Many Samsung smart TVs can eventually develop the same frustrating habit: menu lag. Hit the home button and the interface hitches, bogged down by banners, background app data, and buffering before it even lets you select an input. The TV displays 4K video easily enough, but it starts stumbling the moment it has to juggle all those background apps and menus.

If clearing the cache or restarting only gives you temporary relief, there is a more permanent fix. Disconnect the TV from Wi-Fi and let a streaming device like a Fire TV Stick or Roku handle your apps instead.

Why an offline screen runs faster

Cutting your TV's Wi-Fi does not mean giving up Netflix, Disney+, or YouTube. Instead of forcing your television to download and run those services directly, you plug a streaming stick into an HDMI port and connect that to your home internet instead.

Keep in mind that budget devices like a Roku or Fire TV still have their own home-screen ads, though mid-tier models (like the 4K sticks) will generally feel much snappier than an older or budget TV’s own sluggish software.

If you want the cleanest interface with no third-party banner ads, an Apple TV is your best option, though it still shows promotional trailers for Apple’s own shows. By taking the TV itself offline, you stop it from serving built-in ads and tracking your viewing data, leaving it to do what it does best: just show the picture.

If you use them, you'll lose Samsung's TV Plus free channels, SmartThings phone controls, and native casting, though your new streaming stick can cover most of these needs through apps like Tubi, its own remote, and built-in AirPlay or Google Cast (depending on the stick you buy).

How to disconnect your TV from Wi-Fi

Freeing your screen from the internet takes just a minute, though the exact steps will depend on your model. Start by grabbing your remote, pressing the Home button, and opening the All Settings menu. From there, navigate to General & Privacy, select Network, and tap Network Status.

Next, select Disconnect to sever the active Wi-Fi connection and clear the saved network from the television's memory. To finish up, plug your streaming stick into an open HDMI port, connect it to your Wi-Fi, and let its remote take over your daily viewing.

Since an offline screen stops pulling down automatic updates, simply hop back onto your network for five minutes every few months to grab any vital firmware patches before cutting the connection again.

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I’ve spent the past few months diving deep into the new Apple Watch Series 12, Google Pixel Watch 5, and Samsung Galaxy Watch 9. In fact, I wrote long-form reviews of the latter two and have tested the former head-to-head against the competition over a dozen times.

Hi, I’m Dan, and I lead our smartwatch coverage here at Tom’s Guide, and I often get asked, “OS preference aside, which smartwatch from the BIG THREE would I actually buy in 2026?”

It’s a difficult question to answer, given that all three models have advantages over their competitors. Moreover, Apple, Google, and Samsung all make seriously lovely wearables — some of the best smartwatches in 2026 — brimming with smart, health, safety, and connectivity features.

But enough excuses. Below, I’ve compared the Apple Watch 12, Pixel Watch 5, and Galaxy Watch 9 across six categories — cost, design, display, fitness/recovery features, health/safety features, and battery — with a winner or winners declared for each. If you’re short on time, you can find my ultimate verdict at the very end.

Apple Watch 12 vs Pixel Watch 5 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Cost

The Apple Watch Series 12 (42mm) and Pixel Watch 5 (41mm) each start at $399 for the smaller respective models without cellular. (Note: The Pixel Watch 5 is currently $100 off at Amazon.) The Galaxy Watch 9 (40mm) is a tiny bit cheaper, starting at $379.

If you spring for the larger size with cellular connectivity, the Apple Watch Series 12 (46mm) is the priciest at $549, followed by the Pixel Watch 5 (45mm) at $529, with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 (44mm) being the best bargain of the fully-loaded big boys at $459.

Based on value alone, Samsung wins this category; however, a savings of $20 to $100 is unlikely to be the determining factor in which smartwatch I’d ultimately buy. Moreover, I prefer smaller watches and don't really need cellular, diminishing Samsung’s pricing advantage.

Winner: draw

Apple Watch 12 vs Pixel Watch 5 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Design

The Apple Watch Series 12, Google Pixel Watch 5, and Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 are all extremely well-built, durable, and comfortable devices based on my extended testing. Each boasts 50 meters of water resistance, enough for surface-level swims, with metal cases and scratch-resistant displays.

No matter which model you go with, you get two physical controls along the side of the case. On the Galaxy Watch 9, those controls come in the form of two identical-looking buttons. On the Pixel Watch 5 and Apple Watch 12, you get a physical button and a digital crown that can be both turned and pressed, making it more valuable than a standard button.

As a result, I prefer the controls of the latest Apple Watch and Pixel Watch to those of the newest Galaxy Watch.

In 2026, each of the major full-featured smartwatch manufacturers has settled on a unique case shape. Apple is a square, Google is a circle, and Samsung is a squarish circle. Of the three shapes, I prefer Apple’s the best.

The Galaxy Watch 9’s circular display mounted on a rounded square case results in what feels like wasted space around the bezel. Meanwhile, the Pixel Watch 5’s circular case coupled with its domed Actua 360 circular display makes the watch feel a little too bubbly/sit rather high on my wrist.

With the best controls and sleekest case design, Apple gets my nod in this category.

Winner: Apple Watch Series 12

Apple Watch 12 vs Pixel Watch 5 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Display

All three of these smartwatches sport bright, crisp, and well-saturated AMOLED screens. However, Samsung and Google’s displays offer a higher maximum output (they get brighter) than Apple’s, making them a bit easier to read in direct sunlight.

The latest Apple Watch Series 12 screen maxes out at 2,000 nits compared to 3,000 nits for the Galaxy Watch 9 and Pixel Watch 5.

Winner: Google Pixel Watch 5 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

Apple Watch 12 vs Pixel Watch 5 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Fitness, sleep, and recovery

I’ve spent a ton of time exploring the vast array of fitness tracking and workout planning features found in the best smartwatch models of 2026. That said, for basic insights into your physical activity, sleep quality, and overall well-being, the Apple Watch 12, Pixel Watch 5, or Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 will all serve you well.

However, for more advanced workout training and recovery insights that don’t require a subscription, Samsung has both Apple and Google beat. Don’t get me wrong, the new Google Health app (formerly the Fitbit app) is jam-packed with features comparable to what the Samsung Health app offers. However, the best ones require a monthly Google Health Premium subscription ($9.99 a month or $99 for the year). That’s not the case for the Galaxy Watch.

Samsung’s free daily sleep reports are also the most comprehensive of the three, in my opinion. Also, only the Galaxy Watch 9 and Apple Watch 12 offer FDA-cleared sleep apnea detection.

Apple’s health and fitness tracking chops are decent, but I still feel the Cupertino Kid is catching up to its two biggest competitors when it comes to dynamic wellness insights. For example, Apple just got a daily readiness score this year. Samsung, meanwhile, has offered an “Energy Score” since 2024, right around the same time Google launched its daily readiness score.

Apple’s sleep score feature is also relatively new (launched in 2025), and from my experience, it tends to be the most optimistic of the three, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy Watch 9

Apple Watch 12 vs Pixel Watch 5 vs Galaxy Watch 9: health and safety

All three smartwatches have some form of fall/crash detection, which can automatically call for help when triggered, as well as user-activated SOS safety tools. You also get alerts for high/low heart rates, along with AFib detection and SpO2 readings.

However, only the Apple Watch 12 offers 24-7 hypertension alerts, designed to detect signs of high blood pressure early. On the other hand, only the Pixel Watch 5 offers Loss of Pulse Detection and Breathing Emergency Detection, both of which work similarly to fall/crash detection.

The Pixel Watch 5 also supports new Blood Pressure Trends and Insulin Resistance Trends, along with Breathing Quality Trends, making it arguably the king of on-wrist health and safety in 2026.

Winner: Google Pixel Watch 5

Apple Watch 12 vs Pixel Watch 5 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Battery life

On paper, the Apple Watch 12 is supposed to last up to 24 hours per charge, while the Galaxy Watch 9 and Pixel Watch 5 are rated at up to 40 hours per charge. In reality, both the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch easily meet their battery life ratings.

The Pixel Watch 5, meanwhile, far surpasses the 40-hour rating in my testing. I reviewed the larger model and averaged closer to 48 hours per charge.

Winner: Google Pixel Watch 5

Apple Watch 12 vs Pixel Watch 5 vs Galaxy Watch 9: Verdict

Ultimately, if I were spending my hard-earned money on one of the top smartwatches in 2026 — ignoring smartphone OS preferences — I’d likely choose the Apple Watch Series 12 over the Google Pixel Watch 5 or Samsung Galaxy Watch 9.

The main reason is that I prefer the design of the Apple Watch Series 12 to the competition. I also genuinely appreciate Apple’s simple approach to daily fitness and health tracking — via “closing your rings” — even if it's a little bit basic for hardcore users.

Apple is still playing catch-up a bit when it comes to health and advanced training metrics, but the brand has definitely made up for lost ground in 2026 with the debut of a daily readiness score, heart rate variability tracking, the forthcoming health age metric, and a greater overall emphasis on tracking long-term wellness trends.

Still, Google has Apple beat when it comes to on-wrist safety, and Samsung’s health/fitness tools remain a bit more comprehensive than Apple’s... for now. All that said, I really wish Apple would step up its game when it comes to battery performance.

Which of these three high-end 2026 smartwatches would you choose? Let me know below.

Overall winner: Apple Watch Series 12

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The Samsung Galaxy S27 series is coming, and we've already started hearing a bunch of rumors about what the four upcoming phones might have to offer. The latest leak to appear online comes from SammyGuru, which features what is claimed to be camera specs for the entire S27 series. Sadly some of them are fairly disappointing.

The Galaxy S27 and S27 Plus are tipped to come with the exact same cameras that we're used to. This means they'll have a 50MP main camera powered by either a Sony IMX955 or Samsung S5KGNG sensor — both of which are available on the Galaxy S26 series. The Ultrawide is expected to be the 12MP Sony IMX564, which has been in use since the Galaxy S2series.

Resolution isn't specified for the selfie or telephoto cameras, only that they'll rely on a Samsung S5K3K1 with 3x optical zoom, and either the Samsung S5K3LU or Sony IMX874 for the front camera. Presumably, given what's happening with the other two lenses, we should expect a 10MP telephoto and 12MP selfie camera.

As for the S27 Ultra and S27 Pro, we're looking at a 200MP main camera, with the same Samsung S5KHP6 sensor on both models. That isn't the same sensor as the S26 Ultra (the S5KHP2), so it'll be interesting to see how things actually change. The Ultrawide will once again retain the 50MP resolution, utilizing a Samsung S5KJN3 or Sony IMX855 sensor.

Again that is the same on both phones, and the selfie camera follows that pattern with a shared Samsung S5K2P5 sensor offering 16MP resolution — a noticeable upgrade from the 12MP selfie camera on the S26 Ultra.

The telephoto lens is where things change. The S27 Ultra will reportedly have a 5x optical zooming camera powered by Sony IMX855 or Samsung S5KJN3, though resolution isn't specified. The Pro, on the other hand, utilizes the 3x Samsung SK53LD camera. This is the same sensor used by the S26 Ultra's secondary telephoto lens, which suggests it will have 10MP resolution.

So much for the rumors of a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.5x optical zoom. I figured that was too good to be true.

Samsung's betting big on Pro and Ultra models

If these specs are to be believed, there isn't going to be much difference between the cameras on the Pro and Ultra models. While this has me worried that the Pro will inevitably start cannibalizing the market from the Ultra, it does make some sense for people who want a powerful phone that's a little more compact than the gargantuan 6.9-inch Ultra models.

If a report from ETNews is to be believed, Samsung is going to be betting big on both phones. It's claimed that Samsung is setting aside 70% of its S27 production capacity for the Pro and Ultra models. That apparently translates to 18 million Galaxy S27 Ultras and between seven and eight million S27 Pros. The entire lineup will reportedly be around 35 million units, with the S27 and S27 Plus taking up the remaining nine to 10 million devices.

As Android Authority notes, the Galaxy S26 Ultra accounted for around 50% of this year's production capacity with Samsung reportedly producing the same 18 million units. In other words, it looks like Samsung is hoping the Pro model will offer enough to entice people that would otherwise buy the two cheapest Galaxy S phones.

The appeal of the Galaxy S27 Pro is that it offers more Ultra-style features for a lower price tag. Though to save on costs, some of those features will be cut. That's why the S27 Pro is expected to come with the 10MP telephoto lens, smaller 6.5-inch display and won't have a built-in S Pen.

However, the popularity of the new phone is almost certainly going to depend on the price. With prices rising across the board, and a rumor that the S27 series could suffer another price hike, there may be more of an appetite for cheaper devices even if it means losing out on the ultra-premium features and hardware in the process.

Then again, judging from the reaction to the Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo, there's no shortage of people willing to pay a premium for their phones. So we'll just have to wait and see how this all plays out come January.

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2027 is set to be a big year for Galaxy phones, with leaks pointing towards Samsung offering four new phones instead of the usual three. No, Samsung isn't resurrecting the short-lived "Edge" line, rumors and leaks actually suggest we'll see a Galaxy S27 Pro instead.

This phone is expected to sit somewhere between the Galaxy S27 Plus and the ultra-premium Galaxy S27 Ultra. Considering the gap between the Plus and Ultra models has been closing in recent years, that's a bit of an awkward spot. So how is the Galaxy S27 Pro going to make itself stand out from its cohorts?

Here are five key ways the Galaxy S27 Pro stands apart from the S27 Ultra, and two similarities both phones reportedly share.

How they differ

It's got a smaller screen

Samsung's flagships have a lot of similarities, but screen size is not one of them. The three models we see every year all have different dimensions, and it seems like the Galaxy S27 Pro will be following that pattern. According to information from regulatory databases, the phone will come with a 6.5-inch display.

This means it'll sit between the 6.3-inch S27 and 6.7-inch S27 Plus, with a screen that's almost half an inch smaller than the 6.9-inch Galaxy S27 Ultra. This means that the S27 Pro should have a distinct look compared to the S27 Ultra, and that could be enticing for those that want premium phone features without having to pick the largest model.

It's going to be less powerful

Those same databases point towards the S27 Pro coming with less powerful hardware than the S27 Ultra. The Ultra is expected to come with the newly-announced Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 system on chip, which offers major improvements to computing, graphics and AI processing.

The S27 Pro, on the other hand, is tipped to use the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6. model. We don't know what sort of performance to expect from the moderate variant of the Gen 6 chip, other than the fact it's a step above the Gen 5 chip currently in circulation. But don't expect it to be as powerful as the Extreme version.

However we are still assuming that Samsung will employ custom "for Galaxy" variants of both chips, which offer better performance than the non-Galaxy variant. So that should hopefully still give the Pro a nice performance boost.

Don't expect the S Pen

One of the major selling points for the Galaxy S27 Ultra is the inclusion of the S Pen, which slots into the base of the phone whenever you're not using it. Sadly it sounds like the S27 Pro will not feature this particular feature, and potentially makes it far less useful as a productivity device.

My guess is that part of the reason Samsung hasn't added a built-in S Pen is because the S27 Pro is a much smaller device and there's less internal space to store it. It's unclear whether the phone will support a standalone S Pen stylus, as was the case with Galaxy S21 Ultra and various Z Fold devices. But I'm guessing that this won't happen, and those people wanting the S Pen will have to pay out for the Ultra model.

The telephoto camera won't be as good

Samsung's Ultra phones are known for their powerful telephoto lenses, a trend that will apparently continue with the S27 Ultra getting a 50MP lens capable of 5x optical magnification. Meanwhile the S27 Pro is rumored to offer a zooming lens with considerably less resolution and lower optical magnification.

The most common rumor suggests that the Pro will feature a 12MP telephoto lens capable of 3x optical magnification. That's noticeably less than the Ultra, but still higher than the 10MP telephoto lenses we've seen on the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus.

However there has also been a rumor that claims the Pro will feature a 50MP camera with 3.5x optical zoom. Obviously those potential specs are very different, and would help the Pro stand apart from the standard and Plus models. That said, whichever way you look at it, the Ultra will have the superior zooming camera hardware.

The battery is smaller

Rumor has it that Samsung will be utilizing silicon carbon batteries in the S27 series, including the S27 Ultra and the S27 Pro. Effectively offering greater battery capacity without increasing the size and weight of the phones by a meaningful degree. However, leaks suggest that the S27 Pro will have the smaller battery of the two, with 5,200 mAh to the Ultra's 5,700 mAh.

Don't get me wrong, that's still larger than the 5,000 mAh battery in the Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, it does mean that the Pro may not have as much power to work with as the Ultra model. Whether that will matter in the long run, on account of the smaller screen and less powerful chips, isn't clear — and only hands-on battery testing can answer that question.

How they're similar

It looks like both phone will have a 200MP camera

The S27 Pro's telephoto lens may not be quite as impressive as the S27 Ultra's, but the main camera is gearing up to be more or less the same. Both phones are rumored to have a 200MP main camera, which has become a staple part of the Ultra series in the Galaxy Z and Galaxy Z lineups.

We're not too sure whether the cameras will be identical, though. It's possible that there will be some variations in things like sensor size or aperture, but that doesn't change the fact that the Pro is gearing up to offer the same high-resolution photography as its larger sibling.

It's getting a Privacy Display too

The Privacy Display is easily one of the best things about the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and word is that Samsung will be fixing one of the biggest flaws on the S27 series. Specifically the fact that it dims the screen, even when the Privacy Display is switched off. Oh, and it won't be exclusive to the Ultra model this time round.

The S27 Pro is also expected to get a Privacy Display, paired with the brighter M16 OLED display panel. We don't know a lot about whether the Privacy Display may change next year, aside from the brightness thing. But it's good to see that Samsung isn't keeping an important security feature paywalled on its most expensive device.

Maybe one day we'll even see Privacy Display on a phone that doesn't cost over $1,000.

It should have the same charging speeds

The final similarity between these two phones is that the Pro should have the same charging capabilities as the S27 Ultra. By which I mean 60W wired charging and 25W Qi2 magnetic charging. That's right, Samsung will apparently add magnets to its phones next year, but word is that only the Ultra and Pro models will get that particular upgrade.

Bottom line: What is the Pro for?

So far it seems as though the Galaxy S27 Pro is going to be a middle-ground for the ultra-premium market. It offers a lot more than the standard S27 and S27 Plus, but in a smaller form factor than the S27 Ultra. It looks like there will be some compromises made to account for that size change, but not to the same extreme as other options.

The only real question is how much you'll have to pay for one. Samsung's prices have gone up a lot over the course of this year, and rumor is that the S27 series will also suffer a price hike. Which means the S27 Ultra may be extremely expensive, which is likely to put a bunch of people off buying it. That would mean the Pro is effectively the middle-ground option, offering high-end features but at a slightly cheaper and more reasonable price point. Though I still wouldn't expect it to be a "cheap" option.

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The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra is coming, and it could be arriving sooner than you think. The big phone launches of 2026 are effectively over, now that the new iPhones are out of the way, and that means we can start looking at what major releases 2027 will have to offer.

Samsung is usually the first out of the gate, and rumor has it that the launch will be a little earlier than we're used to — suggesting a January release window. The Unpacked event is also said to include four new Galaxy S27-series phones, with a Pro model set to join the usual lineup. But, as ever, the Galaxy S27 Ultra is set to be the star of the show, with all the latest and best hardware Samsung has to offer.

Here's everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra so far.

Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: Rumored Specifications

Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: Design and display

We're not expecting any major changes to the size of the Galaxy S27 Ultra, and recently-leaked dummy units suggest that the dimensions of the upcoming phone will be very similar to those of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. And by very similar, I mean practically identical, with only a fraction of a millimeter's difference in width and thickness.

However, the big changes are set to happen on the back of the phone. Samsung is widely expected to ditch the vertical camera array of past Galaxy phones, in favor of a full-width camera bar — similar to that of the iPhone 18 Pro. This change is also supposed to come with the loss of the secondary telephoto lens, and turn the Ultra model into a triple-lens camera for the first time.

It's also been rumored that Samsung may finally employ an M16 OLED display on the S27 Ultra. This display is set to be brighter, and is the same material used on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo. There are also rumors that the Ultra will feature "enhanced display brightness" to counteract the dimming caused by the Privacy Display.

As useful as the feature is, we found that it caused a loss of display brightness even when the Privacy Display setting is deactivated. So it's good to see that Samsung is proactively dealing with that issue with the next generation Privacy Display. The Privacy feature is also rumored to be getting some upgrades, but it's unclear what those might actually be.

Recently-leaked dummy units also suggest that the Ultra will retain its built-in S Pen, and rumor has it that Qi2 magnets will finally be added to the phone itself. That means no more having to buy special magnetic cases to make the most out of using Qi2 chargers and accessories. However, this feature may be exclusive to the Ultra and Pro models, with the Standard and Plus options missing out.

Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: Performance

The one thing that isn't a mystery is the S27 Ultra's performance hardware. We assumed the phone would come with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, and a recent leak seemingly confirmed that. Not that it was ever doubted that Samsung would opt for the most powerful Qualcomm chip on the market. The only real question we have is whether the phone will have a standard Extreme chip, or if a custom "for Galaxy" variant will be developed to offer stronger performance.

Our own early tests of the Extreme, using Qualcomm's reference device, reveal that the chip performed 29% better in Geekbench 7's single-core benchmark, and 16.3% better in the multi-core test. 3DMark's Solar Bay Extreme test shows a 49% increase in graphical power, or a 40% increase in Wildlife Extreme. Meanwhile AnTuTu's General AI benchmark showed an 18.4% increase, or a crazy 118% increase in AnTuTu's LLM AI test.

Obviously things are going to be a little different in a commercial phone, rather than a reference device that's built to perform well. But it shows just how much of an improvement we should see when the Galaxy S27 Ultra arrives next year. Needless to say this is going to be a powerful phone with a lot of AI capabilities.

Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: Cameras

Very little is known about the Galaxy S27 Ultra's cameras right now, other than the fact Samsung is seemingly scrapping the secondary telephoto lens. This means the Ultra model will match other premium phones with a single zooming lens, which we assume will still be the same 50MP lens with 5x optical magnification we saw on the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

While that news may be disappointing to some, it's not a huge loss. The second telephoto lens was always fairly underpowered, with the last iteration offering 10MP of resolution and 3x optical zoom. The quality wasn't bad, but it also wasn't really a necessary feature to have. Particularly since telephoto lenses are expensive, hence why they're mostly found on premium phones, and take up a lot of space. Removing the second one adds extra space to the S27 Ultra, and hopefully helps avoid another price hike.

This would be the perfect time for Samsung to add variable optical zoom, which has been rumored for a few years and effectively squeezes two telephoto lenses into one. Sadly it's unclear whether that will actually happen, and the same is true for the possibility of getting variable aperture — a feature Samsung last offered in 2019.

Rumors instead suggest that the telephoto may drop to 4x magnification, with a larger 1/1.9-inch sensor to compensate. However, there are conflicting reports, and the S27 Ultra may instead just get the exact same zooming lens as the S26 Ultra.

Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: Software & AI

We know software is going to be a huge part of the Samsung Galaxy S27 series, as it has been for the last few generations of Galaxy phones. Galaxy AI is one of those things that isn't going to vanish overnight, though at this early stage we have absolutely no idea what sort of features and capabilities will be coming to the S27 Ultra and its cohorts.

One possibility is the addition of MyFanCam, an AI-powered feature that debuted on the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It works with existing footage that you've filmed, and uses AI to focus on a person of your choice. There's no reason why it couldn't exist on a Galaxy S phone, and the S27 launch is the perfect place to do it — especially if it has some much-needed upgrades, like the ability to focus on animals as well. We should also expect the phones to run on OneUI 9, possibly the updated OneUI 9.5, which is based on Android 17.

But, for the time being, any additional software and AI upgrades on the S27 Ultra are a complete mystery.

Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: Battery

The release of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 saw Samsung finally embrace silicon carbon batteries. The main benefit is that the increased energy density means you can include more battery capacity without increasing the actual physical dimensions of the battery. This allows for larger batteries that aren't physically larger, and don't increase the size and weight of phones by any significant amount.

Leaks suggest that Samsung will be adopting the same technology in the Galaxy S27 Ultra, increasing the size of the battery from 5,000 mAh to 5,700 mAh. That's quite an upgrade, considering Galaxy Ultra phones have been stuck at 5,000 mAh for the past six years, though whether it will help the S27 Ultra climb the ranks of our best phone battery life page isn't clear yet. We'll need to wait and see how it performs during battery life testing.

Furthermore, it's unclear whether charging speed will change at all, considering the S26 Ultra upped the ante from 45W wired charging to 60W. However the rumored inclusion of Qi2 magnetic charging means that wireless charging should be much easier — even if it doesn't happen any faster.

Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: Outlook

There's still a lot we don't know about the Galaxy S27 Ultra, but so far we're hearing about some promising things. Sure, the loss of a camera lens might be disappointing to some, but we are still getting some positive changes. A larger battery is something Galaxy users have been demanding for years, and the inclusion of Qi2 magnets means that Samsung is now on par with Apple and Google in the wireless charging game.

On top of that, we have the possibility of a brighter display, which takes the Privacy Display into account, and performance that should be some of the best you can get on any smartphone. The redesign is... interesting. It's clearly iPhone-inspired, which is both good and bad, and while people may not like the change I think it's good to see Samsung mix things up a bit.

There is still plenty of time for new information to leak, and that means we'll start getting a more complete picture of what the Galaxy S27 Ultra has to offer as the weeks and months roll on. Until the inevitable January Unpacked, where Samsung reveals the whole lineup in full. But until then, be sure to check back here for all the latest news and rumors about the upcoming flagships.

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The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra is coming in early 2027, and while we haven't heard a lot about the phone so far, it looks like the floodgates are starting to open. The latest leaks seem to reveal more details about the phone's design, as well as a possible performance change that could prove very disappointing for those of you hoping to pick up the new S27 Ultra.

We've already seen design leaks that showcase the Galaxy S27 Ultra's new look, swapping the vertical camera array for a horizontal camera bar — which is reminiscent of the "Raised Plateau" Apple debuted on iPhone 17 Pro Max. Now dummy units of that design have appeared online courtesy of Android Headline, letting us visualize that design as a real phone.

Dummy units are, of course, no substitute for the real thing. However they do give us an idea of what using these phones might be like.

Takeaways from the dummy units include changes to the camera, which includes removing the 10MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. The telephoto does look quite small, but that's only because the S26 Ultra's telephoto had a deceptive design. So it's unclear what this means for the camera hardware.

The actual dimensions of the phone haven't really changed. The S27 Ultra dummy unit measures 163.76 x 78.25 x 7.97mm (6.44 x 3.0 x 0.31 inches), compared to 163.6 x 78.1 x 7.9mm on the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Which means the size difference is barely distinguishable. So really, the main visual changes come in the form of the camera setup.

Android Headline also notes that the design includes a built-in S Pen, alongside magnets to facilitate full Qi2 wireless charging. I don't see the magnets on the dummy unit or the CAD renders they're based on, so take that particular rumor with a healthy dose of scepticism.

A strange performance split

Those of you hoping for a super-powered S27 series may be disappointed, though. While we fully expect that the Ultra model will come with the newly-unveiled Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (or a custom "for Galaxy" variant), the same may not be true of the S27 Pro.

Notebookcheck recently uncovered listings for all four Galaxy S27 models in the import-export database NBD. It reveals that the S27 Pro may come with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, the successor to the current Elite Gen 5 chipset in the S26 series. This chip is still being build on a 2nm process, with all the performance and efficiency benefits that affords, but it's not the absolute best chip Qualcomm will have on offer.

The Extreme Gen 6 chip is supposed to come with better computing, graphics and neural performance, as well as the ability to record videos in 8K resolution at 60 frames per second.

The regular Elite Gen 6 is limited to 30fps, and while the ability to record in 8K isn't going to appeal to everyone, it shows that the Extreme chip is the superior option. Certainly from a performance point of view, and that could be enough to push people away from the Pro model.

That said, a less impressive chip is likely cheaper, and means Samsung could be trying to avoid unnecessary costs that would need to be passed on to the consumer.

The listings also reveal that the international versions of the S27 and S27 Plus could run on the Exynos 2700 chipset, rather than a Snapdragon chip. Though Samsung has been doing that for years, and it's not really that surprising.

The same listings feature screen size too, with the S27, S27 Plus and S27 Ultra offering the same 6.3-, 6.7- and 6.9-inch displays as their predecessors. Meanwhile the Pro is set to offer a 6.5-inch display, and sit between the S27 and its plus-sized counterpart.

The Galaxy S27 series is expected to arrive in January, and we here at Tom's Guide will be watching for all the latest news and rumors to keep you up to date. Stay tuned for more.

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• Here are the 7 biggest upgrades we want to see on Samsung Galaxy S27
• Is your iPhone listening to you? The 'live listen' setting you should check right now

We're pretty much done for major phone launches in 2026, certainly for devices that will be coming to the U.S. and Europe, which means it's time to start looking forward to what might be coming next year. And, as usual, we expect the first big release of the year to be Samsung's Galaxy S27 series.

The S27 series is said to be made up of four phones: The Galaxy S27, Galaxy S27 Plus, Galaxy S27 Ultra and the new Galaxy S27 Pro. We've started hearing some rumors about what those phones could have to offer, including one of the first major redesigns Galaxy phones have had for several years. Obviously there are a few things we also really want to see on these phones as well.

So here are the top seven changes we want to see on the Samsung Galaxy S27.

Larger silicon carbon batteries

Galaxy battery capacity does not change much, if ever. In fact the Galaxy S Ultra batteries have been stuck on the 5,000 mAh plateau since 2020. Meanwhile companies like OnePlus have been offering over 7,000 mAh batteries without any meaningful change to the design.

Frankly, people are sick of it, and it's time the Galaxy S27 changed that. Thankfully Samsung has shown that it can do this, thanks to the introduction of silicon carbon batteries in the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series. This technology allows for greater energy density, meaning you can offer more battery capacity without increasing the size of the battery.

Rumors suggest this may be happening too, with the S27 Ultra reportedly getting a 5,700 mAh battery. The S27 Pro is tipped to get a 5,200 mAh battery, though we don't know what the S27 and S27 Plus might be getting. We hope they'll get an increase from the 4,300 mAh and 4,900mAh batteries on their S26 counterparts.

Magnetic wireless charging

One of my biggest gripes with Android phones is how so few of them have adopted the full Qi2 wireless charging standard — complete with the magnetic charging ring. Samsung is one such offender, adding Qi2 charging technology, while relying on special cases to add the magnetic support.

Many reasons have been given over the past couple of years, ranging from issues with the S Pen to the fact the camera bump blocks where the magnetic ring should sit. Whatever the reason, it's high time that Samsung got its act together and added Qi2 magnets to its phones, and the S27 series' redesign is the perfect place to do it.

A better Privacy Display

The Privacy Display is one of the best features on the Galaxy S26 Ultra, but it definitely needs some improvements. In particular, Samsung needs to counteract the fact the Privacy Display dims the screen — even when the feature is switched off.

Brighter screens offer huge visibility benefits, especially in bright conditions, and that shouldn't be affected by a new screen feature. Especially if you're not actually using it.

Similarly viewing angles are also reduced, even when the privacy features are switched off, which is far from ideal. I'd also like to see more control over the Privacy Display and the parts of the screen that are blacked out — rather than letting the phone handle everything automatically.

Upgraded camera features

Samsung has a habit of neglecting the camera hardware on some of its phones, particularly the cheaper models like the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus. 50MP main lenses are fine, but 12MP ultrawide and 10MP telephoto lenses aren't befitting a flagship device. It doesn't matter that they don't bear the Ultra branding.

At the very least the S27 and S27 Plus need a higher resolution ultrawide lens, ideally something closer to 50MP. Any extra upgrades on the telephoto lens will be a nice bonus.

As for the Galaxy S27 Ultra, it's about time we started seeing more advanced camera features. Variable zoom has been rumored for at least a couple of years, and the rumored loss of the secondary telephoto lens feels like the perfect time to offer that. Likewise, now that the iPhone 18 Pro has a variable aperture lens, it's time Samsung brought that particular feature back to its own phones.

Faster charging

Samsung has not been the best at improving charging speed, though it earned some goodwill by upping the Galaxy S26 Ultra's charging speed from 45W to 60W. But sadly the S26 and S26 Plus were left at their old speeds of 25W and 45W, respectively. It's high time that changed.

There's little reason to keep both phones charging so slowly, especially since the Plus and Ultra models shared the same 45W charging speeds for a few years. It's also worth pointing out that the S26 Ultra can wirelessly charge at 25W speeds, which means the standard model really should be running faster by now.

Hopefully the Galaxy S27 series will fix that particular issue, even if the Ultra model sticks at 60W for a little while longer.

An S27 Pro that doesn't feel redundant

I have my concerns about the prospect of a Galaxy S27 Pro, because I'm not entirely sure there's room for another Galaxy flagship to sit between the S27 Plus and S27 Ultra. Certainly not if the other three devices in the lineup are sticking around in their current forms.

What I hope is that Samsung can find some kind of niche for the S27 Pro to ensure that it's not a complete waste of time and money. Ideally without compromising features on the S27 Plus or hiking up the price of the S27 Ultra to ridiculous levels.

The Pro needs to balance the line between features and price, while justifying its own existence. Otherwise, Samsung is just going to end up cannibalizing its own customer base and making the whole endeavor pointless.

No more price hikes

Samsung has been an absolute demon for price hikes this year. Not only were multiple S26 models more expensive than their S25 counterparts, it also increased the price of the entire line-up back in September. To the point where the Galaxy S26 Ultra now costs $1,400. Officially, anyway, since the S26 series has been on sale almost everyday since.

Prices are high due to the skyrocketing cost of RAM and storage, and that means everyone has been hiking up the cost of their devices. With that in mind it would be really nice if Samsung didn't do that with the S27 series. Even if it's just a temporary reprieve, the last thing we need is phones getting even more expensive.

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• iPhone Duo 2 is inevitable — and these are the 7 things we want to see
• iPhone Duo has been hard to get because Apple did almost everything wrong — here's what we know

While the recent Fitbit Edge and screen-less Fitbit Air are the hottest fitness trackers of 2026, Samsung appears set to launch a direct competitor to the former in the near-ish future.

The Samsung Galaxy Fit 4 would replace 2024’s Samsung Galaxy Fit 3, a small tracker with a large display and support for some of Samsung’s best holistic tools, borrowed from the higher-end Galaxy Watch line.

What might the Galaxy Fit 4 bring to the table, and will it be enough to beat the Fitbit Edge, arguably the best fitness tracker for most people on the market today? Here’s everything we know (and think we know) about the Galaxy Fit 4 based on recent rumors and leaks.

Samsung Galaxy Fit 4: Price prediction

The Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 debuted globally in 2024 but wasn’t available in the U.S. until winter 2025. A launch price of $59 made the Galaxy Fit 3 one of the best bang-for-your-buck fitness trackers on the market at the time, undercutting even the popular Fitbit Inspire 3.

I’ve yet to see any pricing rumors for the Galaxy Fit 4, but based on its predecessor's cost and Samsung’s history of beating the competition, price-wise, I’d be willing to bet that the Galaxy Fit 4 is a little more than the Galaxy Fit 3 (to account for inflation, at least) but still less than the $99 Fitbit Air.

Samsung Galaxy Fit 4: Design and display rumors

Based on leaked blueprints of the device from earlier this year, first shared by Android Authority, the Galaxy Fit 4 is tipped to feature a rectangular case with a decently sized AMOLED touchscreen and a single physical button on the side, just like its predecessor and the Fitbit Edge.

In terms of display specs, the older model features a rectangular 1.6-inch AMOLED panel with 256 x 402 pixels of resolution and a max brightness of around 600 nits. What might the Galaxy Fit 4 feature?

My guess is that the screen size will stay the same. However, according to a recently published report from SammyGuru — which allegedly previewed an unreleased version of the companion app — the new model will have a slightly higher-res 258 × 428-pixel display than its predecessor.

In terms of brightness, given advancements in display technology over the past few years, there’s a good chance the Galaxy Fit 4 will also offer a higher maximum brightness than its predecessor for better readability in bright daylight.

What about the overall aesthetic of the wearable? A mostly aluminum case is likely, and you can also probably expect at least three color options, including black and white, with either blue or green replacing the Galaxy Fit 3's pink model.

Samsung Galaxy Fit 4: Possible features

The Samsung Galaxy Fit 4 is slated to have the brand’s GH3036 health sensor array for continuous heart rate monitoring and other holistic tracking capabilities. This information comes from Samsung’s own documents, first reported on by Android Authority.

New stress tracking and management tools could be in the cards, based on more recent insider reports; automatic workout detection is also rumored.

But beyond basic health, sleep, and fitness tracking, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the Galaxy Fit 4, feature-wise. For example, will it gain GPS for location tracking without a paired phone or NFC for contactless payments? Its predecessor lacks both, and either would be a welcome upgrade.

Like the Galaxy Fit 3, I fully expect the new model to offer safety tools like fall detection and emergency SOS, along with important health monitoring features like instant blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) readings, daily sleep scores, high/low pulse notifications, and snore detection.

Another upgrade I’d like to see is the addition of sleep apnea detection, something you’ll find on the best Samsung watches but not the Galaxy Fit 3.

Finally, the Galaxy Fit 3 is rated at an impressive 13 days of battery per charge. With the Galaxy Fit 4, battery life will likely be comparable, that is, unless Samsung outfits the wearable with a power-hungry GPS antenna.

Samsung Galaxy Fit 4: Outlook

Even if the Samsung Galaxy Fit 4 gains GPS and NFC and sells for a lower price than the competition, namely Fitbit, one major factor could ultimately limit its popularity: lack of iOS support.

While Google’s top-of-the-line wearables like the Pixel Watch 5 are Android-only, the brand’s line of Fitbit fitness trackers all play nicely with both Android and iOS devices.

This is to say, if Samsung is serious about making a dent in Google’s dominance in the wallet-friendly fitness tracker market, making the Galaxy Fit 4 multi-platform would be a wise first step.

What are your thoughts on a potential Samsung Galaxy Fit 4 fitness tracker? Which new features would you most like to see? Let me know below.

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• 3 reasons why I’m glad Google didn’t give the Fitbit Edge NFC
• Fitbit Air review: I tested the Fitbit Air for a week, and it's the best Whoop alternative for the rest of us
• I've been using the Fitbit Air for over a week, and my favorite feature has completely changed the way I wake up

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently declared that the RAM sitting inside your computer is a “terrible” allocation of scarce resources, arguing that the world’s memory belongs in data centers. If you want to know exactly how much that mindset is costing you, just look at the apocalyptic state of the PC hardware market.

On April 1st, I predicted a market correction would cause RAM prices to drop by August. Now it’s October, it’s clear that I was spectacularly wrong, and the irony of publishing that on April Fools’ Day is not lost on me.

You can see that in the gargantuan asking prices for the MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, how Nvidia’s RTX 5080 is now peaking at over $2,000, and how a 32GB kit of DDR5 is now at $500 rather than the $400 it was when I wrote previously.

We are currently in the middle of a brutal quadruple threat: relentless AI-driven demand, historically low inventory, geopolitical tariffs and foundries shifting advanced wafer capacity away from consumer memory into enterprise servers.

If you are shopping for a PC right now, you are effectively paying a “cloud tax” on your local hardware. But before you remortgage the house and snag something, the tech landscape is violently shifting.

Altman wants all the silicon, but the AI bubble is showing serious signs of bursting — and relief might actually be on the horizon.

‘Scarce resources’

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently went on the Cheeky Pint podcast and gave an interview that practically shattered my BS detector. Speaking to John Collison, Altman claimed that memory sitting in computers is a poor use of it, arguing that local inference only utilizes that memory about 5% of the time.

According to Altman, that DRAM belongs in data centers running flat out, making local AI a “terrible” allocation of scarce resources.

Let me just unpack that audacity. The guy whose company is arguably responsible for setting off the global memory shortage — locking up massive amounts of the world’s DRAM supply for hyperscaler cloud servers — is now telling you that owning memory inside your own laptop is inefficient?

He isn’t wrong about the scarcity, but he is wrong about the allocation. It’s like the CEO of Chili’s telling you that supermarkets and cooking at home is a terrible allocation of food.

As we’ve seen with the rise of RTX Spark laptops amongst others packing a ton of unified memory, and the meteoric rise in tools like Hermes Agent and Open Claw, consumers want local AI because it offers privacy, zero rate limits, and independence from cloud subscriptions.

And some people may use their memory 5% of the time. But that’s free market capitalism. If there’s demand, it’s not up to you to decide what people do with it.

The canary in the coal mine

The first AI company is out the starting gate. Anthropic’s new IPO filing is old news from a few days ago, but the more I read it, the more I see a $2 trillion gold rush wrapped in a sci-fi horror warning.

On the surface, Anthropic is printing money, pulling in $16.3 billion in revenue in just the first half of 2026. But the cost to keep that cloud infrastructure running is a financial black hole. Anthropic spent nearly $9 billion on AI infrastructure in just six months, contributing to a huge $80.7 billion net loss. And that’s before you look at the firm, non-cancelable $800 billion spend on compute over the next 10 years.

Worse than the infrastructure burn rate are the existential threats Anthropic has disclosed. To protect themselves from lawsuits, the company warned that their AI models could actively sabotage code, manipulate information and act in ways that resemble blackmail.

They literally warned the federal government that using AI to speed up their own research could cause the models to outpace human safety guardrails.

The silver lining

OpenAI and Anthropic (and the others) want all the memory in their data centers, but financial markets across the globe are starting to reject the limitless spending required to keep those servers running.

The AI bubble is beginning to burst, and in China, it already has. The mainland’s STAR50 index collapsed by 40%, wiping out roughly $480 billion in market value as AI leaders like MiniMax plummeted.

And now, the contagion has hit American shores. The S&P 500 took quite a violent nosedive, heavily dragged down by the exact tech giants that have been hoarding the world’s silicon.

Wall Street is finally waking up to the reality that building massive AI models requires burning unimaginable amounts of cash, and the consumer profits simply aren’t materializing fast enough to justify the burn rate.

But it’s not just Wall Street — it’s the corporate customers themselves. A growing wave of clients are pulling back their AI spend, as the bills have spiraled completely out of control.

• Microsoft scaled back AI coding licenses in favor of its own local stuff.
• Amazon reportedly had a “tokenmaxxing” leaderboard to encourage AI usage, only to shut it down weeks later and impose tighter usage caps because of little-to-no real productivity gains.
• Uber went through its entire $3.4 billion AI budget within four months due to the use of agentic coding tools.
• Klarna walked back its “AI-first” customer service after customer satisfaction dropped.
• Walmart implemented hard per-employee AI token rationing after errors were made and costs spiked.

Furthermore, a lot of enterprises cite privacy as the single biggest barrier to adopting cloud AI. They’ve been doing what I’ve been encouraging you to do for a while: ditch the data center and build your own local AI moat.

What does this mean for you?

So let’s entertain these trends continuing. If the AI hyper-scaler bubble is truly bursting, the fallout for consumer PC hardware is going to be massive. But the end of RAMageddon is not guaranteed to be a smooth landing.

Depending on how major silicon foundries react to dropping enterprise budgets and consumer backlash, we are looking at two very different scenarios for your next build. And I want to be as clear as possible here (so to not hang myself on a bet like last time).

So is the AI bubble bursting?

The short answer is yes, but there’s nuance.

The blank-check era of AI hyperscaling is officially over. Between the bleeding S&P 500, major enterprises boycotting cloud APIs, and Anthropic’s IPO exposing the apocalyptic infrastructure costs required to keep these data centers running (data centers that local governments are pushing back on), the market is starting to correct itself.

But whether that bubble bursting actually saves your wallet is a completely different story.

The tech industry desperately needed a financial shock to stop the hoarding of silicon, and we are watching the start of that shock happen today. If your current rig can survive just a little bit longer, you may see some benefit from holding the line.

The AI gold rush is ending, and the fallout is about to completely reset the PC hardware market. Whether it's for better or worse, nobody knows.

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Foldables have been around for several years, but the recent launch of the iPhone Duo means the foldable market could be on the verge of changing in a big way. To the point where Samsung is reportedly looking to mix things up, and offer an even more diverse range of foldable-centric devices than it already does.

The latest rumor claims that Samsung is currently working on a companion for the Galaxy Z Fold 9, sharing the same wider passport-shape of the Galaxy Z Fold 8. According to a leak on Korean network Naver, Samsung is testing two possible options, including a Galaxy Z Fold 9 Plus and a lower-priced Galaxy Z Fold 9 FE.

I've already expressed some confusion as to how a Z Fold 9 Plus would sit between the Fold 9 and Fold 9 Ultra. But an FE-branded model? That's actually a very good idea, especially in the current climate. Just as long as Samsung doesn't mess things up, like it did with last year's Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE.

Prices are too high right now

It's no secret that the cost of smartphones is rising, and Samsung has been one of the worst offenders when it comes to price hikes. The Galaxy S26 series was already subjected to some price hikes at launch, depending on which version you bought, only for Samsung to raise prices again at the start of October. The Z Fold 8 Ultra was also noticeably more expensive than the Z Fold 7, which was in turn more expensive than the Z Fold 6.

The reason for these price hikes are obvious. The cost of phone manufacturing has been rising for a number of years, and the last 12 months have seen an explosion in the cost of RAM and storage — all thanks to the current AI boom we've been experiencing.

Because of that multiple electronics companies have been forced to increase prices across the board including Samsung, Apple and Google.

The key problem with foldable adoption has been that they're so darn expensive, especially if you don't have easy access to Chinese brands that (usually) charge less than their international counterparts. So if you think about it, the seemingly never-ending price hikes means that now is the perfect time to start releasing lower-cost foldables.

The iPhone Duo has raised a lot more awareness about foldables, and could mean higher foldable adoption rates across the board. All foldable phone makers need to do is make sure their devices are accessible, and offering something with a lower price tag is one way to do that — even if it does come with some compromises.

Plus, the cost of everything is going up, and there's less money to spend on luxury purchases like new smartphones. Especially ones that cost close to $2,000.

Fighting increased competition

While the launch of the iPhone Duo will help raise awareness of foldable phones, it also means that Galaxy foldables have some serious competition — possibly for the first time ever.

Apple is a popular brand, and that's reflected in the fact iPhone sales outpace any other individual phone brand. Even Samsung, easily the most popular Android brand, trailed behind Apple in global market share last year.

There are plenty of people out in the world who will only ever buy an iPhone, and will never even consider the possibility of switching to a rival brand — regardless of what might be on offer. But that doesn't mean convincing people to make the switch is impossible, and this means Samsung needs something that will help fight the increased competition from Apple and convince people that a Galaxy foldable is a much better option than an iPhone Duo.

Considering the Duo starts at $2,000, second only in price to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, the obvious solution is to start offering something even cheaper. To hook into those people who saw the iPhone Duo, but were unwilling to pay quite so much money to experience what foldable phones have to offer.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is already slightly cheaper than the Duo, especially when you can grab one on sale. But finally releasing a Fan Edition foldable at an even lower price point should help steal interest away from Apple and other foldable rivals.

There could be a gap in the line-up

One of the earliest rumors about the Galaxy Z 9 lineup was that Samsung may be planning on scrapping the Galaxy Z Flip 9. At least one recent rumor has refuted that, but considering its been fairly persistent, there may be some truth to the claims.

Plus, considering Samsung has basically neglected the Z Flip series for the past few generations, and the relative popularity of book-style foldables, it's no surprise that they might turn around and can the whole thing.

If that does end up being the case, then Samsung will have a very large gap in its lineup. Not just because it might be killing off one of its long-term staples, but because the Z flip series has always been more of a lower-cost option for foldable users to consider.

Admittedly, $1,199 is still pretty expensive as far as smartphones go. It's the same price as the Galaxy S26 Plus, and $100 more than the Plus cost when it launched at the start of the year. For your money you get slower charging, worse battery life, lower durability and a bunch of other compromises that are cut in order to pay for the folding screen.

Still, the Z Flip series offered a cheaper alternative to the expensive Z Fold lineup. Without it, the base cost of a Galaxy foldable would shoot up to whatever the Z Fold 9 costs. I would bet money that it'll end up costing at least $1,900, or $100 more than the Z Fold 8.

But if there's a Z Fold 9 FE, then suddenly the cost of entry isn't quite so expensive. I doubt it'll be as cheap as the Z Flip 9 would have cost, but at least it lowers the barrier of entry for more frugally-minded folks.

Samsung just needs to not mess it up

The actual success of a Z Fold 9 FE is all dependent on what Samsung actually does with it, and the kind of sacrifices that have to be made in order to keep the cost low. Last time that happened we ended up with the Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE, which was quite stripped down compared to the Z Flip 7.

Considering the Z Flip 7 wasn't all that impressive either just shows how disappointing the Fan Edition model was. More so when you remember that it started at $899, which was just $200 cheaper than its full edition sibling.

The price of a Z Fold 9 FE needs to reflect the compromises involved, and those compromises need to ensure that the user experience isn't hampered in any meaningful way. This means Samsung actually needs to put thought and care into the design of this hypothetical phone, otherwise we're going to end up with another damp squib that might as well have never been released.

But considering the job it did with the Z Fold 8 and the Fold 8 Ultra, I have better hopes for the possibility of a Z Fold 9 FE being done well. Or, at the very least, done better than the Z Flip 7 FE was. We only have to hope that Samsung doesn't pick the Z Fold 9 Plus instead.

More from Tom's Guide

• 24 hours with the iPhone Duo — here are my 5 immediate takeaways
• I’ve tested the iPhone Duo, Galaxy Z Fold 8, Pixel 11 Pro Fold, and Razr Fold — here’s the foldable phone I recommend
• Is your iPhone listening to you? The 'live listen' setting you should check right now

There’s no hiding it anymore: some of the best TVs are using new RGB backlighting. We’ve been impressed with both the Hisense UR9 and the Sony Bravia 9 II, two TVs that use their own proprietary RGB MiniLED and True RGB-based display technology. Now, there’s the Samsung R95H, which is taking a similar approach to the competition with Samsung's own MicroRGB tech.

I found plenty to like about this TV. Not only is it slightly more affordable than Sony’s and Hisense RGB flagships, but the new panel still delivers some solid performance.

While our lab benchmarks show that the TV won’t match some of its rivals directly, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Because the R95H doesn’t get eye-searingly bright, it delivers natural, vivid colors without over-saturating movies and TV shows. It also sports a sleek design, making it a fantastic TV for any living room. Read the rest of my Samsung R95H to see how it compares to its rivals.

Samsung R95H review: Pricing and availability

Our 65-inch Samsung R95H review unit comes in at a cost of $3,199.99, but as of this writing, it is on sale for $2,799.99. Pricing for the full range is below.

• 65-inch: $3,199.99 | Sale $2,799.99 [TESTED]
• 75-inch: $4,499.99 | Sale $3,799.99
• 85-inch: $6.499.99 | Sale: $5,499.99

Samsung’s R95H is slightly cheaper than the $3,599 Sony Bravia 9 II, one of its strongest competitors. It also is priced lower than the Hisense UR9, which comes in at $3,499.99. Both of those sets feature RGB technology. If you’re after more value, the SQD-Mini LED TCL QM7L starts at $1,200 for a 65-inch model.

Samsung R95H review: Design

Having tested more than 24 different TVs this year, there’s three things that I love about the design of the R955H: The sleek center facing stand, the anti-glare panel, and overall slimness of the TV. It’s clear that Samsung has learned some lessons from its competitors to help make a TV that can fit seamlessly into any living room.

Similar to the Sony Bravia 9 II, setting up the Samsung R95H takes little effort. Just slide the two plastic feet into a larger plastic stand, and then slide the stand into the back of the TV. There are no screws required.

That center facing stand also has a neat design feature that Samsung calls "Infinity Stand.” It has a mirrored finish on the front that reflects whatever is sitting near it, which helps hide the feet and any wires that might hang below the set.

Sony’s Bravia 9 II and the Hisense UR9 lean on the thicker side, but Samsung managed to keep the R95H’s profile to under 1.5 inches — impressive considering that there’s a lot of backlighting tech behind the panel. When you combine that with the thin bezels and the anti-glare panel, this TV has a minimalist look that fits perfectly in most bright living rooms.

Unlike on Sony’s Bravia 7 II, Samsung doesn’t skimp out in the connectivity on the TV. A win for gamers like me, all four HDMI ports support the full HDMI 2.1 standard at up to 165Hz (with eARC available on HDMI 3). That’s in addition to optical digital audio output and the ATSC 3.0 tuner as well as the USB-A ports, Ethernet, and the RS-232C port.

Note that this TV doesn't include the Samsung Wireless One Connect box, but you get a little plastic slot to fill the hole where it would be at the rear of the TV.

Samsung R95H review: Performance

Across all my tests in Filmmaker mode, the R95H excelled with vibrant color reproduction, decent black levels, and good enough brightness without being too eye searing like some of its competitors. Best of all, thanks to the anti-glare panel, there were no distracting reflections from our bright studio lighting.

Watching “28 Years Later,” the natural skin tones in the children in the opening scenes stood out to me right away, down to the subtle flush of red in one of the child’s cheeks. The rich realistic brown-ish red hues in the blood made this scene feel a little too realistic and unselling, too. In a later outdoor shot of a church, the black roof looked impressively deep, showing this TV is capable of great contrast.

Much to my surprise, at the 15-minute mark, during the high-contrast transitions where the movie shifts rapidly between black-and-white and full color, the TV maintained deep blacks with zero noticeable blooming around bright objects.

When streaming a “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” episode on Amazon Prime Video, more of the same applied. The R95H pushed out lots of fine detail and natural skin tones. In a scene that takes place on the NYC subway, the skin tones of people onboard the train looked true to life, and the freckles on Maya Erskine’s face had a crisp detail, making it feel like she was looking right at me.

Fine details popped right out from the screen, like the gray glow and tones in a car that Maya was leaning against, to shimmer in Donald Glover’s gold chain. The bright city and illuminated lights looked great against the dark skies, with no blooming around their highlights. Even Maya’s blue Mets hat seemed the same color as the one I was wearing myself while evaluating the TV.

I also switched the R95H to Standard Mode to watch SDR content on YouTube. Highlights of the 2026 Monaco Grand Prix were impressive; the image was even more color-rich and brighter than Filmmaker mode. All the paint schemes on the car popped against the grays of the track asphalt, especially the red in Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari. I even noticed the finer details like the marbles in the racing line.

Finally, I pumped the TV’s brightness to the max in Dynamic Mode and turned to watching the animated Disney Series, “Hailey’s On It!” This mode intentionally pumps up the vibrancy, but I was blown away by the extra punch and vibrancy, as this really shows the R95H’s color gamut and brightness performance. Cooking scenes were eye catching, as the greens in vegetables had a crisp punch against the brown cutting board. Hailey's hair and face had an amount of richness that my OLED TV at home never could deliver.

An important note: Regardless of which mode I watched, the AI mode features on this TV brightened up and blew out the contrast of the image too much for my liking. I preferred to watch with the feature turned off. This TV also does not support Dolby Vision, though, but it does get you HDR10, HDR 10+ Adaptive, Advanced, and HLG support.

Samsung R95H review: Test results

Our lab results show that the Samsung R95H isn't a chart-topper in raw peak brightness. Rather, it delivers solid, comfortable performance across both SDR and HDR testing.

With our 10% window brightness measurement in SDR (which represents everyday viewing), this TV hit 187 nits. That puts it right up against the UR9’s 188 nits, but not quite as high as Samsung's own S95H OLED that topped out at 253 nits, or the SQD-Mini LED TCL 75QM7L, which hit 286 nits.

For SDR color accuracy, the R95H hit a Delta-E of 3.47. Lower is better in this case, so it falls behind the Hisense UR9 (2.21), Samsung’s own S95H OLED (2.24), and the TCL QM7L (2.64). It is slightly ahead of the Sony Bravia 9 II (3.65).

On our Rec. 2020 test, which gauges a TV’s HDR color performance, the R95H covered 92.54%, putting it ahead of the Sony Bravia 9 II (89.23%), Samsung S95H OLED (89.60%) and TCL QM7L (90.28%). This is just behind the Hisense UR9 (93.14%), showing how strong this TV is for watching HDR content.

When it comes to the UHDA-P3 gamut, another HDR color measurement, the R95H yielded a result of 144.09%. This high reading reflects strong color volume performance. It might seem unusual, but it is common for modern RGB displays. It shows that the TV is exceedingly good with HDR colors.

Backing up my experience with HDR streaming, the R95H reached 2,163 nits of brightness using a 10% window. Again, that is not the brightest against others in our list since this TV puts color replication first, but it is comfortable enough for most everyday viewing. The TV falls way behind the Sony Bravia 9 II (3,903 nits) and leader, the Hisense UR9 (4,370 nits). It also trails Samsung’s own S95H OLED (2,721 nits) and TCL QM7L (2,270 nits).

The gaming performance of the R95H is pretty good, too. It hit 10.1 input latency in our tests, which puts it ahead of the Hisense UR9, but behind the Sony Bravia 9 II, and the much more affordable TCL 75WM7L. It also falls behind the Samsung S95H OLED.

Samsung R95H review: Gaming

For games testing, I played the latest PlayStation 5 exclusive, Marvel’s Wolverine on our lab’s console. With this TV sporting four 165HZ HDMI 2.1 ports, gaming was smooth as butter. I encountered no lag when playing through a Nightmare Door and battling hordes of enemies to score a gold medal. All my inputs for quick combat actions were lining up with the motions on the screen.

To no surprise, this TV has Samsung’s Game mode built in, allowing for AI Gaming optimizations, choosing a game genre in the picture menu, activating game motion plus smoothing, adding a virtual aim pointer, and adding mini map zoom.

It also has Xbox game streaming built into Samsung’s Game Hub, so you don’t necessarily have to own a game console to enjoy the TV. I can’t forget the support for ALLM, AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, HGiG, and Nvidia G-Sync, too.

Samsung R95H review: Sound

The audio on the Samsung R95H isn’t the best. By default, the TV’s 4.2.2-channel speaker system and sound profiles were a little muted, especially with the score at the start of “28 Days Later.” I had to pump the sound up to Amplify to better enjoy it.

When listening to Coldplay’s “My Universe,” the acoustic instruments in the song had little depth, and the Amplify mode made things sound more deep. Bass output definitely was within my standard, though, catching the details like the drums.

Game audio, though, was great with the Amplify sound option. I enjoyed the score of Marvel’s Wolverine on the main menu. The violins carried heavy weight and sounded warm and weren't too flat.

I still suggest you check out our list of the best soundbars to match the TV’s visual performance with better sound.

Samsung R95H review: Smart TV and remote

Samsung continues to disappoint me with its remotes. The R95H uses the same, small, solar-powered remote that many of its other TVs come with. This is downright embarrassing, when TCL, Sony, and other companies have bigger backlit and more comfortable rechargeable remotes.

When it comes to the user interface, though, my disappointment was lifted. Samsung slightly redesigned its Tizen OS this year and the R95H is a TV that gets the new look. Navigating the layers of the OS has now moved to a glass-like bar at the top of the TV’s main screen. It’s a nice little change that makes things less confusing, but TinzenOS is still not as clean as GoogleTV’s or Roku’s interface.

Samsung R95H review: Verdict

The Samsung R95H is an impressive RGB TV that prioritizes rich, natural colors over outright brightness. Its glare-free screen, slim design, and excellent gaming features make it a compelling choice for a living room, especially if you want vibrant HDR performance without the oversaturated look that can come with brighter displays.

If you’re more budget-conscious, you might be more enticed by the TCL QM7L which is $1,200 for a 65-inch model. You have to give up some of the R95H's premium RGB technology and get 144Hz support on only two HDMI ports, but those may be worthwhile compromises if value is more important. The QM7L still will dazzle with its brightness and its SQD-Mini LED technology.

Since it is slightly cheaper than both Hisense and Sony’s RGB offerings, the Samsung R95H is still a well-balanced TV. It might not be a chart topper against its competition when it comes to raw benchmarks for brightness, but that only means it's a great TV for real-world watching in most living rooms.

Whenever Samsung launches a new flagship tablet, it's usually the Ultra model that gets most of the attention. With its massive 14.6-inch display, it's not surprising that the South Korean electronics giant would want its biggest and most impressive device all over its marketing materials, but that doesn't mean you should overlook the Galaxy Tab S12 Plus. This isn't like the difference between Samsung's Galaxy S26 Plus and S26 Ultra — both tablets are practically identical in terms of software and horsepower, with only a few minor downgrades on the smaller model.

Granted, I've only had the Galaxy Tab S12 Plus for a couple of weeks, but I already think it's the better buy for many people. If you're looking for what is essentially the Android equivalent of Apple's 13-inch iPad Pro M5, chances are you're not shopping for the biggest tablet Samsung can physically make — most people will want something a little more portable, with a premium screen, strong performance, excellent battery life, pen support and enough versatility to handle both work and entertainment. In that sense, the 12.6-inch Tab S12 Plus feels more practical.

Lately, it's become the device I find myself using more than almost anything else, and honestly, I find its size far more practical to use on a day-to-day basis than the Ultra models I've tested in the past. Not only have I been neglecting other devices, like my Nintendo Switch 2, since its arrival, but I've even started using it over my actual phone.

The display feels like the sweet spot

Having spent years alternating between smaller tablets that can feel a bit restrictive and larger models that aren't always practical to carry around, the Tab S12's 12.6-inch display feels just right. That might make me sound like Goldilocks, but the display is large enough for movies and TV shows to feel immersive, while the tablet itself is slim and compact enough to easily slip into a messenger bag or backpack.

And that's before I get to the display's picture quality — I've been rewatching “The Sopranos” on my last few train rides, and this AMOLED panel has consistently delivered rich colours, excellent contrast and stunning brightness, while its 120Hz refresh rate makes navigating its UI feel incredibly snappy. Although Tom's Guide has yet to run its usual lab tests on the Tab S12 Plus, Samsung quotes the same peak brightness figures as the larger Tab S12 Ultra, which delivered excellent results in our testing and remains one of the best tablet displays we've reviewed, significantly outperforming the iPad Pro M5.

Of course, glare is still a concern. This being Australia, the sun can be particularly brutal during morning commutes, making reflections more noticeable than I'd like. It's not enough to ruin the viewing experience, and the display is bright enough to push through most lighting conditions, but I did find myself wishing Samsung had included some form of anti-reflective coating. Given how much time I spend using the tablet outside the house, that would probably be the one display upgrade I'd put at the top of my wishlist for the next generation.

I've ended up reading more comics than watching TV shows

Truth be told, I've probably spent more time reading comics on the Tab S12 Plus than watching TV shows, which wasn't something I expected going in. I've been catching up on DC's Absolute Batman series (excellent) and the latest Lobo run (ridiculous, but fun) whenever I get the chance, and it made me realise how much I missed the hobby.

And, after attempting to read comics on a variety of foldable smartphones (not ideal), the 12.6-inch screen on the Tab S12 Plus feels downright luxurious by comparison, allowing me to take in the glorious artwork in its entirety. Also, its AMOLED display makes the artwork look super crisp, with colours that pop with amazing vibrancy, and true blacks that allow for inky shadows and detailed line work.

Quite a few times now I've found myself opening a comic just to fill ten or fifteen minutes and then realising I've been sitting there for the better part of an hour. It's obviously a fantastic screen for comics, though I think its portability is just as important — the Tab S12 Plus is easy enough to take almost anywhere, which means it's usually close at hand when the urge to read strikes.

Reading comics also had the knock-on effect of inspiring me to use the S Pen more often. I used to draw quite a bit in my younger days, and in a comic book style. Lately, I've been using Split Screen View on the Tab S12 Plus to look at particularly striking comic panels on one side of the display while attempting to sketch it in Clip Studio Paint on the other, which is so handy. And now that I've started getting used to the Clip Studio Paint app, the next step is to do some basic drawing tutorials focused on 3D figures and poses.

Its Pro Keyboard is quality

There's no sugar-coating it: Samsung's Pro Keyboard for the Galaxy Tab S12 Plus is expensive. At $350 / £289 / AU$499 for the keyboard alone, it's more expensive than many entry-level Chromebook devices. Add that to the cost of the tablet and you're looking at the kind of money that could buy a pretty decent laptop.

Having spent some time using it, though, I can at least understand where some of that money is going. The aluminium construction gives the tablet a much sturdier feel when it's sitting on a desk, and both the keyboard and trackpad are good enough that it makes you feel like you're using an actual laptop. The only thing that regularly reminds me it's still a tablet is the U-shaped support built into the hinge, which folds out behind the display and sticks out a little further than you'd expect once it's open. I also love how firmly its magnets snap to the Tab S12 Plus — it's surprisingly hard to detach from the keyboard unless you hold the support stand and tilt the tablet forward.

Most of my workday revolves around writing, research, photo editing, and responding to emails and Slack messages, and the Tab S12 Plus is more than capable of handling all that. Admittedly, I prefer to do the bulk of my feature writing on a mechanical keyboard, but I can take care of most other tasks on the Tab S12 Plus without any real hassles. The keyboard also sports a large trackpad with physical click functionality, a dedicated button to switch on DeX mode, an AI key and a programmable hot key to launch your favourite apps. I also realised fairly late in the game that the keyboard is backlit — you just have to hold the Fn key and hit F12 to switch the backlight on and cycle through its three brightness settings.

My only real gripe is that it's a fingerprint magnet. The brushed aluminium looks great fresh out of the box, but it was absolutely covered in fingerprints after I passed it around the office for a few minutes. It's hardly a deal-breaker, though I ended up having to wipe the prints off with a tech wipe.

Bigger isn’t always better

The Ultra might be the flashiest product in Samsung’s Tab S12 line-up, but in daily use, bigger isn’t always better. A 14.6-inch screen basically demands a desk, whereas the Tab S12 Plus still feels like a tablet you can actually hold. It’s light and thin enough to comfortably use without tiring your arms, but with a 12.6-inch display that's still big enough to get creative on.

It does come with a couple of downgrades compared to the Ultra — it only has a single camera on its rear compared to the Ultra’s dual camera setup, and for some reason the Tab S12 Plus doesn’t get the same Wi-Fi 7 support as the Ultra, topping out at Wi-Fi 6E instead — but I don’t think either of those concessions should be considered deal breakers.

That said, with a starting price of $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$1,999, it isn't cheap. Factoring in that pricey Pro Keyboard does make you start considering a laptop as an alternative, especially if you prefer full desktop apps. Still, being able to jump from a casual handheld tablet to a proper DeX workstation in seconds is something most 2-in-1 laptops just can't pull off. It’s versatile, easy to take anywhere, and actually fits the way I live and work — which is why it’s quietly become my favourite tablet.

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As oxymoronic as it sounds, even cheap soundbars are expensive. Flagship soundbars? Oof, don't look at the price tag if you're already feeling a bit weepy, because you won't like it. "How many zeros? That has to be a typo, right?"

Nope. No typo. Unfortunately, dropping well over $1,500 for one of the best soundbars is... normal? How can this possibly be normal? Who has that kind of money? Not me, that's for sure, but I'm here to help you make well-informed purchasing decisions.

I recently reviewed the JBL Bar 1300X MK2 and the Samsung Q990H — both the American and Korean behemoths' current flagships. While the JBL option came out in late 2025, it's still the current flagship, hence my referring to it as 2026's flagship. Samsung's was released earlier in 2026.

These two soundbars represent the best of the best. While I'm sure you won't be disappointed by either, I know which one I would buy, and here's why. Let's get into it.

Bass battle

Both the JBL Bar 1300X MK2 and the Samsung Q990H have extremely powerful bass. Both models come with a standalone 300W subwoofer. In real terms, that means hella bass.

In the U.S. model, JBL's sub has a single 12-inch driver, whilst the E.U. and U.K. model equals Samsung's dual 8-inch driver setup. As I'm in the U.K., I tested the dual-driver version, and, unfortunately, I can't confidently say if there's a tangible difference between the models. I can, however, assure you with every fiber of my being that the U.K. sub is Epic. Yes, with a capital 'E'.

I watched "Top Gun: Maverick" with both soundbars. Of the JBL, I wrote in my review, "The first scene, with Maverick flying in hypersonic, rumbled through the subwoofer with immense energy and depth." Even so, "each [high-frequency] siren blare and alarm was clear over the pounding bass", which proves the subwoofer doesn't overpower the rest of the soundstage.

Similarly, Samsung's bass performance was excellent during "The Batman". In my review, I wrote, "I could feel the subwoofer through the chair", and "My colleagues told me they could feel the subwoofer rumbling from downstairs, so I’m sorry, but I was having too much fun to care."

Yep, that's all I really needed to write, isn't it? What else can you ask for from a flagship soundbar?

There's also a bass boost mode on the JBL and Samsung apps, and individual subwoofer volume adjustments, which I set to the max during my testing period. While I wouldn't recommend this if you've got sensitive downstairs neighbors, you can seriously push the subs to their peaks.

Dialogue duel

One of the most important features in a soundbar is its ability to produce clear, intelligible dialogue without losing bass, high-frequency in-scene (diegetic) sound effects, soundtrack, and 360° audio. It's not a tall order, is it?

Both the Samsung and JBL models have a dialogue enhancement in the app. I didn't find the need to use this on the Samsung, not even during radio-ed dialogue scenes. JBL's isn't explicitly called dialogue mode, but Movie mode brings dialogue to the center channel, and the soundbar has something called PureVoice 2.0. In real terms, this means it's better at isolating and pronouncing speech than soundbars without PureVoice 2.0.

I've seen some users online discredit the 1300X MK2's dialogue performance, but I completely disagree. I never struggled to hear dialogue; not during flying scenes in "Top Gun: Maverick", nor the action sequences in "No Time to Die". I heard every word.

The Samsung model is just as clear. In "Top Gun: Maverick"'s near-overwhelming dogfighting scenes, I "could hear every layer of in-scene plane sound effects, each rich guitar chord, and every syllable of dialogue."

I don't think there's a clear winner here. Perhaps I'd recommend the Samsung if you know you have dialogue processing issues personally — due to the explicit dialogue enhancement mode — but I never strained to understand actors in any movie on either soundbar.

Dolby Atmos dalliance

Dolby Atmos is another must-have feature when you're looking at premium, flagship soundbars. Of course, both the JBL and Samsung have DTS:X as well, but as I watched Dolby Atmos-enabled 4K UHD Blu-rays, I need to evaluate Dolby Atmos performance here. If you have DTS:X DVDs, just know both soundbars will play them to their full potential.

Even so, the JBL just took the win here. "Top Gun: Maverick" is the best movie to test Dolby Atmos (I'll fight you on this) thanks to the gorgeous flying scenes. When I watched this movie on the JBL, the planes "raced overhead as if I were truly outside."

On top of that, the OST was "bombastic without overpowering the screeching jet engine sounds, and the radio dialogue was surprisingly clear."

However, I still wanted a little more. Now that I've tested the $3,500 Yamaha True X Surround 90A — the best Dolby Atmos soundbar I've ever used, but way too expensive and with unimpressive dialogue performance — I'm a tough cookie.

Similarly, when I tested the Samsung, I wrote, "width is great, but the Q990H doesn’t sound quite as high as I’d like for $2k."

I could hear the planes around me, but the JBL did a better job of tricking me the planes were flying over me. "I wanted more from the surround speakers," I wrote of the Q990H. "Even on “Surround” mode, I wanted a stronger surround sound."

Although it's close, and although I still thoroughly enjoyed testing the Samsung Q990H, the JBL just cinched this victory.

Feature facedown

New for 2026, Samsung no longer restricts its awesome "SpaceFit Sound Pro" to compatible AI Samsung TVs. I tested the Q990H on both an LG and a TCL and I enabled SpaceFit Sound Pro in SmartThings.

JBL has a similar room configuration tool, but its name is a little less snazzy: audio calibration. Boo! Where's the whimsy? Where's the trademarkeable moniker?

I jest, I jest. As long as the feature works, I really don't care what it's called.

Both Samsung and JBL's room calibration features work perfectly. When I tested the Samsung, the sound before was good enough, but it was a little pinched in the center speaker and a touch diffused on the rear channels. After enabling SpaceFit Sound Pro, the soundbar readjusted itself so the dialogue was more expansive.

Similarly, JBL's audio calibration increased the height, width, and depth of sound, providing a more immersive experience.

If you have an oddly shaped living room or weirdly low ceilings, both these calibration tools will adjust audio output to optimize for your space. I wouldn't buy a premium soundbar without this feature.

Of course, both soundbars have more features than just automatic room calibration. Both have AirPlay, so you can play music from your phone to the devices, and both sound surprisingly great. Soundbars are notorious for making even the best songs sound mediocre, but that's not the case here. Bass is powerful and controlled through both 300W subwoofers, and the soundbars themselves do a fantastic job of separating vocals for maximum musicality.

There's a plethora of playback modes in both soundbars, namely dialogue enhancer and bass boost, which I discussed earlier.

However, there's one key place where the Samsung takes the lead: 4K pass-through at 120Hz. The JBL lags behind at just 60Hz (still — this was one of my major qualms with the original model).

If you're a 4K gamer, this will probably edge your hand towards the Samsung. Personally, though, I would never notice the 60Hz refresh rate, as I don't game. Just something to think about.

My choice

This decision is much trickier right now — both soundbars are massively discounted. The JBL Bar 1300X MK2 is $300 off, down from $1,700 to $1,400. Similarly, Samsung's Q990H is $1,500 down from $2,000. Yes, a huge $500 off.

Before the discount, it's a no-brainer: grab the cheaper JBL if you don't have a Samsung TV. You'd save $400 and get a more immersive experience while you're at it.

I would personally still buy the JBL instead. I'm a famous (or infamous, depending on how you view it) spendthrift. If something is $9 and something else is $8.99, I'm buying the $8.99 one. I get to keep my cent!

Both soundbars have room-filling bass. Samsung and JBL's 300W subwoofers are both forces to be reckoned with, and both the 11-channel soundbars provide unbeatable dialogue clarity. On top of that, both have wireless rears for true Dolby Atmos immersion.

For me, though, the JBL just ekes out the win thanks to the slightly better height and more palatable price tag.

Which one would you buy?

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With the iPhone Duo launch now out of the way, it's time to start looking forward to some of the phones headed our way in the near future — into 2027 and beyond. The next big release we're expecting is the Samsung Galaxy S27, and the latest leak may have revealed what batteries to expect from two of the four upcoming models.

That's right, four models, because rumor has it that Samsung will be releasing a new Galaxy S27 Pro. Presumably this is a device that will sit between the Plus and the Ultra models, though we'll have to wait and see just what Samsung has planned. This new battery leak covers the mysterious Pro and the flagship Galaxy S27 Ultra.

Two batteries have just shown up on the Safety Korea database, alongside photos, featuring the model numbers EB-BS957CBY and EB-BS958DBY. This lines up with the SM-S957 and SM-S958 model numbers tied to the S27 Pro and Ultra, suggesting these are the batteries we'll see in next year's high-end Galaxy phones.

We can't quite see the capacities, but past leaks suggest that we'll see 5,534 mAh and 5,087 mAh batteries, with typical capacities of 5,700 mAh and 5,200 mAh, respectively. If those figures are accurate, it means this is the first time the Ultra model has had a battery capacity upgrade since the release of the Galaxy S20 Ultra almost seven years ago. Charging is said to be 60W on both, which is the same as the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

This is a long time coming

For those that don't remember, the Galaxy S20 Ultra was the first of Samsung's modern Ultra phones, and it came with a 5,000 mAh battery — up from 4,100 mAh on the Galaxy S10 Plus. This 700 mAh upgrade effectively means that the S27 Ultra is shaping up for an extra 100 mAh for every year Samsung ignored the calls for higher battery capacity.

Presumably this increase in capacity will be aided by Samsung's recent push into silicon carbon battery technology. As we saw with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, the different battery chemistry allows phone makers to improve battery density — packing more power into the same amount of space.

The batteries pictured don't look particularly big, which lends some support to that theory. Plus, the Z Fold 8 managed to adopt the new batteries without issue, and it makes little sense to avoid rolling silicon carbon out to other premium Samsung phones.

The Galaxy S27 series is expected to launch in early 2027, with rumors suggesting Samsung may pivot back to a January launch window. In the meantime we'll be seeing a lot more rumors about what all four phones can do, so stay tuned to Tom's Guide to hear all the best news and rumors as we hear about them.

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Flagship soundbars are always exciting to test. Enjoying blockbuster movies with best-of-the-best sound is, most definitely, one of the biggest perks of my job. And that’s exactly how I felt testing the Samsung Q990H. This is a flagship soundbar in (almost) every way — bass, dialogue, width; it’s got it all.

Is that enough to make it one of the best soundbars? It depends on how much you’re happy to spend. $2,000 is a lot of money, especially when soundbars like the JBL Bar 1300X MK2 exist for $300 less. SmartThings integration is a huge plus, especially if you have a Samsung TV, but I can’t tell you if that’s worth $300 over the JBL.

I’ll go through everything in detail, from design to subwoofer quality to Dolby Atmos performance in this Samsung Q990H review.

Samsung Q990H review: Specs

Samsung Q990H review: What I like

There’s so much to like about the Samsung Q990H — it is Samsung’s 2026 flagship, after all.

Supremely clear dialogue

The SmartThings app has a number of dialogue-enhancing settings: “Active Voice Amplifier Pro”, “Voice enhancement”, and individual channel EQs. Even so, I found dialogue sounded more than good enough without any of these additional features.

I test all soundbars with “Top Gun: Maverick” on 4K UHD Blu-ray, alongside two other UHD Blu-rays, standard TV on streaming services, and music on Spotify and Qobuz.

Dialogue in “Top Gun: Maverick” was extremely clear without additional dialogue features needed. In the busy bar scene, I could hear lead actors speaking clearly over the hubbub of the bar. “Top Gun: Maverick” also features tons of radioed dialogue in flying action sequences. I didn’t miss a single word. The screeching jet engines and soundtrack (“Won’t Get Fooled Again”) melded together nicely underneath the fuzzy dialogue. I could hear every layer of in-scene plane sound effects, each rich guitar chord, and every syllable of dialogue.

In “Super Mario Galaxy Movie”, dialogue was equally as clear. Just to reiterate, this was with zero dialogue enhancement features enabled. I could feel the texture in Bowser Jr.’s gravelly-yet-high-pitched voice.

“The Batman” features moody, mumbled dialogue for the majority of the movie. However, I never struggled to hear anything — neither the processed radio dialogue nor Robert Pattinson’s atmospheric voiceovers. Even in action scenes, I could make out every word. For such a broody, mumbled movie, this performance was excellent.

Even basic streaming services sounded good. Obviously, a basic-level stream will never sound as good as a UHD Blu-ray. I have Now TV’s cheapest tier (HBO for all you across-the-ponders), which uses Stereo audio — not even 5.1.

I’m not going to pretend this would impress any home cinema enthusiasts, but it’s the streaming service’s fault, not the soundbars. The Q990H did the best with what it was given; every word was clear, and I never struggled to understand dialogue.

Powerful bass

As I’d hope from a $2,000, 300-watt subwoofer, bass is great, with no distortion. “The Batman” was a particular standout here. My colleagues told me they could feel the subwoofer rumbling from downstairs, so I’m sorry, but I was having too much fun to care.

The brooding, ominous soundtrack carried a decadent depth to the low-end, bringing body to low-action scenes. High-action scenes were equally as dramatic, especially the iconic car chase and the club scenes. I could feel the subwoofer through the chair. If you long for cinematic lows and clear dialogue, you won’t be disappointed.

Music performance is decent for a soundbar, too. I listened via AirPlay. Bass in Muse’s “Supermassive Black Hole” shook the floorboards without overpowering the falsetto vocals. Softer songs fared equally as well; “Kill Me” by Hayley Williams was delicate and controlled, and the texture in Williams’ voice came through.

Wireless subwoofer and rears

Unlike the Samsung QS750F ($899), the Q990H’s rears (and subwoofer) are truly wireless. Each rear speaker and the subwoofer require only a power cable. They sync up automatically as soon as they’re plugged in.

When I set up the Q990H, I only had to connect everything to power — the sub and rears did the hard work for me. I didn’t even have to set them up in Samsung’s SmartThings app, which I was initially expecting to do. This was one of the easiest soundbar setups I've had the pleasure of experiencing.

The rear speakers are excellent in some movies and middling in others: of all the content I watched, by far the best movie for surround was “The Batman”. The car chase scene was immensely immersive. The soundtrack, pouring rain, and screeching cars were controlled deftly, and the speakers separated high-frequency effects with skill.

Design, features, and SmartThings

Samsung soundbars really excel in terms of design. They all look more or less the same (except the Samsung Ultra Slim) — sleek, inconspicuous, and although quite plasticky, this doesn’t detract from the overall appearance.

Setup is also a breeze: I plugged all the elements in, hooked up the soundbar via HDMI, and I was listening in seconds. Samsung also provides a wall mount for the soundbar if that’s your thing. The rears don’t come with stands or mounts, but you can easily find third-party options online.

SmartThings is one of my favorite companion apps, and for good reason. It’s supremely easy to use, looks great, and is replete with genuinely beneficial features. No longer restricted to Samsung TVs, SpaceFit Sound Pro is Samsung’s proprietary room calibration feature. I was able to get this working with both an LG and a TCL TV. SpaceFit Sound Pro analyzes your room space to improve immersion. If you’ve got a bigger room, it will increase audio power to ensure you still get space-filling sound.

Without SpaceFit Sound Pro, “The Batman” still sounded immersive, particularly the rain sounds coming through the rear speakers. However, with SpaceFit Sound Pro enabled, the soundbar adjusted the center channel to make dialogue and OST clearer.

In SmartThings, you can also adjust individual channel volume, sub volume, and treble/bass volume. I adjusted the rears and side-firing channels to the maximum volume, but I didn’t notice a huge difference. More on that in the “What I didn’t like” section below, though.

Wireless listening

Now, this one comes with a caveat. You can use the Q990H wirelessly — if you have a compatible Samsung TV. As I test soundbars with LG and TCL TVs, I was unable to use this feature.

However, it’s still worth mentioning here. If you have a compatible Samsung TV (all Samsung TVs with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi), you’ll be able to use the soundbar without an HDMI cable.

Samsung Q990H review: What I don’t like

As much as I enjoyed listening to the Samsung Q990H, it missed out on a perfect 5-star rating for a reason.

Sound not immersive enough for $2,000

Even though I love the Q990H, it’s not perfect. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds fantastic, and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed… unless you’ve just dropped two grand.

At $2,000, there’s very little room for error. Nay, there’s zero room for error. You could spend just a little (!) more on the $2,500 KEF XIO or save money on the JBL Bar 1300X MK2 ($1,799). Honestly, I recommend the JBL Bar 1300X MK2 wholeheartedly. It’s by far the best bang-for-buck soundbar I’ve ever tested.

Anyway, back to the Samsung Q990H. You can adjust individual channel levels in SmartThings, but I didn’t notice this had a tangible difference. Width is great, but the Q990H doesn’t sound quite as high as I’d like for $2k.

As I discussed earlier, bass was a different story — I could feel every rumble of the jet engines in “Top Gun: Maverick” and the ominous soundtrack in “The Batman”. Music playback was also decent — soundbars are never excellent, though — but I wanted more from the surround speakers. Even on “Surround” mode, I wanted a stronger surround sound. The JBL Bar 1300X MK2 excels here.

Consequently, I’m reticent to recommend the Q990H widely unless you find it on sale.

How does the Samsung Q990H compare?

I would recommend the Samsung Q990H over some of the super high-end soundbars I’ve tested. Once you get to a certain price point, it might make a little more sense to invest in a buildable hi-fi setup (like floorstanders and loudspeakers).

For example, the $2,500 KEF XIO and $3,500 Yamaha True X Surround 90A both sound excellent. Don’t get me wrong, you won’t be disappointed by their sound. The Yamaha soundbar is one of the best Dolby Atmos products I’ve ever used. However, they’re both eye-wateringly expensive. $2,000 is the most I would ever recommend spending on a soundbar.

There’s another however here, though. $2,000 is still incredibly expensive for a soundbar. Even though the Q990H sounds fantastic, with expansive width and clear dialogue… $2k is $2k. When you can get more immersive performance from the JBL Bar 1300X MK2 and similar performance with the $999 Samsung QS90H or Sony Bravia Theater 7 ($1,099), I would recommend grabbing the Q990H on sale only.

Should you buy the Samsung Q990H?

It depends on your budget. Is $2,000 an easy amount for you to spend? Then you probably won’t be disappointed by the Samsung Q990H. Dialogue is honey-smooth and clear; bass is propulsive and energetic; Dolby Atmos is immersive and all-encompassing. The only thing missing is height, and that true cinematic experience.

If $2,000 is a lot for you (relatable), then I’d recommend checking out the JBL Bar 1300X MK2. This is by far the best bang-for-buck soundbar I’ve ever tested, with industry-leading audio power and immersion.

Of course, though, the Q990H is a fantastic soundbar in its own right, and well-deserving of the flagship name. It’s just really, really expensive.

The iPhone Duo is proving very difficult to come by, and right now, on the official release day, Apple's own delivery estimates stretch into late January of next year. The Duo is, by our metrics, an excellent foldable phone, but it isn't the only option available to you right now. In fact, there are more of the best foldable phones to choose from, none of which have the same availability issues Apple's option is experiencing.

Obviously these phones have one key difference, in that they run Android rather than Apple's iOS. That is enough to turn off a lot of people, especially if they've been Apple users for a long time. That said, if you're more open to being platform-agnostic, and desperately want to pick up a foldable phone without waiting, you have some options available to you.

Here are the best iPhone Duo alternatives you can buy today

Best iPhone Duo alternatives

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8

If you're looking for another passport-shaped foldable — with a shorter design when closed and widescreen when open — then the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is easily your best bet. The Z Fold 8 offers a 5.5-inch cover display and 7.6-inch foldable display, which is close in size to the Duo.

That larger screen packs Samsung's new Flex Titanium display technology which promises to improve durability and minimize the crease. There's also an anti-reflective coating to prevent glare and help you see what's on screen. The Fold 8 is thinner and lighter than the iPhone Duo, and it lets you three apps at once instead of just two.

Camera-wise you're looking at a pair of 50MP rear lenses, with main and ultrawide shooters. Like the Duo, there's no telephoto lens for zoomed in shots. Selfie cameras are 10MP each, and you'll find one in both screens — though there's no under-display camera in this one. It's also a lot thinner and lighter than the Duo, and features the performance power of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy.

That's as good as you'll get on an Android phone. Oh, and you get some of the best AI features of any phone, with a price tag that's $100 less than the iPhone Duo.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra

If you want a foldable that's a little larger than what the Duo has to offer, then Samsung's Z Fold 8 Ultra is worth considering. It offers all the same features and benefits as the Z Fold 8, albeit without the newly-popular wide design. Instead there's a skinnier 6.5-inch cover display and a 8-inch foldable display on the inside.

The Z Fold 8 Ultra benefits from better camera hardware, including a 200MP main camera lens and a 10MP telephoto shooter with 3x optical zooming capabilities. On top of that you get a larger battery with 14 hours and 30 minutes of battery life (an hour longer than the iPhone Duo.

You also get a lightweight and thin frame, and everything Galaxy AI and Google Gemini have to offer. The downside is that Galaxy foldables don't offer stylus support or dust resistance, and the 8 Ultra is $100 more expensive than the iPhone Duo.

Motorola Razr Fold

Here's another book-shaped foldable, coming in with the same $1,900 price tag as the iPhone Duo. The Motorola Razr Fold puts an emphasis on premium hardware at that base price, with a 6,000 mAh battery (with over 14 hours of life), 80W charging, 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM that works in conjunction with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset.

Screens are a little bigger, measuring 6.6-inches for the cover display and 8.1-inches for the foldable inner screen. You also get a trio of 50MP cameras, which are complemented by a 32MP inner selfie camera and a 20MP cover screen camera. Optional stylus support, a slightly thinner design than the iPhone Duo, and a bunch of Motorola's AI features round out the perks.

Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold

As a whole, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold is not that impressive compared to other foldables. Performance is weak; app scaling is a very real problem; and the battery life is not particularly impressive. But there are a lot of benefits to picking up a Google-made foldable instead of one of its rivals. Particularly the AI support, which is some of the best you'll find on any Android thanks to the fact Google is responsible for Pixel phones and Gemini AI.

The Pixel 11 Pro Fold also features the brightest screen of any foldable, with a 6.5-inch cover display and 8-inch main display, a 5x telephoto lens (with 30x Super Zoom), 16GB of RAM, 25W wireless charging, and the new Rambler dictation system.

On top of that, Google has added a new "app bubbles" system that lets you dock different apps at the bottom of your screen — with the ability to summon them as an extra layer on top of an ordinary split-view mode. There's no stylus support, though.

Other foldable options

The thing about foldable phones is that there are a lot more of them out there than you might realize. In fact, the foldable segment is particularly popular among Chinese brands and some of them actually go on sale outside of the country. Sadly, they can be much harder to find, especially if you live in the U.S.

That's less of an issue in places like the U.K., and any readers from across the Atlantic should be aware of a couple of extra options that are available to you. Plus, while these phones technically run on Android, the software looks very similar to iOS 27 — which means the shock of switching platforms won't be quite as severe.

Honor Magic V6

The Honor Magic V6 is a foldable that aims to be as premium as possible, particularly in the camera department. This thing packs in 50MP main and ultrawide lenses, alongside a 64MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a pair of 20MP selfie cameras — one on each screen.

The software is very reminiscent of iOS, and it features a bunch of stuff that you'd normally only get from an iPhone. That includes the ability to use the V6 as a secondary Mac screen, the inclusion of an Apple-like interface for AirPods and even Apple Watch notification support. Which is astounding for an Android

As for the screens, you get a 7.95-inch foldable display with anti-reflective coating and a 6.52-inch cover display with anti-scratch coating. Both screens are rated for a respective 5,000 and 6,000 nits. You get stylus support on both displays, and they come wrapped in a shiny gold casing. Add in the swift Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and up to 16GB of RAM and you have a powerful phone that's ready for AI.

Oppo Find N6

Oppo's Find N series has been the gold standard for crease elimination for the past couple of generations, and the Oppo Find N6 is the bar at which the iPhone Duo's lack of crease will be judged by. The 8.12-inch foldable screen also features a "self-healing memory glass" which is said to keep that crease away for good. Both it and the 6.62-inch cover display offer stylus support, as well as Dolby Vision and HDR10+.

As for cameras, you're looking at a 200MP main lens, a 50MP ultrawide and a 50MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Selfie cameras are both 20MP, using a hole-punch design on each screen. Performance is handled by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, in conjunction with either 12 or 16GB of RAM. Meanwhile, there's a monster 6,000 mAh battery inside, complete with 80W wired charging speeds.,

More from Tom's Guide

• I put the iPhone Duo vs. Galaxy Fold 8 through a 10-round photo face-off — here’s the winner
• iPhone Duo full benchmarks — the world's fastest foldable, but how does it stack up to iPhone 18 Pro?
• I’ve been testing dozens of iPhone Duo apps — here’s my top 15 picks so far

2026 has been a big year for foldable phones, especially with the launch of the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable phone. But it sounds like Samsung isn't going to let Apple take the glory. After a successful launch of the passport-shaped Galaxy Z Fold 8, it's been claimed that Samsung could launch six foldables devices next year — including a new "Galaxy Z Slide."

This rumor comes from TheGalox on X, who claims that Samsung is prepping its biggest foldable lineup ever." Apparently the 2027 lineup will start with the launch of the Galaxy Z TriFold 2, and will be followed by a Galaxy Z Slide, Z Fold 9 Ultra, Z Fold 9 Pro, Z Fold 9 and the Z Flip 9.

That certainly is an interesting lineup of new phones. The two things that stand out most are the inclusion of the Z Fold 9 Pro and the Z Flip 9 — the latter of which is rumored to have been canceled. Likewise the "Pro" is not something we've heard of yet, and I'm curious to hear what kind of niche it might fill in the Z Fold 9 lineup.

There isn't a whole lot of difference between the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra, after all, and the last thing Samsung needs is to confuse people with multiple foldables that are too similar to one another.

The Z Slide is another mystery, and this is the first we've actually heard about such a device. If I were to guess, this is some kind of extendable phone with an extending screen, similar to various concept devices Samsung (and others) have produced over the years.

What we think is coming

The last time we saw one was back at CES 2025, with a number of different "slidable" phones. There was the Slidable Flex Duet, which extended its screen from 8.1-inches to a massive 12.4-inches, as well as the Slidable Flex Solo which grew from 8-inches to a mammoth 17-inches. Then there was the Flex Vertical, which grew vertically from 5.1-inches to 6.7-inches.

The question is whether or not these designs will be utilized for the Galaxy Z Slide, and if so which one will actually go on sale. My first guess would be some kind of smartphone-sized device, similar to the Flex Vertical, though that all depends on whether Samsung could make those smaller extendable displays at scale.

It's quite possible that a larger screen is easier (and therefore cheaper) to mass produce, which would see one of the tablet-inspired designs arrive first. @TheGalox has not elaborated on what's to come, and that means all we can do at this stage is guess.

As for the TriFold 2, it's no huge surprise that a sequel triple-foldable is coming. We've heard rumors about that already, but it's unclear how easy it will be to get hold of. The original TriFold was only available in limited quantities, and Samsung completely canceled production back in March. Here's hoping the sequel is a little easier to purchase.

It's still very early days for Samsung's 2027 foldables, and until we hear more there's no telling how accurate any of this information might actually be. So we're just going to have to wait and see what the rumor mill produces in the coming months.

More from Tom's Guide

• My iPhone 18 Pro Max just got delivered and I immediately regret the purchase — and I think iPhone Duo is to blame
• iPhone Duo's battery is officially bigger than Galaxy Z Fold 8 — here's how it compares to other foldables
• iPhone Duo modes explained — 6 ways you can use Apple's new foldable

You don’t need an expensive digital camera and heavy lenses to capture the night sky. With modern low-light processing, the iPhone in your pocket is fully capable of taking detailed photos of stars, constellations, and even the faint glow of the Milky Way.

While these tips work across most recent Apple models with Night Mode, dialing in a few specific camera settings before heading outside makes the difference between a grainy blur and a sharp nightscape.

Here is how to set up your iPhone for night sky photography.

Why these simple tweaks work (and the results to prove it)

My camera roll is already full of shots of the sun setting over the hills and the moon hanging clear in the sky, but pinpointing actual stars on an iPhone had always been surprisingly elusive.

That finally changed on a recent camping trip I took. The night sky was completely clear, a pitch-black canvas filled with constellations and even the occasional shooting star. It felt like the absolute best time to put my phone to the test. My very first attempt, however, turned out to be a total disappointment: you could only make out one or two stars, faintly illuminated against an expanse of black.

It wasn't until I changed my techniques and eliminated the physical tap on the screen that everything snapped into focus. You can see the results below.

Once the micro-vibrations were gone, the sensor finally captured the rich depth of the night sky — revealing dense star clusters, subtle nebular glow, and tight, needle-sharp points of light with zero motion blur.

There is something immensely satisfying about capturing a photo that actually matches the awe of standing under a dark, star-filled sky in person. Here are the exact camera adjustments you need to make to get the same results on your next clear night.

How to do this on Samsung or Google Pixel phones

If you or a friend are shooting on Android, the same core principles apply using native tools. Google Pixel users can switch to Night Sight and secure the phone on a tripod to automatically trigger Astrophotography mode, which shoots a 4-minute exposure sequence.

Samsung Galaxy users can opt for a similar automated experience using Astrophoto Mode inside Samsung's Expert RAW app, which stacks exposures over 4 to 10 minutes and even includes an on-screen constellation guide.

Alternatively, you can use manual controls by swiping to Pro Mode in the Camera app: set your shutter speed to 10 to 15 seconds to capture the starlight, and dial your ISO to 800–1600 to keep the image sharp.

More from Tom's Guide

• Start using these 3 iPhone camera features — you'll wonder how you lived without them
• iOS 27 Photos features that transform your pictures — here's how to use them
• How to use every iPhone camera mode to take better photos

Hey there! You look trustworthy, so I'm going to give you the inside scoop on Samsung's latest Secret Sale in Australia: right now, the electronics giant is holding a 48-hour flash sale — ending at 11am (AEDT) on Wednesday, October 14 — that's slashing prices on top smartphones, tablets, earbuds and more.

We're talking savings of up to 35% off Galaxy S26, Watch 8, Tab S10 and Buds 4 Pro, and all you have to do is apply the code SECRETGALAXY at checkout. I trust you'll keep that info between you and me.

In terms of big-ticket items, the largest discount can be found on the Galaxy S26+, which usually starts at AU$1,949 but can now be nabbed from only AU$1,266.85 — that's a tidy saving of AU$682.15. Of course, you could use the same code on the top-end Galaxy S26 Ultra or the entry-level Galaxy S26 FE, now discounted by 30% and 25%, respectively.

If a new tablet is what you're after, you're in luck — Samsung's Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ is also discounted by a hefty 30%, now starting at just AU$1,099 AU$769.30 for the 128GB model with 8GB of RAM, and topping out at only AU$1,499 AU$1,049.30 for the 256GB version with 12GB of RAM.

And if you've been waiting for a good time to upgrade your smartwatch, this flash sale is a great excuse to grab Samsung's Galaxy Watch 8 Classic (46mm) at a sweet 25% discount, with the Bluetooth model currently priced at AU$770 AU$577.50 and the LTE version now down to AU$870 AU$652.50.

While the deals mentioned above offer the most savings, there are plenty more available on Samsung's Secret Sale landing page, including big discounts on Samsung's Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, SmartTags, clear cases, and more. Just remember to use the code SECRETGALAXY at checkout if you’re planning to buy anything.

Just make sure you act quickly — Samsung's Secret Sale wraps up at 11am (AEDT) on Wednesday, October 14, 2026.

More from Tom's Guide

• iPhone 18 Pro deals in Australia — top offers and plans
• Google Pixel 11 deals— top plans and offers in Australia

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is a phone that sits in a very awkward position in Samsung's phone lineup. The phone is designed to be a lower cost alternative to the standard Galaxy S26, but it also faces increased competition from the, frankly excellent, mid-range Galaxy A57. I've been questioning the need for a "Fan Edition" of Samsung's flagships, but with everything going on in the world it actually feels like a good mix of premium and affordable.

The price is the main factor for the S26 FE's success, especially now that Samsung has hiked prices for the rest of the Galaxy S26 series. On top of that you also have a lot of premium AI features, a solid (is imperfect) camera and a premium feel. However, that doesn't change the fact that the S26 FE has weak performance, and struggles to differentiate itself from both the Galaxy S25 FE and the cheaper Galaxy A57

Read our Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review to see whether this phone is right for you.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? The latest release in Samsung's long-running "Fan Edition" series, offering a lower price tag in exchange for slightly worse features than the standard Galaxy S26
• Who is it for? The people who can't justify spending the full $899 on a Galaxy S26, but don't want to deal with the larger compromises made on the cheaper Galaxy A57
• What does it cost? Prices for the S26 FE start at $699, for a model with 128GB of storage. A 256GB model is also available for $799, which is $200 lower than the 256GB Galaxy S26's newly-raised starting price.
• What do we like? The low starting price, the good battery life, solid camera quality and the number of premium AI features Samsung has included.
• What don't we like? The weak performance, the lack of upgrades compared to last year and the fact the Samsung Galaxy A57 isn't that far behind.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review: Specifications

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review: The ups

$699 starting price

When I first went hands-on with the Galaxy S26 FE I commented on the fact that the phone wasn't actually that much cheaper than the Galaxy S26. In fact, at the time, a 256GB S26 FE cost the same amount as a 256GB Galaxy S26. Things have changed since then, though, thanks to Samsung hiking the price of the entire Galaxy S26 lineup — except the Galaxy S26 FE.

This means that the cheapest Galaxy S26 is now $999, complete with 256GB of storage. Meanwhile the cheapest S26 FE is $699, while the larger 256GB storage option will set you back $799. That's a $200-$300 difference, depending on how much storage you actually require.

With the cost of entry suddenly much higher, that gives a huge advantage to the Galaxy S26 FE since it offers a lot of the same features as the Galaxy S26 but for a much lower price tag.

Premium-feeling design

I'll caveat this by saying that the Galaxy S26 FE is not as premium as past fan edition phones. The S25 FE has the same matte glass back as the Galaxy S25 FE, but that isn't the case with the S26 equivalents. Instead, the S26 FE has a glossy glass back that looks more like the Galaxy A57 — to the point where I struggle to tell them apart.

That said, the design is more premium than your typical cheap phone. There's a large 6.9-inch display (rated up to 1,900 nits), and a brushed metal frame that helps the phone avoid feeling like it's a cheap device. The same goes for the solid glass camera bump, which is a trait Samsung usually reserves for other Galaxy S-series devices.

There's some weight to the S26 FE that makes it feel like it's got some solid construction. While lightweight designs are all the rage in certain circles, the extra half ounce the S26 FE has over the A57 goes a long way. Not to mention that the weight is fairly evenly distributed, giving the phone a more balanced feel. The mid-range Samsung feels a little too light for its size, and doesn't balance as well, which means it feels a little more flimsy as a result.

Solid AI features

It isn't a Samsung phone release without AI playing a key role in everything going forward, and the Galaxy S26 FE is no different. Samsung didn't add anything new and exclusive, which shouldn't surprise anyone, but it still added a bunch of Galaxy AI features we've tried and enjoyed on both the Galaxy S26 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.

Included here is My Fan Cam, which follows human beings to turn existing video into something brand new, the literally-named Horizontal Lock, Samsung's Document Scanner, Audio Eraser, Photo Assist's AI editing tools, Now Brief and the contextually aware Now Nudge, as well as the currently Samsung-exclusive Circle to Search upgrade that lets you scan multiple objects at once.

All of which makes this a solid low-cost choice for those of you that want access to Galaxy AI features.

Good battery life

We haven't been able to do our full battery life test on the Galaxy S26 FE just yet, but I have performed a rougher version to gauge just how much battery is lost when streaming video. That test involved streaming this YouTube video for three hours, with brightness set to 50%. For comparison's sake, I also ran the same test on the Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy A57.

The Galaxy S26 FE was the worst of the three, which is bizarre considering it has a 4,900 mAh battery. At the end of the video stream it came out with 82%, compared to 85% on the 4,300 mAh Galaxy S26 and 87% on the 5,000 mAh Galaxy A57. That said, with an average battery loss of 6% per hour, that's not a huge amount of battery drain.

If that power consumption holds steady, it means the Galaxy S26 FE should last almost 17 hours in the same conditions. It's far from the best battery life we've seen, and logic dictates that the regular S26 should last 20 hours. But that should keep you going throughout the day.

As for charging, the Galaxy S26 FE promises up to 45W wired charging speeds. My USB-C power meter, paired with a 60W charging brick, saw the incoming power hit a high of 41W which is pretty close. As for actual recharging time, I found the S26 FE reached 39% after 15 minutes and 72% after half an hour.

That's faster than the S26 and A57, and only slightly behind the Galaxy S26 Ultra (77% in 30 minutes). The S26 FE hit 100% charge after 58 and a half minutes during my testing. This means that while the battery life could be better, at least you'll be able to recharge pretty quickly.

Camera quality is (mostly) good for the price

Since the Galaxy S26 FE is designed to sit between the Galaxy A57 and Galaxy S26, I decided that the fairest way to test the cameras was to compare all three phones together. To get an idea of just how much of a difference there is when the phones themselves sit a few hundred dollars apart from one another.

With the main camera lens, you can't see a whole lot of difference in the three, or at least you can't see them on my dog sitting in the foreground. At a glance the quality is generally pretty good, but if you look a little closer the A57 dips considerably compared to the S26 FE — which manages to capture more detail (especially in the background) and a higher quality.

It's a lot closer in quality to the standard S26, though I'd say the flagship model clinches it in terms of overall quality — despite the fact I can't see much difference on the dog.

The ultrawide lenses are easily the mostly evenly matched lenses on the three phones, and the quality is surprisingly uniform. I'd go so far as to say that the quality does improve as the price does, and both the S26 FE and S26 highlight the red spray paint a lot more clearly than the A57. However, the actual difference is not that noticeable unless you look super closely.

Sadly all three phones do a pretty poor job with zoom, no doubt thanks to the A57's lack of optical zoom and the S26 and FE's weak telephoto cameras. The S26 probably has the edge, especially since the S26 FE added a weird warm color hue to the photo, but none of them are particularly great when you crank magnification up to 3x.

Crank things up to 10x magnification and things are a lot worse. The A57 turned the tower into a fuzzy mess, while the S26 and S26 FE are more evenly matched — though not by a lot. The FE seemed to add a bunch of detail that the S26 didn't pick up. But considering the quality of the photo itself, I can't really say that's an improvement.

It's a similar story for both S26 models at 30x zoom — the maximum you can get on both these phones. The S26 FE looks a little washed out, and picked up darker coloring in the bricks, but the actual quality is on par with the standard S26. Though, this is not meant as a compliment.

When it comes to selfies, things are much the same. The overall quality isn't bad, but the level of detail you get improves as the phones get more expensive. The A57 is blurrier and captures far less, while the S26 FE looks a little more like a competent photo. However the S26 captures it the best, and you can make out the individual hair strands a lot more easily. Alongside improved background details.

Weirdly, though, things are a little different when Portrait mode is involved. Somehow the quality on the A57 seems to have been ramped up, to the point where I'd say the sharpness of the photo exceeds that of the S26 FE. Even the S26 seems to be struggling to visualize my facial hair and various facial details that the S26 FE manages without issue.

Things are more or less back to normal with low light photography. The S26 comes out on top in the detail department, though the difference between it and the S26 FE is not that severe. The two certainly managed to capture a similar amount of light to illuminate the final product. As for the A57, the quality isn't there and the lighting has been processed in a way that makes the photo look a lot colder. Almost as though the tomato plant is being illuminated by fluorescent lights.

Overall I'd say the S26 FE sits in a comfortable position between the A57 and the Galaxy S26. The S26 certainly has the edge in most areas, but the quality difference isn't actually that severe compared to the S26 FE's camera. There's also a noticeable difference between the FE and the Galaxy A57, even though the A57 isn't a bad camera for its price tag.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review: The downs

Minimal hardware upgrades

Like many phones, the Galaxy S26 FE doesn't have a whole lot to offer when it comes to actual upgrades. The differences in comparison to the Galaxy S25 FE are minimal, and the only tangible changes are the upgraded Exynos chipset and the glass enclosure around the rear camera lens.

The rest of the hardware is basically identical, which shows Samsung is leaning more onto the software upgrades to try and sell the S26 FE. That's not bad, per se, and the S26 FE does have a heck of a lot of useful features you'd normally only find on flagship phones. However, there's no telling how many of those will make their way to S25 FE at some point.

In that respect, the S26 FE doesn't feel like a "must-have" device. Not unless you have a super-old Fan Edition phone, or some kind of mid-ranger that desperately needs upgrading.

Middling performance

When it comes to making phones cheap, compromises have to be made, and in the case of the Galaxy S26 FE Samsung appears to have nerfed the performance in a big way. The fact is, while the rest of the S26 series gets the custom Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chips (or the latest Exynos 2600), the S26 FE is stuck with the Exynos 2500 — a chip that debuted at the start of 2025.

Obviously this means that the phone does not have the same level of computing or graphics power as more expensive phones.

As you can see, the Galaxy S26 FE trails quite far behind both variants of the Galaxy S26. Likewise it falls quite far behind the iPhone 17e, which is powered by Apple's A18 chipset. However, the older Apple chipset always struggled with the graphics side of things, which means it lags quite far behind the S26 FE in that area.

Performance is one area that the S26 FE truly beats out the A57. The mid-range phone's performance is very poor by comparison, especially where graphics are concerned. However, considering the A57 is $150 cheaper, that's not a huge surprise. In any case, if you were hoping for flagship performance from the Galaxy S26 FE, you are out of luck.

The A57 isn't too far behind

Having tested both the Galaxy A57 and the Galaxy S26 FE, I can tell you that the lived experience of using both phones is very different. That said, the Galaxy A57 is still an excellent phone for its price, and on paper the differences between it and the Galaxy S26 FE are fairly minimal — especially for casual users who prioritize value and battery life over raw power.

While I personally think the extra $150 you pay for a Galaxy S26 FE is justifiable, my finances are different than yours — and Samsung is going a lot to make its mid-range phones a heck of a lot more appealing. To the point where it's essentially competing with itself on multiple fronts. Frankly, Samsung should have done more to help the S26 FE stand out on its own more, rather than being compared to lesser phones.

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE review: Verdict

I didn't have high hopes for the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE when Samsung first announced it. Personally, I felt as though the Fan Edition series was being awkwardly stuffed into a niche that didn't really need to be filled, to its own detriment. But actually using the phone, combined with Samsung's unceremonious price hike for the rest of the S26 series, has softened me up a bit. There's more to a phone than the basic hardware specs, and you don't really get to experience that without having it in your hand.

The Galaxy S26 FE offers a flagship experience that you just don't get on Samsung's cheaper phones right now. The experience has been nerfed slightly, in order to save money, but you still get a lot of the best parts of having a premium phone without the high price tag. Considering a regular Galaxy S26 now costs $999, the willingness to accept some of those compromises can now save you a bunch of extra money.

The lack of meaningful updates is not ideal, though, and if Samsung wants the Fan Edition series to continue long into the future, it's going to have to step up and not let it get neglected and end up the same way as the Galaxy Z Flip lineup.

The iPhone Duo is almost here, and there are lots of reasons to snatch up Apple’s first foldable phone come October 16 when pre-orders begin. It gives you a compact 5.4-inch phone and 7.6-inch mini tablet in one device, and it looks like an awesome option for those who want a more immersive viewing experience on the go along with dual-app multitasking — finally!

But as many in our comments have reminded me, Samsung has been making foldable phones for seven years. And that experience shows in the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It has a similar passport-style design to the iPhone Duo, but it offers some pretty unique advantages over Apple’s device and could be the best foldable phone for you. If you’re on the fence about getting an iPhone Duo or Galaxy Z Fold 8, here’s where Samsung’s device could sway you.

1. It’s considerably thinner and lighter

I only played around with the iPhone Duo for about an hour between various hands-on sessions, but it definitely feels heftier than the Galaxy Z Fold 8. Sure, the iPhone Duo is technically the “thinnest iPhone ever,” at just 5.2 mm unfolded. That’s even less than the iPhone Air’s 5.64mm. However, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is only 4.5 mm.

When folded, the iPhone Duo measures 11.3mm thick, compared to 9.7mm for the Fold 8. For context, the iPhone 18 Pro Max is 8.75mm thick. So while the Duo will slip into a pocket with ease, it will take up some room.

In addition, the iPhone Duo weighs 8.96 ounces or 254 grams, while the Fold 8 is a feather light 7.09 ounces (201 grams). Samsung’s foldable is even lighter than the regular iPhone 18 Pro (7.44 ounces), which has a relatively tiny 6.3 inch display compared to the 7.6-inch panel on the Fold 8.

2. You can run more apps at once

I give Apple plenty of credit for making running two apps at once so seamless and intuitive on the iPhone Duo. You just select an app and then place it on the left or right side of the display. From there you can easily create app pairs and go back to them at any time. And it’s also a cinch to switch out apps; you just swipe up and go back to the home screen — it’s like having two distinct desktops.

However, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 can let you run three tiled apps at the same time on screen. So, for example, I could have Gmail in one window, Slack in another and Spotify in another. It’s pretty cool. Plus, Samsung lets you put up to five floating windows on top. Now, eight apps at once seems like overkill to me, but it’s pretty amazing that you have that flexibility.

3. Gemini AI is more advanced

Siri AI is definitely improved in iOS 27, and it lets you do some pretty cool things on the iPhone Duo. You get better personal context understanding in all sorts of apps, including Messages and Notes. And there’s on-screen awareness, so you can say things like “add these items to my shopping list.” And I also appreciate that there’s finally a Siri mode in the camera app, so you don’t have to think about performing any shortcuts.

However, I think Galaxy AI and Gemini on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 are not only more advanced but more tailored to the foldable experience. For example, Now Nudge gives you suggestions in Messages for apps that you can open in split-screen mode, such as Calendar.

And Gemini itself is just more versatile than Siri AI. You can share your live camera video in real time and get advice and troubleshooting tips. I did this when trying to figure out how to clean out battery corrosion from an outdoor flood light.

4. It’s $100 cheaper

The Galaxy Fold 8 starts at $1,799, which is $100 less than the iPhone Duo. Plus, there are already some pretty good deals out there. At time of writing I found the Fold 8 for just $1,649 on Best Buy, which is $250 off.

I’m sure there will be plenty of iPhone Duo pre-order deals around Apple’s launch as well, so you should be able to get it at a discount. But as of now the Fold 8 is a better value.

Where the iPhone Duo wins

As good as Samsung’s foldable is, there are several ways the iPhone Duo beats the Fold 8. For example, the iPhone Duo offers an IP68 rating for durability, which means it’s protected from both water and dust. Samsung’s phone is only water resistant.

In addition, the iPhone Duo offers MagSafe built in for wireless charging, Apple Pencil support and vapor chamber cooling, which will presumably help with sustained performance for Apple’s faster A20 chip.

But Apple’s biggest advantage will likely come with software and apps. The iPhone Duo’s software can react based on the position of the hinge while the Fold 8 lacks Samsung’s Flex Mode. And I expect a sizable wave of Duo optimized apps at launch, including Slack, Netflix and Zoom.

Bottom line

The iPhone Duo clearly has the most buzz, and it makes sense because Apple is entering a new category. But I wouldn’t overlook the Galaxy Z Fold 8. It feels so light and thin that it almost seems like Samsung cheated physics. And if you like the idea of multitasking on a big screen, the Fold 8 lets you run more apps at once. And while Siri is smarter than ever, Samsung and Google are in the lead with AI features.

So which foldable has your interest? Let us know in the comments.

Samsung has officially increased prices for nearly every single Galaxy S26 model, save for one. And one variant of the S26 Ultra is now $200 more expensive.

It's essentially the second price hike for the Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus since both models received $100 increases at launch compared to the S25 versions. At the time, the Galaxy S26 Ultra models retained the same $1,299 starting cost.

Only the more recently announced Galaxy S26 FE kept its launch price, though it is $50 more expensive than the S25 FE.

The prices listed are for the starting 256GB versions of each model. The 512GB versions of the S26 and S26 Plus now costs $1,199 and $1,399, respectively.

The Ultra models are now $1,599 for the 512GB variant and $1,999 for the 1TB, a $200 increase over the previous price.

In March, Samsung justified the first price increase by emphasizing upgrades and innovation, though company executives also admitted the ongoing AI-created RAMageddon was to blame. Unfortunately, the RAM crisis isn't going away anytime soon, and 2027 is expected to be worse by some than this year.

Next year's Galaxy S27 was just tipped for a price hike, but hopefully that's based on the original S26 prices and not these new ones.

What to do if you need a new Samsung phone

If you are in the market for a smartphone, my recommendation is wait for sales and big discounts. Never pay full price.

Otherwise, Samsung offers cheaper, capable phones like its Galaxy A57 series that starts at $549. In the meantime, Amazon is still offering the Galaxy S26 Ultra at the original price. That also includes some colors of the S26 and the S26 Plus.

Or, if you wait a week, Amazon's Prime Day sale is scheduled to kick off on October 6, and that sale usually features deep discounts on everything, including Samsung's flagship phones.

Or there's Black Friday and Cyber Monday just after Thanksgiving. Either way, the infuriating trend of ever increasing smartphone prices continues.

More from Tom's Guide

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• I checked out the new Samsung SmartTag3 — here’s why this tracker could be a game-changer
• The best Samsung phone might not be the best for you — take our quiz to find out which you should buy

Everything seems to be getting more expensive, and that's especially true when it comes to phones and other electronics. Production and component costs are on the rise, particularly RAM and storage, and that means the price increases getting passed on to us. Sadly, it seems as though the Galaxy S27 might be the next big phone to hike prices.

We've already heard rumors that the S27 Ultra could get a $100 price increase, which would mean prices start at $1,400 for the S27 UIltra instead of the current $1,300. However, the latest murmurs from the rumor mill suggest that the entire Galaxy S27 lineup could get a price increase. Again.

Galaxy S27 Price hikes across the board

The rumor itself comes from a blog on Korean social media site Naver, and specifically blames the alleged price hike on the extortionate cost of memory. Apparently, Samsung can't absorb the price increases the way it used to, and that means the cost of S27 models is going up in the Korean market.

This doesn't necessarily mean that prices will be going up in other regions. That said, if a Korean price hike is tied to RAMageddon costs, it seems unlikely that Samsung would give other markets a pass. Then again, stranger things have happened.

The base price increase is said to be in the "higher 130,000 won range" which is roughly $95 at the current exchange rate. The cost to upgrade your storage is said to be going up as well, though the exact price change isn't detailed.

Currently, an upgrade from 256GB to 512GB is an extra $200, while S26 Ultra owners are expected to pay another $400 on top of that if they want a 1TB model — or $600 more than a 256GB model.

That's quite a lot, especially when those sorts of upgrades used to be as little as $100 in recent years. The prospect of another storage price increase cements my opinion that high storage phones are a scam.

The S27 Ultra could be even heavier, too

The price isn't the only thing about the Galaxy S27 Ultra that could be increasing. A new rumor, courtesy of Ice Universe, claims that the phone will weigh 218 grams (7.69 ounces), which is four grams more than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. However, the thickness will apparently stay the same 7.9mm (0.31-inches) for another year.

Ice Universe has a solid track record when it comes to Samsung leaks, but there's always a chance that he's wrong. However, if we take them at their word, those few extra grams have to come from somewhere. The question is, what is causing the extra weight to be piled onto the phone? Especially with rumors claiming that Samsung is removing features like the secondary telephoto lens.

The most obvious answer could be the battery. Samsung is expected to utilize silicon carbon batteries, just as it did with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series, allowing it to add more battery capacity into the same size. That would explain the lack of extra thickness, and the minimal weight increase. The battery itself is rumored to be 5,700 mAh, compared to S26 Ultra's 5,000 mAh power pack.

Samsung is also rumored to be adding magnets to the back of its phone, and facilitating the full Qi2 wireless charging experience. This would allow users to use magnetic chargers and accessories without using a special case, much like you can do on iPhones and recent Pixel flagships.

We don't know how heavy Qi2 or MagSafe magnets actually are, but they don't weigh nothing.

The Qi2-enabled Pixel 10 Pro XL was 11 grams heavier than the Pixel 9 Pro XL, but the iPhone 12 Pro Max was just two grams heavier than the MagSafe-free iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The Galaxy S27 series is expected to launch in early 2027, and in the meantime you can check out our story on all the different ways it could beat the new iPhone 18 Pro.

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• I checked out the new Samsung SmartTag3 — here’s why this tracker could be a game-changer

The Samsung SmartTag3 will soon be here to give Apple AirTags a run for their money. This is especially true since Samsung’s upcoming smart trackers now offer cross-OS support. That level of universality should make them more appealing no matter your preferred platform.

During a recent Samsung event, I went hands-on with the SmartTag3 and was impressed by its new features and compact design. It also didn’t hurt that a cute dog was at the event to show how the tags benefit pet owners. But whether it’s your fur baby or your luggage, SmartTag3 should help you keep track of your precious items.

Here’s what I think of the Samsung SmartTag 3.

Samsung SmartTag3: Price and availability

Just in time for the holiday season, the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag3 will be available in the U.S. in early November. A one-pack will cost $29, and a four-pack will be $99. Tags will be available in White and Black.

Additionally, Samsung will offer new official accessories for its tags. These include a Silicone Case with a keyring and a Loop Case. Pricing has yet to be announced.

Samsung SmartTag3: Design

Instead of a key fob design like the Galaxy SmartTag 2, the new SmartTag3 resembles a small puck. It’s now about 35% smaller by volume and 33% lighter than the previous model. That makes it easy to attach the tags to keys, small bags, luggage, or even your pet’s collar.

The rounded tag also features an aluminum-decorated button, giving it a more elegant look and a durable feel.

I like how the tags are elegant yet unobtrusive. Whether you place them on your backpack or your dog’s collar, they won’t look out of place. They also feel nice to hold thanks to their smooth texture.

Samsung SmartTag3: Core features

One of the biggest new features, and a first for the Galaxy SmartTag lineup, is cross-OS compatibility for Galaxy and iOS devices. Samsung says this will make it easier for families and groups to access core finding and sharing features across platforms. In other words, if you’re an iPhone user, the SmartTag3 will work with your phone.

Via SmartThings Find, you can check and share a tag’s location and use Search Nearby across supported devices. So if a family member borrows your bookbag, you can check its location and use supported finding features from your Galaxy or iPhone.

If you’ve lost track of something in your home, you can use Compass View to help find it. Acting like one of the trackers in the Alien movies (minus the monsters), Compass View provides distance and directional guidance from up to 60 meters away, which is about three times farther than the previous model. As you get closer, you’ll see a circle on the app begin to fill, and it will fill when you’re in the target location.

What happens when the SmartTag3 moves outside the connection range? That’s where the Galaxy Find Network kicks in to keep the search going. As Samsung explained, more than 900 million participating Galaxy devices worldwide can act as finding nodes to detect the SmartTag3 and update its location beyond your phone’s reach.

Samsung’s smart tags also tell you when objects or pets move from their usual areas via the Place Notification feature. This saves you from constantly checking whether something has moved. If it does, you’ll be notified. Location History also lets you review where your tag has been, while the Movement Detection Alert feature notifies you when movement is detected.

Lastly, the SmartTag3 promises up to 550 days of battery life under normal use and up to 790 days in power-saving mode. Since Apple’s Smart Tags last about a year (365 days), this is another reason for Apple users to consider Samsung’s SmartTag.

Outlook

Samsung has stepped things up with the SmartTag 3, making it more useful for tracking the things you don’t want to lose. Cross-OS support is arguably the biggest new feature, as it opens up these trackers to folks outside the Samsung ecosystem.

As an iPhone user myself, I’m impressed by what I saw and would gladly give these smart trackers a shot. You all can too, as November is just around the corner. Stay tuned for more!

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• After 10 years of Pixels, why is Google still making phones?
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The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra is coming next year, and we've already started hearing a bunch of rumors about the upcoming phone, including a redesign that could see the camera layout drastically change for the first time in several years. However, the latest leaks suggest Samsung will implement much grander changes than just the camera's look.

In fact, it now seems as though the new look could come at the expense of Samsung's trademark fourth camera lens — the secondary telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. Or, at least, that's what long-time leaker Ice Universe claims over on X.

Ice Universe notes that the camera app will now jump from 1x magnification on the main lens, straight to 5x magnification on the soon-to-be-solo telephoto lens. So there's no optical magnification sitting between the two, though the main lens will presumably still offer the 2x "optical quality" digital zoom that's become so popular on flagship phones in recent years.

Ice has stuck with past claims that the telephoto camera itself will remain unchanged, with the same 5x 50MP lens that is currently available on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. This also means that the long-standing rumors that Samsung might offer some kind of variable optical zoom presumably won't be happening next year.

The software could be changing too

Modern smartphone photography involves a lot more than having lots of megapixels or fancy lenses. The software is an integral part of the process, and the Galaxy S27 Ultra is tipped to make some big changes there as well.

This news also comes from Ice Universe, which claims three changes are coming to how the S27 Ultra processes photos. The first of which is a shift from cooler color tones to something warmer. I have noticed this with Samsung cameras in recent years, and the color-temperature shift should make the final photos look closer to what rival camera phones offer.

Samsung is also set to include better highlight control for small, bright objects, such as illuminated text or far-off light sources. According to Ice, the S26 Ultra struggles to suppress these highlights, causing lost detail and overexposure in the final photo. The S27 Ultra should, in theory, control that extra brightness and preserve the clarity of the shot.

Finally, Samsung is supposedly working to reduce noise in dark areas and offer a smoother image all round. This makes perfect sense, since Samsung has done a lot of work improving low-light capabilities and reducing photo noise over the past couple of years, with the help of AI. So there's little reason to expect that it would suddenly stop without warning.

Overall, this should give us better photos with a cleaner picture across light and shadow, plus a warmer tone that doesn't look as harsh as the current cool-looking Samsung-processed photos.

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• The real reason why iPhone Duo will beat all Android foldable phones

There are a lot of things to love about the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, but they definitely are not perfect. There are things that Apple's latest flagships are missing, and that could give Samsung an advantage with the release of the Galaxy S27 Ultra next year.

Success over Apple isn't guaranteed, but with Galaxy S27 Ultra rumors arriving pretty regularly, we're getting a good idea of what the next Samsung flagship could offer. There could be some pretty big changes, including a brand new design that ditches the vertical camera array of the last several generations of Galaxy phones.

That's only scratching the surface. These 5 things in particular could help the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra beat the iPhone 18 Pro — but there are two ways Apple could stay on top.

A bigger battery

Samsung already proved that it has what it takes to boost battery capacity without affecting the design of the device — as we saw with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra's 5,000 mAh silicon carbon battery. Rumor has it that Samsung could utilize the same tech in the S27 Ultra, which makes total sense considering how long the Ultra models have been stuck with 5,000 mAh batteries

Regulator documents have already revealed that Samsung could add a 5,700 mAh battery to the phone. That's a 14% increase over the Galaxy S26 Ultra, and while it's nowhere near as large as the 7,300 mAh OnePlus 15, it's still a noticeable jump in available power. That should hopefully increase the overall battery life. That said, we won't know whether it will exceed the iPhone 18 Pro Max's 18 hours and 27 minutes.

That would require an extra two hours of battery life on Samsung's part, so it better get to work on the efficiency side of things.

An improved privacy display

The Privacy Display is the S26 Ultra's stand-out feature, but it wasn't perfect, and what we really want to see are some improvements to the technology. We'd hope that means brighter overall displays, even when Privacy Display is turned off, and more versatile use of the dimmed sections of the screen.

The latter may be coming true, with leaker Ice Universe claiming that Samsung will adopt a feature that Xiaomi included on the newly-released 18 Pro — a split-screen privacy display. This feature would work in tandem with the S27 Ultra's multitasking, and would expand or contract according to how big the different windows are. The other window is fully lit and visible.

S Pen

While the iPhone Duo is set to get Apple Pencil support, the iPhone 18 Pro does not. The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra is likely to stick with the same level of S Pen support Samsung has offered for the past several years.

We're not expecting any major changes with the S27 Ultra's S Pen. This means you shouldn't expect to see the return of Bluetooth or other more advanced functionality we have seen in previous years. But even the simplest S Pen around is something that Apple doesn't offer on its flagship. So if you like to use a stylus to draw, take notes or make fine photo edits, the S27 Ultra is a more appealing device.

Better camera hardware

Ultra-tier Galaxy phones already have superior camera hardware, thanks to the 200MP main sensor, but things could be getting even better with the S27 Ultra — in the front and back of the phone.

The first upgrade rumor is the addition of a 16MP selfie camera, which would be a notable upgrade from the 12MP shooter on the S26 Ultra. While that's still a little bit less than the 18MP Center Stage camera on iPhone 18 Pro, it's still a welcome upgrade. However, Samsung could jump ahead with rumors of a large sensor on the telephoto lens.

Some rumors suggest that Samsung could offer a larger 1/1.9-inch telephoto sensor, but as a result reduce the amount of optical zoom from 5x magnification to 4x. However, this has been disputed by some leakers, who claim Samsung is sticking with the same 5x 1/2.52-inch sensor as the S26 Ultra. But either way, it's a telephoto lens offering higher resolution and sensor size than the 48MP 1/2.55-inch sensor on iPhone 18 Pro Max.

A 16GB RAM option

While it's unlikely that we'll see the S27 Ultra get a full 16GB of RAM in its cheapest form, there's still a good chance the pricier 1TB models will get that memory boost. This should in turn give those models a slight advantage when it comes to processing, specifically where on-device AI is concerned.

Considering on-device AI is a big focus for Apple, the 12GB of RAM in the iPhone 18 Pro doesn't seem quite so impressive. The S27 Ultra, with more advanced Galaxy AI and computing hardware, could end up leaving the iPhone 18 Pro in the dust here.

2 ways Apple can still win

Performance power

We can't say for certain how powerful the Galaxy S27 Ultra will be, but we have tested the chip that should power the phone when it arrives next year — the Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6. We have done some benchmarking tests with a Qualcomm Reference Device, which gives us an idea of how the chip should perform. As powerful as it is, it doesn't really compare to Apple's A20 Pro in a lot of areas.

As you can see, the A20 Pro pulls ahead in most areas, including single- and multi-core benchmarking tests, and 3DMark's Solar Bay Extreme graphics test. The figures are close in a lot of places, but the only time the Gen 6 chip outpaces Apple is with the 3DMark Wildlife Extreme graphics test.

We don't know how Qualcomm's chip will perform on the S27 Ultra, especially if Samsung gets another custom "for Galaxy" chipset, but for now it seems like Apple certainly has the upper hand.

More storage

As small a difference as it may be, we know that Apple currently offers more storage space than Samsung — offering a maximum storage space of 2TB to Samsung's 1TB. There's always the possibility that this could change, but the rumors suggest otherwise. In fact, the S27 series will apparently have the exact same storage options as the S26 series. This means the Ultra will max out at 1TB.

Those larger storage variants might get LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.1 storage, which would be a benefit for performance and loading speed. Sadly, your maximum limit will be the same 1TB as always, if these rumors are to be believed.

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• Apple confirms iPhone 18 Pro Face ID freezing bug — what you need to know
• iPhone Duo: 7 features you’re giving up by not buying the iPhone 18 Pro Max

Roku is rolling out its first OLED TV, and stock is already lining shelves alongside rival sets from LG, Samsung and Sony. With its competitors having a generous headstart in the OLED sales race, Roku certainly has some catching up to do.

But outside of sales, there’s another arena in which Roku might have to catch up: OLED performance. Sony, Samsung and especially LG have had several years to tinker with their secret formulas for self-emissive success. Despite using similar hardware as some of the best OLED TVs on the market, Roku’s engineers haven’t yet shown us what sort of performance they can get out of the tech.

We’re still cracking away at our full-length Roku Pro Series OLED review, but in the meantime, I wanted to give folks a sneak-peek at some of our findings. Here’s how Roku’s brand-new OLED compares to two of the most popular models on the market.

Roku Pro Series OLED test results: At a glance

Our test results for the LG C6 and Samsung S90H were taken when each of these TVs were set to Filmmaker, their most-accurate picture mode. The Roku Pro Series OLED does not come with Filmmaker mode, so its SDR results have been measured in Movie mode, while the HDR results below were taken in HDR Dark with its Display Brightness set to Brighter.

Given the Pro Series OLED's range of picture modes and brightness-related settings, it's quite possible to produce slightly brighter (or dimmer) results when measuring these test patterns.

However, when comparing the numbers on the chart above, it's worth noting that the C6 and the S90H were measured with a similar set of constraints. As a result, these figures should give you some idea of the key differences in performance when a clean, accurate picture is in play.

While there's not much of a difference between peak HDR brightness on the C6 and S90H, there is a sizable gap between those sets and the Pro Series OLED, at least when it comes to small, concentrated areas of brightness. These are known as specular highlights, and due to their self-lit pixels, OLEDs are particularly good at leveraging highlight brightness for added depth.

The inherent liveliness of an OLED's eye-popping micro-contrast is good news for the Pro Series. Its peak highlight brightness may not be as high as its competitors, but because these objects are being shown on a display capable of perfect black levels, its 500 to 700 nits of HDR brightness appears brighter than it would on an LCD/LED-based TV.

But don't get it twisted: The C6 and S90H are nevertheless the brighter TVs. HDR movies, shows and games will pop on these sets more than they will on the Roku Pro Series OLED.

In SDR — particularly in an accurate picture mode like Movie — the Pro Series hangs tough with its rivals. No OLED TV can safely offer the room-filling, full-picture brightness you might see on a high-powered Mini-LED or RGB LED TV, but for everyday content like cable TV and YouTube videos, the Roku Pro Series offers a similar presentation as the C6 and S90H. It also delivers a finely tuned, accurate picture in Movie mode.

Lastly, let's chat color. The Pro Series OLED's limited brightness partially explains its limited HDR color range, as its simply not bright enough to produce some of the dimmer, subtler shades you'll see on the LG C6 and Samsung S90H.

It's an entry-level OLED, after all

Technically speaking, the C6 and S90H are mid-range models, as they're each sandwiched between entry-level and flagship OLEDs in both brand's respective lineup. One could easily make the argument that, as an entry-level OLED, the Roku Pro Series isn't fairly matched up against this pair of rivals.

The pricing bears this out. The 55-inch Roku Pro Series is currently $999 on Amazon, while the 55-inch C6 and S90H are each $1,499.

A closer match-up would be between the Pro Series OLED and the LG B6 — LG's most-affordable OLED TV in 2026. On Samsung's side, the S85H OLED represents the brand's cheapest mainline OLED TV this year.

For what it's worth, the 55-inch B6 and S85H are priced between $999 and $1,199 at the time of publishing, which is closer in line with Roku's most-affordable OLED. In the coming weeks, we'll be taking a closer look at how the Roku Pro Series OLED compares to LG and Samsung's entry-level sets.

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Samsung — the brand whose name is synonymous with QLED — might be leaving the popular TV type in the dust.

According to a recent report by the South Korean outlet ETNews, Samsung is in the process of drastically reducing its production of QLED TVs, and could potentially phase them out entirely by 2028.

In recent years, many of Samsung’s best TVs have carried the QLED designation, and it’s a dramatic shift for a company that once fought tooth and nail for QLED supremacy. But if this is truly the path Samsung has chosen, there could be a silver lining for future TV shoppers: cheaper Micro RGB TVs.

Samsung put QLED on the map — but then the map changed

Let's start with the bad news: Samsung's QLED reduction plans could see production drop by 80%, as it’s dropping from 10 million units down to just 2 to 3 million. By 2028, all Samsung QLEDs — including Neo QLEDs — could be TVs of the past.

While many popular brands offer quantum dot-enhanced TVs, Samsung gets credit for popularizing the term “QLED” as a means of describing what it viewed as a core feature.

In recent years, Samsung even expanded its lineup to include Neo QLED TVs. Initially, the term referred to quantum dot-enhanced sets that leveraged Mini-LED backlighting with full-array local dimming — the best-performing, non-OLED TVs in Samsung’s catalogue.

Unfortunately, Neo QLEDs are on their way out and, worse, some Neo QLEDs have even dropped hardware-based local dimming.

But QLED's slow demise isn't all gloom and doom: 2026 marked the first year that Samsung’s Micro RGB TVs sat at the top of its LED lineup. These souped-up Mini-LED TVs use red-, green- and blue-colored backlights to enhance color rather than quantum dots.

In retrospect, Samsung's restructuring of the Neo QLED lineup dovetailing with the release of its two first Micro RGB TVs should’ve been a strong indication that the former was on its way out.

This leaves somewhat of a vacancy in the mid-range-to-high-end, non-OLED section of Samsung’s portfolio. And the candidate that makes the most sense to fill that space is Micro RGB.

Analysis: Micro RGB expansion will lead to cheaper Micro RGB TVs

To my eyes, of the many brands taking a swing at RGB LED technology, Samsung’s Micro RGB tech is second only to Sony’s True RGB.

It takes a well-engineered combination of nimble hardware and intricate processing for a complex arrangement of red-, blue- and green-colored LEDs to properly harmonize, and Samsung seems to have figured it out.

The next step, then, is to expand. For Samsung, it’s just as important that the production of Micro RGB TVs gets more cost-effective than that the tech improves at the highest end.

There are two Micro RGB TVs available to the average consumer this year: the Samsung R85H and the flagship R95H. At the time of publishing, the 55-inch, entry-level R85H is the most affordable path to Samsung Micro RGB, but $1,199 is not cheap.

If Samsung does, indeed, phase out its QLEDs, then garden-variety, non-quantum-dot LED TVs will represent the cheapest tier of Samsung’s lineup. Some, I assume, will tap Mini-LEDs.

By the time this comes to pass, it would be shocking if Samsung's Micro RGB TV lineup hasn’t expanded beyond just a pair of (rather pricey) sets. After all, it took a few years, but Samsung now offers three tiers of OLED TV per year. When it first returned to the OLED scene, Samsung only sold one model.

There’s nothing stopping Hisense, Sony and TCL from continuing to tinker with quantum-dot color for the foreseeable future, either. Things could change in a hurry, but from where we’re sitting right now, TCL seems to be all-in on Super Quantum Dot (SQD), the brand’s newest spin on an old formula.

It may be bittersweet to say goodbye to our old friend QLED, but if Samsung plays its cards right, it could bring RGB LED technology to the masses before anyone else — just as it did with quantum dots once before.

More from Tom's Guide

• Samsung TV report card 2026: 'You can rely on Samsung to deliver exceptional performance'
• Are flagship Mini-LED TVs on their way out? Here’s how RGB LED technology is already reshaping the industry
• TCL is suing Samsung for false advertising on its Mini-LED TVs — here’s how to tell if your TV is included

We asked Tom's Guide readers if they would rather pick up Apple's new iPhone Duo or the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, and the winner was quite surprising.

With 2,761 votes, one device proved far more popular than the other by more than double the votes, but was it the Apple iPhone Duo or Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8? Check out the results below.

Which flagship foldable would you rather purchase?

• 1st place: 62%, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8
• 2nd place: 23%, iPhone Duo
• 3rd place: 15%, Neither

With a total of 1,705 votes, 62% of respondents said the Samsung foldable is their preferred foldable phone. Apple's Duo came in a distant second with 632 votes, or 23%.

Meanwhile, 424 people said they weren't interested in either phone. If you find yourself in that camp, what would you buy instead? Or is this category too pricey for you?

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the winner, but why?

So why did the Galaxy Z Fold 8 dominate our poll over the iPhone Duo.

I think it comes down to a few of factors in the battle between the Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo: design, price and expertise.

The Duo starts at $1,999 for the 256GB version and goes up to over $3k for the 2TB option. Samsung's foldable starts at $1,899, not a big difference but with how expensive the world has gotten in the last two years every dollar matters. No, Samsung doesn't offer a 2TB variant but the top-end 1TB model will cost you $2,499, again $100 than the equivalent Duo version.

Additionally, the Z Fold 8 offers a thinner and lighter design than the iPhone Duo. And Samsung lets you run more than two apps at once, which is better for multitasking. Plus, Samsung has been iterating foldables for eight generations, while this is Apple's first attempt.

There is concern over visibility and brightness with the matte finish on the Duo display, which is meant to hide the crease. Pictures of CEO John Ternus at the Emmys recently stirred up controversy online, but we thought it was plenty bright in our hands-on time.

As we've found, though, the iPhone Duo has multiple features that the Z Fold 8 doesn't, including iP68 durability, stylus support, faster charging, and a vapor chamber for better cooling.

What you have said

One reader said in a comment that they were staying away from all things Apple as they didn't want to get sucked into another ecosystem. "I have Samsungs 8 ultra, and I am impressed with it," they said.

As a counterpoint, another reader wrote that the "crucial factor" when comparing Samsung and Apple is Apple's "after-purchase service experience."

"Functionally, I have liked both platforms, but there is a fundamental difference in corporate philosophy. Apple actively invests in both technology and the customer service infrastructure required to support it. Samsung, on the other hand, focuses almost entirely on tech specs while leaving its customer support framework completely neglected," they said.

Bottom line

The iPhone Duo may be the belle of the ball after its recent announcement, but you won't be able to actually hold it in your hands until October 23.

Meanwhile, the Z Fold 8 is available right now and is a pretty impressive foldable, even if Apple's device beats it in some areas.

Let us know: why would you pick the Duo or the Z Fold 8? Don't like either? What's your replacement?

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple Watch Ultra 4 review: I ran 22 miles to test Apple’s ultimate adventure watch
• 11 best iOS 27 hidden features you can't afford to miss
• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max benchmarks: These are the fastest phones we've ever tested

The Galaxy Watch Ultra series is Samsung's answer to the rugged, outdoor adventure-ready Apple Watch Ultra series, and the latest model, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, makes a strong case for being the best tough-built, full-featured smartwatch on the market today.

Two years after the launch of the original ultra-rugged Samsung Galaxy Watch, the new model adds better battery life, tons of new health and fitness insights, a brighter screen, and improved water resistance, all in a familiar design.

But can the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 actually keep up with the latest Apple Watch Ultra 4 and/or the best Garmin watches when it comes to logging adrenaline-pumping activities like mountain bike rides, hikes, and more? I decided to find out by wearing the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 for two weeks. Here's what I discovered.

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2: Key upgrades

But first, here’s a cheat sheet to all the most notable Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 stats and upgrades.

• Price: At $699, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is $50 more than its predecessor, which launched two years ago, but still $100 less than its nearest competitor, the Apple Watch Ultra 3.
• Design: The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is a tiny bit thinner than the original Galaxy Watch Ultra, but you may not notice the difference; the dimensions and weight are nearly identical to the original model
• Screen: Maximum screen brightness has been bumped up from 4,000 nits to 5,000 nits, making it remarkably visible in direct sunlight
• Health features: New 'Vitals' dashboard with key metrics including heart rate, HRV, Sp02, body temp, and breath rate in one place; new 'Heart Health' score
• Fitness features: New Cardio Load insights, new Fitness Index score out of 100 based on factors like daily step count average, V02 Max, average heart rate, BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis), and average workout recovery time
• Battery life: 800 mAh battery is the largest in an Android wearable and a 35% capacity increase over the original Galaxy Watch Ultra; battery life usage averages ~25% drain per day in testing so far

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2: Versus competition

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 value: 3/5

• At $699, the Ultra 2 is $50 more than its predecessor but still $100 cheaper than the Apple Watch Ultra 4
• The more affordable Galaxy Watch 9 offers most of the same features as the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, starting at $379

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is priced at $699, a modest $50 increase over the launch price of its two-year-old predecessor. More notably, it's a hundred bucks cheaper than the latest Apple Watch Ultra 4, its nearest non-Android competitor.

Meanwhile, the latest Galaxy Watch 9 models —which share pretty much all the same features, just in a less beefy package — range from $379 to $459.

The $699 Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is available now in stores and online.

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 display: 4.5/5

• The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has one of the largest, brightest displays in any full-featured smartwatch
• Max brightness is 5,000 nits, making the Ultra 2 a breeze to read in direct sunlight

The new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 sports a sizable 1.52-inch display that maxes out at an impressive 5,000 nits, making it one of the brightest displays in any full-featured wearable, including 2026's best smartwatches.

The Apple Watch Ultra 4, by comparison, also features a large, lovely display, but it only maxes out at 3,000 nits. Real-world translation: the new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is a lot easier to read in bright sunlight than the newest Apple Watch Ultra.

I also wore both the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Garmin Instinct 3 — my go-to GPS sports watch — while e-mountain biking and also found the former more legible while on the move.

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 design and durability: 4/5

• Unlike its predecessor, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is now officially scuba dive-certified
• The case is a little slimmer than before, but you might not notice; ultimately, the Galaxy Watch Ultra feels pretty chunky on my 6.5-inch wrist
• The included strap is softer and more flexible than the strap for the original model

The original Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra promises 100 meters of water resistance, but unlike its Apple Watch Ultra counterpart, Samsung's rugged model wasn't intended for use while diving or even snorkeling.

Samsung no doubt caught some flak for this shortcoming. Thankfully, the new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is thoroughly dive-ready. In fact, Samsung partnered with the industry-trusted Mares diving app to turn the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 into a fully-fledged dive computer, complete with speed monitoring and safety-stop alerts. The app costs $8.99 a month or $69.99 for the year.

The Ultra 2 is rated for 100 meters of water resistance and is EN13319-certified for scuba diving and IP69K-certified against dust and moisture.

Design-wise, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 looks nearly identical to its predecessor, with close-to-the-same dimensions and weight. That said, Samsung technically shaved 2mm off the case thickness, but I hardly noticed it. The case still feels very large on my 6.5-inch wrist.

There are three physical buttons along one side of the case; the center "Action" button can be customized to perform one of eight actions. I set it up to start a workout.

One less obvious but definitely welcome design change is the inclusion of a softer, more flexible strap. Also, the Ultra 2 uses the same attachment system as its predecessor, so if you prefer the older version, you can easily swap it onto the newer model.

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 Health tools: 4.5/5

• New Vitals tab in Samsung Health app provides useful insights into long-term health and fitness trends
• Comprehensive sleep tracking reports on par with the best smartwatches
• None of Samsung's holistic features are paywalled, unlike Google and Garmin
• New Heart Health score for monitoring cardiovascular wellness

Similar to the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 9, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 ships fully-loaded with all sorts of new health and fitness insights.

These features include a new Vitals dashboard in the Samsung Health app for viewing your most important up-to-the-minute health stats in one place, a new Cardio Load score to track your heart health, and a new Fitness Index score that compares your overall physical health to averages for your age and gender.

The Vitals tab shows your current heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen saturation percentage (Sp02), body temperature, and breathing rate.

The new Heart Health score ranges from one to 100, with the upper end being better. This metric updates dynamically throughout the day, keeping users appraised of how their everyday decisions may be impacting cardiovascular health for better or worse.

Fitness Index, meanwhile, factors in loads of fitness and wellness metrics to figure out how your overall health compares to your peers in five key categories: strength, cardio, endurance, flexibility, and body composition. You also get a dynamic score from one to 100 (mine is currently 82, or "average").

Samsung's smartwatches deliver some of the most detailed and actionable sleep reports of any smartwatch brand, and even though there aren't any shiny new features, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is a mighty fine sleep tracker. That is, assuming you can get over wearing something so chunky to bed.

Like its predecessor, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is FDA-cleared for sleep apnea detection, something that can't be said for the newest Google Pixel Watch models.

Also, unlike some of the competition — cough, cough, Google and Garmin — Samsung doesn't make you pay a monthly or annual subscription to access the full suite of health insights, including AI-powered personalized training and recovery recommendations.

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 fitness tracking: 3/5

• Reliable heart rate tracking
• Nearly as reliable at logging workouts as the best outdoor adventure watches, with one exception...
• The Ultra 2 tends to overinflate the 'Climb' metric when logging walks, runs, bike rides, and hikes
• Lacks tracking modes for some of the more nuanced yet popular outdoor activities like mountain biking and e-biking

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is rightfully billed as a smartwatch for outdoor enthusiasts and lovers of extreme-style sports. However, I found two shortcomings in my testing.

First, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 sometimes struggles to accurately track elevation gain when logging an outdoor workout, with a tendency to noticeably inflate climb data. I encountered this when testing the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 vs. Garmin Instinct 3 while city cycling in hilly Seattle, Washington, and again when I went e-mountain biking in Washington State's Cougar Country.

That said, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 performed extremely well in a head-to-head walk test comparison versus the Apple Watch Ultra 3. However, it once again delivered highly inflated elevation data when I hiked the Cascade Mountains with the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 vs. Garmin Instinct 3 vs. Apple Watch Ultra 3.

Elevation tracking aside, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 largely performs as well as the best smartwatches and fitness trackers when it comes to reliably logging both moving and stationary workouts. Ultimately, as long as you wear the device tight enough, heart rate data should also be highly accurate.

My other criticism of the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, which, again, is sold as an outdoor adventure-ready smartwatch, is a lack of tracking modes for popular activities, like mountain biking and e-biking.

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 AI features: 3.5/5

• Google's useful Gemini AI voice assistant is built-in and can be launched via a handy, new 'Raise to talk' gesture control

In addition to AI playing a part in some of Samsung's flagship new health features, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 ships with Google's Gemini AI voice assistant built-in. It's the best smartwatch voice assistant I've tested so far, though that may change after I thoroughly test the latest Siri AI on the Apple Watch Series 12.

With access granted to apps like Gmail and Google Calendar, the Gemini assistant is more than capable of answering super-specific questions like, "When did my sister say her flight is landing next week?" as well as more generic ones like "What's the cheapest, easiest way to soften a stiff T-shirt?"

Better yet, you can launch the Gemini assistant using the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 by simply raising your wrist (you will need to first turn it on in the settings menu). Samsung's "Raise to talk" gesture control is remarkably effective, on par with Google's version for the Pixel Watch 4 and 5.

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 battery: 4.5/5

• The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 exceeded its 60-hour-per-charge battery life rating in testing, lasting closer to 72 hours per charge with the always-on display enabled
• This makes it one of the longest-lasting full-featured smartwatches for Android in 2026 and longer-lasting than the latest Apple Watch Ultra 4

Not only did Samsung equip the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 with a higher-capacity battery — 590 mAh for the old model vs. 800 mAh for the new one — but the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is also more power-efficient than its predecessor, despite a brighter display.

The original Galaxy Watch Ultra had a battery life rating of 48 hours per charge, a claim we verified in our testing. The new model is rated to last up to 60 hours per charge, but in my testing, it comfortably surpassed that, cruising for closer to 72 hours per charge.

By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 gets 40 hours per charge at best (44mm). Meanwhile, the latest Apple Watch Ultra 4, the nearest competitor to the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, lasts for about 50 hours per charge.

Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 review: Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is a meaningful update to the original Galaxy Watch Ultra. The newer model is even tougher, with legit scuba-diving-ready specs and features, longer-lasting, with up to three days of battery per charge, and ever-so-slightly more comfortable thanks to a thinner case and a softer, more flexible strap.

The screen brightness has also been increased, giving the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 the brightest display in any full-featured smartwatch for Android. Plus, new health and fitness tracking metrics help to bring long-term holistic trends into sharper focus.

As an outdoor adventure watch, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 proved mighty capable, with one exception: faulty elevation data. However, I'm hoping this is just a minor hiccup that will eventually be fixed with future firmware.

Ultimately, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is a tougher, smarter, longer-lasting take on what was already one of the best Android smartwatches ever made. That, I think, is worth the $50 price increase.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 has been a strong reminder of why Samsung has been able to dominate the foldable phone market for so long. While it's true the company hasn't had a lot of competition, the fresh new form factor of the Fold 8 seems to have reinvigorated the interest in Galaxy foldables — just in time for Apple to jump onto the foldable bandwagon with the iPhone Duo.

The simple fact that this is a foldable iPhone means the Duo has the potential to offer Samsung the first serious competition for several years. The phone hasn't even been released yet, and we've already identified key ways that the iPhone Duo beats the similarly-styled Galaxy Z Fold 8. But what about the other way round?

Samsung has almost a decade of foldable experience, and that shows in the ways its latest release compares to Apple's first attempt. Here are seven ways the Galaxy Z Fold 8 beats the iPhone Duo.

It's lighter and thinner

Rumors suggested that the iPhone Duo would be the thinnest phone Apple has ever built, at 4.5mm (0.17-inches) thick when unfolded. That wasn't the case, and we now know that the iPhone Duo is 5.2mm (0.2 inches) thick — which is slightly less than the 5.6mm iPhone Air.

Meanwhile the Galaxy Z Fold 8 really is 4.5mm thick when it's unfolded, making it one of the thinnest phones you can go out and buy. It's also much lighter than the iPhone Duo, weighing 201 grams (7.09 ounces) to Apple's 254 grams (8.96 ounces). That weight actually makes the Duo one of the heaviest iPhones Apple has ever released.

The difference between the two may not seem like much, it does mean that the Z Fold 8 is likely to be more comfortable to use.

A cheaper price tag

Foldable phones are not cheap, with both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and iPhone Duo costing several hundred dollars more than their non-folding counterparts. But when it comes to the actual asking price, Samsung has the edge.

The cheapest Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is $1,899, which gets you a model with 256GB of storage and 12GB of RAM. Apple's cheapest iPhone Duo offers the same level of memory and storage, but it costs $1,999 — $100 more.

That price disparity sticks around for the 512GB and 1TB options as well. Samsung charges $2,099 and $2,499, respectively, while Apple's prices are both $100 more at $2,199 and $2,599. Samsung doesn't offer a 2TB storage option; the 2TB Duo comes in at $3,199.

Better multitasking

Multitasking has never been Apple's strong suit, especially on the iPhone, and it looks like iPhone Duo won't be at quite the same level as the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The Z Fold 8 supports up to three windows at once, as well as five floating app windows that can sit wherever you like on screen. This is also possible on Apple's iPads, but iPhone Duo only supports two Split View windows at a time.

Considering one of the benefits of iPhone Duo is the ability to carry an iPad-like device in your pocket, the limited nature of Split View means you're missing out on an important productivity feature other devices have offered for years.

DeX

While desktop modes have slowly started making a comeback on Android phones, Apple has always seen fit to completely ignore them. The Z Fold 8 offers Samsung's DeX desktop mode, while the iPhone Duo lacks any sort of equivalent feature.

The idea behind DeX is that you plug your Galaxy phone into a monitor, at which point the phone loads up a desktop-like UI on the larger screen. That way you can use your phone as a desktop computer, without needing to carry around a laptop or tablet everywhere you go.

It's a fairly niche feature, and it's reliant on having access to a spare display. But it is a way to get more use out of a Z Fold 8, and put all the performance hardware to good use. It's unfortunate that the iPhone Duo is limited to its own display and UI.

Physical SIM slot

Apple has been betting big on eSIMs in recent years, and some regions (including the U.S.) can't use physical SIM cards in newer models of iPhone.

Sadly, while European versions of the iPhone 18 Pro still come with a physical SIM card slot, that won't be the case with iPhone Duo. Apple has confirmed that the phone will be eSIM only all around the world. So no matter where you live, there's zero opportunity to use a physical nano SIM card.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 still supports both eSIM and physical SIM cards, which gives users a lot more choice and flexibility. It's pretty small in the grand scheme of things, but as someone that has to swap phones fairly often, the process of transferring eSIMs to a new device is nowhere near as simple as swapping a physical card between devices.

16GB RAM option

The iPhone Duo comes with 12GB of RAM no matter which storage variant you get. Samsung starts off by offering 12GB on its cheapest models, but those buying the 1TB storage option will actually get an additional 4GB of RAM thrown in — for a total of 16GB.

Why does that matter? It all comes down to why memory prices have been skyrocketing over the past year: AI processing. AI features are heavily reliant on RAM, and generally speaking the more memory that's available, the faster things will run. That's particularly important for on-device AI processing, which is faster and more secure than offloading those tasks to the cloud.

Historically iPhones haven't needed as much RAM as Android phones, on account of the strong links between Apple's hardware and software. But not even Apple can bypass AI's need for memory, and we'll have to wait and see how the Duo (and A20 Pro chipset) performs in AI benchmarking tests before we can say how much better or worse it could have been with more RAM.

8K video recording

The iPhone Duo is no slouch in the camera department, at least not as far as we can tell from the specs and limited hands-on time. While the actual camera hardware looks fairly similar to that of the Z Fold 8 (48MP main lenses compared to 50MP), there is one thing Samsung has a leg up on — ultra-high-resolution video recording.

Like many Samsung flagships, the Z Fold 8 is capable of recording video at 8k resolution at 30 frames per second or 4K resolution at 120fps. Meanwhile, the iPhone Duo is capped at 4K resolution video recording, with frame rates of 120fps on the main camera and 60fps on the ultrawide.

Admittedly, the opportunities to play 8K video are pretty slim for the average phone user — so recording in such high resolution is just a waste of storage space. But it is a key area in which Samsung outpaces Apple, which might be important to you.

More from Tom's Guide

• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max battery capacity confirmed in Europe — here's how they compare to iPhone 17 Pro
• Apple's just extended free access to emergency satellite communication for another year — it's the third time this has happened
• Steve Jobs said there would never be an iPhone stylus but iPhone Duo just proved him wrong — and it'll be a better device for it

LG — makers of some of the best TVs on the market — is facing scrutiny after an investigative report revealed potential privacy vulnerabilities associated with its smart TVs. Specifically, the investigation purports that LG is aware that its TV users are being tracked to the degree that they are, but that in most cases, the user doesn’t.

For LG TV-owners, these developments could be cause for concern. Despite the seemingly endless spool of user agreements that unfurls during the set-up process, the extent to which a TV can track a person’s actions (and where that data ends up) remains eerily inscrutable.

But while LG is taking its turn under the microscope, every other TV brand is conveniently side-stepping the latest round of scrutiny. In 2026, every smart TV on the market is gathering a ton of data about who we are, what we watch and how likely we are to buy stuff — and there’s currently no incentive for them to stop.

What’s going on with LG smart TVs?

Let’s start with some context. According to a recent investigation by YouTube channel Gamers Nexus, LG smart TVs continuously scan and gather information about devices connected to a user’s home Wi-Fi network.

The LG smart TV news gets even more concerning, though, as Gamers Nexus also discovered that select models record audio via microphones in the TV and remote control — even while the TV is disconnected from the internet. These audio files are transcribed, stored and can be sent to LG when the TV connects to the internet.

We’ve reached out to LG for more information on these matters, but based on comments provided to outlets like Ars Technica and Tom’s Hardware, the stated function of LG TVs’ network analyzation function is to recognize and enable compatible devices that can interface with the TV.

Additionally, LG claims that its TVs’ always-on listening function is limited to situations in which this feature has been deliberately enabled by the user, either by via a button on the remote or when the TV detects the “wake” words (like “Hi, LG”). According to LG, transcribed text is locally processed and deleted — not stored.

Like many tech brands that deal heavily in the gathering and mapping of user data, LG insists that its practices are above board. But critics (myself included) maintain that the process in which data is collected and catalogued is too opaque for most people to understand, and that allowing companies increasing access to our private lives introduces certain risks.

LG happens to be the brand catching the most flak right now, but it’s far from the only actor engaging in these dealings. In fact, I can’t think of a single TV-maker that isn’t.

LG is not alone

The worldwide leader in OLED TVs isn’t the only brand whose smart TVs are built around data-collection. Nearly every major TV-maker in the world is getting in on the action and has been for years.

As TV-enjoyers, we awkwardly reap some of the benefits of this system. One of the biggest reasons why TVs have gotten better and cheaper is because brands are able to offset costs by collecting and selling user data.

But make no mistake: We are nowhere near the primary benefactors here. These companies study who we are and what we watch, map our habits and find ways to maximize that information.

In addition to LG, Hisense, Samsung, Sony and TCL have faced criticism for their use of Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), a built-in function that tracks what’s on screen, gathers screenshots and shares the data with the brand associated with the TV or its software. All of that on-screen information can then be used as a roadmap for trying to sell stuff back to the user.

Almost every smart TV on shelves right now is equipped with at least one microphone. And, while there are ways to disable these mics, the amount of software entanglement that exists between voice-activated smart home devices, TVs and smartphones provides plenty of incentive for people to smash that “Agree” button at the bottom of a wall of complicated legalese without much of a thought.

The frenzied, capitalistic advent of AI-based TV features — many of which offer little tangible benefit but are nevertheless the centerpiece of a company’s marketing pitch — all but ensures that the relationship between us and our data is about to get even more opaque.

Smart TVs have made streaming more accessible and cheaper than ever, but along the way, there’s been a slow-creep of access granted to the companies we invite into our living rooms.

How to protect your smart TV privacy

There’s no way around it: The best “Dumb” TVs don’t really exist, and if you’re buying a smart TV, there’s a certain amount of privacy you’ll have to give up in order to use it. There are, however, ways to nibble around the edges of the situation.

We recently published a guide on how to stop an LG TV from listening, but it wasn’t our first foray into the subject. We’ve also published a guide on how to turn off TV data collection for several popular brands including Samsung, Roku, and sets built around Google TV and Amazon Fire TV.

If you’re unclear whether or not your TV is tapping an on-board listening device, we’ve outlined instructions on how to disable a TV microphone. The exact manner in which these on-board microphones are used depends on the brand associated with the TV and/or its software, but I highly recommend familiarizing yourself with your own set’s functionality.

Until something powerful compels TV companies to disclose more information about their business practices, we — the viewers — need to take it upon ourselves to understand what’s at stake when it comes to our personal data and to draw our own lines in the sand for what we deem acceptable and unacceptable. LG is the latest brand at the center of controversy, but it surely won’t be the last.

More from Tom's Guide

• Your LG TV could be tracking devices on your home Wi-Fi — here’s how to stop it
• Yes, your TV probably has a microphone in it — here's how to turn it off
• Here's why it's hard to find 'dumb TV' in 2026 — and why you shouldn't buy one anyway

The launch of iPhone Duo is a big deal. This is the first ever foldable developed by Apple, and for that reason alone it has the chance to dethrone Samsung as the king of the foldable phone space. But it also helps that Apple has produced a phone with a lot of great qualities, and will naturally lead to comparisons with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8.

The two phones are similar in a bunch of ways, including their wider, passport-inspired design. However, there are a number of key ways Apple has improved on the foldable design, and beaten Samsung at its own game. Considering this is Apple's first foldable, that might just make the extended development time worth it. Here are seven ways iPhone Duo actually beats the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

IP68 rating

Google proved that a foldable could get an IP68 water and dust resistance rating with last year's Pixel 10 Pro Fold. This means that, despite all the moving parts around the hinge, Google was able to seal the phone up and ensure dust and other foreign particles can't get inside. Apple continued that trend by also sealing the iPhone Duo up to the same IP68 standard.

Meanwhile the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is only rated to IP48. The 8 means that it's water-tight, capable of being submerged in up to a meter of water for up to 30 minutes — just like Google and Apple. However, the 4 means that the Z Fold 8 offers no protection against dust, or any other particles larger than one millimeter (0.04 inches).

In other words, there's a whole bunch of nasty stuff that could get inside the Z Fold 8 and cause problems — and you might not even realize it. In other words, you should be able to take the iPhone Duo to the beach.

Apple Pencil support

Samsung used to sell foldables that supported the S Pen stylus, but the last one to be released was 2024's Galaxy Z Fold 6. From the Z Fold 7 onwards, Samsung stripped out the S Pen functionality, removing a critical part of the display makeup in order to reduce the phone's thickness. This means that the Z Fold 8 does not support any kind of active stylus.

Meanwhile, the iPhone Duo not only offers stylus support, it's compatible with the Apple Pencil USB-C — which works with the majority of iPads still on sale. Samsung needed a special kind of S Pen for the foldable screen, but the iPhone Duo uses a stylus that you may already have.

It's the most basic Apple stylus on sale, and it lacks key features you'll find on the Apple Pencil Pro, but it's better than nothing.

MagSafe

Magnetic wireless charging is a rarity, in part because Apple had a stranglehold on it for so long. While Qi2 wireless charging does allow phones to add a MagSafe-style magnetic ring, Samsung has avoided doing this — preferring to utilize special magnetic cases instead. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is no exception to this trend, despite offering all the other benefits of Qi2 charging.

Apple had no such issue adding MagSafe to the iPhone Duo, as it's done with virtually every iPhone released since the iPhone 12. Plus, despite the phone's unique shape and size, Apple confirmed that it is compatible with MagSafe accessories and chargers — meaning all your old MagSafe products should still fit.

Faster 60W charging

MagSafe isn't the only way iPhone Duo beats Z Fold 8 in the charging department. Apple's foldable also offers faster charging speeds, regardless of whether you use MagSafe or a plug-in charging cable.

Wired charging supports up to 60W speeds, which regains 50% charge in just 15 minutes. Meanwhile, wireless charging is capped at 25W. In comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 offers 45W wired charging, and can regain 43% in 15 minutes. Wireless charging is also slightly slower at 20W, which puts it at a slight disadvantage to the iPhone.

Better front-facing camera hardware

Like the S Pen, Samsung used to offer an under-display camera on Galaxy Z Fold phones — and it hasn't been seen since the Galaxy Z Fold 6. The quality was not great, and it was no surprise that later Z folds switched back to the hole-punch camera design. Apple is giving under-display camera tech another chance at the limelight.

Apple hasn't specified the quality of this camera, noting that it's designed for use with FaceTime and other video calling software rather than selfies. That suggests the quality isn't great. But at least Apple is willing to try new things with the Duo, rather than reusing the same lackluster selfie camera hardware for multiple years in a row.

Plus, the iPhone Duo's actual selfie camera, which is in the cover display, offers higher resolution than Samsung. We're talking 12MP compared to 10MP, and while resolution doesn't automatically mean quality, it's likely that this is a similar selfie camera to the one in iPhone 17 Pro Max — which I found to take better photos than the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

iPhone Duo software reacts based on folded hinge state

A lot of Samsung phones offer what the company calls "Flex Mode," which allows the phone to react and adapt depending on the angle of the central hinge. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the first Galaxy foldable to ditch this feature, despite the fact it's available on the Ultra model. This reduces the functionality of the phone somewhat, especially compared to iPhone Duo.

Apple doesn't have a special name for this feature, but the Duo does react depending on the angle of the hinge and the state of the fold itself. So if you have Netflix running, folding the screen to a 90-degree angle will shift the video to one side of the screen, and media controls to the other.

Vapor chamber cooling

The iPhone Duo offers an A20 Pro chipset with vapor chamber cooling, which helps dissipate heat. This means that the iPhone should offer better sustained performance, especially when doing resource-heavy tasks like gaming, multitasking and AI processing.

We haven't done any performance or thermal testing on the iPhone Duo just yet, so we don't know how effective the vapor chamber will be. That said, the Fold 8 doesn't offer a vapor chamber at all.

More from Tom's Guide

• Apple quietly jacks the prices of the iPhone 16, iPhone 17, and iPhone Air — here's how much you'll pay now
• Apple's just extended free access to emergency satellite communication for another year — it's the third time this has happened
• Steve Jobs said there would never be an iPhone stylus but iPhone Duo just proved him wrong — and it'll be a better device for it

Sony just dropped a brand-new OLED TV, and the most surprising thing about it (other than its sudden, mid-year announcement) is its relatively low price.

For the first time, a Sony OLED TV is going toe to toe with more modestly priced OLEDs from Sony’s top rivals. The Bravia 6 is $1,999 for a 65-inch model, which puts it roughly in line with mid-range OLEDs from LG and Samsung.

That’s exciting news for anyone looking for more OLED-driven options in this price range, but I’m especially interested in the Bravia 6 for two reasons: its hardware and its picture processing.

The Bravia 6 is the first Sony OLED TV with four HDMI 2.1 inputs

Believe it or not, there aren’t very many Sony TVs with more than two HDMI 2.1 inputs. Despite the steep price tags associated with top-tier Sony sets, even the brand’s best TVs (like the recently released Bravia 9 II) are mostly equipped with just a pair of high-bandwidth ports.

The Bravia 6 is different. It might not be as bright or as colorful as the Sony Bravia 8 II OLED, but the Bravia 6 offers more flexibility when it comes to current- and next-generation gaming. With four HDMI 2.1-compatible inputs, folks who upgrade to the Bravia 6 won’t have to think too hard about what devices are plugged into which input, as all of them support the same slate of features, such as 4K gaming at 120Hz.

For years, LG and Samsung OLED TVs have offered a full slate of HDMI 2.1 inputs. This has been true across nearly all of these brands’ OLEDs — from entry-level models to flagship-level models.

As expected, the Bravia 6’s closest competitors — the LG C6 and Samsung S90H — both carry four HDMI 2.1 inputs. Had Sony’s latest OLED TV arrived with just two high-bandwidth ports, it would have stumbled out of the gate.

But perhaps the most enticing aspect of the Bravia 6 isn't the hardware on its outside, but rather, the software that makes it all possible.

Sony's picture processing is among the best in the game

Until now, experiencing Sony's exceptional processing on an OLED TV typically meant spending more for the privilege — at least relative to competitive sets. The Bravia 6's aggressive pricing makes the brand's expert engineering a bit more accessible.

If you’re the type of viewer who values an accurate presentation above all else, it's tough not to respect Sony's commitment to the cause. Even at the lowest end of the Bravia TV lineup (the Bravia 3 II), Sony is dedicated to making the most of a TV’s hardware.

We're still in the process of evaluating the Bravia 6, and while we don't have test results ready to publish, it's quite possible that Sony's new OLED doesn't get quite as bright as mid-range models from LG and Samsung. But if the Bravia 6's picture processing is as good as we've seen on several Bravia TVs this year, Sony's attention to detail could be the ace up its sleeve.

Sony Bravia 6: Outlook