The Tycoon2FA phishing kit now supports device-code phishing attacks and abuses Trustifi click-tracking URLs to hijack Microsoft 365 accounts.
Despite an international law enforcement operation disrupting the Tycoon2FA phishing platform in March, the malicious operation was rebuilt on new infrastructure and quickly returned to regular activity levels.
Earlier this month, Abnormal Security confirmed that Tycoon2FA had rebounded to normal operations and even added new obfuscation layers to strengthen its resilience against new disruption attempts.
In late April, Tycoon2FA was observed in a campaign that leveraged the OAuth 2.0 device authorization grant flows to compromise Microsoft 365 accounts, indicating that the operator continues to develop the kit.
Device code phishing is a type of attack in which threat actors send a device authorization request to the target service’s provider and forward the generated code to the victim, tricking them into entering it on the service’s legitimate login page.
Doing so authorizes the attacker to register a rogue device with the victim’s Microsoft 365 account, giving them unrestricted access to the victim’s data and services, including email, calendar, and cloud file storage.
Push Security recently warned that this type of attack has increased by 37x this year, supported by at least ten distinct phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platforms and private kits. A more recent report by Proofpoint records a similar surge in the use of the tactic.
According to new research from managed detection and response company eSentire, Tycoon2FA confirms that device code phishing has become highly popular among cybercriminals.
“The attack begins when a victim clicks a Trustifi click-tracking URL in a lure email and culminates in the victim unknowingly granting OAuth tokens to an attacker-controlled device through Microsoft’s legitimate device-login flow at microsoft.com/devicelogin,” explains eSentire.
“Connecting those two endpoints is a four-layer in-browser delivery chain whose Tycoon 2FA tradecraft is virtually unchanged from the credential-relay variant TRU documented in April 2025 and the post-takedown variant documented in April 2026.”
Trustifi is a legitimate email security platform that provides a range of tools integrated into various email services, including those from Microsoft and Google. However, eSentire does not know how the attackers came to use Trustifi.
According to the researchers, the attack uses an invoice-themed phishing email containing a Trustifi tracking URL that redirects through Trustifi, Cloudflare Workers, and several obfuscated JavaScript layers, landing the victim on a fake Microsoft CAPTCHA page.
The phishing page retrieves a Microsoft OAuth device code from the attacker’s backend and instructs the victim to copy and paste it to ‘microsoft.com/devicelogin,’ after which the victim completes multi-factor authentication (MFA) on their end.
After this step, Microsoft issues OAuth access and refresh tokens to the attacker-controlled device.
The Tycoon2FA phishing kit includes extensive protection against researchers and automated scanning, detecting Selenium, Puppeteer, Playwright, Burp Suite, blocking security vendors, VPNs, sandboxes, AI crawlers, and cloud providers, and using debugger timing traps.
Requests from devices indicating an analysis environment are automatically redirected to a legitimate Microsoft page, eSentire says.
The researchers have found that the kit’s blocklist currently contains 230 vendor names and is constantly updated.
eSentire recommends disabling the OAuth device code flow when not needed, restricting OAuth consent permissions, requiring admin approval for third-party apps, enabling Continuous Access Evaluation (CAE), and enforcing compliant device access policies.
Additionally, the researchers recommend monitoring Entra logs for deviceCode authentication, Microsoft Authentication Broker usage, and Node.js user agents.
eSentire has published a set of indicators of compromise (IoCs) for the latest Tycoon2FA attacks to help defenders protect their environments.
Automated pentesting tools deliver real value, but they were built to answer one question: can an attacker move through the network? They were not built to test whether your controls block threats, your detection rules fire, or your cloud configs hold.
This guide covers the 6 surfaces you actually need to validate.
I’ve been a CNET journalist for over 15 years and I’ve tested everything from the latest electric cars and bikes to cameras and, er, TV-controlling magic wands. I’ve even compared drones to barn owls. My main focus focus has always been the latest, greatest phones and I’ve seen a lot of them in my time. Names like Apple and Samsung have remained stalwarts in the industry during my time, but I’ve also seen the rise of brands like Xiaomi, Huawei and OnePlus. Meanwhile once-dominant names like BlackBerry, HTC and LG have vanished from the mobile space. Even Sony doesn’t make much of a fuss over its phones these days.
I’ve seen phones arrive with such wild fanfare that they changed the entire mobile industry, while others quietly trickled into existence only to vanish just as uneventfully. But it’s the weird ones that stick in my memory. Those devices that tried to be different, that dared to offer features we didn’t even know we wanted or simply the ones that aimed to be quirky for the sake of being quirky. Like someone who thinks an unusual hat is the same thing as having a personality.
Here then are some of the weirdest phones I’ve come across in my mobile journey at CNET. Better yet, I still have these phones in a big cardboard box in my office, so I was able to dig them out and take new photos — though not all of them still work. Let’s start with a doozy.
BlackBerry briefly tried to convince us that it’s hip to be square.
At the height of its power RIM’s BlackBerry was one of the most dominant names in mobile. It was unthinkable then that anything could unseat the goliath, let alone that it would fade into total nonexistence. But the once juicy, ripe BlackBerry withered and died on the bush, but not without a few interesting death rattles on its way.
My pick from the company’s end days is the Passport from 2014, notable not just for its physical keyboard but its almost completely square design. The rationale behind this, according to its maker, was that business types just really love squares. A Word document, an Excel spreadsheet, an email — all square (ish) and all able to be viewed natively on the Passport’s 4.5 inch display with its 1:1 aspect ratio. Let’s not forget that all Instagram posts at that time were also square so it had that going for it too. YouTube, not so much.
In theory it’s a sound idea. In practice the square design made it awkward to use, as the physical keyboard was too wide and narrow. Its BlackBerry 10 software, especially the app availability, lagged behind what you’d get from Android at the time. BlackBerry quickly ditched the new shape. After trying to claw back some credibility with its Android phones — including the stupidly named Priv, a phone I quite liked — and by bringing on singer Alicia Keys as Global Creative Director (because BlackBerry phones had keys, get it?) the company stopped making its own phones in 2016.
The Russian YotaPhone 2
You’d be forgiven for having never heard of this phone or its parent company, Yota. Based in Russia, Yota made two phones: the creatively named YotaPhone in 2012 and the similarly inspired YotaPhone 2 in 2014, pictured above. Both were unique in the mobile world for their use of a second display on the rear. From the front, these phones looked and operated like any other generic Android phone. Flip them over though and you’d get a 4.3-inch E Ink display.
The idea was that you’d use your Android phone as normal for things like web browsing, gaming or watching videos, but you’d switch to the rear display if you wanted to read ebooks or simply have it propped up to show incoming notifications. E Ink displays use almost no power, so it made a lot of sense to preserve battery life by viewing “slow” content on the back.
The reality though is that beyond ebooks — which aren’t great to read on such a tiny screen anyway — there’s very little anyone might want to use an E Ink display for when out and about. It was difficult to operate, too, thanks to a slow processor and clunky software. After just two generations of YotaPhones, the company went into liquidation.
The HTC ChaCha and its Facebook button
Remember when Facebook was the cool spot to be instead of just the place your parents and their friends go to publicly air their most troubling of opinions? When I was at university, instead of trading phone numbers when you met someone, the default thing was to add each other on Facebook before you began poking each other. Facebook was so ubiquitous at the time that it was simply the way every single person I knew communicated.
Keen to capitalise on Zuckerberg’s social media success, HTC brought out the ChaCha in 2011. The phone came with an utterly ludicrous name and a dedicated Facebook button on the bottom edge. Tapping this would immediately bring up your Facebook page, allowing you to post the lyrics to Rebecca Black’s Friday, ask what Fifty Shades of Grey is about or do whatever else it was we were all up to in 2011.
Facebook might still be around in one form or another, but HTC abandoned its phone-making business back in 2018. Unsurprisingly, phones with dedicated hardware buttons tied to social media haven’t caught on. Though if I’m being generous there is strictly speaking an X button on every keyboard.
The Finney’s pop-up screen is ideal for crypto bros.
“Bro!” I hear you shout, all-too loudly. “BRO! You’ve got to check out what my Bitcoin is doing!” You’d then show me your phone and I’d watch while your crypto account plummeted, rebounded and plummeted again over the course of 12 seconds. The phone you’d be showing me, of course, would be the Sirin Labs Finney, a 2019 phone specifically targeted at crypto bros who wanted a device that would perfectly match their high-living, high-fiving crypto-trading lifestyle.
At its core, the Finney is just another Android phone, but a hidden second screen pops up from the back of the phone, with the sole purpose of giving you secure access to your crypto wallet. The phone had a whole host of security features to ensure that only you could access your Bitcoin or Etherium, and it allowed you to send and receive cryptocurrency without having to use a third-party online platform. Apparently that was a good thing.
If you were entrenched in the crypto world, this phone might have been the dream. But the wallet wasn’t easy to use and the phone was expensive, thanks to the cost of that second screen. Sirin Labs stopped making phones soon after and the mobile industry learned an important lesson about not developing hyper-niche devices that aren’t even that well-suited for the handful of customers that might be interested.
The Gemini PDA was part phone, part laptop.
Half phone, half laptop, all productivity. The Gemini PDA by UK-based mobile startup Planet Computers was a clamshell device in 2018 with a large (at the time) 5.99-inch display and a full qwerty keyboard. It was basically a slightly more modern interpretation of a PDA, like 1998’s Psion 3MX, in that it was effectively a tiny laptop that would fold up and fit in your pocket. The full keyboard allowed you to type away comfortably on long emails or documents while the regular Android software on the top half meant it also functioned like any other phone — apps, games, phone calls, whatever.
It had 4G connectivity for fast data speeds and a later model even got an update to 5G. But, like the BlackBerry Passport, its focus on business-folk and productivity above all else meant it was a niche product that failed to garner enough appeal to succeed. It didn’t help that it was utterly enormous and fitting it in a jeans pocket was basically impossible, so it didn’t impress either as a laptop or as a phone.
LG’s G5 was a nice idea, but it didn’t last. Nor did LG’s phones.
LG remains a huge name in the tech industry today, thanks to its TVs and appliances, but it also tried to be a big player in the phone world, too. I liked LG’s phones — they were quirky and often tried weird things which kept my days as a reviewer interesting, perhaps none more so than the LG G5 in 2016.
LG called the G5 “modular,” meaning that the bottom chin of the phone snapped off allowing you to attach different modules such as a camera grip or an audio interface. Like many items on this list I can say that it’s a nice idea in theory, but in practice the phone fell short. Swapping out modules meant removing the battery, which of course meant restarting your phone every time you wanted to use the camera grip.
It was an inelegant solution to a problem that never needed to exist. But its bigger issue was that the camera grip and audio interface were the only two modules LG actually made for the phone. It’s as though the company had this fun notion in creating a phone that can transform according to your needs but then forgot to assign anyone to come up with any ideas on what to do with it. As a result, the end product was uninspiring, over-engineered and expensive.
What once was big now seems small.
Samsung’s Galaxy Note series helped transform the mobile industry. It literally stretched the boundaries of phones, encouraging larger and larger screens — even creating the unpleasant and mercifully short-lived term “phablet.” But the first-generation model in 2011 was controversial, mostly due to what was then considered its enormous size.
At 5.3 inches, it was significantly bigger than almost any other phone out there, including Samsung’s own Galaxy S2 — which, at a measly 4.3 inches, paled into insignificance against the mighty Note. It was mocked for being so huge, with memes appearing online poking fun at people holding it up when making calls. And while times have changed and we now have Samsung’s 6.9-inch Galaxy S25 Ultra, the original Note’s boxy aspect ratio meant it was actually wider than the S25 Ultra. So even by today’s standards it’s big.
It was also among the first phones to come with its own stylus shoved into its bottom. It’s a feature that few mobile companies have mimicked, but Samsung kept it as a differentiator on its later Note models before incorporating it into its flagship S line starting with the S22 Ultra.
Nokia may have been well ahead of its time.
Nokia’s Lumia 1020 was my absolute favorite phone for quite some time after its launch in 2013. And it’s because of its weirdness.
Nokia had an amazing history of bonkers mobiles — 2004’s 7280 “lipstick phone,” for example — and while the Lumia range was much more sedate, the 1020 had a few things that made it stand out. First, it ran Windows Phone, Microsoft’s brief and unsuccessful attempt to launch a rival to Android and iOS. A rival that I happened to quite like.
It was also made of polycarbonate, with a smoothly rounded unibody design that strongly contrasted the angular metal, plastic and glass designs of almost all other phones launching at that time. Its look was unlike anything else on sale, and I loved it.
But the main thing I loved was its camera. With a 41-megapixel sensor, Carl Zeiss lens, raw image capture and optical image stabilization, the Lumia 1020 packed the best camera specs of any phone I’d ever seen. It made the phone a true standout product, especially for photographers like me who wanted an amazing camera with them at all times, but didn’t want to have to carry both a phone and a compact digital camera.
While incredible image quality from a phone is a given in almost all camera phones in 2026, the Lumia 1020 was an early pioneer in what could be achieved from a phone camera.
The LG G5 was the love child of a phone and a handbag.
LG, twice in one list? Oh yes, my friend, because the G5 seen above was not the first time LG went weird. Launched in 2015, the LG G4 had two main features that raised a few eyebrows. Most notably was LG’s decision to wrap the phone in real leather. Yes, real actual leather. Like what you’d get when you peel a cow. It even had stitching down the back, making it look like a handbag or a boot.
While it’s not a phone for vegans, I actually liked the look, especially as real leather — even the really thin stuff LG used on the G4 — naturally wears over time, gaining scuffs and scratches that give each phone a unique patina. It’s why I love my old leather Danner boots, and it’s why a vintage, worn-in leather jacket will almost always look better than a brand new one. Still, with leather being an expensive — and arguably controversial — material to use on a phone, it’s no surprise LG didn’t return to this idea.
But it’s not the only weird thing about the phone — the G4 was among a small number of phones released around that time that experimented with curved displays. It’s gently bent into a banana shape, the theory being that it makes watching videos more immersive, as is the case with curved screens in movie theaters. The problem is that movie screens are immense, so that curve makes sense. On a 5.5 inch phone like the G4, that curve is barely noticeable and only really served to push the price up.
I designed this custom phone. You can’t do that anymore.
I’ve just pointed out how weird the LG G4 was for using leather and now I’m pointing out another phone that, as you can see in the image above, is also wrapped in leather. But the weird thing here isn’t that the Motorola Moto X came in leather — it’s that I personally got to choose that it came in leather.
With the Moto X in 2013, Motorola launched a service called Moto Maker that allowed you to customize your phone in a wild variety of ways. From different-colored backs and multicolored accents around the camera and speakers through to using materials including leather and even various types of wood, there were loads of options to make your Moto X look unique. Each phone would then be made to order and you could even have it personalised with lazer etching and provide your Google account for it to be prelinked on arrival.
If custom-making phones with a vast number of potential options en mass sounds like an absolute logistical nightmare then you’re on the same page as Motorola eventually found itself. Moto Maker only existed for a few years before the company retired its customization service.
It was a weird time back then.
I’m ending on a wildcard addition with the original Galaxy Fold. It’s a wildcard because Samsung’s Fold and Flip range are now up to number seven and we’ve got foldable devices from almost all major Android manufacturers. Though still not Apple.
While the original Fold might have kicked off the foldable revolution, there’s no question it was a weird phone. I was among the first to test it in the world when it launched in 2019 and while I was certainly impressed by the bendy display, its hinge felt weird and “snappy” to use. The outer display was, let’s face it, terrible.
On paper its 4.6-inch size is reasonable, but it’s so tall and narrow that it was borderline unusable for anything more than checking incoming notifications. Trying to type on it meant whittling down your thumbs to pointy nubs so I spent most of my time interacting with the phone’s much bigger internal screen. Cut to today when the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s outer screen measures a healthier 6.7 inches and as a result can function like any regular smartphone, with the bigger inside screen only required when you want more immersive content.
Looking back at the original Fold and its bizarre proportions, it’s honestly a surprise that Samsung persisted with the format. But I’m glad it did.
Watch this: The Galaxy S26 Ultra Could Be Samsung’s Best Yet, With These Changes
Ferrari answered requests from longtime customers who wanted more direct involvement with their cars. The 12Cilindri Manuale adds a physical gated shifter and clutch pedal to the front-engined V12 grand tourer while preserving strong performance and modern reliability. Ferrari will build only 1,499 examples worldwide. That exact number recalls the displacement of the company’s first V12 engine from 1947 and forms part of the car’s identity from the start.
Each example goes through the Tailor Made program. Owners can choose from 25 heritage hues, including the launch shade Rosso Rubino, and match them with unique leather and Alcantara combinations. Subtle external elements distinguish these vehicles without yelling. Pinstripes run over the front splitter and rear wings, an homage to the iconic 365 GTB/4. Special five-spoke forged wheels come in a variety of finishes. The front fenders include laser-etched shields, and the model logo is inscribed into the aluminum door sills.
Sale
The driving controls provide real involvement. Ferrari retained the efficient eight-speed dual-clutch transmission from the standard 12Cilindri, but eliminated the steering wheel paddles entirely. The typical six-speed H-pattern shifter is now housed in a machined metal gate on the center console. The reverse sits to the left side of the pattern. The lever is topped by a spherical metal knob with a lighted gear diagram and LEDs to show the active mode. In a typical triangular configuration, a clutch pedal sits between the accelerator and brake. Sensors on the lever and pedal detect every movement. Electronics then control the transmission and engine. Mechanical parts within the system—springs, cams, and rollers—generate resistance, clicks, and shifting loads, making the operation feel natural and predictable. If the driver mishandles the clutch when coming to a halt, the automobile may stall. Downshifting with your heels and toes works properly. Clutch drops are achievable given the correct conditions. Automatic mode is still available for easier driving and allows full use of all eight speeds.
The power comes from the same 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 found in the standard vehicle. It produces 830 metric horsepower at 9,250 rpm and 678 Nm torque at 7,250 rpm. The engine revs cleanly to a redline of 9,500 rpm, with linear delivery and the unmistakable V12 sound. Official performance figures show a 2.9-second sprint to 100 km/h and a top speed of over 340 km/h. In full manual mode, shifts take longer than the dual-clutch’s quickest action, so certain drivers may experience somewhat longer acceleration times. When necessary, launch control can still activate automatic shifting for the quickest escape.
Styling modifications maintain focus and functionality. The center tunnel and console were rebuilt to accommodate the new shifter assembly. Steel and aluminum gear gates echo the six-speed configuration. Seats are available in Comfort or Racing versions and have six vertical grooves that correspond to the forward gears. Each car’s Tailor Made status is marked by a specific silver or carbon fiber plate.
In Italy, prices start at 590,000 euros before taxes and options. In the United States, the figure exceeds $680,000 when the limited-run premium and equipment are factored in. First deliveries will begin in the first quarter of 2027. All cars are coupes, with no spider versions joining the series. This special version appeals to owners who already own paddle-shift Ferraris and desire a vehicle that takes greater physical effort on their favorite roads. The technical team researched previous manuals, particularly the one from the 599 GTB, to recreate the proper shifter travel, clutch feel, and mechanical character. The by-wire technology adds constancy that older, purely mechanical gears could never achieve despite temperature variations or wear.
Apple may be pulling an iPhone X for the iPhone Fold, by launching it in September but actually selling it months later.
Apple is widely expected to launch the iPhone Fold this fall, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro. However, the schedule of when it goes on sale could be completely different.
According to a Sunday X post by TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the supply chain indicates there may not be enough inventory for the iPhone Fold to go on sale immediately after launch.
In his view, it seems that the iPhone Fold could repeat what happened in 2017 for the iPhone X.
Back then, the milestone model was introduced as usual alongside the other main releases, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. But preorders began late in October, with sales in early November.
To Kuo, the supply chain has a target of producing about 7 to 8 million iPhone Fold units in the second half of 2026. But for the third quarter, there will apparently only be a production run of between half a million and a million units.
By comparison, the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will get about 20 million units produced.
Evidently, the supply chain is spelling out a similar launch pattern for the iPhone Fold as for the iPhone X.
One of the reasons for the delay back with the iPhone X was production issues. Something followers of the iPhone Fold will be familiar with, too.
Back in 2017, the production of the iPhone X was at a similarly low 1 million units for the third quarter. This was due to the model introducing many new features that earlier models didn’t have, that the supply chain had to account for.
That included the OLED all-screen design as well as Face ID biometric security.
The iPhone Fold, naturally, has similar new-tech issues to deal with. That includes the folding display, as well as the well-documented rumors about the problematic hinge.
Ming-Chi Kuo has a documented history of accuracy when it comes to Apple, in part due to his in-depth supply chain checks. While we have dealt with rumors and claims about the iPhone Fold being delayed in the past, Kuo’s reports are generally considered to be closer to reality than the rest of the rumor mill.
Flipper Devices says development of the Flipper Zero firmware will continue, albeit with a smaller internal team and greater reliance on community contributions.
The announcement comes as the gadget maker decided to focus on building new devices, like the Flipper One open Linux platform, for which the company turned to the community’s help to complete development.
There is also the newly launched Busy Bar device, designed to help people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) reduce distractions, slated for open sale on July 14 in the U.S., U.K., Europe, and Canada.
Flipper Devices stated that the official firmware for the Flipper Zero portable pen-testing device will still be maintained, but full-time feature development is now over.
Flipper Zero Firmware 1.0, the first major stable release, was announced in September 2024, following three years of development. The latest official stable release is version 1.4.3, available since December 2025.
At that point, the team felt the firmware had reached maturity, with a stable SDK and APIs and all promised features properly implemented.
In recent interviews and online discussions, the Flipper Devices team gave the impression that firmware development had stopped, triggering a strong backlash from the community.
To appease users, the team has developed a new approach for the project that relies on closer interaction with contributors to keep firmware development moving.
As such, the project will be maintained with limited resources and a new approach to interacting with the community and its contributions:
The development team will maintain oversight of the development and will pay particular attention to AI-generated code that touches low-level functions and is hard to verify, as well as to changes that affect the user interface or require documentation changes.
According to the gadget maker, there are now more than one million Flipper Zero users who generate a volume of communication that the company’s small team can’t manage, which is why they disabled direct messages on all social media channels.
All requests will now be submitted to GitHub Discussions and prioritized based on the votes they receive from the community. This will give users the power to choose what comes next on Flipper Zero.
Security teams log 54% of successful attacks and alert on just 14%. The rest move through your environment unseen.
The Picus whitepaper shows how breach and attack simulation tests your SIEM and EDR rules so threats stop slipping by detection.
I have tested many other models and have several more in the queue. These aren’t as great as the picks above, but they are worth considering.
Photograph: Simon Hill
TP-Link Archer BE6500 (GE400) for $200: This dual-band Wi-Fi 7 gaming router is a solid performer. At close range on the 5-GHz band, it can go toe-to-toe with most of the devices on this list. It also offers dedicated gaming features, though some of them require subscriptions. I was disappointed by the limited range, and the comparable TP-Link BE6500 (BE400) is currently on sale for a lot less. You also don’t have to spend much more to get the far superior, tri-band Archer BE9700 (BE600) listed above, giving you the full 6-GHz Wi-Fi 7 experience. For gamers who live alone in apartments or small homes, this router could still be a decent buy.
TP-Link Roam 7 (BE3600) for $130: This dual-band, Wi-Fi 7 travel router was my pick, but the Asus RT-BE58 Go above is a slightly better performer for around the same money. This is still a good, portable device, capable of keeping you online in your hotel room or modest apartment. It also supports mobile tethering, VPN, and can serve as a Wi-Fi range extender. There’s a USB-C for power that works with portable chargers, and a USB-A for file sharing or backup.
TP-Link Archer BE5000 (BE260) for $110: This dual-band (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) Wi-Fi 7 router runs close to our top pick on performance and is a solid alternative. This router offers a slight upgrade over the BE230 (BE3600) below, with improved 5-GHz performance, an extra antenna, and a coverage boost up to 2,400 square feet. It also sports a 2.5-Gbps WAN, a 2.5-Gbps LAN, three Gigabit LAN, and a USB 3.0 port. Throw in EasyMesh support and a relatively low price, and the BE260 is a tempting option. But if you want enhanced security and parental controls, you have to subscribe, which takes the shine off the value.
AVM FRITZ!Box 5690 Pro for £447: While AVM has dominated the German router market for years and still has around a 50 percent market share, it’s now expanding across Europe and the UK, so I tested the FRITZ!Box 5690 Pro. AVM’s range is distinctive in white and red plastic, but there’s a focus on functionality. This tri-band Wi-Fi 7 router boasts a 2.5-Gbps WAN/LAN, four gigabit LAN, and a USB 3.1 port. It’s fast, scoring mid- to high-table results in my tests, and it proved reliable. It also has DSL or fiber-optic modems, an integrated DECT base station for cordless phones, built-in storage (NAS), and support for Zigbee to connect smart home devices. You don’t need an account to set it up or configure it. There’s a firewall and guest network option in the straightforward web interface (you can use the mobile app if you prefer). AVM’s routers are developed and manufactured in Europe, making them an interesting, privacy-focused alternative to routers from China or the US. The company also has a strong track record of supporting its products for years after release. Folks in the UK and Europe looking to upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 should consider this router. My fingers are crossed that AVM expands into the US next.
Asus RT-BE86U for $230: The new Wi-Fi 7 version of the Asus RT-AX86U, this dual-band (2.4- and 5-GHz) router is similar to the Asus RT-BE88U below. It lacks the 6-GHz band but brings all the other improvements that Wi-Fi 7 offers. The RT-BE86U proved reliable in my tests and performed extremely well on the 5-GHz band, matching the slightly more expensive RT-BE88U. It is slightly smaller but still has one 10-Gbps and four 2.5-Gbps Ethernet ports, alongside a USB 2.0 and a USB 3.0 port.
Netgear Nighthawk RS300 for $300: This classy, tri-band, Wi-Fi 7 tower router is understated with a fanless design. Setup was a breeze, and the simplified app is designed to be hands-off. This was our middle pick, but was unseated by TP-Link’s Archer BE9700. Speed and stability on the 5-GHz and 6-GHz bands were excellent, though the range on the 6-GHz band is limited. Performance on the 2.4-GHz band was slightly below par, but that will likely only be an issue if you have loads of older devices. The RS300 has one 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN, two 2.5 Gbps, two Gigabit LAN ports, and one USB 3.0 port. The RS300 is one of the best experiences I have had with a Netgear router, with fast speeds on the 5- and 6-GHz bands, lightning-quick file transfer times, and no issues over two weeks of testing.
Asus RT-BE92U for $198: After a simple setup and a trouble-free week of speedy, stable internet across the 2.4-, 5-, and 6-GHz bands, I can recommend this router. It has Wi-Fi 7 benefits like MLO and 320-MHz channels, support for a guest network, VPN services, free security software, and parental controls. It also boasts a 10-Gbps WAN/LAN, a 2.5-Gbps WAN/LAN, three 2.5-Gbps LANs, and a USB 3.2 port. This tri-band Wi-Fi 7 device came perilously close to claiming the midrange spot above held by the TP-Link Archer BE9700, but was a smidge slower on the 5-GHz and 6-GHz bands and had a considerably shorter range. However, if your home is around 1,500 square feet and you’d rather avoid a subscription, the RT-BE92U is an excellent alternative. Customer reviews suggest some folks have had trouble with this router, but the latest firmware was rock solid for me.
Asus RT-BE88U for $340: This dual-band Wi-Fi 7 router is an odd prospect because it does not offer the 6-GHz band at all, just 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. But you can still combine those bands with MLO and enjoy features like 4K QAM, and this router will be fast enough for the average home. It has ports galore (two 10 Gbps, four 2.5 Gbps, four Gigabit, and one USB 3.0). It outperformed several more expensive routers on the 5-GHz band, and that’s likely what most of your devices are using most of the time right now. Asus also offers free security software and parental controls with its routers, so there’s no need for subscriptions. But when I consider that you can snag the Netgear Nighthawk RS300 listed above for less, I find it tough to recommend this router to folks in the US. If the 6-GHz band is unavailable or nerfed in your country, the RT-BE88U is for you.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Netgear Nighthawk RS700 for $550: Although I had setup issues that required a factory reset, there’s no hiding the top-notch performance of this router. It’s a Wi-Fi 7 tri-band router with two 10-Gbps Ethernet ports, four gigabit ports, and a USB 3.2. The tower design is new for the Nighthawk line, and it looks great. This router will blend in far better than our bulky Wi-Fi 7 pick above from Asus, and it was slightly faster on the 6-GHz band, though not the 5-GHz or 2.4-GHz bands. It mainly misses out on a recommendation because it is more expensive. We’re already seeing discounts on the RT-BE96U, and Asus offers free security software and parental controls. If you get the Nighthawk RS700S, the “S” at the end denotes a free year of Netgear Armor, which costs $100 a year thereafter. If you need parental controls, that’s another $70 a year.
TP-Link Archer BE800 for $500: With a fresh design that’s more desktop PC than router, the BE800 tri-band beast came out high up in my tests on the 2.4-GHz, 5-GHz, and 6-GHz bands, proving impressively swift for file transfers and downloads. It also boasts speedy ports galore, a cool but kind of pointless customizable dot-matrix LED screen, and the Tether app offers a guest network, IoT network, VPN server or client, EasyMesh, QoS for device prioritization, and remote management.
Netgear M3 for £450: I was very impressed by this mobile 5G router. Slip a SIM in there, and it connects to 4G or 5G networks to deliver Wi-Fi to your devices. It’s a dual-band Wi-Fi 6 model that’s speedy on the 5-GHz band. The M3 had no trouble handling multiple connected devices (up to 32) and served a stable internet connection for around 10 hours. You can charge via the USB-C port, and there’s a 2.4-inch LCD color screen for configuration. It’s a solid hot spot for business or personal travel. Sadly, the M3 doesn’t seem to be available in the US, but folks in the UK can save some money and snag this instead of the M7 above (it’s frequently discounted).
Firewalla Gold SE for $499: This quirky portable device is perfect for people who worry about security and privacy. It offers comprehensive tools for monitoring all traffic in and out of your house, robust and detailed parental controls, ad-blocking, and enhanced security with a built-in firewall and VPN option. It serves as a router, but you will want to pair another router in access point mode for Wi-Fi in your home. It’s expensive and may prove intimidating for inexperienced folks, but it offers deep insight into your network and an impressive depth of security features without an additional subscription. The Gold SE has two 2.5-Gbps ports and two gigabit ports and is suitable for folks with up to 2-gigabit connections. If your internet is only one gigabit, try the more affordable but slightly less capable Firewalla Purple ($409).
These are the internet routers we had issues with or can’t recommend for one reason or another.
Photograph: Simon Hill
Acer Connect X6E 5G: This is an interesting Wi-Fi 6E model with a 5G SIM card slot capable of keeping you online using a mobile network should your main broadband connection fail. It has two Gigabit Ethernet ports, a WAN/LAN, LAN, and an RJ-11 port for a phone line. It’s easy to set up and offers an NFC connection option, so you can just wave your phone over it to connect. This unusual blend of features could be good for business travelers. Performance was solid when it worked, and you can get a very fast connection at close range on both the 6-GHz and 5-GHz bands. Sadly, the range was limited, and the Connect X6E 5G was intermittently unstable during my testing, dropping devices randomly and cutting out repeatedly.
TP-Link Archer BE3600 (BE230): This is the lowest price I’ve seen for a Wi-Fi 7 router. The basic design sports four antennas, a 2.5-Gbps WAN, a 2.5-Gbps LAN, and three gigabit LAN ports. It is dual-band (2.4-GHz and 5-GHz), so there’s no 6-GHz option, and it’s only 2 x 2 MIMO, so the maximum bandwidth is 688 Mbps and 2,882 Mbps, respectively. Sadly, I found the range on the 5-GHz band to be limited, and the band steering was disappointing, often dropping my phone onto the much slower 2.4-GHz band. Throughput was so-so, and file transfers were mid-table in my results. The BE230 finished below our top pick in every test. It was impressively speedy at close range on both bands, but dropped off quickly with distance, making it tough to recommend for larger properties. The subscription required for enhanced security and parental controls is also a hard sell on a router this cheap.
Photograph: Simon Hill
D-Link AX3000 DBR-330: This lightweight, rectangular travel router from D-Link is aimed at business professionals who travel for work. It’s a dual-band, Wi-Fi 6 router that can also serve as a hot spot, with a connection via USB. There’s even a potentially handy microSD/TF card slot for up to 2 TB of storage for file sharing or backup. Setup via the browser is easy, and there’s built-in VPN support. It proved nice and fast at close range, but it dropped off quickly, and I couldn’t get a signal two rooms away. It will work fine for a hotel room, though. The problem is, you can get our TP-Link travel router pick above or the Asus RT-AX57 Go for similar money, and I prefer both of them.
Netgear Nighthawk RS200: The RS200 is Netgear’s dual-band (2.4- and 5-GHz) router and the cheapest in its Wi-Fi 7 lineup. After the tri-band RS300 won a recommendation, I expected this router to perform decently, but I encountered several issues, including random drops and poor range. After turning the router off and on again, many devices, including my Pixel and iPhone, struggled to reconnect. Perhaps I have too many devices in my home for it, though Netgear suggests it can handle up to 80. It has two 2.5 Gbps ports, three gigabit Ethernet ports, and a USB 3.0 port. Test results were OK, but significantly slower than the RT-BE86U.
TP-Link Archer AX5400 Pro: This dual-band Wi-Fi 6 model is almost identical to the Archer AX73, except for the 2.5-Gbps WAN port. It delivers relatively fast speeds on the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands and boasts a 160-MHz channel width on 5 GHz. The range is good, easily covering my home and garden, but the performance was inconsistent. It was also relatively slow at moving files locally. There’s support for TP-Link OneMesh, VPN, and QoS, but you only get basic parental controls and network security unless you subscribe.
What Features Should I Look for in a Router?
Our How to Buy a Router guide answers a lot of questions on the terminology you’ll come across when shopping for a new router. Still, here are a few other considerations.
Wi-Fi standards: All my main picks are now using the latest Wi-Fi 7 protocol. That doesn’t mean Wi-Fi 6 or Wi-Fi 6E routers aren’t worth having, necessarily. But with cheaper dual band Wi-Fi 7 routers available, there’s not much reason to buy anything older. Only Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 routers offer extra bandwidth and faster speeds on the 6-GHz band, but devices like phones and laptops must also support Wi-Fi 6E or 7 for you to take advantage. The 6-GHz band is also short-range compared to the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands.
Internet speeds: Your maximum internet speed is set by your ISP and depends on your internet plan. It will likely fluctuate, depending on the time of day. Some ISPs guarantee a minimum download and upload speed. While your router can’t provide an internet connection that exceeds that speed, it can potentially go faster when you stream from a server in your home or move files from one device on your local network to another.
Coverage: It’s worth checking a prospective router’s coverage and speed, but understand that your home Wi-Fi mileage may vary. Construction materials in your house, your neighbors’ activity and Wi-Fi networks, your devices, and the position of your router are just a few of the factors that will impact your wireless performance.
Ports: Ethernet ports offer stable connections and are essential for some smart home setups that require a hub for lights or security cameras. Some network-attached storage (NAS) for backups or media will plug into your main router via USB. Ensure that the model you are considering has all the ports you need.
What Is the Difference Between a Modem and a Router?
A modem (modulator-demodulator) connects your home to your internet service provider (ISP) and the external internet. A router connects the devices within your home to that internet connection wirelessly via Wi-Fi or with Ethernet cables. Check out my Router vs. Modem guide to learn more.
Can a Single Wireless Router Cover Your Entire Home?
Manufacturers usually suggest a coverage range for a router in square feet, but every home is different and the real-world range is likely to be shorter. Walls and other obstructions will weaken and block wireless signals. Ideal placement would be in the center of the home near the ceiling of the ground floor without any obstructions. A well-placed single router is generally enough to cover a typical two-floor home up to 2,000 square feet. For larger homes, it’s worth considering mesh systems to create a reliable home network.
Where Should You Put Your Router?
Physically moving your router can make a real difference to Wi-Fi speeds. It should be central, out in the open, and high up. Walls, cupboards, and even bookshelves can interfere with your Wi-Fi signal, as can fish tanks, TVs, or microwaves. Even changing the angle or moving the antennas can impact the strength of the Wi-Fi around your home, so don’t be afraid to experiment with different positions.
Can I Add Routers or Extenders to Make a Mesh?
Many manufacturers allow you to create a mesh network by adding more routers or devices like Wi-Fi extenders, but check what is supported before you buy. For example, Asus AiMesh enables you to link multiple routers, while TP-Link’s OneMesh only allows you to add power-line adapters or range extenders. EasyMesh is a standard certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance that hopes to allow the mixing and matching of devices from different manufacturers to form a mesh, but sadly few devices support it so far. You can also buy single mesh routers, like an Amazon Eero, and then add more later if you find that you need them. Based on my testing, a mesh is always better than an extender.
How Do Ethernet Cables Compare?
Running an Ethernet cable to create a wired connection between your home router and device will provide a faster and more secure link than Wi-Fi. But running Ethernet cables everywhere can be tricky. Read my Ethernet guide to learn more. Wireless connectivity makes life easy and is often fast enough for most tasks, such as browsing the web or streaming video.
What About the US Ban on Foreign-Made Routers?
The Federal Communications Commission has banned new consumer internet routers manufactured outside the US because of national security concerns. The ban doesn’t affect any routers already in American homes or currently on sale in the US, but all new routers aimed at the consumer market must be approved.
The way the ban is described, it will likely apply to every new Wi-Fi router, because there are currently no companies manufacturing routers or the components they are assembled from in the US (except maybe some Starlink Wi-Fi routers). But companies can apply for exemptions.
All new models of foreign-produced routers will require Conditional Approval from the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security before the FCC can clear them for sale in the US. Read Everything You Need to Know About the Foreign-Made Router Ban in the US to learn more.
What About Firmware and Security Updates?
While the FCC initially published a waiver covering software and firmware updates until March 1, 2027, it has now extended that waiver “at least until January 1, 2029.”
What happens after that date is not clear, but if the FCC were to block further updates for the routers folks already own, it would exacerbate the very issue it is trying to address. The majority of routers that are compromised and used in cyberattacks are usually older devices that no longer receive security updates.
Should You Buy a Router Now?
This is tricky. If you live in the US and need a router, you should maybe still buy one, but I wouldn’t blame you for waiting to see how a potential router ban pans out. All the major manufacturers I asked who responded or have released a statement, including Asus, TP-Link, Netgear, and Synology, are confident about getting exemptions, but whether they will is impossible to say for sure. So far, only Netgear, Adtran, and Eero have been granted a Conditional Approval, though an FCC spokesperson told me, “We expect approvals to be granted in a timely manner.”
To find the top Wi-Fi routers, I use each one for at least a week (usually longer) in a busy family home of four with lots of video streaming, gaming, and video calls. I also test the mobile apps and web interfaces to see how easy it is to change settings, set up parental controls, and access security features. My priority is to learn how well the router works in real-life rather than a lab, but I do also run a set of standardized tests, so that I have numbers to compare.
I run speed tests (downloads and uploads). I transfer files on the network on multiple devices (including iPhones, Android phones, Windows PCs, and MacBooks) from different spots around my home. I use NetSpot to survey signal strength throughout the house and create heat maps for comparison. I run the TamoSoft Throughput Test. I turn the power and modem off and on to find out how each system recovers.
How Did I Select Products to be Reviewed
I try to test as many routers as I can. It’s not possible to test every device, so, while I will typically test flagship releases, I also call in more affordable routers and try to find models to suit the average family home in terms of budget and performance. We are brand agnostic, so we will test routers from any manufacturer, provided we can get a hold of them. But we do lean towards testing more systems from the most popular brands. All the routers we test are provided by the manufacturers or their PR companies.
Most are loaned for a month or so and then returned. A handful of our recommended picks are kept for longer term testing. The remainder are donated to charities. I recently dropped off a batch to Reusing IT, and have donated several devices to Oxfam and Shelter.
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personal tech
Maybe they were looking for Private Data
ON CALL Fronting up to work on Friday morning can feel like a mistake, but The Register tries to make it worthwhile by bringing you a new installment of On Call – the reader-contributed column that shares your tech support stories.
This week, meet a reader we’ll Regomize as “Lee” who told us about his time as sysadmin at the headquarters of a retail company.
“It was about the year 2000 and I was a newly minted Certified NetWare Engineer administering Novell servers,” Lee reminisced. Before long, Lee was running the teams that managed email servers and provided desktop support for over a thousand users.
“I got to know just about everybody in the HQ and became known as the go-to guy for all things technical,” he proudly told On Call.
One Friday afternoon, a vice president called to complain he couldn’t access any files from his PC because someone else was using them.
Lee found this a little odd, so he asked if the veep was seeing a “file in use” dialog in Word or Excel.
The veep replied that he was indeed seeing an error that read “General failure is reading Drive C” – but that was obviously someone using the handle “General Failure” to mask their identity.
Lee’s next question was very precise.
“I asked if the error message read ‘General failure is reading Drive C:’” he told On Call.
The VP re-read the dialog and corrected himself, telling Lee the exact text was “General failure reading Drive C:”
At this point, Lee had good news and bad news.
The bad news was that the error meant the VP’s disk had died.
The good news was that nobody was using the handle “General Failure,” so the company didn’t have a miscreant rummaging around on the network.
Lee arranged a support call and advised the veep that he would be getting a new disk and might even be in line for a whole new PC.
Have your users misinterpreted an error message? If so, click here to send On Call an email. We can’t be clearer than that – or more sincere in our desire to share your story with your fellow Reg readers. ®
The Milan-based firm raised $1.68 billion in its Nasdaq debut this week, with shares climbing 40% above the IPO price. The stock closed at $40.50, up from $29, giving the company a market value of about $25.7 billion. That’s a significant jump from roughly $14.5 billion in 2025, following a…
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My multimedia situation was a mess. After decades of taking photos and videos, I had stuff in five clouds — Google, Apple, Flickr, Dropbox, OneDrive — and also in offline locations like flash drives, jump drives, hard drives…
I’m not a professional photographer, just a guy who’s taken his share of photos and videos over the years. You know how it is. You’re on a road trip, you take a bunch of nature shots, but after a few years, they don’t seem as amazing as they did from the car. Or my cats. Why did I take so many shots of them sleeping? Cats are cute, we get it, but did I need tons of pics to prove it?
Another issue was that I’ve used phones with different operating systems — Blackberry, Samsung, Motorola (Android), Nokia (Windows) and now iPhone (iOS) — and different backup systems. I was going against the norm; the vast majority of people don’t deviate from one type of OS.
I love my cats, but how many photos of them do I really need?
It was like throwing stuff into a garage or storage closet. It gets messier and messier. You tell yourself one day you’ll clean it up, but that day never comes.
And that overstuffed procrastination comes with a price. The more cloud storage locations you have, the more you pay, and as the megabytes and gigabytes pile up, you often have to pay more each month for higher storage limits.
It was time to suck it up and clean it up. After checking out various recommendations on how to go about it, I crafted my plan. My steps would be: gather, declutter and consolidate.
First, I identified which cloud storage platforms I had photos and videos in. Then I located photos and videos I had on various jump drives, flash drives, SSDs and hard drives. I even revved up a couple of old desktops and laptops to see if I had anything there. I then uploaded the multimedia from external drives onto my laptop.
My situation was a bit of a jumble. It’s a lot easier for folks who have their multimedia stored in only one or two cloud services.
Read more: From Photo Backups to My Own Cloud Server: My Trip Into Home Data Storage
Then I moved on to decluttering, which is likely the most time-consuming and grueling step. I went into each of my cloud storage accounts and weeded out photos that were blurry or otherwise of bad quality, duplicates or redundant, and photos that — now, years later — I can’t even remember why I took them in the first place.
Duplicates are a major problem. This can happen for several reasons. If you automatically back up from different devices — perhaps an iPhone, tablet and digital camera — the same photo could literally be backed up three times. Or, it could be that you back up a photo that is shared with you on WhatsApp, but you already have that photo synced into your cloud storage.
One beautiful leopard is fine, I don’t need a second one!
There are at least a couple of ways to remove duplicates. There are services that scan your cloud storage and locate them, and services that can scan your photos and videos after you’ve downloaded them onto your hard drive.
Cloud Duplicate Finder ($40 for 3 months, $70 for 1 year, $96 for 2 years) scans multiple cloud storage services (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, Amazon S3) simultaneously to find duplicates. DeDuplicate can do the same thing with Google, OneDrive, Dropbox and others (not iCloud). It costs $8 on the App Store.
Google also has a built-in tool that can find blurry photos and screenshots and delete them; it’s in the Manage Storage section.
You can also remove duplicates by syncing your Google, OneDrive and Dropbox cloud to your local desktop, then using Duplicate Photo Cleaner to find duplicates. The app can scan the synced photos and find duplicates and also versions that have been edited, cropped or resized. You can then delete those and sync the changes back to the cloud, thereby removing dupes.
The CCleaner app’s free version can scan your photo library and find identical duplicate images, but not images that are merely similar or edited. CCleaner’s premium version ($90 per year) can find images that are blurry, have poor lighting or are otherwise of bad quality.
There are some free duplicate-finders too. DupeGuru scans for duplicates and similar photos on Windows, Mac and Linux. Awesome Duplicate Photo Finder is a Windows program that identifies duplicates and photos that have been cropped or saved with color filters. Remo Duplicate Photos Remover can scan iPhone and Android camera rolls for exact matches and similar images, such as those shot with burst mode.
I can’t remember what this photo was, and I surely can’t see it. Deleting!
I also went through all my videos and deleted those that I didn’t want or need anymore. This is key — on an iPhone, the size of a 30-second video can range from 40MB (standard HD) to more than 200MB (4K resolution), compared to 2-5MB for a typical photo. Reducing videos can greatly reduce your storage load in the cloud.
You could also decide to skip decluttering if you don’t have the time or want to do it later, after you’ve consolidated all your photos into one spot.
After I weeded out all unwanted photos and videos, I decided to use Google Photos as my main cloud storage location. I use Google a lot for document creation, and it’s an easy backup from my iPhone, so it seems like a natural cloud solution.
Apple lets Google transfer photo and video copies from its servers to Google’s. But to transfer multimedia from OneDrive, Dropbox, Flickr and external drives, I needed to download copies onto my hard drive and then upload them to Google.
If you only use iPhones and iPads for your multimedia creation, you could just use Apple’s iCloud for your storage needs.
Prices differ for each of the major cloud services. Apple charges $1 per month for 50GB, $3 for 200GB and $10 for 2TB. Google charges $2 for 100GB, $3 for 200GB and $10 for 2TB. Microsoft’s OneDrive bundles the cloud storage with Microsoft 365’s Office apps, which results in a $10 per month charge for 1TB of storage.
Google Photos is one of several cloud storage systems you can use.
Amazon Prime members get unlimited photo storage and 5GB for videos and documents. If you need more storage for videos, you can pay $2 for 100GB and $7 per month for 1TB.
Whichever way you go, understand the 3-2-1 backup rule: 3 copies of all data; 2 copies on 2 different storage media, such as a cloud service and a local drive; and 1 copy located a few miles away from the others.
Basically, it’s a way to ensure you don’t lose all your precious photos and videos by relying on only one location for your data.
I went with one of the most common strategies for implementing the 3-2-1 backup rule. I downloaded all of my photos and videos to my computer (No. 1), then backed all of that onto an external hard drive (No. 2), and finally backed up all of it to the Google cloud (No. 3). 3-2-1 achieved!
It’s not a one-time fix, however. If you go that route, you will need to regularly update your local and external drives with your latest photos and videos. For example, if you add, say, 200 photos to the Google cloud, you’ll need to download those to your local and external storage locations so that you maintain three copies of all data.
If you don’t yet have an external hard drive, CNET has a slew of recommended ones for various storage needs.
Even though it took a fair amount of time to organize my multimedia, it was a great feeling to finally get it done. It inspired me to create a few hard-copy photo books and digital frames, and it was nice to be more intentional about all the photos and videos I had taken instead of just chucking them into basically a digital shoebox.
I also reduced my subscription costs. Before going slash and burn on my multimedia, I was paying nearly $300 per year for storage in four cloud systems for nearly 400 GB, which, compared to a lot of others, is not that much data. In any case, I cut that amount enough to get within Google’s 400 GB storage plan, which costs $3 per month for three months and then $5 per month after that.
My yearly subscription costs went from nearly $300 to less than $60.
Now, if I can just get to that storage closet…
For many people who grew up in the early 2000s, the Game Boy Advance was the handheld they carried everywhere. The Keyboy Advance is trying to bring some of that nostalgia to a modern desk, using the wide, landscape-style silhouette of Nintendo’s 2001 handheld as the basis for a compact mechanical keyboard kit. It is not an official Nintendo product, but the visual references are easy to spot.
The Keyboy Advance takes the general shape of the Game Boy Advance and rebuilds it around a 50% HHKB layout. The overall footprint of the keyboard is small while still including a number row. The side profile uses a color-separated section inspired by the GBA’s side palm rest, while the underside has been reworked to create a curved shape that resembles the handheld.
There are smaller visual callbacks across the body as well. The board has a power indicator LED, an asymmetric light strip, a speaker-like module on the lower right, and an incised line that appears to reference the old battery cover. It also includes functional shoulder buttons, which use micro-switches to recreate the feel of handheld console triggers. Both buttons can be customized through Vial, giving the retro-inspired design a practical use.
The Keyboy Advance is still a fairly serious custom keyboard kit. The spec pages list a 7-degree typing angle, 19mm front height, and top-mount construction with O-rings. Buyers also get different build options depending on how they want to use it. The kit is available in solder and wired hotswap versions, along with dual-mode and tri-mode hotswap options for those who want more flexible wireless support.
The spacebar also gets special attention. Smaller custom keyboards can sometimes have noisy or uneven spacebars, so this kit uses foam and internal support pieces to reduce unwanted sound and vibration while typing. It also supports multiple spacebar layouts, including a single 6U spacebar, dual 3U spacebars, and a split 2.25u plus 1u plus 2.75u setup.
The Keyboy Advance group buy is priced at £210.83 and runs until July 22, 2026. Shipping is expected in Q4 2026. You can find more details about the keyboard at Prototypist.net.
On Tuesday in Shenzhen, the Chinese company UBTech unveiled the U1, a full-sized humanoid robot with silicone skin, blinking lashes, manicured nails, and an AI tuned to read your mood. It comes in male and female versions, and racked up more than 13,000 orders by the end of launch day, with deliveries beginning in September.
“It will never betray you, will always be loyal to you, and will love you unconditionally,” promised Michael Tam, the executive running UBTech’s consumer brand.
The sci-fi TV series “Humans” imagined lifelike android “synths” sold to ordinary families as helpers and companions, and it treated the idea as speculative fiction. A decade later, the fiction has a September ship date. What it does not have is an American logo.
Elon Musk announced the Tesla Bot in 2021 and has been re-announcing it ever since. He hoped for production readiness by 2023. Entering 2025 he targeted 10,000 units, then trimmed the goal to 5,000.
The unveiling of Optimus 3, promised for March of this year, slipped because the robot needed “finishing touches,” and as of Tesla’s April earnings call Optimus 3 is still MIA, with the reveal now promised for late July or August. Tesla is spending $20 billion in capital expenditure this year, with Fremont assembly lines converting from the Model S to Optimus. The robot is not vaporware; it’s merely years behind schedule.
Now look at what China shipped while Optimus was getting its finishing touches.
In April, a bright-red humanoid named Lightning, built by smartphone maker Honor, ran Beijing’s E-Town half marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, roughly seven minutes faster than the human world record. The remarkable number is not the 50 minutes. It is the comparison to last year’s inaugural race, when the winning robot needed 2 hours and 40 minutes and most of the field fell over, wandered off course, or lay down at the starting line. The machines cut their time by two-thirds in 12 months.
Meanwhile, UBTech won a $37 million contract to deploy its Walker S2 humanoids at the Fangchenggang border crossing with Vietnam, where they guide travelers, patrol corridors, and inspect cargo. Barclays estimates China accounted for 85% of the world’s humanoid robot installations last year, and Beijing counts more than 140 domestic companies selling over 330 models.
Why the gap? Talent is not the problem, and neither is money. The difference is the customer.
Optimus’s most important customer has always been the Tesla shareholder, and a Musk keynote serves that customer just fine. The Walker S2’s customer is a border authority with a delivery date and a cargo queue that does not pause for a reboot.
China’s supply chain proximity and its government’s decision to treat humanoids as a strategic industry help, but the deeper difference is that Chinese robot makers get paid for delivery while Optimus gets valued for anticipation. Only one of these incentive structures produces robots in a timely manner.
In fairness, the most useful robots in American homes and hospitals are not humanoid. Form follows task, and when the task is specific, the human form is expensive overhead. For instance, the da Vinci surgical system, which has operated on more than 20 million patients, is four arms bolted to a cart, because a surgeon needs wrists steadier than human wrists and has no use for a reassuring face. The most successful household robot in history is a disc that eats dust. No one wants their Roomba to watch the sunset with them.
The humanoid shape is a bet on generality, on a machine that can use our doorways, our staircases, and our tools. That bet makes sense at a border crossing built for human bodies. It is far less obvious in the operating room.
Companionship has never required human form; ask anyone with a dog. The New York Times recently told the story of Jan Worrell, an 85-year-old widow on a remote stretch of the Washington coast, and her companion robot ElliQ, which resembles a small reading lamp. It has no face, no legs, and no silicone anything, yet it shares her morning coffee, nudges her toward chair yoga, and has become, in her words, “me and my robot.”
Hundreds of ElliQ units deployed through New York State’s Office for the Aging show the same pattern of daily attachment. A machine does not need a body to keep you company, and the ElliQ price tag is much lower. (Full disclosure: I serve on the board of Intuition Robotics, the maker of ElliQ.)
So why did UBTech give the U1 lifelike skin, styled hair, and a face you can customize to resemble anyone you choose?
Every new medium in memory has been pulled toward intimacy by its early adopters: the VCR conquered the living room on the strength of what people watched in private; the early internet monetized romance and its rougher cousins before it monetized much else; and app stores learned that “companionship” is a category with remarkable elasticity.
A humanoid robot with a skin warm to the touch is heading in a certain direction, whatever its maker’s official positioning. The company states that the U1’s skills don’t extend to the bedroom, then adds “for now.”
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South Africa proposes crypto tax guidance under existing rules
Standard Chartered Secures MiCA License as ESMA Adds 37 New Crypto Firms
Lenovo laptops are now shipping with YMTC SSDs, a sign of Chinese NAND entering the mainstream
Meta Platforms Stock Jumps 7% Today as Bloomberg Reports Company Plans to Enter the Cloud Business
What a 10 Percent Drop Means for Buyers, Sellers and Renters
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