On the first full test run, success was the order of the day as that amphibious car rolled down the bank, splashed into the water, and simply continued trucking. The foam blocks kept it afloat, and the back motor gradually slipped into place, propelling it across the lake. Minutes passed, and before you knew it, the animal had reached the far shore and climbed back out by itself. The project’s inventor, RCLifeOn, has a reputation for transforming common parts into some interesting creations.
This time, he began with a simple metal car frame stripped of its roof and any excess dead weight. The goal from the beginning was to build a single machine that could handle both pavement and open water without the need for a trailer or separate boat. The foam blocks supplied lift. Stacked and molded around the frame, they provided enough buoyancy to hold a good three hundred kilograms. Plywood plates fastened the foam to the metal, and some glass fiber cloth offered some more strength at the joints; nevertheless, the first time he attempted it, the fabric split some of the foam; a quick coat of paint sealed the surface against water and filth.
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Four hub motors nestled inside the tires provided the land some power. They provided him four-wheel drive that was reversible and controlled by electronic speed controllers, as well as a decent amount of torque for grass and dirt. A twist throttle on the handlebar controlled acceleration, while the rider sat comfortably in the center for balance on both surfaces. In contrast, water mode required a slightly different technique. He cobbled together an old e-foil motor with the propeller installed at the back, giving it some thrust when lowered into the water. Some aluminum extrusions made a sliding gantry that carried the entire motor assembly up and down on rollers with a little help from a Ryobi drill, whose clutch allowed him to lift or drop the motor smoothly without getting all those gears mixed up. One direction spun it down, while the other quickly lifted it off the ground. A few pieces of wood and 3D printed brackets held everything together, and the base plate was made of 8mm plywood.
Steering on the water was just a matter of catching the flow with a couple of pieces of plywood near the prop and nudging the nose one way or another. The body would lean slightly in the tighter turns. The same throttle grip functioned in both modes, and he fueled the land and water motors with their own battery packs and controllers.
When it came to routing, electronics required a lot of careful preparation because you had to make sure your LiPo batteries, heavy-duty speed controllers, and a servo tester all worked together without any cables getting pinched and no water damage seeping in. Then there’s the puzzle of keeping all your cables tidy, as your moving gantry is always changing about, causing a mess, so some strong cable management skills are required. Finally, the testing verified that everything worked. On land, the vehicle handled similarly to a solid four-wheel drive cart. In the water, it floated perfectly on the surface and glided along at a reasonable speed, enough to span a substantial amount of lake in a matter of minutes. Transitioning from road to water was seamless: simply drive in, turn off the engine, and go. Even when floating, the low ground clearance protects the hub motors, while the foam on the tires keeps them mostly out of the water.
Range estimates place it at roughly fifty kilometers (thirty-one miles) on roads and three on water, but only with the current battery configuration. The good news is that the entire system is made up of parts that can be easily found at any old hardware shop, from the frame to the drill mechanism and everything in between. The constructor ensured that every connection is easily serviced with only a simple set of equipment.
Maker ‘Ancient’ recently worked on a project that transforms standard fog into a small stage for 3D models. So you stand in front of it and see this green ghost, also known as Slimer from Ghostbusters, floating around in mid-air. You go to one side, and the perspective refreshes fluidly, as if the ghost is actually floating about in there. There is no need for special glasses or anything like that.
The method works by carefully projecting into a space filled with tiny water droplets. The light scatters in the fog, but the moment you divert your gaze away from a straight line to the projector, it becomes very dim. They got past this by putting in a variety of projections all around the fogbox. This manner, no matter which angle you look at, one of the projections will be exactly aligned while the others will fade away. It’s a simple yet effective design that creates a sense of depth and allows you to stroll around the object from various perspectives.
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The build process begins with a simple projection test to ensure that everything works in 2D. Then things get a little more tricky with folding optics to keep the entire outfit compact. Mirrors bend the light to ensure that all of the equipment fits together in a small place without having to hurl the images over great distances. Then there are the specific cuts to ensure that the mirrors fit perfectly in the case where they will be installed.
Assembly puts everything together by combining the mirrors, projector, and frame into one compact unit. Then there’s the atomiser, which mixes the water to produce a homogenous fog within the viewing area. The calibration stage comes next, during which each projection must be properly aligned so that the images overlap exactly inside the mist. Without doing it correctly, the entire thing collapses when you change positions.
Once everything is in order and you’ve completed the final checks, the demos really shine. You get a 3D model suspended in the fog, which changes perspective as you walk around it. It’s all pretty smooth. A second presentation includes more complicated motion or lights. Everything works without anyone having to tell you what’s going on; just the silent buzz of fans and the beautiful illumination in the mist.
The entire system is built around common components that most hobbyists can easily obtain. The image output is handled by projectors, and the fog serves as a display surface that appears only when necessary. There are no spinning parts or arrays of lights to mess things up; instead, the entire system relies on the natural way that light works in fog to handle the stereo and motion stuff automatically.
At the Beijing Auto Show 2026, BMW unveiled the iX3 Flow Edition, marking the first time E Ink’s Prism technology has been integrated into a series-ready production vehicle. The announcement signals a major leap from experimental concept cars to real-world automotive applications, bringing dynamic, color-changing surfaces to everyday mobility.
From Concept To Production Reality
The iX3 Flow Edition represents the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between BMW and E Ink. Earlier milestones included the iX Flow concept revealed at CES 2022 and the i Vision Dee in 2023, both of which showcased the potential of electrophoretic displays in automotive design. However, those remained experimental.
BMW iX3 Flow EditionBMW
With the iX3 Flow Edition, E Ink Prism is now embedded directly into the vehicle’s bonnet structure and has passed stringent automotive durability and safety testing. This transition from concept to production-ready technology highlights that programmable exteriors are no longer a futuristic gimmick but a viable feature for future vehicles.
Why This Breakthrough Matters
At its core, E Ink’s electrophoretic technology uses microcapsules filled with charged particles that shift under electrical signals to change color. Unlike traditional displays, it consumes power only when switching states, making it highly energy efficient – an important factor for electric vehicles.
This innovation opens up new design and functional possibilities. Beyond aesthetics, dynamic exteriors could improve thermal efficiency by reflecting or absorbing heat, enhance visibility, or communicate vehicle status. It also pushes the boundaries of what materials and surfaces in cars can achieve, especially across curved and complex geometries.
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A New Layer Of Personal Expression
The iX3 Flow Edition introduces eight curated animation styles, allowing drivers to customize the vehicle’s appearance based on mood or context. This transforms the car into a personalized digital canvas, blending automotive engineering with interactive design.
BMW iX3 Flow EditionBMW
For consumers, it signals a shift toward vehicles that are not just transportation tools but expressive, adaptive devices. Much like customizable smartphone interfaces, cars are now evolving into platforms for personal identity.
What Comes Next
The iX3 Flow Edition acts as a bridge toward broader adoption of ePaper surfaces across future BMW models. While initial implementations may remain premium features, scaling production could eventually bring dynamic exteriors into mainstream segments.
For E Ink, this milestone validates its vision of bringing ePaper beyond screens and into everyday surfaces. For the automotive industry, it sets the stage for a new era where car design becomes programmable, adaptive, and deeply personal.
We’ve noted how Warner Brothers CEO David Zaslav is poised to receive a $550 million golden parachute from the sale of Warner Brothers to Paramount, despite the fact that his tenure has been broadly viewed as disastrous at best.
Zaslav oversaw years of dysfunction during the last wave of pointless Warner Brothers mergers, which included tens of thousands of brutal layoffs, consistent creative infighting, endlessly higher prices, cancelled programming, and a steady wave of overall dysfunction. And that’s before we even get to this latest merger with Paramount, which is expected to see more layoffs and chaos than ever.
“It’s a purely symbolic rebuke: The shareholder advisory vote is non-binding, meaning the Warner Bros. Discovery board can go ahead with the payouts as planned anyway. But it shows WBD shareholders aren’t happy by the generous payments to the company’s outgoing executive team and comes after shareholders last year also voted against the WBD executive compensation packages.”
It’s nice that investors took the time to realize these outsized compensation packages not only harm the company’s bottom line, but they reward incompetent leadership. But at the same time they approved a merger that, largely thanks to the whopping $111 billion in debt, is inevitably going to result in yet more layoffs, price hikes, customer defections, and overall chaos.
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Investors turn a blind eye because they like the temporary stock bumps and tax breaks generated from pointless consolidation, but you’d think that the fact that every single Warner Brothers mega-transaction to date has been a giant disaster would be more foreword in their thinking.
Ever since the original AOL Time Warner merger back in 2001, pointless consolidation has promised no limit of innovative “synergies,” but instead resulted in more than 50,000 layoffs, shittier product, higher prices, the death of a ton of well-loved brands and IPs, decades of infighting, a decline in quality journalism at places like CNN (and now CBS), and a bottomless well of shit.
It’s the extraction class abusing the rules of the game to pretend to be good at business. They’re not actually building anything useful, nor are they remotely interested in the longevity of the company, its customers, the talent that powers it, or the people who work there. They’re playing with funny numbers to try and perpetually generate the illusion of impossible permanent growth at incredible scale, then cashing out when the check finally comes due for their complicated shell games.
Many HVAC systems in North America operate off 24V systems, which can be readily upgraded with off-the-shelf smart thermostats quite easily. However, there are many people living in buildings with 120-volt fan coil units who aren’t so lucky. [mackswan] is one such individual, who set about building a smart thermostat to work in these situations.
The build is based around an ESP32 running ESPHome firmware. It rocks a 2.42″ OLED screen with automatic brightness adjustment for showing temperature and control parameters. There’s a rotary encoder on the front with an integrated button for control, with [mackswan] building the physical device to look as clean and neat as possible. The device uses a relay to switch the fan coil system on and off to heat or cool as needed, with an SHTC3 temperature and humidity sensor used to monitor current conditions in the home.
If you’re in an apartment building or live in a condo with this kind of setup, [mackswan’s] build might be just what you’re after to improve your HVAC control. We’ve featured plenty of other DIY thermostat hacks over the years, too. Meanwhile, if you’re finding creative ways to better heat and cool your living space, we’d love to hear about it on the tipsline!
Inside, the C-Class EV centers on large digital displays and interface design. A full-width digital layout dominates the cabin, anchored by what Mercedes-Benz calls the Superscreen as standard equipment. A more advanced Hyperscreen setup is available as an option, integrating multiple displays into a single continuous glass surface. The system… Read Entire Article Source link
Recently Haiku has become a bit of a popular subject of articles and videos, owing perhaps to how close it currently is to be a daily-driver OS and fulfilling the dream that BeOS set out with. That said, there are still quite a few hurdles before that glorious era can fully commence, with a video by [Ex-IT guy] on YouTube demonstrating some of the major hurdles by installing Haiku on Ryzen 3-based MiniPC that only supports UEFI boot.
Installing the UEFI bootloader is still a very much manual process with the user required to create UEFI boot and OS partitions before copying the bootloader into UEFI boot partition. After this Haiku can be installed as normal. The other variation of multi-boot is demonstrated in the video, with Haiku installed alongside Windows and Linux. This requires a more complex directory layout in the UEFI boot partition.
The other major hurdle with Haiku comes after the system boots into the OS following installation, with no driver available for the Vega-based iGPU as AMD GPU support peters out around the GCN 2 era for now. Without accelerated graphics the utility of an OS is quite diminished, but fortunately this seems to be a fixable issue considering that Linux has the appropriate GPU support.
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Meanwhile features like sound worked out of the box, which makes it arguably a more pleasant experience than installing Haiku on a 2009 Mac Mini. It’s also very easy to port software from Linux to Haiku, often with very few changes since it has all the typical POSIX things.
Harbor Freight is known as the go-to hardware store for anyone looking for affordable, yet high-quality hand tools, power tools, equipment, storage solutions, and more. Because of this reputation, it might not be the first place you think of when you’re shopping for high-end tools and equipment. That said, it only takes a short time perusing the online store to see just how many premium products the hardware store has to offer, with some items soaring well over $1,000.
If you’re familiar with hardware stores, you might recognize some of the tool brands owned by Harbor Freight. These brands mostly offer decent products, but they’re certainly not created equally. Some brands, like Chicago Electric, are generally best avoided, even if they’re quite cheap to begin with. Meanwhile, other brands are regarded extremely well, even among service professionals, like Hercules and Icon. It’s from these well-respected brands that we found 10 high-end tools, equipment, and other gear worth buying at Harbor Freight.
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Icon ⅜-Inch Drive SAE and Metric 54-Piece Socket Set
One of Harbor Freight’s best socket sets is the $165 Icon ⅜-Inch, 54-Piece variation, with a convenient mix of both SAE and Metric sockets with chamfered openings and clearly printed size markings. This set comes with 24 shallow sockets, 24 deep sockets, 3- and 5-inch extension bars, a universal joint socket adapter, and a ratchet, equipped with a 90-tooth gear mechanism, a 4-degree arc swing, and a low-profile head that fits in tight spaces easily.
Each piece is made with hardened chrome-moly steel for long-term durability, features a high-polished chrome finish to prevent corrosion, and has an ergonomic grip that’s comfortable to hold and gives you great leverage. Each component has its own place inside three modular EVA foam inserts within the included hard carrying case, which has a built-in carrying handle and removable metal hinges. The entire socket set is also backed by Harbor Freight’s hassle-free manufacturer’s lifetime warranty.
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Icon Extra-Long Flex Ratcheting Wrench 5-Piece Set
Harbor Freight has plenty of low-end wrenches to choose from if you’re shopping for new tools on a tight budget, but if you want to prioritize quality over price, this set of five Icon Extra-Long Flex Ratcheting Wrenches is a strong contender. Altogether, the set costs $229, which is a steep price, but not nearly as high a price as its competition, the Snap-On XFRRM705 wrenches, which Harbor Freight says retail for $835.
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Each of these five Icon wrenches is crafted with chrome-vanadium steel and a high-polish finish, a well-balanced and comfortable handle, and a 180-degree flex head on both ends, with 10 measurements in total, including 8 millimeters and 10 millimeters, 12 millimeters and 14 millimeters, 13 millimeters and 15 millimeters, 16 millimeters and 18 millimeters, and 17 millimeters and 19 millimeters. The wrenches have a precision 90-tooth reversible ratcheting mechanism and a four-degree arc swing, and like all Icon hand tools from Harbor Freight, they’re backed by a manufacturer’s lifetime warranty. There’s no carrying case included for the wrenches; instead, there’s a simple storage tray with spots carved out for each wrench.
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Hercules 20V Hammer Drill and Impact Driver Tool Kit
The Hercules 20V Hammer Drill and Impact Driver Tool Kit is a versatile, high-end power tool to pick up at Harbor Freight. It’s only $250, nearly $150 cheaper than equivalent power tools and accessories from Milwaukee. And yet, both included tools are powerful, easy to use, and well-reviewed. In addition to a hammer drill and an impact driver, this kit comes with two 20V Hercules batteries and a charger that can hold one battery at a time.
The ½-inch hammer drill is equipped with a brushless motor, a two-speed transmission capable of reaching max speeds of 2,000 RPM, and 14 different clutch settings for drive depth. Then, the ¼-inch impact driver’s brushless motor can deliver up to 4,400 IPM, and a variable speed trigger helps you maintain control while working. Both power tools are crafted with all-metal construction, feature built-in LED lights to help you see in dim areas, and are relatively lightweight, with the drill and driver weighing 3.3 pounds and 2.2 pounds, respectively.
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Hercules 20V Ultra Torque Impact Wrench Kit
One heavy-duty Harbor Freight tool you’ll actually use is the $255 Hercules 20V Ultra Torque Impact Wrench, a powerful DIY companion with a three-speed brushless motor that’s capable of reaching speeds up to 1,600 RPM and delivering 1,500 lb-ft of breakaway torque. There are four different modes to switch between, depending on the task at hand, including 0-600 RPM, 0-1,100 RPM, 0-1,600 RPM, and Auto mode, which includes auto-shutoff, bolt removal, and auto-tighten features.
According to users, this is the best Harbor Freight impact wrench. It features a friction-ring anvil that allows for quick socket changes, a built-in LED light to eliminate low visibility annoyances, and an ergonomic design and grippy handle that make it comfortable to hold. Plus, it’s cordless, so you don’t need to worry about sticking near an outlet while using it. This particular kit at Harbor Freight comes with a 20V Hercules battery and a fast charger for it.
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Hercules Compact Jobsite Table Saw with Rack and Pinion Fence
Table saws can be pricey, but this high-end option at Harbor Freight remains relatively affordable. On the hardware giant’s online store, the $380 Hercules Compact Jobsite Table Saw compares to DeWalt’s $650 DWE7491RS Table Saw model. Powered by a 15-amp motor, it’s capable of cutting to a max depth of 3⅛ inches and, with the help of an adjustable rip fence, a max rip capacity of up to 24½ inches.
As it’s designed to be moved from jobsite to jobsite, this Hercules Compact Tablet Saw is fitted with a metal roll cage and built-in storage for the blade guard assembly, push stick, and blade wrench. It’s also equipped with an extra-wide aluminum working surface, wide and oversized feet for stability, a dust port for a 2.5-inch vacuum hookup, anti-kickback pawls, and a T-slot miter gauge that can adjust left or right by 60 degrees.
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Hercules 12-Gallon Dust Extractor
Another high-end piece of equipment at Harbor Freight is the Hercules 12-Gallon Dust Extractor. At $370 full price, it’s only half the price of its well-matched competitor, the DeWalt DWV015 Dust Extractor, and just as powerful. The unit features a conveniently long 24-foot power cord and a 6.5-hp motor with a max flow rate of 155 CFM, a 12-gallon tank for long or particularly dusty jobs, and variable speed operation so you can adjust how powerful the vacuum’s suction or blowing capabilities are.
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Hercules’ Dust Extractor is OSHA-Compliant, using dual self-cleaning HEPA filters to catch 99.97% of particulates that are 0.3 microns in size and larger. This kit comes with two HEPA filters to get you started, and buying one for yourself would cost you nearly $30 at Harbor Freight for each one. To prevent dust from falling back out after you’ve vacuumed, there’s a power tool mode that’s responsible for cleaning up any extra debris in the hose after it’s been turned off for 10 seconds.
Looking at the rest of its accessories, you can expect to see a 17-foot antistatic hose, a brush nozzle, a crevice nozzle, a floor sweep nozzle, two extension wands, an elbow wand, an accessory bag, a dust collection bag, and a power tool adapter. The universal hose connector spot can swivel and operate in any and all directions you want. For extra easy mobility, there are heavy-duty locking casters, durable wheels, and a telescoping handle.
The saw is fitted with a 15-amp motor that supports up to 4,100 RPM, comes with an adjustable, stainless steel miter detent plate with 10 positive stops and a 60-tooth, carbide-tipped saw blade, and has a miter detent override system that lets you make finer adjustments. This Hercules miter saw has a 7.5-inch crown molding nested capacity and a 6.75-inch baseboard vertical capacity, and it can be adjusted 60 degrees to the right and 50 degrees to the left to get the cut just right.
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Hercules 15-Amp Hex Breaker Hammer
Only service professionals and expert DIYers will likely need a high-end tool like this one. Harbor Freight sells the Hercules 15-Amp Hex Breaker Hammer, an incredibly tough tool that can seamlessly break through concrete. It’s only $650 at full price, a fraction of the price of its closest competition, the Bosch BH2770VCD Breaker Hammer, which retails for a whopping $2,300. Despite this massive difference in price, its specs are just as powerful as the Bosch competitor.
It’s equipped with a 15-amp motor that produces 58 Joules of striking power in the form of 1,000 BPM, or blows per minute, a universal 1⅛-inch hex retainer that allows you to use either collared or non-collared bits with it, and impact-resistant housing to help the tool stay functional for longer in case of accidental drops on the job. This tool has a massive amount of power, which means it produces quite a bit of vibration, but Harbor Freight incorporates anti-vibration technology to at least slightly help reduce the amount of vibration felt from the breaker hammer’s handles.
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Predator 5,000 Watt Dual-Fuel Inverter Generator
One of the most premium items you can snag at Harbor Freight is the Predator 5,000 Watt Inverter Generator, which retails for $1,000. This inverter generator is only compliant in 49 different states, but there’s a California-compliant version available at the same price. And while $1,000 may seem steep, it’s nothing compared to the price of its most comparable competitor, the Honda EU3000IS Inverter Generator, which Harbor Freight notes is about $2,400.
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The generator has a 224cc gas engine, which can run on either gas or propane, and a large fuel tank that allows for up to 18 hours of runtime on a single tank of fuel. It can be started by either pressing the push-button electric start or using its remote starting feature from up to 100 feet away. It’s easy to transport between jobsites or campsites, thanks to its telescoping handle and 5.5-inch flat-free wheels.
Despite how much power it’s packing, Predator’s 5,000 Watt Inverter Generator stays relatively quiet, generating noise levels around 62 dBA. With 3,900 running watts, it’s plenty powerful enough to run an RV’s air conditioning unit or power multiple devices or appliances. In total, it’s equipped with two 120V 5-20R outlets, one 120V TT-30R RV outlet, one 12V DC outlet, one USB-A port, and one USB-C port. Via an integrated digital display, you can actively monitor important info, like output power, volts, and running hours.
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Icon 73- x 25-Inch Professional Roll Cab
The most expensive item Harbor Freight sells is the Icon 73- x 25-Inch Professional Roll Cab, which currently sits at a steep $3,299, though if you customize it, you can create an even more expensive version. However, whether you opt for this standalone option or a custom storage solution, it’s still a lot less pricey than its Snap-On equivalent. Harbor Freight marks the Snap-On KMP1023PBO Roll Cab as an approximate competitor and notes its retail price as $16,205.
Icon storage cabinets are crafted with double-wall steel frames, have an ultra-tough powder-coat finish designed to resist rust and stand up to years of use, and boast an impressive 8,000-pound capacity, thanks to its industry-leading suspension casters, two of which are fixed and two are locking swivel versions. There’s a power tool drawer with six adjustable height holsters, a power charging drawer with two fast charging USB ports and six 110V outlets, and other modular options to choose between. Then, you also have your pick of red, blue, black, or green for the roll cab’s overall color.
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Methodology
Trevor Srednick/Getty Images
To find the best high-end tools and equipment you can find at Harbor Freight, we first had to define what qualifies as “high-end.” Using information from our team and a few Reddit threads, we figured out which brands are the best at Harbor Freight, and therefore which brands have the most expensive and highest quality hand tools, power tools, storage solutions, and other equipment. With these brands in mind, we went to Harbor Freight’s online store to search for a good variety of products and organized them here in order of least expensive to most expensive.
An imperfect outdoor speaker but one that achieves its main aim with gusto. The Brane X brings the bass to the party better than most outdoor speakers would even dream to.
Big bass for an outdoor speaker
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support
Strong build quality
Clear, natural, spacious sound
Battery depletes in off mode
Heavy for a ‘portable’ speaker
Lacks Tidal Connect / Google Cast support
Key Features
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Review Price:
£499
RAD woofer
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Repel Attract Driver that summons big bass performance
Battery
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12 hours on a single charge
Brane app
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Customise the sound, group speakers together
Introduction
The one area where outdoor speakers tend to struggle is bass. Without walls or indoor surfaces to reflect sounds off, the open expanse of a garden, bank or beach leads to a reduction in bass. That is an issue the Brane X looks to fix.
The Brane X is a portable speaker that comes with a built-in subwoofer. That’s right, not a passive woofer, but an actual subwoofer to thunder out the low frequencies.
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There’s more to sound than just the big bass, and the Brane X looks to step into the territory of the Sonos Move 2 with support for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Has Brane succeeded with the X where other outdoor speakers have often struggled?
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Design
Weighs 3.5kg
IP57 rating
Carry handle
The Brane X is something of a brute, but a well-built one. It comes with a carry handle, which is a necessity as it weighs 3.5kg. That’s more than the Sony ULT Field 5 (3.3kg), the LG xboom XG8T (3kg) and the Devialet Mania (2.3kg). If those speakers are pushing against the notion of portable, the Brane X is banging its head against it.
But as I mentioned its well-built. It’s a curved, dense speaker, and it’s not actually that big for an outdoor speaker. The Marshall Kilburn III is about the same size, if not a bit bigger. There are a couple of LED lights on the front of the speaker to show battery life and the mode the speaker is in, but you’ll get a voice telling you all its vital statistics when the speaker wakes up anyway.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
The density, solidity and heft of the Brane X make it a speaker to lug about. It only comes in a black finish which doesn’t exactly translate to a fun or colourful aesthetic for an outdoor speaker, but in a sense, the Brane X means business.
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At IP57, it is fully water-resistant and can be dunked into water a metre deep for 30 minutes. Given the weight, though, I imagine it’ll go down like a ship’s anchor.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
I don’t love the placement of the power button. It’s on the speaker’s rear side, which means having to shift the speaker about, and I’ve always been a bit confused about how long I need to touch it. It needs a nudge to turn off but a longer press to power up, and there’s a couple of seconds before it whirs into life where I think “have I actually pressed it?”.
There are little rubbery feet on the underside to prop the speaker up and offer some clearance to what I presume is the built-in subwoofer to do its thing. Around the back of the speaker are the auxiliary inputs, the aforementioned power button and DC power output.
On top are touch controls for Bluetooth, volume, playback and turning the mic on and off. All they need is a tap rather than a press to get going.
Features
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Brane app
Alexa support
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With its Wi-Fi and Bluetooth streaming, the Brane X is an outdoor speaker that should offer more than just streaming tracks from a phone. Download the Brane app and that provides some means of customisation but not as much as I might have suspected for a speaker that costs this much.
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There’s a five-band custom EQ option, you can change the LED brightness from Dim to High, and you can even edit the language for the voice announcements (sprechen sie Deutsch?) – though, strangely, you’ll get an announcement for successfully changing a setting when you’ve actually done nothing at all.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
You can convert the Brane X into its Soundbar Mode via its AUX connection. It needs to be toggled on in the app. I didn’t use this feature mainly because I’m not sure of its worth.
It would add another string to the Brane’s bow but the size of the speaker is a genuine obstacle to putting it in front of a TV (unless it’s wall-mounted), and you’ll need an adapter to connect the AUX cable to your TV – so it doesn’t feel like it’s worth the added effort.
There’s voice assistant support through Alexa over Wi-Fi, which also makes this a smart speaker if you want. If you want to group multiple Brane speakers together, that’s also possible with up to eight speakers. You can sync them in stereo or go full party mode.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
The Brane X supports Spotify Connect, Pandora, Prime Music, SiriusXM, Deezer and TuneIn music streaming services, though none of these are accessible through the app itself. Curiously, for a speaker that markets itself as a premium option, there’s no support for Tidal Connect or Qobuz Connect as far as I can tell. And the X does disappear from the list of options in Spotify Connect from time to time.
Exit the app and the speaker loses connection with it, which can get annoying after a while. That the app offers no playback controls feels like an odd omission for an app that is the centrepiece of the Brane X experience.
When you’re back in the app, you can customise the levels of bass from Low, Medium, and High. Low is more than good enough but if you want to bring the noise then the High setting will gladly accept your request.
It’s able to achieve this level of bass thanks to Brane’s Repel-Attract Driver, which it niftily calls RAD. It’s able (at least, Brane claims) to drop down to 27.1Hz.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
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Battery Life
12 hours of stamina
Full recharge in three hours
A quick one on battery life. Brane says the X can reach up to 12 hours at a moderate volume, which, if it sounds vague, it’s probably because it is vague.
Over a Wi-Fi connection, I played it for an hour using my usual Spotify test playlist at 50% volume and it fell around 10%, which would suggest that you can get 10 hours from the speaker, and certainly more if you turned the volume down.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
That said, 12 hours is still short of the Sonos Move 2 (24) or Marshall Kilburn III (30+).
If the speaker runs out of battery, which it’s likely to do as the battery depletes when it’s off, it can charge back to 100% in three hours flat.
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Sound Quality
Clear, spacious performance
Big, controlled bass
Lacks a little dynamism
What makes the Brane X so good as an outdoor speaker is that, despite having “all the bass”, it’s not all about the bass. The Brane X offers an accomplished sound.
Over a Wi-Fi connection, the Brane pipes through a lot of clarity, detail and just outright power, with bass so big I turned the volume down (it was already on the Low bass setting). It’s quite the thump produced from the speaker, but the strength and power of the lows are controlled – they never veer into the midrange and affect the clarity or tone of voices.
It might struggle to communicate sub-bass rumbles some of the time, but it’s quite comfortably the best bass performance I’ve heard from an outdoor speaker recently.
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At first I thought that the soundstage wasn’t very wide with music congested in the middle, but it turns out that the Brane is just relaying tracks as they are. Play a track that is expansive and it and exists beyond the speaker’s width, which is not something that all speakers do. This isn’t a flat soundstage, as there’s depth to the sound, creating a layered effect with voices up front and instruments behind.
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There’s a naturalistic tone to its performance, a neutrality that avoids sounding obviously warm or noticeably clinical. There’s dynamism but a slight, gentle uplift or downshift, with energy provided to tracks by the RAD configuration that emphasises the lows.
All these positives appear in Lake Street Drive’s Hypotheticals, where the speaker conveys good depth to the soundstage, a width that creates a spacious sound, with clear, weighty bass that’s controlled, and vocals that are clear and natural-sounding.
With GoGo Penguin’s Ascent, there’s clarity and detail with the highs, getting the right tone rather than sounding too smooth or crisp. With a more tricky track like Come Summer, it does a decent job of unearthing detail in what can come across as a rich but hazy-sounding recording. It’s a high-quality sound, but this is over Wi-Fi, where you’d expect that to be the case. What about its Bluetooth performance?
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It’s very good. Even outdoors, free from the Wi-Fi, it delivers a punchy, spacious sound with good levels of detail and clarity. Pushing up through the levels of bass in an outdoor setting, it doesn’t overwhelm the midrange, providing a decent boost with each step up the bass ladder.
There are some tracks where there isn’t much difference in how the Brane X handles bass, so the High setting may not sound as powerful. With The Beatles’ Hey Jude, though, I hear the bass become more resonant and impactful at each level, though there are times when the Low setting is more than enough.
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You don’t want to go full blast with this speaker, as at full volume it sounds compressed and lacking detail. But given at half volume it already sounds loud enough, I imagine you won’t need to go so loud.
Should you buy it?
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If you want to slap that bass
Most outdoor speakers try their hand at bass and while they sound good, they’re often compromised. There’s no such worries with the Brane X in that department.
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Despite a few interesting features, compared to a Sonos Move 2, the feature set is a little lacking, and the ecosystem not as convenient as what Sonos can offer.
Final Thoughts
The Brane X is not perfect, and if there’s another version in the offing, there are areas where it could be refined and bettered. But in terms of what it set out to – to bring the bass – it hits the bullseye.
Granted, outdoor speakers don’t always have the most features, but with its Wi-Fi support, it does feel as if Brane could have made more from its feature set. I’ve not been able to play any Tidal or Qobuz on this speaker, and given the premium price, it’s an odd black hole in terms of music sources. Yes, I could play those services over Bluetooth, but then they’d be lossy and compressed.
If it’s bass you’re after, then the Brane X brings it better than any outdoor speaker I’ve tested.
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How We Test
The Brane X was tested over four weeks and compared to similarly priced Bluetooth speakers.
Tracks were used to test bass, midrange and treble performance, while a battery drain was carried out, and the Bluetooth connection tested over long distances.
Tested for a month
Tested with real world use
Battery drain carried out
Full Specs
Brane X Review
UK RRP
£449
USA RRP
$449
Manufacturer
–
IP rating
IP57
Battery Hours
12
Size (Dimensions)
237 x 177 x 155 MM
Weight
3.5 KG
Release Date
2024
Driver (s)
Two 2.5-inch mid-range, two 19mm tweeters, one high excusion RAD subwoofer
Amidst all the other chaos and damage RFK Jr. is doing in his current role as Secretary of Health and Human Services, we noted a few weeks back that he was also seemingly having a hard time finding someone to fill the opening for CDC Director. That opening, created when Kennedy fired Susan Monarez after only a few weeks on the job back in August of last year (!!!), has been vacant this entire time, with only temporary stand-ins filling the gap.
And then something truly remarkable happened. The Trump administration announced it was nominating Dr. Erica Schwartz for the position. And the notable thing about Schwartz is that… she’s a perfectly qualified, reasonable pick for the role. Many took this as yet another sign that the White House had begun attempting to rein in Kennedy so that his particular brand of nonsense didn’t get the GOP killed in the midterms. The nomination was so bizarrely reasonable that public health policy wonks immediately worried aloud that this couldn’t possibly work under Kennedy.
Outside public health experts have praised her nomination, highlighting her qualifications. But, they’re also wary of how an evidence-based health official will be able to function amid Kennedy’s anti-vaccine efforts and interference from the many like-minded allies he has installed at the CDC.
“As a well-trained and credentialed physician and former Deputy Surgeon General, Erica Schwartz possesses the medical background and public health knowledge to understand that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must be guided by evidence-based science,” Georges Benjamin, CEO of the American Public Health Association, said in a statement. “She will need to use sound managerial and negotiation skills to navigate the rebuilding of our nation’s public health system.”
Jerome Adams, who served as Trump’s surgeon general in his first administration, posted on social media that Schwartz is a “battle-tested leader with decades of distinguished public service,” and that he was “cautiously optimistic” of her selection. As the leader of the CDC, “she’ll excel,” he said, with the caveat, “if [she’s] allowed to follow the science without political interference.”
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Unfortunately for anyone optimistic that this would force Kennedy to return to sanity in public health policy, his recent appearance before Congress indicates that he’s not interested in complying. In those hearings, Kennedy was asked several questions about whether he would stop screwing with vaccine policy to bend it to his personal whims, and whether he would support the work of and listen to Schwartz if confirmed as CDC Director.
In a Congressional hearing Tuesday, Kennedy refused to commit to supporting evidence-based vaccine policy from the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, he refused to say that he wouldn’t interfere with the agency’s recommendations.
Kennedy’s response Tuesday suggested Schwartz could face an equally short tenure. His answer came amid an exchange with Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) in a hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Ruiz asked Kennedy: “If Dr. Schwartz is confirmed, will you commit on the record today to implement whatever vaccine guidance she issues without interference?”
Kennedy replied without hesitation: “I’m not going to make that kind of commitment.”
There is danger in this for Kennedy. This administration, and particularly its mad king leader, do not like having their power challenged. There is a reason that Schwartz was tapped for this role and sure as hell isn’t because the Trump team thinks all is well at HHS. Or, at least, it knows they have a problem with public perception of the work that Kennedy is doing there. To have the administration offer up the rare sane nomination, only to have Kennedy state before Congress that he’s not committed to taking her seriously, is a public slap in the face to Trump. And one that will be memorialized in congressional hearing notes.
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In other words, this nomination of Schwartz is a no-lose situation for the American public, in my view. Either she’ll be allowed to do her work in a competent way, which is great for a country suffering through a measles outbreak, or she won’t and the Trump administration will have to do something about it. Firing her would, I would guess, amount to Kennedy firing himself.
The U.S. military works to keep vehicles and aircraft operational and ready to go at all times. It’s the only way to ensure that each branch of the armed forces has what it needs in order to properly carry out missions, both in peacetime and during war. This also applies to U.S. Navy vessels, including the USS New Jersey, which was returned to active service in early April 2026. Belonging to the advanced nuclear-powered Virginia-class, this submarine recently completed its Post-Shakedown Availability (PSA) at Newport News Shipbuilding.
PSA is a scheduled shipyard maintenance period and without it, any issues the New Jersey had would likely not be identified and addressed until much later. In this case, the PSA also consisted of upgrading the New Jersey’s combat systems and electronics. Once the work was done, the fast-attack sub underwent sea trials to ensure full operational capability. At that point, the New Jersey, which shares its name with the most decorated U.S. battleship, was returned to the Navy. Thanks to its upgrades, the vessel should strengthen the Navy’s attack submarine fleet.
The USS New Jersey was originally delivered to the Navy in April 2024. It was built as part of the long-standing agreement between Newport News Shipbuilding and General Dynamics Electric Boat. It was the 11th Virginia-class boat delivered by Newport News Shipbuilding and the 23rd built under that partnership. Designed to support a modern crew structure, the New Jersey’s production included the efforts of thousands of shipbuilders and suppliers.
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The USS New Jersey’s advanced capabilities explained
The USS New Jersey was commissioned by the Navy on September 14, 2024, marking the submarine’s official entry into active service. The New Jersey operates under Submarine Squadron 8, a force that maintains and keeps vessels ready for global undersea missions. With a crew of about 135, the submarine was introduced as a highly advanced and fully integrated platform. It was designed to carry out a wide range of operations including anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, strike missions, and more.
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As a Virginia-class submarine, the New Jersey is built with complex systems that can process data, support tactical awareness, and enable command decisions during operations. Perhaps more advanced than the Seawolf-class, Virginia-class subs can launch a variety of weapons, including cruise missiles, torpedoes, and unmanned vehicles. But not only does the New Jersey engage in warfare, it can also gather intelligence, perform surveillance, and reconnaissance. This is what makes the Virginia-class one of the most flexible classes of vessels in the U.S. Navy’s fleet.
The New Jersey also stands out because it’s built to support an integrated crew, carrying both men and women onboard. In fact, it’s the first sub of its class with that capability, and is part of the U.S. Navy’s more modern approach to submarine design. In addition to its design features, the New Jersey measures 377 feet long, has a 34-foot beam, and can reach speeds over 25 knots, or just under 29 miles per hour.
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