This year’s October Prime Day event starts today, October 7th, and will end at midnight Pacific, October 8th — a two-day event rather than a four-day sale like we had in July. Still, we’re already seeing some killer deals on everything tech, including flash drives. After all, everyone needs a great USB flash drive, and October Prime Day is an excellent time to grab one for cheap. Why listen to my recommendations? 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 October 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 October Prime Day deals on 64GB to 256GB flash drives Kindston Ironkey Vault Privacy 50, 256GB, USB 3.2, Encrypted — $90 (42% off, was $155) SanDisk Ultra Luxe, 256GB, USB 3.2 — $21 (12% off, was $24) Lexar JumpDrive Dual, 128GB, USB 3.2 — $13.88 (37% off, was $22) The best deal of the lot is for the Kingston Ironkey Vault Privacy 50, where you can get 256GB of storage space for 42% off. The thing that makes this flash drive stand out is the fact that it can secure your data like no other. Plus, it comes with a rugged metal casing. Best October Prime Day deals on 512GB to 2TB flash drives PNY Pro Elite V3, 512GB, USB 3.2 — $45 (17% off, was $61) SanDisk Extreme Pro Dual, 512GB, USB 3.2 — $58 (28% off, was $80) A superb pick from this list is the Ultra Flair from SanDisk. This is a flash drive with a USB-A connector, 128-bit AES encryption, and up to 150MB/s transfer speeds for a quick job on moving files around. Other great October Prime Day deals These aren’t the only October Prime Day deals being tracked by the PCWorld team. If you’re looking to supercharge your home setup with the juiciest tech sales, hit the links for the best expert-curated picks we’ve found. Best Amazon October Prime Day tech deals: Great sales chosen by experts Best October Prime Day laptop deals: Gaming notebooks, 2-in-1s, and more Best October Prime Day deals on SSDs and storage Best monitor deals for October Prime Day: OLED, home office, and more Best October Prime Day deals on Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs Best October Prime Day mini PC deals: Big savings on tiny computers Best October Prime Day deals on battery chargers and power banks Best October Prime Day deals on Chromebooks Best October Prime Day deals on office chairs and standing desks Best October Prime Day PC computer deals 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 October Prime Day deals? Finding great deals can be difficult because not all discounts are worth covering. When looking for good October 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 Palm vein scanner works especially well Robust multi-user support Reasonably priced Cons Still has some kinks to work out Troubleshooting notifications required multiple days of tech support and factory resets Our Verdict This simpler and less expensive version of Lockin’s flagship smart lock drops the integrated camera—mostly for the best. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Lockin Veno Palm Vein Recognition Smart Lock Retailer Price $159.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Lockin was a pioneer with the palm vein scanning feature on its Veno Pro Palm Vein Recognition Video Smart Lock, and it didn’t stop there, throwing in a massive collection of additional features on top of that, including an integrated camera and a video doorbell. While rough around the edges, the kitchen-sink approach was at least an interesting concept and a nice starting point—albeit an expensive one. If you like the general direction Lockin is going with its smart locks, but don’t need the video camera features in the Veno Pro—which weren’t all that great anyway—Lockin has an alternative for you: the Veno Palm Vein Recognition Smart Lock (yes, it’s the very same product name, less the “Pro” moniker). A sensor embedded in the Lockin Veno Palm Vein Recognition Smart Lock works with a custom strike plate to detect whether the door is open or closed. Specifications This more basic model removes the camera from the Veno Pro but keeps virtually all its other features. Apart from the missing camera lens, it even looks identical. But its $160 street price–$190 cheaper than Lockin’s flagship product–renders it much more competitively priced. The palm vein scanner on the Lockin Veno Palm Vein Recognition Smart Lock is amazingly accurate, but a fingerprint reader, a numeric keypad, and the Lockin app are also available as backup.Lockin The overall specs remain the same: IP65 weatherproofing, ANSI grade 2 certification, and an array of unlocking options that allow for operation via physical key, mobile app, numeric touchpad (with 6- to 10-digit PINs), or fingerprint reader, in addition to the palm vein scanning feature. There’s still a doorbell button covering the keyhole, and pressing it rings a chime on the device, although the button is not backlit, making it virtually invisible in the dark. Power comes courtesy of the same size and shape rechargeable battery (5,000 mAh) as the Pro, which can be charged via USB-C when disconnected or via an optional 5.5-watt solar panel ($70) that attaches to the emergency USB port on the underside of the external escutcheon for real-time trickle charging. Lockin says the lock should last for about 7 months on a charge, significantly better than the 3 months on the Pro (likely due to the absence of the camera). Installation and setup The installation process is identical to that of the Pro. An interior frame bolts with two screws through the door to the exterior escutcheon, and the interior escutcheon connects via three bolts to the frame. As with the Pro, the deadbolt is unique, with an embedded sensor that works with a custom strike plate to detect whether the door is open or not, a handy feature that spares you the eyesore of having an external magnetic sensor attached to the door. The Lockin Veno Palm Vein Recognition Smart Lock has more than the usual number of cables to deal with during installation.Christopher Null/Foundry As with the Pro, there’s a lot of wiring to contend with among the various components. There’s one cable leading to the deadbolt, which must be attached to the motor housing on the interior escutcheon, and two additional cables trailing out from the exterior escutcheon. It makes for a crowded bunch of wire connections; fortunately, getting them all seated properly was the only difficult part of physical setup this time around. (Needle-nose pliers help a lot.) Unlike when I reviewed the Pro, I didn’t have any trouble with the bolts getting jammed, and the lock otherwise came together smoothly. The unit offers native 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connectivity, and it also supports Matter—although you’ll need to use the Lockin Smart app to accomplish nearly anything with the lock. A quick Bluetooth connection gets the lock bridged to your Wi-Fi network, and a wizard-based setup now makes the rest of the process more convenient, prompting you to configure your admin user credentials, add additional users, calibrate the door’s open/closed status, and even set auto-locking settings (configurable from immediate to 180 seconds). With many other smart locks, all this work must be done after the fact, piecemeal. Using the Lockin Veno Palm Vein Recognition Smart Lock I did encounter trouble when attempting to update the lock’s firmware, as the process repeatedly stalled out. But oddly (and fortunately), when I left the lock to its own devices overnight, I found that the firmware had automatically updated on its own by the next day. Nothing has changed from the Pro when it comes to access management, and Lockin provides an intuitive system for keeping users organized. Each user can have multiple PINs, fingerprints, and palm scans. You can have 50 of each access type stored at any given time; though again, any user created in this manner invariably gets 24/7 access—there is no provision for restricting them to particular days and/or times. I see the absence of an integrated camera as a money-saver more than a missing feature.Christopher Null/Foundry All temporary users must be managed via a separate menu that only supports PIN-based access. One-time passwords that expire within one hour can also be created via the Temporary Password menu. These passwords can now be set to go into effect at a later time rather than immediately, up to a day in the future. Note also that the geofencing feature of the Veno Pro has been removed from this lock. While Lockin has made some upgrades and fixed some of the aggravations I cited in my previous coverage of the Pro, some kinks still need working out. For example, locking the door from the outside still requires you to hold down the lock button on the numeric keypad—but this button is not illuminated (although the numerals are). The button is effectively invisible without a backlight, so you’ll need to remember where it is to press it. Robust logging keeps tabs on all operations, but push notifications did not initially work in our testing.Christopher Null/Foundry The fingerprint reader on this unit also often took more than one attempt to properly read my print. I had better luck with the palm vein scanner, which woke up on approach more easily than it did on the Pro and never had any significant trouble quickly scanning my hand. My biggest issue with the lock was that none of its notification features worked during my testing; this despite all settings in the Lockin Smart app and on my iPhone being set to allow them. After two full days of tech-support troubleshooting, I finally got notifications to work, via a process that required deleting and reinstalling the app and factory-resetting the lock multiple times, which erased all its credentials. This was a huge hassle, but in the end, it did at least get notifications operating normally. Should you buy the Lockin Veno Palm Vein Recognition Smart Lock? While its  MSRP is a hefty $249, the Lockin Veno Palm Vein Recognition Smart Lock’s $160 street price is much more reasonable and competitive, even with other palm vein scanning locks, although the TCL D1 Pro (which doesn’t have a fingerprint reader or a doorbell) costs a bit less. I’ve really come to appreciate palm vein scanning on door locks, as it’s very reliable and means you can open the lock completely without needing to touch it. That’s a great add. After all, who knows where that thing has been? This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart locks. Read...

In the near future, according to a recent news release, Meta wants to systematically save and analyze its users’ conversations with the company’s own AI chatbot on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. The initiative will begin starting December 16th, 2025, initially outside the EU and UK where stricter data protection laws will force a later introduction. The data will be used to further personalize advertising and content, and it won’t be possible to opt out. Meta wants to study your AI chats According to Meta, all user inputs to the AI chatbot in WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook will be stored and analyzed. The company wants to use this data to personalize advertising and content. Anyone who talks to the AI about topics such as cycling or cooking, for example, could start receiving targeted ads for bicycles or kitchen appliances. Users might also start getting suggestions and recommendations for relevant groups and posts. Meta emphasizes that sensitive information—such as health, religion, or political views—won’t be used for advertising purposes. Nevertheless, that kind of data is still technically collected and processed in order to provide the AI functions. No way to opt out of data collection There won’t be a way to keep using the AI chatbot while also opting out of data collection and analysis. If you don’t want Meta to read and study your conversations for advertising purposes, your only option is to stop conversing with the AI chatbot altogether. WhatsApp offers an option for blocking the automatic integration of AI. To do this, open the relevant chat, go to the settings, and activate the “Advanced chat privacy” option. This must be done for each chat. Note that Meta plans to compile the AI chat data collected across platforms. Anyone who has linked their accounts in the “Accounts Center” must be aware that AI interactions on one platform can also influence the display of advertising on another. Meta says it won’t analyze private end-to-end encrypted messages between real contacts. Only AI conversations. Launch in Europe still up in the air While the new policy is due to come into force in most regions worldwide starting December, the launch date for the EU and UK remains unclear. Meta is still examining how the changes can be reconciled with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws. According to the company, over one billion people already use Meta’s AI services, including the chatbot and the “Imagine me” image function. What does this mean for users? In the future, anyone who chats with Meta AI will have their full conversations stored and examined by Meta. As the data analysis can’t be deactivated after its introduction, the only protective measure you can take is to not use any Meta AI features. (In WhatsApp only, you can activate chat data protection on a per-chat basis.) For more information, check Meta’s privacy policy. Read...

Amazon served up a slew of flashy Echo speakers and displays during its big fall hardware event in New York City last week, but its most practical and affordable Alexa announcement didn’t get any stage time.  Slated to ship on October 30, the $20 Amazon Basics Smart Dimmer Switch and Remote is just that—a palm-sized remote that lets you control your Alexa-connected smart devices as well as trigger Alexa routines.  Spotted on Amazon’s website by Engadget, the Amazon Basics Smart Dimmer Switch and Remote looks to be a handy replacement for Echo Buttons, the jumbo-sized Alexa-enabled remotes that were discontinued several years ago.  The new remote is also a rival to the Flic Button, a compact push button that supports a variety of smart home platforms, including Alexa.  Amazon’s new coin cell-powered remote bears a strong resemblance to the Philips Hue Dimmer Switch, with the four-button switch component designed to magnetically snap into its matching wall plate. You can mount the wall plate using the included adhesive tape, while mounting holes allow you to screw the plate to the wall. You could also lay the remote on a bedside table or affix it to a metallic surface, like the base of a lamp.  The Amazon Basics Smart Dimmer Switch and Remote will magnetically attach to its matching wall place, or you can simply place it on a flat surface, such as a bedside table.Amazon The top button features an LED indicator, while the other buttons are marked with (respectively) two, three, and four raised dots. The LED will blink different colors depending on whether the remote is in setup mode, registered and working with Alexa, encountered an error, or is running low on battery life.  Getting started with the Amazon Basics Smart Dimmer Switch and Remote seems fairly straightforward. Just pull out the plastic battery tab, ensure you have a nearby Echo device powered on (all but the earliest Echo smart speakers and displays are supported), press a button on the remote, and fire up the Alexa app. The app should automatically detect the remote and step you through the setup process.  Once that’s done, you can set up the remote to control just about any Alexa-connected smart devices, ranging from smart lights and blinds to smart locks and thermostats. You can also use the switch to trigger Alexa routines; for example, you could configure a button on the remote to trigger a routine that dims your smart lights and turns on your Amazon Fire TV.  This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best smart lights. Read...

Most days, finding a top-tier gaming laptop at a decent price can be an absolute chore. Not today, though! The Gigabyte Aero X16 is $450 off at Best Buy right now, which means you can get it for just $1,199.99 instead of its original $1,649.99. Now that’s an insane deal! This powerhouse laptop is ready to handle everything you need from it, from standard Word and Excel tasks to AI-enhanced gaming to fast video editing. Under the hood, you’ll find heavy-hitting specs: AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 CPU, plus 32GB of DDR5 memory, plus a spacious 1TB SSD, plus an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 graphics card. That’s right! Get DLSS 4 and all the other great Nvidia tech to boost your gaming experience on this laptop’s lovely 16-inch IPS screen with its crisp 2560×1600 resolution and gamer-standard 165Hz refresh rate. Other niceties include both HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4, a cutting-edge USB4 port, three USB-A, and 3.5mm audio. It weighs 4.19 pounds and lasts up to 16 hours on a charge, so it’s pretty portable. And that CPU qualifies this as a Copilot+ PC, so you get access to all the AI features in Windows 11 (existing and still to come). The Gigabyte Aero X16 is a fantastic deal for power gamers now that it’s only $1,199.99. This is a Best Buy deal you won’t want to skip, so grab it while you still can! Otherwise, if you want something different, check out some of our other favorite gaming laptops worth getting. Save $450 on this spectacular RTX 5070 laptop for power gamersBuy now from Best Buy Read...

Perplexity just opened up its Comet browser to users beyond its paid subscription service, albeit with a lot of paywalled features. But every longstanding browser (with one notable exception) seems to be cramming “AI” into itself, and Opera never likes to be left behind. The company’s new Neon “AI” browser is now available for free. No, wait, that’s wrong. It’s available for $19.90/month. What? Yes, Opera seems to think its users will shell out just shy of twenty bones a month to let an agentic AI program control their browsing. Some users are getting a generous offer to pay $59.90 for 9 months of access to the new build for Windows and Mac, after which it’ll cost $19.90 per month. This is an early adopter package for “Founder” access, and presumably Opera will open up access more widely later (like Perplexity has). The pricing was shared on Twitter/X and spotted by BleepingComputer. Opera Neon claims it can organize your tabs with AI, perform tasks on your behalf on a “cloud hosted virtual computer,” generate text, images, and video, and offer chatbots that invade your tabs via OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini. A lot of that stuff isn’t free, even if Opera is working as a middleman to provide these services. Paying extra also gets you a “direct line” to the developers for discussions and feature requests and possibly some invite codes. The tab management and virtual computer stuff are the only things you can’t accomplish yourself (possibly for free) with existing tools, AI, and otherwise. So even if I were a fan of Opera—I’m not, please stop asking me to write about your blinged-out gaming browser—I don’t think I’d be enticed enough to pony up for this. In fact, seeing Opera hop into the AI brawl only makes me appreciate my browser bestie Vivaldi all the more. The small team’s Chromium-based browser is blessedly, refreshingly free of “AI,” as its developers have made it clear that they think users want to interact with these tools on the web and on their terms. “We don’t see AI as something that our users are asking for,” said Vivaldi’s executive Stephenson von Tetzchner on the launch of Vivaldi version 7. “I think a lot of people are reacting to force-fed AI.” So, if you’re up for some force-feeding, sign up for the Opera Neon waitlist here. Read...

With a streaming stick, you can instantly equip your TV with a wide selection of streaming apps and services just by plugging in a tiny little device. Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks are among the best-selling models, as they’re easy to use and bundle numerous streaming services. The newest Fire TV Stick 4K model is currently on sale for $24.99 on Amazon. That’s a huge 50% discount on the original $49.99 MSRP, and this deal is “selling fast” according to the product page. More than 10,000 units have been sold in the past month alone! Why the Fire TV Stick 4K is great The Fire TV Stick 4K supports 4K Ultra HD, Dolby Vision, HDR10, and Dolby Atmos for a high-quality home cinema experience (provided your TV and sound system support these standards). Its Wi-Fi 6 tech ensures more stable connections, even when several devices are active on the network at the same time. (Again, given yours is a Wi-Fi 6 router. Don’t have that? No worries. It’ll work with older routers, too.) One special feature is the Xbox app integration: with a Game Pass Ultimate membership, you can stream Xbox games such as Starfield or Forza Motorsport directly via the stick without an Xbox console. For casual gamers, this is an inexpensive way to play the latest titles. With the included Alexa voice remote, you can easily navigate through the menu/apps using buttons and/or voice commands. This allows you to audibly search for genres or launch a TV series, for example. Similarly, you can integrate the stick into your smart home, using Alexa to control compatible devices such as lights, cameras, and thermostats. Why this deal is worth it For just $24.99, the Fire TV Stick 4K is one of the cheapest ways to significantly upgrade any existing TV setup. It combines great picture and sound quality with Wi-Fi 6 support, voice control, and a large selection of apps and services. Although some features require compatible devices or subscriptions, the device’s overall performance and ease of use are impressive. The Fire TV Stick 4K has a 4.7 rating on Amazon with over 87,000 reviews. The easy installation, smooth operation, user-friendliness, and price-performance are particularly praised. There’s some criticism of the remote control, which isn’t fully appreciated by all users. But overall, the positive reviews clearly outweigh the negative ones. Get the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for a whopping 50% offBuy now on Amazon Alternative: Fire TV Stick HD If you don’t have a 4K television, you can save a few bucks with the cheaper Fire TV Stick HD, now on sale for $17.99 with this 49% discount, dropping it down from its original $34.99. Don`t have 4K? Get the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD for 49% offBuy now on Amazon Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Inoffensive design includes a VESA mount Good sharpness and brightness for a budget monitor 100Hz refresh rate enhances motion clarity Cons Design is a bit too simple Doesn’t ship with a height-adjustable stand Modest contrast ratio and color gamut Our Verdict Though certainly drab, the MSI Pro MP275Q provides solid image quality for an office productivity monitor, and does it at an appealing price. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: MSI PRO MP275Q Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Are you shopping for a basic productivity monitor that won’t disappoint? The MSI Pro MP275Q might be what you need. Though it has a ho-hum design and barebones feature set, it delivers high brightness and sharpness on a budget. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best home office monitors for comparison. MSI PRO MP275Q specs and features The MSI Pro MP275Q’s specifications are firmly targeted at office productivity. It provides a 27-inch panel with 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, which is a nice bump from 1,920 x 1,080. It also has speakers, a VESA mount, and supports both HDR and Adaptive Sync. Display size: 27-inch Native resolution: 2560×1440 Panel type: IPS-LED Refresh rate: 100Hz Adaptive Sync: Yes, Adaptive Sync HDR: Yes, “HDR Ready” Ports: 2x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x 3.5mm audio-out Audio: 2x 2-watt speakers VESA Mount: Yes, 100x100mm Price: $179.99 MSRP, $139.99 typical retail Buying the MSI Pro MP275Q will set you back about $180 at MSRP but, like most monitors, it is often on sale and often for less than $150. That’s a decent price for a 27-inch 1440p monitor, but I wouldn’t call it a deal. MSI PRO MP275Q design The MSI Pro MP275Q doesn’t make much impression out of the box, and I suspect that’s the point. It’s a “Pro” monitor and, in this case, the professional could be anyone from a work-from-home administrator to a retail clerk ringing up an order. The Pro MP275Q looks fine, and it feels reasonably durable for a budget monitor, but it’s nothing special. However, the monitor’s function doesn’t live up to its branding. It has a simple stand that only adjusts for tilt. It’s not a tall stand, either, so tall users will find themselves looking down at the screen at an uncomfortable angle. The monitor does include a 100x100mm VESA mount, at least, so it’s possible to add a third-party stand or monitor arm. Matthew Smith / Foundry MSI PRO MP275Q connectivity MSI keeps it basic with the Pro MP275Q’s connectivity, but it covers the necessities. We’re talking two HDMI 2.0 ports, plus one DisplayPort 1.4, and a 3.5mm audio-out. This is the expected range of connectivity for a monitor around $150. It’s neither better nor worse than usual. USB-C would be nice, but it’s not common south of $250. MSI PRO MP275Q menus, audio Menu navigation is provided with a joystick tucked around the right flank of the MSI Pro MP275Q. Many monitors offer a joystick (which is often the easiest, most responsive way to navigate a monitor’s menus), so this isn’t unusual. The monitor’s menu options are easy to navigate, but barebones. There are some image quality presets, a few color temperature options, and an EyeCare mode for reduced eye strain, all of which is normal for a monitor in this price bracket. You can also adjust monitor features using MSI Display Kit, a desktop software utility. It provides easy access to most monitor options and is often more intuitive to use than the on-screen menu controls. Display Kit is not the most visually appealing example of such a tool—I think those from Asus, BenQ, and Dell look a bit better. Still, it gets the job done. Matthew Smith / Foundry The only unusual feature is an “Eye-Q Check” feature, which displays an Amsler Grid that’s supposed to help you determine if you’re experiencing eye strain. Does it work? Probably not. While I was able to find medical studies on using an Amsler Grid to detect problems like macular degeneration, I couldn’t find studies suggesting it’s useful for general eye strain.A pair of 2-watt speakers are included. They provide modest volume and no hint of bass but, as budget monitor speakers go, they’re not bad. The speakers are fine for listening to podcasts or ambient music at low volumes—which is more than I can say for most budget monitors. MSI keeps it basic with the Pro MP275Q’s connectivity, but it covers the necessities: two HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort 1.4, and a 3.5mm audio-out. MSI PRO MP275Q SDR image quality The MSI Pro MP275Q is the type of monitor that will frequently be used for spreadsheets, web browsing, PDFs, and other office productivity. These tasks don’t require incredible image quality but benefit from good results in brightness, accuracy, and sharpness. Fortunately, the Pro MP275Q delivers. Matthew Smith / Foundry Brightness is definitely a highlight for the MSI Pro MP275Q. A maximum brightness of nearly 400 nits is extremely high for any monitor in the sub-$200 price bracket. This level of brightness isn’t required in most situations, but it’s helpful if you’re planning to position a monitor near bright windows or in an office environment without light control. The monitor also has an anti-glare finish to minimize reflections, which further helps with usability in bright rooms. If you want a bright, readable office monitor, the MSI Pro MP275Q is a top choice. Matthew Smith / Foundry Contrast, on the other hand, is an unsurprising weakness. The MSI Pro MP275Q uses an IPS display panel and doesn’t have a fancy dynamic Mini-LED backlight. Because of that, its contrast ratio is just 1190:1 at 50 percent of maximum brightness.That’s not a terrible result, and it’s typical of budget IPS monitors. However, technologies like IPS Black and VA panels (like the Lenovo Legion R27fc-30) can achieve a contrast ratio of 3000:1 or better, and OLED’s contrast ratio is effectively infinite. On the other hand, monitors with those technologies are often twice the price. While the contrast ratio isn’t great, it’s arguably not that important for an office monitor. Text-based workflows rarely benefit much, if at all, from a very high contrast ratio. Matthew Smith / Foundry Color gamut isn’t the Pro MP275Q’s strength. It’s okay, with a color gamut that covers 99 percent of sRGB and 78 percent of both DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB. However, these are not impressive figures in 2025, and many alternative monitors do better. The color gamut will be a limitation if you need to do photo or video editing, or digital art, as many colors visible on more capable displays won’t be visible on this monitor. Matthew Smith / Foundry While the Pro MP275Q’s color gamut doesn’t impress, color accuracy is more in its favor. The monitor’s color accuracy is solid, and most people won’t notice any issue. Color inaccuracy is highest in cyan and blue tones—a fairly common result for an IPS-LCD monitor—but even there, it didn’t come across to me in subjective viewing. Again, I wouldn’t recommend using this monitor to edit professional photography for, say, National Geographic. But that’s to be expected at this price point. The Pro MP275Q’s color temperature and gamma results were fine for a budget display. It displayed a gamma curve of 2.3, off the target of 2.2, which means content looks a tad darker than it should. But this is often hard to notice. The color temperature came in at 6600K, also just a shade off the target of 6500K. I didn’t find that difference noticeable. Sharpness is a strong point. The Pro MP275Q’s resolution of 2560×1440 works out to about 110 pixels per inch across the 27-inch screen. That’s a respectable pixel density. Speaking personally, I find it sharp enough—and a big upgrade over 1080p. With that said, shoppers should keep in mind that 4K monitors aren’t much more expensive. Even MSI has one priced at $200. Overall, the MSI Pro MP275Q’s image quality is good for a budget monitor. Its brightness and sharpness make it ideal for its target use case, which is office productivity. The monitor’s color performance and contrast are less impressive, and make it a less appealing choice for entertainment. However, at $150, you’ll be hard pressed to find alternatives that clearly defeat it in SDR image quality. MSI PRO MP275Q HDR image quality and motion The MSI Pro MP275Q doesn’t advertise HDR support, but its specifications list it as “HDR Ready.” This is, I think, a fair way to market the monitor. It can technically support an HDR signal, but its image quality is entirely insufficient to do much with HDR. It’s not bright enough, doesn’t have a wide enough color gamut, and doesn’t have enough contrast. However, this is true of all budget monitors. I actually like that MSI doesn’t advertise this feature. Some budget monitors do, which annoys me, because their claims of HDR support can be misleading. In reality, you’ll need to upgrade to a much more expensive OLED or MiniLED monitor if you want good HDR. Adaptive Sync is also technically supported, but the Pro MP275Q lacks AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync certification. My AMD video card did detect it as a variable refresh rate display, however, and I saw smooth motion in games. The monitor also has a maximum refresh rate of 100Hz. Though that won’t make headlines in 2025, it’s high enough to provide a noticeable improvement in motion clarity. The Pro MP275Q will look a bit less blurry in fast motion than 60Hz competitors. Note, however, that it is fairly subtle—your mileage will vary depending on how sensitive you are to motion clarity improvements. Gamers should note that budget gaming monitors like the Lenovo Legion R27fc-30 and Pixio PX248 Wave will provide a higher refresh rate of up to 240Hz for less than $200. However, you’ll often have to make a trade-off in either display size or resolution. Should you buy the MSI PRO MP275Q? The MSI Pro MP275Q is a workmanlike monitor meant for, well, work. It provides good image quality in SDR with high brightness and sharpness. The monitor’s build quality is simple and notably lacks a height-adjustable stand, which is its only significant flaw. Still, the Pro MP275Q is a good option if you want a 27-inch 1440p monitor for just about any work environment, from a home office to a corporate bullpen. Read...

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Office and Windows 11 Pro for life for $45. Between the end of Windows 10 on October 14 and frequent price hikes for Microsoft 365, PC users have been asked to pay quite a lot just to use their computers. However, right now you can actually get Microsoft Office and Windows 11 Pro for life, and it’s only $44.97 (reg. $418.99). This is a two-part bundle. The first half is a lifetime license for Microsoft Office Pro 2021 for Windows. That comes with Word Excel PowerPoint Outlook Teams (free version) OneNote Publisher Access Part two is Windows 11 Pro. It’s an improved operating system that is cleaner, faster, and more secure. The new interface makes multitasking easier with features like snap layouts and virtual desktops. Security upgrades like BitLocker encryption and advanced login protections help keep data safe. And Microsoft Copilot means you have a built-in AI assistant that can answer questions, generate images, or write new content. This deal ends soon. Until October 19 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can get Microsoft Office and Windows 11 Pro for life for $44.97. No coupon needed. The Ultimate Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License + Windows 11 Pro BundleSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Decent performer for PCIe 4.0 HMB Super-stylish and beefy heatsink Affordable given the heatsink Cons Runs off of secondary cache in PS5 Our Verdict You can use Orico’s PCIe 4.0 OS5 NVMe SSD in the PS5 it’s marketed towards, however PS5 doesn’t support HMB so it will operate off secondary cache. Workable, but not as quick as a DRAM design. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Orico OS5 PCIe 4.0 SSD Retailer Price $71.99 View Deal $79.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The OS5 NVMe SSD from Orico is a looker thanks to its stylish and beefy heatsink. It’s moderately fast for its ilk and will work fine, if not optimally in the PS5 it’s marketed for. That gaming console doesn’t support the host memory buffer (HMB) technology that the OS5 uses for primary caching duty on a PC. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best SSDs for comparion. What are the Orico OS5’s features? You’ll notice from the photo at the head of the article that the OS5 ships with a rather hefty heatsink to fit its 2280 (22mm wide, 80mm long) form. It’s a PCIe 4.0, NVMe SSD using a host memory buffer (HMB) for primary caching in place of DRAM. The OS5’s controller is a Maxio 1602A and its NAND is 144-layer TLC (Triple-Level Cell/3-bit). Seemingly around 35 percent of that can be dedicated to secondary cache (Orico claims 20 percent), i.e., writing the NAND as single-bit SLC (Single-Level Cell). Another view of the OS5 and its handsome heatsink. Orico warranties the OS5 for five years, which is mitigated by a 600TBW (terabytes that may be written before read-only commences) per terabyte of capacity. That’s about average for the industry and 144-layer TLC. Should you ever want to know how close you are to your TBW limit, download CrystalDiskInfo or a similar utility and check the “percentage used” number. As this only increases with writes, it’s likely going be a lot less than you might imagine. My last main computer was only at 1 percent after two years, albeit with heavy use of external storage for many tasks. How much is the Orico OS5? The OS5 is $90 in the 1TB capacity, $150 for 2TB, and $280 for 4TB (prices on Amazon are about $20 less than that). That’s quite a bit of capacity for a reasonable price given that the included heatsink is generally a $10 to $15 option with most SSDs. I wouldn’t call OS5 an outrageous bargain, but it’s certainly competitive. How fast is the Orico OS5? Using our new test MO and equipment, the OS5 turned in the fourth fastest PCIe 4.0/HMB score out of six SSDs. Not great, though the difference isn’t vast in most tasks, as you’ll see below. The upshot is that even slower NVMe SSDs are really, really fast. The OS5 we tested was hurt by the fact that it’s only 1TB and nearly all the SSDs we test are 2TB or 4TB. Because of that, it ran out of secondary cache more quickly. This really took a toll in the 450GB write. But the OS5 was certainly competitive in CrystalDiskMark 8, including the sequential transfer tests shown below. The OS5 offers quite a bit of capacity for a reasonable price given that the included heatsink is generally a $10 to $15 option with most SSDs. The OS5 was competitive in CrystalDiskMark 8, including the sequential transfer tests shown here. Longer bars are better. CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K numbers were much the same story. Hardly awesome, but good enough for government work. CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K numbers were much the same story, not ground-shaking but close enough for rock n’ roll. Longer bars are better. When shuffling only 48GB around, the Orico OS5 was largely on par with the more capacious Lexar 2280 Play SE (another heatsink/HMB design marketed for the PS5), Teamgroup MP44Q, and WD Blue SN5100. Faster in some cases, a tad slower in others. Note that FastCopy is a highly recommended file transfer utility that operates far nearer the pace you see in synthetic benchmarks than Windows Explorer. When shuffling only 48GB around, the Orico OS5 was competitive with the more capacious PCIe 4.0/HMB SSDs. Faster in some cases, a tad slower in others. Shorter bars are better. The 450GB write is where the OS5 was body-slammed by its competitors. The result of the already discussed lower capacity and lack of secondary cache. However… Arrgh! With only 1TB on board, the OS5 was at the mercy of other 2TB/4TB SSDs with more secondary cache. Shorter bars are better. …the long write news isn’t all bad. Once secondary cache is exhausted, the TLC still transcribes data to cells at a livable pace of around 1GBps. Believe me, I’ve seen worse. How about 75MBps in the early days of QLC? This really isn’t that bad a pace for native writing. Twice SATA. Not ideal, but not one of the 75MBps to 150MBps horror stories we used to see. Should you buy the Orico OS5? Though not optimal for the PS5, like other HMB designs, the OS5 will get the job done adequately and for a lot less than a DRAM model. I like the look of the heatsink, so if you find the right price, have at it. But to be honest, slapping a heatsink on HMB and then marketing the SSD as ideal for PS5 is not my favorite marketing schtick. That goes for Orico, but also Lexar with its Play 2280 series. How we test Drive tests currently utilize Windows 11 24H2, 64-bit running off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Ultra i5 225 feeding/fed by two Crucial 64GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (128GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. Internal PCIe 5.0 SSDs involved in testing are mounted in a Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 adapter card. We run the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 (and 9), AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks (to keep article length down, we only report one) to find the storage device’s potential performance, then a series of 48GB and 450GB transfers tests using Windows Explorer drag and drop to show what users will see during routine copy operations, as well as the far faster FastCopy run as administrator to show what’s possible. A 20GBps two-SSD RAID 0 array on the aforementioned Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 is used as the second drive in our transfer tests. Formerly the 48GB tests were done with a RAM disk. Each test is performed on a NTFS-formatted and newly TRIM’d drive so the results are optimal. Note that in normal use, as a drive fills up, performance may decrease due to less NAND for secondary caching, as well as other factors. This issue has abated somewhat with the current crop of SSDs utilizing more mature controllers and far faster, late-generation NAND. Note that our testing MO evolves and these results may not match those from previous articles. Only comparisons inside the article are 100% valid as those results are gathered using the current hardware and MO. Read...