The TCL X11L is the company’s flagship TV for 2026, and it takes a different path than previous TCL mini-LED TVs. A key difference is TCL’s use of Super Quantum Dots (SQD), a new, enhanced quantum dot formulation that allows for full coverage of the BT.2020 color gamut – a claim several other TV brands are also making, but for their new RGB LED sets. If high brightness was the previous goal for flagship TVs, then extended color has become the new frontier.

Assisting the TCL X11L on its extended color quest is an Advanced Color Purity algorithm and new Ultra Color filter. The latter features 5 nanometer particles compared to the 60 nanometer particles in standard mini-LED TVs, and this allows for “more accurate pixel-level color” and more “consistent color saturation,” according to TCL. Moving beyond 100% BT.2020 coverage, the X11L’s specifications cite peak brightness at up to 10,000 nits, with up to 20,000 local dimming zones.

Note that both those numbers are for the 98-inch X11L, not the 75-inch version that TCL sent me for review. The 75-inch model instead features around 11,500 zones, which is still a considerably greater number than you’ll find on other flagship mini-LED TVs. In general, more local dimming zones means higher brightness and deeper, more uniform blacks, and the X11L is helped on that front by TCL’s Halo Control System. This uses a new 26-bit backlight controller and a Dynamic Light Algorithm, along with a reduced optical distance between the TV’s mini-LED backlight modules and light diffuser layer, to virtually eliminate backlight blooming. As you’ll see in the Viewing Impressions section below, the results here are seriously good for a mini-LED TV.

As attention-grabbing as the X11L’s specs are, all that technology comes at a price. The 75-inch version lists for $6,999.99, while the 98-inch X11L clocks in at $9.999.99. Even with recent price drops (the 75-inch X11L can now be found for $3,999.99) that is a big premium over the company’s stepdown SQD Mini-LED TV, the TCL QM8L series. The QM8L has a lower specified peak brightness at 6,000 nits and a lower local dimming zone count at 4,000 (for the top 98-inch screen size), but it provided an excellent overall level of performance when we tested it. The QM8L also has a mostly similar feature set, leaving its much pricier X11L SQD Mini-LED big brother with a lot to prove.

What Is It?

The TCL X11L is the top series in the company’s 2026, SQD Mini-LED TV lineup, followed by the QM8L and QM7L series. It features Super Quantum Dots for extended color, up to 20,000 backlight local dimming zones, and TCL’s high-contrast WHVA 2.0 Ultra Panel with an anti-reflective screen filter. Similar to the QM8L series, X11L TVs are outfitted with TCL’s TSR AI Pro processor, which provides AI-enhanced contrast, color, motion, and upscaling.

Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range formats are all supported by the X11L, and a planned software update for summer 2026 will add Dolby Vision 2 Max compatibility, providing enhanced features such as bi-directional tone mapping and Authentic Motion de-judder processing. The X11L also has Filmmaker Mode and IMAX Enhanced picture presets plus Intelligent picture and sound modes that make automatic adjustments based on content.

The X11L is the first TCL TV to feature four HDMI 2.1 ports for gaming. These support a 4K/144Hz refresh rate and there’s also 1080p/288Hz and FreeSync Premium Pro support for PC gaming. The TV’s Game Master mode provides a Game Bar pop-up menu for making easy gaming-related picture adjustments, and it also reduces input latency.

TCL clearly put a lot of work into the X11L’s physical design. Its 0.9-depth is alluringly slim for a mini-LED TV, and its polished aluminum side, top and bottom panels give it a luxury look. The support feet carry over the aluminum theme and also provide a solid foundation for the TV. TCL’s ZeroEdge design minimizes the screen’s bezel for a near “all-picture” appearance and there’s a fully backlit remote control with a built-in mic for voice commands.

In addition to its four HDMI 2.1 ports (one with eARC), the X11L has an optical digital audio output, USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports, an Ethernet jack and an RF input for an antenna. The connections are all located on a side-facing panel on the TV’s back, allowing easy access for wall-mount installations.

Google TV with Gemini

The X11L is the second TCL TV series to feature Google TV with the Gemini AI assistant. That feature is also available on the TCL QM8L, and it makes content searching easier and more enjoyable via its conversational format. Using either the mic button located on the remote, or the far-field one located on the TV itself, you can ask, “What are the best Sci-Fi movies?” and then drill deeper with additional queries such as, “Which are the best ones from the past decade?” to get a more refined list.

Google TV with Gemini isn’t just for content searches; like the Gemini app on your phone or laptop, it can be used to research anything. I asked the TV how tornadoes get formed, and it created a multi-slide, multimedia presentation on the topic (adding the caveat that Gemini can make mistakes, of course).

Aside from Gemini, the Google TV platform itself is easy to customize so it presents relevant apps and personalized content recommendations based on your viewing and browsing history. You can play screensavers pulled from the Google TV library, as well as images from your Google Photos account and also Gemini AI-created ones. Additionally, there’s a Live tab on the home screen that lets you view a grid guide of both Freeplay free-to-stream programs and local broadcast channels pulled in by an antenna connected to the TV’s built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner.

Audio by Bang & Olufsen

TCL doesn’t provide much in the way of specs for the X11L’s built-in speakers other than it has Audio by Bang & Olufsen. There is processing and pass-through support for both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and a quartet of “Ultra Bass” drivers on the TV’s back panel are used to reinforce bass effects in movie soundtracks. Equalizer adjustments in the TV’s Sound menu provide Center and Surround level sliders, and these indicate that there is a dedicated center channel driver in the TV’s front-firing speaker array, alongside dedicated drivers for surround channel information in soundtracks.

Another Sound menu highlight is the Beosonic interface. This lets you customize the TV’s sound to your liking by moving a slider up and down between Bright, Energetic, Warm and Relaxed quadrants. Overall, I found that the X11L’s built-in speakers delivered clear dialogue, clean bass and a decent sense of surround ambience, but the sound also had a somewhat thin quality. 

Emphasizing Warm and Relaxed on the Beosonic interface helped a bit here, but the X11L should ideally be paired with a soundbar or external speakers. To that end, support is provided for connecting an optional TCL wireless subwoofer for extended bass, and the X11L is also Dolby Atmos FlexConnect capable, supporting a 4.1.4-channel Atmos speaker configuration using TCL’s Z100 wireless FlexConnect speakers and Z100-SW wireless subwoofer.

Setup & Viewing Impressions

After doing some casual viewing with the X11L, I started my testing by making measurements using Portrait Display’s Calman Color Calibration software. Other than disabling the Adaptive Brightness feature, which adjusts brightness automatically based on room lighting, I left the Filmmaker Mode and Standard presets at their default settings for the measurements. 

Peak HDR brightness measured on a white 10% window pattern in Filmmaker Mode was 2,174 nits and 465 nits on a 100% (fullscreen) white pattern. In Standard mode, peak HDR brightness on 10% and fullscreen patterns was 4,011 and 407 nits, respectively. The X11L’s peak SDR brightness was notably high, measuring 1,958 nits on a 10% window pattern in Standard mode and 669 nits on a 100% pattern. Those results indicate that the X11L will be a great bright room option for viewing sports, much of which is broadcast or streamed in high definition/standard dynamic range.

So, what about TCL’s 10,000 nits peak brightness specification for the X11L? The highest brightness measurement I recorded was 4,860 nits in Vivid mode, which is roughly half of what TCL claims for the series. Still, the 75-inch X11L’s overall brightness is exceptional, even if there were some odd brightness-related artifacts that I noticed during my subjective viewing tests.

Specifically, the X11 sometimes displayed brightness “pumping” effects where the picture would be super-bright, particularly on a cut from a dark to a bright scene, and then gradually get dimmer. I mainly noticed this when viewing the demonstration footage on the Spears & Munsil Ultra HD Benchmark 4K Blu-ray disc with the HDR10 option selected. The same pumping effect did not show up when I watched the 10,000 nits Dolby Vision version on the disc, however, and I also didn’t see it on any other Dolby Vision HDR content I watched.

A listed benefit of TCL’s SQD Mini-LED tech is 100% BT.2020 color gamut coverage, and while the 89.7% I measured in Filmmaker Mode came up short of that number, it’s still an excellent result and one that’s comparable to the TCL QM8L SQD Mini-LED TV. P3 color gamut coverage was 97.8, another excellent result that matches what I measured on the QM8L.

Delta-E (the margin of error between the test pattern source and what’s displayed on-screen) averaged 3.9 for grayscale and 5.0 for color, both of which are higher than the 3.0 result considered to be the threshold for what’s indistinguishable from perfect to the human eye. Unfortunately, the TV’s White Balance (2- and 20-point) and Color adjustment menus didn’t provide sufficient range to let me fully calibrate the picture, though I was able to make minor improvements to gamma and color point accuracy.

Gamers will want to select the X11L’s Game picture preset and also turn on the Game Master mode in the System menu settings for lowest input lag while gaming. Using a Leo Bodnar input lag meter, I measured 14.5ms for a 4K 60Hz input. With the exception of the QM8L, which measured 9.8ms on the same test, that result is comparable to past TCL TVs I’ve tested.

Running through my regular slate of 4K Blu-ray demo clips post-adjustment, the X11L’s picture looked fantastic on the James Bond movie No Time to Die. Skin tones were accurate, and there was impressive black depth and shadow detail in dark scenes. A scene where Bond traverses a rocky hillside cemetery did show a degree of judder, though this could be fixed without adding any soap opera effect by setting both the Judder and Blur sliders in the Clarity menu’s Custom Motion mode to 3.

Switching back to the Spears & Munsil disc, demo clips showing flowers, birds, and lizards against a stark black background revealed virtually no backlight blooming. Equally impressive was the TV’s micro-contrast in an overhead shot of a city at night. A mini-LED TV with average local dimming control will typically show some degree of light bleeding in this sequence, which limits the overall contrast level and softens detail. On the X11L, however, the black level remained rock solid, and highlight detail was clearly defined.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse has been one of my recent go-to 4K discs for testing color on TVs, and the X11L looked every bit as good as the QM8L when it came to color saturation and detail. Overall, I thought the computer-animated picture here looked punchier and overall better owing to the X11L’s superior contrast and shadow detail. I had similar thoughts when I watched scenes from Alien: Romulus, another movie with plenty of scenes with bold colors and bright objects pitted against dark backgrounds.

The X11L’s 4K upconversion of standard HD programs was excellent. When I watched a PBS documentary on the American naturalist and writer Henry David Thoreau, fine details in shots of the Massachusetts and Maine woods were clearly defined, and so was the inky scrawl in close-up shots of Thoreau’s journals. The set’s anti-reflection screen also did a good job of minimizing glare from lights and open windows when I watched this doc during the day, and its color saturation was mostly maintained when viewing from far off-center seats.

The Bottom Line

TCL’s flagship X11L SQD Mini-LED TV is as bright as TVs get, and with its extended color gamut coverage and refined local dimming, it delivers truly attention-grabbing picture quality. TCL has claimed the X11L to be the “best overall TV in the industry,” and there’s plenty here to back up that statement.

With a discounted price of $3,999.99 for the 75-inch model I tested, the X11L is still about as expensive as TVs get. At that cost, you’ll be wondering what else it has to offer other than a great picture, and in this case the extras include a slim, premium design, better-than-average built-in sound, and  Google TV enhanced with the Gemini interactive AI assistant. The X11L will also be made Dolby Vision 2 Max compatible with a software update scheduled for later in the year, and that same update will also add an Intelligent Device Control feature that will let you adjust picture and sound settings using voice commands.

About the only thing stopping me from giving the TCL X11L a full two thumbs up recommendation is the TCL QM8L, which provided nearly as impressive performance when I tested it, and was much easier to calibrate for an accurate picture. It also packs many of the same features as the X11L. The price for the 75-inch QM8L dropped from $2,999.99 to $1,999.99 since I reviewed it, making it a dramatically less expensive option than the X11L. The TCL X11L is undeniably a great TV, but there are clearly better values to be had.

Pros:

• Exceptional brightness
• Extended P3 and BT.2020 color gamut coverage
• Refined local dimming (up to 20,000 zones)
• Effective anti-relection screen
• Good off-axis color uniformity
• Dolby Vision 2 support (pending)
• Google TV with Gemini AI assistant
• Audio by Bang & Olufsen front-facing speaker array
• Dolby Atmos FlexConnect support
• Wireless subwoofer support
• Four HDMI 2.1 ports with 144Hz support
• Premium design
• ATSC 3.0 tuner

Cons:

• Higher than average grayscale and color point errors in Filmmaker Mode
• Occasional brightness “pumping” effect
• Expensive

Where to buy:

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Deep Robotics has just released its latest four-legged robot, the Lynx M20S, and it’s evident that this machine was built to handle situations that would bring others to a halt. The days of the Lynx M20 being content with the safety of a controlled factory floor or a bone dry path are over, as the Lynx M20S simply continues truckin’ without blinking, trekking through water and dirt like it’s nothing. The engineers expanded on the previous Lynx M20’s robust foundation by improving three critical areas: hauling capacity, water resistance, and sheer speed.

The Lynx M20S may appear familiar, but it has been refined, measuring approximately 82cm long, 43cm broad, and 57cm tall, a sleek structure that maintains the overall weight under 33kg with the battery included. That means one person can easily move it around when necessary, so getting it from a truck to a job site is no trouble. M20S has wheels on the ends of each leg, so when in rolling mode, it glides along pavements and packed paths with ease. Flip a switch, and the wheels lock and the legs bend and lengthen, allowing you to step over logs, scamper up embankments, or step over obstacles up to 80cm tall. If you have to climb stairs, it is content to go to the next level at a fairly consistent rate: 25cm each step with a maximum slope angle of 45 degrees. It has a clever hybrid system that allows it to determine the optimal path forward based on what’s in front of it, all with a smooth transition from one mode to another.

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Speeds have undoubtedly increased with this new iteration, as lab testing suggest it can achieve a top speed of 9m/s, which is fast enough to keep up with a jogging on open ground. However, for everyday use, it has a more manageable top speed, striking a good mix between control and performance. Payload capacity has also been increased, allowing you to carry 35kg of weight in real work, up from 15kg previously. Hot-swappable batteries provide 3 hours of juice when unloaded and a good 2.5 hours when loaded, and the 1.5 hour charge time allows you to get back on the road quickly. Distance is expected to be roughly 15 kilometers without cargo and 12 kilometers with weight on board – quantities that matter when the operation is spread out over a vast location or a remote trail.

Protection levels received the same level of attention to detail. The Lynx M20S has recently received an IP67 rating. It’s well-sealed against dust and may be submerged in water for a short period of time without issue. I mean, earlier versions had an IP66 rating, which was fine for dealing with heavy rain or the occasional splash, but don’t expect it to get through a deeper puddle or an unforeseen flood. Temperatures range from negative 20 degrees Celsius to a blistering 55 degrees Celsius, so the robot can actually run whether it’s snowing or the sun is pouring down on some unfortunate guy in the desert. The Lynx’s joints and electronics are all shielded, so it can withstand a good old-fashioned rainstorm, muddy wetlands, or a dusty construction site, and all of that durability means it can do jobs when the weather is a complete nightmare.

Sensors and brains are the final piece of the puzzle. It has dual 96-line LiDAR units that scan the entire 360 degrees around it (and 90 degrees up), sending thousands of data points to the navigation system per second. Wide-angle cameras provide it with some visual input, and the onboard processors map out the way ahead and dodge obstacles in real time, plus the machine works out when to roll, how to stride, and exactly how to modify its stance for balance on its own. Operators can monitor the live feed and intervene if things go wrong, but the majority of the movement occurs automatically. With those modular ports, you can add all sorts of different gear for whatever project you’re performing, such as gas detectors and inspection cameras.

There was a time when buying a PC felt… rational. 8GB of RAM got the job done, 16GB felt like a power move, and anything beyond that was reserved for people doing genuinely heavy work. That balance existed because software respected hardware. Today, that balance has quietly collapsed, and Microsoft seems perfectly okay with it.

The company’s since-pulled guidance, casually positioning 16GB as the baseline and 32GB as the “no worries” zone, wasn’t just a recommendation. It’s a shift in responsibility. Because nothing about modern hardware suggests we suddenly need double the memory for the same everyday tasks. DDR5 memory is faster, more efficient, and more capable than anything we’ve had in the past. On paper, systems should feel smoother, more responsive, and more efficient. Instead, users are being nudged into upgrading just to maintain the same level of comfort they had years ago.

And that’s where the frustration kicks in. This whole situation feels like Microsoft telling users their OS is too big for its own britches, and it’s the user’s job to buy it a larger pair of pants. That’s not progress. That’s a workaround disguised as innovation.

Optimization Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Missing on Windows

Let’s not pretend this is an industry-wide problem. It isn’t. Platforms like macOS continue to prove that optimization still matters. Apple’s MacBook Neo, even with modest 8GB memory on paper, manages to deliver smooth, consistent performance because the software is tightly controlled and efficient. The same goes for Linux distributions like SteamOS, Bazzite, and CatchyOS, which run lean while still offering a full desktop experience.

Now compare that with Windows 11. Idle RAM usage hovering around 6 to 8GB has become the norm, not the exception. That’s before opening a browser, before launching a game, before doing anything remotely demanding. It’s like moving into a house where half the electricity bill is already gone before turning on the lights. And instead of fixing the wiring, the landlord is suggesting a bigger power connection.

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We’re running hardware that dwarfs moon landing computers, yet even opening Calculator still takes its sweet, dramatic time.

Part of the problem lies in how modern Windows apps are built. Native, efficient applications have slowly been replaced by web-based frameworks and Electron wrappers. Apps like Discord and WhatsApp on PC aren’t really apps in the traditional sense anymore. They’re essentially glorified browser tabs who thinks it’s a sovereign nation. These apps are memory hogs by design, and Microsoft’s own system components have followed suit, with Edge WebView2 instances popping up in the background like uninvited guests at a dinner party.

Then there is the “AI Bloatware” saga, a masterclass in corporate rebranding that would make a used car salesman blush. After the community rightfully revolted against the initial wave of heavy-handed AI integration, Microsoft pinky-promised to scale things back. What they actually did was just change the names and hide the toggles. These features are still there, lurking in the background, continuing to chip away at system resources.

The sheer lack of respect for the user’s hardware is what really stings. When your PC is idling at 8GB of RAM usage, it’s not because it’s doing something brilliant for you; it’s because the OS is too bloated to stay quiet. Microsoft has traded efficiency for “convenience”, though it’s actually convenience for their developers, who find it easier to wrap a website in a container than to write actual, native code. Like, seriously, we shouldn’t need a supercomputer to run a spreadsheet and a chat app simultaneously.

If Microsoft knows they can make it better, why are they asking us to pay for their current failures?

What makes it even more ironic is what’s happening internally. Satya Nadella recently spoke about Windows K2, a project aimed at making the OS leaner and more efficient. This admission is the ultimate self-own. In one breath, the CEO is acknowledging that the OS is a bloated mess that needs a ground-up redesign to be competitive, and in the next, the company is telling users to go out and buy 32GB of RAM to band-aid the current disaster. If a better, optimized future is already being worked on, why is the present solution being pushed onto users’ wallets?

The Real Problem Isn’t Memory, It’s The Mindset

To be clear, 32GB of RAM absolutely has its place. Heavy multitaskers, creators, and gamers dealing with modern AAA titles will benefit from the extra headroom. That’s not the issue. The issue is presenting it as the new normal for everyone, regardless of usage. The vast majority of Windows users are people who just want to browse the web, check their emails, and maybe play a casual game of Minecraft. For these people, 16GB should be more than enough. And the fact that it often is, on other platforms, makes this even harder to justify. This isn’t about hardware limitations. It’s about software inefficiency.

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When a system feels heavy despite capable hardware, the fault doesn’t lie with the machine. It lies with the experience being delivered.

The result of this tone-deaf management is exactly what you’d expect: a mass exodus. Users are finally reaching their breaking point and realizing that the grass really is greener on the other side. People are realizing that they don’t actually hate their hardware; they just hate the OS that’s holding it hostage. When a non-gamer can get a full day of productivity out of 8GB on a Mac, but struggles to keep three Chrome tabs open on a 16GB Windows machine, the problem isn’t the memory — it’s the middleman. On top of that, Microsoft is trying to gaslight us into thinking we need more power, when what we actually need is better software.

The irony is, Microsoft already knows how to fix this. Just look at what Asha Sharma and the Xbox team have been doing: listening to users, delivering meaningful improvements, and focusing on experience over excess. It’s proof that the company can still get it right when it wants to. Maybe instead of telling us to buy more memory, Microsoft should try remembering how to build a good operating system.

Bose knows a few things about soundbars. It has sold enough of them over the years to know what people actually want under their TVs, and the new Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer arrive with Dolby Atmos support, Apple AirPlay, Google Cast, and the kind of simplified setup that made Bose a household name long before every TV brand decided it also needed to sell you “cinema sound” in a plastic bar.

The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar will sell for $1,099, the wireless Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer for $899, and both arrive May 15th alongside the Lifestyle Ultra Speaker, Bose’s new $299 wireless smart speaker, which we cover separately in our related story that you can read here.

But this story is really about home theater, and Bose knows the room has changed. LG, Samsung, Sony, Klipsch, and Sonos are all fighting for the same wall space under your TV. And while a traditional 5.1 AVR-based system can still deliver better performance for the money, it also brings more boxes, more setup, and enough cable management to make grown adults consider moving.

Most people buy soundbars because they want one speaker to do almost everything. Maybe two if they add a subwoofer. Maybe four if rear channels enter the witness protection program. Bose is betting the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar and Subwoofer can make sound quality matter again without turning the living room into the Big Dig with speaker wire.

Built for Atmos and Bigger Bass

The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar is the anchor for Bose’s new home theater system, and it is more than a cosmetic update. Bose says this is its first major soundbar redesign in more than a decade, built around a nine driver array that includes six full range drivers, two of them up firing, four front facing, a dedicated center tweeter, and two proprietary PhaseGuide drivers. At 43.54 inches wide, 2.64 inches tall, and 4.96 inches deep, and weighing 14.8 pounds, it is sized for larger TVs without turning into furniture. The goal is clear: deliver Dolby Atmos playback, wider spatial effects, stronger dialogue intelligibility, and more convincing height from a single enclosure before you start adding more boxes to the room.

The technology matters because each piece is aimed at a specific soundbar problem: limited width, limited height, buried dialogue, lightweight bass, and unpredictable room acoustics. PhaseGuide is used to steer sound horizontally so effects appear to come from areas where there are no physical speakers. TrueSpatial processing is designed to make non-Atmos content sound more immersive. 

SpeechClarity uses adjustable AI-driven speech enhancement to lift dialogue without changing the entire mix. CustomTune room calibration uses an iOS or Android microphone as the reference point to analyze the room, seating, surfaces, and layout. CleanBass works with Bose’s QuietPort acoustic opening and DSP to reduce the kind of low frequency distortion that usually shows up when compact speakers are asked to do too much.

The Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer is the obvious next step if this is going under the main TV. It measures 11.63 inches wide, 12.88 inches tall, and 11.63 inches deep, weighs 33.7 pounds, and connects wirelessly through the Bose app with a stated range of 30 feet. Bose also lists a 3.5 mm wired connection as an option. Its job is not complicated: take over the demanding low frequency effects, add weight, and let the soundbar focus more on dialogue, spatial cues, mids, and highs. In 5.1.2 or 7.1.4 configurations, the subwoofer also works with CustomTune room calibration, which matters because bass and rooms have a long history of not playing nicely together.

The configuration path is where Bose is trying to keep things flexible. The Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar can be used on its own as a 5.0.2 system. Add the Lifestyle Ultra Subwoofer and it becomes 5.1.2. Add two Lifestyle Ultra Speakers as wireless surrounds and the system expands to 7.0.4 without the subwoofer, or 7.1.4 with the subwoofer included. That gives buyers a way to start with the bar and build out the system without committing to an AVR, speaker wire, stands, banana plugs, and the usual Saturday afternoon descent into cable management hell. Bose does offer custom-designed stands for the Lifestyle Ultra Wireless Speakers with cable management.

A few practical details matter. The soundbar supports HDMI ARC and eARC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Alexa, and Alexa Plus in the U.S. It also includes tactile controls, a hidden LED for status feedback, an eARC compatible HDMI cable in the box, and optional accessories including a wall bracket and remote control. The soundbar and subwoofer both come in Black and White Smoke, with a textured knit fabric grille on the bar and premium glass top design language shared across both products.

One thing Bose is not claiming at launch: dual subwoofer support. Previous Bose systems have supported dual bass modules, but that is not part of the Lifestyle Ultra system right now. At the Bose House event in NYC last week, Bose also did not tell me that dual subwoofer support is never coming. So the accurate answer is this: one subwoofer today, no promise of two tomorrow, and no reason to pretend the door has been nailed shut.

What We Heard at Bose House

My embargoed review can’t be published until May 15th, so we’re limited to early impressions based on Bose’s controlled demonstrations at its townhouse on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Bose set up the Lifestyle Ultra Soundbar system in its full 7.1.4 configuration, then removed the rear channels and switched the subwoofer in and out so we could hear how much each piece contributed. That matters, because soundbar demos often hide the sausage. This one gave us a better sense of what the bar can do on its own, what the subwoofer adds, and how the system changes when the Lifestyle Ultra Speakers are used as surrounds.

The room was also relevant. Bose had the system set up in the den on one of the upper floors, not in a massive showroom or some acoustically doomed hotel space. I don’t know the exact dimensions, but it felt close to my 16 x 13 foot den at home, probably a little deeper, with ceilings that appeared to be at least 10 feet high. It was still a typical NYC brownstone, with brick walls covered in plaster, but the room was well behaved acoustically. We were close to Broadway in the mid 70s, and you could not hear the street outside. For Manhattan, that’s basically science fiction with better parking rules.

The first demo track was from Dune, specifically the Arrakis rescue sequence involving a spice harvester. The scene gave the Lifestyle Ultra system a lot to manage at once: swirling sand, engine noise, the score, dialogue, and the movement of the rescue craft overhead as the crew is pulled out before the worm arrives.

No ballerinas or opera singers were harmed during the rescue. Timothée Chalamet may have had a point about opera and ballet struggling for mainstream relevance in 2026, but context matters. Arrakis is dangerous enough without dragging the arts community into the sandstorm.

What stood out almost immediately was the scale of the sound. Wide. Some real depth. A lot of height, which is where the upward firing drivers did their job. The Bose also handled dialogue very well. I did not feel like I was fighting to hear voices through the effects, sand, machinery, and Hans Zimmer doing Hans Zimmer things with the subtlety of a sandworm at brunch.

Bass impact with the subwoofer engaged was good, although not exactly SVS level, which is fine because Bose is not trying to sell you a refrigerator with a woofer in it. The rear channels were more effective than I expected. When the aircraft lifted off and moved overhead, the sound tracked with it, passed above me, and continued behind the listening position in a way that made the 7.1.4 setup feel genuinely useful rather than decorative.

Before I get too deep into the listening impressions, Bose’s SpeechClarity tech deserves its own mention. It uses adjustable AI driven speech enhancement to isolate and elevate dialogue without blowing up the rest of the mix, and that matters if you watch a lot of sports, movies, or prestige TV where everyone whispers like they are hiding from a tax audit. If your spouse does not want to hear you yelling “What did he say?” through the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs, turn this on. Yup. Go Sabres. Sorry, Bruins. Better luck next season.

Check back on the 15th for our in-depth review.

For more information: bose.com

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Integrity360’s Matthew Olney explains the ins and outs of IT and OT security, and the importance of having both secured.

From manufacturing lines and water utilities to transport hubs and energy plants, operational technology (OT) is a prime target for cybercriminals and nation-state actors.

As the lines between information technology (IT) and OT blur, understanding the difference between them and securing both effectively has never been more critical.

IT v OT security

IT security is the practice of protecting an organisation’s IT assets, including computers, networks, and data, from unauthorised access, attacks and other malicious activity. It involves using a combination of technologies, processes and physical controls to ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. A key objective is to prevent threats like data breaches, malware and phishing.

OT security, on the other hand, protects the physical systems that keep operations running – machinery, control systems and critical infrastructure. Here, priorities shift: availability and safety come first, because downtime doesn’t just cost money; it can halt production or endanger lives.

Many industrial organisations still treat IT and OT as distinct domains – one governed by corporate IT teams, the other by engineering departments.

Historically, this separation made sense when OT systems operated in isolation. But that’s no longer the case.

Today, nearly 40pc of OT assets are connected to the internet without adequate security, and by 2025, 70pc of OT systems are expected to be integrated with IT networks.

With 72pc of industrial cybersecurity incidents originating in the IT environment before infiltrating OT systems, a unified, cross-functional approach to securing both realms is growing in importance.

Attackers exploit weak segmentation, unsecured remote access, and legacy systems that were never designed with cybersecurity in mind. Once inside, they can halt production, damage equipment, or even threaten human life or cause environmental damage.

The unique challenges of OT environments:

Legacy technology

Many systems run on outdated or unsupported software, sometimes decades old, that can’t easily be patched without interrupting operations.

Proprietary protocols

OT devices use vendor-specific communication methods not recognised by standard IT tools.

Availability over confidentiality

Shutting down a process for security reasons may be more damaging than the attack itself.

Human and safety impact

A compromised industrial controller could affect worker safety or public services.

Limited visibility

Without asset inventories or monitoring, intrusions can go unnoticed for months.

Common weaknesses found in OT networks

Integrity360’s experts regularly uncover recurring issues across industrial environments, including:

• Poor network segmentation, allowing attackers to move from IT to OT.
• Unpatched systems and default configurations left unchanged.
• Weak or insecure remote access used by vendors and contractors.
• Lack of asset inventory or real-time monitoring.
• No endpoint protection against malware propagation.

These weaknesses make OT environments particularly attractive to threat actors seeking maximum disruption.

When operations depend on continuous uptime, a single breach can lead to production loss, safety risks, reputational damage and regulatory penalties.

By Matthew Olney

Olney is a cybersecurity content and communications specialist with extensive experience translating complex security topics into clear, engaging content for technical and executive audiences. As content marketing and social media lead at Integrity360, he works closely with Integrity360 experts to develop thought leadership, technical blogs, webinars and multi-channel campaigns that help organisations understand and respond to emerging cyberthreats.

A version of this article previously appeared on Integrity360’s website.

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The company confirmed to me that it is moving in a direction that other platforms have taken: converting users to the app. Reddit says that the test aims to find out if people like me—those who use the service but aren’t generally logged in—get a better experience with the app.

I often prefer the open web and don’t really want one more app cluttering up my phone. And while I’m open to learning about the “much better” experience in the app, hardball blocking tactics seem an odd way to educate users about something supposedly in their own interests. (After clearing cookies in my browser, I was able to access the mobile website again. It sounds like you can alternately log in to Reddit, though the overlay says nothing about this; I cleared cookies before I could try it.)

User reaction to the move seems somewhat negative. Futurism ran an angry article last week saying that Reddit “Intentionally Breaks Its Mobile Website.” And redditors have posted numerous complaints in places like r/bugs, r/help, and (naturally) r/enshittification. (Representative sample comment: “Reddit is a Website; why is it forcing me to the app?”)

Some of this carping does feel a bit strident for a free and (generally) useful service. Perhaps I should switch to the app. Perhaps I should browse while logged in to enable a truly customized feed. Perhaps I really would love the better search options.

But as I mentioned at the beginning, I often wonder if I could spend my Reddit time in more productive ways; signing up for a more targeted feed that better plays on my dopamine triggers doesn’t actually sound helpful. I think that’s one reason I resist these pushes to log in, to customize, to spend even more time on site. Indeed, if more force continues to be applied, perhaps the better choice would simply be to walk away altogether.

Disclosure: Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica parent Condé Nast, is the largest shareholder in Reddit.

Martini and Hansi of Nerdforge have long been splitting their time between crafting one-of-a-kind leather bound books and building custom computers. One day, they were wondering what would happen if they combined the two worlds into one project. The end result looks like a large, old book pulled from a dusty library shelf and placed on a desk.

The exterior gives you a clue right away, as the thick vegetable tan leather that wraps around the sides was chosen for its solidity, making every carved line and stamped detail stand out. The hides were soaked in a sealed bag overnight to soften them enough for tooling, and then allowed to dry naturally. Each side panel began as four laser-cut plywood layers joined together to form a solid slab. The corners were routed smooth before the leather was applied, and contact cement was utilized to adhere the heavy hide after standard wood glue couldn’t handle the thickness. The edges fold cleanly together, and after a little sharpening with a thinner leather strip, the finished covers appear very crisp and professional.

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• POWER FOR EVERYDAY TASKS — Ready the moment you open it, MacBook Neo with the A18 Pro chip delivers the performance and AI capabilities you need to…

Carving on the leather required a lot of patience because it was done entirely by hand, with lines drawn freehand and backdrop stamps used to drive the leather down and provide some wonderful contrast. Then they utilized other stamps to create raised, 3D elements that stand out when light hits them. It took two full days to complete each cover, but it was worthwhile because the finished product seemed handmade rather than mass-produced. The spine was given the same treatment, with curved pieces of leather meticulously molded over a form and tooled with matching patterns. After everything had dried and gotten a faint stain, the tint turned out to be a warm, somewhat aged tone that resembled a genuine hand bound book.

Inside the book form sits the actual computer case, painted to blend perfectly with the leather. The top panel posed the biggest puzzle. Ordinary grates would ruin the illusion, so thin strips of laser-cut MDF were spaced apart and sandwiched between sheets of paper. From any normal viewing angle the surface now looks like stacked book pages, yet air flows freely through the gaps. The spine front keeps its ventilation holes completely open. Nothing blocks the fans or traps heat. RGB lighting tucked within the case casts a soft glow outward, turning the carved leather into something that feels alive at night.

Assembly brought its share of moments where plans had to shift. The leather proved heavier and stiffer than expected once it met the plywood. Clamps ran out, so pieces were weighted down on the workshop floor. Glue dried faster in some spots than others, forcing careful realignment mid-process. Still, every adjustment kept the final shape true to the book idea. Power and reset buttons hide discreetly along one edge. Cables route out the back without breaking the illusion. Once powered on, the system boots like any other machine, ready for work or play.

from the look-mom,-we’re-stupid! dept

Good news if you really enjoy corporatism, autocracy, propaganda and a violently misinformed electorate!

The U.S. has fallen to sixty-fourth place (now below Ukraine) in the annual Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index. As corrupt, oligarch-coddled authoritarians the world over continue to enjoy their moment in the sun, journalism (aka the “enemy of the people”) continues to be violently disassembled by a lazy coalition of fascist ideology and corporatism.

From the latest report (see the full interactive index):

“For the first time in the history of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, over half of the world’s countries now fall into the “difficult” or “very serious” categories for press freedom. In 25 years, the average score of all 180 countries and territories surveyed in the Index has never been so low.”

The study notes that in 2002, 20% of the global population lived in a country where the state of press freedom was categorized as “good.” A quarter century later, less than 1% of the world’s population lives in a country that falls under this category.

In the U.S., Trump-friendly oligarchs like Larry Ellison and Elon Musk are gobbling up the remnants of dying traditional media and newer social media platforms alike, keen on turning both into oligarch and autocrat friendly agitprop machines. All while Trump destroys whatever was left of public media, and endlessly harasses companies that platform basic journalism and comedy.

At the same time, journalism layoffs continue to be rampant at the hands of corporate media giants dead set on destroying whatever was left of media consolidation limits, public interest reporting, and even archival and journalistic history. The result is a lazy, ad-driven, badly automated engagement ouroborus where anything serving the public interest is a distant and fleeting consideration.

The better performers in the index include Norway, Finland (where they teach kids media literacy and how to identify propaganda starting at the age of three), Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia. While decidedly smaller with vast differences, such countries have strange perks like functional public media and an operational social safety net not yet hollowed out by grotesque levels of corruption.

From the study:

“In the United States (which ranks 64th out of 180 countries and territories) journalists who were already fighting against economic headwinds and dealing with a crisis of public trust—among other challenges—now also contend with President Donald Trump’s systematic weaponisation of state institutions, including funding cuts to public broadcasters such as NPR and PBS, political interference in media ownership, and politically motivated investigations targeting disfavoured journalists and media outlets.”

It can, of course, always get worse. Autocracies start by consolidating media and turning established outlets in to autocratic agitprop bullhorns, but ultimately move on to dominating or destroying whatever’s left of independent journalism through legal harassment and ultimately murder.

There are paths out from under this, but it requires a lot of coordinated efforts the U.S. has historically had an allergy to. Including restoring antitrust reform and imposing not just consolidation limits but diversity ownership requirements. It would also help to drive creative new funding models for journalism, dramatically reshape media literacy policy, and aggressively support real publicly-funded media freed from corporate influence, historically a close ally to maintaining a functioning democracy.

Filed Under: consolidation, free press, free speech, global press freedom, journalism, media, press, propaganda, reporting

Companies: reporters without borders

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will ban data broker Kochava and its subsidiary Collective Data Solutions (CDS) from selling location data without consumers’ explicit consent to settle charges brought nearly four years ago.

The FTC sued Idaho-based Kochava in August 2022, alleging it collected and sold precise geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices. This information allowed Kochava’s clients to track the mobile users’ movements to and from sensitive locations, including mental health and addiction recovery facilities, reproductive health clinics, places of worship, and shelters for the homeless and domestic violence survivors.

According to the complaint, the company provided clients who paid a $25,000 subscription fee with access to this data through a user-friendly data feed via the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, claiming it delivered “rich geo data spanning billions of devices worldwide.”

Kochava also claimed that its location data feed “delivers raw latitude/longitude data with volumes around 94B+ geo transactions per month, 125 million monthly active users, and 35 million daily active users, on average observing more than 90 daily transactions per device.”

The Commission said at the time that the affected consumers were unaware of and had not consented to the data sharing, leaving them with no means to avoid resulting harms, including stalking, discrimination, and physical violence.

Kochava also sued the FTC for overreaching and said (one day before filing the complaint against the U.S. consumer watchdog) that it would introduce “Privacy Block”, a “privacy-first approach to block health services locations from the Kochava Collective marketplace” to address the privacy issues pointed out by the​ FTC.

Under the proposed order filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho, Kochava and its subsidiary (which has since taken over Kochava’s data broker business) will be prohibited from selling, licensing, transferring, or disclosing precise location data unless they have affirmative express consent, and the data is used to provide a service that the consumers directly requested.

Beyond the sales prohibition, the companies must also establish a sensitive location data program, implement a supplier assessment program to verify consumer consent, allow consumers to request disclosure of who received their data and withdraw consent, submit incident reports to the FTC when third parties misuse location data, and create a data retention and deletion schedule.

This proposed order will carry the force of law upon approval by the District Court judge.

The FTC also announced in August 2022 that it was exploring new rules to crack down on businesses engaged in mass commercial surveillance, in which consumers’ information is collected, analyzed, and monetized. One month earlier, the Commission warned that it would enforce the law if companies illegally shared or used consumers’ sensitive information.

More recently, in 2024, the agency banned data brokers InMarket Media, Outlogic (formerly X-Mode Social), Gravy Analytics, and Mobilewalla from harvesting and selling Americans’ location tracking data.

AI chained four zero-days into one exploit that bypassed both renderer and OS sandboxes. A wave of new exploits is coming.

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