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DirecTV has made good on its plans to launch a sports and broadcast streaming package for less than its standard TV plans, but the savings aren’t enormous. The DirecTV Stream MySports plan costs $70 per month (with an extra $20 off for the first three months) and includes a mix of local broadcast channels, national sports networks, league-specific channels such as NFL Network, and access to ESPN+. This is uncharted territory for pay TV service, which typically requires paying for a big bundle of news, entertainment, and family programming just to access live sports (and vice versa). Still, DirecTV’s new sports package is missing some major sources of sports—notably CBS and regional sports networks—and is not even available yet in every U.S. market. It can save money in some scenarios, but only if you make some trade-offs. What’s included with DirecTV MySports Here’s the full DirecTV MySports channel list: Broadcast channels: ABC, NBC, and Fox National sports channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, TBS, TNT, TruTV, USA Network, Golf Channel. League channels: MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, NHL Network, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, SEC Network Other: DirecTV 4K Live, DirecTV 4K Live 2 Streaming services: ESPN+ (coming soon) The package isn’t entirely limited to sports programming. You’ll also get prime-time and daytime shows on the broadcast channels, along with any movies or shows airing on channels like TBS and TNT. Everything will be available through DirecTV’s existing apps for Roku, Fire TV, Google TV/Android TV, Samsung TVs, Apple TV, iOS, and Android mobile. Those apps also include dozens of free streaming channels, whether you subscribe to the sports package or not. As with DirecTV’s other packages, Cloud DVR service is included and lets you record an unlimited number or programs, saved for up to nine months. Limited availability (for now) At launch, DirecTV MySports is only available in 24 U.S. markets, and local channel coverage might be patchy where you live. As Variety reports, subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area will get local feeds of NBC, ABC, and Fox. Subscribers can expect partial local channel coverage in the following markets: Houston, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Austin, Detroit, Gainesville, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa, Miami, Boston, New Haven, and San Diego. This is all reminiscent of live TV streaming’s early days, in which local station affiliates were not all on board, but DirecTV says it will bring more markets (and more station within those markets) online “soon.” What’s missing With any live TV streaming service, the omissions are as important as the inclusions, and DirecTV MySports has its fair share. The big one is CBS, which is a major source of NFL coverage (including the Bills-Ravens AFC divisional round and the AFC championship) and March Madness college basketball games. A DirecTV spokesperson said that it’s in “in discussions” with CBS, which alone would make the service more compelling. Regional sports channels such as Fanduel Sports Network and YES Network are also absent for now, though the spokesperson said that it plans to offer regional sports as an add-on later this year. Meanwhile, a growing body of sports coverage is being split off to individual streaming services. Amazon Prime Video gets Thursday Night Football, for instance, and Netflix had its exclusive NFL games on Christmas Day. Apple TV+ has Friday Night Baseball along with every Major League Soccer match. The sad reality is that no pay TV package carries complete coverage of the most popular sporting events anymore. Adding it up With those caveats in mind, are there any scenarios in which DirecTV MySports makes sense? Consider the following: The new MySports package costs $70 per month, but lacks CBS and regional sports. Fubo costs $80 per month, but lacks TNT, TBS, and ESPN+. Regional sports adds $12 per month or more to your bill, and you must pay $8 per month more for an add-on with MLB Network, NBA Network, and NHL Network. YouTube TV costs $83 per month, but lacks ESPN+, MLB Network, NHL Network, and most regional sports (except NBC Sports). Hulu + Live TV costs $83 per month, but lacks NBA TV, NHL Network, and most regional sports (except NBC Sports). DirecTV’s Stream’s “Entertainment” package costs $87 per month but lacks ESPN+ and regional sports, and you must pay $15 per month for an add-on with the league-specific networks. DirecTV Stream’s “Choice” package costs $115 but lacks ESPN+. Sling TV Orange + Blue costs $61 per month but lacks CBS, ESPN+, and regional sports networks. It also requires an antenna for local channels in many markets, and you must pay $11 per month extra for an add-on with MLB Network, NBA TV, and NHL Network. In other words, none of these services can purport to give you everything. DirecTV MySports at least provides a lower floor from which to decide what’s worth paying for. If you’re willing to finagle a free or cheap Paramount+ subscription, for instance, MySports becomes a decent value. You might also be able to get regional sports on a standalone basis (see my guides for the NBA and NHL) and still come out ahead of FuboTV or DirecTV Stream’s Choice package. By contrast, those who want the convenience of more programming in a single package can pay extra for that luxury. This has always been the case with cord-cutting. Your move, Fubo Regardless of whether DirecTV MySports is a good deal right now, this is a fast-moving situation. The channel lineup might look different in a few months, and other providers could launch their own sports-centric bundles at lower prices. (Fubo has already indicated that it will do so, and I suspect DirecTV is trying to get ahead of that launch.) Either way, note that live sports is the most expensive programming on TV, and it’s only getting worse as sports leagues renew their rights deals for astronomically more money. Someone has to pay for those higher rates, and as more folks abandon their pay TV packages outright, diehard sports fans will be left holding the bag. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

If YouTube TV’s latest price hike feels like a breaking point to you, you’re not alone. Over the last week, I’ve heard from a bunch of folks who say the rate hike—from $73 per month to $83 per month, starting January 13, 2025—is the last straw. They’re now seeking alternatives to YouTube TV that will provide comparable channel coverage for less. Unfortunately, that sort of easy escape hatch doesn’t exist. Like every other live TV service (including satellite and cable), YouTube TV keeps raising prices because TV programmers keep demanding more money for their channels. Unless the entire industry embraces cheaper, more flexible bundles, the bill for all of these services will keep going up. The only alternative is to ditch your big pay TV package entirely. While this approach does involve sacrifice, the savings can be significant. Here are your options. This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best live TV streaming services. Consider an antenna With an inexpensive over-the-air antenna and good-enough reception, you can watch the big four broadcast channels—ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC—for free, along with PBS and a smattering of rerun-centric subchannels. An antenna won’t entirely replace a bigger bundle, but it’ll give you a big head start. You can even set up an over-the-air DVR to record shows for later. Antennas won’t work for everyone. Roughly speaking, you’ll want to be within at most 30 miles of local broadcast stations to use an indoor antenna, and within 60 miles for an outdoor model. Even then, obstructions and topography can impact the signal. Use the Antennaweb site to look up nearby stations for a sense of what you need, and be prepared for some trial and error. If you’re ready to experiment, we have a list of the best indoor and outdoor antennas available. Stream (some) local stations If an antenna isn’t feasible, you can stream some local stations instead, but it’ll cost you: Paramount+ with Showtime ($13 per month) includes a live feed of your nearest CBS station, including NFL coverage, along with on-demand access to primetime CBS shows. The cheaper Paramount+ Essential tier with ads ($8 per month) does not include CBS, but does offer the NFL games. You can often get Paramount+ for free in one-month increments. Peacock Premium Plus ($14 per month) includes a feed of your nearest NBC station, including Sunday Night Football, plus on-demand access to primetime NBC shows. The cheaper Premium tier with ads ($8 per month) does not include a local NBC feed, but does carry NFL games. The PBS app includes live feeds of local PBS stations for free, along with on-demand PBS programming. An optional $5-per-month “Passport” donation unlocks additional content. You can also use the free NBC and ABC apps to watch some network TV shows without a subscription, while the Paramount+ app offers some CBS programs for free as well. Unfortunately, live feeds of ABC and Fox are unavailable without a large pay TV package, but you can watch primetime shows from both networks on Hulu, which starts at $10 per month. Look for live news The major cable news networks—CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC—are not available without a big pay TV package, but you can access some of their content in alternative ways: Max offers an alternative CNN live feed with much of the same programming, but not in the same order as CNN proper. MSNBC’s website and mobile app offer live audio of the cable network for free. Some primetime Fox News shows are available on-demand via Fox Nation, but there’s no live feed. In lieu of cable news channels, consider the many free options available for streaming the news instead: Local news: Many local stations offer their newscasts for free if you know where to look. Check out NewsOn, Zeam, Local Now, Haystack News, or your local station’s own website. You’ll also find local news via Tubi, the Roku Channel, Amazon’s Fire TV News app, and the free channels on Google TV devices. National and international news: Pluto TV, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Xumo, and Sling TV Freestream, all offer round-the-clock streaming news channels, even from major networks such as CBS and NBC. That may scratch the background TV itch you’d otherwise get from cable news. Find favorite shows elsewhere Outside of news and sports, it’s rare for cable channels to carry exclusive new shows that aren’t available on standalone streaming services. If there’s a show you like on YouTube TV (or cable), sites like Reelgood or MyBundle can tell you where else to find them. And if by chance a show is only on cable—like Yellowstone, whose final season was exclusive to Paramount Network—you can always buy that show individually through stores like Amazon Video, Fandango, or Apple TV. Sort through sports streaming options Sports are where replacing a service like YouTube TV gets tricky. Currently, there’s no way to watch ABC or Fox without a big TV package or an antenna. ESPN isn’t available on a standalone basis either—although that will change in 2025—nor are FS1, FS2, or college conference channels such as SEC Network and Big Ten Network. So what can you get without a service like YouTube TV? Some options: As I mentioned earlier, the ad-free tiers of Paramount+ and Peacock include live feeds of CBS and NBC respectively, including all sports coverage. Max streams all sports coverage from TNT, TBS, and TruTV. This will eventually cost an extra $10 per month on top of a standard Max subscription, but is included at no extra charge for now. Many regional sports networks are now available on a standalone basis. I’ve compiled the options for NBA and NHL teams. MLB TV and NBA League Pass offer games that are not broadcast in your local market. ESPN+ offers the same service for NHL games. NFL+ offers local and nationally-televised football games, but only on a phone or tablet. Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and even Netflix are picking up more sports programming as well, but their offerings are fairly scattershot. I’ve also compiled some additional tools to help sort through the sports streaming options, particularly if you’re trying to follow a specific team or league. Not ready to unbundle? Some other options: For now, the most complete live TV streaming service that’s markedly cheaper than YouTube TV is Sling TV. It offers a smaller bundle of pay TV channels, but still carries major sports channels, with three available base packages: Sling TV Orange ($46 per month) is currently the cheapest way to access ESPN and other ESPN-owned channels, such as SEC Network. Sling TV Blue ($46 per month) is the cheapest way to access FS1 and FS2. It also includes live access to NBC and ABC in some markets, and on-demand programming from all three channels everywhere. Sling Orange + Blue ($61 per month) combines both of the above packages. Unfortunately, Sling’s local channel coverage is lacking, with ABC, Fox, and NBC available only in select markets, and no CBS anywhere. For that reason, it pairs best with an over-the-air antenna. Hulu + Live TV is also worth a look. While it’s no cheaper than what YouTube TV will soon cost at $83 month, it includes the full Disney bundle (Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu’s on-demand catalog) at no extra charge. If you subscribe to any of those services on their own, you’ll save money by switching from YouTube TV to Hulu + Live TV instead. Lastly, you might take a look at some TV packages that don’t include sports or local channels. Because they omit the most expensive content on cable, their prices are significantly lower: Frndly TV ($7 per month) offers Hallmark Channel and a smattering of other largely rerun-centric channels. Philo ($28 per month) offers entertainment channels with a big emphasis on reality TV, but no sports, broadcast, or major cable news channels. Comcast’s NowTV is a $20-per-month bundle of entertainment channels and Peacock, with an option to add Netflix (with ads) and Apple TV+ for $10 per month extra. It’s available to customers with Xfinity home internet or Comcast’s cheaper Now Internet plans. Spectrum TV Stream is a $40 bundle of entertainment channels that also includes CNN and Fox News, available to Spectrum home internet customers. Just let go If you’re thinking that the cost of a la carte streaming adds up to more than YouTube TV or even cable, you’d be right. This has been the case for years, is not an original thought, and entirely misses the point. Unbundling your TV options does not automatically save you money, but it does let you decide what’s truly worth paying for. For that reason, standalone services are also highly incentivized to offer seasonal sales, comeback deals, and other discounts. These can considerably defray the cost of having a bunch of services at the same time. When you drop a live TV streaming service such as YouTube TV, you’re adopting a different mindset, in which you make peace with not having everything. The sooner you realize you weren’t going to watch it all anyway, the easier unbundling becomes. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV advice. Read...

One of the most vocal opponents of the never-launched Venu Sports bundle just took the wraps off its own bundle of sports channels—and yes, ESPN stations are part of the deal.  Launching today in 24 metro markets, DirecTV’s MySports package serves up roughly 40 sports-oriented channels, such as ACC Network, Big Ten Network, DIRECTV 4K Live, DIRECTV 4K Live 2, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPNU, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, Golf Channel, MLB Network, NBA TV, NFL Network, NHL Network, SEC Network, TBS, TNT, TruTV, and USA Network.  MySports subscribers will also get access to local ABC, Fox, and NBC stations, with ESPN+ and “additional” local stations (presumably including CBS affiliates, which are currently missing from the list) “coming online soon.”  Besides those sports offerings, MySports subscribers will get the run of MyFree DirecTV ad-supported streaming channels, including ACC Digital Network, Big 12, Fight Network, Fuel TV, Origin Sports, Pickleball TV, Players TV, Sports Grid, Stadium Stream, Surfer TV, Swerve Combat, T2, The Jim Rome Show, TNA, Torque by History, Waypoint TV, and Women’s Sports Network.  The price? At launch, MySports is actually a decent deal at $49.99 a month, just $7 a month more than the $42.99 price point Venu had been eyeing for a similar skinny sports bundle.  But that’s just a three-month promotional offer, provided you sign up by February 28; after that, the monthly price for MySports jumps by $20, to $69.99 a month.  That’s quite a bit more than Venu Sports would have charged—then again, there is no Venu Sports, following word Monday that backers Disney, Fox, and Warner Brothers had scuttled their plans to launch the bundle. If you want a cheaper streaming service that offers the ESPN family of channels, there’s always Sling TV Orange, which has ESPN, ESPN4K, ESPN2, and ESPN 3 for $45.99 a month. But the Sling TV Orange package only offers a smidgen of other sports channels, such as TBS and TNT (which aren’t all-sports, all the time).  Then there’s live streaming TV services like Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Fubo (which just struck a deal to merge its live TV operations with Hulu), all of which charge north of $80/month for access to ESPN and other sports channels.  Even if DirecTV’s MySports offering isn’t to your liking, similar bundles are sure to follow in the wake of Venu’s demise. Indeed, the mere threat of Venu Sports seems to have been enough to shake up the streaming landscape. After all, Fubo’s deal with Hulu owner Disney to join forces with Hulu was contingent on Fubo dropping its Venu lawsuit (a federal injunction against the Venu launch remains in place), and now here’s DirecTV, a strident Venu opponent, with its own take on the skinny sports bundle. And once Disney finally launches its long-awaited ESPN standalone service, sports-minded cord-cutters will have even more options to pick over. Read...

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Sacked in the endzone? Down for the count? Struck out swinging? Go ahead and pick your favorite sport metaphor, but the bottom line is that Venu Sports is done.  In a joint statement, Venu Sports backers Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced they are dropping their plans for the ambitious streaming service, which would have bundled some of the most popular sports channels into a single—and somewhat pricey—package.  “After careful consideration, we have collectively agreed to discontinue the Venu Sports joint venture and not launch the streaming service,” the statement says, as reported by Variety.  “In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels. We are proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date and grateful to the Venu staff, whom we will support through this transition period.”  The move marks a sudden, decisive end to the Venu Sports saga, made all the more dramatic given that only days ago, it appeared Venu might launch after all.  A joint venture between entertainment titans Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, Venu Sports was poised to shake up the streaming industry with a $42.99-a-month service that bundled the likes of ESPN, FS1, BTN, TNT, TBS, and other top sports offerings.  Those plans came to a screeching halt last August when streaming service Fubo—a sports-focused live TV service that had a lot to lose if Venu jumped into the game—filed a lawsuit objecting to the deal and a federal judge followed up with an injunction against Venu’s impending launch.  Venu Sports was looking on the ropes (sorry, the sports clichés are just too irresistible), but then a thunderbolt hit earlier this week: Fubo settled its Venu lawsuit after making a deal with Disney-owned Hulu to combine their live streaming TV services.  The end of Fubo’s lawsuit appear to pave the way for a possible Venu Sports revival, although in reality, several hurdles remained. The federal injunction was still in place, the Justice Department had filed an amicus brief in support of Fubo’s previous objections, and other big streaming players—such as DirectTV—made it clear they were still adamantly opposed to Venu opening its doors.  In the end, Disney, Fox, and Warners probably saw too many legal headaches in Venu’s future, and chose—you guessed it—to punt.  So, where does all this leave streaming sports fans? I’m sure our own Jared Newman will share his thoughts soon, but if you were hoping that a Venu Sports bundle would simplify the thicket of sports streaming options, that ain’t happening. Read...

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Two major competitors in the race to replace cable bundles have suddenly become partners. This week, Fubo and Disney announced that they will combine their respective live TV businesses. That means Fubo and Hulu + Live TV will become a single entity, of which Disney will be the majority owner. Neither service is going away. While Fubo and Hulu are merging their respective live TV businesses, the actual services will remain separate, offered through their own respective apps. If you’re already subscribed to either Fubo or Hulu + Live TV, don’t expect any sweeping overnight changes. Still, the two companies have already signaled that they’ll launch one—and possibly two—new sports-centric TV packages at lower prices than most live TV streaming services. That could lead to even bigger shake-ups in the pay TV landscape. How this happened The merger stems from a lawsuit that Fubo filed last year against Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox, which had planned to launch their own skinny package of sports and broadcast channels. That service, called Venu Sports, would have cost $43 per month and was supposed to arrive last fall. Fubo rightfully saw this as an existential threat. The company has always positioned itself as a sports-centric streaming provider, and in its lawsuit claimed that it’s never been able to offer the packages it’s truly wanted, without the bloat of news and entertainment channels. Fubo accused Venu’s owners of trying to monopolize a new kind of skinny TV bundle, and a federal judge agreed to block the service from launching while the lawsuit played out. The new deal between Fubo and Disney marks the end of that lawsuit, as Fubo has settled with all involved. Fubo is getting $220 million from Venu’s backers, plus a $145 million loan from Disney, and it’ll alternatively get $130 million termination fee if regulators don’t let the deal go through. What the companies do next is where things get really interesting. Fubo’s “Sports & Broadcasting” package As part of the deal, Fubo says it’s secured the rights from Disney for a new “Sports & Broadcasting” plan, which would presumably be cheaper than the bigger bundles that Fubo offers today. Jennifer Press, a Fubo spokesperson, confirmed to me that Fox is on board with the new bundle as well. So as it stands, this package should at least include ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, SEC Network, ACC Network, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, and BTN, along with access to ESPN+. My guess is that Fubo will now try to convince other major sports programmers to get on board, namely Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns TNT), Comcast (NBC), and Paramount+ (CBS). Based on some earlier calculations of mine, this kind of package would be at least $10-per-month cheaper than the current crop of live TV streaming services. What about Venu? The announcement from Fubo and Disney says nothing about the future of Venu Sports. But with the legal hurdles cleared, it’s possible that the service could re-emerge. The runway isn’t entirely clear. As the New York Times notes, the Justice Department previously filed a brief in support of Fubo’s lawsuit, and the consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge is arguing that the deal between Fubo and Disney is bad for competition. But if Venu revives its launch plans, it would offer both Disney’s and Fox’s lineup of sports and broadcast channels along with TNT, TBS, and TruTV from Warner. It would not be a complete solution to all your sports headaches, but it might be a good fit for some cord cutters and would be a welcome alternative to whatever Fubo comes up with. Let more sports bundles blossom The bigger question is how the rest of the TV world will respond. DirecTV already plans to launch its own sports-centric bundle, alongside separate genre-based packages for entertainment and kids/family programming. That plan is the result of DirecTV’s own hard-fought carriage dispute with Disney last year. From there, I’m guessing YouTube TV and Dish (which also operates Sling TV) won’t take kindly to being stuck with bloated bundles while their competitors are allowed to offer just the most valuable sports and broadcast programming. We can expect them to push for their own skinnier sports-centric bundles in response. The result will be a somewhat more confusing live TV streaming landscape, with even more packages to choose from, but also more potential to save money if you’re willing to be choosy. That at least seems better than the status quo. Sign up for Jared’s Cord Cutter Weekly newsletter for more streaming TV insights. Read...

You never know what you’re going to get with CES. Of course, we knew we’d hear a lot about AI — check — and that there’d be announcements of new CPUs and GPUs — also check. But you just never know how the all the pomp and hoo-ha of this annual mega tech event is going to pay off in the real-world, for regular consumers. Does the average PC user have something to be excited about now that the veil has come off of this year’s product launches? If the PCWorld staff is any indication, the answer is yes! We found plenty of cool products, innovations, and advances at this year’s show that are currently available or promise exciting things ahead. Our picks don’t stop at PC hardware, either. What’s CES without an array of goods for the tech-loving lifestyle? We note a few of our favorite home-tech products, too. Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 overclock3d I’ve never witnessed a PC product as hotly anticipated as the GeForce RTX 5090, unveiled by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during this year’s CES flagship keynote. And this monstrous graphics card lived up to the hype, at least on paper. The RTX 4090 is still the fastest GPU on the planet and the RTX 5090 blows it out of the water in all key areas. It has an astounding 21,760 CUDA cores — 33 percent more than the 4090, and more than three times as many as the new RTX 5070. Nvidia graced the card with an ample 32GB of memory (the most ever for a GeForce GPU) and a humongous 512-but memory bus, a high-octane combo for no-compromises 4K gaming and AI workloads alike. And Nvidia’s overhauled DLSS 4 will tap dedicated AI cores to send performance soaring even higher in supported games. If gamers even get a chance to buy it — even at $1,999, the RTX 5090 will be a screaming deal for AI researchers with all that memory. Everyone is going to want one. -Brad Chacos Alienware Area-51 shaunlucas.com Dell I’m not usually one for gaming laptops, but the newly resurrected Area-51 machine from Alienware might be the one that converts me. Not only is it filled to the brim with the latest and greatest hardware, but the Liquid Teal finish gives the chassis a unique iridescent sheen and it’s to die for. I love the departure from the cliched gamer look (i.e., black exterior with hot red accents), as unnecessarily flashy designs make me wince. I much prefer understated beauty. The underside of the laptop also has a clear window, which allows you to see all of the hardware inside — this is a nice touch.  This laptop doesn’t shove its gamer identity down your throat. Instead, it stands tall in a quiet yet confident manner. -Ashleigh Biancuzzo Lenovo Legion Go S, powered by SteamOS Valve opening SteamOS up for other PC makers is a deeply exciting development for the industry, and as the very first SteamOS-powered handheld beyond the Steam Deck, Lenovo’s Legion Go S would’ve earned its spot here for that alone. But I’m buzzing about more than the software on this. A big part of why the Steam Deck rocks is because it’s so affordable. Most of its competitors try to carve out niches with premium hardware and features — at much higher prices. But Lenovo partnered with AMD for an exclusive license to a more affordable version of AMD’s new game-changing Ryzen Z2 chip, appropriately dubbed “Ryzen Z2 Go.” By using older CPU and GPU cores, Lenovo is able to offer the entry-level Legion Go S for just $499 — giving gamers on a budget a much-needed Steam Deck alternative. -Brad Chacos Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini x with Snapdragon Mark Hachman / IDG Lenovo announced that it’s bringing Snapdragon to mini desktop PCs. Now you can finally enjoy Copilot Plus with your desktop. While both the IdeaCentre Mini x and the ThinkCentre neo 50q are set for the upgrades, it’s the Mini x model that has me most excited. With the option for either Snapdragon X or Snapdragon X Plus chips, up to 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage, you can totally trick this thing out if you want. It also comes with Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and an incredible five total USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, plus an HDMI, DisplayPort, and ethernet port. I’m not quite sure what engineering wizardry they were able to conjure up over there at Lenovo, but whatever it is, it has me excited to get a new mini desktop PC this year. -Sam Singleton Second opinion I’m a mini PC convert. Late last year, I ditched a massive desktop for a mini PC running an Intel “Tiger Lake” Core i7. But now I wish I had waited a few more months to purchase the Lenovo IdeaCentre Mini x instead. The Intel mini PC runs unbearably loud at anything but the most modest power settings, whereas the IdeaCentre Mini x, complete with a super-efficient Snapdragon X processor, should run much quieter, just like its laptop counterparts. But even more importantly, I now want a desktop with an NPU for AI workloads. During a one-hour demo with Qualcomm, they showed off a bunch of content-creation apps that directly hook into Snapdragon NPUs. My mind started conjuring how the IdeaCentre Mini x could be a gateway into a whole new world of useful AI – starting with video and image editing (which I already do) but also running on-device LLMs. Bottom line: I’m not sure how I’ll be using hardware-supported AI in 2025, because this whole AI thing is just taking off. But I know I want the option to do so, and having that hardware in a powerful, compact mini PC is just what I’m looking for. -Jon Phillips Asus ROG XG Mobile eGPU Asus When it comes to the best of CES, my vote is for the 2025 Asus ROG XG Mobile eGPU and its awesome power and versatility. As if it wasn’t enough that it harnesses the power of up to Nvidia’s top-tier RTX 5090 chip with up to 150W power, the external GPU also supports Thunderbolt 5 connectivity for exceptionally high bandwidth. That means it benefits from Thunderbolt 5’s up-to-80Gbps bidirectional data transfer speeds. Asus claims the eGPU can hit at least 64Gbps, which surpasses USB 4 and rivals OCuLink. I’m also chuffed by XG Mobile’s other port offerings, which include HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.1, 5Gbps Ethernet, and an SD card reader. It also sports better cooling than last year’s model and its design weighs just 2.2 pounds. -Dominic Bayley AMD Ryzen AI Max and HP’s Z2 Mini G1a HP AMD’s Ryzen AI Max, previously codenamed Strix Halo, has been causing a furor in the PC leaks community for months now, and it’s easy to see why: It has a lot in common with AMD’s vaunted Threadripper chips. Threadripper debuted as a wild “jam this thing with all the cutting-edge tech we can” enthusiast project and Ryzen AI Max lives up to that legacy. Strix Halo pairs abundant Zen 5 cores and AMD’s powerful 50 TOPS NPU with more integrated Radeon CPU cores than any chip ever seen before, with support for up to 128GB of unified memory and 96GB just for the GPU. Wild! That insane GPU + 128GB memory configuration will make this an absolute beast for AI workloads, which demand gobs of memory and fast graphics performance. “This is something very, very special,” said Rahul Tikoo, senior vice president and general manager of AMD’s client computing business, in a recorded briefing for reporters – and he’s absolutely right. Ryzen AI Max mostly targets laptops, but the most interesting launch partner instead crams this monster chip inside of a desktop mini PC. HP’s Z2 Mini G1a comes with loads of ports, the flagship 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395, 128GB of memory, and up to 4TB of SSD storage (you can add another 4TB yourself via an empty M.2 slot) — literally the maxed-out version of AMD Ryzen AI Max. AI professionals and students are going to go nuts for this wonderfully weird machine. -Brad Chacos Asus Zenbook A14 Michael Crider/Foundry The Asus Zenbook A14 is the company’s first laptop to use its unique ceraluminum finish, which bonds a ceramic exterior to an aluminum interior, across a laptop’s entire chassis (instead of just the display lid). It’s also built from magnesium-aluminum alloy, a common and lightweight material. The result is a slim, portable laptop with a look and feel unlike anything else on the market. Picking up the machine reminded me of handling a premium notebook or a slim hardcover book. The Zenbook A14 weighs about 2.1 pounds and measures about six-tenths of an inch thick, with a claimed battery life of 32 hours (!!) thanks to the Snapdragon X chip inside. The Zenbook A14 is my favorite laptop of all of CES 2025. It’s attractive, portable and, perhaps best of all, affordable at a starting price of $899. — Matt Smith SteamOS Asus/Valve Brad has already highlighted the Legion Go S, Lenovo’s portable sequel that uses an official build of SteamOS right from Valve. And that’s exciting on its own as a consumer product. But I’m more interested in SteamOS itself. While these are early days, I think it’s entirely possible that SteamOS could become a successful gaming-focused platform all on its own…which would spell big trouble for Microsoft. Windows 11 isn’t exactly winning people over, and they might be ready to look for an alternative at last. Imagine the very real possibility of a gaming laptop running the Linux-based SteamOS, sold directly to consumers. Wild. -Michael Crider Razer’s Project Arielle Razer These days, I care less about how powerful my tech is and more about how comfortable I am while using what I have. It sucks to freeze in my chair while I’m trying to game in the winter, and it’s equally miserable in the summer with sweaty back stuck to my chair. Comfort is performance, if you ask me. And that’s why the Project Arielle gaming chair speaks to me. It has a built-in bladeless fan system for cool airflow when it’s hot and an integrated heater for warmth when it’s cold, and it’s all conveniently managed via a control panel on the chair. Say goodbye to personal ACs and space heaters. Will Project Arielle ever go mainstream? Eh, probably not. But I’m quite smitten with the concept — assuming Razer keeps the price reasonable. -Joel Lee Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable Mark Hachman / IDG There are so many solutions for adding extra screen space for working on the road, from extra displays to foldables and more. Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 Rollable is a special machine, hiding what is essentially a second virtual monitor behind the screen, which can be unrolled when needed. That seems to be extremely handy as well as structurally sound, at least based on my limited hands-on time. As a guy who totes external displays or even extra notebooks to serve as extra screens, this ThinkBook is one to watch. -Mark Hachman Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 3 Lenovo As a certified Android fan, I lament that Android tablets have long been unable (and often even unwilling) to compete with the iPad Mini. A small, high-quality tablet is a nut that Google and its partners just can’t crack. That’s why I’m happy to see the Legion Tab Gen 3, an 8.8-inch Android “gaming” tablet. A smaller tablet makes sense for gaming (unlike Acer’s crazy 11-inch Steam Deck-style handheld), and that focus means a more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, roomy 12GB of RAM, and an upgraded screen and cooling system. Shame about the outdated Android 14 OS (don’t hold out for timely updates from Lenovo, either), but at least someone is giving this form factor a shot. -Michael Crider Secondary screens Corsair I love tons of monitors around me, enabling multitasking work and feeding me tons of information and video all the time. That might not be great for my mental health, to be honest…but I’m still excited to double down on it. Corsair has a newer take on its dedicated desktop widget touchscreen with the 14.5-inch Xeneon Edge. This is essentially a mini-monitor, complete with USB-C and HDMI support. But if you want something a little less functional and more flashy, Govee has animated pixel displays that can live on your wall or desktop. The Gaming Pixel Light (which looks kind of like an upgraded Light Bright toy) can also double as an animated clock, weather widget, or sports ticker. -Michael Crider Pawport Smart Pet Door Pawport Give your favorite four-legged friend the freedom to come and go as they choose while keeping your home safe with the Pawport Smart Pet Door, a retrofit-style device that slides in front of an existing pet door. With help from an included Bluetooth tag, the steel-and-aluminum Smart Pet Door ($499) senses when your pet approaches, opening its doors automatically, while a sensitivity gauge keeps the doors from accidentally closing on your furry friend. You can also control the door remotely with the Pawport app, while pet “curfews” can keep your pet inside during designated hours. -Ben Patterson Stern Pinball: Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye I love pinball. PCWorld does not cover pinball tables. That’s not usually a problem. This year, it is. Stern’s latest table is rad. You do not play pinball; you pick a character and then level that character up as you play pinball, amassing treasure and loot and exploring dungeons and then eventually fighting beholders and gelatinous cubes and an animatronic dragon voiced by Michael Dorn. There are ramps, hidden trap doors, the works. Nerd bliss, all for $7,000. I played for a half hour and didn’t want to stop. Stern even offered to send us one to try out. If you see a video on our YouTube channel, you’ll know my dreams have been answered. -Mark Hachman LIFX Luna Lamp LIFX With its first ever smart lamp, LIFX drew inspiration from an early product: its own SuperColor Ceiling light, an eye-catching, multi-zone fixture that won our Editors’ Choice award last year. Packing in 26 discretely addressable color zones, the Luna Lamp can be mounted on a wall or placed on a flat surface, like a countertop or a bedside table. The Matter-enabled Luna Lamp also boasts a quartet of programmable buttons that can control either the lamp’s own settings or other nearby Matter devices — even without an internet connection, thanks to Matter’s device-to-device binding functionality. It’ll be available in February for $69.99. -Ben Patterson Plantaform Smart Indoor Garden Plantaform Not everyone has the outdoor space for a garden, and even those who do might be limited by poor weather conditions during parts of the year. The Plantaform Smart Indoor Garden offers a cool and convenient alternative for growing produce at home, while also making for a captivating indoor showpiece! A combination of fog and plant nutrients, cleverly dubbed “fogponics,” feeds up to 15 plants at a time in the windowed chamber. An accompanying app helps you monitor your plants’ progress, reminds you to fill water reservoirs, lets you change the lighting schedule, and notifies you when it’s time to harvest. The windows are all removable for easy access to your bounty. Sure, at $500, plus $29.99 for Plantaform’s various plant pod packs, it’s not exactly the money-saving proposition you might associate with growing your own food. But you can’t beat the prospect of having a fresh-produce garden year round, requiring minimal work, that also looks so futuristically awesome, can you? -Katherine Stevenson Read...