Tech

5 Disadvantages Of Inline-4 Motorcycle Engines

Published

3 hours ago

26 July 2026

When looking at motorcycle engines, one of the first things to note is the engine’s displacement, as this usually has a strong correlation with the bike’s overall weight and power output. But that isn’t the only factor worth considering. It’s also worth taking a look at the number and orientation of the engine’s pistons.

Most of the motorcycles being made these days use either a parallel-twin or an inline triple-cylinder engine. These are affordable to manufacture and offer a unique blend of power and efficiency. Then there are the inline-four motorcycle engines, which are also sometimes called ‘screamers.’ These became very popular starting in the late ’60s, with that popularity seeming to peak in the mid-2010s. It’s only recently that these have started to slow down in production, and we have begun seeing fewer and fewer of them coming out each year. Many riders still consider these bikes highly desirable for their high-RPM power, smooth balance, and racetrack competence, but there’s no denying they’re slowly slipping out of vogue.

There are a few reasons why you’re seeing fewer inline-four engines coming out than before, and it isn’t just because they’re more expensive to make. There are several other disadvantages that might make them less appealing to the rider. You can still find a fair few affordable inline-4 motorcycles being made even now, but you might want to stop and consider the drawbacks before seeking one out.

1. Inline-fours typically have less low-to-mid-range torque

Most of the arguments in favor of the inline-four engine model primarily cite performance. The bikes that use them are known for delivering a large amount of power smoothly during acceleration, pushing the bike harder at higher speeds. That said, performance isn’t exactly a zero-sum game. While it’s true that inline-four engines are well known for their ability to output incredible amounts of horsepower at high RPMs (which is one of the reasons they are still so popular at the racetrack), this comes at a slight cost.

Inline-fours produce slightly less low-to-mid-range torque than some other engine types. This means riders often discover that they have a little less get-up-and-go when accelerating from a stop than if they were riding a bike with something like a parallel twin in its chassis. This makes them less than ideal for a daily driver, especially for those living in cities with plenty of traffic lights.

So, what qualifies as performance can vary depending on the type of bike and how it’s being ridden. An ultra-lightweight sport bike might have no trouble getting up to speed using an inline-four, while a heavy cruiser might struggle. Likewise, those who primarily ride in urban areas might prefer a bit more low-end torque, while those who prefer to push the red line at the track might prefer something with more power at higher speeds. This makes the inline-four a less practical choice for those seeking a commuter who aren’t looking to get any speeding tickets on the highway.

2. Inline-fours can be wider and heavier

Motorcycles that use inline-four engines are exceptionally well balanced. This is because the pistons move in pairs along a single plane, so there’s always one in the up position and one in the down position on each side, creating a smooth counterbalance. That said, they aren’t exactly petite.

It’s true that the pistons themselves are generally smaller in an inline-four than they are in a two- or three-cylinder motorcycle, but there are more of them, which means that they still end up having more parts and taking up more space overall. That means the casing has to be bigger, which means more metal, which means more weight. That alone can cause a ripple of other issues, such as lowering fuel efficiency and making the bikes feel a little more intimidating to smaller or less confident riders who want something light.

What’s more, the vast majority of modern inline-four engines are mounted transversely. As a result, the straight row of four cylinders is mounted perpendicular to the bike’s frame, not parallel. This effectively makes the engine wider, with each side protruding farther from the centerline than you might get in a two- or three-cylinder engine. That, in turn, means the bike needs a wider frame to accommodate it. This is another factor that might be detrimental to smaller riders, as it can be difficult for them to comfortably place their feet flat on the ground when stopped if they need to straddle a significantly wider seat.

3. Inline-fours drive up price tags

DAMRONG RATTANAPONG/Shutterstock

Inline-four engines are complex machines that are meticulously engineered for smooth acceleration and raw horsepower. Four smaller pistons being attached to the crankshaft in a row create a constant state of balance within each revolution as the bike is consistently receiving power. This is how these engines can accelerate with minimal thumping, and it’s also why they produce that signature screaming exhaust sound. Getting this to work properly requires that all four cylinders be perfectly balanced to prevent them from ever falling out of sync, but that complexity comes at a cost.

We’ve already mentioned that inline-four engines are being used less because they are more expensive to manufacture than parallel twins and some other design styles, but it isn’t actually the manufacturers who swallow that cost. The 2026 Kawasaki Ninja 650, for instance, has a 649cc parallel-twin engine and retails for $7,599. Compare that to the 2026 Honda CBR650R, which runs on a 649cc inline-four. Both are Japanese sport bikes with the same displacement as well as comparable designs and features, but the Honda starts at $9,199. Then take a look at the supersports. The 2026 Kawasaki Ninja ZX6R has a 636cc inline-four engine and retails for $11,599. But despite having a lower displacement, it costs more than the $9,399 2026 Yamaha YZF-R7, which runs on a 689cc parallel-twin. Perhaps one of the most extreme examples might be within Kawasaki’s own line. The 2026 Ninja 500 has a 451cc parallel-twin and starts at $5,799 for the ABS model. The 2026 Ninja ZX-4RR has a 399cc inline-four cylinder engine and costs $9,999.

4. Inline-fours have higher maintenance costs

While we’ve discussed the fact that manufacturing costs drive up the prices of the bikes that run on inline-fours, you also might find that you’re spending a lot more at the mechanic than you were on your last motorcycle. The very intricacy of the inline-four’s design that makes it such a powerhouse can also drive up maintenance costs.

Part of this is simple math. More cylinders mean more parts that require maintenance (twice as many valves), so your mechanic will need to spend twice as long checking the cylinders simply because there are twice as many. This also means more expendable parts like spark plugs and gaskets, but this is only a small part of it. The bigger issue is the effort required to get inside the engine. The inline-four sitting horizontally across the motorcycle’s frame means that it isn’t easy to access from the outside. Mechanics will often need to remove the fairings and tank from the bike just to get to it, which can drive up labor costs quite a bit.

Then there’s the additional complexities of the design. A routine valve adjustment, for instance, might cost between $300 and $600 for an inline-four engine, which usually requires a shim-under-bucket style valve adjustment. That would only run you between $150 and $400 on a V-twin that uses a screw and locknut valve adjustment system. Some of them even use a hydraulic lift valve adjustment system that is self-adjusting and doesn’t need to be serviced at all unless it breaks.

5. Inline-fours are less fuel-efficient

Fuel efficiency wasn’t as big of a consideration for a lot of riders back in the inline-four’s heyday, but it’s definitely become a major factor in how people choose their motorcycles now. Unfortunately, inline-fours sacrifice a fair amount of fuel efficiency in favor of high-RPM power. This might not be that big a deal for the kinds of riders who only use their motorcycles at the track, but it’s definitely something to think about if you’re planning on riding one of these bikes for your daily commute.

Take a look at some of the most fuel-efficient motorcycles on the market, and you’ll quickly find that all of them, except of course for the electric and hybrid models, are powered by one- or two-cylinder engines. Of course, fuel efficiency can be affected by other factors, such as overall weight, gearbox type, chain drive, throttle control, tire pressure, modifications, cargo, and the rider’s weight. There are a few examples of inline-four bikes that are more fuel efficient than you might think, like the Kawasaki Z900, which can get up to 49 MPG. As a rule, however, inline-four bikes are consistently less fuel-efficient than most other engine types and often get city miles closer to those of an SUV than an economy vehicle. Even Honda, which is exceptionally well known for efficiency, can only offer about 40 MPG on its inline-four CBR600RR, while its parallel-twin CBR500R boasts over 65 MPG. Even the larger parallel-twin Kawasaki Ninja 650 is able to hit over 51 MPG.

How we listed these disadvantages

Inline-four engines are immensely popular, and they certainly have a lot of great things going for them. However, there are certain weaknesses that riders who are thinking about getting one should be aware of. There is a wide variety of inline-four engines that have been released over the years, and they are attached to an even wider variety of motorcycles. As such, it is difficult to make any universal claims about design or performance that won’t be disproven by at least one exception. That said, there are certain general rules of thumb that one can apply to the vast majority of them when looking at these weaknesses.

By taking a look at several different professional reviews, motorcycle forums, mechanic forums, and the raw stats of many of the inline-four motorcycles that are on the market today, we have rooted out five key weaknesses that appear to apply to most of them. Once we had our list of weaknesses, we sought to corroborate these claims by verifying them against specs, price comparisons, and reports from trusted sources. We then explained these weaknesses, breaking down why they are tied to the design and how they can serve as a detriment to the rider. In this way, we hope to arm prospective buyers with as much information as possible when weighing the pros and cons of a purchase.

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Tech

Trump expands voluntary pledge to keep datacenter costs off household power bills

Published

8 minutes ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

ON-prem

Pinkie promise gains 200-plus new participants and precisely zero enforcement

President Trump has expanded his Ratepayer Protection Pledge to include power companies, datacenter developers, cooperatives, and state governments, saying the move will shield consumers from rising energy costs driven by the datacenter boom.

In a speech at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) HQ in Washington, Trump said the pledge will now extend across the full chain of parties whose decisions determine household bills. This includes the utilities that supply power, the developers that build the facilities, and the state authorities that regulate energy rates and infrastructure.

“We’re here today to continue the incredible progress we’re making in communities nationwide to ensure that as new datacenters go up, and they’re going up all over, electricity bills for American families will actually come down,” he declared.

The Ratepayer Protection Pledge was created earlier this year, partly as a response to growing anti-datacenter sentiment among ordinary Americans, especially those who were seeing their utility bills jump.

Much of the concern stems from the need for energy firms to invest heavily in new generation capacity and grid upgrades to serve the facilities being built, many for the AI market.

The original signatories of the pledge – the “Munificent 7” of Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI – agreed to cover the full cost of any extra resources required to satisfy their energy demands.

But as was pointed out at the time, these hyperscalers do not set the rates ultimately paid by consumers; utilities and state regulators play crucial roles there. The expanded pledge now brings those parties into the tent.

According to the White House, more than 200 additional utilities, datacenter developers, cooperatives, and states have now joined the pledge. The White House claims the pledge covers roughly 80 percent of the power delivered to American homes and businesses, supposedly protecting 263 million people when a datacenter is built nearby.

Trump went on to say that many datacenter developers will have to generate their own power on site, effectively turning themselves into utilities.

“It’s hard to believe, but you need double the electricity that we have right now, maybe even more than that, to really fulfill what you want to do,” Trump said.

“We’re leading China [in AI] by a lot, and using our old grid would not have worked. And I came up with the idea that you build your own plant. This way nobody can complain,” he added.

The Reg believes many datacenter operators were already generating their own on-site power before Trump claimed responsibility for the idea.

“We’re insisting that AI datacenters and big tech companies pay their own way. And that’s what they’re doing, and they’re happy to do it, because this way, they’re going to be able to function, and function brilliantly. They’re going to have a lot of electricity left over and they’ll put that into the grid, so we’ll actually end up with more electricity,” Trump claimed.

But as The Register pointed out previously, the text of the Ratepayer Protection Pledge makes no mention of enforcement. There are no apparent penalties should any of the signatories fail to prevent consumer bills rising because of demand from AI datacenters, so this appears to be very much a voluntary agreement.

We asked the White House and the EPA what actions might be taken if signatories to the pledge were found to be failing in their commitments, and will update if we get a response.

The measure seems likely to be put to the test, as the latest data from Synergy Research estimates the total capacity of US datacenters will double over the next three years, driven by an aggressive build-out by hyperscale operators.

The pipeline of future large facilities known to the research biz currently stands at almost 1,500 worldwide, with almost half of those in America. That represents around 45 gigawatts of extra IT capacity set to be added over the next few years.

Synergy chief analyst John Dinsdale says that availability of power and rising local concerns over server farms are crimping many new plans for facilities.

“But it is also clear that datacenter developers will continue to find ways around those issues and that booming demand will continue to drive aggressive capacity growth. Over the next five years, the US will continue to account for well over half of the world’s operational datacenter capacity.” ®

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Tech

Samsung is wrong; the regular Z Fold 8 is great for productivity

Published

17 minutes ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

With heaps of praise from practically everyone about the redesigned form factor of the new Galaxy Z Fold 8, why has Samsung decided to keep on with the boxier design in the form of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra? The answer, in Samsung’s eyes at least, is productivity.

The firm claims that the boxy 1:1 aspect ratio of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra’s 8-inch foldable screen is designed to run two regular 6.5-inch smartphone apps side-by-side, while the 4:3 aspect ratio of the regular Z Fold 8’s 7.8-inch inner panel is better suited to social media, watching movies and playing games.

However, after using the regular Galaxy Z Fold 8 for the past few days, I’d argue that the opposite is true; it can be just as productive as its Ultra sibling, if not more so. It just depends on what you’re up to.

Split-screen works just as well on the Fold 8

Samsung’s Ultra productivity angle makes a lot of sense on paper. The ability to use what is essentially two smartphone-sized apps at once does make the Ultra a great option for productivity – but that doesn’t mean the Fold 8 isn’t.

Social media split-screen on Z Fold 8 — Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

Just like the Fold 8 Ultra, you can run two apps side-by-side in a split-screen view, with space to run a third resizable floating app on top on the Z Fold 8. Yes, with a squatter, wider screen than the Ultra’s boxy aspect ratio, you don’t see quite as much of both apps at once, but it’s still more than usable.

Notes and Recorder in split-screen on Z Fold 8 — Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

I’ve opened up Google Docs and Chrome side-by-side to tweak an article on-the-fly before posting, I’ve dragged-and-dropped large video files from the Google Files app to my NAS drive, and I’ve had recorder and notes running simultaneously for a recent briefing – and I’ve not really had any major complaints.

Yes, the Fold 8 Ultra remains the better option if you do a lot of split-screen multitasking, but for more occasional use, the Fold 8 remains a solid option.

Editing videos on a wider screen is way better

In fact, I’d argue that the opposite is true; the wider 4:3 aspect ratio of the regular Z Fold 8 actually lends itself better to specific tasks like video editing than the 1:1 Fold 8 Ultra.

Galaxy Z Fold 8 — Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

I’ve been testing out the Insta360 Luna Ultra for the past few days (what a bit of kit – but that’s a story for another day) and decided to lean into social media content creation to see what it could do. Once I shot a few clips on the Luna Ultra, I imported them to the Z Fold 8 using the Insta360 app.

At this point, I’d usually transfer everything to my PC and edit on my big 34-inch ultrawide monitor – but I instead set myself the challenge of editing a TikTok video entirely on the Z Fold 8. And, honestly, it went way better than I expected.

I first booted up the regular CapCut mobile app, but the app informed me that the Fold 8’s screen was big enough to qualify for the more advanced CapCut Pad app – so I downloaded that instead. And it was a joy to use on the inner foldable screen.

CapCut Pad on Z Fold 8 — Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

There’s plenty more available at your fingertips than the CapCut mobile app designed for small screens, making it much easier to create quick cuts, adjust video and audio properties, throw in transitions, edit audio and generate captions. And the wider screen means you get to see more of your editing timeline than you would on the boxy 8 Ultra, meaning less time swiping across your timeline to find your edit.

From start to finish, I had a quick 30-second video fully edited and exported in just under 30 minutes, ready to post on TikTok. That’s a real edge for content creators right there.

What does this mean for the Ultra form factor?

So if the regular Z Fold 8 falls into the ‘pretty good’ category for split-screen multitasking and arguably the ‘better’ category for things like video editing, what does this mean for the ‘productivity-focused’ Fold 8 Ultra design?

Z Fold 8 Ultra split-screen multitasking — Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)

It’s hard to say for now. Samsung isn’t going to just drop the foldable design it has insisted on for the past eight generations because that’d be an admission that it got it wrong.

Instead, I think it’ll depend more on sales figures for the Fold 8. If, as I’m suspecting, it outsells the pricier Fold 8 Ultra, we could indeed see a shift from Samsung with next year’s Fold 9 collection. We’ve already seen Samsung quickly cancel projects based on poor sales figures – I’m looking at you, Galaxy S25 Edge – and it could well be the case for the Fold 8 Ultra.

We’ll just have to wait and see for now, I suppose. But one thing is for sure; the Z Fold 8 isn’t just the content-focused foldable Samsung claims it is.

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Tech

Building A Fencing Scoring Box

Published

31 minutes ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

The sport of fencing requires keeping score, just like so many other similar pastimes. When their club’s existing scoring rig broke, [jc0025] stepped up to build a scoring box of their own, using the typical tools of the maker trade.

The brains of the operation is an Arduino Nano, running the venerable ATmega328P. It’s set up to drive a pair of 8×8 WS2812B addressable LED panels. It’s also hooked up to a pair of fencing socket blocks, which hook up to the lamé (jacket), weapon, and guard of each player for electronically scoring hits. The Arduino is thus programmed to respond to various conditions, lighting the LEDs in turn. For example, the tip of one player’s weapon hitting the other player’s lamé will fire a colored light, allowing the hit to be scored. Meanwhile, a tip hitting the floor will fire a white light, indicating off-target. There’s also a buzzer for sonic indication, as well. Everything is wrapped up in a tidy 3D-printed housing, while power is courtesy of a USB-C charger hooked up to the unit.

If you’re looking to replace some old broken fencing scoring gear on the cheap, this project is probably a good place to start. We’ve featured some other great scoreboard projects over the years, too. Meanwhile, if you’re whipping up your custom own gear for your local sporting club, we might like to hear about it on the tipsline.

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Tech

Three Cheap Webcams Build a Color View of Invisible Light

Published

45 minutes ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Webcam True Infrared Mod
Most cameras ignore a wide stretch of near-infrared light that plants reflect and certain materials absorb in unexpected ways. One maker spent three months turning three ordinary USB webcams into a single system that records that invisible band as full color video. Project 326 started with the same $15 modules many people already own. Each sensor already responds to near-infrared once the factory IR-cut filter is gone.

That filter is placed between the lens and the sensor to prevent typical photographs from becoming foggy. Taking it out is a simple process: open the camera housing, remove the tiny red or green glass or plastic piece, and your sensor will become far more sensitive to anything above 700 nanometers. The catch is that even with a full-spectrum camera, while that infrared-pass filter is in place, you’ll still receive monochrome images since colour requires three different cameras, each locked to a narrow slice of the infrared spectrum.

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Dichroic bandpass filters effectively resolved the isolation issue. You only need to put a filter on each camera that is centered around 750 nanometers, another around 850 nanometers, and a third around 940 nanometers; they will pass only a little window of wavelengths while rejecting everything else, including normal visible light. After a few tests with handheld infrared flashlights, you can observe that each one only hits one camera: a 745-nanometer lamp would light up the first camera, an 850-nanometer lamp the second, and a 940-nanometer lamp the third, with no overlap.

Webcam True Infrared Mod
Getting the mechanical alignment correct was far more difficult than the optical filters. He tried utilizing a beam-splitting prism and a single shared lens to ensure that all three sensors saw the same scene, but 3D-printed mounts couldn’t keep the optics stable enough, so the idea was abandoned. In the end, he decided on three different lenses side by side. He removed the sensors from their original boards and remounted them on new printed circuit boards, ensuring that each chip sits squarely and at the same distance from the lens. The new housings maintain everything nice and rigid, as we’re talking a baseline of roughly 17 millimeters between cameras, which is small enough that parallax only interferes with the image at close range.

Webcam True Infrared Mod
He had to switch the footage to a Raspberry Pi because Windows wouldn’t let him utilize three identical USB cameras at the same time. Python programs are currently pulling simultaneous monochromatic streams and writing them out as independent MKV files; but, because these webcams use free-running RC oscillators, their frame rates are drifting by one or two frames per minute.

Webcam True Infrared Mod
To address this, he set up a post-processing system that also handles the minor geometric offsets. He uses DaVinci Resolve to manually align the first frames of each stream, including translation, scale, and rotation, and then a script applies those fixes to the rest of the sequence. Once he had three grayscale videos layered on top of one another, he simply assigned each to a red, green, or blue channel. There are six different mappings, and selecting the appropriate one can significantly alter the final appearance of elements such as flora, sky, and skin.

Webcam True Infrared Mod
Its first usable color footage resulted from testing conducted outside under the scorching tropical sun. Leaves that appear to be one solid green to our eyes begin to break apart into distinct tones as you use the near-infrared light that reflects off them to add depth to the footage. Atmospheric haze behaves differently when picked up in the three various color bands, giving distant objects a layered appearance that draws the observer in. Now, the system still needs some fine-tuning to get the focus right, and a steady hand is required, since one of the early recording sessions was ruined because the silly lens cap remained on throughout. The Python scripts used to capture the footage, as well as the 3D printed objects, are available on GitHub for anyone interested in following in his footsteps.
[Source]

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Tech

Delta Pen Plotter Draws In Multiple Colors

Published

59 minutes ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

If you’re building your first plotter, or you just like thinking in right angles, you’d probably consider a Cartesian design for your build. [András Vujovits] went another route with his project, building an impressive delta pen plotter with a useful tool changer, to boot.

The build relies on a unique motion system, wherein two NEMA 17 stepper motors drive either side of the linkage to control the position of the end effector—in this case, a pen carriage. By controlling the position of each side of the mechanism, it’s possible to move the pen through XY space. Running the show is an Arduino Nano, fitted with a GRBL shield and appropriate stepper motor drivers.

The magnetic tool changer is particularly nifty, too. It allows the plotter to grab a different ink at will to add more color to the drawing. It’s well-designed, with the plotter able to change inks without losing accuracy or otherwise fumbling the switchover. The plotter uses Muji ball point pens, which are available in a range of colors and draw with slick, clean lines. It’s also quite a fast plotter, thanks in part to [András]’s efforts to keep the pen carriage light by using a smart mechanism to offload the pen lifting actuator to the main body.

[András] has plans available, but you’re going to have to pay for them. Still, it’s always nice to see a new machine in the wild. Video after the break.

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Best Window Air Conditioners of 2026: Midea, Zafro, GE

Published

1 hour ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

Other Models We Tested

TCL Q-Series Air Conditioner (10,000 BTU) for $369: Chinese electronics company TCL has been making air conditioners for only five years, but it is tackling the category the way it did for TVs—that is, by quickly conquering turf with excellent value. I tested the 10,000-BTU version of the Q Series window AC in an 120-square-foot upstairs bedroom that gets very little flow from my home’s central AC. It took three hours to drop the temperature by 10 degrees from a sweltering 78, but as it operated at a fairly quiet 60 decibels, I didn’t mind it. Installation was a breeze thanks to the included frame. The TCL has Matter connectivity, but I was not able to get it to connect to my Apple Home app, apparently a common issue. There is a remote that has all the controls from the unit itself. The thermostat is accurate within one degree, and the unit reliably turns itself on and off to keep the room temperature on its mark. The CEER rating ranks an impressive 15.0, equaling WIRED’s top-pick Midea, and the TCL costs $100 less at the same power output. But while quiet compared well with many other models, this TCL is still louder than the Midea and doesn’t offer the U-shaped device’s superior insulation. Easy install may be a selling point over the U-Shaped model. —Martin Cizmar

Dreo Portable Air Conditioner 740S (10,000 BTU) for $700: Look, I’m loving the new generation of portable air conditioners but not because they’re portable. Fact is, wheels aside, they’re pretty big and heavy, and the thick hoses make them bulky in a room. But they’re easy to install without lifting into a window frame, a real boon for solo residents. And because the only thing that needs mounting in a window is a bracket for the hoses, these ACs can be used on pretty much any window shape—a boon especially for those in older buildings. The Dreo has all these virtues, plus a respectable 12 CEER rating, courtesy of dual hoses and a smart inverter. (In general, avoid portable units without dual hoses, as this can cause a depressurization effect that lowers efficiency.) I’ve been using this portable in the difficult-to-access window in my 150-square-foot office, and its effects are basically instant. The evaporative cooling tech also means I don’t have to drain water. But our top-pick Zafro offers a lower price, and a slightly better CEER efficiency rating at a similar operating noise level of around 60 to 65 decibels on high fan speeds. Still, this is an excellent portable AC unit. If you see a deal, snap it up.

GE AWAS05BBA Window Air Conditioner Unit (5,000 BTU) for $231: This 5,000 BTU unit is less powerful than our favorite budget window air conditioner pick from GE. There’s no app and no remote, and airflow options are limited: You can’t direct air up and down, only left and right. But it’s the cheapest model we recommend, relatively easy to install, and much quieter than you’d expect for the price. It’ll cool a small 150-square-foot space quickly and mostly frictionlessly. But we haven’t tested it as long as for our top budget pick.

LG Window Air Conditioner Unit (12,000 BTU) for $379: The LG 12,000 BTU Smart Window Air Conditioner offers efficient large-room cooling at a surprisingly low price. It weighs 90 pounds and requires professional installation with a bracket. Its 60-decibel operation places it squarely in the middle of the pack on noise. This said, WIRED reviewer Lisa Wood Shapiro found it blends into a room well with its white-on-white design, and that the filter replacement indicator light is useful. The app was laggy and difficult to use during Wood Shapiro’s testing, but there is a remote.

Friedrich Kuhl Air Conditioner for $1,228: This unit from Friedrich is among the most expensive we’ve tested, and one of the heaviest—in part because of a metal chassis designed to provide easy maintenance access and deter first-floor break-ins. This model allows adding a custom Friedrich FreshAire MERV 13 filter to clean the air as it cools. The screen is easy to read, and the device comes with a remote. An app lets you schedule the unit’s use over the course of the week, but note that connection with the smart app was a little janky, and it paired only with 2.4 GHz signals.

EcoFlow Wave 2 for $1,299 (but usually on sale for much less): Wood Shapiro tested the newest model, but previous models of the EcoFlow are often available at steep discounts. After happily testing the EcoFlow Wave 1 for more than a year in his wife’s office, WIRED senior editor Julian Chokkattu far preferred the EcoFlow Wave 2 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) because it’s both lighter and more cost-friendly, with a higher 5,100 BTU rating (up from 4,000). A heating mode rated at 6,100 BTU means you can keep using it in the winter to warm up. The company says it’s best for rooms up to 107 square feet. You do need to place it near a window to have one of the included ducts connected to the vent to take hot exhaust from the back of the unit out of the room. What makes this unit versatile is its alternate power sources. You can use a standard AC outlet, but you can also buy an add-on battery to keep it working when you don’t have access to electricity, or hook it up to solar panels.

Zero Breeze Mark II for $999: With its 2,300 BTU, the Zero Breeze (7/10, WIRED Review) won’t have the same cooling power as the EcoFlow Wave, but it’s much lighter at 17 pounds. This bundle includes a battery that makes the whole thing weigh about 30 pounds, but you’ll get four hours of use without needing to be near a wall outlet. Like the EcoFlow, you get a few vent pipes to direct exhaust away and direct cool air to a specific area, but unlike the EcoFlow, you can’t charge the battery and use the AC at the same time.

Zero Breeze Mark III for $1,399: As WIRED reviewer Chris Null notes, the Mark III (7/10, WIRED Review) is both larger than the Mark II and quite a bit heavier, now at 22 pounds. Add on the 1,022-Wh battery pack and you’ll pack on another 14 pounds, though that frees you from having to be near a power outlet. New for the Mark III is the fact that batteries can now be stacked and charged in sequence, each daisy-chained to the next (though at $600+ per battery, this can get pricey fast). Each Mark III battery also has extra outputs that can be used for other devices—one USB-C port, one USB-A port, and a 12-volt DC socket. However, the Mark II battery had all of the above plus a second USB-A port. No word on why this was removed. However, the new version is a bigger, punchier unit by most standards and a worthwhile buy for outdoors enthusiasts

Frequently Asked Questions

What Size Air Conditioner Do I Need?

Look for the BTU, or British thermal unit. In the case of air conditioners, the number of BTUs per hour measures how much heat the compressor can remove from a room. It’s a quick and easy way to figure out whether an AC unit is powerful enough to cool your space.

The BTU rating also helps you avoid using a too-powerful unit, which will cool too quickly without dehumidifying, and possibly lead to mold formation in the room and within the device.

To find the right power air conditioner for your room, you’ll want to find the square footage of your room by multiplying its length and its width. The US Department of Energy’s guidelines call for a minimum of 20 BTUs for every square foot of space. But this figure also assumes optimal conditions and good efficiency. For a 150-square-foot room, more typical recommendations are to opt for a 5,000 BTU AC unit. If the room is especially sunny, high-ceilinged, or has poor insulation, you may even want a 6,000 to 7,000 BTU unit for that space.

When in doubt, your best bet is to use a BTU calculator. For a truly precise estimate, here’s a complex whole-house BTU calculator that takes into account building layout and construction, plus your location and climate. For a fast and dirty rule-of-thumb BTU calculator, try here.

Check the combined energy-efficiency ratio (CEER) rating. The specs on any air conditioner you buy should list a CEER rating, which is one of the best ways of checking the energy efficiency of a unit. You’ll usually see a number between 9 and 15. The higher the number, the less you’ll pay when the electricity bill comes around. A cheap window AC unit will save you money at first, but you may end up shelling out more in the long run. The US Energy Star program has a website that lets you browse AC units based on their CEER ratings.

Check local laws. Some cities, like New York, require installing brackets to support your window AC. A simple one like this model should do the trick, though we haven’t tried it out. You may also need to head to a hardware store for some plywood to make sure your windowsill sits flat, but this depends on the type of windows you have and the AC model you buy. Get a friend to help you out with installation. These units can be heavy and difficult to hold, and the last thing you want is to drop one out the window.

Measure your window. Before you buy, read up on the supported window types and sizes for the AC unit you’re looking at, and measure your window to be safe. Make sure to seal any gaps as best you can with the included foam. (You can always buy more if you need it.)

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Meta Walks Back Limits For Its Smart Glasses’ Conversation Focus Feature, For Now

Published

1 hour ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

A company spokesperson said that it’s “still exploring all our options for the best approach.”

If you’re an owner of any of Meta’s AI glasses, you should take advantage of the Conversation Focus feature while you can. As first reported by The Verge, Meta is pausing its rate limits for the accessibility feature that uses the glasses’ speakers to amplify the voice of who you’re talking to. Meta spokesperson Tyler Yee told The Verge, “we heard the feedback so we’re pausing its subscription tests for now,” adding that “Conversation Focus will remain available for free through our Early Access Program for early testers while we work on a better approach.”

Last month, Meta discreetly added rate limits to its Conversation Focus feature for its smart glasses. The feature would be free to use until you surpassed three hours a month, after which you would have to pay for a $20-a-month Meta One Premium Plan, which still had a cap of 15 hours of use per month. It’s still unclear why Meta added rate limits to the Conversation Focus feature, since it was proven by The Verge to run on device and without an Internet connection.

While Meta made the choice to keep the Conversation Focus feature free for now, there’s no clarity on its future yet. According to Yee, Meta wants “to make sure we get it right” when talking about the feature, and that the company is “still exploring all our options for the best approach.” Even more vague, the Meta spokesperson told The Verge that “some premium features will be subscription-based over time,” attributing this to how charging for certain features helps Meta sustain its strategy of subsidizing hardware prices.

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DreamScapes A/V Brings a 32,000 Watt Alcons Home Theater to Southwest Audio Fest 2026

Published

2 hours ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

DreamScapes A/V didn’t arrive at Southwest Audio Fest 2026 with a soundbar, a folding table and a bowl of mints. They showcased a 32,000-watt, 11.8.6 home theater featuring Alcons Audio CRMSQ Series with eight infrasonic subwoofers, Trinnov audio processing, Kaleidescape movie playback, Lumagen video processing, Christie 4MK15 projector and 150-inch Stewart Filmscreen G3 2:05:1 screen. The system is one of two immersive theaters and five two channel hi-fi systems being demonstrated by DreamScapes during the three day show.

That 32,000-watt figure comes from DreamScapes and has not been independently measured by eCoustics. Even so, eight infrasonic subwoofers should provide sufficient evidence that someone checked the hotel’s insurance policy.

Alcons Audio Goes Big in Dallas

The main DreamScapes theater took over the Press Club, adjacent to event registration. DreamScapes says the installation improved upon the theater it created with Keith Yates Design at Capital Audiofest 2025, adding a larger room, more loudspeaker channels and further software updates.

A Separate Alcons System for Music

DreamScapes also demonstrated Alcons MR12 monitors with MB12 bass units for two channel listening to reveal how proprietary Pro Ribbon transducers from the company’s cinema and professional monitoring products could sound in your home. The complete system only included two more components. The Grimm Audio MU2 for streaming, digital conversion, and preamplifier duties, which fed the external Alcons ALC amplified loudspeaker controller that power and actively crossover the MR12 monitors and MB12 bass modules.

Theory Audio Design Gets Its Own Theater

The second DreamScapes theater featured a less expensive Theory Audio Design 9.2.4 system in Room 1043. It combined Theory loudspeakers, subwoofers and controllers with Kaleidescape Strato V playback, Trinnov AltitudeCI processing, Lumagen video processing, Epson QL7000 projector and a 135-inch Stewart Filmscreen Harmony G3 acoustically transparent screen.

Having installed and reviewed a Theory Audio Design system, I know the company’s loudspeakers can deliver considerable output, dialogue intelligibility and dynamic impact without becoming aggressive. Theory’s new DLC and PLC loudspeaker controllers also add Dante and AES67 networking, DSP and substantially greater channel capacity.

More Hardware Upstairs

The 10th Floor Presidential Suite featured five additional two channel systems, including Aretai loudspeakers, Benchmark Electronics, A-Definition tube electronics, Kronos analog components, the Mola Mola Lupe phono stage and active loudspeakers from Norway’s Sigberg Audio.

The Sigberg Audio Manta, Saranna and 10D are covered separately because their active architecture and controlled directivity deserve more than a brief mention beneath 32,000 watts of home theater mayhem.

The Bottom Line

Southwest Audio Fest is primarily associated with two channel audio, but the DreamScapes rooms demonstrate why properly designed home theater belongs at events like this.

The Alcons installation combines a large channel count, eight infrasonic subwoofers, sophisticated audio and video processing and professional cinema technology inside a hotel demonstration room. The separate Theory Audio Design theater provides a second look at what an integrated immersive system can achieve without requiring a commercial auditorium.

Will either system fit inside the average living room? Probably not.

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That is hardly the point. The best audio show systems should demonstrate what is possible when engineering, installation expertise and budget are permitted to operate without much adult supervision.

Pricing & Availability

All components are currently available from DreamScapes A/V, but we haven’t been able to verify all pricing. Once provided, this article will be updated.

For more information: dreamscapesav.com

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Comic-Con 2026 Debuts Trailers for ‘Coyote vs Acme’ Movie, Plus ‘Neuromancer’ and ‘Blade Runner 2099’ Series

Published

2 hours ago

26 July 2026

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Big news from Comic-Con 2026:

“Coyote vs. ACME” debuted its long-awaited final trailer. CNET calls it “an animation-meets-live-action story,” with the Coyote catapulting into theaters this August 28. (The film began development back in 2018, but was shelved for a tax write-off in 2023 by Warner Bros. until a backlash led to its sale to Ketchup Entertainment.) “Fed up with Acme’s unreliable products, Wile E. Coyote decides to hire a lawyer and sue the company…” writes CNET. “The movie also features Lana Condor along with a host of Looney Tunes characters like Porky Pig, Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn and Granny (who gets dinged by an anvil).”

In other movie news, CNET says Johnny Depp also “made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con, donning a costume as Ebenezer Scrooge” to promote his November 13 movie about the miser from Charles Dickens’ famous Christmas novella. (Ian McKellen and Daisy Ridley are also in the movie.)

But several geek favorites are being filmed as TV series…

There’s big news for William Gibson fans, reports Entertainment Weekly. “Two years after Apple TV announced production on the first-ever series adaptation of William Gibson’s seminal 1984 novel Neuromancer, the lucky few hundred who attended the studio’s Hall H panel at Comic-Con 2026 got to watch the first teaser.

For Amazon’s Prime Video, the Tolkien-derived “Rings of Power” series released a season 3 trailer that CNET said “successfully hides the best parts with fire… The trailer suggests that Sauron is building an army, and all of Middle-earth is trying to find ways to stop him… Rings of Power season 3 will start dropping weekly episodes on Nov. 11, meaning this show will be airing at the same time the Peter Jackson films will be celebrating their 25th anniversary.”

Later in November Amazon’s Prime Video will also debut Blade Runner 2099, an eight-episode series that’s a sequel to 2017’s film Blade Runner 2049, reports CNET. “Set in an alternate version of LA where replicants run things and the humans play second fiddle, the series sees Yeoh’s replicant Olwen chasing down outlaw replicants who’ve gone missing. With her own shelf life on a ticking clock, the stakes are high for her and for her human fugitive partner, Cora…”

Paramount Plus will debut Avatar: Seven Havens in October, a new animated series from the creators of Avatar: The Last Airbender which CNET says “follows a pair of twin avatars, one of whom is Korra’s successor.”

Kevin Feige said Marvel’s television slate will include more seasons of “X-Men ’97” and the upcoming “VisionQuest” TV series.

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How Film Industry Data Website The-Numbers.com Got Mauled By Bots

Published

2 hours ago

26 July 2026

NewsAdmin

A lot has been made about the increase of automated traffic on the Internet, with the past years LLM-related crawlers having quite literally swarmed the picture here. Not only does this drive up traffic, it also increases load on web servers, whose owners find themselves faced with increased hosting costs. This recently led to The-Numbers.com going offline for a while as automated traffic was quite literally destroying their bottom line.

This saga is covered by [Stephen Follows], who had a chance to talk with the founder and CEO of the site, [Bruce Nash], after the site went basically offline for a few months. Since the website both licenses data for commercial purposes as well as offering the free access on its website, there were accusations of this being a ‘rug pull’.

The site was started in 1997, as a static HTML site on Geocities where [Bruce] provided box office analyses for investment purposes. Since that beginning traffic was generally polite, with human visitors and usually well-behaved search engine crawlers. Then around 2024 the first wave of scraper bots arrived, followed by a larger wave around December of 2025.

Despite implementing a few mitigations, such as LLM-targeted text, the increased traffic and the resulting load on a site architecture that was never designed for this ultimately led to a collapse. One of the major sources of traffic turned out to be from so-called ‘prediction markets’, like Polymarket, whose bots absolutely hammered the site.

Fortunately for [Bruce] and his team they do not rely on the free website for income, but they have had to massively rework the site’s architecture to bring back a semblance of the original features. As noted in the article, the amount of crawling traffic by these LLMs and ‘agentic AI’ tools is logarithmically more than that for search engines, which makes this a major challenge.

Issues like these is why services such as Cloudflare are offering blocking features for such automated traffic. After all, unless such traffic is of use to you, you may as well treat it like a DDoS attack and cut it off at the root.

Thanks to [Ben] for the tip.

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