Wireless headphones have spent the past decade becoming smarter, more convenient and considerably harder to repair. Batteries are usually sealed inside, ear pads eventually deteriorate, and too many otherwise functional headphones become disposable once one critical component wears out.

That is starting to change. A small but important group of manufacturers is putting greater emphasis on replaceable batteries, removable ear pads and serviceable components, and beyerdynamic is leaning directly into that idea with the new AVENTHO Y. 

Introduced at IFA 2026 for $149.99, the closed-back wireless over-ear headphone offers active noise cancellation, Bluetooth 6.0 multipoint connectivity, 45mm dynamic drivers, app-based EQ and up to 90 hours of battery life. None of those features alone makes it unusual, but beyerdynamic has taken a different approach to durability and long-term ownership that deserves more attention.

What Makes the AVENTHO Y Different?

Wireless headphones eventually develop the same problem as every other rechargeable product: batteries wear out. On many models, that can turn an otherwise perfectly functional headphone into electronic waste or an expensive repair project.

Beyerdynamic has designed the AVENTHO Y with a user-replaceable battery, magnetic interchangeable ear pads, aluminum sliders and stainless-steel hinges. The company also offers optional black or gray velour ear pads, while an upgrade package adds a low-latency USB-C dongle and detachable boom microphone. An integrated compartment inside the earcup can store the optional dongle or a spare battery. 

That modular approach is probably the AVENTHO Y’s strongest differentiator. The optional dongle and microphone also broaden its usefulness beyond commuting and music listening, giving owners the ability to configure it for gaming, video calls or work without purchasing a separate headset.

ANC, Bluetooth 6.0 and 45mm Drivers

The AVENTHO Y uses 45mm dynamic drivers in a closed-back, foldable over-ear design with a specified frequency response of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Active noise cancellation is joined by a Transparency mode, while two integrated microphones use environmental noise cancellation to reduce background noise during calls. 

Bluetooth 6.0 supports multipoint connectivity and a claimed range of up to 20 meters. The beyerdynamic app provides firmware updates, adjustable controls and a 5-band equalizer, allowing users to alter the headphone’s tonal balance rather than being locked into the factory tuning. 

There is one specification worth examining more closely. The AVENTHO Y supports SBC and AAC, but beyerdynamic does not list aptX, aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless or LDAC. Bluetooth 6.0 is the current version of the wireless standard, but the version number should not be confused with automatic support for higher-bitrate Bluetooth audio codecs.

Battery Life Should Be a Major Selling Point

Beyerdynamic rates the AVENTHO Y for up to 90 hours of playback with ANC switched off and up to 60 hours with ANC active. A full charge takes approximately one hour, while five minutes of fast charging can provide up to six additional hours of playback. 

Those figures put it near the top of the category, although Audio-Technica’s ATH-S300BT essentially matches them with up to 90 hours without ANC and 60 hours with it. The Audio-Technica requires approximately 2.5 hours for a full charge, however, versus one hour for the beyerdynamic. 

The AVENTHO Y weighs 316 grams, which is worth considering for anyone planning to wear it throughout the workday or on long flights. Beyerdynamic is offering four finishes: Liquid Black, Blue Fusion, Soft Jade and Peach Blush. 

Plenty of Competition at $150

The AVENTHO Y is entering a much tougher part of the wireless headphone market than its $149.99 price might suggest. Final’s UX3000 SV sells for the same $149.99 and takes a more sound-focused approach, combining custom 40mm drivers with hybrid ANC, multipoint connectivity and support for aptX and aptX HD. Battery life is considerably shorter at 35 hours without ANC and 25 hours with it, but Final has built much of its reputation around tuning rather than winning the specification-sheet contest. 

The new EarFun Wave Pro X may be an even more direct threat. Originally shown at CES 2026 and priced at $129.99, it uses a dual-driver configuration with 40mm DLC and 10mm LCP drivers, Bluetooth 6.0 and an unusually comprehensive codec package that includes aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, LDAC and LE Audio. Auracast, multipoint connectivity, hybrid ANC, an eight-microphone call system and up to 90 hours of battery life make the absence of anything beyond SBC and AAC on the AVENTHO Y considerably more noticeable.

Nothing’s 2026 Headphone (a) sits slightly higher at a $199 MSRP, although Nothing is currently selling it for $159 in the U.S. It offers adaptive ANC, LDAC, USB-C and 3.5mm wired playback, an 8-band EQ and a remarkable claimed 135 hours of playback without ANC or 75 hours with it engaged. At 310 grams, it is also very close to the 316-gram beyerdynamic, making the comparison considerably more relevant than the lightweight Sony WH-CH720N. 

What the AVENTHO Y has that none of those models can match as a complete package is its emphasis on long-term ownership. The user-replaceable battery, magnetic ear pads, stainless-steel hinges and optional low-latency dongle and boom microphone give it an upgrade and repair path that most wireless headphones still lack. That is a stronger reason to consider the beyerdynamic than Bluetooth 6.0 or another hour-counting exercise.

Key Specifications

• Type: Wireless closed-back over-ear
• Drivers: 45mm dynamic
• Frequency response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz
• ANC: Yes
• Transparency mode: Yes
• Bluetooth: 6.0 with multipoint
• Codecs: SBC, AAC
• Wireless range: Up to 20 meters
• Battery life with ANC: Up to 60 hours
• Battery life without ANC: Up to 90 hours
• Charging time: Approximately 1 hour
• Fast charging: 5 minutes for up to 6 hours
• EQ: 5-band via beyerdynamic app
• Battery: User replaceable
• Ear pads: Magnetic and interchangeable
• Weight: 316 grams
• Colors: Liquid Black, Blue Fusion, Soft Jade, Peach Blush
• Price: $149.99

Pricing & Availability

The beyerdynamic AVENTHO Y is priced at $149.99 in the United States and will be sold through beyerdynamic.com and Amazon. 

At that price, the replaceable battery might matter more than another Bluetooth codec or marketing feature. Wireless headphones have become better and considerably more affordable, but relatively few are designed around the idea that owners might still want to use them after the original battery has reached the end of its useful life. Beyerdynamic appears to have noticed that problem, and the AVENTHO Y offers a rather sensible solution.

For more information: beyerdynamic.com

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I’ve covered the many ways smart thermostats can convert your home to a well-heated haven and how quickly they can pay for themselves through energy savings, but there’s one glaring issue. Almost all smart thermostats are designed only for central hubs and forced air heating/cooling. Imagine my relief when Sonoff showed up at IFA 2026 with a smart alternative.

Read more: The Weirdest and Wackiest Tech We Found at IFA 2026

At last, I’ve found an alternative, thanks to Sonoff’s announcement of its latest TRV Smart Thermostatic Radiator Valve. It’s designed to fit on the valve pipe of a traditional home radiator, screwing in place and connecting to Wi-Fi to provide app insights and a full suite of control options. It’s available right now on the Sonoff website for $35 and supports both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

It’s difficult to find up-to-date smart radiator solutions in the IS, let alone everything Sonoff is offering here. The valve lets you adjust between several temperature plans and uses an IPS color screen to show temperature and settings at a glance. Its app also offers low-battery alerts so you can recharge it, as well as important reminders for frost protection, anti-calcification maintenance and even connections to window sensors that can automatically stop heating when windows are opened. There’s even a child lock to keep little fingers from messing up your heating schedule.

This combination of features is exactly what people need if they live in homes that primarily use radiators, have radiators in addition to central heating, or use radiators only in certain spots, like a finished basement. It offers the same savings potential and convenience as standard smart thermostats, plus some features tailored specifically for radiators.

Since I don’t have radiators in my home, I can’t easily test this smart valve out. I’ll have to ask other CNET editors if one of their rooms has a radiator they could test in so we can get real-world results, but everything looks promising here.

Are you more of a radiant floor heat home? Sonoff has you covered, too

Many newer homes have a different kind of heating technology, radiant flooring heating, popular in bathrooms and homes with certain kinds of wood flooring. If you’re interested in smart additions to this kind of radiant heating, Sonoff brought good news to IFA for you, too.

Sonoff also announced a Thermostat Core, designed to fit standard hydronic underfloor heating systems. It outfits floor heating with complete app controls, scheduling options and connection options with Sonoff temperature sensors, so floor heating can respond to the current temperature of a specific room. It sports a presence-activated screen, frost protection and other synergies similar to the radiator valve, too.

I don’t currently have pricing information for the Thermostat Core, but when I find out the details, I’ll let you know.

While I’m most excited about the smart heating, I’d be remiss not to mention that Sonoff announced several other smart products at IFA. It showed off an indoor siren and, most notably, a window security cam. Eufy also showed up with a window camera at IFA, so it’s apparently a new home security trend. Wyze got in the game much earlier this year with its own window security cam, and you can see what I thought about it here. These unique, covered cams fit directly on windows and are particularly useful for apartments and similar spots.

Tyler Lacoma

Editor / Home Security and Smart Home

Tyler has worked on, lived with and tested all types of smart home and security technology for over a dozen years, explaining the latest features, privacy tricks, and top recommendations.

With degrees in Business Management, Literature and Technical Writing, Tyler takes every opportunity to play with the latest AI technology, push smart devices to their limits and occasionally throw cameras off his roof, all to find the best devices to trust in your life. He always checks with the renters (and pets) in his life to see what smart products can work for everyone, in every living situation.

Living in beautiful Bend, Oregon gives Tyler plenty of opportunities to test the latest tech in every kind of weather and temperature. But when not at work, he can be found hiking the trails, trying out a new food recipe for his loved ones, keeping up on his favorite reading, or gaming with good friends.

See full bio

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Labor Day sales are usually a great excuse to finally buy the tech you’ve been putting off. Cameras, microphones, webcams— almost everything sees a discount. If you’re a creator or simply love documenting trips, Insta360’s Labor Day sale is worth paying attention to.

The sale runs in the U.S. from August 27 through September 7, with discounts across the company’s flagship 360 cameras, action cameras, webcams, and wireless microphone lineup. Whether you’re looking for an 8K 360 camera or a pocket-sized action cam for travel, here are the five best Insta360 deals to consider.

Best Insta360 Labor Day deals at a glance

Insta360 X5: $464.99

If you just need one recommendation from this list, it has to be the Insta360 X5. Up until just a week ago, it was the company’s flagship 360 camera, and arguably the most versatile option for creators who shoot everything from road trips to mountain biking.

The biggest reason to buy the X5 is flexibility. It captures 8K 360-degree video, meaning you don’t have to worry about framing while shooting. Instead, you record everything around you first, then decide on the camera angle later inside the Insta360 app. That’s especially useful for cycling, skiing, motorcycle rides, or solo travel where you don’t have someone behind the camera.

Insta360 has also improved low-light performance over previous generations, so nighttime city walks and sunset footage retain noticeably better detail than older 360 cameras.

Insta360 Ace Pro 2: $329.99

Not everyone wants a 360 camera. If your priority is traditional wide-angle footage, the Insta360 Ace Pro 2 is arguably the better buy at $329.99. Unlike the X5, the Ace Pro 2 is built around a 1/1.3-inch image sensor paired with dual AI imaging chips. That combination allows it to record 8K video while delivering much cleaner footage in difficult lighting conditions, especially indoors or after sunset.

The camera is also designed for creators who spend more time editing than reframing. You simply mount it, hit record, and get stabilized footage without the additional workflow that comes with 360-degree video.

Insta360 GO Ultra: $379.99

The Insta360 GO Ultra is probably the most unique product in the sale. Priced at $379.99, it’s less about cinematic filmmaking and more about capturing moments you would’ve otherwise missed.

The camera weighs very little and can clip onto clothing or attach magnetically using Insta360’s mounting system. That makes it perfect for first-person cooking videos, walking tours, skiing, or simply recording family moments without holding a camera.

Despite its tiny size, it records 4K stabilized video, and Insta360’s FlowState stabilization keeps footage remarkably smooth while walking or running.

Insta360 Mic Pro: $299.99

Video quality gets all the attention, but audio is usually what separates professional content from amateur footage. That’s where the Insta360 Mic Pro comes in.

Discounted to $299, the Mic Pro is a dual wireless microphone system aimed at creators who shoot interviews, podcasts, or YouTube videos. Its standout feature is the customizable e-ink display, which lets you monitor recording information while consuming very little power.

The system also includes intelligent noise reduction and professional-grade wireless recording, making it a strong alternative to premium options from DJI and Rode.

Insta360 Link 2 Pro: $209.99

If your content is created at a desk rather than outdoors, the Insta360 Link 2 Pro deserves attention. At $209, it’s one of the better premium webcam deals this Labor Day.

The webcam uses a 1/1.3-inch sensor—much larger than what most webcams offer—which translates into sharper 4K video and significantly better performance in dim rooms. It also supports multiple audio pickup modes, making it useful for video calls, livestreaming, and online teaching without requiring a separate microphone in many situations. For remote workers and streamers, it’s easily one of the strongest value picks in the sale.

If you want improve a model rocket’s performance, all the common options come with serious trade-offs: you could increase the motor’s size, which raises safety issues, or you could cut down on weight, which limits the possible payload. [Con Hathy] was therefore intrigued by the design of the Arcas sounding rockets, which with the aid of a gas-fed launch tube could reach an altitude of 100 km. Even in models without a gas generator, a launch tube apparently boosted performance, an effect which [Con] was able to replicate in a much smaller model rocket.

In theory, as the rocket engine fires, it should pressurize the tube behind the rocket, providing an extra boost out of the tube. To test this, [Con] 3D printed a test rocket, launched it both from a standard rail and from a tube, and compared the results. During tube launches, a printed sabot fit around the rocket and formed a seal with the launch tube. The results were surprising: the tube-launched rocket actually performed substantially worse than a rail launch. After building a simulation, [Con] found that, as the rocket moves down the tube, the volume of tube it needs to back-fill with gas increases faster than the engine puts out exhaust; it was pulling a slight vacuum behind it, slowing itself down.

To solve this, [Con] decreased the diameter of the launch tube. To let the rocket fit into the tube, he also modified it to use pop-out stabilizer fins which wrap around the rocket while in the tube. The sabot was also shrunk, and had foam added to improve the seal between it and the rocket. For this second test, [Con] also connected a pressure sensor to the base of the launch tube. The results on the second launch were much better: according to an altimeter, it managed to fly 72% higher. Based on the pressure sensor’s data, a longer tube could have squeezed out still more performance, but this still demonstrated the principle quite well.

We’ve seen a tube-launched rocket before, though not with such a performance focus.

The size of the Go 6 is perfect, both for reading when you’re out and about and at home. Its 6-inch screen puts it on par with the entry level Kindle and the Kobo Clara BW for compactness, landing right in the Goldilocks Zone of portability and readability. It fits in my smallest bags while still having a large enough display to read comfortably. It can sit in the back pocket of most jeans and even some front pockets (barring those afflicted by Bad Designs for Women’s Clothing).

There is at least one limitation to consider when bringing it around, though. The Go 6 (Gen II) doesn’t have an IP rating for water or dust resistance, so I’d hesitate to take it to the beach, camping or even use it poolside without a protective case. Kobo has it beat there.

At roughly 160 grams, it is noticeably lighter than the other device that spends the most time in my hand, my Galaxy Z Flip 6. That makes it great for reading in bed or lying down on the couch. So does its adjustable front light, which you can dim and brighten to your likeness, and shift from cool to warm tones to prevent eye strain. Additionally, its 300PPI ePaper display is crisp and bright.

Cheyenne MacDonald for Engadget

I did notice a fair amount of ghosting when switching between different apps and device menus, but Boox offers a number of refresh and color modes to cut down on this sort of thing if it bothers you. There’s also the option to set how frequently the screen refreshes. I found ghosting was much less of an issue while I was actually reading and I ultimately set my Full Refresh Frequency to every 30 taps. Never is an option as well, and you can set different settings for each app to optimize them for the display. A quick-access gesture launches BOOX EinkWise, where you can fine-tune any given app’s refresh and color modes, layout, contrast and anti-flicker levels.

The 1,500mAh battery will get you several days of use if you’re reading for a few hours a day and using apps moderately. You can get lots more out of the battery by turning off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when you’re not using them, freezing apps to prevent them from running in the background and keeping the front light low or off when lighting conditions allow. It’s currently been eight days since I last charged it and I still have 24 percent left. That’s still far less than you’ll get with the comparable Kindle and Kobo devices, which have weeks-long battery life, but that’s the tradeoff of having Android.

Putting books on the Go 6 (Gen II) is painless. You can transfer files wirelessly to the device using its BooxDrop file sharing tool, by syncing with several cloud-based storage platforms it supports, like Dropbox and Google Drive, or using the USB-C cable. The built-in Boox store is extremely limited, containing only a small selection of public domain works, so if you want to buy or rent books on-device, you’re going to need to turn to another app.

I’ve really enjoyed the freedom this ereader allows in using my go-to apps to source and read books, as my reading habits tend to be all over the place. I can buy and download a book from the Bookshop.org app, which is only available on iOS and Android, and then go to The StoryGraph app to jot down a review immediately upon finishing it without having to switch over to my phone. Moon+ Reader works alright too, but you’ll want to play with your books’ settings to make them more readable for E Ink, otherwise you’re likely to experience a ton of ghosting.

If you’re thinking about getting into content creation or you just want a more suitable device to record your next family holiday, it’s never been easier thanks to the best vlogging cameras currently available. These purpose-built devices are portable and typically a lot more affordable than smartphones and professional-grade cameras, and thanks to the hard work of our tech experts, you can use this guide to find the right option for your needs.

Although it might be tempting to pick up one of the best cameras around to start your vlogging journey, these devices are best left to enthusiast and professional photographers who know how to make the most of all the tech on offer. By comparison, vlogging cameras are designed to be more user-friendly, usually packing a front-facing screen that makes it much easier to line up your shots.

You’ll also find that vlogging cameras have better stabilisation than most capture devices, with the likes of GoPro, DJI and Insta360 having refined their stabilisation tech over the years to the point where it looks as if your footage has been recorded using a gimbal. This is perfect for when you’re filming a vlog that includes adventurous activities such as hiking or mountain biking.

As a final point, a lot of these cameras have been designed alongside dedicated smartphone apps so you can quickly extract any footage you’ve captured and share it to social media with little effort required. Most apps tend to include some form of editing suite, so it’s very easy for newcomers to get started without having to spend a small fortune on both hardware and software.

For this list, our tech experts have tested the latest vlogging cameras in a range of scenarios, seeing how they perform in the real world and documenting their experience in our reviews so you get a full understanding of what each camera is like to own. Keep on reading to see which options we currently recommend, or check out our separate list for the best action cameras, if you’re mostly interested in capturing fast-paced content.

Best vlogging camera at a glance

• Best overall: DJI Osmo Pocket 4
• Best for professionals: DJI Osmo Pocket 4P
• Best for beginners: Insta360 Go Ultra
• Best for full-frame capture: GoPro Mission 1 Pro