I spent six months with the Poco F8 Ultra, and it delivers a mobile streaming experience ‘that simply can’t be matched by any phone of a similar price’

Poco F8 Ultra: Two-minute review

The Poco F8 Ultra demonstrates what’s possible when performance doesn’t come at a premium. Packing a top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, a huge 6,500mAh battery, and a bright 120Hz AMOLED display, it's among the very best phones on paper — but it's Poco's photography chops and unique Bose partnership that set the F8 Ultra apart from other ‘flagship killers’.

A trio of rear cameras steals the show. Poco phones (as well as those made by its parent company, Xiaomi) often sneak under the radar for photographic performance, but having shone in both day and nighttime environments during my testing, there’s rarely been any situation where the F8 Ultra’s cameras haven’t exceeded expectations. What’s more, Xiaomi’s HyperOS 3 seems to finally be fulfilling its AI-centric potential, with genuinely useful photo features that allow beginners to fine-tune their shots to perfection.

The brand's Bose partnership sets an equally high standard. While for many, the addition of a dedicated 1620 subwoofer in the phone's rear panel may seem like a token gesture, partnering it with symmetrical, dual 115F speakers quickly highlights how ‘flat’ other phones sound without external audio devices. Bass is noticeable, and the overall soundscape is more than pleasant enough to enable most to ditch the headphones entirely, so long as the situation suits!

While the F8 Ultra's design may bear a striking resemblance to that of Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro, that’s hardly a bad thing. The phone feels superb to hold and rivals its most premium opposition for style, despite its huge 6.9-inch display. The rounded corners, flat aluminum edges, and impressive thinness (7.9 or 8.3mm, depending on variant) help its size feel manageable, and it’ll quickly feel much like its more premium counterparts in everyday use. The denim-like variant is certainly an acquired taste, but I grew accustomed to it quickly and, frankly, it feels superb to use.

Under the hood, the combination of a huge 6,500mAh battery and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset is stellar. The F8 Ultra achieves all-day battery life with ease, all while retaining superb performance under strain from gaming or multitasking. The only drawback: it does suffer from the chipset’s trademark overheating problems. While I never found the phone to be fatally hot, this temperature increase is certainly noticeable when gaming for long periods, and it can lead to some performance drops as a result.

The phone's availability is another drawback. It's available in the UK via both carriers and retailers, but only via third-party retailers like Amazon and eBay in the US. Still, the latter is more than can be said for the best Xiaomi phones, so I suppose that's a small win. The Poco F8 Ultra isn't available in Australia at the time of writing.

Poco F8 Ultra review: Price and availability

• Launched for £749 / $729
• But it's now almost always on sale
• US price varies heavily depending on the seller

The Poco F8 Ultra undercuts almost any comparable phone when it comes to price. It launched for $729 / £749 back in November 2025, but is now available for significantly less — especially in the UK — likely due to the imminent release of the Poco F9 Ultra, which is rumored to land towards the end of 2026.

It's a win in itself to see one of Xiaomi’s devices available via Amazon or eBay in the US. It’s not available directly through carriers, though you’ll no longer have an issue using a US SIM with this device.

Even without a discount, the Poco F8 Ultra starts from the best part of $200 / £200 less than you’d normally expect to pay for a device boasting the latest chipset, triple cameras, and a huge battery. It even gets 4 years of major Android OS updates and 6 years of security updates. By which point, Xiaomi will almost certainly have released something of even better value to replace it.

Xiaomi and Poco do sell phones in Australia, but the Poco F8 Ultra isn't currently available in that region.

• Value score: 5 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Specs

	Poco F8 Ultra
Dimensions	163.33 x 8.3 x 77.82mm (Black) 163.33 x 7.9 x 77.82mm (Blue)
Weight	217g (Black), 220g (Blue)
OS	Android 16 (HyperOS 3)
Display	6.9-inch 120Hz HyperRGB AMOLED
Resolution	2608 x 1200
Chipset	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
RAM	12GB (256GB), 16GB (512GB)
Storage	256GB, 512GB
Battery	6,500mAh
Rear cameras	50MP wide (f/1.7) + 50MP periscope telephoto (f/3.0) + 50-MP (f/2.4) ultrawide
Front cameras	32MP (f/2.2)
Charging	100W wired, 50W wireless, 22.5W reverse wireless

Poco F8 Ultra review: Design

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• iPhone-like camera plateau design
• Super comfortable to hold despite huge size
• Denim blue choice may not be to some people’s taste

Poco adopts a reliable yet stylish look for the Poco F8 Ultra. That said, the first thing that needs discussing is its Denim Blue option.

While the material itself isn’t denim — rather, Poco's own nano-tech material — it looks and feels as though you’re texting from a pair of Levi’s. It’s no doubt a strange experience to begin with, but you’ll quickly see the benefits of this new material, namely a complete lack of scratch marks and a nice grippy feel in the hand.

If you’re after a more traditional look, there is also a black variant. It uses Poco’s ‘Glass Fibre’, which gives a feel closer to that of a glass-backed phone. It should feel less slippery to hold and pick up fewer scratches than the competition, though you’re definitely likely to see more fingerprints here than on its denim-look counterpart.

Either variant is also pleasantly comfortable to hold despite the phone's huge 6.9-inch display. The F8 Ultra has a rounded aluminum frame and only weighs 220g at most (or 217g if you choose the black version). That’s over 10g lighter than an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and yet the weight cut doesn’t leave the phone feeling any less premium when you’re holding it, nor does it feel so light that it could be easily dropped or broken.

Where the F8 Ultra and the iPhone are more similar, however, is in their shared camera plateau design. In the case of the F8 Ultra, the plateau houses not only the rear cameras but also the subwoofer that headlines the phone's Bose partnership. Unlike many plateaus, the Poco F8 Ultra’s doesn’t protrude hugely despite its more-than-capable cameras, which we’ll cover later.

Aside from these features, the F8 Ultra's design bears little to shout about, which in many ways, is a win. The denim look is certainly a unique choice should you choose it, but both this and the black variant will soon leave you thinking you possess a phone far more premium than its price tag suggests.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Display

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• Bright and easily viewed
• Great refresh rate
• Simple punch-hole front-camera

The Poco F8 Ultra’s display gives the phone a premium feel from the moment you boot it up. This huge 6.9-inch 2608 x 1200 AMOLED screen is capable of a 3500-nit peak brightness, which, while lower than many equivalent phones, does a faultless job of keeping the display punchy and viewable from almost all angles.

You also get a 120Hz refresh rate to play with, meaning scrolling through social media or gaming is smooth enough for even the most serious mobile gamers. This display also offers up to 480Hz touch sampling, which gives the screen a super-responsive feel, no matter if you're gaming or switching between apps.

The Poco F8 Ultra's display is also one of Xiaomi’s ‘eye-care’ displays. These use a combination of hardware and software to reduce eye strain, headaches, and sleep problems caused by phone displays. Technologies such as high-frequency PWM dimming and circadian rhythm adjustments are employed to keep you healthy and have little to no impact on the device’s performance.

All of this technology is housed under ‘Poco Shield’ glass, which is proprietary to Xiaomi and kept for only its most premium devices. In the months of using this phone, I’ve never found reason to doubt Xiaomi’s claims of improved scratch- and impact-resistance compared to industry-standard solutions such as Corning glass. I've been able to confidently use the F8 Ultra in crowded environments without a case, where, frankly, it’s had more than one abrupt meeting with a floor.

That said, the biggest part of why this phone feels so premium to use is just how much display it gives you to play with. It has a huge 94.25% screen-to-body ratio and opts for a simple punch-hole front camera. This, partnered with its huge size, leaves the F8 Ultra's screen feeling nothing short of flagship-worthy while you're streaming, gaming, or browsing. Good job, Xiaomi.

• Display score: 4 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Cameras

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• Brilliant levels of detail and vibrancy
• Low-light shooting is top tier
• Selfie camera has room for improvement

The Poco F8 Ultra’s cameras are nothing short of superb — whether you use them at night, for close-ups, or even just regular shooting.

No matter the subject, the Poco F8 Ultra captured a level of vibrancy and detail in each shot that, frankly, it had no right to given its price point. Most noticeably, while shooting in cloudier conditions, shots continued to be detailed and well-balanced, without falling foul of extreme white blowouts in backgrounds.

I did find focusing on the F8 Ultra a touch more fiddly than some might like, especially when looking to shoot in dimmer, indoor environments, but with time, it becomes manageable. That said, the phone was near-flawless in picking up the subject matter and retaining razor-thin focus margins to the rest of the frame.

Each of the three main cameras is 50MP, with the phone even offering a 50MP shooting mode to make full use of these megapixels — though it sacrifices much of the camera's adaptability should you choose to use it.

One of the standout inclusions on the phone's spec sheet is its Light Fusion 950 light sensor. Taking the F8 Ultra out for some night photography proved just how beneficial the device’s 43% improvement in light sensitivity (versus the F7 Ultra) can be. Details remained sharp, backgrounds were rarely a mere abyss of black, and the vibrancy I’d seen in the daytime remained to a surprising degree.

On the front of the phone, there’s a 32MP selfie camera which does a good enough job. It definitely leaves selfies a touch smoother than you’d expect given the quality of the rear cameras, and it's sometimes a touch excessive when adjusting skin tones in bright environments. But it’s still a camera I’d happily use to snap my next night out.

Whether you’re shooting selfies or regular shots, there are also a strong number of preset modes and effects you can use to make the shot your own if you aren’t a seasoned pro. It’s not quite as many as you’d get from something like a Pixel or Galaxy phone, but the Poco F8 Ultra's camera itself proved more than capable of providing strong results no matter the subject matter, even in my amateur hands.

Poco F8 Ultra review: camera samples

Future

Future // Rob Dunne

Future // Rob Dunne

Future / Rob Dunne

Future // Rob Dunne

Future // Rob Dunne

Future // Rob Dunne

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Future // Rob Dunne

Future // Rob Dunne

Poco F8 Ultra review: Performance

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• Flagship-level specs provide the expected power
• Doesn’t struggle with multitasking or intense games
• Brilliant audio capabilities

It’s frustratingly difficult to fault a flagship-killer's performance when it packs a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset and DDR5X memory because, in short, it’s packing the same tech as its premium rivals, with a far smaller price tag. What’s more, there’s nothing to suggest any corners have been cut elsewhere on the F8 Ultra.

For example, I tested it with hugely demanding games such as Call of Duty: Mobile and Genshin Impact, and it never so much as dropped a frame. It’ll get a touch warm, as any phone would (including flagships), but, in fact, the alternative back panel material makes it far more manageable to hold when it does.

Day-to-day use is a doddle. Depending on the storage configuration you choose, you get either 12 or 16GB of DDR5X RAM, and 256GB or 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage. Simply put, nothing is slow to load, and you’ll likely be able to multitask however you choose to without any noticeable slowdown.

What’s more, having now spent well over six months with the device (yes, I've been testing it for a while), these performance levels haven't dropped off whatsoever. The F8 Ultra is backed by a huge 6,500mAh battery, which we’ll cover later, and it's remained a remarkably capable phone for heavy-duty gaming sessions while I'm on the go. This performance is, in part, helped by its ‘Game Turbo’ mode, though, on trying with and without this option turned on, the difference is far less noticeable than you’d expect.

Streaming on the device is something I also came to enjoy thanks in no small part to its unique Bose subwoofer system. It’s well known that regular phone speakers often return flat, unappealing soundscapes, but the F8 Ultra’s Bose partnership quite simply throws this possibility out of the window. The subwoofer allows for a 2.1-channel audio system that restores the punchiness you want while watching intense TV series or horror films (in private, please).

Of course, the F8 Ultra is no match for a proper speaker or sound system, but I’ve certainly found myself more comfortable using the phone to play music aloud or quickly watch videos while at home without connecting to a speaker separately.

• Performance score: 5 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Software

(Image credit: Future // Rob Dunne)

• HyperOS 3 is simple enough for anyone
• AI is becoming increasingly involved in the experience
• Remains beginner-friendly without AI integrations

HyperOS has quickly matured into a clean and easy OS since its launch in late 2023. Yes, the ever-increasing amount of AI features may put off those keen to avoid extreme data collection in the name of convenience, but the software experience, regardless, is smoother than ever.

Navigating menus and finding settings and toggles throughout the device is smooth, and everything is essentially where you’d expect it to be. The functionality of some of the icon-based toggles could be clearer, but this is a problem that’s apparent across most Android OS packages nowadays.

Photo editing is so far the best use of Xiaomi’s increasing AI toolset. Beginners can quickly and easily improve their photos with an ‘AI Beautify’ tool that does a far better job than most auto-adjust photo tools I’ve come across in the past.

There are several more excessive options, such as sky adjustments, image expansion, and portrait adjustments, that may disturb photography purists, but, as yet, these tools aren’t quite as refined as they need to be for everyday use.

Outside of photography, you get several AI-based writing improvement, search, and speech tools that can be toggled to improve the everyday experience. Thankfully, having tested the Poco F8 Ultra both with and without these additions, the user experience remains simple enough if you’re keen to keep AI away from your everyday tasks.

All in all, HyperOS 3 more than matches up to the F8 Ultra’s premium specs; it provides a simple enough experience for casual users, while power users can make the most of its many customization options.

• Software score: 4 / 5

Poco F8 Ultra review: Battery

• Huge multi-day battery life
• Sub-hour charging times are very helpful
• Includes 22.5W reverse wireless charging

It’s no surprise that the Poco F8 Ultra’s battery credentials are flagship-grade. The phone packs a 6,500mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging, and in testing, these figures resulted in months of day-long battery life and little worry about the speed of impromptu top-ups.

Slower use days will get you multiple days of battery life, which was a welcome surprise, and in truth you'll probably get beyond a day of endurance even with a reasonable amount of social media scrolling and general browsing.

Gaming and streaming were, understandably, the biggest drainers. But, even so, it would only make an hour or so’s difference to the battery life I’d come to expect. To this day, over six months later, I’m still never remotely worried I’ll run out of battery on the Poco F8 Ultra so long as I'm leaving the house with 40% charge or above.

And the phone's 100W charging makes charging a breeze. Getting back up to 100% is comfortably done in under an hour, though in my experience, it takes a tad longer than the advertised 38 minutes. 22.5W reverse wireless charging is also a handy addition for when friends find themselves in a pinch.

In my experience, you’d scarcely find better battery life at this price point. Only Poco's own Poco X8 Pro Max trumps the F8 Ultra for battery value, though you will get even better endurance from true flagships like the Oppo Find X9 Pro and OnePlus 15.

• Battery score: 5 / 5

Should you buy the Poco F8 Ultra?

Attributes	Notes	Rating
Value	The Poco F8 Ultra brings undoubtedly flagship capabilities to a mid-range price point. It's perfect if you’re keen to save without making huge performance sacrifices.	5 / 5
Design	Despite being a clear iPhone clone, the F8 Ultra lacks no amount of unique style. It’s premium to look at whether you go safe with black or opt for its denim alternative.	4 / 5
Display	Bright and smooth, it’s easy to see the Poco F8 Ultra’s premium intent as soon as you load up its huge display for the first time.	4 / 5
Performance	Nothing seems to stop the F8 Ultra from performing. Gaming and multitasking are a breeze, with little sign of let up no matter how hard you push.	5 / 5
Software	HyperOS is finally becoming the matured, reliable OS it was intended to be. AI is definitely a centrepiece, but it’s easy enough for anyone to use.	4 / 5
Cameras	Vibrant, detailed, and sharp, there’s little to fault about the Poco F8 Ultra’s triple camera array. That said, there’s room for some improvement on the front.	4 / 5
Battery	Multi-day battery life and super-quick charging. Using it makes you forget what worrying about battery life feels like, and it doesn’t stop for months.	5 / 5

Buy it if

You want all-day battery life and more

The Poco F8 Ultra’s battery size, charging speed, and superb processing capabilities make multi-day use the norm — it's perfect if you’re always on the move without access to quick and easy charging.View Deal

You’re a keen mobile gamer

The mix of top-tier processing capabilities and long battery life means you can be set up for hours of high-intensity gaming. No need to turn down the graphics settings, no need to turn on battery saver; just sit down and game as you wish. View Deal

You want an immersive streaming experience

The Poco F8 Ultra’s 2.1-channel audio system and huge 6.9-inch display make for a brilliant mobile streaming experience that simply can’t be matched by any phone of a similar price. View Deal

Don’t buy it if

You want a guaranteed point-and-shoot camera experience

While the camera is superb, in some settings, the focus can be fiddly, which, if you’re after a quick shot, is less than ideal. View Deal

Poco F8 Ultra review: also consider

Oppo Find X9 Pro

Oppo’s Find X9 Pro is a step up in all the things that make the Poco F8 Ultra great. Superb photography, huge battery life, and strong performance. Just be aware that it’s regularly a more expensive choice and lacks US availability.

Read our full Oppo Find X9 Pro review

Samsung Galaxy S26

The S26 is the ideal phone if you’re looking for decent photography, with strong AI integrations and an all-round better user experience. That said, you lose out on battery life and some of the photographic potential.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S26 review

	Poco F8 Ultra	Oppo Find X9 Pro	Samsung Galaxy S26
Price	£749 / $729	£1,099 / AU$2,299	$899 / £879 / AU$1,349
Display	6.9-inch 120Hz HyperRGB AMOLED	6.78-inch 120Hz AMOLED	6.3-inch 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X
Cameras	50 MP wide (f/1.7) + 50 MP periscope telephoto (f/3.0) + 50 MP (f/2.4) ultra-wide	50MP main + 50MP ultra-wide + 200MP telephoto (3x)	50MP main + 10MP telephoto + 12MP ultra-wide
Processor	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5	MediaTek Dimensity 9500	Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Battery	6,500mAh	7,500mAh	4,300mAh

How I tested the Poco F8 Ultra

• Tested over multiple months
• Used as both a daily driver and second phone
• Compared with previous testing

Why you can trust TechRadar

☑️ 100s of smartphones reviewed
☑️ 15 years of product testing
☑️ Over 16,000 products reviewed in total
☑️ Nearly 200,000 hours testing tech

I tested the Poco F8 Ultra over a period exceeding six months, with the phone arriving at the time of its launch.

In that time, it was either my main or secondary phone and was put through several forms of testing. This included extensive usage to test battery life, intensive streaming and gaming testing, as well as regular daily use to spot usability issues, bugs, and other problems consumers may face.

This review was conducted using my own experience of the phones industry alongside other experiences reviewing phones in similar price brackets.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: July 2026

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The 5 best 4K Blu-rays for showing off your TVs vibrant colors — with titles from Disney, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros

In my opinion, 4K Blu-ray is easily the best way to view a movie at home. It delivers unmatched picture quality that will give the best TVs a chance to shine, along with uncompressed audio that, when played through one of the best soundbars or a full surround system, is unbeatable.

Since I started testing 4K Blu-ray for TechRadar back in November 2024 as part of the Blu-ray Bounty (where we test the latest 4K releases from each month), I’ve come to appreciate the format even more, and I've even become a fan and collector during that time. 4K Blu-ray is also a staple of my AV testing, as it uses that exceptional picture and audio I mentioned to really push AV equipment to its limits.

I’ve spoken before about my favorite discs of classic movies, as I believe 4K Blu-ray has worked wonders for some older titles. But in recent months, there’s been a few new discs that have impressed me in one area in particular: color. I’ve tested two discs in the last few weeks alone that have entered my testing disc rotation, so I thought I’d pick my top five 4K Blu-rays for color that I’ve tried out as part of the Blu-ray Bounty.

Speed Racer (2008) (Warner Bros.)

(Image credit: Warner Bros. / Future )

Based on the 1967 animated TV show of the same name, Speed Racer follows the story of a young man called Speed Racer (Emile Hersch), a racecar driver who follows his deceased older brother’s career and vies to become a champion. After he chooses to stay with his family’s racer company, Racer Motors, instead of joining the Royalton Industries team, he becomes a target. The movie also stars John Goodman, Susan Sarandon and Christina Ricci.

From the moment I fired up Speed Racer, I was amazed by the sheer brilliance of its colors, which practically explode on screen. Throughout the movie, there’s plenty of bold, vibrant tones that really show off your TV’s color reproduction. As the Racer family eat breakfast after the opening race, the bright orange walls, green furnishings and pink details all pop on screen. Even people’s clothes have an almost oversaturated, bright look to them than when I watched on the LG G6, one of 2026’s best OLED TVs, showing real vibrancy.

Of course, there’s the colors around the racetrack itself too. From the bright, neon advertisements to the candy-colored outfits and car decor, if your TV has good HDR peak brightness, you’ll be rewarded with punchy highlights that really dazzle on screen. The disc supports Dolby Vision, and if your TV supports it, you’ll enjoy even more vibrant colors. This really is a reference quality disc.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Universal Pictures)

(Image credit: Nintendo / Universal Pictures / Future )

Sequel to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros Movie, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie follows Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi and Toad as they attempt to rescue Princess Rosalina from the clutches of Bowser Jr. The voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Anya-Taylor Joy, Charlie Day and Jack Black.

Animated movies often deliver striking, eye-catching colors, but I was floored by how good The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s colors were. It starts in the very opening scene with the Lumas. As the Lumas themselves are all a variety of vivid colors, including red, green, blue and gold, they really show the 4K disc’s superb clarity from the get-go.

There’s plenty of natural color too, particularly in Mario and Luigi’s overalls, which are the most toned down, lifelike colors throughout the movie. Scenes of space show gorgeous pink, purple and blue hues that balance that are both nicely saturated and rich, and even fire has plenty of dazzle that, on the right screen, can also look realistic. It helps that the movie has crisp textures and details, but the color is what really shows off this disc.

Wicked (Universal Pictures)

(Image credit: Universal Pictures / Future )

Wicked, based on the musical of the same name, is a re-imagining of the events of The Wizard of Oz. It follows the story of how Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West), played by Cynthia Erivo, and Glinda (the Good Witch of the North), played by Ariana Grande, strike up an unlikely friendship while at the Shiz academy.

When I first tested this disc as part of the March 2025 Blu-ray Bounty, I was impressed with its color reproduction. While I expected dynamic, lively colors, due to the setting of Oz, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the 4K disc struck the balance between vivid and true-to-life. Elphaba’s green skin, although not in itself ‘realistic’, looks believable and lifelike. Glinda’s bright, pink outfits really pop on screen, but again look natural.

One scene I frequently use in my TV testing is where Elphaba stands under a tree with pink flowers. On the right TV, this scene can really show off a TV’s colors, thanks to the vibrant pink flowers, Elphaba’s green skin and even the blue detail on the decor of the school walls. Even if a TV doesn’t have the strongest color reproduction, the scene can still look good: it just won’t have that wow-factor that does the 4K disc justice.

The Sound of Music (Disney)

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios / Future )

One of cinema’s most iconic musicals, The Sound of Music, based on the 1959 stage musical of the same name, tells the story of a nun Maria (Julie Andrews) who is assigned as the nanny for the Von Trapp family children during wartime Austria. The movie won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

I’ve always been amazed about what 4K Blu-ray can do for older movies, and The Sound of Music is one of my chosen showcases for this. Not only is the restored detail exceptional, but the movie’s colors are a sight to behold. My reference scene from this disc is when Maria and the children are at a market. In front of them are various fruits, mainly yellow, orange and red, that on the 4K disc practically shimmer on screen. But like Wicked, these colors also appear natural at the same time.

Throughout the movie, many scenes of the Austrian landscape also really showcase the bold, engaging color profile that the 4K disc can show on the right screen. The green grass, gorgeous blue sky and the white snow-capped mountains all pop, and if your TV can replicate the finest details, individual shades within these large colorful areas look exceptional. This is one of the best 4K discs of an older movie I’ve seen, and its colors are a big reason for that.

The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures)

(Image credit: Universal Pictures / Future )

Based on the 2016 novel of the same name, The Wild Robot follows Roz, a robot sent to gather data on wildlife. Roz, who is abandoned, must adapt to her surroundings, where she becomes the surprise adopter of a wild goose. The movie stars Luipta Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor and Mark Hammil among its all-star cast.

While a lot of animation, such as The Super Mario Galaxy Movie higher up this list, can opt for vibrant, saturated colors, some animated movies go for a more natural color profile. The Wild Robot is one of the best examples I’ve seen of this. Using a beautiful animation style, which looks like a watercolor painting, the 4K disc is truly stunning. Colors are vibrant, but also true to the watercolor aesthetic of the movie and really do look like a real-life painting.

There are tons of scenes to choose from here, but the opening sequences where Roz first encounters nature are the best. The green trees and fields look superb, appearing both realistic and bright, and as Roz touches a group of yellow butterflies, the screen is filled with beautiful, vivid color that can really glisten on the right TVs. There’s even excellent detail within the colors of different creature’s fur, with different shades appearing nuanced and refined. I’ve seen numerous animated 4K Blu-rays, and this is one of the very best looking around.

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HP OmniBook X Flip 16 packs Core Ultra 7 power into a versatile 2-in-1, and it's a huge $450 off in Best Buy's 60th Anniversary sale

The HP OmniBook X Flip 16 gives you considerably more flexibility than a conventional laptop. Its 16-inch touchscreen can be folded all the way back for tablet use or positioned at different angles for presentations, streaming and creative work. In its 60th Anniversary Sale, the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 is now $750 (was $1200) at Best Buy.

That's a massive $450 saving, equivalent to 37.5% off the regular price. You get plenty of performance for the money too. The Core Ultra 7 256V is paired with 16GB of fast LPDDR5X memory, a spacious 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD and Intel Arc 140V graphics.

Omnibook X Flip 2-In-1 Touchscreen Laptop: was $1199.99 now $749.99
Connectivity includes Thunderbolt 4, a second USB-C port, two USB-A connections and HDMI 2.1. You also get Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth, a 5MP IR webcam and a backlit keyboard.View Deal

Why we recommend it

The Core Ultra 7 256V is a modern Series 2 processor with a 47 TOPS NPU. Intel's Arc 140V integrated graphics add considerably more graphical capability than you'd get from a basic productivity laptop.

It also features a large 2K touchscreen that makes the OmniBook useful for everything from everyday office work and streaming to photo editing and lighter creative workloads.

Thunderbolt 4 provides a 40Gbps connection for high-speed storage, docks and external displays, and HDMI 2.1 and the additional USB-C port make it easier to build a desktop setup around the laptop.

For more top picks, see our guide to the best business laptops we've tested.

Price context & historical value

At $749.99, you're saving exactly $450 against Best Buy's regular $1,199.99 price. That's a hefty 37.5% reduction as part of the retailer's 60th Anniversary sale. This is the cheapest price we've found for a new HP OmniBook X Flip 16 with this specification, so definitely recommended if you've had your eye on it for a while.

The specification is particularly attractive as you're getting a recent Core Ultra 7 processor, 16GB of memory, 1TB of storage, Arc graphics and a large convertible touchscreen for below $750.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 if...

You want a big-screen laptop that can handle work during the day and transform into a more convenient machine for entertainment afterwards. The combination of a 16-inch touchscreen and 360-degree hinge gives you considerably more flexibility than a standard clamshell laptop.

The Core Ultra 7 256V and Arc 140V graphics provide plenty of everyday performance, and the 1TB SSD will be enough storage for most people's key needs.

❌ Skip the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 if...

Portability is your priority. At more than four pounds, this isn't the 2-in-1 I'd choose if I wanted something to carry around all day or regularly use as a handheld tablet.

The 16GB of LPDDR5X memory is another consideration for particularly demanding workloads. It's sufficient for most tasks, but buyers tackling heavy video editing or other memory-intensive work may prefer 32GB.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

The OmniBook X Flip 16 is a large convertible, and at 4.15 pounds, it's considerably less convenient to hold in tablet mode than a smaller 13- or 14-inch 2-in-1. The flip design is better suited to occasional tablet use, presentations and watching video than carrying around for extended periods.

As mentioned before, the other limitation is the 16GB of LPDDR5X memory. That's plenty for everyday productivity, multitasking and many creative jobs, but it isn't upgradable, which is worth bearing in mind.

• Shop the full 60th anniversary sale at Best Buy

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First plug-in solar kits get regulatory green light in the UK ahead of legal lift-off on August 27 — and they'll start at £699

• UKSOL says it's the first in the UK to achieve regulatory compliance for plug-in solar products
• It's ground mount kits with one or two solar panels go on sale on August 27
• That's when solar is legal in the UK, and we can expect more of these kits to be available

UKSOL has announced that it's the first solar company in the UK to achieve regulatory compliance for plug-in solar kits, the first of which will be on sale in just a week.

Those products are the UKSOL Plug-In Solar Pro Compact 460W Ground Mount Kit (consisting of a single solar panel), and the Plug-In Solar Pro Duo 890W Ground Mount Kit (two panels). Both of these go on sale from August 27 in the UK — when plug-in kits become legal in this country — albeit in "limited stocks" to begin with.

A pair of hybrid mount kits — a single panel 515W offering, and a 920W two-panel product — have also been approved, and these should be available in October 2026 (or that's the current plan).

All of these have met the relevant regulatory standards, and are listed as 'compliant' in the ENA (Energy Network Association) Connect Direct plug-in solar device database.

The Plug-In Solar Pro products have been developed specifically for the British market, UKSOL informs us in a press release, and these are all-in-one kits that come with everything you need to be up and running.

With the kits out next week, alongside the UKSOL panel(s) you get an integrated (foldable) ground-mounting frame with a ballast tray, as well as the necessary 800W microinverter plus DC and AC cables. There's a smartphone app for monitoring the system, too.

Pricing for the Pro Compact (single panel) 460W Ground Mount Kit is £849 with VAT and two-man delivery included, with the Pro Duo 890W Ground Mount Kit running to £1,199 (also with VAT and delivery). The RRP at retailers is £699 and £1,089 respectively.

Andrew Moore, the CEO of UKSOL, commented: "We expect plug in solar to become an exciting new consumer category, but there is a real responsibility on manufacturers and retailers to get the introduction right. Consumers should be able to understand who manufactured or supplied their system, what testing has been undertaken, what warranty and technical support sits behind it and whether it meets the requirements for the UK market."

He added: "Price will obviously matter, but solar equipment is a long-term electrical product. Safety, provenance, quality and after-sales support need to matter too."

Analysis: An alternative to full solar is (almost) here

(Image credit: UKSOL)

The ground mount kits are, of course, placed on the ground in your garden or other outside area (and weighed down using the ballast tray, to ensure that if it gets windy, you aren't going to end up with overturned panels).

The other option from UKSOL is to buy a hybrid mount kit in October, and these can be situated on the ground, or on a wall (or balcony). They'll arrive in a 515W compact (one panel) variant and an 890W dual panel setup, with other offerings too (up to a 1260W hybrid kit). No pricing is available for those yet.

Kits from other manufacturers should be going on sale soon enough as plug-in solar becomes legal on August 27, when UKSOL's first ground mount offerings become available. Manufacturers must ensure compliance with UK regulations, of course, as UKSOL has done, with the likes of Asda, Currys, B&Q, Wickes, and Screwfix potentially stocking these solutions.

Plug-in panels offer a good alternative as a scaled-down version of a full roof-mounted solar setup, as not every house can have the latter — flats certainly can't, and some roofs just aren't suitable. Plug-in solar is the obvious choice if you're renting, and don't own the property, too — and they're a lot less of a financial commitment than a full roof installation.

A typical payback period for plug-in (when the electricity saved roughly equals the cost of the panels) is three to five years, according to the experts, which is way quicker than a typical full solar install.

Note that there are certain requirements in terms of the rules for the location of plug-in solar panels — you can't put them on wooden balconies for example (due to the fire risk), and the same goes for fences.

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The reMarkable Paper Pro can run Android 13 — it’s not pretty, but it works and it’s an incredible upgrade

• The reMarkable Paper Pro doesn't come with Android installed, but a YouTuber fixed that
• The port isn't perfect, but solves several flaws with the ereader
• The YouTuber wants to release a more accessible Android 13 port

We adored the reMarkable Paper Pro when we first reviewed it back in 2024. The “elegant writing tablet” combines a large color e-ink display with speedy writing response, and a distraction-free operating system to create a package that seriously delivers. Though we found it often lacks more features than it boasts.

This is a downside of its proprietary Linux-based OS. It keeps distractions low so you can focus on writing, but means there’s a lot of essential apps without ports for this tablet. The solution, as YouTuber Chalid Raqami found, is to simply install Android yourself.

Running Android 13 on the reMarkable Paper Pro comes with a slew of major benefits. It can support third-party Bluetooth keyboards instead of the pricey official keyboard folio, run apps like Kindle and Microsoft OneNote (with support for the stylus) and, perhaps best of all, the ability to swap between Android 13 and the original OS at the press of a button.

Though getting Android to work on the tablet wasn’t quite as simple at first.

The biggest trouble is the tablet’s measly 2GB of RAM and meager four-core processor. Raqami says he spent a lot of time optimizing his build to make it less frustratingly slow, getting it to a point where the tablet could comfortably run one Android app at a time.

(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)

Imperfect, but beautiful

Though as you can see from the video and Raqami himself admits, the user experience is far from optimized. Things are still somewhat laggy and a little glitchy at points (color popping in and out as you scroll through the Kindle library) — certainly not as stable as you’d expect from an official Android release — but that’s the cost of trying to retrofit a system that was never meant to run this OS.

The flipside is you get a much more capable tablet in terms of the apps it can attempt to run, and that might make you wish you could install Android 13 on the Paper Pro yourself.

Well, if you’re willing to recreate Raqami’s work, you can get started right away. For everyone else, he says he’s trying to release a version of the port himself as a simpler install package, though for various reasons he says it’ll be a little while until the package is polished enough for general release.

In the meantime, he says some early testers may be able to help him fine-tune the Android port by trying it before launch, though again you’ll need to stay tuned for if/when that becomes a possibility.

(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / Future)

Alternatively, you could pick up the Onyx Boox Go 7. It isn’t full-color, but it is an impressive Android ebook reader that we really loved when we reviewed it earlier this year.

Best of all, it comes with full Android support already installed. No jerry-rigging required.

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AirPods with cameras could not arrive at a worse time — and I'll just say no

Here's something I never thought: What if my ears could see? The very idea of it conjures visions of earlobes with clusters of tiny, spider-like eyes.

Of course, now we're all considering this possibility thanks to what appears to be a stunning crack in Apple's typically rock-solid dome of product secrecy.

As we reported earlier this week, MacRumors dug into one of the macOS 27 release candidates and unearthed a short bit of video featuring a man wearing AirPods Pro earbuds but somehow using them with Apple Intelligence to save an image of a book for later.

The guy isn't wearing glasses, so it's not the rumored Apple iGlass or Apple Vision Wear at work here. Instead, everyone believes this is the first confirmation that Apple is working on AirPods with cameras or "AirPods Vision," a pair of Bluetooth earbuds also equipped with vision sensors that, in concert with your connected iPhone, can use Apple Intelligence to recognize objects and then store information about them for retrieval later.

Here is your first look at AirPods with Cameras in action using Visual Intelligence.This video file came from macOS 26.7 RC pic.twitter.com/yo7RI4MCeuAugust 18, 2026

I spent some time staring at the bud in the guy's ear, and it looks, from this angle, exactly like the current AirPods Pro 3 I currently wear. I assume that whatever sensors the buds are using live on the opposite side, facing out so they can "see" what you see.

I also got caught up in the book the guy is memorizing. Could, Should, Might, Don't, is a real book by former design head for Google X, Nick Foster. In it, he dives into four mindsets of, I guess, future ideation and innovation:

• "Could" revolves around the wild possibilities (probably why we watch and love Star Trek).
• "Should" is sort of the realist's approach to what we should do based on on-the-ground facts and data.
• "Might" appears to combine elements of the first two.
• "Don't" is the risk-averse part. It's all the reasons people don't want Artificial General Intelligence or robots running AGI living with, working with, and maybe ultimately controlling us.

While not anti-tech or anti-innovation, the book has a point of view and seems an odd choice to include in what might be an iPhone and AirPods tip video.

I look at the overall image and that book and think:

"Yeah, we Could do this, have AirPods that can see, but we Should think about the consequences of another sensor on our body, and while it Might be cool to have an always-aware system memorizing things for you, we Don't want other people to freak out when they see cameras in our ears."

Smart Glasses is a lesson

Usually, I would remind people that these are all rumors and Apple is always working on oddball stuff that will never see the light of day, but we have a tip video. Apple doesn't create tips for products it's never bringing to market.

I think there's a good chance we will get these "seeing" AirPods Pro this year. I understand the system probably isn't collecting and storing images of everything you see forever. It appears to be on demand, and the use of Apple Vision should mean that it takes the image, sends it to Apple's Private Cloud Compute, matches it with available data on the internet — "What is this book?" — and stores that data without the need for the actual photo or anything else the AirPods Pro's sensors detected.

Even with those assurances, consumers are in no mood for more wearable sensors. Just look at the growing negative sentiment around smart glasses, which some are now calling "creep glasses."

The difference, of course, is that such smart wearable cameras are meant to both analyze the world you see and to capture and store photos and videos. The "creep" factor comes in from people circumventing the onboard privacy controls (trying to hide the LED lights) so they can surreptitiously capture photos and videos.

If they see cameras on your AirPods, they will surely recoil and demand to know what they're for and if you are capturing images and video of them.

The problem with camera- or vision-equipped AirPods, though, is that people will have similar concerns. If they see cameras on your AirPods, they will surely recoil and demand to know what they're for and if you are capturing images and video of them. You might say no, but also secretly wish you had. The chance to document at least their face and name so you don't forget it the next time you see them would be too hard to pass up.

AirPods Vision, if that's what they're called, might not allow you to capture images of living things, something that could seriously limit their utility except for use in quiet, windowsless, and people-free rooms like the one that guy is standing in. Oh, wait, that has a window. What if someone walks by? Does the AirPods' vision system stop working?

In a few weeks, Apple will have a new CEO, John Ternus, who will want to put his stamp on the company. This could be his first opportunity. I know Tim Cook loved the idea of AR glasses and was definitely all in on sensor-filled wearables, especially ones that could improve your health and safety.

Ternus could recalibrate, though. I'm sure he'll continue to support the health and safety aspect, but maybe he pumps the brakes on glasses and these AirPods with cameras until he has a better understanding of public sentiment and the privacy implications. There's a lot to discover, and given the challenges in these markets, there's no need to rush into anything.

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'There is no reliable, economical one-size-fits-all model on the horizon': Experts claim AI costs will grow fivefold by 2028, as demand continues to soar

• Implementing AI systems will become more expensive as models become cheaper, experts warn
• Cost-efficient tokens are resulting in more complex AI agents
• Soaring costs could result in changes to how businesses rely on AI, as the inference paradox becomes more apparent

The drive towards agentic AI workflows could be about to hit its first real challenge: cost. With more companies using agentic AI over chatbots, the costs are set to mount up.

Analysts have raised the alarm on token economics, citing evidence that as the price of a token decreases, the resulting workflows are becoming increasingly complicated. Consequently, rather than driving agentic AI workflow costs down, increased token use is pushing costs up.

The research by Gartner warns of the realities of the "inference paradox," which may lead to businesses reappraising their approach to AI development and use.

What is the inference paradox?

Gartner’s report, which has identified trends driving token economics, indicates that efficiencies in token price are being canceled out by the costs linked to increased AI capabilities.

They list a trio of trends: improving foundational model cost economics, improved AI efficiency enabling “more sophisticated AI applications,” and the higher use of AI tokens by “sophisticated workflows” compared with standard chatbots.

Gartner describes this as the “inference paradox,” the situation in which “better unit economics escalat[e] the overall cost of AI without providing a clear pathway to commensurate and predictable value.”

Agentic AI costs are outpacing results (Image credit: Gartner)

“The harsh economics of the Inference Paradox are exemplified by the differences between a simple chatbot and an AI agent," notes Will Sommer, a Sr. Director Analyst at Gartner.

"Where a simple chatbot must read and interpret a query and quickly respond with a probabilistically reasonable answer, an AI agent must constantly reason, negotiate, and question itself.”

The study suggests that using an agentic reasoning model rather than a basic chatbot increases inference costs fivefold, a multiplier that can increase with complexity.

Cost management priorities

The implications of the inference paradox are not yet fully understood or realized by the companies driving forward with agentic solutions. As Sommer notes, “Product leaders cannot rely on more efficient token economics to rationalize AI costs.”

Various solutions may become apparent – such as corporations partnering over AI agent development to manage costs – but as the drive toward more complex models and agents continues, so the cost and volume of tokens will increase.

“Each successive generation of AI capability will necessitate more, and often more expensive, tokens," added Sommer. "There is no reliable, economical one-size-fits-all model on the horizon. Producing competitive AI products will require developing and maintaining complex multimodel ecosystems.”

Given the potential destruction that going all-in on AI could wreak for some companies, it could be time reappraise that “cost cutting” agentic AI strategy.

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'This technology turns every router into a potential means for surveillance': Report claims Wi-Fi devices could 'quietly identify' people with nearly 100% accuracy

• Ordinary Wi-Fi networks can reportedly identify people without cameras or consent
• KASTEL researchers achieved nearly 100% identification accuracy across 197 volunteers tested
• Wi-Fi signals can reportedly reveal people from different viewing angles

A new study suggests that ordinary Wi-Fi networks could be repurposed to identify individuals without cameras, sensors, or their knowledge or consent.

Researchers from KASTEL, the Institute of Information Security and Dependability at KIT, tested the approach on 197 volunteers in controlled conditions.

Their system reportedly achieved nearly 100% identification accuracy regardless of a person's viewing angle or the way that person walked.

A method that needs no extra hardware

The technique relies on beamforming feedback information, a type of signal that connected devices routinely send back to a router.

This information is transmitted without any encryption, meaning anyone within range of the network could potentially intercept and read it.

By analyzing these radio signals over time, the system reportedly builds images of people from multiple viewpoints inside a space.

Earlier wireless sensing methods often required specialized equipment, such as LIDAR sensors or detailed measurements of channel state information from a network.

By contrast, the researchers say a standard, unmodified Wi-Fi device is entirely sufficient to carry out this new identification process.

"By observing the propagation of radio waves, we can create an image of the surroundings and of persons who are present," said Thorsten Strufe, a professor at KASTEL, KIT's Institute of Information Security and Dependability.

"This works similar to a normal camera, the difference being that in our case, radio waves instead of light waves are used for the recognition.

A user does not need to carry a phone, smartwatch, or other Wi-Fi-enabled device for the system to work.

Turning off one's own device would reportedly not prevent identification, since other active Wi-Fi devices nearby could still be used.

Privacy concerns extend beyond conventional surveillance

The researchers argue that widespread wireless networks could create privacy concerns because they operate throughout homes, offices, restaurants, cafés, and other public environments.

Felix Morsbach noted that intelligence agencies and cybercriminals already have simpler methods, including compromising CCTV systems and connected video doorbells.

“The omnipresent wireless networks might become a nearly comprehensive surveillance infrastructure with one concerning property: they are invisible and raise no suspicion,” Morsbach added.

Compared with existing surveillance options, such as CCTV footage or connected video doorbells, wireless signals leave no visible trace behind.

Professor Strufe cautioned that this same invisibility could make the technology particularly attractive within certain authoritarian political systems around the world.

"The technology is powerful, but at the same time entails risks to our fundamental rights, especially to privacy," said Strufe.

Ordinary routers could potentially enable people to be recognized without their knowledge during routine movements, and this could be dangerous in the wrong hands.

Therefore, widespread deployment could make individual encounters difficult to distinguish from ordinary wireless activity.

The researchers argue that privacy safeguards should be incorporated into Wi-Fi technology before such capabilities become widely and easily exploited.

Specifically, they are calling for protections to be written into the forthcoming IEEE 802.11bf wireless standard currently under active development.

Via ScienceDaily

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Cherokee Nation joins list of tribes banning data centers on tribal lands due to water, energy, noise, and cultural resource protection concerns — and all new projects require ‘early consultation’

• The Cherokee Nation has placed a moratorium on new data centers on tribal lands
• Citizens say they are concerned about the impact of new projects on the local areas
• Data centers projects on non-tribal land will not be granted support by the Cherokee Nation unless they are given early consultation

Hyperscale data center development has been banned on tribal lands owned by the Cherokee Nation following a poll of its citizens.

The poll was run by a task force headed by Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr., and found that 64% of the 1,593 respondents were opposed to the construction of data center campuses within Cherokee Nations lands, which cover about 6,963 square miles across 14 counties in Oklahoma.

Citizens' concerns returned in a 37-page report focused heavily on water consumption, air quality, noise, and cultural resource protection.

Cherokee Nation data centers require early consultation

The report also stated that data centers seeking approval to be built on non-tribal land within the reservation will require an early consultation with the Cherokee Nation, and will not be supported unless this early consultation takes place.

"Our primary responsibility is to protect our citizens and tribal communities from these threats, so we will not support any hyperscale data centers on our reservation without proper consultation," Hoskin said.

As there are no Oklahoma state rules requiring data centers to register, the number of planned and operational data centers is unknown. But estimates vary. CleanView places the number of planned and operational sites at 41, while the US Data Center Map says there could be as many as 51.

What we do know is that every hyperscale project within the state is on non-tribal land. Google’s Pryor campus has operated since 2011, but is undergoing expansion as part of a $2 billion investment in the Stillwater and Pryor campuses.

The citizens of the Cherokee Nation seem to share the same concerns as many other Americans, with fears of job replacement, environmental damage, and rising energy bills also being prevalent as reasons for AI data center opposition.

Other tribes, such as the Seminole Nation and Kickapoo Tribe, have already passed their own bans on data center projects within their territory.

Via Tom's Hardware

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I asked 2 Crunchyroll anime voice actors for their behind-the-scenes secrets from a recording 'day in the life' — and one detail hugely surprised me

I'll go ahead and say it: anime is hugely addictive. I don't mean that in a bad way, either — from the moment the first episode of a new series completely grips me, I want to consume as much of it as possible.

In general, anime have figured out a winning formula that blends archetypal, classic storytelling with cutting-edge action and visual craft, and it's why IPs such as One Piece, Jujutsu Kaisen, Solo Leveling and Demon Slayer have continued to do well.

Thanks to Crunchyroll, we get to enjoy a bombastic range of smaller titles, too. Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon, That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime and, most recently, BLACK TORCH are just some of the unmissable titles (and with those names, how could you overlook them?).

However, the missing detail that I've been intrigued about the most is how a typical day-in-the-life of recording works as one of the industry's many voice artists. Even more so because each series will have two separate casts: the original Japanese cast, and an English dub cast.

Luckily, I asked BLACK TORCH's AJ Beckles (Jiro) and Ryan Colt Levy (Ryosuke Shiba) to help fill in the missing pieces of the puzzle. As part of the English dub cast, they're already arguably behind the curve of the show's creation, but one detail of their day-to-day lives still really surprised me.

'You're learning as it is happening'

"It depends episode to episode," Levy begins. "How many scenes or moments your character may have can be different, day to day. I usually will make sure I am caffeinated and hydrated, and that I'm super scratchy. Sometimes these sessions will be early in the morning, so I'll wake up a few hours before so that my voice is primed.

"There's, there's such a cool factor to Shiba's presence that I never wanted to sound tired. I want him to sound like he's in a calm space... so there's there's a fine line there."

All incredibly logical and sound advice — but it's Brackles' admission that scripts aren't received until the second that they enter the recording booth that surprises me the most.

"You go into the studio, say hi to everybody, get in the booth, and be ready to work," he adds. "We get the scripts on the day, and you're learning about what's happening in the episode as you go. There's back and forth between yourself and the director. Like Ryan said, making sure you're hydrated, that you can show your mouth doesn't make too many slappy, clicky noises. Don't wear a leather jacket, because it's too squeaky.

"Being professional in that way, but a lot of it just comes down to really doing the work in the booth."

If we think about Disney and Pixar projects as a comparison, normally some semblance of a script will be needed to either get the project itself greenlit, or to get talent (especially the high-profile kind) to sign on.

Anime shows tend to have the safety net of the original manga to achieve both of these, but not only do voice actors tend to operate differently (as Brackles has confirmed), the manga itself can't necessarily be relied on.

With scripts being received so late on in the process, I'd like to think that animators and producers are being given more creative scope to play around with the original material. Sure, we want to see the anime hit the same big beats that we see in the manga, but the interim is surely up for grabs.

Perhaps I'm naive in thinking this might be how things work, but I still can't hide my surprise that the voice cast are having to achieve so much with so little notice. If anything, it's a testament to just how good they actually are.

BLACK TORCH is available to stream now on Crunchyroll every Saturday at 6AM PT / 9AM ET in the US.

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4 of the most detailed and sonically stellar elite hi-fi speakers I heard Audio at Audio Advice Live

Have you ever had four religious experiences in a weekend? OK, that might be hyperbole, but if you had the weekend I just had at Audio Advice Live in Raleigh, then you can relate. Disregarding audiophiles’ apparent love of Steely Dan, I was enthralled and impressed time after time at what I was hearing.

Just about every audiophile adjacent brand (and some more budget friendly enthusiast ones) was there showing off its best stereo speakers. Bowers & Wilkins showcased its flagship 801 D5 , Focal had its all-in-one active Diva Alta Utopia, Klipsch went back to one of its original speaker designs with the Klipschorn, and JBL had its new Summit Series on display including the almost flagship K-2 (the flagship Everest model didn’t make it to the show).

All in all, it was an exciting time to get acquainted with these speakers. Of course, some of them cost the equivalent of a small house in the Midwest, but that’s the deal when a team of audio engineers put their best ear forward.

The Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5 was demoed using a Marantz streamer and amps. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

1. Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5

Though the company’s original version of the Diamond Series (what the D stands for) came out in 1979, a lot has changed since then. Specifically, 2026 brings with it the Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5, an update that doesn’t look much different to the D4 but sure sounds it.

The model keeps the same design principles in that every driver has its own casing, but comes with a number of improvements. Externally, there are three noticeable changes from the 801 D4: the more open tweeter grille design introduced on the 801 D4 Signature, the stronger and stiffer aluminum spine that’s fully incorporated into the cabinet, and an upgraded plinth that reduces vibrations via tuned mass and constrained layer damping.

More importantly, the internal matrix bracing has been completely redesigned so that the 801 D5’s cabinet is as stiff as can be. This means that the signal is less affected by internal vibrations and reflections.

All of these changes result in a speaker that sounds incredibly detailed yet warm, with a resolution worthy of a studio. They basically disappear so that you’re just focused on the music and reveal things you’ve never heard in your favorite tracks. The Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5 might possibly be the best pair of speakers I’ve heard. Just be ready to drop $65,000 (£43,000, or around AU$81,900) on a pair…

The Focal Alta Diva Utopia, being active speakers, only need an outlet to use. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

2. Focal Diva Alta Utopia

Going into this event, I was excited to hear the Focal Diva Alta Utopia, the newest iteration in Focal’s first active speaker series. I almost didn’t get to hear them. Held hostage in customs during the first half of Audio Advice Live, their fashionably late entrance only made me want to hear them more. And oh, were they worth the wait.

There’s a lot going on here. The Focal Diva Alta Utopia speakers use Adapt, a DSP technology that can adjust listening position for imperfect rooms or placement. It also adds an additional driver per cabinet over the Focal Diva Mezza Utopia (the previous generation of this speaker line), making it a four-way speaker. And Focal added an additional Class A/B amp per cabinet for a total five per 600 watts per cabinet or 1200 watts total.

The Focal Diva Alta Utopia also features the company's new PRISM tweeter that’s only available on this model and the company’s Scala Utopia Evo M. This tweeter is essentially a carbon-coated composite material that offers more detail and more aural flexibility over the beryllium drivers that the company has leaned on previously.

Looks are important too, so Focal has made the accessory panels removable, so you can change out the color of the speakers if you get tired of a colorway by ordering additional ones in a different finish.

When I got to listen to these, the first thing I wrote down was “energetic.” These speakers, which retail for a cool $210,000 (£165,000, or around AU$296,800 and FYI, I don’t think you can take a mortgage out to finance these) are in your face in the best way. Room-filling with plenty of mid-bass, they offer that flagship audiophile experience without needing any additional amps or streamers. This is as good as it gets when it comes to active speakers.

The Klipsch Klipschorn looks as good as it sounds. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

3. Klipsch Klipschorn 80th Anniversary Limited Edition

People love vinyl for that analog sound. And if there’s anything that most resembles the feel of vinyl in speaker form, it’s the Klipsch Klipschorn, specifically the 80th Anniversary Limited Edition. Based on Paul Wilbur Klipsch’s original design from 1946, it comes with a few updates to bring it into the modern era.

Since only 280 of the 80th Anniversary Limited Editions will be built, Klipsch has pulled out all the stops visually. From its tigerwood veneer to the brass inlay adorning the front of the cabinet meant to emulate the folding that’s happening inside the cabinet, it’s stunning in a very mid-century modern kind-of way.

As far as its actual design, it has an active crossover and a two-way speaker design, composed of the K-5-K high-frequency horn with a 2-inch throat and four-way compression driver that takes care of everything above 350Hz and a 15-inch woofer hidden behind those brass inlays responsible everything under.

The resulting sound is one that’s a little softer around the edges than the other speakers I’ve mentioned here (hence the vinyl comparison). This makes them less ideal for reference-level use, yet they still work wonderfully with all sorts of music.

In terms of flagship speakers, the Klipsch Klipschorn 80th Anniversary Limited Edition are downright reasonable, a word I never would have expected to use for a pair of speakers costing $24,998 (so around £18,485 or AU$35,329).

The JBL Summit Series K-2 stands beside the other speakers in the Summit Series (excluding the Everest). (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

4. JBL Summit Series K-2

If you’re not familiar with JBL’s project series, let me give you a brief definition. A project series for JBL is one in which the lead engineers have been given a no-expense-spared, carte-blanche approach to making the best speaker they possibly can.

There have been five of these series since the company’s inception, and the Summit Series is the newest. Not only are they named after a series of mountains that have struck fear in many an expeditioner’s heart, but they have 12 US patents that have come about just from the creation of this series.

The penultimate of this series is the JBL Summit Series K-2 ($99,990 per pair, or £71,998, which is roughly AU$141,300), featuring a single 15-inch woofer, a 10-inch woofer, and three 1-½-inch dual-diaphragm, dual-motor compression drivers going into a 3-into-1 expansion manifold. That manifold has been designed in a way that requires it to be 3D printed instead of a more traditional construction method. The woofers themselves also use a rigid carbon fiber (HC4) material.

Also worthy of mention is the fact that they have decoupled isoacoustic isolation feet and come with the ability to tri-wire /tri-amp – a feature that only the more expensive Everest can do. The rest of the line can bi-amp.

When I had the opportunity to listen to the K-2s, it was in a large hall, bigger than any of the other spaces, yet these speakers filled out the space with seemingly plenty of headroom to spare. Despite the large room, these speakers had one of the cleanest sounds I heard over the weekend. And that 15-inch woofer kicked like a mule.

The Sonus Faber Olympica V were demoed using an all McIntosh signal chain. (Image credit: Future / James Holland)

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Honorable Mentions

While I was most impressed with this set of speakers, there were quite a few other towers of power that impressed me more than enough to be worth a quick mention. The three-way ported Sonus Faber Olympica V, powered by McIntosh amps, sounded almost as good as the speakers listed above, as they should since they’re about $30k a pair.

Wharfedale impressed with its Elysian R and is probably one of the best representations of a speaker using an AMT speaker. And the new old kid on the block, French brand Cabasse (the company is actually 77 years old), just starting to make inroads into the US is one to watch out for. Cabasse makes some really unique looking and functioning active speakers, but also some great-sounding floorstanders. This time next year, you might be looking at a set of Cabasse speakers with the same amount of interest and deliberation as any of the other brands mentioned here.

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