Amazon recently released an important update for Fire TV devices that significantly improves the user experience, especially if you bounce between different streaming services and tend to lose track. After the latest update, content from other streaming providers will also be listed in the watchlist and in the continue watching areas alongside the usual Amazon Prime stuff. If you start watching something from another platform, or add a film or series to your watchlist on another platform, all of that will also appear in the Fire TV overview (provided the content has been started on your Fire TV). Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, Paramount, RTL, and WOW are among those included in the shared watchlist. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be possible to organize the list manually as it’s always sorted chronologically according to the most recently added content. In addition to the cross-platform merged watchlist, the rewatch area has also been changed to show films and series that you’ve started on other platforms. However, only Disney+, Apple TV+, and Arte are currently integrated here. It remains to be seen whether other services will be integrated in the future. To get the new watchlist and other features, you need to update your Fire TV device to Fire OS 6. To do this, go to My Fire TV in the settings and then Info. Select Check for system update. After installation, all changes should appear automatically. Read...

According to a report by Windows Latest, some Windows 11 users are seeing red… literally. Apparently there’s a bug that’s causing Windows 11 to shade games and videos with a red cast on some PCs. Microsoft has already confirmed the problem: “After you install KB5064081, some videos and games might be unexpectedly red.” However, Microsoft doesn’t explain exactly what this means and what games or videos are affected. It could be that a bug in Windows 11 affects the color rendering of the operating system, especially when it tries to adjust colors and increase brightness in HDR. The red cast problem occurs with certain videos and games after users install specific recent updates, most notably the optional KB5064081 update released in August. However, Microsoft has released a fix for the red cast problem with the more recent KB5067036 optional update. Microsoft intends to fix the red cast problem for all users on the upcoming Patch Tuesday for November 2025. More bugs in Windows 11 The KB5067036 update fixes the red cast issue, and it might bring some new features and improvements like the newly redesigned Start menu, but it also fixes a few other problems. According to Windows Latest, Microsoft also confirmed another bug in the latest Windows update that results in only certain parts of the screen being updated if a full-screen app or game is running in the background. “Apps and browsers might display partially unresponsive onscreen content when other maximized or full-screen apps are updating in the background. This issue is especially noticeable when scrolling, as only parts of the window content might update,” Microsoft confirmed. However, update KB5067036 isn’t entirely free of problems itself. For example, it introduces a new bug where Task Manager doesn’t properly close. If you don’t care for the redesigned Start menu or the specific bugs fixed by it, maybe hold off until the next mandatory update. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Secure mounting on video gear Excellent 10Gbps performance Sustains long writes exceptionally well IP67-rated Cons Not fast enough for raw 8K and up Our Verdict The T-Create P31 CinemaPr is specialized 10Gbps storage with mount points and hardware for attaching to video gear. It’s also rugged and performs very well for its class. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Teamgroup T-Create P31 CinemaPr SSD Retailer Price Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Designed for videographers and content creators, the Teamgroup T-Create P31 CinemaPr stands out thanks to its mount points and attachment hardware, making it one of the more unique USB SSDs we’ve tested. It’s a rugged (IP67), 10Gbps model that also performs at the top of its class. Teamgroup T-Create P31 CinemaPr: Features The P31 is a tough, weatherized IP67-rated (dust-proof, submersible — despite an uncapped Type-C port) 10Gbps USB SSD constructed from anodized aluminum. It measures about 3.6 inches long by 2 inches wide by 0.45 inches thick and weighs 3.4 ounces. It has a reassuring heft to it. By far the most unique feature of the P31 is its four sets of three 1/4-inch screw holes on both sides, the back and top of the lanyard opening. These allow you to mount the drive on your cage or other video gear in any orientation you choose. The P31’s easy, secure, and versatile attachment to video equipment makes it a major boon for videographers and creators. Teamgroup provides two heavy-duty quick-release camera mounting screws and a male-to-male adapter with locking disc for this purpose (see the lead photo). Those holes on the top and side are for the accompanying 1/4-inch mounting screws. Teamgroup didn’t provide much info on the P31’s internals, so we’re not sure which controller is being used. Random performance might indicate some DRAM or it might not. The drive is warrantied for five years (normal for external SSDs is three), but there’s no TBW (TeraBytes that may be written before read-only) rating that we could find. Given the performance, we’d expect at least 600TBW, though video workloads could push that higher. As it is, without a TBW rating, expect five years of moderately heavy use. Possibly more, since SSDs are often conservatively rated due to liability concerns. Teamgroup T-Create P31 CinemaPr: Price Given the rugged, highly specialized design, the P31 is an exceptional value in the 1TB capacity: $78. Though you’ll likely want more capacity if you’re working with video. In that case, $212 for the 2TB and $417 for the 4TB are closer to what we’d expect. Not as much of a bargain as the 1TB is, but still reasonable given the IP67 rating and performance. Teamgroup T-Create P31 CinemaPr: Speed Unlike the recently reviewed Teamgroup PD20, the P31 largely held its own against the 10Gbps competition. Though the Corsair EX300U ruled in CrystalDiskMark 8’s sequential tests, the P31’s performance here was still nothing to scoff at. Though the Corsair EX300U ruled in CrystalDiskMark 8’s sequential tests, the P31’s performance was nothing to scoff at. The P31’s random performance under CrystalDiskMark 8 was excellent — the best of the three compared drives. The P31’s random performance under CrystalDiskMark 8 was excellent. The best of the three compared drives. Longer bars are better. It was a see-saw battle between the P31 and the Corsair EX300U in our 48GB transfer tests. Both did quite well overall. It was a see-saw battle between the P31 and the Corsair EX300U in the 48GB transfer tests. Both did quite well overall. Shorter bars are better. The P31 really came into its own during the 450GB write, shaving quite a few seconds off even the EX300U’s time. The P31 really came into its own during the 450GB write, shaving quite a few seconds off even the EX300U’s time. Good on ya’ Teamgroup. Shorter bars are better. On subsequent, consecutive long copies (900GB, then 450GB), the P31 did start waffling its speed between 250MBps and 900MBps at the end of the writes. We can live with that. Note that this waffling slowdown is after writing approximately 1.3TB of data non-stop. There’s nothing lacking the P31’s performance other than perhaps it not being USB4. But you would, of course, pay more for that and it’s not necessary for most portable 4K video equipment. If you’re capturing raw 8K or up, you need something a lot faster and vaster. Teamgroup T-Create P31 CinemaPr: Conclusion The P31’s easy, secure, and versatile attachment to video equipment makes it a major boon for videographers and creators. Its ruggedness and reliable performance only add to the appeal. Good job, Teamgroup. 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 5600MHz modules (128GB of memory total). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are integrated into the motherboard and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. Internal PCIe 5.0 SSDs involved in testing are mounted in an Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 adapter card siting in a PCIe 5.0 slot. We run the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 (and 9), AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 synthetic benchmarks (to keep article length down, we report only the former) to find the storage device’s potential performance. Then we run a series of 48GB transfer and 450GB write 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 25GBps 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 serving that purpose. 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...

After days of confusing gamers over the future of its Radeon RX 5000 and RX 6000 GPUs, AMD changed its story yet again Sunday night, now claiming that its older generation of GPUs will live on their own “optimized” driver path. “This is not the end of support for RDNA 1 and RDNA 2,” AMD said in a blog post, referring to the GPU architecture of the RX 5000 and RX 6000 cards. Instead, those earlier Radeon cards will remain on a single “optimized driver path,” while the newer RX 7000 and RX 9000 will follow a second, optimized release, according to the company. AMD said the older models will continue to receive “game support for new releases: stability and game optimizations; [and] security and bug fixes.” “Our goal is simple: to give every Radeon gamer the best experience possible,” AMD said. “By separating the code paths, our engineers can move faster with new features for RDNA 3 and RDNA 4, while keeping RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 stable and optimized for current and future games.” Last week, AMD’s Adrenalin Edition 25.10.2 update notes made no mention of the RX 6000 and RX 5000 cards, leading gamers to wonder whether AMD would continue supporting the older cards. After journalists began making inquiries, AMD began using the term “maintenance mode” to describe what was happening to the older RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 cards — then later backed off those terms. By Friday, the term “maintenance mode” appeared to have been entirely removed from the release notes, and the company had begun telling sites like Tom’s Hardware that new features and bug fixes would be provided to the older cards. (AMD did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.) Last week, AMD also reported that it would not remove USB Type-C functionality on its RX 7900 cards, as the company’s notes had earlier indicated. It also clarified that it would continue providing driver updates for Windows 10, a conclusion some drew after AMD left out Windows 10 support in the notes attached to the 25.10.2 release. “It appears there has been some confusion regarding the driver we posted on Thursday,” AMD said in a note to reporters on Sunday. The blog post was added to “clear up any misunderstandings,” the company said. “We’ve supported Radeon gamers for generations and that commitment isn’t changing,” AMD said. “Whether you’re gaming on an RX 5000, RX 6000, or the latest RX 9000, you’ll continue to get the reliability, performance, and care you expect from AMD. Because we’re all part of the same gaming community and every Radeon gamer matters.” Let’s hope that AMD has taken that lesson to heart. Read...

It feels like overnight AI has ended up just about everywhere. From deepfakes and ChatGPT homework, to em-dashes and political misinformation, keeping on top of the latest AI trends is almost impossible. Unfortunately, that also means it’s hard to stay protected from the latest AI scams and phishing attacks. They’re constantly evolving and that can make them more dangerous than ever. If you’re keen to find a way to protect yourself from fake calls from ‘relatives’, or the latest AI-enhanced phishing text messages, Norton 360 might be the tool for you. Alongside classic defensive measures like real-time antivirus and a smart firewall, it now comes equipped with Scam Protection. This anti-scam tool uses AI to fight AI, and can detect scams before you’ve even had a chance to read through one. Protect your family from sophisticated AI scamsVisit Norton How can you tell if a text message is a scam? Got a suspicious SMS message? Norton’s AI engine can detect a scam and warn you before you even open it. Encountered an image you think might be a deepfake, or an offer in an email that seems to good to be true? The AI Assistant is just a click away with useful advice and the ability to scan for scams, so you’re never caught out by nefarious actors ever again. Now standard in all Norton packages from its base AntiVirus Plus, right up to the Deluxe and Select Plus options, Scam Protection is there to help protect against the ever evolving threat landscape, including the latest in AI scams. That helps prevent you becoming the victim of some of the more personal attacks that malware makers are using these days, leveraging the power of AI to quickly change and personalize their scams to make them more effective than ever. Norton 360 with Scam Protection With at least 50% off on all standard Norton 360 packages at the time of writing, you can pick up the base Norton AntiVirus Plus package for the equivalent of just $2.50 per month for the first year. That gives you antivirus protection, a robust password manager for saving all your most important login data, and Scam Protection. It does only cover one device, though, so if you want to make sure you’re protected against AI scams across your phone as well as your laptop, tablet, and any other devices (not to mention those of your wider family), then there are other options available. You can add additional features with more advanced packages, too, such as secure cloud backups, a VPN for anonymous web browsing, dark web monitoring, enhanced parental controls, and real-time monitoring of your credit rating and finances. They come at a steeper cost, but even the top Select Plus package which covers 10 devices at a time is less than $10 a month equivalent for the first year. Regardless of which package works for you, though, each comes complete with anti-scam protection to make sure you and your loved ones don’t have to fear the rising issue of AI attacks. Protect your family from sophisticated AI scamsVisit Norton >> Read our Norton Security Buyer’s Guide Read...

TL;DR: Get a Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business Lifetime License for Mac or PC for just $179.99 (MSRP $249.99). Your career deserves reliable, up-to-date productivity tools. For a limited time, you can get a Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business Lifetime License for Mac or PC for just $179.99 (MSRP $249.99). This one-time purchase gives you lifetime access to essential Microsoft apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook — without recurring subscription fees. Office 2024 is designed for modern professionals who need seamless collaboration, offline reliability, and strong security. It features a modernized user interface that follows Microsoft’s Fluent Design principles. Performance upgrades—especially in Excel—allow you to work with large datasets and multiple workbooks without lag. PowerPoint now includes enhanced presentation recording capabilities, letting you add voice narration and video directly into your slides. AI-powered features across Word and Excel offer intelligent suggestions, natural language processing, and smarter data analysis to boost productivity. Office 2024 also improves real-time co-authoring, integrates more deeply with Microsoft Teams, and provides reliable offline access—ideal for both professional and personal use. It’s a permanent, professional-grade solution for anyone who needs top-tier Office tools without ongoing costs. Get a Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business Lifetime License for Mac or PC for just $179.99 (MSRP $249.99). Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC Lifetime LicenseSee Deal StackSocial prices subject to change. Read...

In a world where “always online” has become the norm, millions of programmers, designers, and gamers spend more time in their chairs than in their beds. The result? Chronic back and neck pain, muscle fatigue, and long-term spinal issues—all symptoms of a lifestyle built around prolonged sitting and high cognitive stress. As the digital generation pushes human creativity forward, one question lingers: Can our bodies keep up? Enter the LiberNovo Omni — a revolution in ergonomic design, engineered for the people shaping the digital age. Unlike traditional chairs that simply hold you, the Omni moves with you. It’s not just a seat—it’s a dynamic health partner that adapts to every posture, every click, and every late-night code sprint. Unlock early savings ahead of Black Friday: From November 1–9, LiberNovo’s official site will feature a dedicated gift card presale, giving early adopters a chance to lock in savings before the full Black Friday & Cyber Monday sale begins. LiberNovo A chair that moves as you move At the heart of Omni’s innovation lies its Dynamic Support System, a synchronized mechanism that keeps the seat, backrest, armrests, and neck rest perfectly aligned. Whether you’re leaning forward to debug code, relaxing during a gaming session, or reclining to watch a livestream, Omni maintains your spinal alignment in real time. This isn’t static comfort—it’s active ergonomics. The Bionic FlexFit Backrest, equipped with 16 joints and 8 adaptive panels, molds seamlessly to your spine’s natural S-curve, ensuring balanced pressure and fluid motion throughout your day. Unlike conventional chairs that let your posture collapse under fatigue, Omni supports micro-movements, keeping your spine alive and your body engaged. LiberNovo Smart reclines for every task Digital professionals don’t just sit—they transition constantly between focus and recovery. That’s why the Omni features Four Intelligent Reclines, each engineered for a different state of work or play: • Deep Focus (105°): Perfect for coding, editing, or intense gaming. • Solo-Work (120°): Maintains balance and stability during long creative bursts. • Soft Recline (135°): Ideal for streaming, chatting, or light breaks. • Spine Flow (160°): The “zero-gravity” recline for decompression and recovery. In its Spinal Decompression Recline, the Omni stretches the spine and relieves stiffness accumulated during long sitting sessions—an invaluable feature for gamers and engineers who regularly pull 10-hour marathons. LiberNovo Built-in recovery for the modern body The OmniStretch system takes recovery to the next level with a motorized spinal massage and gentle decompression sequence. In just five minutes, users can alleviate tension, improve circulation, and restore mobility. Paired with the StepSync Footrest, which tilts at an ergonomic 10° to promote leg circulation, it transforms the sitting experience into an active state of wellness. Every component—from the 4D adjustable armrests to the breathable triple-layer seat cushion—is precision-tuned for long-haul comfort. The multi-density foam design distributes pressure evenly, supporting sit bones while reducing thigh strain, ensuring your body feels light even after endless hours of sitting. LiberNovo For those who build the future The Omni isn’t just for office workers—it’s designed for engineers, gamers, designers, and creators. Its Dynamic Screen Alignment system ensures that as your head moves, the neckrest [1] follows, keeping your eyes level and your neck free from strain. Every motion feels intuitive, every posture, natural. LiberNovo, from Liber (liberty) and Novo (innovation), represents freedom through innovation—the freedom to create without pain. Its 2200mAh battery can power months of adaptive motion and massage functions—the Omni defines a new era in ergonomic technology. With a single full charge, the device can last for one month—with daily OmniStrench use and five lumbar support adjustments per day. As our world continues to blur the lines between work and play, the LiberNovo Omni reminds us that the future of sitting isn’t about staying still—it’s about staying well. For the coders who build, the gamers who explore, and the dreamers who design, the Omni offers more than comfort. It offers liberation—through movement, balance, and care. Sit to focus. Shift to relax. Recover anytime. Welcome to the new standard of ergonomic design. Unlock early savings ahead of Black Friday From November 1–9, LiberNovo’s official site will feature a dedicated gift card presale, giving early adopters a chance to lock in savings before the full Black Friday & Cyber Monday sale begins. On November 10, the main event launches with site-wide discounts up to 34% on the Omni chair, with prices starting at just $803 (US) or $1,223 (Canada). Orders over $800 will be entered into a holiday prize draw, with rewards ranging from a free LiberNovo Omni chair to accessories, plus gift cards and gift bundles. LiberNovo Omni Explore More Read...

When you buy an expensive piece of technology, you want to know that it’ll have support from the manufacturer for a long time. That goes double for graphics cards and similar tech, where the latest games might need driver tweaks. That’s why the latest AMD Adrenalin release is dismaying for owners of cards and laptops just a few years old: a lot of them just got left in the dust. New Game Support is spelled out for “Radeon RX 7000 and 9000 series graphics products” in the release notes…leaving Radeon RX 6000 and 5000 cards, the newest of which were released just two to three years ago, with only “maintenance mode” support. This is a line that hasn’t been included in other update text posts, so the conspicuous absence of older cards was immediately jarring to many users. AMD has since confirmed that graphics hardware based on RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 will not get optimization for the latest games, instead being moved to only critical security and bug support. That means these RDNA 1 and 2 graphics systems, including the integrated graphics on many laptops and handhelds, will start to fall behind the graphical curve a lot faster than they might otherwise. Some of these chips were released as late as 2023, though the majority came out in 2022 or earlier. The Steam Deck may feel like it stands out as the 800-pound gorilla here — the custom 8-core APU designed for Valve’s handheld gaming PC debuted in February 2022, with RDNA 2 support. With millions of users on the Steam Deck alone and no first-party successor in sight, it seems shocking that AMD would drop support for RDNA 2 in particular. But the Valve actually uses Linux’s open-source RADV drivers for the Steam Deck, so it shouldn’t be affected here. Gamers who install Windows on their Steam Deck, or have a Windows-based handheld with AMD’s RDNA 2 tech inside (like the just-launched ROG Xbox Ally) are seemingly, suddenly staring at a bleak future. Maintenance-only support doesn’t mean that these graphics cards, laptops, and handhelds will suddenly stop working. They’ll be able to play new games…unless they run into a problem, at which time developers will be on their own when it comes to a fix. Without significant driver updates, AMD’s RDNA 2-based GPUs will begin to be less and less useful for the newest games and other tech. The latest Adrenalin driver package includes New Game Support tweaks for Battlefield 6 and Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2…tweaks that won’t benefit owners on this older hardware. PC gamers are, in a word, pissed. While no hardware stays in full support forever, this decision comes at a time when AMD’s graphics market share is falling further and further behind Nvidia. Trying to lean into newer devices and leaving owners of older hardware out to dry isn’t a great way to create loyalty, no matter how good the latest RDNA 3 and 4 features are. I also can’t help but wonder if AMD is redistributing some resources, trying to prioritize its better-faring CPU and/or industrial AI output. Read...

While it once scoffed at the possibility of offering an ad-supported tier, Netflix has since embraced the idea, with millions of users snapping up its “Standard with Ads” plan, garnering plenty of interest from Madison Avenue along the way.  Since its arrival nearly three years ago, Netflix has added a variety of features to its ad-supported tier to set it apart from the streaming crowd—and for now, its price remains a fraction of Netflix’s priciest 4K streaming plan.  So, how much does Netflix with ads cost, what’s included, and is anything left out? Here’s what you need to know. How much does Netflix with ads cost? Netflix Standard with Ads costs $7.99 a month, which reflects a buck-a-month price hike that Netflix imposed back in January 2025. For some context, Paramount+ Essential is also $7.99 a month, while Peacock Premium—which, confusingly, is ad-supported—costs $10.99 a month. Meanwhile, HBO Max Basic with Ads goes for $10.99 a month (the same as Peacock Premium) after a recent price increase. Finally, the ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu tiers cost $11.99 a month each following (yet another) recent price hike (they’re considerably cheaper if you bundle them together), So for now, Netflix is tied with Paramount+ for the cheapest ad-supported plan among the biggest streaming services. (There’s also Peacock’s new Select tier, another ad-supported plan that goes for $7.99 a month, but it offers only a “selection” of Peacock’s original content.) How many streams do you get with the Netflix Standard with Ads plan? At launch, Netflix’s ad-supported plan (which was initially called “Basic with Ads”) only offered a single stream. But in 2023, Netflix upped the number of concurrent streams available on the Standard with Ads plan to two. Does Netflix with ads offer 4K HDR video resolution? No, but the video quality of Netflix Standard with Ads has improved since the tier was first launched. While ad-supported Netflix once offered only 720p video quality, it has since been boosted to 1080p, same as Netflix’s ad-free Standard plan. Currently, only Netflix’s priciest plan–Premium ($24.99 a month)–offers 4K HDR streaming, with four concurrent streams per household. Netflix, and most other streamers, reserve their 4K HDR streams for ad-free subscribers, although that’s not a universal policy; Paramount+, for one, does allow ad-supported subscribers to stream in 4K. Does ad-supported Netflix offer downloads for offline viewing? One of the best perks offered by the big streamers is the ability to download videos for offline viewing, perfect for binge-watching your favorite series during a long flight or when you don’t want to bust through your ISP’s (or carrier’s) data cap. Until recently, Netflix didn’t allow its with-ads subscribers to download videos for offline viewing, a restriction shared by the other big streamers. But in November 2023, Netflix reversed course, becoming the first big streaming service to enable offline downloads for subscribers to its ad-supported tier. There is a monthly limit to downloads for Standard with Ads subscribers, however: 15 downloads per device, resetting on the first of each month. How many commercial breaks does Netflix with ads have? Netflix Standard with Ads subscribers will have to sit through 4- to 5 minutes of commercials per hour, with the ads running at the beginning and during videos (ideally during “natural plot breaks”). Each ad will be either 15 or 30 seconds. That 4- to 5-minute-per-hour figure is pretty much in line with Netflix’s competitors. For example, the “with ads” version of Max averages about four minutes an hour, while Peacock tops out at about five minutes per hour. Is Netflix with ads available on all streaming devices? Most devices that work with ad-free Netflix should also support Netflix Standard with Ads, although a “small percentage” of streaming players and TVs won’t work because the device’s Netflix software can no longer be updated. And while the ad-supported Netflix plan wasn’t initially supported on Apple TV streaming devices, it is now (on Apple TV HD devices and later) following an update of the Netflix tvOS app in March 2023. Netflix with ads is also available on most other streaming platforms, including Amazon’s Fire TV, Android and iOS devices, most smart TVs, Mac and Windows computers, and Google TV players. Does Netflix with ads offer the same content as ad-free Netflix? You’ll find almost, but not quite everything. While the “vast majority” of TV shows and movies on Netflix are available for “with ads” viewers, a “small number” are missing because of “licensing issues,” Netflix says. If you do run across a video that’s unavailable on the Netflix Standard with Ads plan, you’ll see a padlock on the title or a “Change plan to watch” banner in place of the standard “Play” button. Why did Netflix launch an ad-supported plan? Netflix lost subscribers during the first and second quarters of 2022, ending a decade of growth and sending Netflix’s stock price into a tailspin. And while Netflix is ubiquitous in North America, it’s having trouble gaining traction in the rest of the world, where it’s facing tough competition from cheaper streaming services. Meanwhile, Netflix’s rapidly growing competitors, including HBO Max, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock, and Hulu, rolled out their own cheaper ad-supported plans, all of which undercut Netflix’s least expensive ad-free plans. So while it wasn’t all that long ago that Netflix executives scoffed at the idea of cheaper ad-supported plans, the company abruptly changed course when it became clear that its once seemingly unstoppable growth had stalled. In May 2024, Netflix reported that its Standard with Ads tier had roughly 40 million global active monthly users, up from just 5 million users in May 2023. (Netflix has since ceased tallying its monthly user base for the public.) Updated in October 2025 with the latest pricing details and other recent streaming developments. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Brilliant display Sleek design and hardware Respectable gaming performance Great speakers Strong battery life Cons CPU and GPU aren’t top of the pack Non-upgradeable memory Our Verdict The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 offers a well-rounded package with plenty of performance and surprising battery life for a 3.3-pound system. The fact that it’s built so well with a good selection of ports, a solid keyboard and trackpad, and a truly great display and speaker pairing make it all the more compelling. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Retailer Price $1,678.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Asus had a great machine on its hands with the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14, and the 2025 model brings some commendable updates without messing with the formula. While much remains unchanged in the chassis and display, the 2025 model brings some under-the-hood updates for a boost in graphical performance and efficiency. All of this culminates in a laptop that’s great for work on-the-go, a joy to use, and potent enough for gaming at home with a few tweaks to graphics. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 being so well rounded may not make it the best laptop for pure gaming, but it makes it an excellent all-arounder. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Specs and features CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 270 Memory: 16GB LPDDR5X-7500 Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5060 8GB 100W Display: 14-inch 2880×1800 120Hz OLED, Glossy, G-Sync Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD Webcam: 1080p IR Connectivity: 1x USB4 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x microSD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition Battery capacity: 73 watt-hours Dimensions: 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.64 inches Weight: 3.3 pounds MSRP: $1,799 as-tested ($1,799 base) This test unit with the specs above is a unique Best Buy offering (though a similar config has shown up on Amazon and Walmart from third-party sellers) with lower specs and a lower base price than what Asus offers directly from its store. There, the G14 starts with an RTX 5070, double the memory, and a $2,099 price tag but is otherwise identical. For $2,499, that can bump up to a configuration with a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, an RTX 5070 Ti, and 2TB of storage. That CPU upgrade for the top-tier configuration is notable, as it not only jumps to a different class of CPU but also a very different architecture. It also brings along a much more powerful NPU that pushes the system up into Co-pilot+ territory thanks to 50 TOPS of NPU compute compared to the Ryzen 9 270 NPU’s 16 TOPS. Even with those upgrades, the chip has a lower default TDP (though both have overlap in their configurable TDP ranges) and has the potential to make that configuration more efficient than the one tested here. While the base configuration offers decent value, its 16GB of soldered on memory could become an issue, and the upgraded $2,099 model will likely be more competitive with its extra GPU horsepower and the better longevity it can provide thanks to its 32GB of memory.  For anyone after a gaming laptop that can work well on-the-go, this is an excellent choice. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Design and build quality Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a brilliant piece of hardware. Between its slim, 0.64-inch design, its 3.3-pound weight, and its CNC’d aluminum construction, it feels like a great little laptop. And that’s before considering how nice the design looks and feels. The display has a clean glass cover and swings up on a smooth and firm hinge that still allows one-handed opening. The bottom bezel may be a little thick, and the top bezel isn’t even with the sides, but it’s easy to overlook once you see the display.  The keyboard deck is a lovely piece of aluminum with a very smooth finish and very little flex. It wraps down the side with chamfered corners that improve comfort. And the bottom aluminum panel offers clean seams with the upper portion of the frame. The display lid is smooth and adorned with small ROG branding in one corner and a bold, mirror-finished, diagonal slash across it with integrated lighting.  The system sits on two wide rubber feet that angle the laptop up slightly and provide an air intake channel underneath. Surprisingly, there are no exhaust vents leading out of the hinge and up toward the display, nor are there exhausts above the keyboard or at the sides. The exhaust in the rear sits below the display hinge in very cramped slits and behind the rear rubber foot.  All in all, I’d be happy to have a laptop with this build whether it was a gaming laptop or not. It feels sturdy, smooth, and well polished.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Keyboard, trackpad Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 continues to demonstrate its rocking hardware with the keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard offers flat, square keys with strong stabilization, a firm actuation force, and a modest travel. It can make quick, light typing a little difficult, but I was able to get up to a typing speed of 113 words-per-minute at 98 percent accuracy with little practice in Monkeytype, which is a good result. Slightly more contour to the keycaps would help some, as the force needed combined with the flat surfaces made it hard for me to get up to a great typing speed and accuracy on the keyboard. The arrow keys are small, but at least not cramped into the space that should be home to other keys. Asus also included dedicated volume keys above the function row that can come in handy.  The keys have RGB backlighting that does a good job of lighting up the primary legends on most keys, but they don’t illuminate some of the bigger legends on some keys (like Enter) and they struggle to illuminate legends for secondary functions almost at all. It’s a small and common fumble, but a fumble nonetheless.  The trackpad is lovely. Asus used up just about all the available vertical space and made it quite wide as well. It has a super-smooth glass surface and matches the surrounding metal well for a cohesive look. Depressing it offers a gentle pop with a soft clicking sound.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Display, audio Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 has a brilliant display. It provides a sharp picture with a 2880×1800 resolution across its 14-inch panel. It can run that at 120Hz for smooth game visuals, and it supports G-Sync to avoid tearing. As an OLED display, it also has a very fast pixel response time that makes visuals appear all the more fluid. It’s also a stunner for its color, which covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color space. That color is accurate as well with an average dE1976 of 1.08. OLED hasn’t always been known for being bright, but the display here happily reaches up to 401 nits in SDR and was able to hit 631 nits in HDR for a full white screen. For folks with eyes sensitive to alternating current flicker, Asus offers DC dimming support for the display in its Armoury Crate program.  The speakers only enhance the experience further. Asus has packed six speakers into the system, combining four woofers and two tweeters, to provide impressively rich sound. These fire out of the bottom of the laptop and at the sides of the keyboard. Not only does the volume reach uncomfortable peaks without significant distortion or terribly harsh sound, but the bass depth is considerable for a laptop. There can be a little sibilance at max volume, but it doesn’t ruin the experience. The soundstage is even surprisingly wide, with some stereo audio even sounding like it’s coming from outside the bounds of the system. These are simply some of the best laptop speakers I’ve heard, and it’s all the more impressive they’re squeezed into a 14-inch laptop that’s also housing a large battery and high-power hardware. Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Webcam, microphone, biometrics The web camera on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is decent but not exceptional. It captures decently exposed video with natural color, but even with its 1080p resolution, visuals appear a bit grainy and soft. Having IR sensors for Windows Hello facial recognition is nice, though, providing a consistently quick way to sign on. The three-mic array on the laptop is also decent. It captures my voice with a modest fullness and doesn’t sound overly compressed, but I do sound somewhat distant. It avoids picking up too much background noise, like that of a fan I had running loudly nearby, but it didn’t eliminate the sound of me typing while I recorded.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Connectivity Foundry / Mark Knapp The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 offers up respectable connectivity for a laptop of its size. You’ll find USB-C ports on either side of the system, and both are capable of charging the laptop (requires 20V/5A) or transmitting display data. Only the left one offers USB4 speeds, but the right one connects to the GPU to support G-Sync with its video output. Asus has also put USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports on both sides — this splitting is a lovely gesture for those who want some flexibility on where they plug in accessories.  The system includes a UHS-II microSD card reader on the right side as well. An HDMI 2.1 port and 3.5mm jack on the left side round out the ports. Since the system also comes with its own proprietary charging port, you can run the system on AC power and still keep all the ports freed up for whatever you want. Wireless connectivity is also a plus on the Zephyrus G14. It supports tri-band Wi-Fi 7, and it has proven very fast and stable in my testing, albeit while connected to a Wi-Fi 6 network. Its Bluetooth 5.4 connection has also proven consistent, though it’s getting disappointing to not see Bluetooth 6.0 nowadays.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Performance The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 offers excellent performance thanks to its potent hardware, though it may not be quite as powerful as one would hope from a gaming system. In particular, its CPU performance lags a bit behind many of its competitors, even trailing the 2024 model slightly, though it can still come out ahead next to thin-and-light productivity laptops. One surprising thing is that the Zephyrus G14 never seems to get very hot under load. It does get warm, but the base and keyboard area where you’re likely to rest your hands avoid getting painfully hot. The AMD Ryzen 9 270 inside the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is solid, but not a showstopper. It’s older architecture from AMD, and therefore isn’t showing the kind of single-core or multi-core performance uplift you can get from newer Ryzen AI and Intel Core Ultra chips. Across Cinebench CPU benchmarks, the Zephyrus G14 generally trails the Alienware 16 Aurora, which uses an Intel CPU, though Alienware’s laptop is also much larger and should have the advantage in cooling. Meanwhile, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 can’t keep up with AMD Ryzen AI 9 365-powered Razer Blade 14, but the Zephyrus G14 is also much cheaper. Perhaps the bigger blow is the Intel Core i7-14700HX-powered Lenovo Legion 5i 15IRX10 (at $1,199) dominates the Zephyrus G14 and the rest of the group here in CPU performance The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 puts a stronger foot forward where graphics come into play. It’s not going to be an absolute performance powerhouse considering its running a lower-tier RTX 5060 GPU and doing so in a thinner and lighter chassis than most other gaming laptops. But that actually makes it all the more impressive that it can manage fairly decent performance. In the demanding Port Royale graphics benchmark, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 actually manages to narrowly exceed the much larger Alienware 16 Aurora. Though it’s still clear there’s room for improvement as the two Lenovo systems offer a nearly 20 percent uplift running the same RTX 5060 GPUs. Lenovo has a knack for making the most of the GPUs in its gaming laptops, but that doesn’t excuse Asus for lagging behind. Even with Asus’s Turbo profile boosting performance in this benchmark to 7132 points, Asus trails Lenovo. While 3DMark demonstrated a more extreme scenario where the system is largely bottlenecked by the GPU, actual game benchmarks can show some differences. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 actually manages to flip the script in some cases, having a little extra CPU potency helps it actually step out ahead of the Lenovo LOQ 15, which may offer faster GPU performance but doesn’t have the CPU speed to keep up with the Zephyrus G14.  Unfortunately for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, some games are so graphically demanding, they can still create heavily GPU-bottlenecked scenarios. That’s the case for Metro Exodus with its Extreme graphics preset turned on. This sees the Zephyrus G14 struggle to break an average of 40fps. The curve here ends up looking a lot more like what we saw in 3DMark’s Port Royale test with the exception of the Alienware 16 Aurora managing to lead the Zephyrus G14, likely thanks to more effective cooling over the course of this longer benchmark.  Cyberpunk 2077 demonstrates another highlight demanding scenario for the GPU, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 continues to fall behind here. It does manage a playable average framerate over 60fps at 1080p Ultra, but the beefier systems it stacks up against lead it by a considerable margin, showing that extra cooling can go a long way when you need to run a power-hungry component like the GPU hard. While the Razer Blade 14 demonstrates that a higher-end chip alone can make a difference, the RTX 5060-powered Zephyrus G14 might be a more attractive option for those seeking extra performance in a compact form, especially since it’s available at a substantial discount compared to the higher-end system. Alas, none of the systems provide playable framerates at 1080p with Cyberpunk 2077’s RT Overdrive settings.  To the Zephyrus G14’s credit, Asus does a good job managing thermals. Running 3DMark’s Steel Nomad Stress Test, the Zephyrus G14 maintained 98.7 percent consistent performance over the course of 20 runs. That’s all the more impressive considering that the fans aren’t very loud.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Battery life The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 may have fallen short in performance, but it more than makes up for that in battery life. The system runs on a 73-watt-hour battery, which is sizable for a 14-inch laptop. And Asus pulled all the right levers to ensure that when the system is operating on battery power, it can sip on power. This let it run for almost 13 hours in our video playback test, dramatically outstripping its competition here and offering a marked improvement over the 2024 model. That’s a great showing for a gaming laptop, and it’s helped by Asus’s software automatically ensuring the GPU is disabled on battery power when it’s not needed.  Running on battery power and using the integrated graphics has its downsides though. The system still experiences the same freezing issues I’ve seen for years on AMD’s Radeon integrated graphics. It seems to crop up whenever there’s a call for too much video memory. This will commonly occur while browsing with a window on one half of the screen and playing a YouTube video on the other half.  Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Conclusion The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 isn’t a perfect machine, but it’s brilliant. For the most part, it’s delivering great hardware with a largely elegant design, solid inputs, ample I/O, a wonderful display, and outstanding speakers. Pairing that with respectable performance and excellent battery life in its class, the Zephyrus G14 proves a very well balanced system that should have the Razer Blade 14 shaking in its boots because Asus’s system is nearly the same size, lighter, and much cheaper. For anyone after a gaming laptop that can work well on-the-go, this is an excellent choice. Read...