Tech

The 16 best portable Bluetooth speakers for 2026

Published

3 hours ago

19 February 2026

Portable Bluetooth speakers have become an easy default for listening away from your desk or living room. They’re the kind of tech you grab without thinking, whether you’re heading outside, cleaning the house or packing for a weekend away. The best portable options manage to sound bigger than they look, delivering clear audio without weighing down your bag.

Battery life and durability matter just as much as sound quality now. Many modern speakers are built to survive splashes, dust and the occasional drop, while still offering quick pairing and stable connections. Some are designed for solo listening, others are meant to fill a space with music and keep going for hours.

We’ve tested a wide mix of portable Bluetooth speakers to see which ones are actually worth carrying around. Whether you want something small and simple or a speaker that can anchor a get-together, these are the models that stood out.

Quick Overview

Best portable Bluetooth speakers: $50 to $200

Soundcore

If you’re looking to spend as little as possible and get a speaker that will free you from using your smartphone to blast out tunes, the Soundcore Select 4 Go is a good option. It has decent sound quality for a speaker its size, and it’s loud enough to fill a standard-sized living room, bedroom or desk area outside. You can even pair two of them together to get bigger sound, too. It’s IP67 water- and dustproof, and it’s designed to float so it can handle an accidental dunk in the pool without any issue. And with a battery life of 20 hours, it’ll provide music for the entirety of your next party without breaking a sweat. — Valentina Palladino, Deputy Editor

JBL

JBL made a handy, convenient little speaker in the Go 4. It gets decently loud and doesn’t sound too distorted at those higher volumes. Will it stand up to more expensive speakers on this list in terms of sound quality? No, but it sound good for its size, which is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Made in part with recycled materials, the Go 4 is IP67 water- and dustproof, and you can pair two of these speakers together to get an even wider sounstage. — V.P.

Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget

If you’re just looking for a small Bluetooth speaker that can kick out some decent volume, the Tribit StormBox Micro 2 fits the bill. The audio quality here is fine; it doesn’t stand out in terms of fidelity, but the volume you get from this affordable little speaker is what makes it a good choice. If you’re bopping about outdoors on your bike or chilling in the park, it’s usually more about portability and volume anyway. The rubbery rear strap works well on relatively thin things like belts, backpacks and bike handlebars.

While it’s small and affordable, this mini speaker features a USB-C charging port for your devices in a pinch and you can wirelessly connect two of them for party mode or stereo sound. It also supports voice assistants for both iOS and Android users, and if you want to take calls on your phone via speakerphone, that’s easy to do as well.

Soundcore

Soundcore has been releasing some very able speakers lately and one of its newest is a quality personal portable. The Motion 300 is of the pint-sized variety, but offers 30-watts of punchy and bright output. It’s IPX7 rated so it can handle a bit of water, and it works with the Anker Soundcore app that allows a fair amount of customization from EQ settings to button brightness. It also supports hi-res audio using the LDAC codec for Android users with a compatible device.

The Motion 300’s size and frequency range don’t quite allow for a ton of bass, but it’s relatively loud and thumpy, especially when it has surfaces to reflect off of. Soundcore has even extended its high-frequency range to 40kHz, and while its utility is debatable, the Motion 300 does sound crisp in the high-end spectrum. You can also enable adaptive audio, which helps optimize its sound delivery depending on the speaker orientation (on its back, standing up or hanging from its removable button-fastened strap).

The speaker’s design merges a funky style with office-machine chic, from the playfully speckled soft touch exterior to the metallic, logo-emblazoned grille. Its 1.7-pound weight and clutch-purse size makes it better as a handheld or stowed in your bag rather than hanging from a backpack or bike handlebars. Ultimately, you get great sound in a small package with features you can tweak to your liking, all at an approachable $80 price tag.

Ultimate Ears

The latest version of a previous pick (the Wonderboom 3), the Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 is a tiny yet powerful portable that can deliver big sound. It’s still a cute, barrel-shaped small speaker with a nubby little strap that probably needs a carabiner to help attach it to most things. It offers up to 14 hours on a single change, and underneath, you can easily access the protected USB-C port whenever you need to refill. With an IP67 rating on top of the company’s five-foot drop test durability, it can go with you almost anywhere and survive to tell the tale.

Although there’s no app support or connectivity with the rest of the Ultimate Ears speaker lineup, you can easily pair it with other UE speakers for stereo sound. There’s also an outdoor mode button on the bottom that boosts the mid and high range to help the audio carry over a greater distance — perfect for when you need a compact party speaker that still delivers the best sound possible in its class.

Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget

This nondescript wedge of a wireless speaker could easily slip under your radar, but it’s worth a listen. It has a bright and bassy output, which is helped along by Qualcomm aptX support for hi-res audio. This Anker Soundcore device has a solid, slightly heavy build with a metal front speaker grille, a soft-touch rubberized exterior (that loves your greasy fingerprints) and IPX7 water resistance. While it’s not the lightest or most portable, it has good sound, especially for the price. Plus the app offers EQ customization, so you can fine tune to your liking.

There’s also a 3.5mm aux input for wired connections. You can use it as a speakerphone when taking calls as well, or easily play music from your devices. That’s fortuitous, as we found that this small speaker works well as a mini soundbar alternative and the wired input offers a foolproof connection. Aside from that, you can easily charge the Motion+ thanks to its standard USB-C charging port and it should last up to 12 hours on a single charge.

JBL

We considered the JBL Flip 6 the best JBL speaker for most people (you can still find it available online), and the JBL Flip 7 only improves upon the previous model. Sound quality is solid from lows to highs, even with the volume up at high registers. The cylindrical shape works well on its side or even standing on its end to save desk space. It has a capable carrying (or hanging) strap and raised buttons you can discern in the dark.

The JBL Portable app gives you a 3-band EQ to customize the sound profile if desired and if you have two Flip 7 speakers, you can run them as a stereo pair. If you happen to have a mix-and-match assortment of different PartyBoost-enabled JBL devices, you can connect multiple speakers for a bigger sound. And with a USB-C charging port, it’s a versatile device that’s easy to take with you on the move.

Bose

While the $119 Bose SoundLink Micro is half the size, we found that it’s definitely worth the extra $30 if you trade up to the SoundLink Flex. While it’s still not a room filler, the speaker offers some bright, dynamic finesse to your tunes, along with a significant amount of bass for its size. It’s similar to the scale of a small clutch bag, with a very small strap for carabiner-type hanging. Much of the exterior is sheathed in soft-touch silicone, except for the powder-coated steel speaker grilles. Like others in this range, the speaker is IP67 rated so it can handle the elements and sound good doing it.

Setup and connecting to the speaker should be done from within the aptly named Bose Connect app. You can also turn off voice prompts (which can become annoying) and pair with similar speakers for either party mode or stereo.

Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget

Read our full Beats Pill review

The new Pill has impressive bass performance due to the company’s decision to increase the size of the woofer rather than keep its previous arrangement that included two smaller ones. The speaker struggles at its loudest volumes, but it’s plenty loud enough well below that. The IP67 rating is more rugged than the Pill+ and over 24 hours of battery life will keep the tunes going for a long time. Plus, there’s lossless audio over USB-C and the ability to top off your phone or earbuds with the speaker’s battery.

This is a solid choice for anyone seeking crisp clarity with true low-end thump if a track demands it. The addition of lossless is also nice for times you’d like a little more quality in your tunes. And you can also put two Pills together for bigger sound or use them as a stereo pair. — Billy Steele, Senior Reporter

Marshall

The Emberton III Bluetooth portable from Marshall continues to iterate on a design we’ve loved for a while. This clutchable rectangular slab has a max output of 20 watts to deliver the brand’s signature sound. It may not be the loudest in its size range, but it focuses more on balanced output than raw power. There’s still 360 sound as well, making it a good companion for small get togethers.

The latest model has more than 32 hours of battery life and a rugged IP67 rating. There’s also a built-in microphone, so you can use it to take calls while you’re getting ready for the day or chilling out in the backyard.

JBL

If you’re willing to spend a little more for bigger sound and more hours of battery life, the midrange JBL Charge 6 is a great upgrade over the Flip 6 or Flip 7. It has the same bright output and capable low end, but in a slightly larger package. If you’re looking for a smallish portable speaker, but something capable enough to entertain a few guests, this works.

Best portable Bluetooth speakers: $200 to $450

Ultimate Ears

Read our full UE Everboom review

The Everboom is a decent mid-range option in the Ultimate Ears lineup. The best features are its high durability and Outdoor Boost for better sound outside. You’ll get loud, 360-degree audio, but like a lot of UE speakers, there’s a lack of overall fidelity due to subdued mid-range tone. There’s plenty to like here, especially if you’re looking for something to take on an adventure that won’t weigh you down too much. The price is, however, a bit on the high side with the limited suite of features. But, all of the basics, and slightly more, are covered. Plus, it floats! — B.S.

Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget

Marshall launched the Middleton in January 2023 and positioned it as the new flagship for its portable Bluetooth speaker line. It’s the largest of the company’s IP67 rugged portables (measuring 4.3 x 9 x 3.75 inches) and offers a significantly louder output, with 50-watts of 360-degree sound. There are dual woofers and tweeters for the front and back, with passive radiators along each side. It also offers Stack Mode, which lets you pair with any other Middleton, Emberton II or Willen speakers nearby to expand your listening experience.

The Middleton can be managed through the Marshall Bluetooth app, but it also includes most of those same controls on the top. There’s a Bluetooth button (which doubles as the Stack Mode control) and a multi-use joystick for power on/off, volume control and track selection (forward or back). You also get bass and treble controls, which are a welcome addition and a first for one of Marshall’s speakers without physical knobs.

It has that traditional Marshall look, made with a soft-touch exterior composed of 55-percent post-consumer recycled plastic and is 100-percent PVC free. It also has a carry strap you can easily fit your hand through. Any dust, dirt or prints on the outside can be scrubbed off with a damp cloth, and even the exposed USB-C and 3.5mm input port components are waterproofed. That USB-C port can be used to recharge the speaker, or power up your other devices with its 9,600mAh battery.

Of course audio purists should know that it only supports SBC, but the sound quality is still top notch for most people. And while Marshall devices are usually priced at a slight premium, the good sound quality and decent low-end capability definitely makes this model worth checking out.

JBL

If you’ve enjoyed any of the smaller JBL speakers out there and are willing to spend a bit more, the Xtreme 4 is a good all-around choice. It’s big enough to warrant a shoulder strap, but still only about the size of a football. When we tested the previous version, the Xtreme 3, we found it to have pleasant dynamic sound, with hefty lows and a lively high end that seems slightly better balanced at this size than the smaller options from JBL in this range.

This is easily a favorite if you want something under $400 with a little more gusto than your average portable, but still being IP67 weatherproof. It has enough output to breathe life into a small soiree or backyard hang, although while it’s quite loud, it’s best when it’s close by or indoors where the bass can resonate to its fullest.

Best portable Bluetooth speakers: $450 and higher

Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget

If you didn’t know about Marshall’s history in amplifiers and rock music, the design should clue you in. The Tufton is the largest portable Bluetooth speaker from the company, looking much like an amp itself (as do most of them). It has physical knobs at the top and a carry strap to help move it about. While it may appear as rugged as concert gear, it’s less impervious to the elements as some with just an IPX2 rating, so it’s protected from light splashes from above.

Whether or not you’re a fan of the brand, the rich and distinctly thumping output may make you one. We felt pulled into the sound while listening to the Tufton, a bit more than most other speakers we tested at this scale. It’s dynamic, warm and, dare we say, analog in its audio presence. It’s also multi-directional with a supplemental driver on the back along with a bass port.

There’s no app to adjust the EQ, just the physical controls including a Bluetooth connect button, a power/volume knob and two for bass and treble. Once powered on, you can use the volume knob to set a max headroom and adjust volume on the fly from your source. The bass and treble knobs help you choose the tone of your adventure, from a purely flat soundscape to an enhanced one. We just wish you could see the dial indicators in the dark. Other features include aptX support and quick-charge capabilities that provide four hours of listening time in just 20 minutes, plus great standby battery life.

Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget

The UE Hyperboom is an all-arounder with good looks, portability, plenty of connectivity options and a loud and punchy (albeit compressed) output. The technical fabric exterior (which now includes a white option) lets it live among your furniture without screaming “party box,” while the optical input offers a possible TV speaker alternative. The large capacitive buttons on top let anyone adjust the volume, pause or play the music and select from two concurrent Bluetooth connections or a hardwired input (3.5mm or optical). On the edge with the silicone carrying handle there are the wired ports, plus one for charging USB devices and another for power. You can expect to get up to 24 hours of battery life, and the Hyperboom is good at holding a charge on standby.

This capable and loud (roughly 100dB) speaker will please most people as long as the party is of primary concern over fidelity. The ability to remotely power your device on or off using the UE app is also a welcome feature. Plus you can easily expand the sound to other Ultimate Ears Boom speakers (except Wonderboom) using the PartyUp feature. The IPX4 rating means a few spilled drinks won’t hassle it, but it’s not the best Bluetooth speaker choice for all-weather adventures.

Factors to consider in a portable Bluetooth speaker

Weather-proofing

IP ratings (Ingress Protection) are the alphanumeric indicators you often see in a product’s spec sheet that define water and dust resistance. It’s usually a combo of two numbers with the first indicating solid object ingress and the second being water. The former goes from 0 (no protection) to 6 (dustproof). The water-resistance rating goes from 0 (no protection) to 9 (protected against immersion and high pressure jets). When an X is used instead of a number, that means the product wasn’t tested for resistance. If it’s a waterproof speaker, it may have some innate resistance to solids, but there’s no guarantee.

IP67 is a common rating these days indicating highly resistant and potentially rugged speakers often featured in audio products like outdoor speakers. These are safe for quick dunks in the pool or tub and should be more than OK in the rain or in the shower. They’re also good options for the beach, playground and other rough environs.

Additionally, speakers with ports and a high rating will often include a tight-fitting cover over the charging or auxiliary ports. If you plan on using the ports, that may limit the product’s rated ability to fend off the elements.

When looking for the best portable Bluetooth speaker, consider the IP rating and also how you plan to use your Bluetooth speaker when making your decision. It may be worth splurging on a better sounding model with a lower IP rating if you’ll mostly be using it indoors, for instance.

Battery life

The focus of this guide is on the best portable speakers, and while “portable” can be a relative term, these devices are generally for people who are likely to find themselves far from a power outlet. These days, around 12 hours of playtime seems to be the baseline but obviously, the more battery life you can get out of a speaker, the better, especially if you plan to listen to podcasts or music on the go.

That said, be careful when looking at battery specs, as they frequently list a maximum runtime (“up to” x amount of hours). This usually means they tested at a low to mid volume. If you like your tunes loud with punchy bass, it can often end up cutting the expected usage time in half or more. Luckily, some manufacturers also list the expected hours of battery life when used at full volume and that transparency is appreciated. Bear in mind, however, that not all of the best Bluetooth speakers use the same charging port. Some support USB-C charging, while others use micro-USB, and some may even come with an adapter for added convenience.

Additionally, if your audio system or mini Bluetooth speaker also happens to have Wi-Fi connectivity, they’re usually designed for always-on functionality. Unlike normal Bluetooth speakers that go to sleep after a short period without use, these will usually stay awake (to listen for your commands) and slowly run down the battery. If you’re out and about, you’ll want to remember to turn these speakers off manually when not in use to maximize battery life.

Range

Bluetooth 5 offers better range and more reliable connectivity than its predecessors, making it a great feature to look for in the best Bluetooth speaker. That said, Bluetooth range can still be tricky. Some companies list their product’s longest possible range, usually outdoors and in an unobstructed line-of-sight test environment. Other companies stick with a 30-foot range on the spec sheet and leave it at that, even though they may be running Bluetooth 4.x or 5.x. That’s likely underselling the speaker’s potential, but unpredictable environments can affect range and there’s little point in promising the moon only to get complaints.

I’ve seen signal drop issues when crouching down, with my phone in the front pocket of my jeans, and barely 30 feet away from a speaker inside my apartment. I ran into this issue across several devices regardless of their listed Bluetooth connectivity range.

If you’re hosting a patio party and duck inside, it’s wise to keep any wireless Bluetooth speakers relatively close by just in case. It’s hard to gauge what aspects of any environment may interfere with a Bluetooth signal. In general, take range specs around 100 feet or more as a perfect-world scenario.

Latency

This is a minor mention for those out there who use a speaker for their computer output, or as a mini Bluetooth soundbar solution for setups like a monitor and streaming box. It’s annoying to find that your speaker’s latency isn’t low enough to avoid lip sync issues. Luckily, it seems that most speakers these days don’t often have these problems. Only a handful of the few dozen speakers I tried had persistent, noticeable lip-sync issues. Aside from occasional blips, all of our picks worked well in this regard.

If you plan to frequently use a speaker for video playback, look for devices with the most recent Bluetooth 5 technology and lower latency codecs like aptX. Also make sure the speaker is close to the source device as distance can be a factor. To avoid the issue altogether, though, consider getting one with a wired auxiliary input.

Extra features

Some speakers don’t just play music — they bring the party to life with built-in LED light effects and a full-on light show that syncs to your music. If you love a bit of visual flair with your tunes, it’s worth checking out models that offer LED light customization options.

Sound quality also plays a huge role in picking the right speaker. The best Bluetooth speaker should deliver a balanced mix of punchy bass, clear highs and strong vocals. Many models also include customizable sound modes that let you tweak the EQ to better suit different genres — whether you’re blasting EDM, listening to a podcast, or just want a more immersive experience that would impress even an audiophile.

If aesthetics matter, many models come in a tiny size that makes them extra portable, with plenty of color options to match your personal style. Whether you want a sleek black speaker or a vibrant eye-catching design, there are plenty of choices to fit your vibe.

Other portable Bluetooth speakers we tested

Sonos Roam

While there’s a lot to like about the Sonos Roam, there are plenty of other Bluetooth speakers with more features and better battery life. In our review, we gave the Roam a score of 87, praising it for its good sound quality, durable waterproof design and ability to work well within an existing Sonos speaker ecosystem. But the price is just fine at $180, and we found Bluetooth speakers that offer more at lower price points. Plus, the Roam taps out at 10 hours of battery life, and all of our top picks can run for longer than that on a single charge.

Monoprice Soundstage3

The Monoprice Soundstage3 offers relatively big sound at a midrange $250 price, with a variety of inputs rarely found on a portable Bluetooth speaker. The boxy, minimalist design is no nonsense, even if it’s more of a less-rugged, bookshelf-styled homebody. While the speaker puts out crisp highs alongside booming lows, we found the bass can overpower the rest of the output, so it’s not for everyone. And after using the speaker for many months, we also found the low-slung, poorly labeled button panel along the top can be a bit annoying to use. If you want a speaker for road trips, favor mids and highs, and plan on using physical buttons for volume control and input selections, there are better options out there.

JBL Boombox 3

Fans of JBL’s bluetooth speaker sound profile who want to crank up the volume, but also want a rugged and portable option, may enjoy the JBL Boombox 3. It’s a decent grab-and-go speaker with a very loud output, although it’s not as good as some of the loud-speaker styled options for long-throw sound and big outdoor areas. However, the price for this speaker line remains prohibitively expensive compared to other options with big sound that cover a bit more ground. If the JBL brand is your thing and you like the rugged, portable form factor, we recommend looking for discounts, or shopping around and exploring the available options including the (less portable) JBL PartyBox series.

Soundcore Motion X500

Soundcore speakers have generally been good and often reasonably priced. The Motion X500 loosely falls into that category. It has a tall, metallic lunchbox vibe with a fixed handle and pumps out a respectable 40 watts of crisp, clear sound for its size. It can get pretty loud and serves up a good dose of bass, although its primarily a front-facing speaker.

There’s LDAC hi-res audio support for Android users, but the main selling point on this is spatial audio. This is done through an EQ change and the activation of a small, up-firing driver. There’s a slight benefit from this if you’re up close and directly in front of it, but it’s not a total game changer for your listening experience. The original pre-order price of $130 made it a decent option in terms of bang for your buck. But it went up to $170 at launch, making it less appealing even if it’s still a good middle-of-the-road option if you want small-ish, clear and loud. If you can find one on sale for the lower price, it’s definitely worth considering. There’s also the larger and louder X600 ($200) if the overall concept is working for you.

Portable Bluetooth speaker FAQs

How does a Bluetooth speaker work?

Bluetooth technology lets devices connect and exchange data over short distances using ultra high frequency (UHF) radio waves. It’s the frequency range that’s carved out for industrial, scientific and medical purposes, called the 2.4GHz ISM spectrum band. This range is available worldwide, making it easy for companies to use with devices for global markets.

Bluetooth speakers include this tech, which lets them communicate with source devices like smartphones, tablets or computers in order to exchange data. The two devices pair by sharing a unique code and will work within the proscribed range for the device and Bluetooth version.

Ever since Bluetooth 4.0 was released over a decade ago, new iterations usually improve on range, use less power and offer expanded connectivity with features like multipoint (allowing more than one device to be connected at the same time, for instance).

Who should buy a Portable Bluetooth speaker?

If you want to play music while you’re out-and-about on something other than headphones, a portable Bluetooth speaker is probably what you want. There’s a broad range of devices for all types of circumstances. Many adventurous people will want a relatively lightweight portable that’s rugged enough to handle the elements while also packing enough charge to play for hours on end. Others may simply need a speaker they can move around the house or use in the backyard. In this case, you can choose larger less rugged models that may offer better sound.

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Seattle startup Adronite raises $5M to help enterprises understand their codebases

Published

4 minutes ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

Adronite CEO Edward Rothschild. (Adronite Photo)

Seattle startup Adronite raised $5 million in a Series A round led by Gatemore Capital Management, as it looks to expand its AI-powered platform designed to give large organizations visibility into sprawling and complex codebases.

The funding comes amid intense competition in the AI developer tools market. Unlike many AI coding tools that operate at the level of individual files or snippets, Adronite ingests complete codebases, including both modern and legacy systems.

The idea is to help organizations understand how their software works as a system, with applications in security analysis, modernization, and active remediation at scale.

Adronite can also build apps from natural language prompts and offers an AI chat feature that provides details on system-wide insights.

The system supports more than 20 programming languages and has been proven on a codebase with 2.5 million lines of code.

The 15-person company expects initial commercial deployments to begin in the first quarter of 2026.

There are various companies that offer code review tools, including CAST and Sonar.

Adronite co-founder and CEO Edward Rothschild is a former software engineer at Facebook and director of engineering at Nayya. He helped launch Adronite in 2023.

As part of the funding round, Liad Meidar, managing partner of Gatemore, was named chair of Adronite’s board. Gatemore has offices in New York and London.

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EV Sales Boom As Ethiopia Bans Fossil-Fuel Car Imports

Published

17 minutes ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Financial Post: In 2024, the Ethiopian government banned the import of fossil fuel-powered vehicles and slashed tariffs on their electric equivalents. It was a policy driven less by the country’s climate ambitions and more by fiscal pressures. For years, subsidizing gasoline for consumers has been a major drag on Ethiopia’s budget, costing the state billions of dollars over the past decade. The country defaulted on its sovereign bonds in 2023 after rising interest rates drove up the costs of servicing its debts, and it received a $3.4 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund the following year.

In the two years since the ban on internal combustion engine vehicles, EV adoption has grown from less than 1% to nearly 6% of all of the vehicles on the road in the country — according to the government’s own figures — some way above the global average of 4%. “The Ethiopia story is fascinating,” said Colin McKerracher, head of clean transport at BloombergNEF. “What you’re seeing in places that don’t make a lot of vehicles of any type, they’re saying: ‘Well, look, if I’m going to import the cars anyway, then I’d rather import less oil. We may as well import the one that cleans up local air quality and is cheaper to buy.’”

For decades, Ethiopia’s high import tariffs on vehicles put new car ownership out of the reach of most of the country’s population. Per capita gross domestic product is only about $1,000, and even by the standards of low-income countries, it has among the lowest car ownership rates. At 13 vehicles per 1,000 people, it’s a fraction of the African average of 73. With few cars manufactured in the country, the vast majority are imported, and most are bought used. The government’s import policy has upended the market. In parallel, tariffs for EVs were dropped to 15% for completed cars, 5% for parts and semi-assembled vehicles, and zero for “fully knocked down” — vehicles shipped in parts and assembled locally. That has made new EVs cost-competitive with old gasoline cars.

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For open-source programs, AI coding tools are a mixed blessing

Published

31 minutes ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

A world that runs on increasingly powerful AI coding tools is one where software creation is cheap — or so the thinking goes — leaving little room for traditional software companies. As one analyst report put it, “vibe coding will allow startups to replicate the features of complex SaaS platforms.”

Cue the hand-wringing and declarations that software companies are doomed.

Open-source software projects that use agents to paper over long-standing resource constraints should logically be among the first to benefit from the era of cheap code. But that equation just doesn’t quite stick. In practice, the impact of AI coding tools on open source software has been far more mixed.

AI coding tools have caused as many problems as they have solved, according to industry experts. The easy-to-use and accessible nature of AI coding tools has enabled a flood of bad code that threatens to overwhelm projects. Building new features is easier than ever, but maintaining them is just as hard and threatens to further fragment software ecosystems.

The result is a more complicated story than simple software abundance. Perhaps, the predicted, imminent death of the software engineer in this new AI era is premature.

Quality vs quantity

Across the board, projects with open codebases are noticing a decline in the average quality of submissions, likely a result of AI tools lowering barriers to entry.

“For people who are junior to the VLC codebase, the quality of the merge requests we see is abysmal,” Jean-Baptiste Kempf, the CEO of the VideoLan Organization that oversees VLC, said in a recent interview.

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Kempf is still optimistic about AI coding tools overall but says they’re best “for experienced developers.”

There have been similar problems at Blender, a 3D modeling tool that has been maintained as open source since 2002. Blender Foundation CEO Franceso Siddi said LLM-assisted contributions typically “wasted reviewers’ time and affected their motivation.” Blender is still developing an official policy for AI coding tools, but Siddi said they are “neither mandated nor recommended for contributors or core developers.”

The flood of merge requests has gotten so bad that open-source developers are building new tools to manage it.

Earlier this month, developer Mitchell Hashimoto launched a system that would limit GitHub contributions to “vouched” users, effectively closing the open-door policy for open-source software. As Hashimoto put it in the announcement, “AI eliminated the natural barrier to entry that let OSS projects trust by default.”

The same effect has emerged in bug bounty programs, which give outside researchers an open door to report security vulnerabilities. The open-source data transfer program cURL recently halted its bug bounty program after being overwhelmed by what creator Daniel Stenberg described as “AI slop.”

“In the old days, someone actually invested a lot of time [in] the security report,” Stenberg said at a recent conference. “There was a built-in friction, but now there’s no effort at all in doing this. The floodgates are open.”

It’s particularly frustrating because many of open-source projects are also seeing the benefits of AI coding tools. Kempf says it’s made building new modules for VLC far easier, provided there’s an experienced developer at the helm.

“You can give the model the whole codebase of VLC and say, ‘I’m porting this to a new operating system,’” Kempf said. “It is useful for senior people to write new code, but it’s difficult to manage for people who don’t know what they’re doing.”

Competing priorities

The bigger problem for open-source projects is a difference in priorities. Companies like Meta value new code and products, while open-source software work focuses more on stability.

“The problem is different from large companies to open-source projects,” Kempf commented. “They get promoted for writing code, not maintaining it.”

AI coding tools are also arriving at a moment when software, in general, is particularly fragmented.

Open Source Index founder Konstantin Vinogradov, who recently launched an endowment to maintain open-source infrastructure, said AI tools are running into a long-standing trend in open-source engineering.

“On the one hand, we have exponentially growing code base with exponentially growing number of interdependences, And on the other hand, we have number of active maintainers, which is maybe slowly growing, but definitely not keeping up,” Vinogradov said. “With AI, both parts of this equation accelerated.”

It’s a new way of thinking about AI’s impact on software engineering — one with alarming implications for the industry at large.

If you see engineering as the process of producing working software, AI coding makes it easier than ever. But if engineering is really the process of managing software complexity, AI coding tools could make it harder. At the very least, it will take a lot of active planning and work to keep the sprawling complexity in check.

For Vinogradov, the result is a familiar situation for open-source projects: a lot of work to do, and not enough good engineers to do it.

“AI does not increase the number of active, skilled maintainers,” he remarked. “It empowers the good ones, but all the fundamental problems just remain.”

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Apple said to be working on camera-enabled AirPods, AI-powered pin and full-on smart glasses

Published

57 minutes ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

Apple is reportedly developing a trio of AI-powered wearables, including smart glasses, camera-equipped AirPods and a new AI pin device.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the products are designed to give Siri more “contextual awareness” by letting it see and interpret the world around you.

The headline device appears to be a pair of Apple-designed smart glasses aimed squarely at competitors like Meta’s Ray-Ban collaboration. Rather than partnering with an established eyewear brand, Apple is said to be developing its frames in-house.

The company is focusing on premium build quality and multiple size and colour options. Reports suggest the glasses will feature an advanced dual-camera system. One high-resolution camera captures photos and video, while a second sensor feeds environmental data to Siri.

If accurate, the goal is to create what sources describe as an “all-day AI companion,” offering hands-free contextual queries similar to what Meta currently provides. This would come with Apple’s tighter hardware-software integration.

Alongside the glasses, Apple is reportedly exploring AirPods fitted with lower-resolution cameras. These wouldn’t be designed for photography, but instead to gather visual context for Siri while maintaining the familiar earbuds form factor. Microphones would also allow for voice interaction. As a result, the AirPods would become another extension of the iPhone’s AI system.

The third device in development is said to be an AI-powered wearable pin. The concept echoes products like the Humane AI Pin. However, Apple’s version would reportedly rely on the iPhone as its processing hub rather than operating as a standalone replacement. A built-in speaker is being considered, though that detail is not confirmed.

The broader strategy appears clear: rather than replacing the iPhone, Apple wants to surround it with AI-enabled accessories, reducing the need to constantly take it out of your pocket. It’s a different approach to some early AI hardware experiments that attempted to fully supplant smartphones. Those efforts haven’t always landed well.

There’s no official confirmation from Apple, and none of these products are unlikely to arrive before 2027. Still, if the reports hold up, Apple could be preparing its most ambitious wearable push since the Apple Watch. This time, the focus is centred squarely on AI.

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Apple Music’s 5 new upgrades are just what the platform needs to one-up Spotify, but its new UI has users begging for simplicity

Published

1 hour ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

Apple Music is rolling out five new features in iOS 24.6, including the new Playlist Playground and Concerts Near You functions
It’s also getting a new UI design for albums and playlists
Despite its new look, it’s divided users who have called out Apple for its lack of accessibility features

Apple will unveil its next slew of new products in a couple of weeks at its March 4 event, but it’s already teasing some of the new upgrades coming to Apple Music in iOS 24.6 — and there’s no doubt they’ll breathe new life into one of the best music streaming services.

If you’re enrolled in the iOS 24.6 beta, there’s a chance you’ve already caught a glimpse of the new Apple Music features that are expected to roll out widely in the coming weeks. Unlike Spotify, it’s not in Apple Music’s character to churn out one new feature after the next, so the fact that it’s bringing five new upgrades at once is big news.

Playlist Playground is one of the stand-out new features coming to Apple Music — if you’re familiar with Spotify’s AI playlist tool, Playlist Playground isn’t all that different.

It works very similarly, in that you enter a text prompt or select an idea preset, and it will then generate a playlist of songs based on your request. It’s Apple Music’s second AI music-streaming tool, followin g the launch of its clever AutoMix beat-matching feature.

A split image showing two new Apple Music features Concerts Near You and Playlist Playground

(Image credit: MacWorld / Foundry / MacRumors)

It’s clear that Apple Music has had its eyes on what’s working over at Spotify, and similar to Spotify’s Live Events hub, Apple Music is introducing a ‘Concerts Near You’ feature. While we don’t know how this looks in the app yet, we know that it’s on the way, and it’ll be refreshing to see Apple Music connect its subscribers with live concerts — I’m surprised it didn’t do this sooner.

Additionally, Apple Music is finally lifting a tedious playlist restriction, by letting you add a song to multiple playlists at once — a freedom that subscribers of other platforms have always had. And, building on last year’s Ambient Music feature, Apple is making this available as a new Home Screen widget in different sizes, giving those who frequent the app a new shortcut.

So this Apple Music upgrade is quite significant, but it doesn’t stop there. Its album and playlist interfaces are getting a facelift —and while it puts Spotify’s cluttered app to shame, not everyone is pleased with the result.

Although Spotify has all the fun features, its messy interface bears attracts constant user backlash, and now that Apple Music has given its albums and playlists a facelift, many Spotify users are calling for the same.

Previously, Apple Music’s playlist and album pages featured a large, and sometimes immersive, graphic with the tracklist against a plain white background underneath. In iOS 24.6, the album/ playlist artwork is now used for the entire page, so now the tracklist will be placed against the artwork’s most prominent color. One user shared a comparison image on Reddit (see below).

Apple has MURDERED Spotify with UI from r/truespotify

During my time trialing Apple Music while taking a break from Spotify, its clean layout was one of my favorite parts of the UX, and it highlighted everything I disliked about Spotify’s design. There’s no doubt that Apple Music is leaps and bounds ahead here; however, users have been quick to point out Apple’s disregard for accessibility and I can see why.

The Liquid Glass redesign is still dividing iPhone users as it is, and while I enjoy some aspects of its glow-up, Apple Music’s new UI is quite difficult to read in places, and I much prefer the clear separation between the colorful artwork and tracklist. And yes, the option to disable Liquid Glass is there along with other accessibility features, but the default could be more accommodating for those with reading issues.

Does this change how I feel about Spotify’s cluttered UI? Not at all — I still think it could take some notes from Apple Music. That said, I have a feeling Apple isn’t quite finished with expanding its new aesthetic throughout every area of its music streaming app — it’s an overkill waiting to happen.

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Mag-Lev Lemming Refuses To Fall

Published

1 hour ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

Are you ready to feel old? Lemmings just turned thirty-five. The famous puzzle game first came out in February of 1991 for the Commodore Amiga, before eventually being ported to just about everything else out there, from the ZX Spectrum to the FM Towns, and other systems so obscure they don’t have the class to start with two letters, like Macintosh and DOS. [RobSmithDev] decided he needed to commemorate the anniversary with a real floating lemming.

The umbrella-equipped lemming is certainly an iconic aspect of the game franchise, so it’s a good pick for a diorama. Some people would have just bought a figurine and hung it with some string, but that’s not going to get your project on Hackaday. [Rob] designed and 3D printed the whole tableau himself, and designed magnetic levitation system with some lemmings-themed effects.

The mag-lev is of the top-down type, where a magnet in the top of the umbrella is pulled against gravity by an electromagnetic coil. There are kits for this sort of thing, but they didn’t quite work for [Rob] so he rolled his own with an Arduino Nano. That allowed him to include luxuries you don’t always get from AliExpress like a thermal sensors.

Our favorite part of the build, though, has to be the sound effects. When the hall effect sensor detects the lemming statue — or, rather, the magnet in its umbrella — it plays the iconic “Let’s Go!” followed by the game’s sound track. If the figurine falls, or when you remove it, you get the “splat” sound, and if the lemming hits the magnet, it screams. [Rob] posted a demo video if you just want to see it in action, but there’s also a full build video that we’ve embedded below.

A commemorative mag-lev seems to be a theme for [Rob] — we featured his 40th anniversary Amiga lamp last year, but that’s hardly all he gets up to. We have also seen functional replicas, this one of a motion tracker from Aliens, and retrotech deep-dives like when he analyzed the magical-seeming tri-format floppy disk.

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Grab this Elevation Lab 10-year extended battery case for AirTag for only $16

Published

2 hours ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

If you’re an iPhone user who likes to keep tabs on where your stuff is, you can’t go far wrong with an AirTag. The second-gen model that Apple just released outpaces the original in every way (aside from the galling lack of a keyring hole, that is). While it’s easy enough to replace the battery in both versions of the AirTag, you might not want to have to worry about the device’s battery life for a very long time. Enter Elevation Lab’s extended battery case for the AirTag, which is currently on sale at Amazon for $16.

The case usually sells for $23, so that’s a 30 percent discount. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this deal, but it’s a pretty decent one all the same.

Elevation Lab

Elevation Lab says its AirTag case can extend the battery life of the tracking device to 10 years, and now it’s on sale.

This is arguably one of the more useful AirTag accessories around for certain use cases. It won’t exactly be helpful for an AirTag that you put in a wallet or attach to your keys, as it’s too bulky for such a purpose — and it doesn’t have a hole for a keyring anyway. Still, if you’re looking for an AirTag case that you can place in a suitcase or backpack and not have to touch for years, this could be the ticket.

Elevation Lab says that, when you place a couple of AA batteries in the case, it can extend the tracker’s battery life to as much as 10 years (the brand recommends using Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries for best results). The AirTag is slated to run for over a year on its standard CR2032 button cell.

The case gives the AirTag more protection as well. It’s sealed with four screws and it has a IP69 waterproof rating. What’s more, it doesn’t ostensibly look like an AirTag case, so someone who steals an item with one inside is perhaps less likely to realize that the object they pilfered is being tracked.

There are some other downsides, though. Since the AirTag is locked inside a case, the sound it emits will be muffled. Elevation Lab says the device’s volume will be about two-thirds the level of a case-free AirTag. However, the second-gen AirTag is louder than its predecessor, which should mitigate that issue somewhat.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on X for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

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New Tool Makes 3D Printed PCBs, Fast

Published

2 hours ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

Getting PCBs made is often the key step in taking a dodgy lab experiment and turning it into a functional piece of equipment. However, it can be tedious to wait for PCBs to ship, and that can really slow down the iterative development process. If you’ve got a 3D printer, though, there’s a neat way to make your own custom PCBs. Enter PCB Forge from [castpixel].

The concept involves producing a base and a companion mold on your 3D printer. You then stick copper tape all over the base part, using the type that comes with conductive adhesive. This allows the construction of a fully conductive copper surface across the whole base. The companion mold is then pressed on top, pushing copper tape into all the recessed traces on the base part. You can then remove the companion mold, quickly sand off any exposed copper, and you’re left with a base with conductive traces that are ready for you to start soldering on parts. No etching, no chemicals, no routing—just 3D printed parts and a bit of copper tape. It rarely gets easier than this.

You can design your PCB traces in any vector editor, and then export a SVG. Upload that into the tool, and it will generate the 3D printable PCB for you, automatically including the right clearances and alignment features to make it a simple press-together job to pump out a basic PCB. It bears noting that you’re probably not going to produce a four-layer FPGA board doing advanced high-speed signal processing using this technique. However, for quickly prototyping something or lacing together a few modules and other components, this could really come in handy.

The work was inspired by a recent technique demonstrated by [QZW Labs], which we featured earlier this year. If you’ve got your own hacks to speed up PCB production time, or simply work around it, we’d love to know on the tipsline!

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Brendan Carr’s Abuse Of FCC ‘Equal Opportunity’ Rule Completely Blows Up In His Face

Published

2 hours ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

from the great-job,-buddy dept

Yesterday we noted how CBS fecklessly tried to prevent Stephen Colbert from broadcasting an interview with Texas Democratic State Representative James Talarico. Which, as you’ve probably already seen, resulted in the interview on YouTube getting way more viewers than it would have normally, and Texas voters flocking to Google to figure out who Talarico is:

In short, Brendan Carr’s continual threats and unconstitutional distortion of the FCC’s “equal opportunity” rule (also known as the “equal time” rule) resulted in a candidate getting exponentially more attention than they ever would have if Brendan Carr wasn’t such a weird, censorial zealot.

If only there was a name for this sort of phenomenon?

Despite a lot of speculation to the contrary, there’s no evidence the GOP specifically targeted Talarico in any coherent, strategic sense. This entire thing appears to have occurred because CBS lawyers — focused on numerous regulatory issues before the Trump administration, didn’t want to offend the extremist authoritarian censors at Trump’s FCC. It’s always about the money.

CBS (and ABC, NBC, and Fox) have been lobbying the FCC for years to get ride of rules preventing them from merging. CBS (read: Larry Ellison) has managed to get his friend Trump conducting a fake DOJ antitrust inquiry into Netflix’s planned acquisition of Warner Brothers, so they can then turn around and buy Warner (and CNN) instead. They’ll need to remain close with the administration for that to work out.

CBS tried to do damage control and claim they never directly threatened Colbert, but you can tell by the way they’re being a little dodgy about ownership of those claims (demanding no direct attribution to a specific person “on background”) they likely aren’t true:

Colbert’s response to the claim he wasn’t threatened was… diplomatic:

Amusingly some of the news outlets covering this story (like Variety here) couldn’t be bothered to even mention that CBS has numerous regulatory issues before the Trump FCC, which is why they folded like a pile of rain-soaked street corner cardboard at the slightest pressure from the Trump FCC.

As we’ve noted repeatedly, Brendan Carr has absolutely no legal legs to stand on here. His abuse of the equal opportunity rule is equal parts unconstitutional and incoherent. CBS (and any other network with bottomless legal budgets) could easily win in court (I wager they could even get many lawyers to defend them pro bono), but Ellison (and his nepo baby son) have a much bigger ideological mission in mind.

Filed Under: brendan carr, censorship, equal opportunity, equal time, fcc, first amendment, james talarico, stephen colbert, streisand effect

Companies: cbs

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Plato closes $14.5M to bring AI automation to wholesale trade

Published

2 hours ago

19 February 2026

NewsAdmin

Plato, a Berlin-based startup, has raised $14.5 million in seed funding to bring generative AI into wholesale distribution, a massive industry that rarely makes tech headlines but quietly moves a significant share of the world’s goods.

The round was led by Atomico, with Cherry Ventures, Discovery Ventures, and D11Z joining in.

Wholesale distribution accounts for roughly one-fifth of global production flows. Yet much of it still runs on aging ERP systems, Excel spreadsheets, and manual quoting workflows that haven’t meaningfully evolved in years.

While AI has flooded marketing, customer support, and coding, distribution sales teams are often still copy-pasting numbers between systems.

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Plato’s thesis is simple: instead of adding another dashboard, embed AI directly into the operational core. The company connects to existing ERP systems and turns historical sales data into automated actions, flagging revenue opportunities, generating quotes, and identifying risks before they surface in quarterly reports.

The idea grew out of lived frustration. Co-founder Benedikt Nolte experienced the inefficiencies firsthand in his family’s distribution business. Generic CRM tools, he concluded, weren’t designed for the complexity of distributor operations. Plato was built specifically for that environment, not retrofitted from SaaS templates designed for startups.

Early traction suggests the industry is paying attention. Plato reportedly works with several large distributors on six-figure contracts, a sign that AI adoption in traditional sectors is less about hype and more about whether it can save time and unlock revenue.

The fresh capital will help Plato expand beyond sales intelligence into areas like procurement and customer service automation, while pushing into new European markets and eventually the U.S.

More broadly, the round highlights a shift in AI investing. The next wave isn’t just about bigger language models; it’s about embedding intelligence into industries that haven’t been rewritten by software yet. Wholesale distribution may not be glamorous, but it is structurally essential. If AI can modernize that layer of the economy, the impact will be far larger than another chatbot demo.

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