile investment for seasoned service providers but not novices.
Wix Studio FAQs
Is Wix Studio different from regular Wix?
Unlike regular Wix, Studio is specifically designed for agencies, consultants, and professional web creators, while regular Wix targets individual users and small businesses. Studio includes advanced features like team collaboration tools, role-based permissions, custom breakpoints for responsive design, and centralized site management. You also get Figma integration, advanced CSS controls, and client handoff features like content mode and personalized kits.
Can I migrate existing Wix sites to Wix Studio?
Yes, you can migrate existing Wix sites to Wix Studio. There's an import option when you start a new project, allowing you to bring in sites built on the regular Wix Editor. This gives you access to Studio's advanced features like improved responsive controls, team collaboration, and enhanced design tools. Enterprise customers get dedicated support from customer success managers who can assist with platform migration. However, some elements may require adjustments after migration due to differences in layout and components.
Does Wix Studio require coding fluency?
Wix Studio doesn't require coding knowledge for most website-building tasks. The drag-and-drop editor uses WYSIWYG functionality, meaning you see changes instantly. You can build professional websites, add ecommerce functionality, and manage dynamic content entirely through the visual interface. However, Studio does offer code access for those who want it —you can add custom CSS, use the AI code assistant, and integrate APIs for complex workflows.
What's included in the Business Elite plan?
The Business Elite plan ($159/month paid annually) is Wix Studio's top tier for large agencies. You get unlimited storage, 100 site collaborators, and the full advanced developer platform. Ecommerce features include advanced tools for managing products, inventory, orders, and customer relationships. The plan also includes the complete advanced marketing suite with native integrations for Google, Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Can clients edit their sites without breaking the design?
Wix Studio includes a dedicated content mode that gives clients controlled editing access — they can update copy, swap images, and modify basic content without touching your design. You can set permissions through role-based access controls, determining exactly how much each client can edit. For more hands-off clients, you can provide personalized client kits with brand assets, guidelines, and templates.
There’s no school like the old school, right? Philips certainly seems to think so anyway, because it’s delivered a product you may not have even realised you needed: the Fidelio FT1 is a belt-drive turntable with integrated phono stage and a built-in CD player, that can act as a Bluetooth transmitter and features Auracast connectivity.
And it costs less than a stand-alone turntable or CD player that might easily be considered ‘entry level’.
Obviously the FT1 is not that last word in sturdiness or unburstable build quality. It’s perfectly well put together, though, looks quite good in its gloss-black finish (as long as you’re not the one who has to clean it) and arrives with a very decent Audio Technica cartridge pre-fitted to its aluminium tonearm. Add in a control app to complement its physical controls and you’ve got a ‘just-add-speakers (-or-wireless-headphones)’ plug-and-play device that covers several functionality bases.
In practice it’s not without charm. There’s plenty of drive and energy to the sound, no matter the source of the music you’re listening to, and the midrange communicates very freely. Dynamic headroom is significant, and the Philips controls its (solid, detailed) low frequencies well enough to express rhythms with real confidence. It’s strangely flimsy where treble response is concerned, though, and the bass does tend to sound rather estranged from the rest of the frequency range.
It’s nevertheless an enjoyable listen overall, though, and there’s a lot to be said for the amount of sonic enjoyment, as well as extended functionality, your money buys. One of the best turntables on the market? For this money, I really think it's hard to argue against it.
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player review: price and release date
Announced in September 2025, but released early 2026
Priced $349 / £269 / (approx.) AU$429
The Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player/ Bluetooth transmitter is on sale now, and in the United Kingdom it sells for £269, while in the United States it’s yours for around $349. In Australia, meanwhile, the going rate is something like AU$429 – or, at least, that’s what today’s exchange rate suggests…
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player review: features
33.3 and 45rpm turntable with Bluetooth transmission
Integrated phono stage
CD playback too
You can’t argue with the functionality that’s available here; certainly not at the asking price. In a chassis that’s actually a little narrower than your average turntable, Philips has managed to incorporate a record player with a switchable phono stage, a CD player and Bluetooth transmission. If you’re old enough to remember the whole ‘music center’ thing, you’re entitled to have a mild flashback just about now.
As far as the turntable section goes, the Fidelio FT1 is a belt-driven device that arrives with an Audio Technica AT3600L moving magnet cartridge pre-fitted to a straight aluminium tube tonearm. It has automatic speed-change via a dial on the plinth, and on the rear of the device there’s a switch to turn the integrated phono stage on or off.
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
The platter is of die-cast aluminium and there’s a rubber slip mat supplied too. The FT1 is a Bluetooth transmitter, and can convert an analog signal from your vinyl to a digital equivalent and then send it to a pair of wireless headphones or speakers via Bluetooth 5.4 using one of the SBC, AAC or LC3 codecs with which it’s compatible. Philips, understandably, considers its Fidelio FA3 wireless speakers to be the ideal partner for the FT1, but any Bluetooth receiver is fair game. It’s also Auracast-equipped – so it’s able to transmit whatever’s playing to as many appropriate speakers as you have access to.
There’s a compact disc drive built into the FT1 too. The tray into which CDs are loaded emerges from the front right section of the plinth – the tray door also features an LED display which gives confirmation of the selected input and the usual ‘track number, time elapsed, etc etc’ stuff when a CD is playing. The regular CD player modes (‘shuffle’, ‘repeat’, ‘random’ and so on) are available, and the drive itself is compatible with CD-R/RW and MP3-CD as well as your ordinary CDs.
Features score: 5/5
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player review: Sound quality
Quite direct and energetic character
Insubstantial treble response and slightly dislocated low end…
…which can make the midrange seem rather exposed
There are, of course, perceived differences in the fundamental sonic signatures of vinyl and compact disc – but initially, one of the most most striking things about the Fidelio FT1 is just how consistent and itself it sounds no matter the source of the music it’s playing.
For better or for worse, its own sonic character seems to override those of the format it’s dealing with. So a CD of Barry Adamson’s Oedipus Schmoedipus is presented in much the same way as a vinyl copy of Doechii’s Alligator Bites Never Heal. The FT1 is an up-front, positive and quite energetic listen. It keeps a firm grip on the lower frequencies where attack and decay are concerned, so rhythms are expressed with confidence. There’s appreciable drive to its presentation, and a facility with dynamics that makes the up- and down-shifts in volume or intensity in a recording perfectly apparent.
Detail levels are respectable, even where the most minor and/or transient information is concerned. And the Philips discloses quite freely through the midrange, giving Doechii’s idiosyncratic delivery abundant character and attitude as well as revealing the goings-on of her technique and tone. This is further facilitated by the way the FT1 organises a soundstage – the midrange is nudged forwards, which further adds to both the intelligibility of voices and the overall sensation of direct communication.
Where tonality and frequency response are concerned, though, we’re on less solid ground. At the top of the frequency range the FT1 can quite readily become splashy and insubstantial, even at quite low volume levels – there’s a lack of body to treble sounds that never quite becomes edginess or hardness, but certainly serves to make the top end sound a little flimsy.
At the opposite end there’s no shortage of low-frequency substance, and a fair amount of tonal and textural variation – but there’s a sense of remoteness to the bass, a lack of unity with the frequency information above it that makes it sound a little distant.
The ability to stream wirelessly to headphones or speakers, or to physically connect to a system of some sort, is of course very welcome. But if you’re switching between the two you’ll need to be prepared to ride the volume control (either in the app, on your wireless speakers/headphones, or your amplifier), because the FT1 is noticeably quieter through its line-level output than it is through its Bluetooth equivalent.
Sound quality score: 3.5/5
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player review: Design
130 x 420 x 370mm (HxWxD, without dust cover)
Plastic shell contains 20% recycled materials
Detachable clear plastic dust cover
You can’t expect the Earth when ‘design’ is concerned when it’s obvious Philips has devoted the bulk of its budget to piling on the features – and sure enough, the FT1 is as pragmatic a piece of design as you’re likely to encounter.
The main box, on which the turntable platter sits (and in which the CD-related stuff lives) is built of hard, extremely glossy black plastic that features a fair amount of recycled post-consumer material. It’s shiny and reflective, as is all too obvious from my photographs – and even though the detachable dust cover is clear, rather than black, it’s just as keen to pick up fingerprints as the rest of the device.
Although the dust cover of my review sample doesn’t sit absolutely centrally on the plinth (it’s offset to the right just about enough to trigger my latent OCD), there’s no arguing with the standard of construction and finish here. Nothing feels vulnerable, even though the entire unit weighs less than 4kg, and the CD tray opens and closes smoothly.
The FT1 isn’t absolutely silent when it’s loading a disc or the turntable’s ‘auto start’ feature kicks in as the tonearm is taken from its rest and moved over the vinyl – but keep the asking price uppermost in your mind and there’s really not that much to take meaningful issue with here.
Design score: 4/5
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player review: usability and set-up
Control app and physical buttons
Auto-start and -stop
Rapid Bluetooth pairing
Setting up the Fidelio FT1 is neither complex nor taxing. The die-cast aluminium platter needs to be put on its spindle, and the belt that’s attached needs to be put over the drive pulley. The tonearm needs its counterweight to be fitted and adjusted – Philips recommends a tracking weight of 1.5g or so. There’s a guard on the cartridge which needs to be removed. That’s your turntable section ready to go – for CD playback, just remove the transport tape holding the drawer closed and that’s all you need to do.
The FT1 can be hard-wired to an amplifier using stereo RCA connections – make sure the integrated phono stage is switched either on or off, depending on the input you’re connecting to. There’s a 3.5mm analog output on the rear panel too (not the most convenient location, but let’s not get bogged down in that), in case you’d like to connect a pair of wired headphones. Otherwise, the Philips can be quickly and easily paired with wireless speakers, wireless headphones or any other kind of Bluetooth receiver.
Control of the system is available via some physical buttons on the plinth. There’s a relatively big ‘power on/off’ button and a speed-control dial (choose between 33.3 and 45rpm). In addition, there are buttons handling Bluetooth pairing, source selection, Auracast, play/pause, and the opening and closing of the CD drawer.
The FT1 can be integrated into the Philips ‘Entertainment’ app, too. Here you’re able to duplicate the functions of the physical controls (apart from ‘power on/off’, weirdly), adjust volume, programme the CD player, adjust the clock or set a timer, check for software updates and plenty more besides. It’s not the most intuitive app around, in all honesty, but stick with it and it proves very useful indeed.
Usability and setup score: 5/5
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player review: Value
Three separates in one, plus Bluetooth transmission
If you can deal with a few sonic shortfalls, it's a lot of kit for the money
On the face of it, it’s hard to argue with the value represented by swapping $349 / £269 for an automatic turntable with integrated phono stage and CD player, especially not one that’s a Bluetooth transmitter and Auracast device too.
But of course, you didn’t buy the Fidelio FT1 just to admire its specification (or to constantly be dusting its high-gloss finish), did you? If you can live with its insubstantial treble response and, to a lesser extent, with its rather remote way with the low frequencies though, the Philips has plenty going for it.
Value score: 4/5
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Should I buy the Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player?
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Features
It's impossible to take issue over the plentiful separates built into a single chassis
5/5
Sound quality
There are a few compromises to be made here, but again, for the money there's still a lot to like
3.5/5
Design
A lot of glossy black plastic and it's a shade off rock-solid in terms of build quality, but it's all here and it all works well
4/5
Usability and setup
The turntable setup is well-explained and simple and the app, although not the most intuitive, is ultimately a a good and useful addition
5/5
Value
Accept its insubstantial treble response (and it's admittedly remote way with bass) and the Philips has a lot to recommend it
4/5
Buy it if...
You want multi-format convenience Here’s a turntable, a CD player and a Bluetooth transmitter in a single shiny box
You own Bluetooth speakers and/or wireless speakers You can connect the FT1 to a traditional system using stereo RCA cables, but where’s the fun in that?
You enjoy full-bodied low-frequency response They may not get on with the rest of the frequency range all that well, but the FT’s bass sounds are deep, well-controlled and detailed
Don't buy it if...
You’re not particularly houseproud The ‘none more shiny’ finish of the FT1 needs constant attention if it’s going to stay clean
You’re sensitive to high-frequency response The Philips system is strangely boneless and insubstantial at the top end
You’re going to switch between wired and wireless use There’s a fair discrepancy between the output volume of the Philips in one state compared to the otherView Deal
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player review: also consider
The beauty of the Fidelio FT1 is that it’s currently Number One in a field of very, very few - and certainly the ‘Philips’ badge is more credible that that worn by any of its nominal competitors. So unless you want to trust your vinyl collection to a brand you’ve either never heard of or that has a less-than-stellar reputation, the FT1 is probably the way to go.
That's unless you can stomach the idea of a Bluetooth-equipped turntable – the Sony PS-LX310BT is a particularly impressive example, the Majority Folio is also worthy of a look – and an affordable CD player as a separate purchase. But then, of course, you can’t stream your CDs wirelessly…
How I tested the Philips Fidelio FT1 turntable/CD player
(Image credit: Future / Simon Lucas)
Tested over the course of three weeks
Tested its vinyl and CD performance, wired and wirelessly
Naturally I listened to both vinyl and compact discs during the course of my testing. I connected the FT1 wirelessly to a pair of matching Philips Fidelio FA3 wireless speakers (review incoming!), and I also connected it to my reference system using RCA cables and with its integrated phono stage switched on.
I used it with wired and wireless headphones. That’s the thing about products with as much functionality as this – it takes ages to investigate every aspect of their performance…
The world of NAS systems has been turned on its head in the past couple of years, with Ugreen entering the fray aggressively and Synology walking away from the prosumer market.
In what appears to be an attempt to rekindle the same spark that propelled Ugreen, ZettLabs is launching a range of NAS on Kickstarter, with a focus on personal AI.
Having already launched two ARM-based NAS, the D4 and D6, the two new AI models use Intel processors and are the six-bay D6 Ultra reviewer here, and an eight-bay D8 Ultra. These are both available through a pre-order system and can be purchased either barebones with no memory or with DDR5 pre-installed.
At the heart of the D6 Ultra is the Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 125H, a series 100 processor that first appeared in laptops back in late 2023.
This platform is powerful enough to handle the six conventional drive bays, the dual 10GbE LAN ports, and the dual USB4 ports that this NAS offers. The memory installed model comes with 32GB of DDR5, but this can be upgraded to 96GB for those who can afford 48GB modules.
Where this diverges from other six-bay NAS is that, with the Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 125H and its Intel AI Boost capabilities, this system can host LLM AI models and run them in isolation. AI is a niche requirement, but those who don’t use AI are still going to get a fast, powerful NAS to share files, make backups, and interact with Cloud services.
With this level of system-resident functionality in a NAS, the price is higher than that of a conventional 6-bay NAS, so it will only be of interest to those who want its AI capabilities. However, Zettlabs aren’t the only NAS maker offering the hosting of local AI models, and the general features of ZettOS aren’t at the same level as more established solutions.
I wouldn’t write off the Zettlab D6 Ultra as one of our best NAS devices in years to come, but the operating system needs to mature before that happens.
This Zettlab D6 Ultra is currently on pre-order from the company's website and comes in two variants, with and without memory. The version I tested for this review came with 32GB of DDR5 memory and costs $1679.99, and the same hardware without that RAM is only $1079.99.
That’s either a reflection of how much RAM costs these days, or how much Zettlab is willing to charge you for it. As I was able to find Crucial 16GB SODIMMs for around $150 on Amazon.com, taking the thirty seconds to populate this machine yourself could easily save you $300.
For those interested, the 8-bay D8 Ultra, is priced at $1319.99 with no memory, and $1919.99 for 32GB, which is a similar price differential for two memory modules.
What might be more problematic for Zettlab is that the Super Early Bird pricing of the Ugreen NASync iDX60011 Pro with 64GB of DDR5 is only $1559, while the MSRP is $2599.
The iDX60011 Pro is also a 6-bay NAS, built on Intel mobile silicon, but it uses the more powerful Core Ultra 7 255H, a modern 200-series processor.
I haven’t tried that NAS yet, but it arrived today, so soon I should have a baseline for comparing the two platforms. But on paper, the D6 Ultra does seem expensive when supplied with RAM, and the iDX60011 Pro has a potential performance advantage.
The design and layout of the D6 Ultra aren’t radical, but the chassis's all-metal construction suggests this is a machine with a long life ahead.
However, if this NAS had been entirely metal, it would be exceptionally heavy, and the six drive trays are made of plastic.
Curiously, the trays are labelled A through F and are not numbered. What’s nice about the tray design is that for 3.5-inch drive installations, no tools or screws are required. What I didn’t care for is that they don’t include any sort of locking mechanism, and triggering them to open requires only a light press.
Given the utter chaos that disconnected drives can cause in a running system, these drive trays need locks or a mechanism to prevent all trays from opening accidentally.
A feature of all Zettlab NAS is the 3.49-inch display at the bottom left of the fascia, which shows drive status, network IP address, and more. Most people will need to get reasonably close to read the information from this display, but it’s a good alternative to flashing LEDs.
Also on the front are two card readers, one is SD4.0 and the other TF4.0, covering both common card types. And alongside those are a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port and a USB4 Type-C port. A feature that initially confused me was the button on the far right of the fascia, which I easily assumed powered the NAS up. It doesn’t.
The power button is on the back, out of the way. The button on the front is designed to initiate copying files from SD cards and USB ports to the internal storage.
On the rear are another USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, another USB4 port, a USB 2.0 port, dual 10GbE LAN ports, and an HDMI out. These are all to be expected on a NAS at this price point, but what I’ve not seen before is the SFF-8654, a port built to provide an external connection for PCIE4.0 card with 8 lanes.
Using that port, it should be possible to connect an external GPU, expand the storage, or install a 25GbE network adapter. While there isn’t the physical room inside the NAS for a full-sized video card, the SFF-8654 enables one to be outside with enough bandwidth to the system to be useful.
Based purely on the included ports, the specification of this machine was carefully designed to please those who use NAS systems to their fullest potential.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
My only concern about the hardware is that a few minor details suggest the D6 Ultra changed extensively during development, and the industrial engineers involved struggled to keep up with those modifications.
An obvious mistake I noticed was that the magnetically attached filter that covers the fans on the back doesn’t fit correctly. It’s too small, and slides down when attached.
Another is that, underneath the NAS, there is an access panel that provides access to the two M.2 and two SODIMM memory slots. The plate that covers this has four screws retaining it, when one or two screws would have been sufficient.
That’s a minor thing, but what’s more of an issue is that Zettlab provides two thermal pads to place on M.2 drives to connect them thermally to the skin of the D6 Ultra. Unfortunately, these pads are far too thick, and if four screws are tightened down, they could put excessive pressure on the NVMe drives to the mainboard, causing damage.
This configuration also doesn’t account for NVMe SSDs that have a heatsink attached.
I hope the filter and the thermal pads both get addressed when the D6 Ultra next has a version change, because the cost of this NAS dictates that the details are right.
Design: 3.5 / 5
Zettlab D6 Ultra: Features
Intel Core Ultra 5 125H
28 PCIe Lanes
Intel Deep Learning
For many years, NAS makers almost exclusively used either ARM SoCs or, occasionally, low-power Intel chips like the Atom or Celeron series.
The design logic for this was sound, since moving data from SATA drives doesn’t require much computing power.
What’s happened more recently is that the app installations on NAS have become much more sophisticated, with Virtual Machine and Docker containers being used, but also now we’re transitioning into an era where NAS are AI nodes curating the data they hold.
As a result, we’re seeing more machines like the D6 Ultra, which use repurposed mobile platforms like the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, a processor with 14 cores, a 7 Xe core GPU, and dedicated AI silicon.
This is far from the most powerful CPU that I’ve seen in a NAS, but the functionality that it inherently comes with because of this Meteor Lake generation processor casts a long shadow over those NAS designs still relying on ARM CPUs or Intel N300 chips.
The AI component in the Core Ultra is an important aspect that elevates it above lesser Intel silicon and ARM SoCs, but the feature of this hardware that has a greater impact, I’d suggest, is the 28 PCIe lanes.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
The Zettlan support documentation helpfully reveals how those lanes are allocated, taking the guesswork out of how the bandwidth pie is sliced up.
For starters, each of the two M.2 SSDs is configured as PCIE 4.0 x4, which could make them capable of up to 7,000Mbps transfers if used directly as storage. That’s eight lanes, and a further four are given over to the 10GbE LAN ports, with two lanes per port.
That’s twelve used up, another eight are allocated to the SFF-8654, and two are used for the SATA interface that the hard drives attach to. That leaves two lanes for the card readers and other minor requirements. It’s my understanding that the USB ports are all inherent to the CPU, so they don’t need PCIe lanes, but I could be wrong about that.
If all that is accurate, then this is one of the few NAS I’ve tested where most of the PCIe bandwidth is utilised, on a platform that has plenty to hand out.
However, this technical achievement isn’t the focus of the Zettlab marketing, because the favourite buzzword of the moment is AI, and the Core Ultra 5 does bring reasonable offerings to the AI table.
Where the D4 and D6 models have ARM processors with 6 TOPS (Trillions/Tera Operations Per Second) of AI processing, the D6 Ultra and its Intel Core Ultra 5 125H have 34 TOPS. That number is a combination of the CPU, GPU, and NPU, with Intel’s AI Boost silicon contributing 11 TOPS to the total.
That’s significantly better than the ARM chips, although compared with the likes of the Nvidia high-end GPUs, like the RX 5090, which can muster 3,352 TOPS, it's still at the modest end of the scale. However, this NAS is sufficient for running local AI models, and using the SFF-8654 port, external GPUs can be added to significantly bolster AI capability.
Overall, the hardware in the D6 Ultra is impressive, even if Intel has released better chips since the Meteor Lake era.
Features: 3.5 / 5
Zettlab D6 Ultra: Software
ZettOS
ZettAI
Since the likes of Synology, Qnap and Asustor all have mature NAS operating systems, the best comparisons can be made between ZettOS and Ugreen’s evolving UGOS Pro operating system.
My immediate reaction to ZettOS was that even in this early stage, it has features that took at least six months or longer to appear on UGOS Pro, and a much better app selection.
These include support for Docker and Virtual Machines, media tools, Home Assistant, Plex, Jellyfin, Unifi, and a collection of developer tools.
While I’d have expected to see more software development options, the inclusion of Docket and VM provides an easy means to add those things either with a container or a VM of a desktop Linux distro.
I’m not a huge fan of the red, yellow, green dots for window controls, aping Apple; the Web interface is relatively clean and doesn’t require supporting documentation to navigate.
But there are a few significant holes in the feature selection of the OS, most notably with respect to security. At the time of writing, there is no 2FA, limiting access to the machine via a login and password, and if you use the Windows Zettlab AI NAS app, those are both stored on the client PC. It is possible to use a Zettlan Remote ID to connect to the NAS externally, using the Zettlab cloud portal.
I was a little shocked by some of the security choices made for this unit when I discovered that by default, the FTP server functionality was active. That’s not typically considered a wise move, and admins only activate that feature when they’ve put in place controls to avoid it being externally exploited.
Another area where this NAS OS veers slightly off the beaten path is its file system, which, to my understanding, is a proprietary one developed by Zettlab. Those expecting the choice of Ext4 or BTRFS will be disappointed, and I don’t think the current file system supports a hybrid structure with drives of different sizes. For sharing, SMB and NFS are supported, but I didn’t see any means to format USB-connected storage. In fact, all the external drives I connected, either to USB 3.2 or USB4 ports, were ignored. Eventually, I got a thumb drive that appeared to be formatted in FAT32, but drives that were preformatted in exFAT or NTFS were not recognised. That’s a feature that needs to be made a priority, I’d suggest.
Having two 10GbE LAN ports offers some great network bandwidth, but there currently aren’t any link aggregation or failover options to leverage the full potential of them.
In my tests, the USB4 ports did not work in host mode, although this feature, I believe, is promised. The USB-C ports did charge my laptop, at least.
The HDMI port does nothing currently, not even showing the Linux boot.
During my time with this machine, it underwent two firmware updates, suggesting that the software developers are backfilling functionality that’s either missing or not working optimally.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Software: 3.5/5
Zettlab D6 Ultra: Performance
Network performance
External drives limitation
AI models
For my testing, I used six IronWolf 4TB drives and allocated them into a RAID 10 pack for the best possible speed available. And to enhance that further, I allocated one Crucial P3 NVMe drive as a 1TB cache.
Like with many NAS, for whatever reason, a single drive can only be allocated to caching reads, and it takes two modules to cache reading and writing. I didn’t have two spare M.2 drives, so I went with the cached reading instead.
Over a single 10GbE, the read throughput hit over 900MB/s, which is excellent. As there is no link aggregation on the network ports, that’s realistically as fast as it’s possible to go. Should host mode on the USB4 be made active, that should be capable of much faster speeds. But without caching, six hard drives hit a bandwidth ceiling of around 900MB/s, since each is only capable of about 150MB/s. For this reason, unless you run SATA SSDs or have large M.2 cache drives for both reading and writing, there is little point in using the SFF-8654 port to add more or faster network ports.
And, in the support material, it states that “We currently do not natively support U.2 or U.3, but our machines can expand via the SFF-8654 interface.” Since SFF-8654’s function on some motherboards is to connect U.2 or U.3, that seems an odd choice.
As I mentioned earlier, external drives' functionality is incomplete, and without support for NTFS and exFAT, it's extremely limited in what it can be used for. I also found it disappointing that if the system didn’t recognise the file format, it didn’t offer to format it into one it was happy to work with.
That fun was as if nothing compared to the adventure of using this NAS as an AI local platform.
Inherently, the D6 Ultra and D8 Ultra support a local LLM model that can analyse whatever documents you put on the NAS, providing a chatbot interface to work with the contents.
If that sounds great to you and you have lots of files you need to navigate with AI logic, then right out of the box, this might be the NAS for you.
When the processing of the local model occurs is configurable, so that it doesn’t step on current tasks like file serving.
What’s great about this functionality is how automatic some of it is. After loading some prior review content folders onto the NAS, I discovered that the LLM had created a photo album based on the files and the subjects that it saw in the images. It could then also answer questions about the files, revealing the knowledge it has gained processing them.
Or rather, that’s what is implied. Except when you ask it in the AI chat window, it wants you to specifically say which files it should check, which isn’t super-helpful.
I should also say that the default ZettAI created by Zettlab, I assume, was poor at some general AI tasks, like history.
To further explore this feature, I looked at all the models that the system has available to install. These included four variants of Gemma, the Google AI, four flavours of Phi, the open-source Small Language Models (SLMs) created by Microsoft, two more QwQ models made by the Owen Team, two DeepSeek-R1 models, and a couple of Meta-made Llama models.
It’s possible to load and use each of these, though they range in size from about 2GB to more than 4GB, and some use plenty of memory.
I tried a number of them, and to put it mildly, my mileage varied considerably.
What I learned was to not ask DeepSeek about history, since it failed the most basic questions about historical events.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Its collection of the Kings and Queens of England was horrifically wrong, with it deciding that Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1237 to 1558, which would have easily made her the oldest person ever recorded, if it were true. For those wondering, her reign lasted from 1558 to 1603.
Realizing what a rich mine of alternative information DeepSeek could be, I then asked about which US presidents died in office, and it completely messed up that challenge. It said ten presidents had died while in office, whereas the right answer is eight. It got the names of those eight wrong, included people who died after they left office, and insisted that three presidents died while hunting.
ZettaAI did a better job of the King's question, although not perfect, as it left out Harold, who died at Hastings. But it entirely messed up the dead Presidents, leaving out Zachary Taylor, Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, Warren G. Harding and even John F. Kennedy. Then it included Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, none of whom died in office. Out of eleven U.S. presidents it provided, the only ones it got right were William Henry Harrison and William McKinley.
I’m sure it’s possible to find subjects that these AIs are much better with than Western history, but the point is that if you were a student using these tools for homework exercises, you could be in deep, deep trouble.
To be clear, the effectiveness of these models, or not, isn’t a reflection on the Zettlab D6 Ultra, but the nature of AI technology, and its value to those expecting it to come back with generally correct answers.
When I questioned the ZettAI about how Abraham Lincoln wasn’t in the list of Presidents in one of those who were assassinated, it tried to say that the list of those who died in office didn’t include those who were killed, even though that was not a context I created. Then contradicting itself, it also argued that Lincoln died of Pneumonia, caused by the gunshot, but not directly from the assassination. This appears to be a riff on the concept that guns don’t kill people; complications from gunshot wounds kill people.
In short, if you are expecting something as powerful as datacentre AI in a small box on your desktop, you might need to scale that objective back that thinking somewhat, though as models improve, it might become an invaluable tool.
Performance: 4 / 5
Zettlab D6 Ultra: Final verdict
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
There are some positive things to say about the D6 Ultra, since, for a NAS platform in the earlier stages of development, ZettOS is already reasonably sophisticated.
Where more questions exist is in the value of AI on hardware like this, because, as nice as a Core Ultra 5 CPU is, it's hardly a data centre. Depending on the size of the dataset you wish to use with the AI, this could be a highly responsive and productive solution, or something painfully slow to access.
I’m aware that even more powerful NASs are coming along that can outperform the D6 Ultra, although if an external GPU were added to this platform, it might be quicker. What’s not a guess is that if you added an RTX 5090 to this machine externally and gave it 96GB of RAM to run its models, this could be an impressive local AI solution, but the system's cost would be a minor part of the total expenditure.
Given the power of datacentre AI solutions, a solution like the D6 Ultra is likely to interest only those who want to use models experimentally or isolate the development of an AI platform from the Internet.
But I have to question how cost-effective this would be in the long term, should the model reach a level of complexity where the NAS struggles to run it interactively to achieve the level of performance you might want.
Should the AI bubble burst and people realise that it's of limited use for many tasks, at least this hardware is sufficient to be an excellent file server and media system.
Should you buy a Zettlab D6 Ultra?
Value
Expensive option, especially with RAM
3.5 / 5
Design
Metal constuction but no tray locks
3.5 / 5
Features
Powerful CPU with plenty PCIe lanes
4 / 5
Software
A work in progress that needs more security features
3.5 /5
Performance
A quick platform with bags of potential
4 / 5
Overall
AI is unconvincing, but ZettOS could be great with some development
4 / 5
Buy it if...
You want to explore AI on a NAS The Zettlab D6 Ultra is AI-agnostic, allowing the deployment of a wide range of LLMs and even use as an AI test environment. It also has the potential to become much more powerful in this respect, using an externally connected GPU.
You have data to deep-dive Using the provided AI tools, you can hand the local AI on the D6 Ultra a large amount of data, in photos, documents, or other file formats, and have the LLM look for relationships and patterns. You can even use it to create AI agents to alert you to things seen in newly added data.
Don't buy it if...
You want proper security At this phase in the development of ZettOS, security doesn’t have the priority that many NAS users expect. While these things are likely to be added, security on ZettOS currently doesn’t support two-factor authentication, WORM volumes, or approved client IP/Mac addresses. At this time, it's purely user/group-level security using passwords.
You need hybrid RAID or Ext4 The RAID models supported by ZettOS are the basic ones most are familiar with, which include JBOD, 0,1, 5, 6 and 10. What this file system can’t cope with is drives of different capacities, and it doesn’t use a familiar file system such as Ext4 or BTRFS. View Deal
The world of NAS systems has been turned on its head in the past couple of years, with Ugreen entering the fray aggressively and Synology walking away from the prosumer market.
In what appears to be an attempt to rekindle the same spark that propelled Ugreen, ZettLabs is launching a range of NAS on Kickstarter, with a focus on personal AI.
Having already launched two ARM-based NAS, the D4 and D6, the two new AI models use Intel processors and are the six-bay D6 Ultra reviewer here, and an eight-bay D8 Ultra. These are both available through a pre-order system and can be purchased either barebones with no memory or with DDR5 pre-installed.
At the heart of the D6 Ultra is the Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 125H, a series 100 processor that first appeared in laptops back in late 2023.
This platform is powerful enough to handle the six conventional drive bays, the dual 10GbE LAN ports, and the dual USB4 ports that this NAS offers. The memory installed model comes with 32GB of DDR5, but this can be upgraded to 96GB for those who can afford 48GB modules.
Where this diverges from other six-bay NAS is that, with the Intel Core Ultra 5 Processor 125H and its Intel AI Boost capabilities, this system can host LLM AI models and run them in isolation. AI is a niche requirement, but those who don’t use AI are still going to get a fast, powerful NAS to share files, make backups, and interact with Cloud services.
With this level of system-resident functionality in a NAS, the price is higher than that of a conventional 6-bay NAS, so it will only be of interest to those who want its AI capabilities. However, Zettlabs aren’t the only NAS maker offering the hosting of local AI models, and the general features of ZettOS aren’t at the same level as more established solutions.
I wouldn’t write off the Zettlab D6 Ultra as one of our best NAS devices in years to come, but the operating system needs to mature before that happens.
This Zettlab D6 Ultra is currently on pre-order from the company's website and comes in two variants, with and without memory. The version I tested for this review came with 32GB of DDR5 memory and costs $1679.99, and the same hardware without that RAM is only $1079.99.
That’s either a reflection of how much RAM costs these days, or how much Zettlab is willing to charge you for it. As I was able to find Crucial 16GB SODIMMs for around $150 on Amazon.com, taking the thirty seconds to populate this machine yourself could easily save you $300.
For those interested, the 8-bay D8 Ultra, is priced at $1319.99 with no memory, and $1919.99 for 32GB, which is a similar price differential for two memory modules.
What might be more problematic for Zettlab is that the Super Early Bird pricing of the Ugreen NASync iDX60011 Pro with 64GB of DDR5 is only $1559, while the MSRP is $2599.
The iDX60011 Pro is also a 6-bay NAS, built on Intel mobile silicon, but it uses the more powerful Core Ultra 7 255H, a modern 200-series processor.
I haven’t tried that NAS yet, but it arrived today, so soon I should have a baseline for comparing the two platforms. But on paper, the D6 Ultra does seem expensive when supplied with RAM, and the iDX60011 Pro has a potential performance advantage.
The design and layout of the D6 Ultra aren’t radical, but the chassis's all-metal construction suggests this is a machine with a long life ahead.
However, if this NAS had been entirely metal, it would be exceptionally heavy, and the six drive trays are made of plastic.
Curiously, the trays are labelled A through F and are not numbered. What’s nice about the tray design is that for 3.5-inch drive installations, no tools or screws are required. What I didn’t care for is that they don’t include any sort of locking mechanism, and triggering them to open requires only a light press.
Given the utter chaos that disconnected drives can cause in a running system, these drive trays need locks or a mechanism to prevent all trays from opening accidentally.
A feature of all Zettlab NAS is the 3.49-inch display at the bottom left of the fascia, which shows drive status, network IP address, and more. Most people will need to get reasonably close to read the information from this display, but it’s a good alternative to flashing LEDs.
Also on the front are two card readers, one is SD4.0 and the other TF4.0, covering both common card types. And alongside those are a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port and a USB4 Type-C port. A feature that initially confused me was the button on the far right of the fascia, which I easily assumed powered the NAS up. It doesn’t.
The power button is on the back, out of the way. The button on the front is designed to initiate copying files from SD cards and USB ports to the internal storage.
On the rear are another USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, another USB4 port, a USB 2.0 port, dual 10GbE LAN ports, and an HDMI out. These are all to be expected on a NAS at this price point, but what I’ve not seen before is the SFF-8654, a port built to provide an external connection for PCIE4.0 card with 8 lanes.
Using that port, it should be possible to connect an external GPU, expand the storage, or install a 25GbE network adapter. While there isn’t the physical room inside the NAS for a full-sized video card, the SFF-8654 enables one to be outside with enough bandwidth to the system to be useful.
Based purely on the included ports, the specification of this machine was carefully designed to please those who use NAS systems to their fullest potential.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
My only concern about the hardware is that a few minor details suggest the D6 Ultra changed extensively during development, and the industrial engineers involved struggled to keep up with those modifications.
An obvious mistake I noticed was that the magnetically attached filter that covers the fans on the back doesn’t fit correctly. It’s too small, and slides down when attached.
Another is that, underneath the NAS, there is an access panel that provides access to the two M.2 and two SODIMM memory slots. The plate that covers this has four screws retaining it, when one or two screws would have been sufficient.
That’s a minor thing, but what’s more of an issue is that Zettlab provides two thermal pads to place on M.2 drives to connect them thermally to the skin of the D6 Ultra. Unfortunately, these pads are far too thick, and if four screws are tightened down, they could put excessive pressure on the NVMe drives to the mainboard, causing damage.
This configuration also doesn’t account for NVMe SSDs that have a heatsink attached.
I hope the filter and the thermal pads both get addressed when the D6 Ultra next has a version change, because the cost of this NAS dictates that the details are right.
Design: 3.5 / 5
Zettlab D6 Ultra: Features
Intel Core Ultra 5 125H
28 PCIe Lanes
Intel Deep Learning
For many years, NAS makers almost exclusively used either ARM SoCs or, occasionally, low-power Intel chips like the Atom or Celeron series.
The design logic for this was sound, since moving data from SATA drives doesn’t require much computing power.
What’s happened more recently is that the app installations on NAS have become much more sophisticated, with Virtual Machine and Docker containers being used, but also now we’re transitioning into an era where NAS are AI nodes curating the data they hold.
As a result, we’re seeing more machines like the D6 Ultra, which use repurposed mobile platforms like the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, a processor with 14 cores, a 7 Xe core GPU, and dedicated AI silicon.
This is far from the most powerful CPU that I’ve seen in a NAS, but the functionality that it inherently comes with because of this Meteor Lake generation processor casts a long shadow over those NAS designs still relying on ARM CPUs or Intel N300 chips.
The AI component in the Core Ultra is an important aspect that elevates it above lesser Intel silicon and ARM SoCs, but the feature of this hardware that has a greater impact, I’d suggest, is the 28 PCIe lanes.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
The Zettlan support documentation helpfully reveals how those lanes are allocated, taking the guesswork out of how the bandwidth pie is sliced up.
For starters, each of the two M.2 SSDs is configured as PCIE 4.0 x4, which could make them capable of up to 7,000Mbps transfers if used directly as storage. That’s eight lanes, and a further four are given over to the 10GbE LAN ports, with two lanes per port.
That’s twelve used up, another eight are allocated to the SFF-8654, and two are used for the SATA interface that the hard drives attach to. That leaves two lanes for the card readers and other minor requirements. It’s my understanding that the USB ports are all inherent to the CPU, so they don’t need PCIe lanes, but I could be wrong about that.
If all that is accurate, then this is one of the few NAS I’ve tested where most of the PCIe bandwidth is utilised, on a platform that has plenty to hand out.
However, this technical achievement isn’t the focus of the Zettlab marketing, because the favourite buzzword of the moment is AI, and the Core Ultra 5 does bring reasonable offerings to the AI table.
Where the D4 and D6 models have ARM processors with 6 TOPS (Trillions/Tera Operations Per Second) of AI processing, the D6 Ultra and its Intel Core Ultra 5 125H have 34 TOPS. That number is a combination of the CPU, GPU, and NPU, with Intel’s AI Boost silicon contributing 11 TOPS to the total.
That’s significantly better than the ARM chips, although compared with the likes of the Nvidia high-end GPUs, like the RX 5090, which can muster 3,352 TOPS, it's still at the modest end of the scale. However, this NAS is sufficient for running local AI models, and using the SFF-8654 port, external GPUs can be added to significantly bolster AI capability.
Overall, the hardware in the D6 Ultra is impressive, even if Intel has released better chips since the Meteor Lake era.
Features: 3.5 / 5
Zettlab D6 Ultra: Software
ZettOS
ZettAI
Since the likes of Synology, Qnap and Asustor all have mature NAS operating systems, the best comparisons can be made between ZettOS and Ugreen’s evolving UGOS Pro operating system.
My immediate reaction to ZettOS was that even in this early stage, it has features that took at least six months or longer to appear on UGOS Pro, and a much better app selection.
These include support for Docker and Virtual Machines, media tools, Home Assistant, Plex, Jellyfin, Unifi, and a collection of developer tools.
While I’d have expected to see more software development options, the inclusion of Docket and VM provides an easy means to add those things either with a container or a VM of a desktop Linux distro.
I’m not a huge fan of the red, yellow, green dots for window controls, aping Apple; the Web interface is relatively clean and doesn’t require supporting documentation to navigate.
But there are a few significant holes in the feature selection of the OS, most notably with respect to security. At the time of writing, there is no 2FA, limiting access to the machine via a login and password, and if you use the Windows Zettlab AI NAS app, those are both stored on the client PC. It is possible to use a Zettlan Remote ID to connect to the NAS externally, using the Zettlab cloud portal.
I was a little shocked by some of the security choices made for this unit when I discovered that by default, the FTP server functionality was active. That’s not typically considered a wise move, and admins only activate that feature when they’ve put in place controls to avoid it being externally exploited.
Another area where this NAS OS veers slightly off the beaten path is its file system, which, to my understanding, is a proprietary one developed by Zettlab. Those expecting the choice of Ext4 or BTRFS will be disappointed, and I don’t think the current file system supports a hybrid structure with drives of different sizes. For sharing, SMB and NFS are supported, but I didn’t see any means to format USB-connected storage. In fact, all the external drives I connected, either to USB 3.2 or USB4 ports, were ignored. Eventually, I got a thumb drive that appeared to be formatted in FAT32, but drives that were preformatted in exFAT or NTFS were not recognised. That’s a feature that needs to be made a priority, I’d suggest.
Having two 10GbE LAN ports offers some great network bandwidth, but there currently aren’t any link aggregation or failover options to leverage the full potential of them.
In my tests, the USB4 ports did not work in host mode, although this feature, I believe, is promised. The USB-C ports did charge my laptop, at least.
The HDMI port does nothing currently, not even showing the Linux boot.
During my time with this machine, it underwent two firmware updates, suggesting that the software developers are backfilling functionality that’s either missing or not working optimally.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Software: 3.5/5
Zettlab D6 Ultra: Performance
Network performance
External drives limitation
AI models
For my testing, I used six IronWolf 4TB drives and allocated them into a RAID 10 pack for the best possible speed available. And to enhance that further, I allocated one Crucial P3 NVMe drive as a 1TB cache.
Like with many NAS, for whatever reason, a single drive can only be allocated to caching reads, and it takes two modules to cache reading and writing. I didn’t have two spare M.2 drives, so I went with the cached reading instead.
Over a single 10GbE, the read throughput hit over 900MB/s, which is excellent. As there is no link aggregation on the network ports, that’s realistically as fast as it’s possible to go. Should host mode on the USB4 be made active, that should be capable of much faster speeds. But without caching, six hard drives hit a bandwidth ceiling of around 900MB/s, since each is only capable of about 150MB/s. For this reason, unless you run SATA SSDs or have large M.2 cache drives for both reading and writing, there is little point in using the SFF-8654 port to add more or faster network ports.
And, in the support material, it states that “We currently do not natively support U.2 or U.3, but our machines can expand via the SFF-8654 interface.” Since SFF-8654’s function on some motherboards is to connect U.2 or U.3, that seems an odd choice.
As I mentioned earlier, external drives' functionality is incomplete, and without support for NTFS and exFAT, it's extremely limited in what it can be used for. I also found it disappointing that if the system didn’t recognise the file format, it didn’t offer to format it into one it was happy to work with.
That fun was as if nothing compared to the adventure of using this NAS as an AI local platform.
Inherently, the D6 Ultra and D8 Ultra support a local LLM model that can analyse whatever documents you put on the NAS, providing a chatbot interface to work with the contents.
If that sounds great to you and you have lots of files you need to navigate with AI logic, then right out of the box, this might be the NAS for you.
When the processing of the local model occurs is configurable, so that it doesn’t step on current tasks like file serving.
What’s great about this functionality is how automatic some of it is. After loading some prior review content folders onto the NAS, I discovered that the LLM had created a photo album based on the files and the subjects that it saw in the images. It could then also answer questions about the files, revealing the knowledge it has gained processing them.
Or rather, that’s what is implied. Except when you ask it in the AI chat window, it wants you to specifically say which files it should check, which isn’t super-helpful.
I should also say that the default ZettAI created by Zettlab, I assume, was poor at some general AI tasks, like history.
To further explore this feature, I looked at all the models that the system has available to install. These included four variants of Gemma, the Google AI, four flavours of Phi, the open-source Small Language Models (SLMs) created by Microsoft, two more QwQ models made by the Owen Team, two DeepSeek-R1 models, and a couple of Meta-made Llama models.
It’s possible to load and use each of these, though they range in size from about 2GB to more than 4GB, and some use plenty of memory.
I tried a number of them, and to put it mildly, my mileage varied considerably.
What I learned was to not ask DeepSeek about history, since it failed the most basic questions about historical events.
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
Its collection of the Kings and Queens of England was horrifically wrong, with it deciding that Queen Elizabeth I reigned from 1237 to 1558, which would have easily made her the oldest person ever recorded, if it were true. For those wondering, her reign lasted from 1558 to 1603.
Realizing what a rich mine of alternative information DeepSeek could be, I then asked about which US presidents died in office, and it completely messed up that challenge. It said ten presidents had died while in office, whereas the right answer is eight. It got the names of those eight wrong, included people who died after they left office, and insisted that three presidents died while hunting.
ZettaAI did a better job of the King's question, although not perfect, as it left out Harold, who died at Hastings. But it entirely messed up the dead Presidents, leaving out Zachary Taylor, Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, Warren G. Harding and even John F. Kennedy. Then it included Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, none of whom died in office. Out of eleven U.S. presidents it provided, the only ones it got right were William Henry Harrison and William McKinley.
I’m sure it’s possible to find subjects that these AIs are much better with than Western history, but the point is that if you were a student using these tools for homework exercises, you could be in deep, deep trouble.
To be clear, the effectiveness of these models, or not, isn’t a reflection on the Zettlab D6 Ultra, but the nature of AI technology, and its value to those expecting it to come back with generally correct answers.
When I questioned the ZettAI about how Abraham Lincoln wasn’t in the list of Presidents in one of those who were assassinated, it tried to say that the list of those who died in office didn’t include those who were killed, even though that was not a context I created. Then contradicting itself, it also argued that Lincoln died of Pneumonia, caused by the gunshot, but not directly from the assassination. This appears to be a riff on the concept that guns don’t kill people; complications from gunshot wounds kill people.
In short, if you are expecting something as powerful as datacentre AI in a small box on your desktop, you might need to scale that objective back that thinking somewhat, though as models improve, it might become an invaluable tool.
What I also need to say is that most free AI tools are significantly behind the curve in terms of hallucinations and other issues. It's hard to say if models like ChatGPT 5.1 and Claude 4 will come to this platform, but it would make this experience dramatically better if they did.
Performance: 4 / 5
Zettlab D6 Ultra: Final verdict
(Image credit: Mark Pickavance)
There are some positive things to say about the D6 Ultra, since, for a NAS platform in the earlier stages of development, ZettOS is already reasonably sophisticated.
Where more questions exist is in the value of AI on hardware like this, because, as nice as a Core Ultra 5 CPU is, it's hardly a data centre. Depending on the size of the dataset you wish to use with the AI, this could be a highly responsive and productive solution, or something painfully slow to access.
I’m aware that even more powerful NASs are coming along that can outperform the D6 Ultra, although if an external GPU were added to this platform, it might be quicker. What’s not a guess is that if you added an RTX 5090 to this machine externally and gave it 96GB of RAM to run its models, this could be an impressive local AI solution, but the system's cost would be a minor part of the total expenditure.
Given the power of datacentre AI solutions, a solution like the D6 Ultra is likely to interest only those who want to use models experimentally or isolate the development of an AI platform from the Internet.
But I have to question how cost-effective this would be in the long term, should the model reach a level of complexity where the NAS struggles to run it interactively to achieve the level of performance you might want.
Should the AI bubble burst and people realise that it's of limited use for many tasks, at least this hardware is sufficient to be an excellent file server and media system.
Should you buy a Zettlab D6 Ultra?
Value
Expensive option, especially with RAM
3.5 / 5
Design
Metal constuction but no tray locks
3.5 / 5
Features
Powerful CPU with plenty PCIe lanes
4 / 5
Software
A work in progress that needs more security features
3.5 /5
Performance
A quick platform with bags of potential
4 / 5
Overall
AI is unconvincing, but ZettOS could be great with some development
4 / 5
Buy it if...
You want to explore AI on a NAS The Zettlab D6 Ultra is AI-agnostic, allowing the deployment of a wide range of LLMs and even use as an AI test environment. It also has the potential to become much more powerful in this respect, using an externally connected GPU.
You have data to deep-dive Using the provided AI tools, you can hand the local AI on the D6 Ultra a large amount of data, in photos, documents, or other file formats, and have the LLM look for relationships and patterns. You can even use it to create AI agents to alert you to things seen in newly added data.
Don't buy it if...
You want proper security At this phase in the development of ZettOS, security doesn’t have the priority that many NAS users expect. While these things are likely to be added, security on ZettOS currently doesn’t support two-factor authentication, WORM volumes, or approved client IP/Mac addresses. At this time, it's purely user/group-level security using passwords.
You need hybrid RAID or Ext4 The RAID models supported by ZettOS are the basic ones most are familiar with, which include JBOD, 0,1, 5, 6 and 10. What this file system can’t cope with is drives of different capacities, and it doesn’t use a familiar file system such as Ext4 or BTRFS. View Deal
When celebrating the 40th anniversary of Super Mario, I expected something more substantial for gaming's most iconic character than Mario Tennis Fever. But even if it's not a brand-spanking new platformer, the ridiculous success of Mario Kart 8 means it would be unwise to dismiss a Mario spin-off.
Review info
Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2 Available on: Nintendo Switch 2 Release date: February 12, 2026
Mario sports spin-offs have always been a fun arcade sports alternative to the more serious simulations. But Fever feels like it takes the most inspiration from Mario Kart, while retaining the solid tennis mechanics of its predecessors to make for a more fulsome Nintendo Switch 2 game.
It also does the opposite of what Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash back on the Wii U failed to do, and that's layering these mechanics with a wide variety of content, whether that's different modes and challenges or just having a large roster of characters and fever rackets to unlock so that you can mix up and experiment with the combinations to keep the gameplay feeling fresh.
But with Mario fans having to make do with re-releases like Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2, and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, is Mario Tennis Fever going to be enough to satisfy those hankering for a truly new Mario title?
Courting with content
(Image credit: Nintendo)
As the first new Mario game for the Switch 2 since launch title Mario Kart World, Fever makes less of a strong case than the faux-pen world racer as an exclusive for Nintendo's new hardware.
Apart from the motion controls of Swing mode previously included in its Switch 1 predecessor, there's a lack of any hardware gimmicks or technical grunt. The most clear difference from previous instalments is that Fever gives more bang for your buck - as it should, being the most expensive Mario Tennis title to date.
The main menu is packed with different modes to play, and sometimes breaks down into further modes. For instance, Ring Shot from Mario Tennis Aces returns, but this time just as one of many other modes under Mix it Up. Here, even more unusual rules come into play, which are also linked to the themed court you're playing in.
For example, one court is designed like a pinball machine where you and the ball can get bounced off pinball bumpers that pop up from the ground or the side, while another is themed after Super Mario Bros. Wonder, where hitting a Wonder Flower causes random things to happen.
This does, however, mean the annoying Talking Flower is a character here, and actually serves as the commentator. You'll also find that even though there's an option to turn off commentary, there will still be times when you can't shut him up.
Best bit
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Although Adventure mode is short and largely consists of tutorials, its latter half does make up for it, where instead of just tennis matches, you've also got some fun boss fights to make use of your tennis skills to defeat. It's the closest you'll get to a Mario game.
If you're after something more traditional, Tournament mode offers different tiers of difficulty playable in singles and doubles. A more unconventional challenge, however, is Trial Towers, where you have to complete a run of pre-set challenges with just three lives, progress resetting once you've failed three times.
What makes these trials fun is that each challenge has its own conditions, and also gives you a different character to play as, a good way to force you to mix things up if you're usually only sticking with one or two characters.
That choice of how and who to play is arguably one of Fever's strengths, with a total roster of 36 characters to unlock, more if you take into account the different colour options of several characters, such as Yoshi. There's a nice sense of progression that you'll always be unlocking something new, be it a new character, court, or difficulty mode, especially as some of these come from just playing a set number of matches.
So even if you eat dirt in an online match, you can at least console yourself that it counts towards your goal of unlocking something else. Any piece of grayed-out content will also tell you what you need to achieve to unlock it, which helps with working towards ticking off your achievements.
Fever dream
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Adding to that variety is, of course, the introduction of Fever Rackets. The best way of describing it is basically if you put Mario Kart-style items into a tennis match. Once you fill up your Fever gauge, you can activate this on the next returning ball, while having a short window to aim where in the court for it to go, and create all sorts of shenanigans on the court for your opponent.
Flame Racket, for example, scatters flames around where the ball lands, but this is also different from the Fire Bar racket, which creates one of those iconic spinning fire bars on the ground. Then there are rackets that give you an advantage, like having a shadow double running away to return shots for you, or another where you instantly dash to impossible lengths to catch a returning shot.
While these rackets can disrupt and even cause damage to an opponent, they're also not meant to be an ace. Where Mario Tennis Aces could let you win a match by breaking an opponent's racket, a KO isn't an instant forfeit in Fever. It's also possible to counter fever shots by returning the ball before it lands on the ground, meaning you can return a fever racket's effects back to the other player, potentially building up a tense rally with the knowledge that the loser is going to have the disadvantage of mud, slippery ice, or worse to stick out at least the next point.
If you'd rather not do with the gimmicks, then you can also just play classic tennis, where in the ranked online mode, you can choose between singles and doubles modes with or without fever rackets, while on the other extreme, Free Play or custom online lobbies gives you the option to pick two fever rackets in a match then swap between them before a serve so you can change up tactics.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
Where fever shots feel underutilised is in the game's Adventure mode, which is also on the short side, even though it has some lovely presentation, including several of the best-looking cinematics in a Mario game since Luigi's Mansion 3.
Even the premise, which finds Mario, Luigi, and Peach (as well as the no-good Wario and Waluigi) turning into babies, is a fun idea that also justifies having to train Baby Mario back to his prime through a role-playing game-style levelling system.
Unfortunately, this also means much of the campaign is a glorified tutorial where you're being taught (and occasionally quizzed) by multiple Toads in every aspect of tennis, with the fever mechanics reduced more to aiming at an enemy weak spot. While there are some well-designed minigames in this section, which can also be replayed on higher difficulties, it's deflating to discover that the adventure proper will have you racing through its world map in and the whole campaign over in about 4 hours.
It's not without some highlights, though if you've already dipped into some of the other modes, there'll also be a touch of deja vu in some of the challenges encountered. The consolation is that there is at least plenty more for you to do in Fever, even if you've rolled credits in Adventure mode.
Should you play Mario Tennis Fever?
Play it if...
You're after a variety of content in a wacky arcade tennis game Mario Tennis Fever keeps things fresh with a generous variety of content, from unlockable characters to unlockable fever rackets, so that you're never far away from having something new to play with and master.
You want a fun tennis game to play with friends The tennis mechanics are simple enough that you can play with a friend out of the box with a single Joy-Con 2 each, either with in-button or swing modes. You can play against each other or together in doubles, and multiplayer supports up to four players local or online, and even using Game Share locally, where only the host needs to own the game.
Don't play it if...
You're after a deep Adventure mode campaign While there's plenty to be unlocked just playing matches or the different modes on offer, if you're after a meaty story mode, then you may find it short-lived when it's over in a few hours.
Accessibility features
Mario Tennis Fever doesn't have accessibility settings specifically, but its settings do allow for adjustments, such as performing moves like lobs and drop shots as one-button inputs, which you can assign to the bumpers or triggers. The camera position can also be adjusted between standard and raised perspectives, and you can also set which racket hand your character is using in both button and swing modes.
(Image credit: Nintendo)
How I reviewed Mario Tennis Fever
I played Mario Tennis Fever for about 15 hours on Nintendo Switch 2, which included completing Adventure mode and unlocking a substantial amount of content over 100 matches across different modes. This also included playing some local and online multiplayer matches, but not its Game Share functionality.
I played primarily in docked mode on an LG C2 OLED TV with the default TV speakers. I played mostly with a Switch 2 Pro Controller, but also tested it in handheld mode, as well as the Joy-Con 2 for swing mode.
