The Philips Hue app has grown in complexity over the past several years, with more and more new features and settings being tucked into the user interface. That makes it all too easy to miss the latest and greatest in Hue functionality.  Besides such newer features as light alarms, “mimic presence,” and—flashiest of all—Hue’s motion-sensing MotionAware technology, there are also old favorites like light timers and fade durations. Taken together, these (often well hidden) features can add polish to your Hue routines, keep your daily schedules on track, and even protect your home from would-be intruders.  Read on for seven hidden Hue features you need to try, starting with…  Mimic presence mode Philips Hue recently made the jump into the home security market, adding a series of Hue Secure-branded cameras along with door and window sensors and floodlights, But even if you’re not ready to invest in a Hue camera, you can still boost your security with this built-in Hue feature.  Just activate the “Mimic Presence” mode, and the Hue app will automatically turn your lights on and off to “mimic the activities that would be expected in those types of rooms,” perfect for scaring off burglars or anyone else thinking of sneaking into your empty home.  The “Mimic presence” feature is tucked into a long list of options on the Automations screen. Tap it, select one or more rooms, then select some or all the lights associated with the room. You can also set the mode to run all day, or only when it’s dark outside.  To trigger the “Mimic presence” mode, just locate it on the Automations tab and tap the “Play” button, or “Stop” to deactivate the mode. You can also set a Hue button to turn “Mimic presence” on or off, or map the mode to a Hue smartphone widget.  Light alarms  Here’s another Hue feature that can help keep your home safe. Rather than using audible alarms to ward off intruders, the Hue app can trigger light-based alarms that rapidly flash some or all of your Hue lights, ideal for spooking crooks as well as alerting your neighbors that something’s amiss.  To use light alarms, you’ll need a supporting device such as a Hue Secure camera, a Hue motion sensor (there are indoor and outdoor models), or a Hue contact sensor. You’ll also need to enable the Hue Security center (Settings > Security).  As you’re configuring Hue Security, it will guide you through the process of setting up a light alarm. For example, you’ll be able to decide which lights in your home should flash when the alarm is tripped, as well as whether your lights should flash white or red.   You can set your Philips Hue light alarms to flash either white or red.Ben Patterson/Foundry Besides a flashing light alarm, you can also create automations that trigger light scenes when a Hue sensor detects activity. For example, I created an automation that activates a bright light scene in my downstairs home office whenever the upstairs kitchen door is opened, handy for letting me know when my daughter comes home from school.  In my case, I drilled down to the settings for my Hue door and window sensors (Settings > Devices > Sensors > Contact Sensors), selected the lights that I wanted triggered (Office), then adjust the Behavior settings (“Bright” when the door is opened, “Return to previous state” when the door is closed).  MotionAware motion-sensing technology One of the coolest new Philips Hue features is also one that’s restricted to the new Hue Bridge Pro. Dubbed “MotionAware,” the feature lets you turn your Hue lights into motion sensors, perfect for triggering light scenes when people enter or leave an area. MotionAware works its magic by detecting disturbances in the wireless Zigbee signals used to connect Hue lights to the bridge, and you’ll need at least three MotionAware-capable Hue lights in an area to enabled a motion zone. MotionAware does have its foibles and as I just mentioned, it only works with the Hue Bridge Pro, not the standard Hue Bridge. Still, it makes for a great way to quickly deploy motion zones throughout your home, and while the $98.99 Bridge Pro is roughly twice the price of the regular bridge, it’s still cheaper than paying for individual Hue motion sensors in each room. The Hue Bridge Pro can turn your Hue lights into motion sensors.Ben Patterson/Foundry Fade duration  The Hue app offers both wake up and sleep automations that will gradually boost or dim the brightness in the morning or at night, but you can also set any light scenes to gradually fade in or out.  I find the “fade duration” setting particularly handy for smoothly changing daytime light scenes from, say, a warm morning glow to a cooler daytime look, all without making anyone in the room do a double-take. (The Hue app also has a “Natural Light” scene that changes the light temperature throughout the day, with an optional “transition time” between each time window. I just happen to prefer my own scene settings.)  Whenever you create a custom automation (tap the Automations tab, then tap the blue “+” button in the top-right corner of the screen), the Fade Duration option will appear as you’re setting the start time for the routine. The duration itself can last for anywhere between five minutes to an hour. If you’re adjusting an existing scene, you’ll need to tap “Start at” or “End at” to access the Fade Duration setting.  Light effects  Hue lights can do more than just shine in solid colors or white color temperatures. They can also flicker, shimmer, and pulse in a variety of shades, perfect for simulating a candle, a fireplace, or a lava lamp.  Just select any of your Hue lights in a room, then tap the Effects button (the one with a sparkly icon) next to the color and white color temperature controls. You’ll then see a variety of light effects, depending on the type of Hue light you’ve selected. Dimmable-only Hue white lights will offer Candle effects, while dimmable and tunable White Ambience lights will add Glisten and Sparkle effects. While and Color Ambience lights get even more effects, including Fireplace, Underwater, Cosmos, and Opal, all with different color options.  Among the Hue light effects you can choose are Candle, Fireplace (left), Underwater, and Cosmos (middle). You can also adjust the color, brightness, and speed for any of the effects (right).Ben Patterson/Foundry Even better, you can create your own custom effect for each category; tap Create Fireplace, for example, and you can pick your own color, as well as adjust the brightness and speed.  Once you’ve added effects for different lights in a room, you can create a scene with those effects by tapping the Save button.  Animated light scenes   Speaking of scenes, you can animate any Hue scene in a room (that is, any scenes aside from basic scenes like Bright, Dimmed, and Nightlight) with a single tap.  If you see a “Play” icon on a light scene, try tapping it; when you do, the scene will animate itself, pulsing gently according to its own rhythm. Tap the Edit button to change the brightness or speed of the animation, or to make the scene animate itself by default.  Light timers Need to set a timer but hate the blare of an audible alarm? Just as the Hue app offers light alarms, it also has light timers that can activate lighting scenes after a set duration of time.  Tap the “+” button on the Automations screen, then select the Timer option. You’ll need to set how long the timer should last (anywhere from a minute to 24 hours), which room or rooms will be included (or your entire home, if you like), and which scene you’d like activated when the timer ends.  Once that’s all set, you’ll see your new timer with a “Play” button at the top of your list of automations. Press the Play button, and when the countdown ends, the timer will trigger the lighting scene you selected.  This feature is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart lighting products. Updated with details about Hue’s MotionAware motion-detection technology. Read...

Do you know what your gaming setup needs? A monitor upgrade! Luckily for you, LG’s 32-inch 1440p gaming monitor is on sale for just $200 on Amazon, a 33% discount off its $300 MSRP and aaaaalmost its best price of all time (it was a tad bit lower on Black Friday, but that’s it). In short, this is absolutely worth jumping on, and you’ll see why below. View this Amazon deal The LG UltraGear 32GS60QC-B was built to make your gaming life more beautiful and more immersive. With its massive 32-inch panel and a gorgeous 2560×1440 resolution, this monitor promises great visuals with vibrant colors and tons of crisp details. The 180Hz refresh rate is great for all but the most hardcore of gamers, and the 1ms response time is quick enough for all but the most competitive of gamers. The 1000R curvature on this screen is neither dramatic nor gentle, right in that sweet spot area that wraps around your vision to make things more immersive and ease eye strain, but not so much that it’s disorienting. The 32GS60QC-B also supports AMD FreeSync technology, which minimizes screen tearing and stuttering for a fluid visual experience by syncing the images to your GPU. As far as connectivity goes, this monitor features a DisplayPort and two HDMI, making it easy to connect to multiple devices at once should you have different machines for gaming and work, for instance. All things considered, this is an excellent monitor whether you’re gaming, working, browsing the web, or just watching Netflix and YouTube, and all of these features are darn good for this discounted price. Get the LG UltraGear 32GS60QC-B for only $200 while you can! Or if you want to keep looking, check out our roundup of the best gaming monitors. Get $100 off LG`s 32-inch 1440p 180Hz gaming monitorBuy now at Amazon Read...

Just when Intel seemed to be on the cusp of success, the company reported supply issues that will limit the number of available PC chips that PC makers will be able to buy. Moreover, Intel said that it’s prioritizing the higher-margin data center chips with what it can manufacture, leaving supplies of upcoming chips like the Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) apparently constrained. Intel also said that its next-generation processor, Nova Lake, would arrive at the end of 2026. “So it’s just literally hand to mouth what we can get out of the fab and what we can get the customers, is how we’re managing it,” David Zinsner, Intel’s chief financial officer, said during a call with analysts reporting Intel’s Q4 earnings for 2025. A transcript was recorded by Investing.com. “Obviously, we’re shifting as much as we can over to data center to meet the high demand, but we can’t completely vacate the client market,” Zinsner added. “So we’re trying to support both as best we can and obviously work our way out of this supply issue. I do believe that the first quarter is the trough. We will improve supply in the second quarter.” The problem right now is two-fold, Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan explained: though Intel is now shipping Panther Lake chips using its 18A technology, the company’s yields—the number of “good” wafers, capable of making finished chips—is meeting internal expectations but not enough to meet demand. The company ate up most of its in-house supply of chips during the fourth quarter and is down to about 40 percent of “peak levels,” executives said. Intel said that its supply would continue to increase during the course of the year. Intel’s processor supply crunch comes at a time when the PC industry is facing acute shortages of memory and flash storage, all of which are having a negative impact on PC sales and prices. First benchmark impressions of Intel’s Panther Lake were terrific, but if customers can’t get them, then no one wins. Tan implied that Intel’s own allocation strategy could be brutally practical, favoring larger customers over small. “Some of the bigger players and the OEMs and the bigger player in the hyperscale [business], they have more access into the memory allocations,” Tan said. “And then secondly, I think some of the smaller ones, they are really challenging to scramble to get the memory. So I think that will be very important for us, Dave and I, how to allocate and also our sales grid and how to allocate to the right customer. We don’t want to have a CPU we send to them but they are missing the memory. They cannot complete the products. So we try to do it correctly.” Intel executives said that the company has “very active” engagement with customers on its foundry business, specifically on the Intel 14A manufacturing process. Finally, Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said that Intel would consolidate its data center and AI programs under a single leader, and “simplified” the company’s enterprise roadmap on the 16-channel Diamond Rapids part. Intel also said that it continues to work closely with Nvidia to build a custom Xeon fully integrated with its NVLink technology, as per Nvidia’s $5 billion investment last year, but there was no news of any RTX GPU chiplets for Intel PC processors. Intel reported a loss of $600 million on revenue of $13.7 billion, down 4 percent from a year ago. Intel’s Client and Computing Group reported a 7 percent drop in revenue to $8.2 billion. Intel projected lower sequential revenue, between $11.7 billion and $12.7 billion. Read...

A VPN can actually offer advantages when gaming—despite some assumptions to the contrary. Here are three reasons why (and when) it can be worthwhile to use one. If you’re looking for an even more in-depth look at this topic check out our article of all the pros and cons of using a VPN while gaming. 1. Protection against DDoS attacks A DDoS attack is a targeted overload of an internet connection or server. It involves sending a large number of requests in a short period of time until the connection breaks down. For gamers, this means that online games are interrupted or cannot be started at all. For such attacks to be possible, the internet connection must be specifically targeted. In online gaming, this is possible in some cases because, depending on the game and connection technology, your own IP address is visible to other players or servers. This IP address then serves as a target for attack, directly overloading your private internet connection. A VPN prevents this by hiding your IP address. Instead of your private address, only the IP of the VPN server is visible to the outside world. Attacks no longer affect your own internet connection, and end up hitting a dead-end. Not every VPN provider is equally suitable when it comes to security and data protection. Check out our list of the best VPNs to see which services for gaming, privacy, security, and more. Our overall winner is NordVPN, and Surfshark is a great option if you’re on a budget. 2. Positive effect on ping and connection quality You read that right: there are certain situations in which a VPN can stabilize or even improve your connection. This depends primarily on the route the data takes between your connection and the game server. Internet service providers do not always route data packets via the most efficient route. Instead, they use detours or heavily congested hubs. A VPN can change this route and direct data traffic via more stable or better-connected routes. In such cases, the ping does not necessarily decrease, but the connection becomes more consistent and reliable. This is particularly noticeable with international game servers or during peak times. However, whether this effect occurs depends on several factors and can only be determined by direct comparison. Under certain conditions, a VPN can improve the connection. The quickest way to find out is to run a test.earthphotostock/Shutterstock.com 3. Access to additional servers and game regions Many online games use regional servers to keep connections stable and ensure fair competition. Players are automatically assigned to a specific region. A VPN changes the virtual location and thus enables access to game servers in other countries. This also allows you to use game regions that would otherwise be inaccessible. This is particularly relevant if you want to play with friends abroad or specifically use other server pools. A VPN also offers a direct alternative if you encounter problems with regional servers. Please note that not all games allow the use of a VPN. Some providers expressly exclude this use in their terms and conditions. Before using a VPN, you should therefore check whether its use is permitted for the game in question. When a VPN is not useful for gaming A VPN is not a “hack” for every gaming situation. In some cases, its use adds no value or even has a negative effect on the gaming experience. This is especially true for fast-paced, competitive online games where every millisecond counts. If your internet connection is already stable and the direct route to the game server is working optimally, a VPN will usually increase latency. In such cases, the additional detour via the VPN server outweighs the potential benefits. A VPN is also usually unnecessary for local or regional lobbies. If you are playing with players from your region and have no connection problems, you’ll hardly benefit from additional security at the network level. In addition, some games restrict or prohibit the use of VPNs. If you dial into other regions using a VPN, you risk restrictions or sanctions depending on the title. Especially in a competitive environment, the use of a VPN should therefore be carefully considered. In short: a VPN is not a standard tool for every game, but a situational addition. Read...

After giving us such incredible innovations like pens that write upside down and ice cream that tastes bad (and a pretty huge portion of modern technology), NASA is looking earthside for its next breakthrough. Okay, “breakthrough” might be vainglorious for a computer benchmarking tool. I’m burying the lede here: NASA wants to use CapFrameX for its giant flight simulators. CapFrameX, if you’re not aware, is a popular benchmarking tool. Users like its ability to capture and analyze system and performance info with a dizzying number of readouts and tons of customization. It’s based on PresentMon, an open-source project from Intel. According to the official CapFrameX Twitter account, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (they went to the moon a few times) has “expressed interest in using CapFrameX to assess FPS performance for cockpit simulator video systems and has started the US government software approval process.” Subsequent comments from the account say that “they started the approval process.” It makes sense that NASA is heavily invested in making its flight simulators work effectively. Even regular pilots need to rack up thousands of hours in simulated flights before they get into the cockpit of a real machine, so controlling the machines that get into the upper atmosphere and orbit of Earth has literally higher stakes. Today, NASA uses a lot of commercial software and hardware in its flight simulator setups (as Tom’s Hardware notes) but its elaborate training sims are still some of the most advanced in the world. These include full-motion, fully enclosed systems that move on their own axes. If I were a software dev working on an open-source benchmark tool, I’d be stoked that NASA thought I had the right stuff. Cheers, CapFrameX. Read...

Guys, I’ve done it. I’ve drunk the kool aid and joined the pantheon of super gamers that will tell you without doubt, that if you aren’t gaming on an OLED monitor, you’re missing out. That’s what I wish I’d been able to tell myself earlier, at least. This upgrade was a long time coming, but finally, after eight years with my previous main monitor, I bought an Alienware AW3225QF and there’s no looking back. I believed the hype for a long time, and have had a monitor upgrade on my to-do list for a number of years, but the timing was just never quite right. There was something else more important to upgrade next, or the pricing wasn’t right, or I was waiting for the right monitor to come along. But this recent Black Friday I finally pulled the trigger. I got in at a price that worked for me, and now I work and game on a 32-inch, QD-OLED, 4K, 240Hz monitor that is every bit as good as I hoped, and more. It’s not perfect, but I do wish I’d bought it sooner. Neglecting monitor upgrades is silly I now realize that I’ve been rather foolish with my upgrade focus. I switched up my processor and graphics card in 2023, and updated the memory and storage in 2024. A new case too, because my old one looked trash and one of the fan covers was dented. And the CPU cooler needed upgrading too, for something quiet. my magnificent new oled monitor Alienware AW3225QF Read our review Best Prices Today: $1199.99 at Dell All the while I was gaming on a monitor from 2016. The Asus MG279Q was a great gaming monitor when it first released: 1440p resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, IPS panel, 4ms response time, and FreeSync support. It was almost as good in 2018 when I bought it, but by the mid-2020s, it was really starting to show its age. It’s still a decent gaming display. Still pretty fast, and 1440p still looks great. But it’s not OLED. The 4K resolution and 240Hz refresh rate of the new monitor are nice, but OLED is the real game changer here. Upgrading my monitor has been more noticeable than any of the performance or cosmetic upgrades I’ve made in recent years. I should have prioritized this sooner. It looks gorgeous… but not always Obviously OLED is the best and it looks the best and anyone who says different is not the best and they’re wrong. Obviously. But my first impressions of the Alienware AW3225QF weren’t as groundbreaking as I was expecting. In games at least. A few HDR videos on YouTube looked like I could have grabbed the dripping honey right off-of the screen. Jon Martindale / Foundry But when I jumped into Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, expecting this color-popping epic of gorgeous proportions, it all looked washed out. Super bright on the highlights and some decent contrast, but not the life-changing experience the Kool Aid had promised me. Once I realized I didn’t need (or want) HDR turned on in non-supporting games (or Window 11’s desktop, for that matter), it all looked and felt far better. The inky blacks were there, the rich and vibrant colors, and in games and with movies and videos that support HDR, I could switch it on with a quick shortcut (Windows key + Alt + B) to get those eye-popping highlights I was hoping for. One area it is 100 percent, undeniably better than my old monitor, though, is reflection handling. Even with a glossy panel like this Alienware model has, it’s a million miles beyond what was possible on my 2016 display. Where before, a bright light behind would illuminate my silhouette no matter what I was watching, now, I can’t see a thing. Sure, the curve introduces the odd weird reflection that I have to counter, and it’s not a scratch on the matt displays out there. But compared to what I had? Night and day. I can finally play all the games I’ve been waiting for I didn’t realize my list of games that I’d “Play when I get an OLED,” had grown so long. Space Marine 2 was a relatively recent addition, but since it was on sale the day I brought the monitor home, it was an easy first play. Who needs triple-A titles when you have pixel graphics?Jon Martindale / Foundry Other games I’ve been holding off on playing just so I can enjoy them for the first time on a monitor that doesn’t wash out the blacks include: God of War Ragnarok, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Hellblade 2: Senua’s Saga, and the Final Fantasy VII remake, among others. My Steam wishlist is currently 155 titles long, which is utterly ridiculous, and more a reflection of my dad-of-young-kids phase of life than my previous lack of an OLED monitor. But now I will make some progress through it. Probably. When I’m not using this monitor to write about buying it. The price barely changed I did manage to get quite a good deal on the monitor this Black Friday just gone. “Just” £640 ($857 after taxes) and it’s definitely a 100 percent work expense, so I can write off some of the taxes on it. That’s around £200 ($268) off its historic average, and almost half the price it originally launched at. But that’s a complete outlier. A look at this monitor’s pricing history shows that it typically bounces between £850 ($1140) and £990 ($1,325), and that’s been about it since the monitor released. It’s only been this last sale where it went anywhere south of that range. Whether I’d bought it two weeks after it came out, or right now, the only real time the price would have been different is when I got it. Sure, in terms of pure savings I waited for the right moment, but if I hadn’t gotten lucky here, I wouldn’t have saved much at all. I neglected this upgrade for almost two years and it was almost for nothing. Valheim never looked so good.Jon Martindale / Foundry And next year? It could get even worse. While OLED technology might be getting cheaper, just about all electronics look poised to get more expensive in 2026 as the memory pricing crunch radiates out through the industry. Although monitors may not be directly affected, manufacturers everywhere might be forced to raise prices to offset the lost margins on memory-adjacent products. I still haven’t upgraded my TV though I enjoy big movies and TV shows as much as anyone else, and do plan to upgrade the big living room TV to an OLED at some point too. But that’s another expense that keeps getting pushed down the list, with my 7-year-old, non-HDR Samsung TV being perfectly adequate, for now. But I could have been watching HDR movies and TV shows with inky blacks on my PC for a much more affordable upgrade. Where my TV plans stretch into the near $2,000 territory, I got this monitor for less than half of that. In the absence of a TV overhaul, an HDR monitor is a very capable alternative. I don’t plan to watch too many movies by myself in my office, but I do have the option now. Not to mention non-HDR movies look utterly gorgeous with QD-OLED-boosted coloring. I’m going to have to rewatch Redline for sure. It’s awesome and I should have done it sooner I’m still merrily skipping through the honeymoon phase with this monitor, so I’m sure I’ll bump up against some issues, or eccentricities in the months that come, but for now, it’s just gorgeous. I didn’t need to go quite this fancy, though. I can take or leave the curve, and the 240Hz refresh rate, while nice and smooth, is complete overkill for a non-competitive gamer like me. All my lightweight indie games can now run at a buttery smooth infinite FPS, though, so that’s nice. Jokes aside, this is a gorgeous monitor and the Kool Aid drinkers aren’t kidding. OLED really does look like nothing else when those high-contrast scenes hit. Mini LED isn’t far off though, so don’t pigeon hole yourself on a specific technology — especially if you’re working and gaming in a brighter room, or if you still don’t want to risk burn-in. For me, though, this one was worth the wait… even if I wish I hadn’t. Read...

Ever since I watched Wall-E (what a great movie!), I’ve had a soft spot for cute robots. Is that why I adore this lovable Ugreen Uno charger block? Maybe! But it’s not the only reason. There’s a lot to like about it, starting with the fact that it’s now on sale for just $17 on Amazon. That’s a huge 43% off its original $30 price tag! View this Amazon deal This cute little power adapter plugs into any regular AC outlet and provides a single USB-C port for charging. Not only is it adorable, but it’s also made with GaN II technology. What does that mean for you? It’s more compact than older USB chargers, plus faster and more efficient with less heat production. The best of all worlds, really. That USB-C port on top reaches up to 30 watts of power delivery, so you can fast-charge your phone, tablet, wireless earbuds, and other accessories and peripherals. The charger’s prongs can be “hidden” by its little boots, protecting them during travel. And those boots are magnetic, by the way! When it’s plugged in, you can magnetize those boots somewhere safe and not worry about losing them. But the cutest part? It has a digital LED face with expressions that change based on the current charging status. Grab the Ugreen Uno 30W USB-C power adapter for $17 before this budget-friendly deal vanishes! The Ugreen Uno delivers 30W of USB-C power, now 43% offBuy now at Amazon Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Attractive mesh-fabric design Volume and mic-mute buttons are much more accessible Zigbee and Matter hubs, as well as Amazon Sidewalk support Improved bass response compared to the Echo Dot Cons Sound quality is still only so-so No Z-Wave support Alexa+ is a work in progress Our Verdict Built for Alexa+ and packed with smart features, the Amazon Echo Dot Max makes for a solid smart-home foundation, but that doesn’t mean every Echo Dot owner should automatically move up to it. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Amazon Echo Dot Max Retailer Price $99.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket The first wave of “made for Alexa+” devices has arrived, and among them is Amazon’s flagship Echo speaker—the Echo Dot Max, the successor to the earlier, fourth-generation Amazon Echo speaker.  The Echo Dot Max is both a direct replacement for the more than six-year-old Echo speaker as well as an upgrade over the ever-popular Echo Dot, which is still very much a part of Amazon’s Echo speaker lineup. Amazon has also unveiled new Echo Show 8 and 11 smart displays as well as the music-focused Echo Studio. (We’ll have full reviews of the eight-inch Echo Show and the Echo Studio soon.)  I’ve been testing the Echo Dot Max ($99, the same price as the older Echo speaker) for roughly two months now—I also have several other Echo devices scattered around the house, including the fifth-generation Echo Dot and most recent Echo Show 8—and I’ve also been kicking the tires on Alexa+, the AI-enhanced version of Alexa that’s still in a free early-access mode.  Is the Echo Dot Max an automatic upgrade from the Echo Dot? Not necessarily. After a couple months with the Echo Dot Max, I have mixed feelings. The speaker comes packed with smart-home functionality, including Zigbee, Matter, and Amazon Sidewalk hubs, although its lack of Z-Wave support keeps it from being a universal smart home bridge for hardcore smart home users. It’s upgraded audio is certainly better than that of the $49 Echo Dot, but it also pales compared to some competing smart speakers at the same price point.   And finally, there’s Alexa+, the AI-enabled revamp of the “classic” Alexa, which arrives with great promise but plenty of rough edges. But while the Echo Dot Max was “built for” Alexa+, the AI-upgraded assistant is not exclusive to the speaker—in fact, you can use Alexa+ on all of Amazon’s current Echo devices, including the much more affordable Echo Dot. So, should you buy the Echo Dot Max? Should Echo Dot owners pony up for the upgrade? Here’s where my head’s at after two months of testing. Note: Alexa+ is also free while in its early preview period; so for this review, I’ll be focusing more on the Echo Dot Max’s hardware and features rather than Alexa+ itself. Design  Amazon is sticking with the spherical design that it introduced in 2020 with the fourth-generation Echo Dot. Come to think of it, all the major smart speakers are now shaped like softballs, including the upcoming Google Home Speaker, the Apple HomePod mini, and the Echo Dot Max we’re reviewing here.  Measuring 4.27 x 4.27 x 3.9 inches (WxDxH) and weighing a little shy of 18 ounces, the Echo Dot Max is considerably smaller and lighter than the fourth-generation Echo (5.7 x 5.7 x 5.2 inches, 34.2 oz) it’s replacing. At the same time, the Dot Max is just slightly larger than the current fifth-gen Echo Dot (3.9 x 3.9 x 3.5 inches, 10.7 ounces). The size difference between the Echo Dot Max and Echo Dot is apparent when you place the two speakers side by side, but the Dot Max looks decidedly Dot-sized.  The fifth-generation Echo Dot (left) next to its bigger sibling, the Echo Dot Max (right).Ben Patterson/Foundry While the basic shape of the Echo Dot Max hasn’t changed, the details have evolved. Aside from the larger weave of the fabric around the Dot Max compared to the Dot, the newer speaker (along with its bigger sibling, the Echo Studio) moves the volume and mic-mute buttons from the top of the device to a shallow dish on its face, surrounded by the telltale Alexa ring. The Dot Max also jettisons the Action button, which was mainly used for stopping alarms, timers, and notifications; now, you just tap the top of the speaker to perform the same function, same as on the fifth-gen Echo Dot (which still had an Action button).  The Echo Dot Max moves the volume and mic-mute buttons from the top of the device to a shallow dish on its face, surrounded by the telltale Alexa ring.Ben Patterson/Foundry Moving the Echo Dot Max’s buttons to a more visible spot on the speaker was a good idea on paper. But while the speaker has some heft to it, it’s not heavy enough to stay in place when you try to press one of its buttons; instead, it will scoot backward with the force of a button-press unless you hold it down with your other fingers or another hand.  In the back of the speaker is a barrel-shaped socket for the power cable, which terminates in a relatively compact wall wart. As with the fifth-gen Echo Dot, there’s no 3.5mm jack for connecting a wired speaker, meaning you’ll have to settle for Bluetooth if you want to pipe the Dot Max’s audio to another device.  Setup  Getting Amazon’s various Echo speakers up and running has always been a breeze, and it’s no different for the Echo Dot Max.   First, you plug in the Dot Max; after a few seconds, the Alexa ring should glow yellow, indicating it’s awaiting activation. Then, fire up the Alexa app, and the new speaker should pop up automatically; if not, just tap the “+” button in the top-right corner of the screen to add a new device, then follow the prompts.   Among the setup screens you’ll need to traverse are various privacy disclosures and terms-of-service agreements. You’ll also need to designate which room in your home the Dot Max will reside in, as well as set default music services. All told, the setup process takes between five and 10 minutes.  In the back of the Echo Dot Max is a barrel-shaped socket for the power cable.Ben Patterson/Foundry Smart hub connectivity  The Echo Dot Max is taking over from the older, fourth-generation Echo speaker as Amazon’s workhorse smart speaker, and as with its predecessor, it comes with everything—well, almost everything—you’ll need to connect to your smart home devices.  Aside from Wi-Fi, the Echo Dot Max boasts a Zigbee hub, good for connecting to Zigbee-enabled sensors, light bulbs, smart locks, smart plugs, remotes, and other low-power smart devices that thrive in mesh-network environments. The Dot Max also acts as a bridge device for Amazon Sidewalk, the so-called “neighborhood” network that leverages other nearby Echo and Ring devices to connect smart devices that might otherwise be beyond Wi-Fi range. Finally, a Thread border router allows the Dot Max to connect Thread-enabled Matter devices to the internet and to each other.  The missing link is—and remains—Z-Wave, a popular mesh protocol similar to Zigbee that offers its own rich ecosystem of devices ranging from light switches and dimmers to smart locks and garage door openers. Amazon’s previous flagship Echo speakers are missing Z-Wave hubs, too. Amazon-owned Ring brand does offer some Z-Wave sensors that work with its Ring Alarm and Ring Alarm Pro base stations, but those sensors have recently been supplanted by a new generation based on–you guessed it–Amazon Sidewalk.  While not strictly in the category of smart hubs, the Echo Dot Max does act as a repeater for Amazon’s line of Eero mesh Wi-Fi routers, boosting their range by up to 1,000 square feet. It’s worth noting that the cheaper Echo Dot will also work as an Eero signal repeater, but it lacks the Dot Max’s Zigbee hub and Thread border router features. Smart sensors  The Echo Dot Max comes loaded with a variety of onboard smart sensors—including ambient temperature and light sensors—that are mainly aimed at detecting the presence of nearby people. Specifically, Amazon touts its new “Omnisense” technology, which pools data not just from the temperature and light sensors but also from the Dot Max’s microphone array.   Also available on the larger Echo Studio as well as Amazon’s latest-gen Echo Show displays, Amazon bills Omnisense as a way to help Alexa—and particularly Alexa+ — to “intelligently act on various events happening in and around your home,” such as triggering custom routines for specific people, or proactively letting you know that your garage door is unlocked at bedtime.  Alexa+ and smart home functionality  One of the biggest draws of the Echo Dot Max is that it was built for Alexa+, the long-awaited AI revamp for Alexa. Specifically, the Echo Dot Max runs on Amazon’s custom AZ3 chip, which powers the speaker’s four-microphone array and is designed to enable more responsive chat with Alexa+ by filtering out background noise and boosting wake-word sensitivity. You don’t need to stick with “Alexa,” by the way. You can change it to “Amazon,” “Computer,” “Echo,” or “Ziggy.”  And then there’s Alexa+ itself, a new version of Alexa with generative AI smarts. Still in an early-access phase and therefore free for now (it will eventually be included with a Prime subscription, while non-Prime users will need to pay $19.99 a month), Alexa+ promises more natural voice exchanges, agentic functionality (that is, the ability to carry out multi-step tasks on your behalf), more adept handling of media playback, and smarter smart-home control.  The reality of Alexa+ is a mixed bag. (As Alexa+ is still in early access, I’m not giving it a full review yet.) Sometimes it’s quite smart, as when it creates routines based on voice prompts (“Alexa, make a routine that turns the bedroom lights on at 8 a.m.”), or when it correctly guesses the name of a song based on a vague query (“Alexa, what’s the name of that song that was the title track for the TV show called The Hills?”). Other times, not so much—and frustratingly, Alexa+’s success and failure for various tasks changes over time.   For example, when I asked Alexa+ to play that tune from The Hills–”Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield—it told me that it currently lacks the functionality to play music from such a query on Apple Music, my default music service for Alexa (presumably because Alexa+’s Apple Music API doesn’t have that ability yet). When I told it that the living room carpet was dirty, hoping it would send my Roomba out for a quick vacuum job, it instead gave me a treatise about eco-friendly trends in the living room carpet “industry;” looking back over the chat logs, I learned Alexa+ had misheard my initial comment.  And while Alexa+ was able to quickly create routines based on voice commands (“Alexa, create a routine that says ‘Welcome to the office’ whenever I enter the room,”), I had a heck of a time getting the routine to trigger properly, and Alexa+ only offered limited help in terms of debugging the routine.  Amazon has been careful to point out that Alexa+ is still in early access modem, and that it’s not charging for the AI-enhanced voice assistant. Also, you can always go back to the “classic” Alexa (“Alexa, exit Alexa+”) if you prefer it, and the original Alexa remains quite capable at carrying out smart home commands, managing shopping lists, playing music, and performing other household duties, albeit without Alexa+’s loquaciousness. Finally, it’s worth noting that Google’s competing Gemini at Home suffers from its own annoying foibles—and unlike Alexa, there’s no reverting back to Google Assistant from Gemini.  Still, in its current form, Alexa+ elicits as many groans of frustration as it does gasps of delight—or at least, that’s been my experience over the past couple of months. As with LLMs like Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Anthropic’s Claude (Amazon is a major stakeholder in Anthropic), I do expect to see improvements in Alexa+ over time.  The Echo Dot Max with its mic-mute button engaged.Ben Patterson/Foundry Music playback and audio quality  Aside from its new AZ3 processor, the Echo Dot Max comes with an all-new acoustic setup, including a 0.8-inch tweeter and a 2.5-inch high-excursion woofer tuned to deliver three times the bass of the smaller Echo Dot. The speaker can also handle lossless music tracks.  If you like, you can create an entire 5.1-channel home theater experience with up to five Echo Dot Max speakers and an Echo Sub, so long as you pair the speakers with a second-generation Fire TV Strick 4K, the second-gen Fire TV Stick Max, the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, or the Fire TV Cube (3rd-gen).   So, how does the new Echo Dot Max actually sound? I don’t claim to be an audiophile, but I do have extensive experience with a variety of smart speakers as well as Sonos wireless speakers, and I found the Echo Dot Max’s audio performance to be a) better than the Echo Dot (as it should be, given that it’s double the price) and b) still somewhat mediocre. It certainly does pack more bass than the older Echo Dot, but I still found its overall sound a tad small and mushy. At the same price point, I much prefer the clear, detailed, and punchy sound of Google’s Nest Audio speaker, although that device is for a very different ecosystem. If you’re looking for an Echo speaker that strives for top-shelf audio, consider the $219 Echo Studio (2025 release), which offers a trio of full-range drivers, a woofer, and support for spatial and Dolby Atmos sound. We’ll have a full review of the Echo Studio soon.  As far as music streaming support goes, the Echo Dot Max supports Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, Deezer, iHeartRadio, Pandora, SiriusXM, Tidal, and other streaming services. Two notable omissions: YouTube Music and Qobuz (the latter service’s Qobuz Connect is mostly compatible with higher-end audio devices and systems).  Should you buy the Amazon Echo Dot Max? The Echo Dot Max is a natural evolution of Amazon’s Echo line of smart speakers, taking the core of the older Amazon Echo and upgrading it with cutting-edge hardware, including a processor designed specifically for Alexa+. If you’re starting your smart home journey and are ready to go all-in on the Alexa ecosystem, the Echo Dot Max makes for a great foundation. It packs a Zigbee hub, a Matter hub, and an Amazon Sidewalk bridge. Most users will get by without Z-Wave support, and you can always add a separate Z-Wave hub that will work with Alexa. The design with the buttons in front is also an improvement, and its audio performance is solid, if short of superior. As for Alexa+, it might not be fully baked, but it’s free for now, and I’m certain it will improve as time rolls on. If you don’t want to (eventually) pay for Alexa+ or you’re dissatisfied with its abilities, you can always fall back on the “classic” Alexa, which will remain free. Is the Echo Dot Max an automatic upgrade for Echo Dot owners? Not necessarily. The Echo Dot supports Alexa+ just like the Dot Max does, and while it lacks the the beefier speaker’s Matter and Zigbee capabilities (which you might already be getting from other devices in your home), it will double as an Eero mesh extender (assuming you have an Eero router or a Ring Alarm Pro and you use the Eero router inside it). In short, the Echo Dot packs a lot of heat for just $49, it’s frequently on sale, and it remains our Editors’ Choice for best budget-priced smart speaker. If you already own the Echo Dot and have other devices that serve as Zigbee hubs and/or Thread border routers, it might make sense to give the Echo Dot Max a pass. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart speakers. Read...

Adobe has named Lucius DiPhillips CIO, tasking the ex-Airbnb technology chief with driving its global tech operations and AI transformation. Read...

The home entertainment industry awoke Tuesday morning to stunning news: Sony is ceding control of its home entertainment business, including its storied Bravia TV brand, to TCL.  It’s the kind of headline that makes you do a double-take: Sony, giving up on TVs? Well, it’s more complicated than that, but in broad strokes it’s true. As detailed in a joint press release, Sony will spin off its home entertainment division—including soundbars and TVs—into a new joint venture, with TCL controlling 51 percent of the new entity while Sony will retain a 49-percent share.  The deal likely won’t be finalized until late March, with the new joint company expected to open its doors in the April 2027 timeframe, so it will be business as usual for Sony TVs and home entertainment products until then. The agreement is also subject to regulatory approval.  Still, does this mean Sony TVs as we know them will eventually go away? Well, yes and no.   On a surface level, there will still be Sony- and Bravia-branded TVs on sale even after the presumed closure of the deal, with the Sony/TCL press release specifying that both “the globally recognized ‘Sony’ name and ‘Bravia’ name” are “expected” to live on.  And while TCL will be supplying the panels for new Sony TVs, Sony will still be contributing its “high-quality picture and audio technology” — in short, the under-the-hood chips and picture-quality enhancements that give Sony TV sets their signature look.  Beyond the actual display panels, TCL will serve up its global supply chain and industrial facilities, including the “end-to-end” logistics required to efficiently churn out millions of TVs per annum.  So no, Sony’s Bravia name isn’t going anywhere, but it’s conceivably at risk of spreading everywhere, going both up and down the TV market and thus diluting the brand.  Put another way, we’re used to Sony’s “Bravia” brand being a mark of high-end quality. You’ve got your Sony TV sets, then you’ve got your Sony Bravia TVs, including OLED sets and higher-end LCD-based models. If we start seeing 43-inch-plus Bravia TVs in the sub-$300 range, the Bravia brand may cease to mean anything.  To be clear, it’s not certain that’s going to happen, and we should also point out that TCL itself is the maker of some mighty fine TVs.   Early this month, TCL took the wraps off a new SQD (super quantum-dot) TV that it claims will “end” the picture-quality debate between OLED and LED, and we’re eager to see it for ourselves. We’ve also praised TCL’s bargain TVs for being among the best values in the market.  But even with Sony’s continued involvement in the joint venture and TCL’s impressive track record with TVs, we can’t help but wonder about the future of the Bravia brand, and what it will stand for with TCL at the helm. Read...