Step, which raised half a billion in funding and has grown to over 7 million users, offers financial services geared toward Gen Z to help them build credit, save money, and invest. The company has attracted celebrity investors like Charli D’Amelio, Will Smith, The Chainsmokers, and Stephen Curry, in addition to venture firms like General Catalyst, Coatue, and the payments company Stripe.
If the company wants to continue getting its fintech product in front of young eyes, then partnering with Gen Z phenom MrBeast is wise. MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is the most-subscribed creator on YouTube, with over 466 million subscribers, but his ambitions stretch beyond his over-the-top videos.
“Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up,” the 27-year-old said. “I want to give millions of young people the financial foundation I never had.”
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I’m so excited to share that we are acquiring the financial services app, @step
Nobody taught me about investing, building credit, or managing money when I was growing up. That’s exactly why we’re joining forces with Step! I want to give millions of young people the financial…
This acquisition makes sense, considering that a leaked pitch document from last year showed this was an area of interest for Beast Industries. The company is also reportedly interested in launching a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), a lower-cost cell phone plan similar to Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile.
In line with other top creators, Beast Industries’ business is much more than YouTube ad revenue. (In fact, the company reinvests much of that money back into the content.) The company’s cash cow is the chocolate brand Feastables, which is more profitable than both the MrBeast YouTube channel and the Prime Video show “Beast Games,” according to leaked documents reported on by Bloomberg. Some of his other ventures, like Lunchly and MrBeast Burger, have struggled.
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“We’re excited about how this acquisition is going to amplify our platform and bring more groundbreaking products to Step customers,” Step founder and CEO CJ MacDonald said in a statement.
It’s one thing to create your own relay-based computer; that’s already impressive enough, but what really makes [DiPDoT]’s design special– at least after this latest video— is swapping the SRAM he had been using for historically-plausible capacitor-based memory.
A relay-based computer is really a 1940s type of design. There are various memory types that would have been available in those days, but suitable CRTs for Williams Tues are hard to come by these days, mercury delay lines have the obvious toxicity issue, and core rope memory requires granny-level threading skills. That leaves mechanical or electromechanical memory like [Konrad Zeus] used in the 30s, or capacitors. he chose to make his memory with capacitors.
It’s pretty obvious when you think about it that you can use a capacitor as memory: charged/discharged lets each capacitor store one bit. Charge is 1, discharged is 0. Of course to read the capacitor it must be discharged (if charged) but most early memory has that same read-means-erase pattern. More annoying is that you can’t overwrite a 1 with a 0– a separate ‘clear’ circuit is needed to empty the capacitor. Since his relay computer was using SRAM, it wasn’t set up to do this clear operation.
He demonstrates an auto-clearing memory circuit on breadboard, using 3 relays and a capacitor, so the existing relay computer architecture doesn’t need to change. Addressing is a bit of a cheat, in terms of 1940s tech, as he’s using modern diodes– though of course, tube diodes or point-contact diodes could conceivably pressed into service if one was playing purist. He’s also using LEDs to avoid the voltage draw and power requirements of incandescent indicator lamps. Call it a hack.
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He demonstrates his circuit on breadboard– first with a 4-bit word, and then scaled up to 16-bit, before going all way to a massive 8-bytes hooked into the backplane of his Altair-esque relay computer. If you watch nothing else, jump fifteen minutes in to have the rare pleasure of watching a program being input via front panel with a complete explanation. If you have a few extra seconds, stay for the satisfyingly clicky run of the loop. The bonus 8-byte program [DiPDoT] runs at the end of the video is pure AMSR, too.
Yeah, it’s not going to solve the rampocalypse, any more than the initial build of this computer helped with GPU prices. That’s not the point. The point is clack clack clack clack clack, and if that doesn’t appeal, we don’t know what to tell you.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem misled Congress on Tuesday about the powers of her controversial top aide Corey Lewandowski, according to records reviewed by ProPublica and four current and former DHS officials.
Lewandowski has an unusual role at DHS, where he is not a paid government employee but is nonetheless acting as a top official, helping Noem run the sprawling agency. For months, members of Congress have asked the agency to detail the scope of his work and authority.
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At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asked Noem whether Lewandowski has “a role in approving contracts” at DHS. Noem responded with a flat denial: “No.”
But internal DHS records reviewed by ProPublica contradict Noem’s Senate testimony. The records show Lewandowski personally approved a multimillion-dollar equipment contract at the agency last summer.
That was not a one-off. Lewandowski has approved numerous contracts at DHS and often needs to sign off on large ones before any money goes out the door, the current and former department employees said.
Last year, Noem imposed a new policy that consolidated her and her top aides’ power over all spending at DHS, requiring that she personally review and approve all contracts above $100,000. Before the contracts reach Noem, they must be approved by a series of political appointees, who each sign or initial a checklist sometimes referred to internally as a routing sheet. Typically, the last name on the checklist before Noem’s is Lewandowski’s, the DHS officials said.
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Under federal law, it is a crime to “knowingly and willfully” make a false statement to Congress. But in practice, it is rarely prosecuted.
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson reiterated Noem’s claim. “Mr. Lewandowski does NOT play a role in approving contracts,” the spokesperson said. “Mr. Lewandowski does not receive a salary or any federal government benefits. He volunteers his time to serve the American people.” Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment.
Several news outlets, including Politico, have previously reported on aspects of Lewandowski’s involvement in contracting at DHS.
There have been widespread reports of delays caused by the new contract approval process at the agency, which has responsibilities spanning from immigration enforcement to disaster relief to airport security. DHS has asserted that the review process saved taxpayers billions of dollars.
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A similar sign-off process exists for other policy decisions at DHS. One of the checklists, about rolling back protections for Haitians in the U.S., emerged in litigation last year. It featured the signatures of several top DHS advisers. Under them was Lewandowski’s signature, and then Noem’s.
An internal Department of Homeland Security policy document from February 2025 shows agency officials, including top aide Corey Lewandowski and Noem — referred to as “S1,” signing off on a policy change. U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Scrim added by ProPublica for clarity.
Lewandowski is what’s known as a “special government employee,” a designation historically used to let experts serve in government for limited periods without having to give up their outside jobs. (At the beginning of the Trump administration, Elon Musk was one, too.) Special government employees have to abide by only some of the same ethics rules as normal officials and are permitted to have sources of outside income.
Lewandowski has declined to disclose whether he is being paid by any outside companies and, if so, who.
Lenovo reframes modular computing through enterprise durability requirements
The ThinkBook concept is more for fleets than consumers
System-level AI integration anchors the broader hardware strategy
At MWC 2026, Lenovo showed off a move toward modular hardware and system-level artificial intelligence, combining adaptive concepts with a broad commercial refresh.
The most conspicuous example of this is the ThinkBook Modular AI PC concept, which borrows a Lego-like philosophy of interchangeable parts and configurable layouts.
The approach revives long-running industry ambitions around modular computing, inviting comparisons with Project Ara, the abandoned modular smartphone initiative developed under Motorola ownership before Google discontinued it.
Modular ambition meets enterprise pragmatism
At the center of this showcase is a 14-inch ultra-thin base system built to accept detachable displays, input modules, and modular I/O elements.
A secondary screen can attach in different orientations or replace the keyboard entirely, expanding the workspace to roughly 19 inches while retaining portability.
“The AI era will not be defined by a single device or application, but by intelligent systems that work seamlessly across everything we use,” said Luca Rossi, President, Intelligent Devices Group, Lenovo.
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“We are demonstrating how Lenovo and Motorola are bringing that vision to life, combining adaptive hardware innovation with a single, unified system-level AI integration that works naturally across PCs, smartphones, tablets, wearables, and beyond.”
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That ecosystem relies heavily on Lenovo Qira, which it describes as Personal Ambient Intelligence embedded at the system level rather than layered on top as an app.
Although the modular ThinkBook may draw attention for its flexibility, the surrounding portfolio signals a clear commercial emphasis, as the updated ThinkPad T Series focuses on serviceability and lifecycle value, with select models earning high iFixit repairability scores.
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Lenovo connects those improvements to reduced downtime and sustainable fleet management, a message that resonates more with procurement teams than casual buyers.
The ThinkPad X13 Detachable extends this approach with field-replaceable components in a lightweight format suited to frontline professionals.
The ThinkTab X11, a rugged Android tablet built for industrial settings, further reinforces that direction.
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These devices prioritize durability, manageability, and integration with corporate security frameworks such as firewall controls and endpoint security policies.
Lenovo’s approach’s does not follow the same trajectory as Motorola Ara, given its clearer business-to-business strategy where versatility sits at the center.
It embeds the system within a broader commercial ecosystem that includes lifecycle services and AI deployment tools.
Even so, the viability of detachable displays and modular I/O components will depend on durability, pricing, and real-world adoption across enterprise fleets.
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The failure of Project Ara stemmed from both the appeal and the practical constraints of modular hardware at scale, and increased complexity, cost pressures, and limited developer support at the time also contributed to its demise.
At present, modular systems appear to face stronger enterprise demand and fewer structural barriers, which explains why brands such as Getac and HP continue to develop devices like the Getac S510AD and HP EliteBook 8 G1 for organizations that require configurable, durable hardware environments.
Lenovo’s modular ThinkBook concept appears to sit closer to that tradition than to consumer experimentation.
Nothing has officially unveiled its latest audio offering in the Headphone A, an over-ear model strategically aimed at a younger, style-conscious demographic.
Maintaining the brand’s signature transparent design aesthetic, the new headphones introduce vibrant Pink and Yellow colorways alongside the classic Black and White, positioning style as a key differentiator in the crowded audio market.
Positioned below the company’s flagship Headphone 1, the Headphone A serves as a more accessible entry point without significantly compromising on premium audio features. Key specifications include Hi-Res Audio certification and support for the high-fidelity LDAC wireless codec.
The headphones also offer flexible listening options through both USB-C and traditional 3.5 mm wired connections. The battery life is alonger than most headphones, boasting up to 135 hours of playback (with the caveat of ANC being off).
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Furthermore, a rapid charge feature delivers eight hours of listening time from just five minutes plugged in, addressing a crucial need for on-the-go users.
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The core acoustic performance is driven by a 40 mm titanium-coated diaphragm driver, engineered to deliver robust deep bass and crisp, clear high notes.
Image Credit (Nothing)
This hardware is complemented by AI-powered Dynamic Bass Enhancement technology. For noise management, the Headphone A incorporates ANC utilizing a dual feedforward and feedback microphone system with three distinct adjustable levels.
A dedicated Transparency Mode is also included, allowing users to safely engage with their external environment when necessary.
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Call quality is a strong focus, with Nothing equipping the Headphone A with three microphones paired with AI-boosted Clear Voice Technology. This system has been extensively trained on millions of conversational scenarios to guarantee crystal-clear, echo-free voice transmission.
For entertainment, the headphones also feature Static Spatial Audio, offering immersive soundscapes through dedicated Cinema and Concert listening modes.
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The design emphasizes both durability and user comfort. The unit features reinforced sliding arms and plush memory-foam ear cups for extended wear. An IP52 rating provides resistance against dust and light water exposure. Control features mechanical buttons, a Roller for precise volume and ANC adjustments, and a Paddle for seamless track navigation.
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All controls are fully customizable via the Nothing X companion app.
This release signals Nothing’s commitment to broadening its market appeal through value-driven innovation.
Many associate the NAND crisis with higher priced memory sticks for desktops or laptops, more expensive consumer electronics like Raspberry Pi hobby boards, and smartphones with less RAM than we are accustomed to. Companies like Nintendo also have to be cognizant of how the shortage will affect software sales. Read Entire Article Source link
Like the Phone 3a before it, the Nothing Phone 4a offers a very appealing option for those in the market for a more affordable device. The design and software are unique, and offer an experience that won’t leave you feeling you’ve got a budget device. While performance hasn’t improved all that much over last year, the solid battery life and reliable camera systems and better zoom lens all add up to a slightly more mature device.
Attractive, unique design
Lightweight but delightful software experience
Reliable battery and camera performance
Affordable price – There’s a pink one!
Not the most powerful phone around
Display is a little dark at times
Glyph Light bars are gone
Not a big jump on the Phone 3a
Key Features
Review Price: £349
Design
Distinctive Nothing design with transparency
Unique software approach
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Software matches the style of the phone
Big battery and fast charging
50w charging and sizable battery
Introduction
Nothing is taking a slightly different approach in 2026 than it did last year.
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The company has said we’re not getting a ‘proper’ flagship model to replace the Nothing Phone 3. Still, because it’s been so popular – and because the 3a was such a good phone – the brand opted to upgrade that series and give us a new model.
Enter the Nothing Phone 4a. Still very much a Nothing phone, but with a few changes and upgrades under the hood. But is it closer to being a flagship like Nothing says it is?
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Design
Four colour choices, including pink
Classic Nothing looks
Glass back, plastic frame
Since its inception, Nothing has been a company with a very clear design philosophy. And unlike most other tech companies, it is one that clearly cares quite deeply about the aesthetic of its products. They all tend to have that same retro futuristic look, that wouldn’t look out of place anthropomorphised as a character in Portal 2.
The phones have long had character to them, and while the transparent back doesn’t technically allow you to see the internals of the phone, the layers of texture, patterns and exposed screws all help create a very distinctive look.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
With the Nothing Phone 4a in particular, it’s not that far off the look and feel of the Nothing Phone 3a that came out last year. There are some different colours, though. Or, at least one new colour. Alongside the black, white and blue models this year is a pink one, which is the best looking of the bunch. It almost reminds me of the transparent-backed iMacs from the turn of the century.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
It’s glass on the front and back this year too, with the only plastic being the frame around the edges.
As for the elephant in the room, or at least the obvious change to any Nothing phone, or anyone familiar with Nothing’s first few phones: yes, the Glyph Light bars are gone. And with that, it appears those LED strips have been consigned to history.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
That doesn’t mean there are no lights at all, but the makeup of them is very different. Instead of several curved strips, there’s one vertical stacked line of square LEDs that make up one pulsing, flashing light system to the right of the camera.
Just like before, you can have it pulse and animate when notifications come in, or use it as a visual countdown timer, and the bottom, red LED will light up when recording video or audio. It even has integration with third-party apps like Uber and Google Calendar, to act as a live visual for updates and events.
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Display
6.78-inch OLED display
Gorilla Glass 7i
30-120Hz adaptive
For the most part, the display on the 4a offers a solid experience. There are ways in which it’s beaten by the much more expensive devices, but for a screen in this price category, it’s solid.
It doesn’t have the super-bright display you’d find on something like the Pixel 10 Pro XL, or the superb anti-reflective qualities of the Galaxy S26 Ultra. But for a device that’s half the price, you wouldn’t expect it to.
What that means is that at times it feels as though the display is a little dark, especially when not viewed directly head-on and watching HDR shows and movies.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Still, it’s generally quite a vibrant and colour-rich display with deep contrast that offers a solid media experience with the brightness cranked up and viewed directly.
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On that note, there were a few times during travel and phone testing where the bright sun was glaring and reflecting off the screen, and the Nothing Phone’s auto brightness kicked in to ramp it right up, making it clear, vivid and easily visible in harsh daylight. There was no awkward jumping or a delayed response. It was quick and smooth.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Software
Software follows the look of the hardware
Deep integration with Nothing’s audio products
AI features don’t get in the way
Nothing’s software and the way it’s integrated into the phone, the themes, the widgets, haptic feedback and smart features are some of the biggest reasons to buy the Phone 4a. Just like it was the phones that came before it.
It’s rare to find a company with such a clear, distinct and laser-focused software approach. All the layers, widgets, icons and elements are not only consistently applied through every part of the interface, but also look like it belongs with the hardware. The font styles, stylised widgets and graphics all match the hardware aesthetics perfectly.
The fact that it feels both light and feature-rich is great. It’s not cluttered or bloated with additional apps and features. Nothing, unlike other companies, hasn’t gone down the route of copying Apple’s ‘Liquid Glass’ transparencies and effects random parts of the software like Oppo, Honor and Vivo have.
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Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Because it’s light, it gives it the feeling that it’s responsive and effortless to use, but does it in a way that’s not plain or boring.
I enjoy the little things, like when you tap on the virtual keyboard to type. There’s a subtle tap from the haptic engine, not a cheap buzzy vibration that you often get on the more affordable devices. That just helps elevate the experience somewhat and means I actively keep that feedback on instead of switching it off.
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You get deep integration with Nothing’s audio products with custom widgets for headphone battery levels, and a fun music player window widget which shows album art and play/pause/skip controls on your Home Screen. This effectively is just mirroring the music player notification widget.
There are a few AI features loaded, but they don’t feel like they’ve been overloaded or shoehorned in just because it’s 2026 and it must have lots of AI features. And, you can largely ignore them if you want. But there is a custom ChatGPT widget designed to match Nothing’s OS design and make it easier to interact with OpenAI’s popular agent.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
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Essential space is there again this year, with its dedicated button that allows you to quickly capture voice notes or screenshots and save them directly to what is effectively a digital corkboard to help you remember things that have inspired you. I quite like it, but I never found myself using it all that often.
Cameras
50MP main camera
50MP periscope zoom
8MP ultrawide
Being a mid-range phone means it’s always best to temper expectations somewhat for how good the cameras are going to be. And while it’s true that Nothing’s triple camera system won’t match up to the best camera phones, it’s an all-round solid system that is more than good enough for daily use and is pretty good at night time too.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
What I like most about the camera is actually the experience of shooting with it. You can just point, tap to focus and shoot, and your image will be captured quickly with the appropriate exposure and the right area in focus.
In the daytime, if this phone cost more, I would criticise the overall texture and treatment of colours, highlights and shadows. But it’s hard to find too much fault with it. Sure, sometimes the HDR treatment of bright colourful spots leaves it looking a little artificial, but for the most part, I’m pleased with how well it contains those super bright points in the photos.
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I sometimes found the blues were a little unrealistic, not quite matching what I saw with my eye, especially when looking at blue skies. But again, it wasn’t horrendous, and the treatment and saturation of colour meant most pictures had a pleasing vibrancy that I’d be happy to post on social media without any filters.
There’s a new zoom lens this year, the same one that’s in the Nothing Phone 3, which means better light capture and stabilisation when you kick into 3.5x zoom, adding a bit more zoom range but at the same time adding to that consistent, solid camera performance across multiple focal lengths.
Nothing also has a bunch of its own preset filters loaded, which can be fun to play with if you want to get creative with looks. You can shoot black and white, or add a cool, grainy texture, add soft focus for portraits, and all manner of other presets.
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At night, shooting urban scenes in the lit streets of Barcelona, I was pretty happy with the results from all three cameras for the most part. Clearly, the primary lens is the one that captures cleaner, crisper images with better detail and colour, but the others aren’t awful.
That main sensor is also more sensitive to light than the other two and more capable of drawing it in quickly, and so when using the night mode setting, it usually takes less than a second to capture the scene, whereas the ultrawide might take a second and a half, or two seconds.
The perk of that delay though, is that if you just happen to catch a moving vehicle at just the right moment, you can get a pretty effective motion blur that adds a bit of movement to the picture, without needing to dive into any manual controls or needing a tripod.
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Being critical, the zoom lens often produced results where you can tell that machine learning or image processing is doing a lot of work to smooth it out. To the point where, at times, surfaces lose natural texture and detail, and so don’t quite look like a faithful reproduction of the real thing.
So clearly, the main camera is still the best one – particularly in low light, with the second and third lenses not quite matching it in terms of ability to capture light, or reproducing detail quite as cleanly.
Performance
Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip
8 and 12GB memory
LPDDR4X RAM, UFS3.1 storage
Whether or not you’d be happy with the performance of the Phone 4a very much depends on how you use your phone. But if you’re after the best phone in this section of the market, it’s safe to say the 4a is not it.
For the most part, doing casual tasks and swiping around, moving between different layers of the interface is pretty responsive and smooth. But if you were to try to load demanding games with high visual fidelity and fast frame rates, it would soon start to struggle if you put those games into their highest settings.
It’s just not the super-powerful type of phone. But I suspect those people who buy the phone aren’t buying it to crunch through hours of Call of Duty or Genshin Impact in ultra visual settings. You can get more powerful devices in and around this price range, but it typically means compromising on things like good software, camera performance and getting a good-looking device.
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Test Data
Nothing Phone 4a
Nothing Phone 3
Nothing Phone 3a
Geekbench 6 single core
1236
2073
1164
Geekbench 6 multi core
3312
6531
3273
Still, cranking through more casual games like Mario Kart Tour is a breeze thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 chip and up to 12GB RAM. It’s responsive and quick enough to cope with the less demanding, but still fast-paced games. And if there’s any resolution dropping to keep frame rates smooth, that’s kept to a minimum.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
It doesn’t seem to struggle with poor download speeds too much either, which is often a telltale sign of a cheaper device. I was never left waiting ages for news pages and images to download and game/app downloads were about the same as usual.
In short, I think the performance is fast and efficient enough that virtually anyone but the most demanding of users is well catered for.
Battery Life
5080 mAh battery, although in India it is 5400mAh
50w fast charging
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The battery capacity might not completely blow you away when read on a spec sheet. Especially not with brands like Oppo and Vivo pushing towards the 7000mAh mark.
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Still, there was never a concern for me that I wouldn’t make it through the day. In fact, it was virtually a two-day phone for me in most of my testing. And this was including a day when I did some of the stress testing benchmarks and camera tests we perform for all of our reviews.
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Even on that day, having taken it off charge at around 7 am, I started the next morning with 54% left. Included in those tests was an hour-long session watching Sweet Tooth on Netflix at 50% brightness, which only drained 5% of the battery.
Just guessing based on my experience and what I know about the device – I suspect the battery efficiency has a lot to do with the fact that the Snapdragon chipset inside isn’t the most power hungry on the market. That helps the phone easily get through days. And I suspect that even power users should at least make a full day on a full battery quite comfortably.
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Should you buy it?
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You want a fun, unique Android phone
The design here is great, and in a sea of fairly dull phones the Phone 3a looks great. Nothing has also done a great job of keeping the software and hardware uniform.
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This is an affordable phone, and as such it doesn’t with a chipset that can rival even the better mid-range phone.
Final Thoughts
I think in the end, the feeling I’m left with about the Nothing Phone 4a is that it’s a very usable phone. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. At all.
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It’s one of those phones I love to have in my daily life, that I can pick up and use, and its software doesn’t get in the way, it looks good, works well and has solid battery life.
There’s not much more you can ask from a phone that costs less than half what the very best phones on the market would set you back.
How We Test
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry-standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Used as a main phone for a week
Thorough camera testing in a variety of conditions
Tested and benchmarked using respected industry tests and real-world data
The Yangwang U7 will be first model to use new Blade Battery tech
Company says Blade 2.0 can deliver more than 625 miles on a single charge
BYD is working on high-performance EVs that also boast massive range
Not content with being a global leader in EV sales, Chinese car-making giant BYD is set to reveal all about the next generation of its battery and charging systems at a “Disruptive Technology” even due to be held in China this week.
Tidbits are already being released by the company on social media, including the fact that the Yangwang U7 will be the first high-performance EV from the BYD stable to receive the second generation of its advanced Blade Battery technology.
The company says the quad-motor, high-powered EV will be capable of returning a maximum range of 1,006 km (625 miles) on a single charge, according China’s CTLC testing standard (via Car News China).
When adjusted for the more stringent WLTP cycle in Europe and North America’s EPA rating, those numbers still hover around 559 miles and 450 miles respectively — easily making it the longest range EV on sale.
In addition to the Yangwang U7, BYD plans to introduce the Blade Battery 2.0 into a number of Denza models, as well as the BYD Seal 07, the Sealion 06 and a recently-announced Great Tang seven-seat SUV (see image below), which has the likes of Kia, Hyundai and Volvo clearly in its sights.
(Image credit: BYD)
Even in that enormous luxury crossover, the Chinese automaker claims its upcoming battery technology will be capable of delivering 590 miles on the CTLC testing standard, which is over 200 miles more than the Kia EV9, for example.
Not content with simply producing extremely energy-dense EV batteries, BYD has also been working on its megawatt ‘Flash Charging’ network, which is capable of delivering up to 1,500kW of electricity to compatible EV batteries.
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It released a number of 10-70% charging times for models due to receive its Blade Battery 2.0 technology, with the Yangwang U7 reportedly taking just four minutes and 54 seconds to reach the aforementioned State of Charge.
Finding a charging outlet in Europe and the US that provides just 350kW is tough enough, but BYD says it will roll out 20,000 of its innovative gas station-style Flash Charging stalls in China this year.
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Analysis: It’s all in the chemistry
(Image credit: Autohome/Car News China)
The most pertinent point here is not the fact that BYD, alongside Chinese battery-making giant CATL, have managed to improve the energy density, charging rates and longevity of their EV battery packs. It’s that they’ve done so using a Lithium Iron Phosphate battery chemistry.
Where rivals have been exploring more costly Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) cathodes or awaiting the arrival of mass produced all-solid-state batteries, BYD has been gradually improving its relatively cheap LFP technology to match the statistics of more costly alternatives.
Judging from the progress, there is likely even more room for improvement here, which could open the door to Blade Battery 2.0 technology eventually filtering down into the more affordable, mass market BYD models, both in China and further afield.
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Right now, the BYD Seal can manage up to 345 miles on a single charge in the UK, according to WLTP tests. But the second generation battery could see those figures rise to over 400 miles, if not more.
On top of this, future owners will also be able to make use of ultra-rapid charging, which brings EV charging sessions more in line with fuel stops.
If the infrastructure can be put in place, we will start to see customer attitudes towards electrification shift dramatically.
And of course, you can also follow TechRadar on YouTube and TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.
Following a strong showing at CES 2026, LG has announced pricing and availability for its new OLED evo G6 and C6 televisions, the successors to last year’s G5 and C5 models. The 2026 lineup builds on LG’s established OLED platform with refinements to brightness, processing, and smart features, but it arrives at a moment when the premium TV market is facing real pressure.
Chinese brands like TCL and Hisense have rapidly gained ground with aggressive pricing and increasingly competitive MiniLED and large screen offerings, while traditional rivals Samsung and Sony continue to push their own premium display technologies.
Against that backdrop, LG’s latest OLED evo models represent both an evolution of its flagship TV strategy and a reminder that the fight for the living room is getting more crowded every year.
LG OLED evo G6 Series
LG G6
The LG OLED evo G6 Series serves as LG’s flagship TV lineup. It introduces Hyper Radiant Color technology built around the new Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 OLED panel, which LG says delivers up to 20% higher brightness than the 2025 G5 series. The G6 also incorporates enhanced color processing and a Reflection Free Premium screen coating designed to improve visibility in brighter rooms while maintaining the deep contrast OLED is known for.
While the G6 is currently available in 55, 65, 77, 83, and 97-inch screen sizes, LG has confirmed that the 97-inch version does not include the Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 OLED panel or the Reflection Free Premium screen coating.
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Processing duties are handled by LG’s Alpha 11 Gen. 3 processor, which supports 12-bit signal processing. However, the panel itself remains limited to 10-bit color depth, which is still the high end industry standard for consumer displays. As a result, incoming 12-bit signals are downsampled to 10-bit before being displayed.
That being said, the G6 panels support a 4K/165 Hz refresh rate when supported by the source and include NVIDIA G SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium compatibility for tear free, ultra smooth gameplay.
A 0.1 ms pixel response time and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) should also appeal to dedicated gamers. The G6 further supports sub millisecond response times using ULL (Ultra Low Latency) Bluetooth, allowing compatible Bluetooth gaming controllers to connect directly to the TV for responsive cloud based gaming.
The G6 Series can be placed on a stand or wall mounted, and also supports a recessed mounting option for flush to wall installation for a cleaner, more integrated look.
All LG G6 Series TVs are available now for preorder at LG.
LG OLED evo C6 Series
LG C6
The LG OLED evo C6 Series sits just below the G Series in LG’s lineup with more affordable pricing, but it still delivers a comprehensive feature set capable of top notch performance.
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One notable move is that LG has incorporated its Primary RGB Tandem 2.0 OLED panel, the same panel used in the G6 Series, into the 77 inch and 83 inch C6 models. C6 models 65 inches and smaller instead use LG’s latest standard W-OLED panel, which still delivers absolute black levels with precise pixel level lighting control, though with lower peak brightness.
However, the C6 models do not include Hyper Radiant Color technology or Brightness Booster Pro, meaning the C6 Series outside of the 77 inch and 83 inch sizes will not reach the same brightness levels as the G6. The C6 also uses a glossy screen coating rather than LG’s Reflection Free Premium technology, which remains exclusive to the G6 Series.
All models in the C Series will have the same Alpha 11, Gen 3 processor as the G6 series for improved video upconversion and better handling of low-bandwidth streaming content. The new processor also boosts the performance of the WebOS smart platform, so navigating through settings and content should be a more seamless and responsive experience.
All LG C6 Series TVs are available now for preorder at LG.
LG OLED evo G6 vs C6: Key Differences Explained
Brightness and Panel: The G6 incorporates LG’s Hyper Radiant technology and is designed to be up to 20% brighter than the previous G5 series, delivering significantly higher peak brightness than the standard C6 models.
Reflection Handling: The G6 includes LG’s Reflection Free Premium screen coating on the 55 inch to 83 inch models, offering improved glare reduction compared with the glossy screen used on the C6 series.
Screen Sizes: The G6 lineup ranges from 55 to 97 inches, while the C6 series covers a broader range from 42 to 83 inches.
Mounting Options: Both the G6 and C6 can be placed on a stand or wall mounted, but the G6 is specifically designed for flush fit wall installation using LG’s dedicated recessed mounting system.
For more details on the LG OLED evo G6 and C6 Series TVs, including LG’s expanded AI features for 2026, refer to our previous hands-on coverage from CES 2026.
2026 LG G6 OLED TV mounted on wall.
The Bottom Line
The TV technology race has reached a near fever pitch heading into 2026 as the major brands continue to reshape the competitive landscape. TCL made headlines with the introduction of its X11L SQD MiniLED TV, while Samsung and Hisense are aggressively pushing new MicroRGB and MiniLED RGB display platforms. Sony has effectively handed off its TV manufacturing to TCL, and Panasonic has shifted production of its televisions to Skyworth.
Against that backdrop, LG arrived at CES 2026 projecting confidence with the latest generation of its OLED evo lineup. But the pressure is very real. LCD based technologies continue to close the performance gap while often undercutting OLED on price and screen size.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, LG’s 2026 OLED lineup looks extremely compelling. If pricing holds and real world performance matches the promise shown at CES, the G6 and C6 could make a strong case that OLED still belongs at the top of the TV food chain.
Actually, GPT-5.4 comes in two varieties: GPT-5.4 Thinking and GPT-5.4 Pro, the latter designed for the most complex tasks.
Both will be available in OpenAI’s paid application programming interface (API) and Codex software development application, while GPT-5.4 Thinking will be available to all paid subscribers of ChatGPT (Plus, the $20-per-month plan, and up) and Pro will be reserved for ChatGPT Pro ($200 monthly) and Enterprise plan users.
ChatGPT Free users will also get a taste of GPT-5.4, but only when their queries are auto-routed to the model, according to an OpenAI spokesperson.
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The big headlines on this release are efficiency, with OpenAI reporting that GPT-5.4 uses far fewer tokens (47% fewer on some tasks) than its predecessors, and, arguably even more impressively, a new “native” Computer Use mode available through the API and its Codex that lets GPT-5.4 navigate a users’ computer like a human and work across applications.
The company is also releasing a new suite of ChatGPT integrations allowing GPT-5.4 to be plugged directly into users’ Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets spreadsheets and cells, enabling granular analysis and automated task completion that should speed up work across the enterprise, but may make fears of white collar layoffs even more pronounced on the heels of similar offerings from Anthropic’s Claude and its new Cowork application.
OpenAI says GPT-5.4 supports up to 1 million tokens of context in the API and Codex, enabling agents to plan, execute, and verify tasks across long horizons— however, it charges double the cost per 1 million tokens once the input exceeds 272,000 tokens.
Native computer use: a step toward autonomous workflows
The most consequential capability OpenAI highlights is that GPT-5.4 is its first general-purpose model released with native, state-of-the-art computer-use capabilities in Codex and the API, enabling agents to operate computers and carry out multi-step workflows across applications.
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OpenAI says the model can both write code to operate computers via libraries like Playwright and issue mouse and keyboard commands in response to screenshots. OpenAI also claims a jump in agentic web browsing.
Benchmark results are presented as evidence that this is not merely a UI wrapper.
On BrowseComp, which measures how well AI agents can persistently browse the web to find hard-to-locate information, OpenAI reports GPT-5.4 improving by 17% absolute over GPT-5.2, and GPT-5.4 Pro reaching 89.3%, described as a new state of the art.
On OSWorld-Verified, which measures desktop navigation using screenshots plus keyboard and mouse actions, OpenAI reports GPT-5.4 at 75.0% success, compared to 47.3% for GPT-5.2, and notes reported human performance at 72.4%.
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On WebArena-Verified, GPT-5.4 reaches 67.3% success using both DOM- and screenshot-driven interaction, compared to 65.4% for GPT-5.2. On Online-Mind2Web, OpenAI reports 92.8% success using screenshot-based observations alone.
OpenAI also links computer use to improvements in vision and document handling. On MMMU-Pro, GPT-5.4 reaches 81.2% success without tool use, compared with 79.5% for GPT-5.2, and OpenAI says it achieves that result using a fraction of the “thinking tokens.”
On OmniDocBench, GPT-5.4’s average error is reported at 0.109, improved from 0.140 for GPT-5.2. The post also describes expanded support for high-fidelity image inputs, including an “original” detail level up to 10.24M pixels.
OpenAI positions GPT-5.4 as built for longer, multi-step workflows—work that increasingly looks like an agent keeping state across many actions rather than a chatbot responding once.
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Tool search and improved tool orchestration
As tool ecosystems get larger, OpenAI argues that the naive approach—dumping every tool definition into the prompt—creates a tax paid on every request: cost, latency, and context pollution.
GPT-5.4 introduces tool search in the API as a structural fix. Instead of receiving all tool definitions upfront, the model receives a lightweight list of tools plus a search capability, and it retrieves full tool definitions only when they’re actually needed.
OpenAI describes the efficiency win with a concrete comparison: on 250 tasks from Scale’s MCP Atlas benchmark, running with 36 MCP servers enabled, the tool-search configuration reduced total token usage by 47% while achieving the same accuracy as a configuration that exposed all MCP functions directly in context.
That 47% figure is specifically about the tool-search setup in that evaluation—not a blanket claim that GPT-5.4 uses 47% fewer tokens for every kind of task.
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Improvements for developers and coding workflows
OpenAI’s coding pitch is that GPT-5.4 combines the coding strengths of GPT-5.3-Codex with stronger tool and computer-use capabilities that matter when tasks aren’t single-shot.
GPT-5.4 matches or outperforms GPT-5.3-Codex on SWE-Bench Pro while being lower latency across reasoning efforts.
Codex also gets workflow-level knobs. OpenAI says /fast mode delivers up to 1.5× faster performance across supported models, including GPT-5.4, describing it as the same model and intelligence “just faster.”
And it describes releasing an experimental Codex skill, “Playwright (Interactive)”, meant to demonstrate how coding and computer use can work in tandem—visually debugging web and Electron apps and testing an app as it’s being built.
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OpenAI for Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets
Alongside GPT-5.4, OpenAI is announcing a suite of secure AI products in ChatGPT built for enterprises and financial institutions, powered by GPT-5.4 for advanced financial reasoning and Excel-based modeling.
The centerpiece is ChatGPT for Excel and Google Sheets (beta), which OpenAI describes as ChatGPT embedded directly in spreadsheets to build, analyze, and update complex financial models using the formulas and structures teams already rely on.
The suite also includes new ChatGPT app integrations intended to unify market, company, and internal data into a single workflow, naming FactSet, MSCI, Third Bridge, and Moody’s.
And it introduces reusable “Skills” for recurring finance work such as earnings previews, comparables analysis, DCF analysis, and investment memo drafting.
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OpenAI anchors the finance push with an internal benchmark claim: model performance increased from 43.7% with GPT-5 to 88.0% with GPT-5.4 Thinking on an OpenAI internal investment banking benchmark.
Measuring AI performance against professional work
OpenAI leans on benchmarks intended to resemble real office deliverables, not just puzzle-solving. On GDPval, an evaluation spanning “well-specified knowledge work” across 44 occupations, OpenAI reports that GPT-5.4 matches or exceeds industry professionals in 83.0% of comparisons, compared to 71.0% for GPT-5.2.
The company also highlights specific improvements in the kinds of artifacts that tend to expose model weaknesses: structured tables, formulas, narrative coherence, and design quality.
In an internal benchmark of spreadsheet modeling tasks modeled after what a junior investment banking analyst might do, GPT-5.4 reaches a mean score of 87.5%, compared to 68.4% for GPT-5.2.
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And on a set of presentation evaluation prompts, OpenAI says human raters preferred GPT-5.4’s presentations 68.0% of the time over GPT-5.2’s, citing stronger aesthetics, greater visual variety, and more effective use of image generation.
Improving reliability and reducing hallucinations
OpenAI describes GPT-5.4 as its most factual model yet and connects that claim to a practical dataset: de-identified prompts where users previously flagged factual errors. On that set, OpenAI reports GPT-5.4’s individual claims are 33% less likely to be false and its full responses are 18% less likely to contain any errors compared to GPT-5.2.
In statements provided to VentureBeat from OpenAI and attributed early GPT-5.4 testers, Daniel Swiecki of Walleye Capital says that on internal finance and Excel evaluations, GPT-5.4 improved accuracy by 30 percentage points, which he links to expanded automation for model updates and scenario analysis.
Brendan Foody, CEO of Mercor, calls GPT-5.4 the best model the company has tried and says it’s now top of Mercor’s APEX-Agents benchmark for professional services work, emphasizing long-horizon deliverables like slide decks, financial models, and legal analysis.
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Pricing and availability
In the API, OpenAI says GPT-5.4 Thinking is available as gpt-5.4 and GPT-5.4 Pro as gpt-5.4-pro. Pricing is as follows:
Another important note: with GPT-5.4, requests that exceed 272,000 input tokens are billed at 2X the normal rate, reflecting the ability to send prompts larger than earlier models supported.
In Codex, compaction defaults to 272k tokens, and the higher long-context pricing applies only when the input exceeds 272k—meaning developers can keep sending prompts at or under that size without triggering the higher rate, but can opt into larger prompts by raising the compaction limit, with only those larger requests billed differently.
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An OpenAI spokesperson said that in the API the maximum output is 128,000 tokens, the same as previous models.
Finally, on why GPT-5.4 is priced higher at baseline, the spokesperson attributed it to three factors: higher capability on complex tasks (including coding, computer use, deep research, advanced document generation, and tool use), major research improvements from OpenAI’s roadmap, and more efficient reasoning that uses fewer reasoning tokens for comparable tasks—adding that OpenAI believes GPT-5.4 remains below comparable frontier models on pricing even with the increase.
The broader shift
Across the release and the follow-up clarifications, GPT-5.4 is positioned as a model meant to move beyond “answer generation” and into sustained professional workflows—ones that require tool orchestration, computer interaction, long context, and outputs that look like the artifacts people actually use at work.
OpenAI’s emphasis on token efficiency, tool search, native computer use, and reduced user-flagged factual errors all point in the same direction: making agentic systems more viable in production by lowering the cost of retries—whether that retry is a human re-prompting, an agent calling another tool, or a workflow re-running because the first pass didn’t stick.
The fintech has also tapped a former Visa and Capital One executive to lead its US operations.
UK fintech giant Revolut has applied for a US banking licence. If successful, Revolut would be able offer services such as personal loans and credit cards to its US-based customers.
The move will give Revolut “the direct control needed to innovate faster and deliver the Revolut experience to millions more Americans as we move toward our goal of 100m customers”, said its founder and CEO Nik Storonsky.
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“Filing for a national bank charter is a major milestone toward our vision of building the world’s first truly global banking platform.”
The company was valued at $75bn last November after a major share sale. It had a successful 2024, which saw revenue growing 72pc to $4bn and profit before tax increasing 149pc to $1.4bn. The company said this growth has continued through 2025 with around $1bn in annualised revenue.
The US national bank charter will allow Revolut to operate across all 50 US states, connect directly to services such as Fedwire and ACH, and offer customers insured deposits.
The company has announced Cetin Duransoy as its US CEO. Duransoy previously served as the US CEO of fintech marketplace Raisin, prior to which he held senior leadership banking and payments roles at Capital One and Visa.
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Revolut, one of the world’s biggest fintechs, currently operates across 40 markets globally, servicing around 70m customers.
The company recently expanded operations to Mexico, opened a new global headquarters in London and secured a payments licence in India. It hopes that this continued expansion can help it reach 100m customers by mid-2027.
It is also attempting to capitalise on agentic shopping with a Google partnership to make Revolut Pay compatible across the emerging landscape in Europe.
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