Mammotion is expanding its robotic lawn mower lineup for 2026, introducing three new models at CES that aim to simplify autonomous yard care for a broader range of homeowners. The company unveiled a new flagship model, the Luba 3 AWD, alongside smaller offerings in the Luba Mini 2 AWD and the Yuka Mini 2 series. Mammotion Luba 3 AWD The standout among them is the Luba 3 AWD, a high-end mower designed for large and complex lawns. It debuts a next-generation version of Mammotion’s Tri-Fusion Navigation System that combines LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for 3D mapping, RTK (Real-Time Kinematic) satellite correction for centimeter-level positioning, and AI-powered vision for real-time object recognition and obstacle avoidance. Unlike many older robotic mowers that rely on perimeter wires or basic camera systems, the Luba 3 AWD operates without any external equipment. The result is a mower designed to navigate open terrain, tree-lined lawns, and sloped landscapes with minimal setup. According to Mammotion, the Luba 3 AWD scans its environment in 360 degrees using horizontal and vertical LiDAR, identifies obstacles using dual 1080p cameras, and uses satellite correction data via NetRTK to stay precisely on course, even in challenging GPS environments. The Luba 3 AWD is designed to navigate open terrain, tree-lined lawns, and sloped landscapes. Mammotion The Luba 3 AWD is available in four configurations, covering properties from 0.37 to 2.5 acres. The top model can handle slopes up to 80 percent (38.6-degree inclines), navigate up to100 zones, and mow up to 7,000 square feet per hour. It also features all-wheel drive, dual cutting discs, a 15.8-inch cutting width, and an adaptive suspension system that can climb over 3-inch curbs. Pricing starts at $2,299, with availability beginning January 5 in the U.S., E.U., and U.K. Mammotion Luba Mini 2 AWD For homeowners with smaller yards–or tighter budgets–Mammotion is introducing the Luba Mini 2 AWD, which borrows several features from the flagship, including all-wheel drive, slope handling, and obstacle detection. It uses a tri-camera AI system and NetRTK, skipping LiDAR in favor of a simpler, compact design. This model covers up to 10,760 square feet (about 0.25 acres), supports multi-zone mapping, and includes a new side-mounted edge-cutting disc to trim closer to walls and fences, trimming within one inch of edges. The Luba Mini 2 AWD can trim within one inch of lawn edges. Mammotion Mammotion Yuka Mini 2 Also announced is the Yuka Mini 2 series, a more affordable robot mower with variants tailored to different yard conditions. Some Yuka models include full 360-degree LiDAR and vision navigation, while others stick with tri-camera vision alone. Most models include the same AI chip used across the lineup, offering object detection for pets, toys, and lawn furniture; plus, automated mapping through a smartphone app. Pricing for the Luba Mini 2 starts at 1,499 Euros, with U.S. and U.K. pricing to be announced later. Select models will be available immediately in the U.K. and the E.U., with others opening for preorder in North America from January 5. The Yuka Mini 2 series features variants tailored to different yard conditions. Mammotion Mammotion’s announcement comes as robotic mowers continue to evolve beyond their early limitations, with manufacturers adopting technologies once reserved for self-driving cars and high-end robot vacuums. While camera-based navigation has been standard in earlier models, new systems incorporating LiDAR and RTK offer higher precision, especially in environments with trees, fences, or subject to inconsistent GPS satellite signals. If you’re attending CES in person, Mammotion is exhibiting its wares at Venetian Expo booth #51632. This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best robot lawn mowers. Read...

TechHive Editors Choice At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Built-in solar panel keeps the battery topped off with minimal sunlight AI person tracking doesn’t require a subscription Fully wire-free installation with flexible mounting options Cons Continuous 24/7 recording requires an optional AC power adapter Solar performance depends heavily on placement and sunlight Advanced alerts and cloud storage require a subscription Our Verdict Wyze’s first solar-powered pan-tilt camera delivers broad coverage and low-maintenance operation for far less than most competitors. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Wyze Solar Cam Pan Retailer Price $79.98 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Wyze has been cranking out budget security cameras cameras at a steady pace, filling every niche from doorbells to floodlights. The Solar Cam Pan is the company’s first real swing at solar power, though, and it connects solidly. You get 2K video resolution, color night vision, a motion-activated spotlight, and AI person tracking without a subscription for much less than $100. That’s an attractive offer if you’re looking for a low maintenance camera to monitor your yard or driveway. Design and features The Solar Cam Pan has the familiar Wyze look: a clean, matte-white shell made of polycarbonate, sized small enough to tuck under an eave without drawing too much attention. It’s built for the outdoors with an IP65 rating, which our guide to IP codes tells us makes it dustproof and protected against jets of water. Wyze folds the solar hardware right into the design—a detachable 1.8W panel that clicks onto the top of the camera. An included 10-foot cable gives you the option of mounting the solar panel in a alternate location that might benefit from more exposure to the sun. The camera is otherwise wire-free thanks to a 6400mAh battery that will hopefully will be kept topped off by that solar panel. Wyze says the camera should require just one hour of direct sunlight each day to accomplish that. The other headlining hardware feature is, of course, the pan-tilt motor. The camera can rotate a full 360 degrees and tilt over a 70-degree arc, which gives it true wraparound visibility. Pair that with a 130-degree field of view and 2K resolution, and you get a wide, detailed look at whatever’s happening around your homestead. Wyze backs that up with solid imaging specs. The 2K sensor delivers sharper footage than the 1080p resolution usually found on budget cams, and wide dynamic range helps keep bright skies and darker corners from blowing out. At night, you can switch between color night vision when there’s a hint of ambient light, and there’s enhanced infrared for pitch-black conditions and you elect not to use the onboard motion-activated floodlight. The Solar Cam Pan hardware allows for flexible mounting options. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry On the software side, the camera includes features that usually cost extra. AI person tracking is included in the purchase price, not locked behind a subscription. When enabled, the camera detects a person, centers them in the camera’s field of view, and then follows them as they move. That motion-activated spotlight, and a 105dB siren, should deter interlopers. For smart-home users, the usual Wyze lineup of integrations are supported: Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT, and Wyze’s own automation and home security systems. For storage, you can drop in a microSD card (capacities up to 512GB are supported, read our guide on picking the right microSD card for your security camera) and keep your video clips local. The camera records motion events on battery power and can switch to full 24/7 recording if you plug it into an optional Wyze AC power adapter. If you want cloud backup, Wyze sells it in three tiers: The entry-level Cam Plus plan adds 14 days of event recording and smarter motion alerts—person, vehicle, package, and pet—for $2.99 a month or $19.99 a year. Cam Unlimited extends those features to your entire camera fleet for $9.99 a month or $129.99 a year. Heavy users can move up to Cam Unlimited Pro, which bumps event history to 60 days and adds AI video search and emergency dispatch for $19.99 a month or $259.99 a year.  Setup and performance Wyze gives you two ways to install the camera. If you want everything in one piece, you can mount the solar panel right on top of the camera using the included bracket and flat-head screws. Once it’s secured, the 10-foot cable plugs into the port on the back of the camera, and the extra slack wraps neatly around a built-in cable organizer. If you’d rather place the panel where it gets better sun, you can mount the camera and panel separately. The camera attaches to a small bracket that screws into a wall or the underside of an eave, and you mount the solar panel’s bracket a few feet away. The kit includes anchors for brick or concrete, plus drilling guides for both pieces, so you’re not guessing at hole placement. Setup in the Wyze app is straightforward and quick; just select the camera from the product list and follow the prompts. Once its connected to your Wi-Fi, the camera will perform a quick calibration of the pan-and-tilt function, which takes just a few seconds. You can mount the solar panel directly on top of the camera or a few feet away for better sunlight exposure. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The 2K video stream is sharp enough to read small details and avoids the barrel distortion some budget wide-angle cams suffer from. Low light performance is solid as well, whether there’s a bit of ambient light or total darkness. Person tracking works as advertised. When someone walks into view, the camera rotates toward them and follows as they move, framing them in a green box. You can also manually pan and tilt the camera using a joystick-style control in the app. Motion detection was accurate in my testing. You can adjust both motion sensitivity and detection range in the app to manage how frequently you’re alerted to activity. Detection zones are supported as well. Notifications arrived almost instantaneously during my daily use. You can easily manage detection and pan-tilt from Wyze app. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The solar setup is obviously the biggest selling point here, and Wyze keeps the expectations realistic. With an hour of direct sunlight a day, the panel should supply enough charge to keep the camera running indefinitely. More sun means more buffer. Less sun—say, a run of overcast days like I experienced during my testing period—means the battery level will slowly drop. Activity level matters, too; if the camera is constantly tracking pets, people, and passing cars, it will burn through power faster than one watching a quiet yard. Helpfully, the Wyze app includes a power manager among its plethora of settings that tracks battery level, solar energy charging, and sustainability impact, as well as stats for the number of working days, detected events, and recorded events. The battery data is updated daily and is invaluable for understanding the camera’s energy performance and ensuring it works optimally. Should you buy the Wyze Solar Cam Pan? At $79.98, the Wyze Solar Cam Pan is one of the most affordable outdoor pan-tilt cameras available. If your yard gets a reasonable amount of daylight, the camera gives you wide coverage, simple installation, and near-zero maintenance at a price that’s hard to beat in this category. For most people looking to add outdoor surveillance without adding ongoing chores, it’s an easy yes. This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best home security cameras. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Rapid response times and customizable trigger paths Clear, flexible software 8.000 Hz polling rate for minimal latency. Smooth, pre-lubricated switches, and good housing insulation Hot-swappable PCB Housing made from 65 percent recycled plastic Cons High price Mediocre casing finish in places Rattling space bar Silicone feet are inflexible and prone to dust Our Verdict The Wooting 80HE, with its analogue keys, Rapid Trigger, and 8,000 Hz polling rate, is a high-end mechanical gaming keyboard designed for FPS gamers who love to tinker. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Wooting 80HE Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices When a keyboard is hailed as the holy grail of competitive gaming, it deserves a closer look. The Wooting 80HE’s reputation precedes it. More than just an input device, its state-of-the-art technology gives you a real advantage in shooters like Counter-Strike 2 or Valorant. We put the highly coveted 80 percent gaming keyboard through its paces. Along the way, we examine whether its innovative analogue technology justifies the steep price tag of around $199.99, and if its recycled plastic housing lives up to the standards of a premium product. Wooting 80HE: Design and construction Even unpacking the Wooting 80HE is fundamentally different from dealing with conventional manufacturers. The company consistently focuses on modularity and sustainability, which means that you can build it yourself. The keyboard base and keycaps are supplied separately in some cases, so you first have to fit the high-quality PBT keycaps to the switches yourself. Although this takes a few minutes, it immediately gives you a deep understanding of the device and emphasizes the “DIY charm” of the brand. Friedrich Stiemer Our test model comes in a black casing made of PCR plastic. PCR stands for “Post-Consumer Recycled,” meaning the chassis is largely made of recycled plastic. This is good for the environment, but it does have some disadvantages in terms of feel. The Wooting 80HE appears robust at first glance, but the plastic housing does show a certain amount of give under heavy pressure, especially above the space bar. The material can be noticeably pressed in and occasionally responds with a quiet creaking noise. Anyone expecting the absolute rigidity of an aluminum block will either have to adjust their expectations or dig deep into their pockets and purchase the optional metal casing. Friedrich Stiemer The manufacturer also goes its own way when it comes to ergonomics. Instead of relying on classic folding feet for height adjustment, the keyboard comes with various silicone pads. These pads are attached to the underside without tools to adjust the angle of inclination to 2.8, 6, or 10 degrees. Although this solution ensures a non-slip stand, it’s impractical in everyday use. The rubber feet attract dust almost magically and can come loose if you frequently move the keyboard around on your desk. Friedrich Stiemer Wooting 80HE: Technology and features The real highlight of the Wooting 80HE lies hidden under the keycaps. No classic mechanical contacts are used here, which only have an “on” or “off” function. Instead, Wooting uses Lekker V2 magnetic Hall-effect switches. This allows the keyboard to measure exactly how deep a key is pressed, which is anywhere from 0.1 to 4.0 millimeters. Friedrich Stiemer This analogue recording enables functions that make conventional gaming keyboards feel outdated. The most important feature for gamers is undoubtedly “Rapid Trigger.” Unlike normal switches, which first have to pass a fixed point before resetting, the Wooting 80HE’s reset point adapts dynamically. As soon as you lift your finger, the signal is interrupted. If you press it down again, it’s immediately triggered again. The result is an extremely fast reaction time, which can offer a noticeable advantage in terms of precision, especially during fast sideways movements in shooters (known as strafing). Friedrich Stiemer In addition to top-tier performance, the analogue technology also allows controller-like control. In racing games, for example, you can fine-tune the throttle and steering depending on how deeply you press the buttons. This technology is supported by an extremely high polling rate of 8,000 Hz. This means that the Wooting 80HE reports its status back to the PC 8,000 times per second. Even if this difference to conventional 1,000 Hz keyboards is barely perceptible to the average gamer, it gives professionals the reassuring feeling that the hardware isn’t a technical bottleneck. Keep in mind, however, that a cable connection is absolutely necessary for this speed. You’ll have to do without wireless features such as Bluetooth or 2.4 GHz radio. Friedrich Stiemer Wooting 80HE: Software Wooting’s “Wootility” software manages all these complex features in an exemplary manner. A big advantage here is that you don’t have to download an installation file if you don’t want to. The tool runs entirely as a web app directly in the browser and is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux across platforms. Friedrich Stiemer You can configure the trigger point for each individual button on the Wooting 80HE through its clearly organized interface. Whether you want the WASD keys to react the instant you touch them or the space bar to trigger only when fully pressed, the choice is entirely yours. RGB lighting and key assignments are also controlled here, stored directly in one of the keyboard’s four internal memory profiles. Although Wooting offers advanced scripting functions for perfect “counter-punishing” (known as “Snappy Tappy” or SOCD), you should exercise caution here. Game developers such as Valve have begun to block such automated input aids in titles like Counter-Strike 2. However, the core functions like rapid trigger and analogue triggering remain unaffected and continue to be legal competitive advantages. Friedrich Stiemer Wooting 80HE: Typing feel and gaming performance In everyday use, the Wooting 80HE shows two faces. When simply typing, it surprises with a very pleasant feel. The Lekker switches are well lubricated, gliding smoothly without scratchy feedback. Thanks to several layers of insulation in the casing, the acoustics are rich and comparatively quiet, which makes it perfectly suitable for office use. However, there is one acoustic outlier: the space bar. Compared to the other keys, it sounds much hollow, loud, and can rattle. Given the price, this is annoying, although experienced users can improve this themselves with a little grease on the stabilizers. Friedrich Stiemer When you switch from a word processing program to a game, the keyboard really comes into its own. In our gaming test, controlling the game character felt incredibly direct and instantaneous. Stopping and shooting happens at the exact moment the thought reaches your finger. It’s difficult to describe, but anyone who has experienced Rapid Trigger on the Wooting 80HE often finds conventional mechanical keyboards sluggish in comparison. The keyboard almost gives the feeling of artificially shortening your own reaction time. For competitive players who want to get the most out of their gaming, this feedback is worth its weight in gold. Friedrich Stiemer Read...

Each new CES is an opportunity for a glimpse at the processors and platforms coming for the new year, even if they have been previously announced. This year is no different. Two of the three major arrivals have already been disclosed, both for notebooks. Intel has revealed its next-generation Core Ultra platform, “Panther Lake,” and Qualcomm has announced that its next-generation mobile Windows on Arm processor will be the Snapdragon Elite X2. Only AMD has yet to reveal what its upcoming chip for laptops will be, though its customers published a projected roadmap some months ago. But what’s happening with desktop PCs? And could Nvidia have something up its sleeves for the big show? Right now, it’s impossible to know what PC makers are going to announce at CES 2026. Still, we can make some guesses. Here’s what we expect may be revealed by Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, and Nvidia. Intel: It’s all about Panther Lake Clearly, Intel will launch its Panther Lake (Core Ultra 300) processors at CES 2026. Intel has already revealed some of the deep-dive details of the Panther Lake architecture: a return to the efficiency and low-power efficiency cores as well as the performance cores alongside the Xe3 graphics core and an upgraded NPU. Normally, we stop there and begin wondering about clock speeds and pricing. But wait! Intel really has three designs to think about: an 8-core and a 16-core chip, and than a version of the 16-core chip with 12 Xe3 graphics cores inside it. Naturally, we’d assume the 12-Xe version would be the premium offering, but will PC vendors consider this version as a challenger to the AMD Ryzen Max? I tend to doubt it, but it’s possible. Intel Intel still has a stranglehold on the laptop market. Its previous chip, the Core Ultra 200, was excellent, offering a potent mix of long battery life and decent computing power. Typically Intel gives us a chance to do a little benchmarking at the show, then allows journalists to test the platform shortly thereafter. I think that will probably continue to be the case. In recent years, Intel has also showcased a few applications that take advantage of local AI. My guess is that we’ll see something in this regard, as well, possibly focusing on agentic AI. An Intel “Panther Lake” Core Ultra 300 chip.Intel It’s likely that Intel will also set the stage for “Nova Lake,” its next desktop processor platform that the company has already disclosed for 2026. Before that, however, the so-called “Arrow Lake Refresh” chips are expected to debut, with minor tweaks to the clock speeds and a slight upgrade to the core count (8 performance cores, 12 efficiency cores), especially in the lower tiers. But with Arrow Lake’s reception being just lukewarm and with small gains attached to the refreshed parts, I wouldn’t expect that Intel pays this a lot of lip service. Qualcomm: Selling Windows on Arm Qualcomm hopes laptop makers and all-in-ones will sign on to use its Snapdragon X2 Elite chips.Mark Hachman / Foundry No real surprises here, either. Qualcomm has already announced its Snapdragon X2 Elite platform with a variety of internal processor cores that together push towards 5GHz and an industry-leading 80 TOPS. Nobody really expects Snapdragon PCs to be gaming machines…and yet Qualcomm can never quite exclude gaming from the conversation, either. Qualcomm says the X2 Elite’s gaming performance has doubled, so expect to see more games being played on Snapdragon laptops. The big mystery, though, is how many laptops OEMs will design around the Snapdragon X2 Elite chips. the uptake of Snapdragon X Elite laptops wasn’t outstanding. But Microsoft and Qualcomm are determined to make Windows on Arm happen. Mark Hachman / Foundry Will we see desktop announcements from Qualcomm? Almost certainly not as a separate chip, but the company has teased a radically small mini PC reference design as part of the Snapdragon XE2 reveal, as well as an all-in-one desktop with a XE2 system built into the base of the monitor stand, so anything is possible. AMD: the one gamers want to buy For gamers and enthusiasts, AMD clearly won 2025, at least from a CPU perspective. Sure, you can focus upon the Ryzen 9000X and its initial performance hiccups. But AMD instead won big with its Ryzen 9000X3D parts, specifically the Ryzen 9 9950X3D: gobs of V-cache equated to gobs of performance, too. Remember when Threadripper was the chip AMD fans couldn’t stop talking about? What impressed me, however was how good AMDs mobile Ryzens were. AMD’s mobile processors were crap for years (good riddance, A-series) but the Ryzen AI 300 checked the NPU box while delivering leading performance with good battery life, too. Now AMD is ready to pass the torch from “Strix Point” to the Zen 5 “Gorgon Point” processor: the Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 has already leaked via Geekbench, running at 3.1GHz with a total of 12 cores. That’s a very good start, though I’m just as interested seeing how this chip handles the challenges of maintaining performance as well as long battery life. TechPowerUp noted that there’s an AI 5 430 floating out there, too. AMD The wild card? The Ryzen AI Max and Max+, which also uses gobs of cache, a wide, fast memory bus, a super-sized integrated Radeon GPU, and addressable memory of up 96GB. “Strix Halo” combines all three to allow the chip to serve as both a moderately powerful gaming processor as a vehicle for running local LLMs. I tested the Framework Desktop PC with a Ryzen AI Max+ chip inside, and loved it. The Framework Desktop: fun, lovely, powerful.Alex Esteves / Foundry If AMD is just now debuting Gorgon Point (and no other processor) I wouldn’t expect an upgraded AI Max chip quite yet, though I would look to the Gorgon Point chip for hints in that eventual direction. AMD has been making a lot of noise upgrading its associated ROCm software, which can boost the performance of applications through software improvements alone. This is an easy win, and a hand AMD will keep betting on for months to come. Swinging back to the desktop front, rumors suggest we’ll see AMD reveal a new Ryzen 7 9850X3D chip with 400MHz faster clock speeds than the baseline 9800X3D, as well as a new generation of APUs with beefy integrated graphics, dubbed the Ryzen 9000G series. These would bring the excellent “Strix Point” technology found in current AMD laptops to home PCs. We’ve also heard whispers of a new high-end Ryzen 9 X3D chip, which may happen, but feels much less certain. Nvidia: Don’t expect new consumer GPUs Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry The chip company with the murkiest outlook is Nvidia, hands-down. Earlier this year, rumors of an “RTX 50-series Super refresh” with more memory and other tweaks swirled before dying down a couple months back. The recent extreme RAM crunch probably put an end to those ambitions, and we don’t expect Nvidia to announce any new desktop or laptop GPUs at CES — especially considering the entire RTX 50-series launched just last year. Nvidia often brings flashy new technology and features to CES that have nothing to do with chip launches, like ACE AI companions for video game NPCs, Half-Life 2 RTX Remix, and yesteryear’s “BFD” monitor push, so there may be relevant news from Team Green. Surprises happen on the Las Vegas strip daily. We’ve heard scuttlebutt that Nvidia may have something up its sleeve surrounding monitor technology this year. As CES 2026 nears the opening week of January, PCWorld will be there. Stay tuned: the curtain is rising on 2026. Brad Chacos helped contribute to this report. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Excellent workmanship and high-quality materials Individually adjustable OmniPoint 3.0 switches Rapid Trigger and Dual Action for fast response times Quiet typing noise thanks to integrated damping and double-shot PBT keycaps High-quality palm rest and stable Construction Cons Very high price No hot-swap for switches No dedicated macro or media keys “Only” 1,000 Hertz polling rate Our Verdict The SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 is one of the most technically advanced gaming keyboards on the market, offering first-class build quality, typing feel, and customization. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Steelseries Apex Pro Gen 3 Retailer Price $214.99 View Deal $239.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices SteelSeries has sent its flagship keyboard into its third generation. The company claims the Apex Pro Gen 3 is the fastest gaming keyboard in the world, featuring new magnetic switches, improved comfort, and quieter typing. We took a closer look to see what’s behind the hype and whether the premium price is justified. Friedrich Stiemer SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3: Design and ergonomics The SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 makes an impression as soon as you unpack it. The housing consists of a robust aluminum top and a solid plastic base. Weighing around 2.42 pounds, it sits firmly on the desk. Nothing wobbles, nothing slips. A practical highlight is the magnetic palm rest, which adheres firmly to the lower edge and offers a pleasantly soft surface. It provides noticeable relief for the wrists, especially during long gaming sessions. The keyboard is full-size, including a number pad, making it ideal for anyone who writes or does office work. However, with dimensions of around 436 × 139 × 40 millimeters, it does take up a fair amount of desk space. Friedrich Stiemer The RGB lighting is remarkably even. Thanks to the new double-shot PBT keycaps, the light not only shines through the labeling, but also from the sides. These keycaps are known for their durability and abrasion resistance, offer a secure grip, and hardly discolor over time. One small disadvantage is that PBT keycaps are more expensive to manufacture and can feel slightly rougher than ABS caps. In dark rooms, this looks spectacular without being distracting. The matte finish looks high quality and hardly attracts fingerprints. Friedrich Stiemer SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3: Accessories In addition to the keyboard itself, the box contains a detachable, braided USB-C cable, the magnetic palm rest, and a keycap remover. Replacement caps or other extras are not included. While they aren’t essential for a premium keyboard in this class, their presence would’ve been a welcome bonus. Friedrich Stiemer SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3: Technology and features At the heart of the SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 are the new OmniPoint 3.0 switches, manufactured by Gateron. These magnetic switches register keystrokes not mechanically, but via a Hall-effect sensor. This is a technology that works with magnetic fields to measure key travel (without contact) and with extreme precision. The switches have a linear feel with an actuating force of around 45 grams, which enables fast and consistent input. The standout feature is the per-key adjustability, allowing actuation depth to be set anywhere from an ultra-fast 0.1 mm to a full 4.0 mm. Friedrich Stiemer In practice, this means that if you need fast response times in shooters, you can set the buttons to extremely fine triggering. If you prefer precise typing, increase the depth for more typing control. The customization takes place in the SteelSeries GG software and is saved directly to the keyboard. This allows users to play with their saved profiles even without the software installed. Not all keys are equipped with the more expensive OmniPoint switches. While the main block uses them, the function row and number keys rely on classic linear SteelSeries Red switches. This is hardly noticeable in everyday use, but it’s still worth noting. There is no hot-swap function for replacing the switches. SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3: Performance The polling rate is 1,000 Hz. That’s solid, but not record-breaking. Some high-end keyboards now offer up to 8,000 Hz. This means that the SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 registers inputs up to 1,000 times per second, which helps keep input latency very low. The keyboard also supports N-key rollover and anti-ghosting, so that multiple simultaneous keystrokes are reliably recognized. This is especially important for fast-paced games. Friedrich Stiemer One highlight is the “Rapid Trigger” function, which allows a key to reset and actuate again as soon as it is lifted slightly. In fast-paced games such as Valorant or Counter-Strike 2, this enables lightning-fast direction changes. In combination with “Dual Action Keybinds” (i.e. double assignment depending on the depth of pressure), the SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 becomes a serious tool in esports. One button can perform two actions: a light press activates walking, for example, while a stronger press in the same keystroke activates sprinting. This is ideal for dynamic movements in games such as Apex Legends or Call of Duty. SteelSeries has also improved the keyboard’s acoustics. A layer of damping material now sits between the circuit board and the base. As a result, it’s much quieter than other mechanical keyboards. It produces more of a gentle “thock” instead of the typical click-clack. Friedrich Stiemer SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3: Software and operation Setup via the SteelSeries GG software is straightforward. Here you can set the trigger point for each button, adjust the lighting, program macros, or manage profiles. Particularly convenient are the predefined presets for well-known games such as Apex Legends, CS2, and Fortnite. Friedrich Stiemer An integrated OLED display in the top right-hand corner shows system information, volume, profiles, and incoming Discord messages. It can also be customized with personal text or a small logo. Together with the aluminum rotary wheel, the display also doubles as a hub for media control. Here you can adjust the volume, hit play or pause, and modify the lighting. However, there are no dedicated media buttons, which is a bit of a shame at this price point. SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3: Everyday life and gaming In everyday use, the SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 3 proves to be a genuine all-rounder. It feels pleasantly direct and precise when typing and reacts lightning-fast in gaming situations. Shooters, in particular, benefit from the low latency. When playing Valorant and Call of Duty, keys responded practically without delay. The keyboard also impresses with long texts. The stroke remains soft, the typing noise discreet, and the palm rest ensures comfort. Anyone who has ever experienced the difference between 0.1 and four millimeters of actuation will understand how finely the typing behavior can be tuned. Friedrich Stiemer The only downside is that, with its weight and wired connection, the Apex Pro Gen 3 is clearly designed as a desktop keyboard. If you’re usually on the move, it’s better to opt for the TKL or wireless version. That version, however, comes with second-generation OmniPoint switches. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Extremely low weight (39 grams) Very precise and fast sensor Optical switches with a clean click feel Sturdy workmanship despite lightweight Construction Switchable 8,000 Hz polling rate Cons Short battery life, especially at high polling rates Open underside susceptible to dust No comfort features like RGB, Bluetooth, or additional buttons Less suitable for large hands High price Our Verdict Ultra-light, precise, and fast, the Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium packs impressive performance into just 39 grams of wireless technology. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Pulsar Gaming Gears X2 CL CrazyLight Medium Wireless Retailer Price $129.95 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Can you build a wireless gaming mouse that weighs less than a chicken egg? Pulsar pushes the limits with its X2 Crazylight Medium, an FPS-focused mouse that weighs just 39 grams. In this review, we’ll explore whether this featherlight wonder delivers in real-world gameplay. Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium: Design and features The Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium lives up to its name: the mouse only weighs around 39 grams, which is almost unbelievably light for a wireless mouse. By comparison, even ultra-light competitors like Logitech’s G Pro X Superlight 2 at around 60 grams or Razer’s Viper V3 Pro at 54 grams are about 20 grams heavier. Pulsar achieves this weight through careful internal weight savings. The result? The Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium feels surprisingly stable despite its lightweight design. The housing neither creaks nor rattles during everyday use, and the buttons sit firmly without any annoying wobble. Friedrich Stiemer The surface is matte and smooth, which makes for a pleasant feel, but it can become a little slippery with very sweaty hands. Optional grip tapes help here. It would have been a nice touch if the manufacturer had included them by default. The shape and dimensions of the Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium follow the popular Pulsar X2 design in a slightly shrunken version. The Medium model is around 12 centimeters long, 6.3 centimeters wide, and has a flat, symmetrical body. This allows the mouse to sit comfortably in the hand, especially for claw-grip and fingertip players. Those with medium-sized or small hands will find the low, wide shape extremely comfortable. The mouse doesn’t completely fill the hand, but it provides plenty of control for quick movements. On the other hand, the Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium may feel a little small for larger hands. Pulsar also offers a large and a mini version. Friedrich Stiemer Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium: High-end sensor Despite its minimalist design, Pulsar doesn’t skimp on top-level technology. At the core of the mouse is Pulsar’s exclusive XS-1 sensor, which is based on Pixart’s PAW9350. This optical sensor supports an impressive 32,000 DPI resolution, 750 IPS, and 50 G acceleration. That’s more than enough for extreme sensitivity settings or even 360-degree spin shots in shooters. Friedrich Stiemer Pulsar also offers an optional polling rate of 8000 Hz (8 kHz) via 2.4 GHz radio. By default, the mouse transmits at 1000 Hz, which is already very responsive. However, if you want every possible millisecond and have the right hardware, you can increase the polling rate up to 8000 Hz using a separately sold dongle. Currently, only a few mice like the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 (Lightspeed 2) support such a higher wireless rate out of the box, without replacing the receiver. In practice, the difference is only noticeable in professional esports or with high FPS displays. For most users, 1000 Hz is preferable given the potential side effects… but more on than later! Friedrich Stiemer It’s especially pleasing that Pulsar uses specially developed optical switches, which should last up to 100 million clicks and is designed to prevent double-click problems. The click feel and mouse wheel are subjectively different from mechanical switches. In the case of the Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium, we noticed slightly less “rich” feedback, but clearly defined scroll steps. This is largely a matter of taste, though. Friedrich Stiemer Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium: Tiny battery Speaking of side effects, the radical lightweight construction does have its drawbacks. In order to reduce the weight so drastically, Pulsar has cut corners, especially with the battery and the base of the housing. The battery is tiny. Pulsar itself claims a battery life of up to 65 hours, but this figure is probably only valid under the best conditions. In everyday use, you’ll have to charge the mouse more often than usual, especially when using high polling rates. The battery drains rapidly, sometimes after less than 10 hours of continuous use. In 1000 Hz mode, the mouse lasts a few days depending on the usage profile. In our experience, it lasted around five to seven days with average gaming time. This result is fine, but it’s significantly shorter than other competitors. Logitech’s Superlight 2, for example, lasts up to 90 hours. Friedrich Stiemer The second compromise concerns the underside. The X2 CrazyLight has a skeletonized base plate to shave off some weight. In concrete terms, this means that, in addition to the PTFE gliding feet (Pulsar supplies smaller “dot” skates in the package), there are recesses through which you can see inside–even the battery is partially exposed. While this design saves on weight, it also exposes the electronics to dust and dirt. This isn’t a major problem in a clean gaming environment, but we’d recommend not using the mouse on dirty or crumbly surfaces. In more unusual scenarios, you could theoretically push the battery through the openings, but this is unlikely to happen in normal use, unless you finger the underside of the mouse with sharp objects. Overall, we find the compromise acceptable. Most gamers will appreciate the weight advantage more than a fully closed base plate. Friedrich Stiemer Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium: Performance In FPS use, the Pulsar X2 Crazylight Medium delivers immediate, almost weightless handling. Fast flick shots are precise, and changes in direction feel effortless thanks to the mouse’s low weight. The combination of a high-precision sensor and optical switches creates a direct, responsive gaming experience, which is especially noticeable in titles like Valorant or Counter Strike. You also benefit from the precise fine control in tactical shooters, as even slow, deliberate movements are tracked accurately. Friedrich Stiemer Away from shooters, the mouse still performs reliably. In MOBAs like League of Legends, you benefit from the fast responsiveness of the buttons, although the limited number of additional buttons may be a drawback for some folks. In action RPGs like Diablo, the mouse feels comfortable even during longer sessions thanks to its lightweight casing. The precise tracking also makes it well suited for creative tasks, such as image cropping or detailed work in graphics programs. The symmetrical shape supports smooth control, making long office or browsing sessions comfortable and effortless. Read...

Last month, one of the best productivity apps for Mac finally became available for Windows. That’s Raycast, which is like a keyboard-controlled Swiss Army Knife for your computer. Open Raycast with a keyboard shortcut (Alt + Space by default on Windows and Option + Space on a Mac) to quickly look up files, launch apps, search the web, and more… all from a single text box. While Apple’s Spotlight feature provides similar utility on Macs, Raycast is more powerful and flexible—and it now works on Windows PCs as well. Most of its functionality is free, with an optional subscription for syncing data across devices and using certain AI features. Raycast can be a bit daunting at first, but it can feel like a superpower once you get rolling with it. To give you an idea of how useful it can be, here are some ways I’m using it myself. This column first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get tech advice like this every Tuesday. Instant calculations and unit conversions Jared Newman / Foundry Raycast’s built-in calculator might be the one feature I use more than anything else. Without ever taking my hands off the keyboard, I can open Raycast, type in an expression, and see the result immediately, with the Enter key even copying the answer to the clipboard. It’s so much faster than reaching for a separate calculator app. Finding files (and folders) faster Jared Newman / Foundry My file system is pretty organized, but opening a specific file or folder through Raycast is still faster than digging through File Explorer. Where Raycast really shines is its “Quicklinks” feature that makes your favorite files or folders even easier to access. Once you’ve saved a Quicklink, you can pin it to Raycast’s main menu, which lets you open it with a custom keyboard shortcut or just find it more easily in Raycast’s search results. I’ve pinned my Downloads and work images folders so they’re never more than a few keystrokes away. An expanded clipboard Jared Newman / Foundry While macOS Tahoe now includes a clipboard history feature, Raycast’s version is better. You can open it instantly with a custom keyboard shortcut—no need to hit Command + Space first—and can optionally paste as plain text. Raycast’s clipboard history is also searchable, and it offers a nice view of copied images. I’ve started using it in place of the built-in clipboard manager in Windows as well. Clipboard history is a good way to get familiar with Raycast’s “Hotkeys,” which let you take actions without even opening the main Raycast window. (I’ve mapped Raycast’s clipboard manager to Ctrl + V on macOS and Windows key + V on Windows.) Quick text snippets Jared Newman / Foundry Raycast’s “Snippets” tool lets you turn small text fragments into larger blocks of text, which cuts down on repetitive typing. For instance: I can type @adv to write “advisorator@jarednewman.com” I can type @adr to write my mailing address. To swat away PR pitches, I can type !gopa, which then prompts me for the PR rep’s name and writes “Hi [name], thanks for reaching out. Gonna pass on this one. Thanks — Jared.” You can set all this up through Raycast’s easy “Create Snippet” menu, where the Snippet is what you want to write and the Keyword is what you type to trigger the snippet conversion. I’ve previously sung the praises of a free Windows app called Beeftext for this purpose, but it’s no longer being actively maintained and there’s no Mac version. Besides, Raycast’s implementation is easily searchable in case I forget the shortcut for a particular snippet. Window management Jared Newman / Foundry After switching to an ultrawide monitor, I’m often moving my windows into and out of split-screen mode. Raycast makes that easier by letting you resize windows with keyboard commands. For instance, I can move Obsidian into the middle of the screen to focus on writing, or split it 33.3%/66.6% with my web browser while researching. This is also a good way to get acquainted with Raycast’s “Command Aliases” feature, which lets you execute commands with less typing. I’ve set it up so that typing LT into Raycast moves an app to the left third of the screen while typing RTT moves an app to the right two thirds. Checking my calendar Jared Newman / Foundry Seeing what’s coming up on my calendar always takes more clicking and typing than I want. Thankfully, Raycast offers a Google Calendar extension for quickly viewing your upcoming agenda. This is one of the many third-party extensions that you can install to make Raycast even more useful. Just type “Store” into Raycast and you’ll be able to peruse all kinds of free enhancements. The one I’m using for my calendar is simply called “Google Calendar.” This kind of tool is the future Whether you use Raycast or not, this category of “command bar” apps is one you should be aware of, as it’s an increasing area of interest for tech companies. Apple has beefed up Spotlight in macOS Tahoe to compete more directly with Raycast, and Microsoft is building something similar with Command Palette in its free PowerToys app. ChatGPT’s Mac app and Google’s new Windows app use the same command bar concept with an emphasis on AI, too. With the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT, I think folks are warming to the idea of asking their computer to do things instead of constantly clicking around manually. Once you get used to doing that with Raycast, it’s hard to imagine using your computer without it. This column first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get tech advice like this every Tuesday. Read...

LG Electronics will show off it’s new line of lifestyle TVs–the LG Gallery TV line–at CES in January, 2026. The Gallery TV is designed to optimally display the more than 4,500 works of art available from the company’s LG Gallery+ service (a “light” version is bundled with the TV; the “full” version requires a subscription.  The TV features a “Gallery Mode” that promises to optimize color and brightness to best reproduce the visual texture of physical art. And with that goal in mind, there is also an advanced glare and reflection-reduction coating. Ambient light adjustment rounds out the TV’s special display features.  The slim, flush-mount Gallery TV is available in 55- and 65-inch flavors, with customizable magnetic frames available to complete the illusion of a static canvas. There’s internal memory for saving content (including generative AI images and user photos). The TV is powered by LG’s Alpha 7 AI Processor and features immersive AI Sound Pro audio (with 9.1.2 virtual channels).  Speaking of audio, users can choose from a variety of backing tracks, or you can stream your own music to the Gallery TV via Bluetooth. Add mood lighting and you’re done. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Attractive and sturdy design Bundled display hood and remote Built-in automatic hardware image calibration, brightness adjustments USB-C hub includes Ethernet Great color gamut and accuracy Cons Limited contrast ratio HDR is supported, but only barely No Adaptive Sync Our Verdict The BenQ PD2770U is a monitor built for professional content creation. Its specific feature set will limit its appeal, but makes it a good choice for its intended demographic. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: BenQ PD2770U Retailer Price BenQ $1699.99 View Deal Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Most monitors sold today are chasing the same trends. OLED panels are common, bringing with them excellent contrast, and refresh rates have surged into the hundreds. These upgrades have led to excellent displays, but the BenQ PD2770U marches to a different tune. It is focused on professional content creation and has several unusual features—such as a built-in display calibration tool—that will appeal to the monitor’s audience. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best monitors for comparison. BenQ PD2770U specs and features The basics of the BenQ PD2770U’s display panel are nothing to write home about. It has a 27-inch 4K IPS-LCD panel with a refresh rate of 60Hz. The backlight is edge-lit LED, so no fancy Mini-LED backlighting here. Adaptive sync isn’t present, either. Display size: 27-inch 16:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 3840×2160 Panel type: IPS-LCD with LED edge lit backlight Refresh rate: 60Hz Adaptive sync: No HDR: HDR 10/HLG Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x Thunderbolt / USB-C with 96 watts of Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 1x USB-C upstream with 5Gbps data, 2x USB-A downstream with 5Gbps data Audio: None Extra features: Light sensor, remote control, built-in automatic calibration, uniformity mode, display hood Price: $1,699.99 MSRP However, the BenQ PD2770U includes several uncommon features. It has built-in image calibration hardware tucked into the top bezel, plus ambient light sensors and a USB-C / Thunderbolt hub that includes Ethernet connectivity. It also ships with a display hood and wireless remote for controlling the monitor’s features. These features don’t come cheap, though, as the PD2770U carries a high MSRP of $1,699.99. Speciality monitors meant for professionals tend to carry a hefty price premium. BenQ PD2770U design The BenQ PD2770U is a monitor meant for professional settings, so it offers a reserved and low-key look. That’s not to say it’s unattractive, though. I rather like the charcoal-and-gray colorway, which remains a professional tone and is distinct from the matte black look typical of less expensive professional monitors, as well as the metallic silver used by most similarly priced competitors. Build quality is high. As with most displays, plastic is the material of choice, but the stand base is metal and the plastics that make up the body of the display are robust. It’s a hefty monitor, as well, at nearly 20 pounds with stand. That’s heavier than many 32-inch monitors. Matthew Smith / Foundry A monitor hood is provided with the monitor. The hood is used to shade the display and reduce the impact of ambient light on its surface. It attaches magnetically, too, so it’s not too difficult to install or remove. Most home users are unlikely to use the hood, but it’s handy if you work in a space where you can’t control ambient light as much as you’d like. The included stand has a flat, sturdy base that minimizes its footprint on your desk. Ergonomic adjustment includes up to 115mm of height, 25 degrees of tilt, 30 degrees of swivel, and up to 90 degrees of pivot (for use in portrait orientation). None of these adjustments are remarkable for a premium monitor, but they’re competitive. A 100x100mm VESA mount is also available for use with a third-party monitor stand, arm, or wall mount. BenQ PD2770U connectivity Connectivity is a headline feature for the BenQ PD2770U. The company seems to expect that the monitor will be used with a high-end laptop, like a MacBook Pro or Asus ProArt, and so it provides a Thunderbolt 4 / USB-C port with up to 96 watts of Power Delivery and DisplayPort video. That makes for easy single-cable connections to any laptop that has USB-C with the same features (which includes most modern laptops). The monitor also provides a second USB-C upstream port, though it supports just 5Gbps of data. It’s useful if you want to connect a desktop alongside a laptop. Both USB-C ports expand a connected device’s connectivity to a pair of wired USB-A ports, each with 5Gbps data rates, and a single RJ45 Ethernet port. This isn’t the most connectivity you’ll find from a monitor—the Dell U3225QE, for instance, offers over twice as much USB connectivity—but it’s still a respectable range, and the inclusion of an Ethernet port is always good to see. As you might expect, the PD2770U provides KVM switch functionality. That means you can connect two computers to the USB-C upstream ports, then connect wired devices to the USB-A downstream ports, and use the monitor to switch which computer is connected to the USB-A devices. BenQ PD2770U menus and features The BenQ PD2770U’s on-screen menu system can be accessed either with a joystick control on the monitor, or a convenient puck-style remote. The puck-style remote is a small, wireless dial that’s great for making quick adjustments. Alternatively, most monitor features can be accessed through BenQ’s attractive DisplayPilot software, which is available for both Windows and MacOS. A long list of image quality adjustments are available. These include many preset modes that target specific color gamuts, such as AdobeRGB, Rec.709, DCI-P3, DICOM, and more. The monitor also provides precise gamma and color temperature adjustments with additional color customization, if desired. Matthew Smith / Foundry Ambient light sensors are included and can be used to automatically adjust brightness throughout the day. This can reduce eye strain and will help the monitor appear accurate in a wide range of lighting conditions. The jewel in the PD2770U’s crown, however, is the automatic hardware calibration tool permanently tucked inside the thick top bezel. It can deploy automatically on a set schedule and runs a hardware-defined display calibration process (meaning no additional software is required to use it). Aside from convenience, this feature adds value, as color calibration tools typically sell for $150 to $300 or more, depending on the model. On top of that, the BenQ provides a remote calibration management tool called DMS Local, which can be used to sync color profiles across a fleet of monitors and enforce mandatory calibration. Of course, I can’t comment on the specifics of how well DMS Local works in a professional studio, but I thought it worth a mention. Matthew Smith / Foundry Overall, I like the built-in calibration. Calibration normally requires additional hardware, which you must connect and put into place before calibration can take place. That extra hassle can make it easy to justify putting it off until tomorrow—for weeks on end. BenQ’s built-in calibration gives you less reason to put it off. Calibration does require roughly 10 minutes, though, so you’ll have to take a break (or use a second display). You also need to warm up the display for 30 minutes before it can be calibrated, though the hardware takes this into account and will automatically engage after the warm-up period has ended. The BenQ PD2770U goes the extra mile with an automatic color calibration tool that can operate on a schedule and requires no additional hardware or software to operate. BenQ PD2770U audio The BenQ PD2770U doesn’t include built-in speakers and instead provides only a 3.5mm audio pass-through for connecting a headset or speakers. It is a bit disappointing to see speakers are excluded, though it’s not uncommon for high-end monitors to lack speakers. BenQ PD2770U SDR image quality The BenQ PD2770U is a monitor tightly focused on creative work including photography, videography, and digital art. That might lead you to expect excellent image quality across the board, but the PD2770U instead makes some trade-offs to provide a presentation focused on accuracy and realism. Matthew Smith / Foundry First up is brightness, where the BenQ PD2770U achieved an acceptable maximum SDR brightness of 351 nits. As the graph shows, it’s definitely not the brightest image available, but also not dim. This level of brightness is sufficient to cover SDR workflows, as well, which typically see brightness calibrated to somewhere in the 100 to 200 nits range. Though not the brightest monitor around, the BenQ PD2770U benefits from an effective Nano Matte finish and the included display hood. These features together make glare a non-issue in most situations, even in rooms with unusually bright and uneven lighting. You’ll only see glare if a bright light source is directly over your shoulder. Matthew Smith / Foundry Contrast is a weakness of the BenQ PD2770U. Though it aims to provide great image quality, it’s also a IPS-LCD display, and doesn’t have a dynamic Mini-LED backlight. The result is a contrast ratio that’s behind even most LCD monitors. It should be noted, though, that enhanced contrast isn’t the objective of the display. Rather, the Nano Matte display is meant to diffuse light in a way that provides good color accuracy and a comfortable viewing experience. I like it, though I should mention I am generally biased towards matte over glossy panels. Those who want more contrast should consider the Asus ProArt PA32UCDM, a beautiful professional monitor with an OLED panel. Matthew Smith / Foundry Color performance is something the BenQ PD2770U needs to nail and, fortunately for BenQ, it scores extremely well. The BenQ PD2770U achieved a maximum color gamut that spanned 100 percent of sRGB, 98 percent of DCI-P3, and 99 percent of AdobeRGB. That’s among the best result we’ve ever recorded. There is one detail to note, though, which is that the monitor can’t display this range of all gamuts simultaneously. For example, when the monitor is set to AdobeRGB the DCI-P3 color gamut drops to about 87 percent (and vice versa). This isn’t of much practical concern because I have a hard time fathoming a situation where you would need to work in both color spaces at once on the same display, but I thought I’d mention it. BenQ also provides modes for color gamut standards I don’t normally test, like DICOM and Rec.709. The range of supported color gamuts is wider than what you’ll find on a typical gaming or general-use monitor—even those sold above $1,000. Matthew Smith / Foundry The BenQ PD2770U delivered a solid color accuracy result that dipped below an average color error value of one. While not the very best I’ve tested, any result around one (or below) is excellent, and means the image will generally look accurate and true to the content being displayed. Color temperature and gamma are also important aspects of accuracy, and here the BenQ PD2770U scored extremely well. It presented a tight gamma curve of 2.2 and a color temperature value of 6500K. Both are the values we expect to see at default settings, and the values most monitors target out of the box. These numbers mean the image looks neither too dark or too bright, nor too warm or too cool. The monitor provides a wide range of gamma and color temperature settings, so you can tune these figures to your needs or preference. Sharpness is excellent, as the 27-inch monitor packs a resolution of 3840×2160. That works out to about 163 pixels per inch, which is as high as you’ll find without upgrading to something more exotic, such as a 5K or 6K monitor. 4K images and videos reveal a ton of fine detail, and small text remains easy to read. On the whole, the BenQ PD2770U’s SDR image quality is great with the exception of contrast, which is modest at best—and this rather bluntly defines the PD2770U’s appeal. This is not a monitor for enjoying entertainment or playing games, but rather a monitor for professional work. As such, the accuracy of the image, and the ability to calibrate it, becomes more important than the wow-factor a better contrast ratio would provide. Of course, the dream would be to have a monitor with both a high-contrast OLED panel and the high degree of accuracy and calibration that the BenQ PD2770U provides. Monitors like that do exist, but they’re often at least twice the PD2770U’s price (and yet may still lack useful features found on the PD2770U, such as automatic hardware calibration). BenQ PD2770U HDR image quality and motion performance The BenQ PD2770U supports HDR10 / HLG, but HDR is not the focus of the monitor, and it lacks any version of VESA DisplayHDR certification. You should consider HDR to be something the PD2770U can provide in a pinch, but not something that will be accurate. This is largely due to the lack of brightness and contrast, both of which are required to do HDR justice. Motion clarity also takes a back seat, as the PD2770U only provides a 60Hz refresh rate and does not support adaptive sync. While slower-paced games look fine on the PD2770U, it’s definitely not a good choice for highly competitive games. Should you buy the BenQ PD2770U? The BenQ PD2770U is a professional content creation monitor aimed at creatives who primarily produce SDR content and need excellent, accurate color performance. It goes the extra mile with an automatic color calibration tool that can operate on a schedule and requires no additional hardware or software to operate.While many professional monitors include calibration hardware, it’s unusual for that hardware to be built physically into the monitor itself. It should prove useful if you mean to calibrate your monitor but often find it a hassle, or forget to do it on a regular schedule. This perk is balanced by the monitor’s barely-there HDR support and missing adaptive sync, which mean the PD2770U is not great for entertainment and gaming. However, the PD2770U is a great choice if you need a color accurate monitor for professional work. Read...

TL;DR: Microsoft Project Professional 2024 is on sale for $39.97 (MSRP $1,130). A new year usually brings new goals, new projects, and a fresh attempt to stay organized. That’s easier said than done when work lives across spreadsheets, notes apps, calendars, and a dozen browser tabs. Microsoft Project Professional — now just $40 — is designed to pull all of that planning into a single workspace so projects actually move forward instead of stalling out. This desktop software is built for people managing real timelines, not just to-do lists. You can map out schedules, assign tasks, track progress, and adjust plans when things change, which they always do. It’s especially useful for professionals starting the year with multiple initiatives already in motion. What Microsoft Project Professional Helps You Do Build detailed project timelines with dependencies and milestones Visualize workloads across multiple projects to avoid bottlenecks Run what-if scenarios to see how changes affect delivery dates Track time spent on project and non-project work Sync with Project Server or Project Online for team coordination Unlike subscription tools that lock features behind monthly fees, this is a lifetime Windows license. Buy it once, install it on your PC, and keep using it year after year as your responsibilities grow. If getting organized is part of your plan for the new year, this is one upgrade that actually supports your positive outlook. Microsoft Project Professional 2024: Lifetime License for Windows — $39.97 (MSRP $1,130). Microsoft Project Professional 2024: Lifetime License for WindowsSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...