Every year, we look forward to July because it brings Amazon’s annual Prime Day with it—and that means deep, delicious discounts for all kinds of tech. Right now, we’re still a few days away from the big event (which runs July 8-11), but we’re already seeing some killer early Prime Day flash drive deals. Everyone needs a great USB flash drive, and Prime Day is an excellent time to grab one for cheap. I’ve been a journalist for 19 years, with 13 of those years focused on consumer technology. I love sifting through deals and spend every day hunting down the very best sales on the very best tech. With Prime Day, I’m exercising those muscles to help you find the best USB thumb drives worth your money. These hand-curated recommendations take price, reviews, and brand reputation into consideration. Best early Prime Day deals on 64GB to 256GB flash drives Samsung Fit Plus, 128GB, USB 3.1 — $15 (35% off, was $23) SanDisk Ultra, 128GB, USB 3.0 — $12 (23% off, was $15.49) Samsung Type-C, 128GB, USB 3.2 — $18 (22% off, was $23) Lexar JumpDrive Dual, 128GB, USB 3.2 — $19 (14% off, was $22) Amazon Basics, 256GB, USB 3.1 — $11 (45% off, was $20) PNY Turbo Attache 3, 256GB, USB 3.0 — $11 (45% off, was $20) Samsung Bar Plus, 256GB, USB 3.1 — $22 (45% off, was $40) Kingston DataTraveler Kyson, 256GB, USB 3.2 — $25 (15% off, was $30) PNY Elite-X Fit, 256GB, USB 3.1 — $23 (12% off, was $26) The best deal of the lot is for the Samsung Bar Plus, where you can get 256GB of storage space for just $22. This is a super-fast flash drive that can reach up to 400 MB/s transfer speeds, comes with a rugged metal casing, and is even waterproof and shockproof. If you want a more affordable option, the Amazon Basics for $11 is a decent cheapie. Best early Prime Day deals on 512GB to 2TB flash drives SanDisk Ultra Flair, 512GB, USB 3.0 — $37 (21% off, was $47) Samsung Fit Plus, 512GB, USB 3.2 — $60 (25% off, was $80) PNY Pro Elite V3, 512GB, USB 3.2 — $54 (11% off, was $61) SanDisk Ultra Fit, 512GB, USB 3.2 — $40 (20% off, was $50) SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go, 1TB, USB 3.2, both USB-A and USB-C connections — $74 (32% off, was $110) SanDisk Extreme Pro, 1TB, USB 3.2 — $110 (25% off, was $145) A superb pick off this list is the Ultra Dual Drive Go from SanDisk. This is a flash drive with both USB-C and USB-A connectors, thus it’s a lot more versatile. It can reach up to 400 MB/s read speeds, too! USB flash drive deals FAQs 1. What capacity do I need in a USB flash drive? This is a question that you need to answer yourself because it really depends on what you plan to use it for. If you’re only moving work documents around, a small capacity like 64GB will be fine. If you want to use a flash drive for backing up photos, videos, games, and other big files, then you might want to go 512GB or larger. 2. What features should I prioritize when choosing a USB flash drive? First of all, our recommendation is to look at the flash drive’s transfer speeds. To ensure you get fast read/write speeds, you should get a USB 3.0 or above. USB 2.x drives are sorely outdated. Then, you have to make sure the flash drive can survive living in your pocket, getting crushed by your laptop, falling through your fingers, and so on. Aluminum casings will offer better protection in such cases. If the flash drive offers 128-bit AES encryption or better, your data will also have some extra protection in case you lose it, as the drive will be inaccessible and block out others from reading your data. 3. How did we find the best USB flash drive Prime Day deals? Finding great deals can be difficult because not all discounts are worth covering. When looking for good Prime Day deals, we compare the prices on Amazon with the regular retail price and check pricing history to see if there have been any changes lately and that the price drops are truly noteworthy. We also check product reviews to see if they’re reliable in the long run and live up to their promises. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Sharp, colorful QD-OLED panel 120Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync Excellent five-speaker sound system Good HDR with Dolby Vision support Undercuts competitors on price Cons Video connectivity limited to two video inputs Limited downstream USB connectivity, as well Could use more image quality options Not as bright as alternatives in HDR Our Verdict The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED delivers great image quality, solid audio, and good motion clarity, yet undercuts most competitive 32-inch 4K OLED monitors on price. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED Monitor S3225QC Retailer Price $821.24 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices 32-inch 4K QD-OLED monitors are among the most alluring computer monitors ever sold. They all provide exceptional contrast and color alongside sharpness and a big, bold display size. The catch? Often, it’s the price, as many models have an MSRP above $1,000. The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED, however, undercuts competitors with a rock-bottom MSRP of $849.99. That makes it easy to look past the monitor’s downsides. Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED S3225QC specs and features The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED’s basic specifications are typical for a 32-inch QD-OLED monitor. It provides 4K resolution (3840×2160) and a 120Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync. Display size: 32-inch 16:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 3840×2160 Panel type: QD-OLED Refresh rate: Up to 120Hz Adaptive Sync: Yes, Adaptive Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro HDR: HDR10, Dolby Vision, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 Certified Ports: 1x HDMI 2.1 with FRL/HDR/VRR, 1x USB-C upstream with DisplayPort 1.4 and 90 watts of Power Delivery, 2x USB-C 5Gbps downstream with 15 watts Power Delivery Audio: 3D Spatial Audio speakers included, total 25 watts output Price: $849.99 MSRP A closer look at the details, however, reveals many differences between other 32-inch 4K QD-OLED displays. The Dell supports both HDR10, which is common, and Dolby Vision, which is unusual. It also has just two video inputs, which is roughly half as many as the average competitor. But the monitor strikes back with a five-speaker spatial sound system with a total power of 25 watts. By comparison, most similar monitors have a pair of 2-watt stereo speakers, if they have any at all. Dell’s pricing is low given the monitor’s features, as it carries an MSRP of just $849.99. Most other 4K QD-OLED monitors have an MSRP between $999.99 and $1,299.99, though sale pricing can bring some models (like the Samsung Odyssey OLED G80SD) close to the Dell 32 Plus 4K. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best monitors for comparison. Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED S3225QC design The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED monitor makes an outstanding first impression. The company opts for a white hue that’s attractive and distinctive. It’s a far starker, ultra-bright look than Dell’s photos of the monitor let on, and rather close to the tone and color of the material used on some past Alienware monitors, like the Alienware AW3225QF. I also like the fabric material covering the speaker system at the bottom of the monitor. Dell has used that design touch on past monitors with built-in speakers, but it still looks attractive. Matthew Smith / Foundry The design is functional, too. It ships with an ergonomically adjustable stand that has a moderately sized flat base and doesn’t intrude too much on your desk. The stand adjusts 110mm in height, tilts 25 degrees, and swivels 60 degrees, which is a typical range of adjustments for this category. The monitor doesn’t rotate into portrait orientation, however. The monitor also has a built-in power supply. Some QD-OLED monitors use an external power supply due to their higher peak power requirements, but that’s not the case here, so you won’t have a power brick lurking under your desk. Matthew Smith / Foundry Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED S3225QC connectivity I’ll have a lot of positive things to say about the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED monitor through the rest of this review, but there’s one weakness that will take it out of contention for some. The connectivity. The monitor has just two video inputs: one HDMI 2.1 input and one USB-C input with support for DisplayPort 1.4. Both can drive the monitor at its full 4K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, but two video inputs are slim for a monitor in this category. Many competitors offer at least three video inputs, and many have four. The USB-C port at least handles both DisplayPort and up to 90 watts of USB-C power delivery, so it’s a solid option for connecting a Windows or Mac laptop that supports USB-C. Downstream connectivity is limited, too. You’re looking at just two USB-C ports, both supporting 15 watts of USB Power Delivery and 5Gbps of data. One port is on the back and the other is hidden in a pop-out hub on the front. I can see what Dell is going for here, as the Dell 32 Plus 4K’s price is reasonable considering its other features. Dell clearly decided to keep connectivity to the essentials and spend the monitor’s budget elsewhere. Ultimately, you’ll have to decide for yourself if that makes sense for you. If you have a desktop computer and a laptop, this is enough. But if you also want to connect game consoles (or other HDMI devices), you’ll need to buy an HDMI hub. Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED S3225QC menus and features The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED’s settings can be adjusted with a joystick located behind the monitor’s lower-right bezel or with Dell’s Display and Peripheral Manager software. Both options work well, as Dell has clearly labeled menus that are easy to understand. However, the monitor’s image quality settings are a bit limited. The monitor has a variety of preset modes including a creator mode, which supports the sRGB, BT.709, DCI-P3, and Display P3 color spaces. There’s also a custom color mode for manual R/G/B adjustment. But that’s it. There’s no precise color temperature or gamma adjustments. It’s fine for most situations, but demanding content creators who want a high degree of control over image quality will be disappointed. The monitor includes a dark stabilizer, a feature common for gaming monitors. It can elevate the brightness of dark areas of the display to make foes easier to see. You won’t find other gaming features like an on-screen crosshair, however. Other features include a 4:3 aspect ratio mode and multiple picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture modes. The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED’s speakers are louder, clearer, and offer far better bass than the underpowered stereo speakers common to PC monitors. Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED S3225QC audio The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED’s audio performance deserves special mention, as the monitor has five speakers, each with 5 watts of power for a total of 25 watts. It also has support for spatial audio, which means it can adjust the audio across the speakers to provide a 3D effect. To do this, the monitor includes a camera in the lower bezel. Dell doesn’t intend it for video conferencing (and, in fact, Windows doesn’t detect it). Instead, the camera keeps track of the user’s head position to adjust the spatial audio. The spatial audio feature works reasonably well, providing some sense of 3D surround in test clips. The main issue will be finding content that supports it, because it’s rare, especially on a PC. Most people use a monitor for PC software, games, and streaming Spotify or YouTube through a web browser. Aside from some AAA games, like Cyberpunk 2077 and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, there’s not a lot of spatial audio to enjoy. I’m also not convinced the speaker system delivers a good spatial experience. Spatial Audio certainly sounds different, but I didn’t hear the same pinpoint precision I’ve heard from headphones that support it. Fortunately, the 25-watt speaker system has other advantages. The speakers are louder, clearer, and offer far better bass than the underpowered stereo speakers common to PC monitors. The Dell’s speaker system can still sound muddy at very high volume, but it’s clear at more modest levels. Also, because the speakers are so loud—and a couple feet from your face—you’ll likely want to keep them at 25 to 50 percent of their maximum.   The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED’s speakers are solid for games, music, watching Netflix—you name it. Audiophiles will still want a system with a subwoofer and better separation between stereo channels, but for most people, this will completely remove the need for external PC speakers. Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED S3225QC SDR image quality As its name implies, the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED has a Samsung QD-OLED panel. This type of panel is incredibly popular in 4K OLED monitors, and it generally provides outstanding image quality. Matthew Smith / Foundry First up is SDR brightness. This is a traditional weak spot for QD-OLED monitors, and the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED maintains that with a maximum sustained SDR brightness of 246 nits. That is right in line with other OLED monitors. However, IPS monitors like the Dell U3225QE and BenQ PD2730S will often exceed 400 nits. The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED also has a glossy display coat, so glare can be an issue. The monitor’s brightness is more than adequate for a room with blinds or shades, but you may have an uncomfortable viewing experience in a room with bright, sunlit windows. Matthew Smith / Foundry Contrast is where QD-OLED typically leaps ahead of monitors with an LCD panel. OLED monitors can achieve a perfect minimum luminance of zero nits, which leads to an immersive, contrast-rich image. The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED follows the trend here. It provides a great sense of dimensionality that will draw in your eye, and it’s clearly a cut above LCD rivals. With that said, all modern OLED monitors can deliver a similar experience. The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED’s contrast is fantastic, but it’s not an advantage over its peers. Matthew Smith / Foundry QD-OLED also leads in color gamut, meaning QD-OLED can display more colors overall. It leads the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED to provide a color gamut that spans 100 percent of sRGB, 97 percent of DCI-P3, and 94 percent of AdobeRGB, which is similar to other QD-OLED monitors. Some LCD panel monitors can rival QD-OLED, but most can’t. LG’s WOLED also tends to fall a bit behind QD-OLED in this area. Matthew Smith / Foundry The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED delivered an incredibly low color error that’s among the best I’ve seen from any monitor. And this, mind you, is an uncalibrated result straight out of the box. While some monitors can achieve similar values, most don’t. It’s also superb to see this level of color accuracy from a monitor that’s not sold as a “professional” content creation display. Though it certainly lacks image quality features that the most demanding professionals crave, the out-of-box image is outstanding, and makes this monitor a good fit for many video, photo, and digital art workflows. Consider how the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED compares to the Asus ProArt PA32UCDM, for example. The ProArt’s out-of-box color accuracy is a tad behind the Dell, and the two are equals in color gamut. However, the ProArt is priced at $1,899—over twice as much as the Dell! The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED reached mixed results in gamma and color temperature. It nailed the target gamma curve of 2.2, which means content should look about as bright as intended. But it missed the color temperature target of 6500K with a value of 6100K, which means the image is warmer than ideal. Personally, I don’t mind a warmer display, but a value near 6500K would be more neutral. The monitor also lacks color temperature controls that target precise values, so owners may have trouble calibrating the monitor to hit their preferred color temperature target. This is an area where the Asus ProArt PA32UCDM has a big advantage, as it hits better color temperature results and provides users a lot more control over the image. The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED’s sharpness is solid. The monitor’s 31.5-inch QD-OLED panel provides 3840×2160 resolution, which works out to about 140 pixels per inch. That’s a bit less than the 160 ppi of a typical 27-inch 4K monitor, but much better than the roughly 100 ppi of a 27-inch 1440p monitor. True sharpness freaks might notice pixelation around small fonts, but it looks plenty sharp when playing games or watching Netflix. Of course, all 32-inch 4K QD-OLED monitors look similar in this regard. Overall, the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED delivers a bright, vibrant, accurate, high-contrast image. Its overall SDR image quality is rather similar to other QD-OLED monitors, and most shoppers won’t see much difference between the Dell and QD-OLED competitors from Samsung, Asus, or even LG. Still, the Dell does notch a few wins, most notably in color accuracy and gamma results, both of which are better than average. Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED S3225QC HDR image quality The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED is VESA DisplayHDR 400 True Black certified, which is typical for a QD-OLED monitor. But it also supports Dolby Vision, which is unusual and hints at above-average HDR performance. Unfortunately, the monitor didn’t live up to that expectation. Matthew Smith / Foundry A look at the graph tells a simple story. The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED is about as bright as the alternatives when large portions of the screen are lit. However, it falls behind in HDR highlights. Small, bright, high-contrast objects don’t have the same pop that’s found on some competitive monitors. This was true across a variety of HDR modes, and oddly, the Peak HDR 1000 mode was a little dimmer than the Movie HDR mode. That’s not to say HDR looks bad, as the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED still delivers the contrast and color required to help HDR look great. But the lack of brightness is an issue, so consider a different QD-OLED monitor if you want HDR highlights to sizzle. Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED S3225QC motion performance The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and can handle Adaptive Sync with official AMD FreeSync Premium Pro support (Nvidia G-Sync also functioned in my testing, but support is unofficial). While there’s certainly similarly priced monitors with high refresh rates and broader Adaptive Sync support, like Alienware’s AW3425DW, the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED’s enhanced refresh rate and Adaptive Sync support are notable, as it’s sold for general use rather than gaming. Motion clarity isn’t at the top of the pack, but it’s good. The refresh rate of 120Hz, paired with OLED’s low pixel response times, provides modest motion blur behind fast-moving objects, and fast camera pans in 3D games deliver good clarity. Scrolling text is also much easier to read than on a 60Hz monitor. Once again, gaming monitors have the edge here: Most 4K QD-OLED monitors can now handle 240Hz. But the Dell 32 Plus 4K’s motion clarity is great for its category. It’s also worth pondering if a 240Hz refresh rate could provide a meaningful upgrade for your use. You’ll only enjoy the full benefit in games that can hit frame rates up to 240 frames per second, which can be difficult to achieve at 4K resolution. Gamers with beefy GPUs will see gains from a 240Hz gaming monitor, but 120Hz is a fit for users with more modest hardware. Should you buy the Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED? The Dell 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED is an easy recommendation for most shoppers. It has outstanding image quality, good motion clarity, supports Adaptive Sync, and includes built-in speakers that beat the competition. The monitor’s downsides include limited connectivity, which provides just two video inputs (one HDMI 2.1, one USB-C with DisplayPort), and modest HDR performance despite Dolby Vision badging. If you can deal with that, the 32 Plus 4K QD-OLED is a great do-it-all monitor sold at an appealing $849.99 MSRP. Read...

Whether you’re a parent who wants to keep an eye on your kids even after leaving the room or you’re just worried about your pets chewing on your slippers when left alone, a tiny home security camera will give you peace of mind and help you feel a lot better. Right now, you can get this TP-Link Tapo C200 for only $16, a significant drop from its usual $30 price. That’s a stark 47% discount and it now matches the lowest price it’s ever been. Not bad! The Tapo C200 wireless security camera is small and, despite its price, comes packed with a range of nifty features. First, by hooking it up to the Tapo app, you can remotely control where the camera is pointed. This pan-and-tilt camera has 360 degrees of horizontal panning and 114 degrees of vertical tilting, so you can pretty much point it wherever you want. The camera can track and follow activity within its field of view, too, which is amazing for a device that’s only $16. Other awesome features include a 24/7 live feed, plus motion sensors that can send notifications when triggered. The videos are all in 1080p, including at night, and you can also use the Tapo app to communicate through the camera via two-way audio. As with any Tapo cam, you can store recorded footage on the cloud (requires a subscription) or on a microSD card up to 128GB in capacity (sold separately). If you don’t have a home security camera, there’s never been a better time or price to get one. The TP-Link Tapo C200 is a steal for just $16, so snag it while this limited-time deal is still hot! Save 47% and score this 1080p Wi-Fi security camera for cheap!Buy now at Amazon Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Extremely easy to install and set up Pan/tilt allows camera to monitor a wide area Users can choose between local and cloud storage or use both Compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home Cons Night vision is only effective to ~25 feet Might be too large for some fixtures, so measure before buying QR Code on bulb is too small, making it hard to capture with a phone camera Not compatible with Apple HomeKit Secure Video Our Verdict The Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera is one of the easiest ways to add smart home security features to your home. Screw it into a light socket, connect it to the internet, and you’ve got a powerful pan/tilt camera to help protect your home. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Lorex 2K Wi Fi Lightbulb Camera Retailer Price $54.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera is a $69.99 pan/tilt security camera with an integrated, general-purpose, dimmable LED light source designed for homeowners who want a basic, no-hassle path to adding security cameras to their homes. That ease-of-use comes with a few tradeoffs; but if you’re looking for something simple that can get the job done, Lorex has you covered. If you install the Lorex 2k Wi Fi Lightbulbcam outdoors, it will need to be in a luminaire that offers some protection from the elements.Lorex Installation Actually, “installation” seems too complicated a word to describe setup for the Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera. Pick a light fixture with a standard E26/E27 socket and screw in the unit just as you would with a standard lightbulb. Most users will want to use a ceiling fixture, but the Lorex app allows you to flip the camera lens’ orientation if you prefer to use a floor or table lamp. Note that the camera/bulb must be installed in a weather-protected luminaire if you install it outdoors (more on that in a bit). You’ll find plenty of similar lightbulb/camera combos, but none that carry the reputation and history of such an established brand as Lorex. Download the Lorex app for iOS or Android, turn on the light fixture, and scan the QR code on the unit to connect the app and set up a Wi-Fi connection for the unit. The QR code is incredibly small, so make sure you’ve got a plan (or at least a stepladder and a flashlight) before you start your scan. Once the install is complete, the Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera looks like a slightly overgrown lightbulb. Hardware You can flip the camera’s video stream if you install it upside down in something like a torch lamp. James Barber/Foundry The Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera looks like a standard bulb at first glance, but this is a substantial device—measuring about 7 inches tall and more than 3 inches wide. The bottom half houses a 2K (2560 x1440 pixels) motorized pan/tilt camera that sweeps a full 360 degrees. Its stationary field of view is 107.9 degrees diagonal, 92.2 degrees horizontal, and 50 degrees vertical).  The light is a 400-lumen, 6,500?K LED ring, which is roughly the brightness of a 40-watt incandescent. That makes the unit suitable as an accent light or for porch mood lighting (although its color temperature is relatively cool for that purpose), but it’s not at all capable of lighting up a driveway. The bulb carries an IP65 weatherization rating. According to our IP code guide, that means it’s impervious to dust ingress and that it’s protected against water projected in jets from any direction. As I’ve already mentioned, the bulb’s LED element must be covered if installed outdoors. Put it a transparent sconce or some other type of indoor-outdoor fixture. The camera’s pan/tilt motor is remarkably quiet, and its entire housing is a sturdy plastic that should hold up to years of use. Video quality Lorex’s app has all the features you’d expect to find for a modern security camera. James Barber/Foundry Like many smart home devices we’ve tested, the Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera is limited to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection. Its 2K video, captured at 15 frames per second, features excellent image quality, with details that remain clear when using its digital zoom. Motion detection effectively identifies people and vehicles when they enter the camera’s field of view. Lorex doesn’t include a microSD card, but users can add their own (up to 256GB). Of course, limiting yourself to local storage means that you could lose access to your video in case of theft, accident, or natural disaster. As a backup, Lorex also offers a cloud subscription plan that gives users access to the last 30 days of live recordings for $2.99/month or $29.99 year. If you want to use multiple Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Cameras or pair them with Lorex video doorbells or security cameras, you’ll need to pay $9.99/month or $99.99 year for up to 10  devices in one location.  Night vision is color during low-light, shifting to IR black-and-white imaging when pitch dark. The capture works well up to 20 to 25?feet; past that, details fade. It’s usable, but not the enhanced-video quality familiar to viewers of TV crime shows. App and AI You’ll need to scan this tiny QR code when you set up the Lorex 2k Wi Fi Lightbulbcam in the Lorex app.James Barber/Foundry Lorex touts its use of on-device AI (i.e., video is processed locally, vs being first uploaded to the cloud) to differentiate between people and vehicles when motion is detected, at which point it will send an alert to your smartphone. The camera also supports two-way audio and there’s an onboard siren should you need to deter an unwelcome visitor from hanging around. The app has a clean and simple interface, but you can dig down to access myriad options. A privacy slider on the app’s home screen disables the camera if you’re going to be in field of view for extended time and don’t want anything recorded. You can invite shared users to install the app, after which they’ll gain access to all the features of your installed unit. Two-way audio lets you hold a conversation with anyone who approaches the camera, and there’s a menu of responses that lets a pre-recorded voice tell a visitor things like “We’ll be there shortly” or “Please leave the package at the door” when motion is detected. You can choose from five levels of motion sensitivity, and you can limit motion alerts to the presence of people or vehicles. You can also adjust the audio sensitivity of the camera’s onboard microphone by decibels. The built-in light is controlled by a slider that shows up on the home screen just above the video image. There’s also a snooze button on the home screen that offers a variety of time spans to pause notifications. If you’re an Apple Watch user, the Lorex app sends notifications to your wrist and users can pause them from the watch screen. Lighting The dimmable integrated LED light bar produces a maximum of 400 lumens of brightness, roughly equivalent to a 40-watt incandescent bulb. James Barber/Foundry Think of the light fixture as an accessory for the camera more than a traditional light bulb. Lorex designed the light primarily to optimize the camera’s ability to capture video. The unit’s 400-lumen limit keeps it from being an effective primary light source in a basement or dark hallway. If you’re using it indoors, you’ll want lamps or other overhead lighting sources in the room for everyday use. While it’s an effective light source for nighttime video capture outdoors, don’t compare this product to such floodlight/camera combos as the Ring Floodlight Cam Pro (2,000 lumens), the Eufy Floodlight Cam E40 (also 2,000 lumens), or even the Eufy Wired Wall Light Cam S100 (1,200 lumens). Understand its limitations—as well as its benefits, given that each of those three devices must be hardwired to your home’s electrical infrastructure—and you’ll likely see past its limitations. There are plenty of low-cost, no-name 2K cameras that screw into a light fixture. Some of them even have light bulbs. A few even have a limited range of pan and tilt the Lorex. What you won’t get is the reputation and history of an established brand like Lorex, a concern that seems far more important to consider with home security systems than, say, a portable Bluetooth speaker. The pan/tilt camera has a privacy mode that covers its lens.James Barber/Foundry That feature also makes the Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera a compelling option for renters. There’s no drilling or screws involved, and no extras cables. Unscrew the unit when you move and be set up at your next address in a matter of minutes. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best home security cameras. Should you buy a Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera? The Lorex 2K Wi-Fi Lightbulb Camera adds a security system to the kind of light fixture that everyone already has at their home. A simple swap can add with high-end smart surveillance, at least somewhat discreetly camouflaged inside a bulb. Image quality is above average, and features like local storage, voice control, and an on-demand lens cover for privacy demonstrate thoughtful design. Some users will be less impressed with its other performance metrics. The brightness of its onboard LED lamp will be the biggest sticking point for many, and the camera’s night vision fades with distance. Outdoor installations are limited to luminaires that offer some protection to the camera. Finally, setup can be a mild nuisance due to the tiny QR code on its base. Overall, however, this unit is a winner. You get a rotating, talking security camera that screws in like a light bulb for less than $70. There’s no easier way to get into smart home security. Read...

Last week, Microsoft released a new optional patch for Windows 11 called update KB5060829. Since then, users have been reporting that the update is causing problems with the Alt + Tab keyboard shortcut. According to Windows Latest, the issues don’t just stop at the popular productivity shortcut either. Other issues include mouse cursor lag, screen resolution issues, and difficulties adjusting volume. KB5060829 is a preview update, which means it’s optional to install and allows you to try out new features and improvements ahead of the general release. However, preview updates can have problems like this, so you shouldn’t blindly install them on mission-critical PCs. The update is supposed to be rolled out to all users in two weeks, so hopefully Microsoft fixes these issues in time. Until then, you should hold off on installing update KB5060829 to avoid these issues. Meanwhile, if you’re affected, try rolling back the problematic update. Read...

Are you hoping to nab an excellent monitor at a budget price this summer? Today might be that day. Check out this 27-inch Samsung Odyssey G3 that’s only $130 on Amazon. That’s $100 off its already affordable original price, bringing it down to its best-ever price—a no-brainer buy if you’re looking for a modest-but-high-value gaming display. This is Samsung’s 27-inch gaming monitor with a standard 1080p resolution but fast 180Hz refresh rate. The resolution and aspect ratio may be unimpressive, but that much refresh is perfect for mid-range gaming setups. You’ll experience smooth motion and high frame rates—assuming your PC can push out those frames—and minimal input lag. That means an edge over your opponents in competitive online multiplayer. For connectivity, we’re looking at HDMI and DisplayPort inputs, but no USB-C video with power delivery so probably not the best for beefy gaming laptops. Other nifty features include AMD FreeSync for reduced image tearing, a Black Equalizer for seeing better in dark areas, and a Virtual Aim Point that puts a crosshair directly on the screen. What are you waiting for? This is the best price it’s ever been, so grab the Samsung Odyssey G3 for $130 while you can! Otherwise, check out PCWorld’s picks for the best monitors and keep an eye on them over the next week. Don’t forget, Prime Day is coming soon! Save 43% on Samsung`s 27-inch 1080p 180Hz gaming monitorBuy now at Amazon Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Excellent benchmark performance PCIe 5.0 Less power draw than the T705 Reasonably priced for the category Cons Note quite as fast in the real world as some others Our Verdict With less power draw and better benchmark results, Crucial’s T710 is a worthy new member of the company’s NVMe SSD lineup. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Crucial’s T710 is a very fast addition to a worthy stable of NVMe SSDs from the company. It’s marginally faster than the older T705, though it didn’t beat out its sibling in every test. What are the Crucial T710’s features? The Crucial T710 sports 232-layer Micron TLC NAND which is handled by a new Silicon Motion SM2508 controller. Being a single-sided 2280 (22 mm wide, 80 mm long), PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0 SSD, it’s suitable for just about any Windows PC or laptop. Peeling back the label on our 2TB test drive revealed a single Micron SDRAM which according to Crucial is 2GB on our drive as well as the 1TB model, with 4GB on the 4TB capacity. The T710 installed in our new Z890 test bed. We don’t measure power draw, but Crucial claims a 24% reduction in power use compared to the older Phison-based T705 — always good news for laptop users. That said, there are still a lot of other power hungry components in the laptop battery life calculation, so don’t expect miracles from an upgrade. Crucial warranties the T710 for five years and 600TBW (TeraBytes that my be Written before read-only) per Terabyte of capacity. That means you can write about that much data before the drive won’t let you write anymore — theoretically. In practice, SSDs track the number of worn-out cells and the spares available to replace them, then go read-only when the latter run out. The TBW rating is just an estimate of when that will occur, and is basically linked to the warranty so that consumer-priced SSDs aren’t used in high-volume servers that run them dry in less than the warranty period. How much is the Crucial T710? Like its older T705 brother the T710 is available with or without a heatsink. For the 1TB version the different versions cost $199.99/$179.99 respectively, for the 2TB it’s $299.99/$279.99, and for the 4TB $569.99/$549.99. Those prices are about average for a DRAM-endowed PCIe 5.0 MVMe SSD. Crucial did not send me a version with the heatsink, but if it’s anything like the ones that shipped with the T705 – it’s beefy indeed. The majority of users will not need the heat sink, but if you’re one that does rest assured, this one will do the job. How fast is the Crucial T710? As a successor to one of the fastest PCIe SSDs we’ve tested (it was fastest at its test date), the T705, we were expecting great things from the T710. Well.. depending on the test, it’s a bit greater — or not quite as great. Note that we have revamped our test bed, and to some extent our testing MO, so these numbers are only directly comparable to the drives listed in these charts. Older results are ballpark so not completely out of line for comparison purposes. According to CrystalDiskMark 8, the T710 offers a nice improvement in sustained throughput over the older T705 — especially with only a single queue, which is still what Windows uses for file transfers. The T710 ruled in the CrystalDiskMark 8 sequential tests, only lagging slightly behind the Samsung 9100 Pro in multi-queue reading — something most software doesn’t do. Longer bars are better. The Crucial T710’s single-queue random performance is also slightly improved over the T705, which is again, the most important test as regards current Windows. But multi-queue performance is a bit weaker, which might show up in programs that use their own multi-threaded I/O. As Windows uses a single-queue for most transfers, we’ll call this a slight win for the T710 over the competition, though we would like to see better multi-queue performance. Longer bars are better. The T710 improved in Windows Explorer over the T705, but was slower in most of the other tests which now include DiskBench and the command line Xcopy run in batch files. If these results seem very close — they are. To the point where they’re not particularly useful for comparing drives, only to see what performance is like in real life transfers. XC is xcopy, DB is DiskBench, and the last four are Windows Explorer drag and drop. Faster in some transfer, slower in others, the T710 in the real world is hard to tell from other DRAM PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs. EX is Explorer, DB is DiskBench, XC is Xcopy. Shorter bars are better. Where the Crucial T710 proved a disappointment was in the 450GB write, which we now perform with Windows Explorer, DiskBench, Xcopy, and FastCopy. All four showed the drive lagging behind both the T705 and Samsung 9100 Pro in this test. The 450GB write was a bit of disappointment for the T710. It doesn’t match the CrystalDiskMark 8 sequential ratings. Shorter bars are better. All in all, the T710 is a very good performer, though not the best of the PCIe 5.0 lot for large file transfers. Some current technology notes: the Z890/Intel Core Ultra combo we now use is found to be less adept at PCIe M.2 NVMe than the older Z790. Because of this, we use adapter cards in the PCIe 5.0 slots for testing. Should I buy the T710? Yes, it’s a very fast SSD. But it’s not the fastest and not a huge improvement over the T705. In short, either the Crucial T705 or this newer T710 will do nicely. Base any buying decision on price — the performance difference between DRAM-based PCIe 5.0 SSDs simply isn’t all that significant. 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 Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. SSDs involved in the test are mounted in a HighPoint 7604A 16x PCIe 5.0 adapter card. We run the CrystalDiskMark 8, AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks to find the storage device’s potential performance, then a series of 48GB and 450GB transfers tests using Windows Explorer drag and drop, DiskBench, Xcopy, and FastCopy to show what you’ll actually see under Windows as well as what’s possible. The 48GB transfer tests utilize an USFMount RAM disk taking up 58GB of the 64GB of total memory. The 450GB file is transferred from a 2TB Samsung 9100 Pro. Each test is performed on a newly NTFS-formatted and 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 can be less of a factor with the current crop of SSDs with far faster late-generation NAND. Caveat: The performance numbers shown apply only to the drive we were shipped and to the capacity tested. SSD performance can and will vary by capacity due to more or fewer chips to shotgun reads/writes across and the amount of NAND available for secondary caching. Vendors also occasionally swap components. If you ever notice a large discrepancy between the performance you experience and that which we report, by all means, let us know. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Lovely OLED display Surprisingly strong performance for a fanless Chromebook Loud, clear speakers Competitive battery life Cons Hard-to-read function keys AI tools feel unnecessary in everyday use Our Verdict With its eye-catching OLED screen and snappy MediaTek chip, the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 is a standout midrange machine that delivers. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices I’ve used a lot of Chromebooks over the years, and most of them tend to fall into one of two categories: either very affordable and sometimes forgettable or super premium with a price tag to match. The Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 wants to land somewhere in the middle. It’s got an OLED display, a brand new MediaTek chip with AI capabilities, and a design that’s sophisticated and understated.  So I spent a week using it for work and play to see if it actually holds up and I’ve got thoughts. Let’s get into it. Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Specs The Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 comes in two configurations. Both include the new MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 chip and UFS storage, but the base model offers 12GB of RAM and a non-touch OLED display, while the upgraded version (the one we reviewed) bumps that up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It also adds touchscreen support. While the $649 starting price may seem steep, it’s a good value for what you’re getting. Most Chromebooks, for instance, come with only 8GB of RAM, and UFS storage is faster than eMMC. It’s also future proof thanks to Wi-Fi 7. But the real standout is the 14-inch 1920×1200 OLED touchscreen display. You don’t see many laptops with OLED panels (touch or not) at this price. Model number: 83MY0000US CPU: MediaTek Kompanio Ultra 910 GPU: Immortalis-G925 RAM: 16GB RAM Storage: 256GB UFS Display: 14-inch 1920×1200 OLED touchscreen, 16:10, DCI-P3 Ports: 2 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-C, 1 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, 1 audio jack Networking: Wi-Fi 7 Dimensions: 12.37 x 8.63 x 0.62 Weight: 2.78 pounds Price: $649 After spending a week with the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, I can confidently say it’s one of the best Chromebooks I’ve used. Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Unboxing The unboxing experience can set the tone if done well. Though I’d like to see fewer packaging materials (I’m a stickler for sustainability), the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 made it clear from the start: this is a more premium device, where design and user experience matter.  The box reminded me a bit of the ones Google PixelBooks usually come in. It’s mostly white with lilac-purple borders, giving it a clean and simple look. Inside you’ll find the laptop securely tucked into place. There’s also a separate compartment containing a visual overview of the dimensions and port types.  Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Exclusive new ChromeOS AI features Ah, AI. Hello again, old friend? Nemesis?  Since the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 is the first Chromebook to feature a processor with an NPU, I had to give the new ChromeOS AI features a try. That said, I focused on features I’d actually use, starting with Live Captions. I used this feature during a meeting I was leading and found it helpful, especially when the landscapers were outside my window and the roar of their leaf blowers occasionally drowned out what my colleagues were saying. Having the words pop up on screen in real time helped me stay on track and not miss anything important. I also tried Smart Grouping, which organizes your tabs and apps for you in a virtual desktop. Again, this is one of the more useful AI features. The idea is to reduce visual clutter so you don’t have to drag things around yourself or go hunting for a tab you can’t find. Admittedly, it was kind of nice having an invisible assistant that tidied up my personal open tab chaos. The Quick Insert button, which replaces the Caps Lock key, brings up a tool that lets you drop AI-generated images into whatever you’re working on. It also offers writing suggestions, so if you want to sound more formal or shorten a sentence, you can do that with this tool. I played around with it some, but there was no place for it in my day-to-day workflow. Local AI is a cool addition, but most of the features felt more like bonuses rather than must-haves. Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Design, build quality The design is exactly the type of minimalism I gravitate towards, so it’s earning major brownie points from me. Lenovo calls the colorway “Seashell” and it’s genuinely unique—it changes slightly depending on the lighting. At first glance, it looks standard silver, which is fine, but it’s nothing unique. It wasn’t until I was looking at the lid near an open window that I noticed the gold undertone in the chassis. It’s subtle, but it’s there and it’s really beautiful. But the most interesting thing about this design is not on the top of the laptop, but on the bottom. Underneath the laptop you’ll find a 3D wave corrugated pattern, which feels nice to run your fingers along–I’m a big textures person. It looks cool, but it’s also functional: the design helps you get a better grip on the laptop. This is great, because there’s nothing quite like the horror of dropping a laptop onto the floor. The metal build quality feels strong, too. You can tell straight away that it’s made of aluminum. The screen hardly had any flex when I gave it a gentle twist and the keyboard deck didn’t creak or groan when I pressed my hands down on it. This is exactly what I expected from a Chromebook in this class and it definitely lives up to those higher standards.  Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Keyboard, touchpad The keyboard feels nice to type on for extended periods, and I found that I adjusted to it quickly. However, compared to my usual laptop, this one skews a little more to the right, which threw me off at first. While the typing experience is definitely comfortable, I had a few tiny gripes with the keys themselves. Why are the function keys (F1 to F12) so itty bitty? I mean, they’re really small compared to the other keys. Any time I used them, I had to lean forward and squint a bit to see the icons on them. I’d also occasionally fat finger them because of their size. My other gripe is that the keys themselves attract some smudges. This is minor, as it’s nothing a microfiber cloth can’t fix.  I liked the touchpad a lot. Not only did it feel nice and smooth, like glass, beneath my fingertips, but it also quickly registered all my taps and swipes. I adapted to it pretty instantly and I don’t think I ever accidentally triggered it with my palms.  Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Display, speakers The 14-inch 1920×1200 OLED display produces a luscious-looking picture that blew my socks off. It’s not totally unexpected, though, as OLED panels produce deeper blacks and richer colors. The Chromebook Plus 14’s OLED display also offers 100 percent DCI-P3 color accuracy, meaning more saturated colors, especially reds and greens. When I re-watched Netflix’s Titan documentary, I was impressed by the depth (ugh, sorry) of contrast in the many dark scenes—unsurprising in a documentary about a submersible. Image editors would love this screen. I’m also loving the 16:10 aspect ratio, which this Chromebook has. It’s far superior to the usual 16:9 and I’m not afraid to shout it from the rooftops. The extra vertical space makes a huge difference because you can see more of a webpage or more of a document without scrolling. This is especially useful for someone like me, who writes and edits on the daily. The 5MP RGB webcam is nice, too. I’ve got very fair skin, so I usually appear lifeless—or so pale I glow—on video, but that wasn’t the case here. I used the webcam for a work meeting and I was surprised at how warm (color temperature, not body temperature) the picture looked. It made me look more natural and not at all like some sun-starved vampire. The Dolby-certified speakers are shockingly loud and punchy. When I played Jack White’s Archbishop Harold Holmes, his edgy guitar playing sounded fantastic. I didn’t have to crank up the volume much–I could still hear the music from a room or two away. What can I say? Upward-firing speakers just sound better than the downward-firing kind. Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Connectivity I’m so glad there’s USB-C ports on ether side of the laptop (a hot-button topic here at PCWorld). They both support charging, too–this should always be the standard. Lenovo even managed to include USB-A, which is impressive given how slim and lightweight this device is at just 2.78 pounds! I always like to see more port variety, but this is fine for an everyday machine.  Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Performance The Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 is one of the first Chromebooks to rock MediaTek’s new Kompanio Ultra chip. It’s built on Arm’s efficient architecture, so it can run full steam ahead without needing any fans. Under the hood, you’ve got an 8-core CPU with high-performance Cortex-X929 cores and an 11-core Immortalis-G925 GPU that can handle ray tracing. There’s also a Neural Processing Unit (or NPU) packed in there delivering 50 TOPS of AI power — the key to unlocking the special AI features I mentioned above. I definitely had high (but not unrealistic) expectations of the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14. Luckily, it met them with real aplomb. When I ran the CrXPRT benchmark, which measures how fast the machine handles everyday tasks, the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 turned in a score of 199. That’s about 17 percent faster than the Asus Chromebook Plus CX34, which comes with an Intel Core i5-13335U chip and currently ranks as our top pick for Chromebooks.  I will say that it’s much faster than the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, which sports an older MediaTek Kompanio 838 chip. The Basemark Web 3.0 score of 1,151 totally crushes the Duet’s score of 502.99–a benchmark that measures overall web performance. This means it’s more than twice as fast as the Duet. That’s a big jump in performance between the two chips. The only thing that’s giving me pause is the somewhat low Speedometer 3.1 score of 25.2. That’s fine for casual and day-to-day productivity, but the machine might struggle a bit with heavy-duty multitasking. That said, the Chromebook Plus 14 felt snappy, even with a bunch of tabs open.  CrXPRT 2: 199 Speedometer 3.1: 25.2 Basemark Web 3.0: 1151 Kraken: 407.0ms Jetstream 2: 344.875 Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Gaming I had a chat with my coworker Michael Crider (you might know him!) about playing Minecraft on this device even before I got the unit. He’d been hands-on with the laptop and saw Google demo Minecraft running on it, which got us curious, especially since he struggled to run Android games on the Lenovo Chromebook Duet. So naturally, the first thing I did when I turned on the machine was load up Minecraft to see if this new MediaTek chip could run Android-based games better. Fortunately, it does! I recorded a quick video of my Minecraft session so others could see how smooth the gameplay is on this Chromebook. You can see me flying around in Creative Mode without any lag or stuttering. In the background, you’ll also hear ABBA playing, which wasn’t intentional, but who doesn’t love jamming out to Swedish pop stars while playing Minecraft? The whole thing felt casual and easy. Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Battery life Lenovo says the Chromebook Plus 14 gets around 17 hours of battery life, but I clocked it at 19 hours using CrXPRT 2’s battery benchmark. That’s a phenomenal result and one that lines up with other Arm-based machines. To be fair, that was with the screen brightness turned down. If you crank the brightness up to max, you’ll likely see a bit less, but that’s expected (as brightness always impacts the battery life). In terms of using it unplugged, I never felt like I had to sprint for an outlet stat. Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: Conclusion After spending a week with the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, I can confidently say it’s one of the best Chromebooks I’ve used. It’s fast, the design is lovely, and that OLED screen? Still can’t get over how good it looks, especially on a device under $750. Battery life is very good as well–it just keeps on chugging along. Yeah, the AI features are nice-to-have more than must-have, and the tiny function keys take some getting used to, but those are small complaints in an otherwise killer package. Lenovo crushed it. This Chromebook hits hard on performance, display, and battery life. It also just feels great to use day in and day out. If you’re shopping for a Chromebook, this one should be at the top of your list. That Editors’ Choice badge up top? It’s well-earned. Read...

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A new pop-up from Meta is causing a stir. Facebook users who want to upload stories are prompted to share their photos for “cloud processing,” reports The Verge. But this also allows Meta AI to access images from their smartphones, even ones that haven’t been published to Facebook. This raises questions about data privacy. By agreeing to “cloud processing,” you enable Meta AI to analyze your private photos. Users who activate the feature can have their photos used for collages, photo themes, or AI-generated edits. However, this gives Meta access to all images in the smartphone’s storage. The feature is currently being tested and rolling out in Meta’s apps. Users must actively agree to use it. However, the idea of Meta AI being able to view private photos is dubious at best. On platforms such as X and Reddit, users are expressing concerns that Meta could use the photos to train its AI models, despite promises to the contrary. Meta doesn’t rule out use for training AI Meta has clarified to The Verge that the photos are not currently being used to train AI models. However, there was no clear answer to questions as to whether this is ruled out in the future. A Meta spokesperson pointed out that the feature is voluntary and that users are informed exactly what data is being used. Nevertheless, the concern remains that the unclear communication and far-reaching access rights could undermine user trust. To protect themselves, users should scrutinize the feature critically before activating it. If you have any concerns, you can deactivate the “cloud processing” option in Facebook’s app settings. It’s also advisable to only upload photos that you absolutely want to share, and to regularly check the app’s permissions. The new feature shows how close the link is between data privacy and AI development. Meta faces the challenge of offering innovative features without losing the trust of users. Until it’s clear how the data will be used in the long term, users should remain cautious and keep an eye on developments. Read...