The choice of oils to cook with can be overwhelming. Here is what to use for frying, drizzling and general cooking. Read...

The Canterbury general manager has been in hospital since Monday and faces a “big couple of days”, says colleague Danny Weidler. Read...

Qualcomm declared a “full victory” in its ongoing litigation with Arm, as a judge tossed out the remaining claim outstanding between the two companies in Arm’s suit. Qualcomm, meanwhile, has previously sued Arm for breach of contract and interference with customer relationships. That trial is expected to kick off in March 2026, the company said in a press release. The litigation goes back to Qualcomm’s agreement to purchase Nuvia in 2021, which would give Qualcomm access to a team of engineers that the company hoped would improve its Snapdragon 8-series chips into something more competitive. It did, producing the Snapdragon X Elite design in 2023. Arm didn’t see it that way. It sued Qualcomm in 2022, arguing that the company, via Nuvia, was illegally using Arm’s intellectual property. In October 2024, Arm notified Qualcomm that it would terminate its architectural license. (Although Nuvia’s license was terminated, Qualcomm’s independent license continued in effect.) The matter went to court, where a district judge ruled in favor of Qualcomm on all counts, save one: whether Nuvia had breached the architectural license that Arm had granted it. A judge in a Delaware district court has found in favor of Qualcomm, resolving the case. Ann Chaplin, the general counsel for Qualcomm, called the decision a “full and final judgment.” Read...

Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days 2025 lands October 7-8, but why wait? These early laptop deals let you get a jump on the savings before the main event. (Check out all Prime Day deals here.) Just remember, you’ll need a Prime membership to access the deals. Here’s how to get it for free. If you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered with a curated list of the best early laptop deals in the leadup to October Prime Day. Why should you care about what I’ve got to say? Fair question. I oversee all laptop and Chromebook review coverage at PCWorld. I also maintain our best laptop deals roundup daily, along with our best laptops of 2025 roundup weekly. That means I’m hunting for the best laptop discounts online every single day, so I’m pretty well-attuned to the landscape, while my hands-on knowledge helps me unearth the true gems. Best early October Prime Day deals on budget laptops HP 14 Laptop, Intel Celeron N4020 processor/14-inch 1366×768 display/4GB RAM/64GB storage, $170 ($59.99 off at Amazon) Acer Aspire 15, Intel Core 3 N355 processor/15.6-inch 1920×1080 display/8GB RAM/128GB flash storage, $299.99 ($50 off at Amazon) Acer Aspire 3, AMD Ryzen 3 7320U processor/15.6-inch 1920×1080 display/8GB RAM/128GB SSD, $326.33 ($23.66 off at Amazon) Our top pick: The Acer Aspire 3 is the best deal, even though the discount isn’t massive. You’re getting a 15.6-inch 1080p display, 8GB of RAM, and a zippy AMD Ryzen 3 processor, which is a noticeable step up (performance-wise) from both the the HP 14 and the Acer Aspire 15. Best early October Prime Day deals on mid-range laptops Dell Inspiron 5441, Snapdragon X Plus processor/14-inch 1920×1200 display/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $614 ($185.99 off at Amazon) HP OmniBook X Flip, AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 processor/16-inch 1920×1200 display/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $799.99 ($200 off at Amazon) Apple 2025 MacBook Air, M4 chip/13.6-inch 2560×1664 display/16GB RAM/256GB SSD, $899 ($100 off at Amazon) Our top pick: The Dell Inspiron 5441 is a sweet spot pick. For under $650, you’re getting a fast Snapdragon processor, 16GB of RAM, and a roomy 512GB SSD—plenty of firepower for work, streaming, and multitasking without spending a ton. Best early October Prime Day deals on premium laptops Apple MacBook Air, M4 chip/13.6-inch 2560×1664 display/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $1,072.19 ($126.81 off at Amazon) Microsoft Surface Laptop (2024), Snapdragon X Plus processor/13.8-inch 2304×1536 display/16GB RAM/512GB SSD, $1,079 ($120.99 off at Amazon) Dell 14 Plus, Intel Core Ultra 9 288V processor/14-inch 2560×1600 display/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,155.03 ($244.96 off at Amazon) Our top pick: The Dell 14 Plus is a top pick if you want a premium laptop that actually keeps up with everything. It’s got 32GB of RAM, a speedy Core Ultra 9 processor, and a crisp 2560×1600 display all for just over $1,150, making this one of the smarter buys in the premium category. Best early October Prime Day deals on gaming laptops Lenovo LOQ 15, AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS processor/RTX 4060 graphics/15.6-inch 1920×1080 display/32GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,139 ($60 off at Amazon) Asus ROG Strix G16 (2025), Intel Core i7-14650HX processor/RTX 5060 graphics/16-inch 1920×1200 display/16GB RAM/1TB SSD, $1,399.99 ($100 off at Amazon) Lenovo Legion 5i, Intel Core i7-14700HX processor/RTX 5060 graphics/15.1-inch 2560×1600 display/32GB RAM/2TB SSD, $1,555.19 ($443.81 off at Amazon) Our top pick: If you’re hunting for serious gaming power without breaking $1,500, the Lenovo LOQ 15 is a total steal. Inside you’ll find 32GB of RAM, a Ryzen 7 CPU, and RTX 4060 graphics, which is perfect for gaming or heavy multitasking. Other great early October Prime Day deals These aren’t the only Prime Day deals being tracked by the PCWorld team. If you’re looking to supercharge your home setup with the juiciest tech sales, hit the links for only the best expert-curated picks we’ve found. Best early Amazon October Prime Day tech deals: Great sales chosen by experts Best early October Prime Day laptop deals: Gaming notebooks, 2-in-1s, and more Best early October Prime Day deals on SSDs and storage Best early USB flash drive deals for October Prime Day Best early monitor deals for October Prime Day: OLED, home office, and more Best early October Prime Day deals on Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs Best early October Prime Day mini PC deals: Big savings on tiny computers Best early October Prime Day deals on battery chargers and power banks Best early October Prime Day deals on Chromebooks Best early October Prime Day deals on office chairs and standing desks Best early October Prime Day PC computer deals FAQ 1. What kind of laptop should I get? Well, it depends on your needs and lifestyle. A 2-in-1, for example, is a good fit for someone who travels often. You can swing the screen back 360 degrees and use it in tablet mode for taking notes or you can prop it up like a tent for watching movies with friends. If gaming is a top priority, then you’ll want to look into a laptop with powerful graphics hardware and a display with a high refresh rate. For those of us who need a basic laptop for general web browsing, a low-powered Windows laptop should do you just fine. 2. How can I tell whether a laptop is a good October Prime Day deal? I always use CamelCamelCamel, a free tool that tracks Amazon price history, to spot early discounts and plan for Prime Day events. Just create an account, enter a product’s ASIN (found in its Amazon URL and starts with the letter B), and you’ll see a graph of its price history over time. It’s an easy way to spot the good stuff and to also know if you’re getting the lowest price. 3. Do laptop brands matter? Not really, as long as you stick to well-known brands. Big manufacturers like Acer and Dell make solid machines and often offer steep discounts on their websites. You might have a personal preference, though, like maybe you’ve historically stuck with HP machines. 4. How much memory do I need in a laptop? I always tell my friends and family to aim for at least 8GB of RAM. Anything less, and you’ll likely notice things starting to slow down. If you can go higher than 8GB, even better. The more RAM you have, the snappier your laptop will feel, especially for everyday tasks like web browsing or working in spreadsheets. For more demanding work, 16GB is a solid choice for productivity and gaming, while 32GB and beyond is ideal for video editing and other intensive tasks. 5. Is now a good time to buy a laptop? Will tariffs affect laptop prices? Yes! Early October Prime Day often offers some of the lowest laptop prices of the year even before the main event begins. Prices on premium and gaming laptops may fluctuate once the main sales launch. As for external factors like tariffs, there are currently no major new tariffs affecting laptops in the U.S., but this can change fast depending on international trade decisions. Manufacturers hike the prices up later in the year, especially if supply chain issues pop up again, so if you’re thinking about pulling the trigger on a new laptop, now’s a good time to do it. Read...

Pacific leaders raised the issue at the United Nations General Assembly last month, warning non-communicable diseases is at `crisis level` in the Pacific. Read...

Just like Windows, Microsoft’s Office programs offer a dark mode that is easy on the eyes in poor lighting conditions and reduces power consumption. Let’s start with Word: To switch to dark mode, click on File -> Options and then make sure that you are in the General tab. Under “Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office” you’ll find the option “Office Theme”. Set this to “Black”. If you have already set Windows to dark mode, you can also select “Use system settings”. Then confirm with “OK”. By default, the Word menus are now black, but the desktop still appears white with black text. To change this, delete the tick in front of “Never change the document page color” and click “OK” again. The background is now black and the font is white. You will find the same setting in the same place in classic Outlook. Here the option is called “Never change the background color of the message”. In the new Outlook, go to General -> Appearance in the Settings and next set the option “Dark” under Dark mode. The program automatically colors the background of mail black, there is no option to select this. In Word, you can select whether the background of the workspace should also appear black or always remain white in dark mode. Sam Singleton Finally, although PowerPoint and Excel allow you to switch to a black office design, they are not able to darken the background of a presentation or spreadsheet. At least there is a temporary solution for Excel: Open the Paint image editor included in Windows, click on Selection in the toolbar and draw a rectangle measuring approximately 250 x 200 pixels. The dimensions are displayed at the bottom of the status bar. Then click on the Crop icon in the “Image” section of the toolbar. Then click on the Edit palette icon in the “Color” section, set 80 next to “Red”, “Green”, and “Blue” in the following window and confirm with OK. Then switch to the “Tools” section, click on the Fill tool and then on your rectangle. Paint will then colour it a dark grey. Click on File -> Save and save the rectangle as a PNG file in a folder of your choice. Now open your spreadsheet file in Excel. Switch to the “Page layout” ribbon, click on Background -> From a file and select the PNG file with the grey rectangle. Press the key combination Ctrl-A to select the table. Then right-click within the selection. Two context menus will open. In the smaller one, click on the downward-pointing arrow next to “Font color” and then click on the white square under “Design color”. You have now created a manual dark mode with a white font color. Please note: The setting only applies to this one spreadsheet. Every new sheet that you create will appear in the standard color again. And if you save the spreadsheet and pass it on, it will also open on another computer with a white background—but the white font will remain. You or other users will therefore see white text on a white background, in other words: nothing at all. To change this, you must change the font color. Incidentally, dark mode has no effect on the printout of a spreadsheet. Read...

Perplexity’s Comet is the most advanced AI browser right now, and it’s actually pretty cool. You can watch the browser’s built-in AI perform actions in real time, like clicking buttons on web pages and navigating between links. Yet while Comet might be a foretaste of the future of web browsing, it’s not quite what it’s hyped up to be. I’ve been playing around with Comet on Windows for a few weeks now… and it leaves me wanting. You can use Comet right now with a Perplexity Pro subscription for $20/month, but read this before you spend cash on it. Comet’s AI can browse the web for you Comet’s hallmark feature is unique among AI browsers right now. Yes, it does have “standard AI browser” features like an AI sidebar that summarizes content, a voice mode that lets you speak with Perplexity’s LLMs, and a Perplexity chat box on the New Tab page. But the core feature here is that you can open Comet’s chat experience and then say something like: “Hey, control my web browser and do something.” Research flights, plan travel, find products to buy—nearly anything is possible, and Comet will actually do it for you. Chris Hoffman / Foundry There’s something weirdly magical about opening Google Maps, telling Comet to research and plan a route for you, and watching in real time as it reasons through the process of clicking buttons, typing text, and interacting with the web page. You can see it all happen right before your eyes—and when the AI is controlling a page, you’ll see a blue border around it to let you know. You’ll see how the AI reasoning model talks to itself as it walks through the task, and you can interrupt it at any time. I may have gripes with Comet, but none of them take away from how cool it is to see this agentic AI browser in action the first time. This is a glimpse of the future. Nearly every web browser—apart from Vivaldi—will be following in Comet’s footsteps, whether we like it or not. Comet’s AI browsing can be pretty slow Once you get over how magical the technology seems, the limitations quickly become apparent. This is true for large language models in general, but it’s especially true with Comet. As I watch every task completed by the agentic AI, I realize how much faster it would be to just do all the clicking and navigating myself. Watching the AI use Google Maps is fun, but it quickly loses its luster when you’re one minute into a task and get outputs like: “Oops, I entered the address, but I didn’t hit backspace first to clear the box. I’ll need to erase the text in the box, and then type the address again.” It can be surprisingly slow. You’d save time by doing the browsing yourself, or even just using a more traditional AI chatbot that isn’t built into your web browser. Prompting ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or even Perplexity itself for information can be faster—it’s just smoother to let the AI focus on compiling and synthesizing data instead of commandeering the browser and navigating user interfaces. In a nutshell, agentic AI is cool but not quite as useful as it sounds. The typical AI chatbot experience still comes out ahead. The AI can access your websites… as you Many websites block access to AI tools, so the conventional AI chatbot search experience can’t always get the job done. But when the AI model has access to your browser, it can use those websites on your behalf. Even if a website requires you to sign in, Comet can use it—as long as you’re sign in to the site before Comet starts navigating it. That’s a huge advantage over the classic AI chatbot search experience. An AI browser can do a lot more with the web, and you can see exactly what it’s doing and take over whenever you like. But it also means that any exploit could directly affect your browser and your data. Comet is vulnerable to LLM exploits Large language models are vulnerable to something called “prompt injections,” which can happen whenever the LLM is made to process and interpret text. The problem is that when text is fed into an LLM, it isn’t always clear whether that text is from you or elsewhere. For example, an LLM might process and analyze the source code of a web page to perform some kind of task. But the source code of a web page could potentially include hidden prompt instructions designed to hijack an AI that’s analyzing the source code. The LLM can’t distinguish the hidden prompt in the source code from the source code itself. In other words, that hidden prompt was injected into the source code, and the AI will be none the wiser. Hence, prompt injection attack. Chris Hoffman / Foundry Security researchers at Guardio found that Comet was vulnerable to attacks like this, and that it could be tricked into falling for phishing scams while online shopping. Security researchers from Brave also found that Comet was vulnerable to indirect prompt injection attacks. Here’s the wildest part from Brave’s blog post: “The vulnerability we’re discussing in this post lies in how Comet processes webpage content: when users ask it to ‘Summarize this webpage,’ Comet feeds a part of the webpage directly to its LLM without distinguishing between the user’s instructions and untrusted content from the webpage. This allows attackers to embed indirect prompt injection payloads that the AI will execute as commands.” Did you catch that? It’s not that Comet’s protections against prompt injection were bypassed, but rather that Comet (in its initial release) didn’t even have prompt injection protections that tried to distinguish between trusted user instructions and untrusted web page data sent to the AI model (at least with the summarization function). This sort of thing is a known problem with large language models. While Comet now has better protections against this, it’s unclear how good those safeguards are. Comet hasn’t been properly battle-tested. Other agentic AI browsing solutions—like ChatGPT’s agent mode—interact with websites by loading those websites in their own browser in the cloud apart from your data. Even when those LLMs are exploited by prompt injection attacks, at least the damage is somewhat limited. But when the AI has access to everything in your browser—as is the case with Perplexity’s Comet—the risk goes up by quite a bit. From what I can tell, it seems like Perplexity is “moving fast and breaking things” while competitors are at least paying attention to security before launching. Comet is minimal and uncluttered… Comet is focused on AI browsing—and that’s it. You’re getting a clean, uncluttered Chromium browser. It has AI integration, yes, but aside from that it’s stripped down and doesn’t get in your way. Chris Hoffman / Foundry It’s not like using Microsoft Edge, for example. Microsoft’s Edge browser is built on the same Chromium codebase that powers Google Chrome and Comet, but Edge packs in a lot of its own bloat: a New Tab page cluttered with viral junk, a sidebar with links to MSN web games, various shopping tools, and so many other features that I personally can’t stand it. I greatly enjoy the lightweight, stripped-down Chromium experience presented by Comet. Apart from the AI, it’s pretty sleek. …but maybe too minimal? Right off the bat, you’ll notice that Comet doesn’t come in mobile app form. Want to use the same browser on your PC and your phone? With Comet, you can’t—at least not yet. But the problem goes further than that. Even with Comet installed on multiple PCs, it doesn’t yet offer the ability to sync data between multiple PCs. For someone like myself, who regularly switches between desktop PC and laptop while also reviewing many laptops for PCWorld, this is a huge shortcoming and obstacle for daily use. It’s 2025. I need my web browsers (and AI tools) to sync my data between devices, and I can’t be bothered to manually copy or migrate data. I don’t want to be asking myself “Wait, which PC did I have that conversation on?” if I need to dig up an AI chat log. Is that too much to ask for? I mean, I don’t think so… Even if I thought Comet was perfect aside from this—and I don’t—the lack of cross-device sync means Comet just isn’t an option as a day-to-day driver for me yet. Perplexity is working on it, but if sync is important to you, save your $20 until they eventually get it rolled out. Here’s my current verdict on Comet Comet doesn’t feel designed to be your day-to-day browser—as it is right now, it’s more of a flashy demo. Whether it’s the animated video intro or the way Comet was vulnerable to known LLM exploits at launch, it feels like it was primarily made to position Perplexity for acquisition by an even bigger company (like Apple, maybe?). Even the $5-per-month Comet Plus subscription that gives revenue back to publishers who are affected by AI feels more like a PR move to warm up feelings around Perplexity’s brand than a serious long-term solution. (That might sound overly cynical, but I stand by the statement.) Comet is incredibly cool, don’t get me wrong. It’s the first time you can experience agentic AI browsing in action on your PC. But it just isn’t ready to replace the web browser you already trust with everything you do online. It’s a gimmick and it wears off quickly. If you’re interested in Comet, you should give it a try—as no more than a secondary browser. It may be the future, but it isn’t there yet. Subscribe to Chris Hoffman’s newsletter, The Windows Readme, for more Windows PC tips, tricks, and experiments. Read...

Qualcomm’s scintillating new Snapdragon X2 Elite chips have prompted a ton of conversations in the past few days. Can they make it? What do you like about them? And so on. While I can’t say whether or not the Snapdragon X2 Elite and Elite Extreme will eventually succeed, I can offer you an inside look at what people are talking about–at least what I’ve heard and overheard–at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. If you want to catch up on all the news, the Snapdragon X2 and X2 Elite offer more cores at up to 5GHz speeds, includes optional embedded memory, and preserves the performance on battery from the first generation. The good: eye-watering performance If you want a general-purpose productivity laptop, the first-generation Snapdragon X Elite was nearly perfect. The new X2 Elite Extreme looks to be even better, with (controlled) benchmarks that simply blow away Intel’s Core Ultra (Lunar Lake) and AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 chips, from CPU to GPU to the AI-enabling NPU. Qualcomm is really doing almost everything consumers are asking of it in this space. The CPU benchmarks look particularly juicy. Compared against rival chips in today’s laptops, the Snapdragon X2 Elite absolutely smokes all comers in the Cinebench benchmark beloved by reviewers, in both single- and multi-core tests. Mark Hachman / Foundry And the Snapdragon X2 Elite’s NPU offers a whopping 80 TOPs, leaving the competition in the dust. Whether consumers are asking for more TOPS from an NPU, though, is a question mark. Roughly doubling the TOPS from the first version looks great on paper, and certainly bigger numbers are better. But there’s a lot being bet on whether consumer applications will be able to take advantage of its prowess, including this concept of agentic AI everyone is talking about. No one is still quite sure whether that will happen. UL’s Procyon Computer Vision benchmark tests AI inference performance and can tap into NPUs, unlike some other AI benchmarks.Mark Hachman / Foundry It depends on how you see it: Is local AI still a selling point? Either way, the Snapdragon X2 Elite appears loaded with hardware capable of blasting through most of the tasks you throw at it, AI or not. The bad: Lukewarm PC vendor support, games, and lack of battery life talk I couldn’t help but notice that only Asus and HP endorsed the Snapdragon X2 architecture, and via video to boot — not in person at the Snapdragon Summit. The odd “agentic AI” Humain Horizon Pro laptop (which won’t use the X2, but the X1) was there, but not Qualcomm’s established customers. And where was longtime Qualcomm backer, Lenovo? Sure, new partners could always be announced. But I had questions. Another question: 3D graphics performance. Yes, supposedly the Snapdragon X2 Elite about doubles the performance of the first-gen X Elite platform, which played (some) games at roughly 30 frames per second at 1080p Low performance. Doubling that is, what, 60 fps at the same resolution and image quality? What about all the games that simply refuse to run well on the first-gen Snapdragon chips? On the more enthusiast end of things, “there’s nothing preventing” the Snapdragon X2 from connecting to a discrete GPU like Nvidia’s GeForce RTX, according to Qualcomm’s senior vice president Kedar Kondap…but it doesn’t appear like it has, or will. This is a tough one: Gaming is often seen as a high-profile design win, and proof that a chip like the X2 Elite should be seen as a sexy, high-margin gaming CPU. But doing so would immediately cut into a key Snapdragon benefit: long battery life. Gaming on a phone, weirdly, seems more viable with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor than on a PC.Qualcomm And that was weird, too: Qualcomm really downplayed the battey life of a Snapdragon X2 laptop, referring it to “multi-day” on a couple of occasions. I’m not sure if that was because the competitive landscape had erased that advantage, or what. But it simply was not a big focus. Again, Qualcomm does have a cross to bear in its Arm legacy, and how that affects application compatibility. This only really affects some weird, dusty old business utilities, the occasional printer, and games. But games are the one area where it can make inroads, though Snapdragon simply can’t offer the “it just works” assurance of its X86 rivals anytime soon. The ugly: A grab bag Naturally, any new launch offers opportunities for criticism. Not only did people take issue with the Microsoft-esque naming scheme — the X2 Elite Extreme, really?! — critics made the very valid point that this was Qualcomm’s first major architecture launch in years. Reviewers got hands-on tests of the X1 Elite two long years ago, in October 2023, ahead of the Snapdragon’s launch alongside Copilot+ PCs in May 2024. Qualcomm followed it up with the cut-down X1 Plus and X in the interim. As one attendee pointed out, “You can’t play on that timetable and expect to win against Intel and AMD,” which launch a new or updated mobile chip architecture on an annual cadence. Intel has been talking about Panther Lake for months…and has already shown more demo systems than Qualcomm has for the X2 Elite.Adam Patrick Murray / Foundry Qualcomm’s X1 Elite also signaled to Intel and AMD that those rivals needed to have their own chips in order. But tying Snapdragon X to Copilot+ and Microsoft’s beleaguered Recall didn’t do much for Qualcomm, if anything. Qualcomm was the flag-bearer for Windows on Arm, and its (now largely undeserved) reputational concerns about app compatibility. Then Intel’s Lunar Lake came along, and offered a very competitive — and maybe even better — chip without any of that baggage. One laptop maker told me that they had bought into the original X1 Elite in part as a bargaining chip with Intel. People had a lot of questions about what that meant for Intel’s upcoming “Panther Lake” chip, which should be unveiled this fall. In my personal opinion, one of the best things Qualcomm ever did was to simply offer a compelling third option to Intel and AMD. That means we all benefited from an competitive market for PC processors that only continues to heat up. Disclosure: Qualcomm held its press briefings in Hawaii, and would not pre-brief reporters in other locations or over video meetings. They paid for my room, boarding, and travel expenses, but did not ask for or exert any editorial control over this story or other PCWorld content. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Integrated solar panel Local microSD storage up to 512GB Quick, wire-free setup Cons Limited to two activity zones No advanced AI features (e.g., vehicle/pet/face recognition) Local-only storage means no offsite backup if the camera is stolen or damaged Our Verdict If you want a straightforward, subscription-free solar cam for home monitoring, the Baseus S1 Lite nails the basics and battery life, but power users will want more. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Baseus S1 Lite Retailer Price $49.99 View Deal $79.99 View Deal Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Baseus has been steadily pushing beyond its roots in phone chargers and accessories, and its latest move is to expand it’s smart security lineup with two solar-powered outdoor cameras: the Baseus S1 Lite (reviewed here) and the Baseus S2 (which we’ll cover at a later date). The company pitches the Basues S1 Lite as a budget-friendly option designed for people who want affordable security without being tied to monthly fees for cloud storage. The question is whether the camera feels like a genuine bargain or just a bunch of trade-offs. Design and features Unlike the conventional bullet- and dome-style cameras you see on most houses, the S1 Lite has a flat, rectangular shape. The design allows its solar panel to be integrated into the camera body rather than bolted on as a separate unit. That small detail gives the S1 Lite a sleeker, more modern look than many other solar-powered cameras. The solar panel is paired with a 5,200mAh battery. A couple of hours of sunlight a day is enough to keep it topped off, according to Baseus, with a single charge lasting up to 150 days. It’s weatherized to handle the outdoors, with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, and is built to operate in temperatures from –4 degrees Fahrenheit to 122 F. (Allow us to explain what you need to know about IP codes.) The Basus S1 Lite has an integrated solar panel on top that keeps the design clean, not clunky.Michael Ansaldo/Foundry The camera records in 2K resolution and has a 135-degree field of view, that’s wide enough to cover a good chunk of a yard or driveway. An 8x digital zoom lets you get a closer look at people or objects within about 26 feet. At night, a built-in spotlight kicks on to deliver color video when motion is detected, effective out to about 20 feet. The S1 Lite isn’t overloaded with AI features, but it covers the basics: It can distinguish between human movement and general motion, and you can draw up to two custom activity zones while masking out two privacy zones. Two-way audio lets you hear what’s happening outside and speak with visitors and delivery people. For storage, you can slot in a microSD card with a capacity up to 512GB (our guide to microSD cards will help you pick one). This means your recordings are stored locally, with AES and RSA encryption, and free from subscription fees. For smart-home users, the S1 Lite ties into the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant ecosystems and is managed through the Baseus app for Android or iOS. Setup and performance Setting up the S1 Lite starts with downloading the Baseus Security app, which you’ll need to connect the camera to your Wi-Fi network. Once the camera is powered on, the app automatically detects it and walks you through the connection process step by step. From there, you can mount the camera with the included screw mount, a job that takes only a few minutes thanks to its wireless design. Connectivity is limited to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi networks, which is common at this price but worth noting if your network is already overcrowded. The camera’s microSD card slot and charging port are protected from weather by a rubber cover. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry Video performance is solid for a budget camera. The 2K resolution captures good detail during the day, and the wide-angle view means you can cover a yard or driveway with a single unit. At night, black-and-white infrared night vision keeps watch until motion triggers the spotlight, enabling the camera to deliver color video that can capture details like the color of clothing or car paint. The Baseus Security app functions well as a control hub for the camera. The home screen shows a live feed with quick access to functions like recording, snapshots, spotlight, and two-way talk. Dive into settings and you can adjust video and audio quality, manage battery performance, or fine-tune motion detection. Sensitivity is controlled with a simple slider, and you can choose between detecting all motion or just human activity. It’s a straightforward, no-nonsense layout that makes it easy to get the camera working the way you want without feeling buried in menus. Smart alerts were generally responsive in my testing. Setting the detection to “human” cut down on the number of notifications from trees swaying and other incidental motion, effectively keeping notifications manageable. The Baseus Security app keeps the camera controls clean and intuitive. Michael Ansaldo/Foundry I’ve always been a fan of local storage, as it keeps my data in my hands and eliminates ongoing fees for cloud storage. But it’s worth noting that Baseus doesn’t provide any means for backing up the camera’s video recordings offsite. So, if the camera is damaged or stolen in the commission of a crime, you’ll have no forensic evidence. That trade-off will matter more to some than others, but at this price point it feels like a fair compromise. Should you buy the Baseus Security S1 Lite Outdoor Camera 2K? The Baseus S1 Lite makes a strong case as an entry-level outdoor camera. At $80–and selling for much less online–it’s cheaper than many 2K solar-powered competitors, and the absence of a subscription fee to store its video recordings in the cloud lowers its total cost of ownership even more. You will need to make some small compromises, however. Support for only 2.4GHz Wi-Fi will limit its performance on crowded networks. The two-activity-zone/two-privacy-zone limit might prove restrictive if you’re monitoring a larger space. And advanced AI smarts like vehicle or pet detection will be missed if you want to watch out for unfamiliar cars or wandering critters. If those things matter, either keep shopping. For budget-conscious homeowners, though, the Baseus S1 Lite hits the right notes. You’ll give up some bells and whistles, but you’ll still get a capable solar-powered camera that delivers on its core promise: affordable outdoor security. Read...

At a glanceExpert`s Rating Pros Extremely thin and easy to pack High brightness with anti-glare panel make for comfortable viewing 180Hz refresh rate with Adaptive Sync Cons Uses Mini-HDMI input instead of full-sized HDMI Mediocre contrast ratio and color performance Currently a bit expensive compared to the competition Our Verdict The Arzopa Z3FC serves up a high-refresh 2560×1440 IPS-LCD in a slim, light package, though it’s a tad more expensive than it should be. Price When Reviewed This value will show the geolocated pricing text for product undefined Best Pricing Today Best Prices Today: Arzopa Z3FC Retailer Price Arzopa $199.99 View Deal Check Price comparison from over 24,000 stores worldwide Product Price Price comparison from Backmarket Best Prices Today: Check today’s prices Most portable monitors are meant for basic productivity, but that’s not always true. The Arzopa Z3FC is a large IPS LCD portable monitor with an 180Hz refresh rate that aims to be of use both for office productivity and gaming. It’s successful, but its launch price is an obstacle. Read on to learn more, then see our roundup of the best portable monitors for comparison. Arzopa Z3FC specs and features The Arzopa Z3FC is a step up from the budget portable monitors that retail around $100 or less, and it provides some upgrades. The Z3FC has 2560×1440 resolution which, of course, is superior to the 1920×1080 resolution that most budget alternatives provide. The Z3FC also has a speedy 180Hz refresh rate, which is high for a portable monitor. Display size: 16.1-inch 16:9 aspect ratio Native resolution: 2560×1440 Panel type: IPS-LED Refresh rate: 180Hz Adaptive sync: Yes, AMD FreeSync HDR: None Ports: 2x USB Type-C with Power Delivery and DisplayPort, 1x Mini-HDMI 2.0 Audio: 2x 1-watt speakers Additional features: Built-in kickstand Dimensions: 13 x 8 x 0.39 inches Weight: 1.72 pounds Price: $229.99 MSRP, $199.99 typical retail The Arzopa Z3FC has an MSRP of $229.99, but I don’t think it was ever sold at MSRP (which is not unusual for an Amazon product listing). It’s more typically available at $199.99. Even that is towards the high end of where I expect this product to land as it ages. Its predecessor, the Arzopa Z1FC, was introduced at $259.99 but has sold as low as $96.98. I’d expect the Z3FC will gradually limbo closer to that figure. Arzopa Z3FC design The Arzopa Z3FC combines an aluminum frame and rear panel with plastic bezels to produce an attractive, durable feel. Despite its extremely thin profile—it measures less than 4/10-inch thick—the Z3FC feels solid when handled and doesn’t easily show flex. Don’t get me wrong: You could absolutely snap this thing over your knee if you wanted. But the same could be said of the iPad Pro. Big, thin devices are never bomb-proof, but the Z3FC feels nice. Matthew Smith / Foundry Its thin profile means the portable monitor is, well, portable. It weighs in at roughly 1.7 pounds, which is a tad lighter than average for a 16-inch portable monitor. Arzopa avoids using a bump-out to accommodate the ports and the kickstand retracts fully into the monitor’s case, both of which make the display easy to carry. Yet despite its small size, the kickstand supports use in both portrait and landscape orientation. A sleeve is included, as well. It looks okay but includes a flap that is secured with velcro. While the carrying case largely does its job, it doesn’t offer much padding, so I wouldn’t trust it alone to protect the monitor when packing it in checked luggage. The same can be said for most sleeves included with portable monitors, though. Arzopa Z3FC connectivity Connectivity is a mix bag with the Arzopa Z3FC. It includes two USB-C ports, each with DisplayPort and Power Delivery, and a HDMI port. So far, so good. The HDMI port is mini-HDMI, though, which is a bummer. While the Arzopa Z3FC does include a HDMI to mini-HDMI cable, mini-HDMI is much less common overall. You may have difficulty finding a cable around an office, or for sale in a store, if you leave the included cable at home. Matthew Smith / Foundry Of course, you could just rely on USB-C, which might be easier. The USB-C ports support Power Delivery to power the monitor when connected to a USB-C port that provides enough wattage. The specs don’t state what’s required, but an 18-watt power source was adequate. The USB-C ports support power pass-through. That means you can connect a USB-C source with power to one USB-C port, then use the portable monitor to charge a USB-C device connected to the other USB-C port. A USB-C power brick is not included, but will be required if you plan to deliver video to the Z3FC over HDMI, or if you use a USB-C video input that lacks power. The lack of a power brick is a minor disappointment, but most competitive portable monitors also ship without a power brick. Arzopa Z3FC menus, audio The Arzopa Z3FC’s menu system offers a wider range of options than most. It includes not only the typical brightness and contrast but also several color gamut modes, RGB calibration, and a 4:3 aspect ratio mode. As simple as these might seem, they aren’t guaranteed on a portable monitor. Some alternatives only provide brightness, contrast, and sharpness adjustment. Matthew Smith / Foundry Adjustments are easy, too, as the monitor includes two buttons and a volume rocker. The buttons are used to enter or exit menus and the rocker is used to select or adjust options. Overall, the Arzopa Z3FC’s menu can’t quite match that typically provided by Viewsonic, but beats budget portable monitors like the MSI Pro MP165 E6. A pair of 1-watt speakers can be found on each flank of the Z3FC. They’re weak, providing barely adequate volume even at maximum. The speakers are okay for a podcast but otherwise of limited use. The Arzopa Z3FC’s menu system offers a wider range of options than most. Arzopa Z3FC SDR image quality The Arzopa Z3FC isn’t expensive, but I wouldn’t say it’s a budget portable monitor—at least, not at its current typical retail price of $199.99. That means the monitor’s image quality matters. It scores well in several areas, though in others it feels pressure from OLED competition. Matthew Smith / Foundry Brightness is a positive for the Arzopa Z3FC. It comes close to 400 nits of SDR brightness, which is great for a portable monitor. This level of brightness is excessive for most situations, but portable monitors are likely to be used in areas where you have no control over the lighting, like a conference room or airport lounge. The Z3FC’s high brightness will make the monitor more comfortable to use in bright rooms and near large, sunlit windows. Matthew Smith / Foundry Contrast, on the other hand, is a miss for the Z3FC. Most portable monitors with an IPS-LCD panel struggle with contrast, and the Z3FC comes in towards the bottom of the pack. That means the image can look flat and dull. It’s not a problem in Microsoft Office, but disappointing when playing a game. Portable monitors with an OLED panel, like the Innocn 15K1F, are a much better choice for entertainment. They provide a deep, immersive image that easily stands out. Keep in mind, however, that price-comparable OLED portable monitors will have a 60Hz refresh rate. That’s a trade-off you’ll need to weigh. Matthew Smith / Foundry The Arzopa Z3FC’s color gamut is good, or mediocre, depending on your perspective. It covers 99 percent of sRGB as well as 78 percent of DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB. As the graph shows, that’s average to above-average for a portable monitor with an IPS-LCD display. The Z3FC’s color gamut is enough to provide good color volume and a vibrant image. However, the Z3FC’s color gamut is far behind the Innocn 15K1F’s OLED panel, and will significantly lag OLED alternatives in general. OLED provides an incredibly rich, hyper-saturated look that many will prefer. Matthew Smith / Foundry The Arzopa Z3FC achieved modest results in color accuracy. Its average color error isn’t bad, but the average includes noticeable errors in colors such as blue and cyan. The overall impression is that the monitor can look a bit too red or orange. That’s also represented in the monitor’s color temperature of 6300K, which is a bit warmer than the target of 6500K. Gamma, on the other hand, was solid with an on-target gamma curve of 2.2. Content generally looks as bright as it should, and while the monitor’s overall contrast isn’t great, it does a fine job of preserving detail in dark areas of a scene. Sharpness is a highlight. The 16.1-inch panel has a resolution of 2560×1440. That works out to about 182 pixels per inch. That’s a higher pixel density than a 27-inch 4K monitor (at about 163 ppi) and much better than a 27-inch 1440p monitor (at roughly 110 ppi). High-resolution video looks great and text looks sharp. So what’s the verdict? I think the Z3FC’s image quality is fine, even good. It benefits from a decent color gamut and high brightness, two traits that help it deliver an attractive image when used in a bright room. It’s less impressive in darker rooms, as the limited contrast ratio becomes more noticeable. The main decision you’ll need to make is whether you’d prefer an IPS-LCD display with high brightness and a fast refresh rate, like the Z3FC, or an OLED competitor with superior contrast and color gamut, like the Innocn 15K1F. Arzopa Z3FC HDR image quality and motion The Arzopa Z3FC includes HDR, but it’s nothing to write home about—or, if you did, you might use language your pen pal wouldn’t appreciate. While HDR is supported, the monitor’s limited contrast ratio and brightness means there’s not much, if any, benefit to using it. The image looks a bit different, but not better. I recommend sticking to SDR. This is not a problem exclusive to the Z3FC, however. All portable monitors suffer bad HDR to varying degrees. It’s a direct result of their portability and low pricing. The Viewsonic VX1655-4K-OLED is the only portable monitor I’ve tested to deliver passable HDR—but it retails at $519.99. The Z3FC’s motion clarity benefits from the IPS-LCD panel’s 180Hz refresh rate, which is high for a portable monitor with 2560×1440 resolution. A higher refresh rate translates to reduced blur in fast-moving and rapidly changing images, and the improvement is obvious, particularly when compared to a 60Hz alternative. Arzopa lists a pixel response time of 9 milliseconds on the monitor’s Amazon page. That’s not great—a desktop LCD-IPS gaming monitor will typically quote a response time of 0.5 milliseconds to 5 milliseconds. Overall motion clarity is solid for single-player titles and cooperative games, though esports fans with a critical eye and fast reactions should keep expectations in check. While the Z3FC’s motion clarity isn’t perfect, its portability and price should be kept in mind. Most portable monitors have a much lower refresh rate and, as a result, have much more noticeable motion blur. OLED alternatives will beat the Z3FC, but those with a 120Hz refresh rate start around $250 ($50 more than the Z3FC) and go up from there. The Z3FC is a price-to-value middle ground for people who want acceptable motion clarity in games but still need to be mindful of their budget. Should you buy the Arzopa Z3FC? The Arzopa Z3FC is another solid portable monitor in the company’s line-up. It provides good image quality and a fast 180Hz refresh rate for $199.99. It also benefits from slim, attractive design and an easy-to-use menu system. With that said, pricing doesn’t currently work to its favor. Arzopa’s older Z1FC, which is similar but has a slightly slower 144Hz refresh rate, can be had for $109.99—a much better deal overall. I expect the Z3FC’s price will gradually be reduced, but at the moment it’s too expensive for what it offers. Still, the Z3FC provides high brightness, decent color performance, slim design, and good motion clarity. These traits make it an appealing general-purpose portable monitor and also useful for gaming on the go. Read...