At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Unique aspect ratio for extra vertical space Useful extra features Higher resolution than 4K, excellent sharpness Now has a 120Hz refresh rate Cons HDR is supported, but not great MSRP is expensive for the display size Our Verdict The BenQ RD280UG is an outstanding coding display, with a unique 3:2 aspect ratio, an ambient light sensor that can automatically adjust display brightness, and an ultra-high resolution superior to a typical 4K monitor. All of this makes for an outstanding coding display. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: BenQ RD280UG Retailer Price $699.99 View Deal BenQ $699.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The BenQ RD280UG is a monitor designed from scratch for coding. Of course, just about any display can be used for coding—but the BenQ RD280UG goes much further than most. It has a unique 3:2 aspect ratio, an ambient light sensor that can automatically adjust display brightness, and an ultra-high resolution superior to a typical 4K monitor. All of this makes for an outstanding coding display. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best monitors for comparison. BenQ RD280UG specs and features It’s hard to miss the BenQ RD280UG’s headline feature. The 28.2-inch display, which has a 3:2 aspect ratio, is instantly set apart from most monitors. It’s a sharp display, too, with a native resolution of 3840×2560. That’s a higher pixel count than a 27-inch 4K monitor, but due to the BenQ RD280UG’s larger physical display size, the pixel density is almost identical. Display size: 28.2-inch 3:2 aspect ratio Native resolution: 3840×2560 Panel type: IPS-LCD with LED edge lit backlight Refresh rate: 120Hz Adaptive sync: VRR HDR: Yes, VESA DisplayHDR 400 Certified Ports: 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4, 1x USB-C with DisplayPort Alternate Mode and 90 watts USB Power Delivery, 1x USB-C downstream with DisplayPort MST and up to 15 watts of Power Delivery, 2x USB-A downstream, 1 USB-C downstream with 7.5 watts of Power Delivery, 1x USB-B upstream Audio: Yes, 2x 3-watt speakers Extra features: Moonhalo ambient light, KVM switch, ambient light sensor Price: $759.99 MSRP The BenQ RD280UG makes several improvements over its predecessor, the BenQ RD280U. The refresh rate has increased from 60Hz to 120Hz and VRR is now supported, though BenQ stops short of support for any particular standard (such as AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync). The new model also lists slightly more powerful speakers, up to 3 watts from 2W before, replaces one USB-A downstream port with USB-C, and lists a better contrast ratio of 2000:1, up from 1200:1. BenQ RD280UG design The BenQ RD280UG’s design is dominated by its highly unusual 3:2 aspect ratio. While there are now a couple other 3:2 monitors available, it remains extremely rare. The aspect ratio results in a display that’s almost exactly as wide as a 27-inch widescreen monitor, yet nearly as tall as a 32-inch widescreen monitor. Because of that, the RD280UG’s 3:2 aspect ratio can provide a tad more than two extra inches of vertical display space (compared to a 27-inch widescreen). This is useful not only for coding but also for writing or editing all sorts of documents. Put simply, you can see more on the display at once. The display’s size is also a great fit for viewing two vertical windows side-by-side. Matthew Smith / Foundry The 3:2 display is housed in a robust chassis with a distinct ridged design on the rear of the monitor. It sets the monitor apart from other brands, yet still looks professional. This is also where you’ll find the MoonHalo, an ambient light that can create a pleasant glow around the display in a bright environment. While the MoonHalo is meant to reduce eye strain, I like it for a more basic reason: It just looks nice. The ambient glow cast by the MoonHalo is pleasant and bright enough to be a genuinely useful light source in a dimly lit room. BenQ mounts the monitor to a hefty stand with a flat base that doesn’t cause too much disruption on your desk. The stand can adjust for height, tilt, and swivel. It can also pivot, which is an upgrade from the BenQ RD280U. A 100x100mm VESA mount is used, so the monitor can be attached to third-party monitor arms and stands. BenQ RD280UG connectivity Around back the BenQ RD280UG provides three video inputs: one HDMI, one DisplayPort, and one USB-C with DisplayPort. The USB-C port also provides up to 90 watts of Power Delivery for powering a connected laptop or tablet. The monitor also has a USB-C downstream port with 15 watts of Power Delivery and DisplayPort multi-stream transport. This feature lets you connect a second display to the BenQ RD280UG and “daisy-chain” the video signal to it. That’s useful if you have a laptop with just one video output, or if you want to reduce cable clutter on your desk. The USB-C port extends USB connectivity to two USB-A ports and one USB-C port. These ports can also be driven by a USB-B upstream connection. This makes the RD280UG a fairly useful USB hub, though it lacks some more extravagant features that can be found on some competitors. The Dell U3225QE, for example, has 2.5Gbps Ethernet. KVM switch functionality is included, too. That means you can connect multiple devices and use the monitor to switch between which has access to the monitor’s USB ports. It’s a good way to quickly swap between two connected PCs, though also included by most of the BenQ RD280UG’s competitors. BenQ RD280UG menus and features The BenQ RD280UG has several extra features aimed at programmers. My favorite is the ambient light sensor. An ambient light sensor can automatically adjust the brightness of a display throughout the day to keep the brightness at a comfortable level. That’s handy, as manually adjusting brightness is annoying and easy to forget. Most monitors in the BenQ RD280UG’s price range don’t have this feature, though a few do, including some Dell Ultrasharp, Asus ProArt, and BenQ P-Series displays. BenQ doubles down on comfort with several display modes, such as E-Paper and a Coding Dark Theme, which drastically change the image presentation. These modes are not technically “accurate” but might ease eye strain due to reduced brightness and enhanced contrast. Keep in mind, however, that the usefulness of these features can vary from person to person. The BenQ RD280UG also has a “Function Bar” on the front of the display. This is a touch-sensitive control that can be used to quickly engage or change monitor settings. The idea is that coders may want to frequently move from a coding-specific image quality mode to another, more typical mode. I would have preferred a remote or physical button for this, but the Function Bar is better than nothing. The monitor’s settings can otherwise be changed in one of two ways. You can use a joystick behind the lower bezel to control the on-screen menus or use BenQ’s DisplayPilot software. The DisplayPilot software supports Windows, Mac, and Linux, which is notable. Most competitors don’t support Linux. Whichever method you choose, you’ll find a lot of options. The monitor has many color modes and gamma modes that target precise gamma values. It also has color temperature adjustment, but those adjustments do not target precise values. The monitor provides many options for controlling special features, such as the MoonHalo, ambient light sensor, and function bar. On the whole, I think the BenQ RD280UG provides a good range of features and options for the price. My favorite feature is the automatic brightness adjustment of the ambient light sensor — manually adjusting brightness is annoying. BenQ RD280UG audio The BenQ RD280UG includes a pair of 3-watt speakers. According to the specification sheet, these are an upgrade over the RD280U, which used 2-watt speakers. And many similar monitors lack speakers at all. Still, the RD280UG’s audio isn’t great, lacking volume and depth. The speakers are okay for listening to a podcast but that’s about it. BenQ RD280UG SDR image quality I think it’s fair to say the BenQ RD280UG’s image quality is not important to the monitor’s core use case. Coding does not require a high contrast ratio or, in most cases, a wide color gamut. The BenQ RD280UG’s image quality reflects this, though it’s still decent. Matthew Smith / Foundry I measured a maximum sustained SDR brightness of 340 nits. That is a small upgrade from the older RD280U, which hit about 325 nits.As the graph shows, most competing monitors can be brighter, and some are significantly brighter. However, the RD280UG is bright enough to be comfortable in most interior rooms. It’s also clearly skewed towards use in dim rooms, as many of the monitor’s features are designed to make it comfortable when viewed in such a room. So, while the RD280UG is not that bright, it’s bright enough, and I can’t say it’s a problem for how the monitor is meant to be used. Matthew Smith / Foundry The BenQ RD280UG promises improved contrast over its predecessor, and it delivers. I measured a contrast ratio of 1980:1, which is a significant improvement over the prior monitor’s contrast ratio of 1310:1. It also compares well to similar monitors, many of which have a contrast ratio around 1000:1 to 1500:1. In practice, this means the BenQ RD280UG has a reasonably deep, rich, and immersive look. However, some backlight glow will still be visible when viewing dark images in a very dark room. Matthew Smith / Foundry Next up is color gamut, which is the range of colors the monitor can display. Here, we see a weakness of the BenQ RD280UG, and an area where the BenQ RD280UG doesn’t perform as well as its predecessor. The new RD280UG was able to display 88 percent of DCI-P3 and 82 percent of AdobeRGB, while the old model displayed 93 percent and 87 percent, respectively. This is not a major issue, as the BenQ RD280UG’s color gamut is still enough that it appears vivid at a glance. However, when compared to better monitors, it looks less saturated and alluring. You won’t notice it when coding or working with documents, but it can be noticeable in photos and videos. Matthew Smith / Foundry Color accuracy is also so-so, as the RD280UG has an average color error that’s higher than many competitive monitors—particularly those from Dell. The average color error is expressed across many colors, rather than any single color. The RD280UG is not meant to be a monitor for creative professionals, and for the price, would not be a good pick for that use. The RD280UG’s color temperature came in at 6700K, slightly off our target of 6500K. That means the image is a bit cooler than ideal, and it’s a noticeable difference, but not punch-you-in-the-face obvious. Gamma, meanwhile, was good with an on-target gamma curve of 2.2. The monitor provides a range of gamma presets in case you feel the need to change to another gamma setting. Together, these results contribute to a well-balanced presentation of the RD280UG’s image. Sharpness is a perk. The RD280UG provides 3840×2560 resolution, which is a higher total pixel count than a 4K widescreen monitor. However, because the monitor is also physically larger, this still works out to a pixel density of about 164 pixels per inch. Most 27-inch 4K monitors have a similar pixel density. Still, this is an excellent level of sharpness for a computer monitor. Small text looks crisp and detailed, which is important, since coders often view small text.The RD280UG’s overall image quality is not exceptional but seems well-suited for the monitor’s intended purpose. Programmers care most of all about sharpness when viewing small fonts and a well-balanced, reasonably accurate image. The RD280UG provides that. BenQ RD280UG HDR image quality The BenQ RD280UG is capable of HDR and is VESA DisplayHDR 400 certified, but I wouldn’t recommend it for viewing HDR. The monitor lacks the brightness and contrast to truly do HDR justice and generally won’t look much better than SDR—just different. On top of that, the monitor lacks the sort of HDR brightness and image adjustment features that you’ll find on a high-end gaming and entertainment monitor, such as the Asus ROG Swift OLED PG27AQWP-W. BenQ RD280UG motion performance BenQ’s RD280UG can reach a refresh rate up to 120Hz. That’s an improvement over the RD280U, which could only achieve 60Hz. It also allows the BenQ to catch up with recent Dell Ultrasharp and Asus ProArt monitors, many of which achieve a refresh rate of at least 120Hz. Whether the 120Hz refresh rate is adequate will depend on your expectations. The quickest monitors can now hit refresh rates up to 1,000Hz, and 240Hz monitors are extremely common, so 120Hz is a long way from cutting edge. However, many monitors meant specifically for coding or productivity are still stuck at 60Hz, and improving the RD280UG’s refresh rate to 120Hz delivers a big improvement. Refresh rate is often thought of as a feature for PC gaming but, in this context, it provides better text clarity when scrolling through code, as well as a more responsive feel when navigating a desktop, apps, or an integrated development environment. The monitor also supports variable refresh rates. It does not state official support for VESA AdaptiveSync, AMD FreeSync, or Nvidia G-Sync. However, in my testing, AMD FreeSync did function with the RD280UG. Should you buy the BenQ RD280UG? The BenQ RD280UG is one of the most unusual monitors on the market right now, yet in many ways, it makes perfect sense. It’s designed for coding and, to that end, it provides more screen real estate, an ultra-sharp image, and multiple modes and features designed to either reduce eye strain or make working in a dark room more enjoyable. The BenQ RD280UG also provides important upgrades from its predecessor, the RD280U, including a leap from a 60Hz to 120Hz refresh rate. The RD280UG’s retail price of $759.99 is expensive, and because you can code well enough on just about any display, it won’t make sense for everyone. However, if you have strong opinions on how a display you use for coding should function and look, the RD280UG will be ideal for you. Read...

Google Aluminium will be an Android-based operating system for laptops and tablets — “built with AI at its core,” according to Google. While Google hasn’t yet announced its grand plans, the future looks like it will involve Android laptops. Google wants a shiny AI-first laptop experience sitting next to Windows laptops, MacBooks, and iPads. But, while I use an Android phone, I don’t plan on switching to an Android laptop any time soon. What is Google’s Aluminium OS? Google has spent the last year dropping hints about merging Android and ChromeOS. At Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit back in September, Google’s Rick Osterloh talked about how Android would soon serve PC users, too. Recently, Google put up a job listing for a “Senior Product Manager, Android, Laptop and Tablets.” The job-posting name-dropped “Aluminium,” describing it as “a new operating system built with Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the core” and said it was “Android-based.” Mishaal Rahman spotted it and wrote up all the twists and turns of Google’s product strategy at Android Authority. ChromiumOS is the open-source project that ChromeOS is based on. Aluminium sounds like the perfect codename for an operating system that combines Android and ChromeOS. Google doesn’t seem like it’s about to axe ChromeOS any time soon, however. The job posting described how the product manager would be “curating a portfolio of ChromeOS and Aluminium (ALOS) Commercial devices across all form factors.” Lots of businesses and schools have standardized on Chromebooks, and it sounds like Google won’t be ditching the ChromeOS experience overnight. Google’s job posting even describes hardware tiers we should expect: “Chromebook, Chromebook Plus, AL Entry, AL Mass Premium, and AL Premium.” Chromebook Plus is a higher-end experience with specific hardware requirements, and Google looks like it’s planning on offering an experience with hardware tiers for these Android-based laptops and tablets, too. Android desktop experiences already exist An Android desktop experience is nothing new. You can use an Android environment as a desktop OS today, complete with floating windows! Samsung has offered this for years as part of its DeX software. Just connect a DisplayPort cable to your Samsung Galaxy phone and connect it to a monitor — or project wirelessly — and you get an environment with floating desktop windows. You can connect a wireless keyboard and mouse and use it as a desktop environment. You could just dock your phone at your desk and use it as your desktop PC. Chris Hoffman / Foundry Android 16 has its own desktop mode based on Samsung’s DeX, and you can use it on a Google Pixel phone. You don’t need a Samsung Galaxy phone for this anymore. After years of ignoring this and letting Samsung go its own way, Google is taking an interest. Desktop mode can be a little glitchy — while Android apps can run in windows and be resizable, they really aren’t designed for this type of experience. Android’s desktop mode is technically impressive and neat in a pinch, but I don’t plan on trading my traditional desktop operating system for it. Windows, desktop Linux, or even macOS is an upgrade. IDG / Chris Hoffman I’ve even used Android on a traditional clamshell laptop form factor. I reviewed the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen 5, which offered both Android and Windows on one computer, swappable at the press of a button. It was a very cool concept, but it didn’t make me crave a full-time Android laptop experience. I don’t enjoy Android apps on a laptop The idea of a desktop experience full of Android applications has been tried repeatedly and just hasn’t caught on. But tech companies just keep trying to make this happen. Microsoft itself dabbled with this and got burned: One of Windows 11’s big features was the ability to run Android apps, and that feature was canned pretty quickly. Very few people cared when Microsoft discontinued it. Most people just weren’t running Android apps on their Windows desktops. You can still run Android apps on Windows PCs with other tricks. But, again: Few people do. Google itself already has Android apps running on Chromebooks. This has been available for years. Every time I use a Chromebook, I try out Android apps and always prefer web apps if I can find them. Android apps built for touch screens just don’t work that well on a laptop with a mouse and keyboard, and transforming the entire operating system into an Android experience won’t solve this problem. Heck, even Apple hasn’t had much luck here. While you can run iPad and iPhone apps on a modern M-series ARM Mac, the Mac users I know stick to Mac desktop software on their machines — not mobile apps. And, while Apple is making iPads better at multitasking, Apple isn’t discontinuing MacBooks: Most traditional computer users want a laptop experience and not just an iPad with a keyboard case masquerading as a laptop. So why would I want an Android laptop? I could already run Android apps on a laptop by buying a Chromebook. So what does an Android laptop experience buy me? Under the hood, it might be better for Google to have a single app and development platform, sure. But, as a user, I don’t get it. On a laptop, I’d rather use ChromeOS, which is designed first and foremost for mice and keyboards. An Android-based laptop experience doesn’t appeal to me. I want a traditional PC experience with traditional PC software — the whole archive of Windows PC applications and games — and applications designed with a keyboard and mouse in mind. If Google’s big pitch is that Aluminum will have “AI at its core,” I’m not sure that will really appeal to a wide audience of PC users. Every operating system is getting deep AI integration these days — aside from traditional desktop Linux distributions and SteamOS. I hope Aluminium OS laptops surprise me Who knows what will happen — maybe Android will be the next great laptop operating system. Maybe this is the moment that Android and ChromeOS fuse into a supremely powerful desktop operating system — a mass-market PC operating system alternative to Windows that’s more widely supported by device manufacturers than desktop Linux is. It was always obvious to me that some voices inside Google wished they had pushed Android as a laptop operating system, too. Those voices are clearly winning. But I remember covering Google’s ChromeOS for my World Beyond Windows column here at PCWorld more than a decade ago. While I always found the idea of a lightweight, browser-based Linux operating system intriguing, I was never a fan of taking touch-first smartphone apps and running them on a laptop. Hopefully, Aluminum OS will be more interesting than that. But I’m concerned Google is just looking for a way to roll out AI features as quickly as possible to both phones and laptops by standardizing on a single OS. We’ll see whether shiny Gemini-powered Android laptops will appeal to consumers. Maybe they will — but I doubt people will be switching from Windows laptops or MacBooks. Google’s going to have to do something seriously transformative. The “I want a laptop running a mobile OS” crowd already bought iPads with keyboard cases. Read...

TL;DR: Pay $49.99 once and host up to 50 websites on Hostnirvana with SSD speed, free SSL, free CDN, and no monthly bills—ever. Web hosting is one of those necessary expenses that quietly adds up—especially if you’re running multiple sites or planning to launch more in the future. Hostnirvana’s Lifetime Website Hosting Subscription flips that model on its head by letting you host up to 50 websites for a one-time $49.99 (MSRP $299). Built for speed and reliability, your sites run on 100% SSD storage for faster load times, with US-based servers and a free CDN to keep things moving smoothly for visitors around the world. It also features daily malware scanning, a web application firewall, FTP security lock, and free SSL certificates to help protect your data and build trust. Getting started doesn’t require a technical background. With 80+ one-click apps, you can install WordPress in minutes or spin up an online store using WooCommerce, PrestaShop, or other popular platforms. Unlimited bandwidth (under fair use), unlimited storage, and unlimited email accounts mean you don’t have to constantly watch usage limits as your sites grow. Whether you’re building personal projects, managing client sites, or launching an online business, this Hostnirvana lifetime plan offers long-term value. Get lifetime access to Hostnirvana while it’s on sale for $49.99 (MSRP $299). Hostnirvana Website Hosting: Lifetime Subscription (50 Websites)See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

It’s amazing who you can run into at CES, the world’s largest electronics show. For example, Adam Patrick Murray ran into Eddie Lin, the CEO of Gigabyte. Granted, it was at Gigabyte’s showcase, and he went there specifically to meet him for an interview. But who’s to say that isn’t amazing? The big theme of CES 2026 is “AI” in everything, as has been the case for the last two years. And Lin was quick to hype up Gigabyte hardware’s abilities in the area, saying that the company is focused on bringing the benefits of the new tech to gaming. Exactly how Gigabyte intends to deliver a “totally fresh experience” via hardware was less clear. If there’s a secondary theme of CES 2026, it’s the incipient pricing crisis, thanks to memory costs exploding. This is causing the price of RAM, storage, graphics cards, and by extension pretty much everything having to do with laptops and desktops, to rise precipitously. Lin’s solution is what he calls a “performance matrix,” i.e., measuring every detail for components that actually contribute to gaming performance. “For example,” he says, “we measured 16 gigabytes versus 32 gigabytes [of RAM] for gamers, and the performance gap is only one or two percent.” Lin also spoke on motherboard design, incorporating features like back-facing connectors for clean builds, and stylish accents like wood panels. There’s exciting news on the OLED front, as he believes that transparent OLED monitors are only one to two years away (and I assume that means prototypes we might see at, say, CES 2028). Adam wants to know about handhelds, because he’s possibly the biggest fan of the Steam Deck and similar hardware on the PCWorld team. (He was playing in the taxi on the way to the hotel.) “…Lots of Chinese makers also build handhelds,” says Lin. “The most important thing is, just like with a tablet… what’s the differentiation we can have? That’s the only thing I think, how to build with differentiation.” For more live looks at CES, be sure to check out the PCWorld YouTube channel. And for deeper dives, watch our podcast on its dedicated channel, The Full Nerd. Read...

If you’re hoping to score an excellent gaming laptop without spending a literal fortune, here’s a deal that might excite you: the impressive Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is now just $1,450 at Best Buy, a whopping $350 off its original $1,800 MSRP. Okay, just shy of a grand and a half is still a lot of dough to be throwing around, but wait ’til you see what’s inside. View this Best Buy deal We appreciated the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 when we reviewed it late last year, with our expert giving this laptop a beautiful 4.5-star rating as well as our Editors’ Choice award. We found that it has a brilliant display, strong battery life, and “respectable gaming performance” overall. The CPU and GPU could be slightly better, and the non-upgradeable memory sucks for longevity, but otherwise it’s a banger of a machine. So, what’s inside? This laptop runs on a speedy AMD Ryzen 9 270 processor alongside 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and a 1TB Gen4 SSD. That’s a great configuration that can handle everything you throw its way, including Windows 11 and all the games you intend to play on this thing. Speaking of games, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 comes equipped with a Nvidia RTX 5060 that’s powerful enough to handle modern games and unlocks Nvidia’s cutting-edge DLSS 4 features for even more gaming prowess. You’ll be able to play all your favorite games at lavish frame rates with ray tracing, upscaling, multi-frame generation, and more. And it’ll be a great experience on this laptop’s 14-inch OLED display with its spacious 2880×1800 resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility. That OLED panel will deliver vibrant colors and great contrast, perfect for whether you’re gaming or watching Netflix/DVDs/Blu-rays. Connectivity-wise, you’re looking at a USB4, USB-C 3.2, double USB-A 3.2, microSD card slot, and HDMI 2.1. The battery is on the shorter side, though, so expect to stay plugged in. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a steal for $1,450, so snag this Best Buy deal before it vanishes and save $350 while you can! Snag this RTX 5060 laptop with 3K OLED screen for $350 offBuy now at Best Buy Read...

TechHive Editors Choice At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Can be installed anywhere outdoors Incredible value for its feature set Good image quality, day or night App is positively stuffed with features Cons Some minor bugs with motion detection Single floodlight isn’t as bright as you get with hardwired models Solar panel cable can be hard to seat properly Our Verdict Despite a couple of minor bugs, this low-cost, battery-powered floodlight camera knocks it out of the park in most respects. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Tapo C615F Kit Retailer Price $84.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices The “Kit” in TP-Link Tapo C615F Kit refers to the inclusion of a solar panel that comes with this full-featured security camera/floodlight combo to keep its battery charged. That’s right, you don’t need to connect it to your home’s electrical wiring, greatly expanding your options as to where you install it. That battery powers both a motorized pan/tilt camera unit and its onboard floodlight, covering all the bases for wire-free outdoor surveillance. With a $100 MSRP—and a street price of just $85 as of this writing—it’s a truly impressive value. Specifications There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s take it step by step. Foremost, there’s the IP65-rated camera, recording at 2304 x 1296 pixels at either 15 or 20 frames per second, with a fairly tight 100-degree diagonal viewing angle. But that narrowness is countered by the fact that it’s mounted to a pan/tilt motor that can scan 338 degrees horizontally and 97 degrees vertically. It’s designed exclusively to be mounted on a wall, ceiling, or eave; there is no way to effectively use the camera on a tabletop or to invert its image. Day or night, video quality is quite good for a 2K image; I was able to make out facial features at a range of at least 30 feet. The camera (and its floodlight, which I’ll get to shortly) is powered by a capacious 10,400mAh battery that can be charged via a wired USB-C connection or the included solar panel. There’s a dual-band (2.4-/5GHz) Wi-Fi adapter onboard, two-way talk support, and a 97dB siren. The system is compatible with Alexa and Google Home, but the product’s web page doesn’t mention Matter certification (the Matter standard wasn’t expanded to include security cameras until November 2025). The Tapo C615F Kit’s LED floodlight, mounted above its security camera, delivers up to 800 lumens of brightness–not bad considering both it and the camera run on solar power.Christopher Null/Foundry Videos can be stored locally on a user-supplied microSD card (capacities up to 512GB are supported) or saved to the Tapo Care cloud-storage service (up to 30 days of events). Tapo Care also adds a few extra features, the most notable being the option to receive rich push notifications with snapshots when motion is detected. Pricing for the plan starts at $3.49/month or $35/year for one camera, with various plans ratcheting up to $11.99/month or $120/year for up to 10 cameras, but most users probably won’t need a plan at all. A single dimmable floodlight panel sits above the pan/tilt camera; it can emit up to 800 lumens of white light at a cool color temperature of 4000 Kelvin. The floodlight can be pointed in a fixed direction independently of the camera, but it is not mounted to the camera’s motor and must be manually adjusted. The solar panel that comes with the Tapo C615F Kit  can be mounted directly above its floodlight or, with a USB-C extension cable–in a nearby location that’s more exposed to sunlight.Christopher Null/Foundry Most hardwired floodlight cameras, such as the Eufy Floodlight Camera E340 we very much like, have two or more much brighter floodlights that can be adjusted independently of each other. The E340, for example, delivers up to 2,000 lumens of brightness. On the other hand, this Tapo model also has a set of four LED spotlights next to its lens, so they pan and tilt along with the camera. TP-Link doesn’t publish the number of lumens these spotlights produce, but they sufficiently illuminate the scene to capture color images at night. The final piece of the puzzle is a 6.82 x 4.74 x 0.61-inch (173.42 x 120.42 x 15.7mm), 2.5-watt solar panel that you’ll attach to a posable arm. The panel can be mounted atop the floodlight or you can mount it in a different location that offers better sun exposure; a USB-C extension cable is included for that purpose. In the former configuration, you can also mount it to a pole, as I did for this review. Installation and setup The Tapo C615F Kit’s app offers a plethora of settings.Christopher Null/Foundry A broadsheet quick start guide explains the basics of setup, and it can be handy because after the system is unboxed, how the pieces all go together may not be immediately obvious. A short USB-C cable is affixed to the solar panel, with a connector at the other end that’s wrapped with a strip of rubber to ensure a watertight seal when you plug it into either the camera or the extension cable. But the rubber is so thick it’s difficult to push the plug all the way into the port, or to tell if it’s actually in all the way. The only way to ensure that the camera’s battery is being charged is to put it in the sun and check the app. When I set the camera up on a rainy day, this made for a particularly troublesome adventure. I’ve complained about the Tapo app’s setup process before, and that complaint remains the same here: To onboard your camera, you must select the model from a menu listing dozens of arcane and often similar options. If you’ve forgotten the specific model number you’re setting up, you’ll have extra work to do looking it up. Tapo, please fix. Other than that, onboarding was straightforward, and after a short firmware update I was up and running. Using the TP-Link Tapo C615F Kit The Tapo C615F Kit captures video with crisp 2K resolution. Christopher Null/Foundry The Tapo C615F has a bevy of features available through its app. On the home screen for the camera, a grid of on-demand commands lets you record video and capture clips manually, initiate a two-way talk session, trigger the siren, turn on the spotlight, or launch manual pan and tilt controls. Up to four waypoints can be configured in the pan/tilt system, giving you quick views of commonly used areas, and there’s a limited patrol option lets you command the camera to briefly sweep back and forth (or up and down). A deeper dive into the settings menu reveals some useful options, including settings to automatically track objects in motion, and whether you wish to detect people, pets, vehicles, or all motion. The camera can also be set to follow objects in motion once they are detected (which is half the point of a PTZ camera). A 24/7 recording mode is also available, but it’s a little misleading: This mode captures a still image at an interval you specify, then records video only if motion is detected. It’s akin to a time lapse mode that fills in the gaps between recorded clips, and it works reasonably well. You can control the camera’s pan/tilt motor manually with the app’s directional pad, or you can establish waypoints and have it “patrol” the scene automatically. Christopher Null/Foundry Floodlight brightness is adjustable, as is the amount of time the light stays on if motion is detected or they are manually activated. Two night-vision modes are supported, including a full color mode (active when the spotlight is on) or an infrared night-vision mode. Both modes look surprisingly good, thanks largely to the power of the floodlight, spotlight, and the infrared lighting. Day or night, video quality is quite good for a 2K image; I was able to make out facial features at a range of at least 30 feet under good lighting conditions, and video distortion was practically nil thanks to the limited viewing angle. Clips are limited to a maximum of two minutes in length (this is user-configurable), and cooldown can be configured to zero time between motion-triggered recordings if desired. Video loaded quickly from either cloud storage or the microSD card I used, and I didn’t encounter any hiccups with missing video, thumbnails, or the like. There’s also a neat “video summary” feature that lets you make a (very) abbreviated super-clip of the day’s activity, all rolled into a single video. The 800-lumen floodlight isn’t the brightest, but the fact that it doesn’t need to be wired to your home’s electrical system is a worthy trade-off.TP-Link I did run into a few small issues with the app. Person and pet detection could be hit or miss at times, and I received multiple false positives for both when nothing was happening on camera. Overall, I found motion sensitivity to be rather lacking, even at its highest level. I also had trouble with the camera’s privacy mode, which disables the camera video on demand. Once activated, I couldn’t turn this mode off due to a persistent error in the app, and I ended up having to dig up a workaround to get the camera back online. The solar panel, though limited in wattage, was fully successful at keeping the battery topped up even during a series of overcast, rainy days and with 24/7 recording activated. I’m confident that with reasonable access to the sun, this camera will be able to maintain a charge indefinitely, even with significant use. Should you buy the TP-Link Tapo C615F Kit? With a list price of $100 and a street price as low as $85, it’s hard to argue against the incredible value that the C615 Kit represents, particularly considering that it’s practical use doesn’t depend on a subscription. It isn’t a perfect product, but its few flaws aren’t massive deal-breakers. Hopefully, app updates over the time will continue to smooth out some of these. Read...

We love that modern laptops have become so slim and light, but we aren’t happy about the disappearance of ports and features. It’s been forever since I’ve seen a laptop with an optical disc drive! If you’re like me and sometimes wish you could load up a CD or DVD on your laptop, here’s a deal for you: this USB external CD/DVD drive is now $16 on Amazon, down from its usual price with a 34% discount. View this Amazon deal The Rioddas external CD/DVD drive is slim and generally portable, able to be taken with you on the go if needed. That also makes it easy to pack away when you aren’t using it, so it doesn’t take up unnecessary space on your desk. It uses a simple USB-A connection, which should be compatible with darn near every laptop out there. Expect data transfer speeds up to 5Gbps, which should be enough for any CD or DVD. You can also use this drive to burn CDs and DVDs, and it’s compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. It doesn’t work with Chromebooks, tablets, or phones, though. Nor does it work with Blu-ray discs. There’s no easier way to keep using CDs and DVDs in the modern era than with a plug-and-play USB external drive like this. Snag one of these Rioddas USB CD/DVD drives for $16 on Amazon while you can! Save 34% on this plug-and-play USB external CD/DVD driveBuy now on Amazon Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Polished, clean interface Multitude of entry types (logins, notes, etc), with the ability to pack in info fields Autofill works smoothly Large type for password viewing! Unique “travel mode” Cons Complex login system compared to rivals Family plan subaccounts can be nuked instantly (RIP) No backup codes for 2FA Technical details aren’t easily found in settings or documentation Our Verdict 1Password’s clean, polished vibe makes password management less of a headache, but its login system may feel too complex for less tech-savvy users. Its Family plan also allows the family manager to instantly nuke an affiliated account, placing a harsh burden on subaccounts owners to ensure their data is safely backed up. Overall, this service is best for users who want streamlined password management, but don’t mind going more hands-on with setup and account backup details. For everyone else, more straightforward (and cheaper) options will be better matches. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: 1Password Retailer Price 1Password (annually) $36 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices 1Password started as a macOS app, way back in 2006—and you can still feel that influence in its design. Even though the service now works across all major operating systems, the team still leans into a particular approach. This password manager is streamlined and runs smoothly, but users shouldn’t expect to see behind the veil. It feels very Apple, and as a predominantly Windows user, spending time in 1Password chafes a bit, even with how good it can be. Much like when I use Apple products. You have to be a certain kind of person to like this service, and I don’t mean that as a euphemism. 1Password operates in a specific way, and you have to accept that for what it is—or potentially get tripped up by its gotchas and quirks. For some people, these details will be dealkillers. For others, they won’t even register. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best password managers for comparison. 1Password in brief Cost: $36 per year (annual rate) Family plan available? Yes ($60 per year, annual rate) Browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, Brave Apps: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS Passwordless login: No Passkeys supported: Yes 2FA TOTP supported: Yes Emergency contact supported: No Account recovery possible? Yes What are 1Password’s plans and features? 1Password only offers paid plans, either Individual or Family subscriptions. Family plans support up to five members that can share unlimited vaults and invite guests to specific vaults. You can also add additional members to a Family plan at $1.39/month per user. Note: For 1Password, a “vault” is equivalent to folders in other password managers, rather than the name for your whole collection of saved data. 1Password Individual plans include expected features like storing passwords, passkeys, 2FA one-time codes, and secure notes. You also can share credentials and use up to 1GB of cloud storage for important documents. Additionally, the service monitors your data for compromised passwords (via the HaveIBeenPwned database) and notifies you of saved sites that support two-factor authentication (2FA). 1Password also provides an unique feature that hides specified vaults. Called Travel Mode, that data will remain hidden even if you’re forced to unlock the app by government officials. (For example, border patrol.) 1Password lacks one major feature compared to other password managers: It does not allow you to set a legacy or emergency contact. For estate planning, you must provide your heirs a copy of your account password, Secret Key (more on this in a moment), and your 2FA method (if applicable). 1Password platform support You can use 1Password on many platforms and devices. The company officially supports Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, and Edge with browser extensions, and it has standalone apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. The Windows app will choose light or dark mode based on your Windows system default.PCWorld You can sign up directly on 1password.com without having to download an app or browser extension—and also regularly use the manager this way. However, the experience is more seamless in the extensions and apps. 1Password support options If you ever have questions or need help with your account, you can use the 1Password chatbot or visit support.1password.com 24/7. For direct questions, you can fill out a form on the 1Password website to file a help ticket. How does 1Password perform? To evaluate 1Password for this review, I used its desktop app for Windows 11, browser extensions for Chrome and Firefox in Windows 11, and the Android app. I also lightly used the iOS app. Is it easy to sign up for 1Password? Creating a 1Password account is more complex than other services, as it uses a two-secret system. Think of it as two-step password. PCWorld The first part is your actual password, with a minimum of 10 characters required. Afterward, the system generates a Secret Key. This string of random letters and numbers is also necessary for logging in. If you think your Secret Key is compromised, you can regenerate it—but you’ll have to remember to save the new info. Speaking of, 1Password automatically generates an “Emergency Kit” PDF, which contains your Secret Key. The idea is to print or save the PDF somewhere you can access it again, in case you need it. (Also, if you ever need it, 1Password automatically saves your account password and secret key as an entry in your Personal vault, too.) But while a prompt to save the PDF happens automatically, you still have to choose to download it to your PC—which I think is an oversight on 1Password’s part. A user could overlook this step and then lock themselves out down the road. You can also set up 2FA, either through an app that generates one-time passwords or with a hardware security key (e.g., a YubiKey or Google Titan Security Key). How easy is it to recover a 1Password account? You can create a recovery key for a 1Password account, but like the Emergency Kit PDF, it is not an automatic process. I’d prefer to see this step incorporated into account setup, so that users immediately know it’s an option and create one right away. HOWEVER: If you enable two-factor authentication, 1Password does not offer backup or recovery codes for individual accounts or Family Organizers (accounts that manage other family accounts). If you lose access to your 2FA app or security key, you’ll end up stuck. I highly recommend setting up 2FA on another device, on an extra security key, or creating an encrypted backup of your 2FA app so you can get access to the one-time codes again. (Or all of the above.) In order to “back up” your 1Password two-factor authentication method, you have to add multiple methods to your account—like using a hardware security key (pictured above) in addition to app-generated one-time use codes.YubiKey Advanced users won’t find this an issue, since this methodology will feel comfortable and familiar. But figuring out a DIY recovery process for 2FA feels unnecessarily manual in the year 2025, especially compared to rival services. For average users, this “gotcha” for 2FA isn’t clear enough and makes using 1Password more cumbersome than necessary. Users part of a family plan managed by another person can ask the Family Organizer for help with recovering access to the account. As for data retention, if you end a 1Password subscription, your data will transition to a read-only state (“frozen account”). It won’t be deleted immediately. However, you will only be able to export your data—to make any changes, edits, or additions, you must renew your subscription. What will delete an account is a Family Organizer kicking a family member out of the group. The account does not revert to an individual account. So if you are part of a family group, make backups of your data, just in case an administrative mistake happens. How easy is it to sign into 1Password? If signed into a phone, 1Password lets you set up other devices through a QR code—which goes far, far faster than the two-secret login method. Arguably, this feature does make your account potentially less secure if you accidentally permit an unwanted device. But for most people, this risk should be low, so long as you control all the devices being logged into. 1Password does not support passwordless login at this time—so you can’t use biometrics or a passkey to get into your 1Password account, unlike with rival services. Once you have a mobile phone setup with 1Password, logging in elsewhere becomes very quick via QR code scanning.PCWorld Is it easy to import passwords into 1Password? 1Password allows you to import passwords via CSV from other password managers. If coming from Bitwarden, you can import more securely through an encrypted .json file. 1Password will also support the FIDO Alliance’s Credential Exchange Protocol (CXP) starting in early 2026, which allows secure transfer of passkeys in addition to passwords between apps and services with CXP enabled. The import process for CSV files is smooth, with a streamlined and clear approach to data classification before the information gets pulled in. I fed 1Password a sample set of about 30 passwords with minimal issues. The exception was my Best Buy entry, which was inexplicably marked as a weak password. (To my best knowledge, it is unique and not compromised.) Weak and compromised passwords like password and 123456 were flagged immediately upon import, as did one of my own that a website leaked long ago. How easy is 1Password’s interface to use? I like 1Password’s clean, polished interface, though its heavy reliance on navigation sidebars for desktop views feels dated. I tended to prefer the mobile app because it didn’t have multiple split windows. I also found 1Password’s restriction of certain settings to the web interface a bit confusing. (More on this in the “What else does 1Password let me do?” section below.) 1Password uses two sets of left-hand navigation columns.PCWorld The Windows desktop app and browser extension put information for each entry visible on the same screen as your list of items. You can store a variety of data, with a boatload of options to choose from for item types: Login Secure Note Credit Card Identity Password Document API Credentials Bank Account Crypto Wallet Database Driver License Email Medical Record Membership Outdoor License Passport Rewards SSH Key Server Social Security Number Software License Wireless Router To upload files for storage, use the Document item type.  I most often used the Login, Membership, Password, and Wireless Router item types. A considerable amount of detail can be added to some item types. You can pack in information for a single entry, like email, phone number, and other details, as well as extra passwords (like if you have related subaccounts or PIN codes to store as well). 1Password can be used to store and generate 2FA one-time codes for your accounts as well, and it works well. But I generally recommend having a standalone app for two-factor authentication, just as a precaution. If you lose access to 1Password, you lose everything. PCWorld For the desktop views, the far-left column lets you jump between shortcuts. The column next to it shows the entries for the view you’re currently in, whether that’s All Items, a search result, or a subcategory you’ve clicked on. On mobile, you get a single screen view and can jump between categories by clicking along the options at the bottom of the screen. You can also customize the Home screen with favorite shortcuts. 1Password is efficient at capturing and filling in login information for login pages and apps. Like most rivals, by default it will automatically offer to fill in your credentials on recognized websites. You can change the settings so 1Password requires your input before autofilling data, as well as turning off automatic login upon fill. (I recommend both tweaks as a security precaution.) “Show in large type” as seen in the Windows app. This feature is most helpful on mobile in my opinion, though.PCWorld 1Password also has one of the best interfaces for manual retyping of passwords—the ability to show a password in large type on screen. Clearly seeing the difference between a capital O and a zero in big characters is a godsend. It’s absolutely one of my favorite features and I wish other rival services offered it. Tip: For better mobile security, turn off Keep device active for Large Type in your settings. Otherwise, it will override your screen’s automatic sleep and you can end up accidentally having your last used password showing indefinitely for all to see. And wasting battery life, too. Also cool: You can use Markdown formatting for Secure Notes. My only minor gripe with this feature is that it won’t display properly in the web interface. You’ll see the Markdown notations for formatting, not actual formatted text. It’s a slight bummer, since I was in the web interface semi-often. How well does 1Password manage passwords and passkeys? 1Password detects the creation of new passwords and passkeys consistently, with seamless saving of them to your vault. Autofill works as smoothly, too. If asked to generate passwords, 1Password by default suggests ones that are 20 characters long. You can generate passwords up to a maximum of 100 characters. For your saved items, you can sort them in different vaults—essentially what other services would call folders. These vaults can then be grouped together in collections. Individual items can also be tagged, meaning that you don’t need infinite vaults. Instead, you can store multiple items under bigger umbrellas, and search for subgroups by tag. For example, you could have a “Travel” vault, with tags for airlines, rideshares, and bus services. As someone who likes to loosely organize and let search handle the rest of the work, this system worked well for me. I had a sense of organization, without the rigidity of making sure everything is in specific folders that I’d have to monitor and manage. How easy is it to share passwords in 1Password? 1Password is among the easier services to share passwords through. For individual accounts, you can only share passwords temporarily, with intervals of 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, or 30 days. You can also allow anyone with the link to view, or you can restrict it to specific email addresses. For the latter scenario, the person you’ve shared with will need to input their email address, then input a verification code sent to the address. PCWorld For family accounts, a shared vault is automatically created for the family administrator. Once a family member creates their account, the administrator must confirm their addition to the family for the shared vault to appear for them. (The invite and confirmation is done through the Invitations panel in the Manage Account part of the administrator’s profile.)  All items stored in the Shared Vault are equally editable by family members. To restrict access to View-Only, you’ll have to create a vault and then share it with individual family members. That will allow you to set their permissions level (Allow Viewing, Allow Editing, or Allow Managing). What else does 1Password let me do? 1Password’s signature feature is its Travel Mode, which allows you to hide vaults when the mode is active. Only those marked as Safe for Travel will appear. The idea is that while you’re traveling, you could be forced to unlock your device against your will—say at a border crossing. And perhaps you don’t want your work or banking information to be accessible for scrutiny. Turning on this mode means data in anything not marked as Safe for Travel will be invisible and inaccessible. It’s an interesting feature, though the interface for activation feels hidden. You can only toggle the mode on and off in the web interface—and a very specific part of it at that. You must go to your profile’s Manage Account option, rather than its settings. Any browser works, so you can still do this on a phone—just navigate to my.1password.com/profile. 1Password’s Watchtower feature, as seen through the web interface.PCWorld 1Password also has its version of dark web monitoring called Watchtower. This feature used to also be a hallmark offering, but rivals have added similar notifications in recent years. 1Password’s variation still feels more polished though, with a numerical rating of your overall data security and action cards for areas of improvement. Watchtower evaluates your logins against the data in Have I Been Pwned, a site that tracks notable data breaches. If any of your logins have been compromised and are in that database, you’ll get an alert. For my test account, Watchtower caught several weak passwords, reminded me to set up 1Password recovery code, listed sites I could create passkeys for, and also told me which sites supported two-factor authentication. I always say this kind of feature isn’t an end-all, be-all solution to tracking data leaks and breaches. But 1Password’s integration with Have I Been Pwned helps speed up any necessary updates to your passwords. I also like that numerical score as a quick temperature read on overall credential security. How is 1Password’s security and privacy? 1Password encrypts data using 256-bit AES encryption (AES256) with PBKDF2 SHA256, and uses current default of 650,000 iterations. This setting matches the Open Worldwide Application Security Project’s latest recommendations. A higher number of iterations increases the difficulty of cracking the protection on your saved data, should it ever get leaked or stolen. 1Password is not transparent about an account’s number of iterations, however—you cannot look up this stat in your settings, as you can with competing services. So if you never look up this information at the time of creating an account, you won’t know where you stand if recommended security standards change in the future. And accordingly, you won’t know to reset your password or your Secret Key in order for your account to be reencrypted with the new default. 1Password’s standard login screen will always ask for your Secret Key and password.PCWorld When asked about its approach, 1Password says its system ensures all accounts are secure without requiring users to dive into such detail, as its two-secret model offers more entropy than a standard password-only system. A representative also said that account passwords are never transmitted directly over a network. Instead, the company relies on the Secure Remote Password protocol, making 1Password more phishing resistant than rivals.   But as a semi-advanced user, this lack of transparency annoys me. I’d prefer to know that information, even if shown as read-only data. The LastPass fiasco burned my unquestioning trust in password managers to keep older accounts properly up-to-date. I also dislike that you must reset your password to update an older 1Password account’s number of iterations—there’s no other way to bring it current. A final irritation: You cannot change how fast 1Password clears the clipboard on your PC or phone if you copy a password. It is fixed at 90 seconds. You also don’t get the benefit of even this option if you run 1Password in a browser extension alone. Is 1Password worth it? 1Password’s clean, polished vibe makes password management less of a headache—at least, that’s true for daily use. But its more complex login system and a dangerous gotcha for accounts held within family plans makes it a harder sell for less technical users who don’t know (or don’t want) to manage these kinds of details. 1Password’s more opaque approach also won’t sit as well with more advanced users accustomed to more transparency and granular information about features. But for advanced users who want precisely the opposite—the ability to shut off their brains and let someone else sweat the nitty-gritty—1Password may be a perfect fit. Same for moderately tech savvy folks comfortable with proactively backing up their account and its data. The team obviously cares about its approach to security, with a layered design that will feel smart to those accustomed to password management and two-factor authentication. For a majority of people though, more straightforward, cheaper options exist in the wild. Read...

Brooklyn Peltz Beckham`s statement on his strained relationship with his parents features prominently on Tuesday`s papers. Read...

Most smartphone owners use the online storage (also known as cloud storage) services of Apple or Google for backing up their photos and accessing them from anywhere. Online services like Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, and Amazon Drive are similarly practical, allowing you to organize, access, and share photos, files, and other data online. Almost all cloud services offer free entry-level plans, which are sufficient for small amounts of data but quickly become expensive as storage requirements increase. Only Amazon Drive provides its Prime customers with unlimited online storage for photos (but not videos). The downside to cloud storage for photos? You have virtually no control over how securely the data is stored or who has access to it. The privacy concerns are real, especially depending on where a particular cloud platform is headquartered and/or where its servers are located. Certain authorities may be able to access your data. If you care about privacy, there are plenty of good reasons not to store your photos on the cloud. The alternative is to create your own private cloud-like storage at home with something called a NAS. NAS: Your own private cloud at home NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. A NAS is basically a device that’s loaded with one or more storage drives and sits on a network (like your home Wi-Fi network), providing a central storage location that’s accessible by other devices on the same network. So, instead of uploading to Google’s or Apple’s servers, you can just upload to your NAS that’s only accessible to your own devices. Foundry Keeping your data to yourself is the only way to make sure that no one else has access to it. What’s more, with your own NAS you always know exactly where your data is physically located. By contrast, a cloud platform with countless server farms distributed around the world could potentially keep your data in multiple locations and countries across multiple physical storage drives. In short, you have to fully trust that your cloud provider has everything locked down, protected, and secure. If you have any doubts at all, you should set up your own NAS as a kind of private cloud storage. Your first NAS: What you need to know If you’re buying a NAS for private storage of data and photos, you should opt for a NAS that has at least two drive bays. Such devices are typically called “2-bay NAS” or “dual-bay NAS” in product listings. Empty or pre-installed with drives Furthermore, a NAS can be purchased with drives already included or as an “empty enclosure.” In the latter case, you’ll need to provide and install your own compatible drives, preferably two identical drives (in terms of capacity and model) from the same maker as your NAS if possible. The Terramaster D2-320 is an affordable entry-level diskless 2-bay NAS.Terramaster Installing drives in a NAS isn’t rocket science, and the procedure is usually well-documented in the NAS’s manual. Still, if you aren’t a tinkerer and don’t want to mess with that, you can just opt for a NAS model with pre-installed storage drives. (For entry-level NAS boxes, conventional 3.5-inch HDDs and SSDs are the storage media of choice.) Photo and video management Since the NAS will be used as a private cloud for photos, look for a NAS with a built-in photo management system that makes it easy to automatically transefr photos and videos from your phone to the NAS. Many NAS manufacturers offer companion apps (both Android and iPhone) for this purpose, and these apps also give you access to all photos and videos currently stored on the NAS. Of course, you can also access your NAS photos from your PC, either via the web interface in a browser or directly via folder sharing in the network area of Windows File Explorer. Remote access Almost all NAS manufacturers now offer convenient and easy-to-set-up remote access for their NAS boxes, allowing you to access your files even while traveling. You’ll have to create a free user account with the NAS manufacturer, with which remote access to the network storage can be realized without fiddling with complicated router settings. The Synology DS223j diskless 2-bay NAS is a great option for remote access.Synology You can also use a NAS as a practical network drive and access or edit the data stored on it directly from your PC on the network. In fact, there are so many awesome ways to use a NAS at home. USB port Make sure the NAS has at least one USB port (ideally either USB 3.2 Gen 1 or Gen 2 for best performance). This USB port will allow you to connect an external USB storage device to the NAS box for making backups of NAS content or transferring data (e.g., photos, videos, documents) from the USB device directly to the NAS box. The Asustor AS1102TL is a diskless 2-bay NAS with a fast USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port in the front and a slower USB-A 2.0 port in the back.Asustor Ethernet port For entry-level NAS boxes, you can expect Gigabit Ethernet speeds, which can transfer at a maximum of 950 Mbps (or 118 MB/s). This transfer rate is sufficient for photo backups, for use as a media server, and for other common home network applications. The Qnap TS-233-US diskless 2-bay NAS has a Gigabit Ethernet port.Qnap Faster NAS boxes with multi-gigabit Ethernet ports—which can transfer at 2.5 Gbps or even 5 Gbps—are generally more expensive and also require faster hardware on the home network with multi-gigabit-capable devices (e.g., routers, switches, PCs, laptops). If you already have such devices, consider spending a little more money and investing in a NAS box with a multi-gigabit LAN port. Pricing expectations An entry-level dual-bay NAS with all the important features starts at around $130 to $200 for an empty enclosure. The entry-level price category includes dual-bay NAS devices from leading manufacturers like Qnap’s TS-233 and Synology’s DS223j as well as other affordable models like Asustor’s AS1102TL and Terramaster’s D2-320. If you want to go a step up, there’s also Ugreen’s DXP2800, which is significantly more expensive at just over $350. However, this NAS also offers significantly better hardware features with a more powerful CPU, plenty of RAM, a fast 2.5 Gbps Ethernet connection, and two additional M.2 slots for fast NVMe SSD storage. The Ugreen DXP2800 is a step up, offering a much better processor, a faster 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port, and a greater storage capacity than cheaper entry-level options.Ugreen Remember, if you go with a diskless (empty) enclosure, you’ll also need to supply drives. Grabbing two hard drives could cost an additional $150 to $300 on top of the NAS box itself. Data mirroring with RAID 1 When setting up the NAS, you’ll set up the NAS’s two drives in a so-called RAID 1 array, also known as “disk mirroring.” This makes it so that all your data stored on the NAS is mirrored on both drives—if one of the two drives ever fails, your data is still available on the other drive. For 4 TB of total storage in a 2-bay NAS with mirrored content via RAID 1, you’ll need 2 x 4 TB hard drives. Note that some NAS manufacturers work with slightly modified or extended RAID 1 features, which have slightly different names. Synology, for example, uses the term “SHR” for “Synology Hybrid RAID” while Terramaster uses “TRAID” for “Terramaster RAID.” We strongly advise you to only buy special NAS hard drives that are labeled as such by manufacturers like Seagate, Western Digital, or Toshiba. These NAS drives are designed for 24/7 continuous operation, have better vibration protection, and utilize advanced error correction, which is especially designed for use in a RAID network. For example, Seagate has NAS-optimized drives called “Ironwolf” while Western Digital has “Red Plus” and Toshiba has “N300.” Meanwhile, Synology recently started offering its own NAS storage drives that are specially designed for its own NAS boxes. Initializing your NAS box The basic setup of a NAS that’s already connected to the router via LAN cable can usually be carried out via the web menu in a browser on any home network-connected PC or the companion phone app. Browser access is usually done via a special URL, such as find.synology.com, or via a special NAS access tool that you can download from the NAS manufacturer’s homepage. As soon as you call up the uninitialized NAS for the first time in the browser, via the NAS app, or via a NAS access tool, you’ll see a setup wizard for establishing basic settings and automatically downloading the most up-to-date NAS operating system. You’ll usually also setup the main user account or administrator account of your NAS. (Take note of the login credentials on a piece of paper or save it in your password manager, as it’ll be the only way to access the web menu of your NAS going forward. You’ll also need it to access shared folders and network drives on your NAS from File Explorer on a Windows PC.) During initialization, you’ll usually be offered the opportunity to register with an account of the NAS manufacturer using an email address. You can then easily access the contents of your NAS, its settings, or the NAS photo management from outside your home network—and all this without having to fiddle with any settings on your router. This convenient access is highly recommended, especially for NAS beginners. Setting up the storage As soon as initialization is complete, you can log into the web menu of your NAS with your new login credentials. With some models, the storage on the NAS is already set up during initialization and may also have at least one shared folder—often labeled “Public”—which is available for remote access. With Synology or Qnap, however, this isn’t the case. With these, you’ll be prompted to create a storage pool first. Fortunately, another wizard is available for this, which works through the necessary steps with you. Setting up the storage with Qnap is a little tricky. With Qnap, you have to set up your storage with so-called “thick” or “thin” volumes if you want to use the snapshot feature later to quickly restore a storage image. This option is well-explained in the manual, and we recommend downloading the QTS operating system manual (PDF) from the manufacturer. When setting up a Qnap NAS, you should register for a “myQnapCloud” account. Remote access is important for being able to use your NAS as a private cloud later on.Foundry Entry-level NASes from other major manufacturers now all support the Btrfs file system, which has the snapshot feature integrated. You just need to make sure that you select the “Btrfs” file system when setting up the storage, which is usually the default option. After creating the storage volume, you can then create shared folders, which are usually already equipped with write access rights for your main or administrator account. Accessing shared folders on your NAS via File Explorer in Windows To be able to access the shared folders of your NAS box from a Windows PC on the home network, first check in the NAS web menu whether the SMB service is activated. To do this, open the system settings and enter the term “SMB” in the search field. Almost all entry-level NAS devices now have such a search mask, which makes it much easier to find certain settings in the sometimes very extensive web menus. Also make sure that the “WS-Discovery” setting is activated (if available). This setting ensures that the NAS system is displayed in File Explorer on your Windows PC without having to use any special tricks. Now, open File Explorer on your Windows PC with the Windows key + E keyboard shortcut and double-click on “Network” in the menu bar on the left. You will now see a list of all devices in your home network that have SMB folder shares, including your NAS. In the area on the right, you will find the same devices under the heading “Computer.” With Synology, the WS-Discovery option can be found in the advanced SMB settings. Network discovery is a prerequisite for identifying the NAS in a Windows environment.Foundry The first time you click on the NAS from your Windows PC to access a shared folder, you’ll be asked for network credentials. This is the login for your NAS user account that you assigned during NAS setup (with which you also use to access the NAS web menu). Enter the login credentials in File Explorer to access the folder on the NAS. Set up your network drive You’ll now also see the shared folders of your network storage in the File Explorer window on the right side. They can be used like all other drives on your PC. You can access the files stored in them, open and edit them, save them again, copy them, and so on. If you wish, you can also connect individual NAS folder shares as a network drive so that this folder share is displayed in your Windows PC as a “local” drive with a drive letter. To do this, right-click on one of the shared folders of your NAS in File Explorer and select the “Connect network drive” option in the context menu. In the following window, assign a drive letter and then confirm by clicking on “Finish”. The folder share of your NAS now appears in File Explorer as a “normal” Windows drive on the left under “This PC.” To make it easier to access a NAS directory, mount it in File Explorer and give it a drive letter. It can then be treated similarly to a local drive.Foundry The advantage is that some apps and programs have problems accessing network drives or storing data to them. However, the assigned drive letter means that the NAS drive is regarded as a local storage location and is therefore accepted. Note, however, that access only works if your Windows PC is running on the home network and your NAS is on. Manage photos on your NAS To set up photo management, first go to the NAS apps section in the web menu of your NAS, which is called the “App Center” for Qnap and Ugreen and the “Package Center” for Synology. There you can install a photo management app with a few clicks (called “Synology Photos” for Synology, “Photos” for Ugreen, and “QuMagie” for Qnap). With Qnap, the “Multimedia Console” NAS app, which is required to run the image management, is also installed automatically. Ugreen’s entry-level DXP2800 is more expensive, but with its multi-gigabit port and powerful hardware features, it’s also significantly faster for NAS tasks.Foundry Once installed, start the photo management app in the NAS web menu. Among other things, you’ll be asked whether a default shared folder has already been created for your image files on the NAS, or you’ll see a message to share an existing folder as a content source for your photos. With a Qnap NAS, you should also install “Qnap AI Core” to be able to use face and object recognition for your managed photos. If you’ve already saved photos on your Windows desktop or backed them up from your previous cloud provider, you can transfer them to the NAS folder provided for this purpose. Note: For photos in HEIC format (usually from iPhones), you should use the “Synology Image Assistant” tool to transfer the photos from your PC. Qnap, on the other hand, requires an additional paid NAS app called “CAYIN” in order to manage and display iPhone photos or videos. Ugreen and Terramaster (starting from operating system TOS 6 and later) have no problems with iPhone formats. The photo management on your NAS first creates thumbnails of new photos and then runs the AI engine over the images so it can later recognize faces and sometimes objects. This process can take a long time if you have a large number of photos. Transfer photos from phone to NAS To back up your photos from your smartphone directly to the NAS, install the NAS manufacturer’s photo app on your phone. Make sure you’re on your home network’s Wi-Fi with your phone before you start the photo app for the first time. Then, log into your NAS via the app and follow the setup wizard. This usually offers you the option of either transferring all photos already stored on your phone to the NAS, or to save only photos you’ll be taking from now on. You can also specify whether the phone photos now saved on the NAS should be deleted from your phone’s storage, allowing you to free up storage space on the phone. You’ll also want to specify whether photos should only transfer to the NAS over Wi-Fi and not mobile data. Note: To be able to access your NAS photos from outside your home network, you must log into the phone app with your NAS remote access account. You’ll see a corresponding message in the app during setup. Furthermore, remote access to your NAS photo management depends not only on the connection of your mobile phone but also on the connection of your home internet service via which the photos are transferred from NAS to smartphone. When performing remote actions, don’t expect your NAS to offer the same speed and performance as you’d get with Google, Amazon, or Microsoft cloud storage. Further reading: The best NAS drives worth getting Read...