Magazine

CheckMag While the weight and counterintuitive lock may be minor drawbacks, the benefits of increased water intake and the bottle’s overall functionality outweigh them. If you’re looking for a smart water bottle that will actually help you reach your hydration goals, the Hidrate Spark is worth a serious look.

CheckMag When I got the notification that my Nighthawk R7000 reached "end of life" I started down the rabbit hole of looking to install custom firmware to keep what is otherwise perfectly functioning hardware secure. While I didn't manage to keep my R7000 in service, I did find this hidden gem of a router.

CheckMag If you were to ask most tech journalists what they consider the most innovative handheld console, they would say the Nintendo Switch. With its touch screen, portability, internet connectivity and AAA titles, it’s a definite win. If you were to ask me, I would say, “What time period?”. If we’re talking about the 90s, I would say the Tiger Game.com.

Leak Lounge It's a tacitly known fact that Nvidia's widely anticipated RTX 50-series gaming GPUs are poised to be unveiled at CES 2025. From the power-hungry RTX 5090 with 33% more CUDA cores than its predecessor, to the memory-starved RTX 5060, here is a run-down of what we have learned so far regarding the next-generation Nvidia GeForce RTX GPUs. Last updated: January 5

CheckMag Budget laptops are dying, because budget laptop chips - real budget chips, not just last generation's leftovers - are already dead.

CheckMag 2024 is coming to a close and the launch of first 2025 iPhone is just around the corner, which will likely be in the crosshairs of bargain hunters. According to the latest price leak, the price tag will rise slightly, but the iPhone SE 4 is still expected find a lot of fans and force Apple to clear out its iPhone inventory.

CheckMag Path of Exile 2 early access kicked off on December 6. In my experience, some classes, specifically the ranged ones, are objectively better than others. Even then, the game is in desperate need of some tuning, especially for late-game content.

CheckMag The impending end of Windows 10 support (October 2025) from Microsoft means that many owners of older computers will have to switch to a different operating system. One alternative could be Google's free ChromeOS Flex, which runs quite well on weak hardware.

CheckMag Microsoft may see itself adopting a radically new approach with Xbox in the coming months and years. Xbox is likely to become more and more platform agnostic as more first-party titles are expected to grace competing platforms like Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. The upcoming Xbox generation is also likely to be more PC-like with the ability to run third-party game stores.

CheckMag Buying Windows keys directly from Microsoft is expensive but more importantly, it's just not an option for older operating systems such as Windows 8.1 or Windows 7. This is where platforms like G2A and Kinguin come in as they allow one to buy legit, working keys for a fraction of the original price.

CheckMag Various sources have latched onto the idea that Xiaomi will soon be replacing the Poco X6 Neo with the Poco X7 Neo. More reliable evidence suggests this will not be the case, though.

Fortnite just dropped Ballistic into early access, a new tactical 5v5 game mode aimed at the Counter-Strike 2 and Valorant crowd. While the gameplay is solid, the team experience leaves much to be desired.

CheckMag YouTuber Retro Tech Dad has just released a deep dive exploring the viability of PC gaming on Android using the Windows emulator, Winlator. Using a host of different tips and tricks, the results speak for themselves.

CheckMag December 2004: IBM, one of the founding fathers of the personal computing world, announces that its ThinkPad business is being sold to a then little known entity called Lenovo. 20 years later, the combined company is the largest PC manufacturer by volume - a success story is worth analyzing.

CheckMag Featuring the classic LCD handheld stylings, Moida Manson is a retro adventure game in which players must find and help their friends escape Moida Manson. This is Lucas Pope's latest title, and it features immaculate LCD visuals and engaging gameplay.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is an action-adventure-stealth-puzzle game that doesn't set out to do anything new, but offers a solid experience. Its replayability might not be much, but you'll be spending a fair amount of time combing through every nook and cranny for secrets.

After what seemed like a never-ending wave of delays, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl is finally out. Is the seventeen-year wait worth it? Totally. It promised to be the most ambitious S.T.A.L.K.E.R game ever, and it exceeded expectations and then some. That said, the game has its share of jank, and you're better off waiting until some of its more egregious kinks are ironed out via patches.

CheckMag Nobody needs two space bars, but that's not the point of a split space bar design. A split space bar can help reduce finger strain and even increase typing speed and accuracy, as long as you put in the effort to make it work for you, and most people simply aren't willing to put that much thought into it.

CheckMag The new M4 Mac Mini is making waves in both the critical and consumer circles, and for good reason. The tiny desktop is an engineering marvel that boasts plenty of power packed into a tiny (and relatively inexpensive) package. While it has some drawbacks, the 2024 Mac Mini may be the best "bang for the buck" system on the market today.

Deal Amazon has already begun its Black Friday sales which will run for a week. Here are the best deals for gamers or anyone looking for a gaming-related gift.

CheckMag The teach mode beta is finally here, as Rabbit Inc. strives to deliver on the promised features of the Rabbit R1. In this hands-on, the R1 will be tasked with getting our latest review.

CheckMag Ajazz, Cidoo, Epomaker, Keychron, and Nuphy are delivering the goods this Black Friday with up to 40% off on high-quality, customisable mechanical keyboards, bringing prices down to a fraction of what you'd pay for a custom mechanical keyboard.

CheckMag The Epomaker TH40 is an excellent affordable entry to the 40% keyboard form factor, but in our recent review, we found that it was impossible to use with the out-of-the-box layers and key bindings. Here's how we set up and optimised the Epomaker TH40 for general use and typing.

The battle of the clickpads. Ten years ago, Lenovo tried to integrate the dedicated mouse buttons for the ThinkPad TrackPoint into the touchpad, to make the trackpad bigger. In 2024, they are trying it again. We compare ThinkPad P1 G7 with the ThinkPad T440s to see why Lenovo thinks that this will work now, despite not working back in 2014.

CheckMag In a world saturated with expensive, feature-overloaded timepieces, Casio's AE-1200WH is a masterclass in designing affordable yet functional watches. The 2012 model has world time, multiple alarms, a stopwatch, a countdown timer, and a 10-year battery life - all for $30 - which is commendable in this day and age.

CheckMag The iPhone 16 Plus's main camera has an average delta-E of 7.41; in the meantime, the XPS 13 9345's 2 MP webcam delivered a value of just 5.53 in our testing. However, the number of webcams with bizarre delta-E values such as 20+ is still pretty high, as a brief analysis of the last 48 laptop reviews published by Notebookcheck shows.

CheckMag Smart fabrics come in many shapes and sizes. Some pieces of smart clothing are impregnated with various sensors for performance tracking and comfort control; other options never get sweaty or have other unique superpowers. This little article focuses on smart clothing made for women.

CheckMag Safer brand products were meant to combine fashion with function. These attractive little gadgets could do SOS alerts and live tracking at pretty reasonable price points. Unfortunately, the project seems to have quietly disintegrated a couple of years ago.

CheckMag Laptop designs started to feel stale in recent years, with most laptops adopting similar design attributes - most following the example of Apple MacBooks. For this reason: The market needs an Elon Musk disruption!

CheckMag Epomaker's 11.11 sale is now offering up to 50% discounts on everything from custom mechanical keyboard kits to mid-range, fully customisable pre-built boards with QMK/VIA support. Unfortunately, the main sale event ends on 11 November, so deals are not long-lived.

CheckMag Butterfly iQ series products are portable ultrasound machines for prenatal care. The original model launched several years ago as the future of ultrasound technology being not just compact and efficient but also easy to use.

Detective Dotson is an indie game developed by Masala Games, an India-based developer. You get to roam around a typical Indian city and solve puzzles as the game's protagonist. It will launch on Steam and Xbox Series S|X early next year.

CheckMag Since dropping x86 in favour of ARM, Apple has more or less closed the door on native dual booting on its hardware. However, Asahi Linux, for some time, has offered native Fedora builds for Apple silicon Macs. The latest release now comes with an alpha build of their game playing toolkit, allowing you to install Steam and play a selection of games on your dual boot Apple silicon Mac.

CheckMag Year after year, Google adds to its graveyard whether users like it or not. Often, it's warranted, but other times, the motivation seems to be to form a monstrous amalgamation of services in a misguided effort to streamline the user experience. No hardware or software is safe when Google decides the time is up.

CheckMag Halfway through the ninth generation of consoles, it's probably safe to say that much of the gaming audience is unimpressed. Yet the release valve for console gamers that is mainstream PC gaming is growing further and further out of reach - and it's not just about price.

CheckMag Teladoc, MD Live, Amwell and 3 other telehealth apps allow one to get an immediate remote consultation whenever needed, meaning convenience and quality healthcare can finally be had in a single package.

Sony's survival horror Until Dawn returns just in time for the Halloween season, but the remake offers more than improved graphics. A new ending and tense atmosphere promise an even more immersive horror experience, including enhanced graphics based on Unreal Engine 5. Unfortunately, a game-breaking bug ends the adventure for many players before it can really get going.

CheckMag Discover Flo, the most popular period tracking app that empowers women with personalized insights for menstrual and reproductive health.

CheckMag Nintendo has a long history of screwing over its fans, whether it’s releasing underpowered hardware, suing fan projects, shutting down services older consoles rely on, and constantly re-selling its back catalogue of games to people who have bought these same titles over and over. But where Ryujinx and Yuzu are concerned, it’s not hard to see why these projects got shut down.

CheckMag Vivo invited some international reviewers to China for the X200 launch event. These reviewers are slowly releasing their first impressions of the new Vivo flagship, which features a Zeiss camera system with a 200MP telephoto lens. They are also providing initial comparisons between the cameras on the X200 Pro and those on prominent Apple and Samsung phones. Following the launch, many sample photos have been published, suggesting that the Vivo X200 Pro is, at the very least, poised to be a contender for the best smartphone camera of 2025.

Diablo 4's first-ever DLC Vessel of Hatred aims to breathe new life into the game. While the expansion has its moments, it doesn't feel like a $40 DLC, especially after the standards set by Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077.

CheckMag Steam's triannual Next Fest is a huge showcase for upcoming games with a truckload of demos for gamers to try out. We made a short list of five options that sound a little more exciting than the rest.

CheckMag The AI music landscape is evolving at an astounding pace. Many websites are now available that let one bring ideas to life with just a few mouse clicks.

CheckMag Tesla does not always deliver on its promises, and the latest news on its humanoid robot proves as much. While that's unfortunate, it does not mean Tesla is a bad company.

CheckMag Fujifilm divided its community earlier this year when it launched the X-T50, with many calling it overpriced, and others criticising it for failing to adequately appeal to either beginners or experienced hobbyists. The Fujifilm X-M5 looks to be a massive course correction, offering everything a beginner mirrorless camera should at an affordable price.

CheckMag Power Delivery-enabled chargers communicate with the device they are connected to prior to letting those amperes pass through, unlike old non-PD chargers. The easiest way to mate a PD charger to an old laptop is to purchase a barrel plug with a charging trigger in it. Thankfully, Amazon has no shortage of those.

CheckMag October is a great time to add a little fright to gaming sessions. In this list, we will explore a few games that will maximize a handheld horror experience.

The latest installment of EA Sports FC feels like a halfway attempt to deliver on the promises of last year's rebrand. With the exception of chaotic arcade-style ‘Rush’ matches, upgraded gameplay tactics and a refreshingly new take on the Career mode, The World's Game remains mostly the same: A familiar simulation with familiar frustrations.

CheckMag Google is notorious for tracking people across websites, and this extends to almost every service it offers, including Android and YouTube. If you are on a quest to escape Google's aggressive data practices, you might want to consider hosting your own YouTube front end. But how easy is it, and is it worth it?