At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Sun-tracking solar panel extends battery life Radar-assisted motion detection reduces false alerts Subscription-free local storage Cons Limited to two motion-detection and two privacy zones No cloud backup or NVR option Our Verdict If you can mount it where it can harvest a steady supply of sunlight, the Baseus Security S2 Outdoor Camera 4K’s tracking solar panel makes it one of the few outdoor cameras that can run truly unattended, capturing crisp 4K-resolution video as a bonus. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Baseus Security S2 Outdoor Camera 4K Retailer Price $99.98 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices For many households, outdoor cameras are the front line of home security. The devices watch over driveways, porches, and backyards, catching activity that doorbell cameras often miss. Baseus enters this space with two solar-powered models: the S1 Lite, a budget option with 2K resolution that I reviewed in September, and the higher-end model S2 reviewed here, which is aimed at buyers who want more muscle–including 4K resolution. The Baseus Security S2 Outdoor Camera 4K review is the company’s flagship security camera, offering sharper video, smarter motion detection, and an unusual solar panel that tracks the position of the sun to keep its battery topped up around the clock. Design and features The S2 is bigger and heavier than its S1 Lite sibling, measuring 6.5 × 2.8 × 3.0 inches and weighing just over a pound. The housing is made of polycarbonate with a clean white finish, and the solar surface is attached to its top (it’s not integrated into the camera body itself, as we’ve seen on some competing cameras). Baseus says the panel is coated with ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene), a durable fluoropolymer that boosts UV transmission, so the panel pulls in more sunlight. The camera boasts an IP67 weatherization rating—meaning it’s completely dust-tight and that it can withstand immersion in water for up 30 minutes (don’t miss our IP code decoder to learn more about ingress-protection codes). Baseus the camera has an operating temperature range of -4 degrees Fahrenheit to 122 degrees F (-20 to 50 C), making it durable enough for year-round outdoor use. Its lens and 8-megapixel image sensor capture video in 4K Ultra HD resolution (3840 x 2160 pixels). Its 145-degree field of view is wide enough to cover a driveway or large portion of a yard, and there’s 8x digital zoom for closer inspection. Baseus claims you can expect usable detail out to about 12 meters (39 feet). In the dark, its built-in spotlight helps deliver full-color night vision, while its black-and-white night vision extends visibility even farther. The Baseus S2’s solar panel rotates to track the sun so the battery stays charge around the clock.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Where most budget cameras rely solely on passive infrared (PIR) sensors for motion detection, the Baseus S2 combines PIR with radar detection. Baseus says this dual system cuts false alerts by as much as 99 percent. On top of that, the camera’s onboard AI can distinguish between people, vehicles, pets; there’s facial recognition, too. The camera is powered by a 7,800 mAh battery that’s continually recharged (assuming there’s sufficient sunlight) by an attached solar panel. This Baseus model differs from similarly equipped cameras in that the panel will rotate up to 40 degrees to either side of its barrel-shaped enclosure to follow the sun as it moves across the day. Baseus says this nearly doubles its charging efficiency compared to a fixed panel. Video recordings are stored locally on a microSD card in capacities up to 512GB, so there are no subscriptions to worry about. Baseus doesn’t even offer an optional service for storing video in the cloud, but you’ll need to provide your own microSD card. Baseus uses AES + RSA encryption to keep these recordings secure. The Baseus S2 is compatible with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. Setup and performance You’ll need the Baseus Security app to set up the S2. The app will walk you through adding the camera to your Wi-Fi network in just a couple of minutes, and it will then help you find the optimal installation location by displaying signal strength before you mount it. The cameras comes with the necessary screws, but you’ll need to provide the screwdriver or a drill. The camera stores its video recordings on a user-provided microSD card, which slots into the underside.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Daytime video is crisp, with true 4K resolution bringing out details that often blur at lower resolutions. The 145-degree field of view was more than enough to cover the front gate to my yard. With spotlight motion detection enabled, the spotlight would kick on when the camera detected activity, capturing color video provided there was at least some ambient lighting. Switch to standard black-and-white night vision and you still get clear, detailed video that’s good enough to make out faces and movement, even in near-total darkness. The dual PIR and radar system kept motion notifications manageable in my testing. The onboard AI did a solid job of distinguishing between people, vehicles, and animals, and you can further stem the alert tide by enabling activity and privacy zones where motion will be ignored, although you’re limited to two of each. The Baseus Security S2 Outdoor Camera 4K’s solar panel is its standout feature. I was fortunate to have sunny conditions during my testing period, which enabled the battery to support round-the-clock operation. When the weather is less accommodating, you can take the camera down—it unscrews easily from its mount—and charge it with a user-provided AC adapter and the USB-A to USB-C cable you’ll find in the box. The Baseus Security app provide camera controls and mode presets—that make it easy to change how the S2 behaves. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The Baseus Security app is responsive and well laid out. Live view and replay modes load quickly, and you can toggle the spotlight, talk through the camera, or adjust notifications with a couple of taps. You also get mode presets—Home, Away, Schedule, and Disarmed—that make it easy to change how the camera behaves, or you can create your own custom modes if those don’t fit. Drawing activity and privacy zones is straightforward, and a sensitivity slider makes it easy to fine-tune alerts. Should you buy the Baseus Security S2 Outdoor Camera 4K? At $199.99 (discounted to $129.99 on the Baseus site and just $99.98 at Amazon at the time of this review), the Baseus S2 is priced in the midrange, but it offers more than you usually get at those prices. The sun-tracking solar panel is the most obvious differentiator, but its 4K video resolution, radar-assisted motion detection, and subscription-free local storage, are all pretty appealing. All that said, it’s worth remembering that with no backup solution for recorded video (there’s no cloud service, and the camera doesn’t support ONVIF or any of the other protocols that would make it feasible to store its video recordings on a NAS box or NVR (network video recorder), you will lose any forensic evidence if a burglar steals the camera. If you can give the panel steady sunlight, the S2 is an appealing choice for anyone who wants sharp footage and reliable detection without another monthly bill. Read...

Tracking when all those cool new Steam games are going to arrive can be a real headache. As someone who has to keep a very close eye on the releases for indie games, I sympathize. Fortunately, Steam has a new Personal Calendar system that shows you the games on your wishlist and exactly when they’ll be released. It’s a neat little view of the things that are coming up in the store, spotted by Polygon. To be fair (and cynical), the default view also shows you a bunch of suggestions based on Steam’s core discovery algorithm—it’s a marketing tool to get you buying more games. But you can easily switch to a view that features only the games you’ve manually added to your Steam Wishlist, which makes it far more selective. I also like how you can filter out Early Access games. You can even filter by tags! Steam Give the new Personal Calendar view a look if you’re trying to plan out, say, a personal day for that big title you’ve been looking for. Oddly, I can’t find a way to access it in the Steam app itself, possibly because it’s a Steam Labs feature and Valve doesn’t think it’s quite ready for prime time. But you can reach it here: store.steampowered.com/personalcalendar Read...

Ergonomic mice are usually made for work, not gaming. But there are some ergonomic mice that are specifically made for gaming, and they offer a more comfortable playing experience than their non-ergonomic counterparts. Read on to find out more. Most ergonomic mice are for work If you’re using a mouse a lot, no matter whether you’re gaming or working, you’re at risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI), or in the worst-case, carpal tunnel syndrome. Most people with those conditions (or those who want to prevent them) will opt for an ergonomic mouse. But what about gamers? The problem is that most ergonomic mice are made for work purposes. Compared to gaming mice, they’re big and chunky or they have an awkward design. Hardware-wise, these mice are designed for comfort, not speed or performance. They usually have low polling rates of just 125Hz or less, which can be noticeably laggy on high refresh rate monitors. If you’re a casual gamer or just like to play simple non-action games, you can probably get away with an ergonomic office mouse. Your gaming performance is not going to be dependent on having a gaming mouse with extreme hardware specs if you’re just playing lightweight games like Stardew Valley. In that case, an office mouse like the Logitech Lift will do the job. But for action game lovers, an ergonomic office mouse is not going to cut it. Instead, you’d be better off tracking down one of the more ergonomic gaming mice on the market, of which there are a few. A better option: ergonomic gaming mice Gaming mice are designed for their speed and accuracy. They usually have lightweight sculpted designs that allow players to make the fastest movements with their hands. That design should, in theory, provide gamers with a comfortable, stress-free grip, but gaming can be very hectic and that can put a lot of pressure on player hands and wrists. That’s why ergonomic mice are gaining popularity in gaming circles. There are some excellent ergonomic mice made especially for gamers. Two very popular options are the Razer Deathadder V2 Hyperspeed and the Razer Basilisk V3. The Razer Deathadder V2 Hyperspeed. Dominic Bayley / Foundry Both are lightweight and feature designs that mold to the curve of your hand. The Basilisk V3 also features an ergonomic thumb rest for you to rest your thumb on, providing more control while preventing strain on your thumb. Some other highly sought-after ergonomic options include the ROCCAT Kone Pro Air for its comfortable design and the Alienware Pro Wireless for its lightweight form. What about trackpads and trackballs? The other option many people go for is a trackpad instead of a mouse. These can reduce wrist strain by giving your fingertips more precise control. You generally don’t want to use a trackpad for gaming, though. They’ll pass the test in simple point and click games, but if you want to play fast-action games and MMOs, they’re not fast enough. Pexels: Matheus Bertelli On the other hand, trackball mice can be an excellent choice for games (with a little practice). Gameball makes trackball mice specifically for gamers. It features six ergonomic buttons, an ambidextrous design, and a precision optical sensor. It also has a rotary scroll wheel and a 1,000Hz polling rate, which means it’s as fast as other competitive gaming mice. So, in summary, while ergonomic office mice can be used for gaming, they’re not the best for speed and performance. Gamers are better off choosing one of the more ergonomic gaming mice on the market for a comfortable experience that doesn’t compromise performance. Further reading: I switched to a trackball mouse and I’m never going back Best gaming mice 2025: Find your perfect match Do I need a gaming mouse with a 4K polling rate? Read...

Generally speaking, every laptop generation is faster and more capable than the one that came before it. But something’s different this year. Between higher performance hardware, more efficient components, a trend towards eco-friendly materials, and laptop designs that aren’t afraid to be weird and experimental, I have to say that 2025 feels like the most exciting year for laptops in many, many years. Take a look at any of our top laptop lists—whether that’s best laptops overall or best gaming laptops or best laptops for college students—and you’re sure to spot some trends running through each of them. I’m particularly fond of the new crop of ultra-bright and colorful OLED screens, but everyone has their own favorites. So let’s get into it! Here are some of the top laptop trends that make 2025 one of the most exciting years ever for laptops. Repairability and eco-conscious designs The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (2024) is surprisingly repairable. That makes it a great choice if you’re worried about longevity and eco-friendliness.Matthew Smith / IDG Many major laptop brands have made big inroads in improving their environmental standards lately, and this year they’ve really kicked into high gear. In just about every top laptop model, you’ll find a range of recycled materials (like recycled steel and aluminum), plus lowered emissions during manufacturing and greener packing materials. Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others are all pushing towards circularizing the economy of laptop production, with most targeting a completely net-zero manufacturing footprint by 2040 or 2050. Today’s laptops are more repairable than ever, too, helping them to last longer. A look at iFixit’s recent laptop teardowns shows that most of the latest tested models feature high repairability scores. Popular devices like the Surface Laptop 7 make it easy to access internal components, and even Apple—with its famous love of glue and proprietary screws—allows for battery replacement in the latest M4 models. Fanless designs cut down on moving components, too, further enhancing longevity by reducing potential points of failure. If you’ve been thinking about it, now’s a good time to switch to an eco-friendly laptop. OLED hits the mainstream The Lenovo Yoga 9i isn’t just a 2-in-1 laptop—it has a stunning OLED screen.Mattias Inghe For years, OLED was considered a premium option with an appropriately premium price tag that kept it beyond reach of most consumers. Indeed, in TVs and gaming monitors, OLED is still a lot more expensive than the alternatives—but in laptops, OLED is practically mainstream now. OLED is still the premium option compared to more traditional LCD options, but it doesn’t cost that much more. Plus, a lot of the usual issues associated with OLED screens (like burn-in and low brightness) have been solved with updated forms of the technology. Just look at the gorgeous screen on the Lenovo Yoga 9i! OLED screens are also available in a range of different styles now. Alongside dual-OLED laptops like the Asus Zenbook Duo, we also have high-refresh-rate OLEDs for competitive gaming (like the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI), various folding OLED laptops, and even a rollable OLED display in the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Rollable. Upgradeable, modular laptops The Framework Laptop 12 lets you build your own modular laptop.IDG / Chris Hoffman Framework really led the way on this initiative and its latest Laptop 12 is the most exciting yet. Available with the most cutting-edge components in a range of sizes and numerous upgradeable modules, it’s a laptop design that can evolve with you as you need it. The whole concept of a modular laptop is awesome, bringing the LEGO-style customizability of a desktop PC build to the portable form factor of a laptop. Although no other company is going quite this far with their laptops yet, the idea is catching on. Panasonic’s Toughbook 55 MK3 came out last year with a range of upgradeable modules. Compal debuted its Adapt X concept earlier this year as a potential option for OEM customers (and even won a design award for it). Intel is also evangelizing the idea of modular PCs for two big reasons: the environmental impact and the way it supports “right to repair” laws. Not every laptop is going modular—far from it—but the concept has proven popular enough for Framework to remain in business after all these years (and tariff troubles). Maybe a few other laptop manufacturers will start to ape its success in due course. Thinner and lighter but still powerful The Razer Blade 16 (2025) is much thinner compared to previous models.IDG / Mark Knapp The latest generations of graphics cards and processors aren’t that much better than their predecessors, but they sure do work well in thinner and lighter laptop designs. Razer shaved down the chassis on its flagship Blade 16 laptop by as much as 30 percent this year, helping it weigh in at just over 3.5 pounds—all while granting access to RTX 50-series GPUs and top-shelf CPUs from AMD and Intel. Classic thin-and-light designs (like the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14) are as thin and light as ever yet offer more performance thanks to the latest CPUs and graphics chips. Most of them also pack OLED displays, too! A double whammy of goodness. There are also updated versions of powerful gaming tablets (like the Asus ROG Flow Z13), which are just a couple of pounds yet have cutting-edge CPUs. At the super lean end, you have devices like the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 (2025), which only weighs 1.5 pounds. (Not much in the way of high-end graphics here, but given how slim these devices are, that can be excused. You have to be realistic about these things.) 20+ hours of battery life is the new norm In our review, we found the HP OmniBook 5 14 has over 25 hours of battery power.IDG / Matthew Smith We have Windows on Arm to thank for this trend. But whether a laptop uses one of those particular models (like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X range) or one by AMD or Intel (who have been forced to play catch up), there are plenty of modern laptops with 20+ hours of battery life. It’s no longer just the calling card of Apple’s leanest MacBooks. Some gaming laptops, like the Razer Blade 16, can even last for up to 10 hours on a single charge (as long as you aren’t gaming). The combination of more efficient hardware, advanced power management algorithms, and larger batteries in slimmer designs means there are some models like the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x and HP OmniBook 5 14 that get close to 30 hours of battery life on a single charge—an impossibility just a few years ago. If this has caught your attention, check out our roundup of the longest battery life laptops we’ve ever tested. Local AI is cropping up everywhere The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 (2024) was one of the first Copilot+ PCs, meaning it was one of the first laptops with an NPU capable of local AI on Windows.Mark Hachman / IDG If there’s one marketing term that has taken over the lexicon in 2025, it’s gotta be “AI.” Apart from the obvious ChatGPT trends, Microsoft also pushed hard with its “Copilot+ PC” nomenclature reserved for laptops with qualifying NPUs (neural processing units) with enough performance to handle local AI functionality directly on said laptops instead of sending the work off to the cloud. (Learn more about NPUs in laptops.) Almost every high-end laptop in 2025 is geared to include AI in some form or another, and it’s not just Microsoft integrating Copilot via Microsoft 365 and Windows 11. Samsung laptops have integrated AI Select and Photo Remaster. HP has an AI companion. Several others have AI translation services and photo beautification effects. The usefulness of such AI features might be dubious, but they exist, can’t be ignored, and have been a major laptop selling point this year. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Compact IP68-rated form factor Attractive styling Top-shelf real world 20Gbps performance Captive port plug Cons Slows drastically off secondary cache Our Verdict Adata’s IP68-rated SD820 SSD delivers excellent real world 20Gbps performance in a small package, and at an affordable price point. But it will slow drastically during very long writes. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Adata SD820 SSD Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Being unabashedly shape-conscious, I was prone to liking the Adata SD820 right off the bat. Its bright blue highlights are a bit garish in bright light, but I like that — makes it easy to spot in the wild. The fact that it’s a good 20Gbps performer with 2TB on board just sweetened the deal. Attractive and useful. What’s not to like? Well, one thing. If you write too much data at once (more than 20 percent of capacity), the drive will run out of secondary cache and slow to around 130MBps. Otherwise, the SD820 turned in the fastest real world performance we’ve seen from a 20Gbps SSD. Adata SD820: Features The SD820 is a small, flat-ish, bright-blue-and-black rectangle measuring around 2.65-inches long by 1.5-inches wide by 0.4-inches thick. It weighs a mere 0.9 ounces. It’s more than suitable for outdoor use according to its IP68 rating. If you aren’t feeling curious enough to click on that link, IP68 means the SD820 is dustproof and can survive immersion in 10 feet of water. That’s as good as it gets for consumer devices. The SD820 sports a female Type-C connector protected by a captive plastic cap and Adata includes a Type-C to Type-C cable. The business end of the SD820 with its captive Type-C plug unplugged. While the color scheme may seem a bit garish to some, it also means you’ll be able to more easily find the little sucker if you drop it on the trail. Neon orange, lime, or pink are a bit better for that in my experience, but the blue will do. The SD820 is 20Gbps USB 3.2×2, the controller is a Silicon Motion SM2322, and the NAND is layered QLC. USB 3.2×2 is 20Gbps when attached to a dedicated USB 3.2×2 port and some USB4 ports, but it drops to 10Gbps or lower in most Thunderbolt ports, and all non-USB4 ports. Adata warranties the SD820 for five years, which is two years more generous than most external SSDs. The company did not provide a TBW (TeraBytes that may be Written) rating, but QLC of this type (older) is generally around 250TBW per terabyte of capacity. Adata SD820: Pricing The SD820 will be available in $102/1TB and $179/2TB as of mid-November 2025, and eventually in 4TB capacity. Not sure about the price yet, but I’d guess around $400. That’s not bad at all for IP68-rated 20Gbps SSDs. You can go a bit cheaper without the IP-rating, and a lot more expensive is you want better write performance with large amounts of data. As to that… Adata SD820: Speed With normal amounts of data, the SD820 is among the fastest 20Gbps SSDs we’ve tested. Faster in sequential throughput than random ops, but still very fast overall. The SD820 is one of the fastest small profile 20Gbps SSDs we’ve tested when it comes to sequential throughput with normal sized amounts of data. Longer bars are better. Although 4K reads are competitive, the SD820 fell well behind its rivals in 4K writing. Overall, not bad, not great. Although fast with 4K reads, the SD820 fell well behind the competition in 4K writing. Longer bars are better. Where the SD820 really brought home the bacon was in our 48GB transfer tests. It shaved quite a few seconds off the times of the the two listed competitors, the Corsair EX400U and Crucial X10 (chosen because of their similar bulk) and is the fastest of all the 20Gbps SSDs and enclosures we’ve tested. Where the SD820 really brought home the bacon was in our 48GB transfer tests. Shorter bars are better. The SD820 was actually on pace for much faster time in the 450GB write, when at around the 85 percent mark it ran out of secondary cache (second image below). The QLC’s 130MBps native write speed dropped the sea anchor on a competitive time. For real world transfers of normal size, the SD820 is the portable 20Gbps SSD to beat. The SD820 was actually on pace for much faster time in the 450GB write, when around the 85% mark it ran out of secondary cache and the QLC’s 115 – 120 MBps native write speed dropped the sea anchor. Shorter bars are better. Here’s a screen capture of the native write slowdown at the 85 percent mark. The QLC must be of the older variety as we’ve seen newer QLC maintain around 400Mbps to 500MBps. But basically, if you write this much data regularly (few do — even us outside of testing), you might opt for a TLC SSD. The SD820 was on pace until the end when it ran out of secondary cache. Writing any amount less than this and it’s golden. For real world transfers of normal size, the SD820 is the portable 20Gbps SSD to beat. However, users regularly writing very large amounts of data, something sporting TLC NAND and USB4 might serve them better in the long run. Adata SD820: Conclusion If you’re looking for rugged storage at a decent price and like the look, give the Adata SD820 a good, hard look. The SD820 isn’t quite pro-level, but it’s easily fast enough and vast enough for the average user, especially those working in the wild. Adata SD820: How we test Drive tests currently utilize Windows 11 24H2, 64-bit running off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Ultra i5 225 feeding/fed by two Crucial 64GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (128GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated into the motherboard and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. Internal PCIe 5.0 SSDs involved in testing are mounted in a Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 adapter card siting in a PCIe 5.0 slot. We run the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 (and 9), AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks (to keep article length down, we only report one) to find the storage device’s potential performance, then a series of 48GB and 450GB transfers tests using Windows Explorer drag and drop to show what users will see during routine copy operations, as well as the far faster FastCopy run as administrator to show what’s possible. A 20GBps two-SSD RAID 0 array on the aforementioned Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 is used as the second drive in our transfer tests. Formerly the 48GB tests were done with a RAM disk serving that purpose. Each test is performed on a NTFS-formatted and newly TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that in normal use, as a drive fills up, performance may decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, as well as other factors. This issue has abated somewhat with the current crop of SSDs utilizing more mature controllers and far faster, late-generation NAND. Note that our testing MO evolves and these results may not match those from previous articles. Only comparisons inside the article are 100% valid as those results are gathered using the current hardware and MO. Read...

DoiT has acquired CloudWize for $250m, enhancing its Cloud Intelligence platform with advanced multi-cloud security and compliance features. Read...

I don’t know how your tech drawers look, but mine are filled with wires I’ll likely never use again because technology has advanced quite a bit. Thankfully, USB-C seems to be here to stay since there is no wrong way to plug these things in. It’s not just smartphones, tablets, and laptops that use these, however, but also a long list of gadgets. We’ve scoured the market for hidden gems: 13 gadgets that will make you think “Wow, I didn’t know I needed that, but it will make my life so much easier!” Let’s dive in and see what cool devices you’ll be able to use your type-C cables and ports with. Unihand rechargeable hand warmers Unihand As the weather is getting colder, you sometimes wish you could warm up your hands a bit faster. Well, these $18 hand warmers are rechargeable and perfectly ready to keep your fingers toasty for up to 20 hours on a single charge. These gadgets feature a temperature sensor chip that helps you pick one of three temps for precise control. There are plenty of colors to choose from, too. Wowstick 1F+ mini electric screwdriver Wowstick If you often have to fiddle around with your computer or other gadgets, this Wowstick mini electric screwdriver may be just what you need. This pen-shaped screwdriver features three LED lights so it’s easier to see what you’re working on and rotates 200 times per minute so you can finish the job faster. The screwdriver has a stylish base so you can hold it on your desk, and a whole collection of 56 aluminum alloy bits. The screwdriver can be charged via USB-C and it can last for hours. This super fun electric screwdriver usually goes for $41. Anker Nano Power Bank Anker One thing you need to have in you bag/pocket/backpack is a power bank because you never really know when your phone will fail you and cry for a recharge. Well, the Anker Nano power bank is tiny enough to fit just about anywhere. It comes with a foldable USB-C connector and a port on the side so you can charge two devices at once if you need to. The 5,000mAh capacity is just about enough for a full phone recharge, so it will be great in a pinch. It’s also only $30, but we’ve seen it as low as $16. Endoscope camera with light Ennovor Although it’s not something you’ll use every day, this Ennover endoscope camera can definitely come in handy. You just plug it in your phone, install and app, and see everything your camera does. Our team swears by it, using it for finding whatever they dropped behind the desk, while working on the car, or looking for pipe leaks. Since it has an IP67 rating, you can even plop it in your aquarium. The camera comes with a 16.4ft semi-rigid cable and several accessories, including a hook, magnet, and a mirror. You can get this one for $17 right now. Blukar flashlight Blukar I don’t care who you are—you need a flashlight. The smaller, the better, because you get to shove it into any pocket. This model from Blukar comes with a built-in 1800mAh battery that you’ll recharge with one of those many type-C cables you have in that tech drawer we were talking about. It can work for up to 16 hours on a single charge, which is pretty decent. There are four different lightning modes to cycle through, including one that will help you signal for help. Plus, one of these is less than $8, so no excuse to pass on this one. Heat It insect bite healer Anyone plagued by mosquitoes in the summer will be particularly pleased with this ingenious gadget. This tiny device, which can be easily connected to your smartphone via USB-C, can significantly reduce the itching of bites and stings with targeted heat. You simply charge the small Heat It bite healer via the app and then hold it on the bite. The heat then does the rest, breaking down the proteins in the mosquito bite that cause the area to swell, itch, and hurt. A true must-have for summer, and it costs only $20 when on sale. A tiny air pump Also perfect for summer is this small air pump from Cycplus, which fits in any bag while on the go. Not only can it inflate a bicycle tire in two minutes at the touch of a button, but it’s also USB-charged. According to the manufacturer, it’s suitable for mountain bikes, road bikes, motorcycles, and even cars! In addition to being an air pump, this practical gadget can also be used as a flashlight or power bank for on-the-go use — all things that come in very handy on a bike ride. And at just $57 (although we’ve seen it for as low as $35) it’s highly recommended if you need quick help with a flat tire. USB-C mini fan These little fans are also pretty ingenious; you can easily carry them in your pocket in the summer and quickly use them whenever you need them. Anyone who’s ever sat on a crowded subway train in 30-degree heat and wished for at least a little fresh air will love this gadget. The mini fan, which costs just $20, has a USB-C port and can be easily powered by power banks, computers, laptops, or USB chargers. There are even smaller and cheaper fans available that can be connected directly to your phone, costing under $10 each. But these also provide less powerful airflow, so we recommend the standalone version. Reading light with a book clamp Anyone who enjoys reading a lot, sometimes late into the night, will appreciate this little gadget: a reading lamp that you can simply clip onto your book. It may not be groundbreaking, but with a total of three color temperatures and five different light modes, you can individually adjust how much light you need for reading. The Gritin reading lamp costs just $8 on Amazon and features a 1200 mAh battery that lasts up to 80 hours depending on usage. Afterward, you can easily recharge it via USB. You can swivel the neck of the lamp back and forth as desired, and there’s even a small charging indicator. What more could you want? External DVD Drive Amicool If your laptop is like mine and lacks a DVD drive, then this little gadget will come in handy for you. This Amicool external DVD drive uses a USB-C (or USB-A) to connect to your laptop and give yout he optical drive you sometimes need. It can read and burn DVDs and CDs with ease, allowing you to install software, copy files, back up data, play games, and so on. You won’t even need to install drives as this thing is plug and play. While this thing’s usually $29, you can often get it for around $20, which is an absolute bargain. Samsung flash drive Samsung The vast majority of flash drives have a USB-A connector, but this one from Samsung has a Type-C connector. With transfer speeds of up to 400MB/s, you’ll move files around in no time. The beauty of this thumb drive is that you can even pop it in your smartphone to record 4K vids directly on it. The Samsung Type-C flash drive comes in multiple storage options, starting at 64GB and up to 512GB and they start at $14. The 256GB version, for instance, is $27 at the time of writing. Type-C microSD card reader Ugreen Most laptops nowadays don’t come with a card reader anymore (I know mine doesn’t), so finding other ways to get data off those little buggers is a must. Whether you need to pull data off your dashcam’s card or if it’s from your camera, this tiny Ugreen USB-C microSD reader will work just fine. This reader is tiny enough that you should probably put it on a keychain of some kind. If you’d rather a slightly more versatile version, Ugreen has a model that also works with SD cards and features both USB-C and USB-A connectors. Any of these will cost you less than $10, so they’re worthwhile investments. USB-C to HDMI adapter Anker If your laptop has a USB-C port but you haven’t updated your monitor in ages, your display won’t feature a Type-C port. This Anker adapter fixes this problem for you, enabling you to connect the regular HDMI cable you plug in your monitor with this gadget. The adapter supports resolutions of up to 4K at 60Hz, which is pretty awesome. This is also a nifty way to connect your phone or tablet to your monitor or TV. This thing’s $20, but we’ve seen it as low as $12. Editor’s note: This article was originally published on May 16, but was updated to include additional devices. Read...

TL;DR: Get an IONOS Web Hosting Plus 3-year subscription plan for $99.99 (MSRP $288). Web hosting can cost $10+ monthly—especially if you’re building multiple projects or want enterprise-grade reliability. But this deal brings the cost way down. With IONOS Web Hosting Plus, you’ll get three full years of hosting for about $2.78 per month without compromising on performance, security, or features. The plan includes unlimited websites, storage, databases, and bandwidth, plus enhanced CPU and memory resources to handle demanding workloads. Your data is hosted on geo-redundant infrastructure with a 99.99% uptime guarantee, so your sites stay online even if one data center goes down. Built-in daily backups, malware scanning, DDoS protection, and a free Wildcard SSL certificate help keep everything secure from day one. Setup is simple with 1-click installs for over 70 apps and CMS platforms, SSH and SFTP access, and full Git integration. You’ll also get a free domain for a year, professional email, and 24/7 support. Whether you’re launching a portfolio site, managing client projects, or hosting resource-heavy web apps, this is a cost-effective way to scale without recurring monthly bills. Save 65% on IONOS Web Hosting Plus with a 3-year subscription plan. IONOS Web Hosting Plus Plan: 3-Year SubscriptionSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

With privacy all but nonexistent now thanks to web advertising and monetized tracking, there’s a definite niche for browsers and other tools that specialize in keeping you safe and anonymous online. Brave, DuckDuckGo, Mullvad, and Tor are all great examples. But one “privacy browser” is allegedly made by cyber criminals specifically to harvest data—and it has millions of downloads. According to a security report from Infoblox, in cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the China-focused Universe Browser is advertised as a safe and private way to bypass censorship and web blocks. It has a specific use case for would-be online gamblers. But just underneath its surface, the browser is recording the user’s location, routing all traffic data through servers in China, installing keyloggers, and changing network settings. “These features are consistent with remote access trojans (RATs) and other malware increasingly being distributed through Chinese online gambling platforms,” says Infoblox. While the report stops short of accusing the developers of the browser of being straight-up criminals, it’s hard to imagine any software doing all that nasty stuff for benevolent purposes. The data collected would be easy to leverage into tracking wealthy gamblers and targeting them for Trojan deliveries, identity theft, or blackmail attacks… just as examples. The Chrome-derived Universe Browser has been promoted as a way to access gambling sites to customers of the Baoying Group, closely associated with Triad criminal actors (labelled “Vault Viper” by researchers) that profit from illegal online gambling, cybercrime, money laundering, and human trafficking. Once installed, the program attempts to evade antivirus detection, injects code, and monitors system information like the contents of a user’s clipboard. After a few checks to make sure it’s properly evading security, the Windows version can even replace your original Chrome executable file. Once it’s well and truly embedded in both the system and the user’s habits, things start to get really interesting. The browser’s base function has almost all user-accessible settings disabled, and it includes an extension that can take screenshots of web browsing and upload them to a remote server. The browser appears to be sending encrypted data to specific servers associated with Vault Viper. Universe Browser seems to be custom-made for the Baoying Group and its associates, and it’s only advertised on their sites, mostly targeting gamblers in China and Taiwan where online gambling is illegal. It’s available on the iOS App Store and as a sideloaded Android app, but according to Wired, it’s not known whether these mobile versions are as dangerous as the Windows version. I’d avoid all of them if I were you. Read...

Now that Microsoft is not-quite-forcing you to upgrade to Windows 11, it’s time for them to take break, let you settle in, lay off some of the heavy-handed marketing that’s been the company’s staple for the last two years… Ha, just kidding. They’re actually burying users under more Copilot features and integrations. Try to contain your excitement. In a sprawling marketing post yesterday, Microsoft announced a bunch of new features for Copilot… not a single one of which requires a laptop or desktop that meets the Copilot+ requirements. “Copilot now connects you to yourself, to others, and to the tools you use every day. It’s there for you, helps you stay organized, and even supports your health,” says the blog post from Microsoft’s CEO of AI. Here’s a breakdown of all the new and updated stuff announced: Mico, Microsoft’s AI companion character: It’s Clippy 2.0. And the new video showing off the character, which is supposed to be conversational, has no audio. What? Thankfully, Mico is only an “optional visual presence”; you can still use Copilot in its standard text-based interface. Mico is currently rolling out in the US, though I haven’t seen it in action yet. (Oh, by the way. It’s called Mico because it’s an interface for Microsoft Copilot. Riveting.) Copilot Mode in Edge: Microsoft is pushing the Copilot integration to compete with new “agentic” browsers like Comet. Copilot will be able to “read” the pages you’re looking at and remember your internet history, in a method that whiffs of Recall on Copilot+ PCs. Don’t everyone jump at once to give Microsoft even more of your web browsing information. Copilot Groups: Up to 32 users can join in a Copilot LLM session at once for collaboration. Long-term memory: Copilot’s LLM can now “remember” important information you offer up to it, mirroring features from other “AI” chatbots like ChatGPT (which forms the basis for much of Copilot’s functionality) and Google Gemini. Users can update, edit, or delete specific conversations in their history, allowing a measure of control over what Copilot remembers. Integration with Google services: Copilot can now get into your Google account to “see” Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar, something that was already announced. In Deep Research mode, it will offer up more insight based on recent activity. Copilot for health: Microsoft promises some more credible search results, including “sources like Harvard Health.” It’ll also help you find the correct local doctors based on your health needs, including location and language. All of these things are, of course, completely impossible to do with a standard search engine, like the one Microsoft has been making for a couple of decades. I’ve yet to see anything in Copilot that makes me want to leave it running on my PC, much less pay $20 per month for a Microsoft 365 subscription to get at its more potent capabilities. But if you want to try this stuff out, Microsoft says that all the above capabilities are rolling out in the US now, with the UK, Canada, “and beyond” coming later. Read...