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Tom's Guide
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- Tom's Guide
I took some of my best photos with the Canon EOS R5 Mark II — and it's currently at its lowest ever price
As part of my job as reviews writer at Tom's Guide, I get to test some of the best mirrorless cameras, whether they're for beginners, enthusiasts or professionals. If it's a high-speed camera with a solid burst rate, I always put it through its paces by photographing animals and birds — and if you're on the lookout for a camera that can withstand anything, the Canon EOS R5 Mark II is the one for you. However, there's no sugarcoating it: the EOS R5 Mark II is an expensive camera. Its body alone costs $4,299 / £3,799, and I haven't seen it get a major price drop... until today. Right now, you can save $500 at Amazon U.S. or £238 at Amazon U.K.. If you're a pro photographer and are looking to upgrade, I'd snap (pun fully intended) this deal up immediately. The Canon EOS R5 Mark II improves on its predecessor by introducing a 45MP Stacked sensor that captures lots of detail for extreme cropping. Its intelligent autofocus system with auto subject-detection quickly locks on to animal and human faces and eyes, as well as vehicles. It's built well and handles sublimely, and its 30fps burst shooting and 8.5-stops of IBIS make capturing action effortless. The EOS R5 Mark II is capable of withstanding anything you throw at it. Fully weather-sealed and protected against dust and rain, you can use it in virtually any environmental setting — indoors and outdoors. It's sublime to handle thanks to the sculpted grip, and it never feels too bulky to carry around your neck. Brits, rejoice! The EOS R5 Mark II is discounted in the U.K. too. Bad news is that it isn't as big a discount as the one being offered to the Americans. At Amazon U.K., you can save £238... which isn't a lot but it's something. But of course, the EOS R5 Mark II's prowess lies in its imaging capabilities. Featuring a 45MP Stacked CMOS sensor which enables speedier readouts to minimize rolling shutter distortions, it takes stunning photos with beautiful color science. 45 megapixels also give you room for extreme cropping. Canon has also perfected the EOS R5 Mark II's autofocus system. With auto subject detection, the camera quickly locks on to animals, birds, humans, vehicles, you name it. In my testing, the camera took mere milliseconds to focus on the subject regardless of how many times I switched between, say, humans and vehicles. It even locked on to a slightly obscured squirrel which even my own eyes could not see! A picture is worth a thousand words, of course, so you can browse through the sample gallery above and see just how gorgeous they are. The EOS R5 Mark II has a stacked feature set and you can read all about it in my full review. Its in-camera upscaling (powered by AI) for images shot as JPEG/HEIF is a highlight. It enhances resolution by 4x, extrapolating the image's EXIF data, creating stills up to 180MP from the original 45MP image. You can upscale either one image or a series of burst shots, and it's one feature that can revolutionize how you photograph subjects. The EOS R5 Mark II is our pick for the best full frame mirrorless camera for a plethora of reasons. It's super straightforward to use with a well-laid out control scheme, its autofocus system gives you little to complain about, and it takes ridiculously good photos. If I were you, I'd save $500 at Amazon U.S. or £238 at Amazon U.K. right now — that's the lowest I've seen the camera drop to!
Tom's Guide
7 days ago
- Tom's Guide
Cosori Electric Glass Kettle review
The Cosori Electric Glass Kettle is affordable and incredibly easy to use. There are no bells and whistles, but that makes it perfect for your everyday boiling needs . This kettle won't break the bank, so while it's not as impressive as the best electric kettles, it is a totally worry free option. It boils water in 4 minutes, and with the glass walls of the body you can watch your water boil, with the blue lights making quite the light show for you to enjoy. However, you need to be careful when pouring the water out as the lid has a tendency to leak, and water is able to easily bypass the stainless steel filter, potentially letting impurities into your drink. You can find out more in my full Cosori Electric Glass Kettle review. Price $27/£29 Capacity 1.5QT (U.S.)/1.3QT (U.K.) Rated power 1500W (U.S.)/3000W (U.K.) Colors Black, Ivory White, Ruby Red, Subtle Green Dimensions 9 x 6.3 x 10 inches Weight 2.5lbs Features Stainless steel filter, Automatic shut-off, No plastic spout The Cosori Electric Glass Kettle is available for $27 at Amazon U.S., and £29 at Amazon U.K. I tested the black colorway but it is also available in Ivory White, Ruby Red, and Subtle Green. If you want a color other than black though, the price climbs a little to $29, although they all seem to be discounted regularly on the Amazon U.S. site. The U.S. and U.K. have slightly different models. While the dimensions are the same, the U.S. model has a capacity of 1.5QT and the U.K. version has a capacity of 1.3QT. The two models also operate from two different wattages and voltages due to the difference in domestic mains voltage between the two countries, so while the testing on this kettle was done in the U.K., results in the U.S. may be slightly different (i.e. a little slower). The Cosori Electric Glass Kettle is pretty bulky, but its capacity makes up for that. It measures 9 x 6.3 x 10 inches so takes up a little more room on the counter top than the Smeg Electric Kettle which has a diameter of 8.9 inches and a 1.5QT capacity. The body of the kettle is glass, which makes it pretty fun to watch, especially with the blue lights at the base which create a light show when the water is boiling. However, if you live in an area with hard water, you will see any limescale start to build as there's no hiding anything. The spout of the kettle is a continuation of the glass body, and while it is funneled, the design slows the water enough to result in water pouring out from the lid. This caused spills and is a serious burn hazard. The filter on the spout is stainless steel. I much prefer filters with a mesh basket as I feel like they catch more of the water's impurities — the steel filter on the Cosori has pretty large holes. Despite being pretty wide, a lot of water was bypassing the edges of the steel filter when I was pouring the water. This makes it totally redundant and will not catch any impurities in the water. The kettle has automatic shut-off when the water is boiling, to prevent any overheating, and has boil-dry protection to switch off the heating element when the kettle is empty. I was very impressed by the performance of the Cosori Electric Glass Kettle. I wasn't able to test how long the kettle took to boil when filled to 1.5QT since I was testing the 1.3QT U.K. version. But I tested boil times for a variety of fill levels. To put the boiling performance to the test, I filled the kettle to each capacity labelled on the side of the glass and timed how long it took for the kettle to initiate automatic shut-off, indicating it had reached boiling temperature. Capacity Boiling time 1.31QT/6 cups 4 minutes, 4 seconds 1.09QT/5 cups 3 minutes, 10 seconds 0.87QT/4 cups 2 minutes, 15 seconds 0.65QT/3 cups 1 minute, 51 seconds 0.43QT/2 cups 1 minute, 16 seconds 0.21QT/1 cup 55 seconds I must also note that the U.K. and U.S. models operate using different wattages, and therefore the boiling times may vary in the U.S.. The U.K. version is 3000W while the U.S. version is 1500W, so you can expect the U.S. model to boil water more slowly. Between two and four minutes is the typical time for a kettle to reach boiling point. When I took the temperature of the water it was 209.66°F, so not quite the 212°F needed for boiling water but pretty close. The glass body of the kettle becomes hot to the touch after it is boiled, so you should make sure you only grab the plastic handle. That being said, the glass walls did a good job of keeping the water inside warm. After 20 minutes the water temperature was still 176.72°F. I tested again at 45 minutes and for a reading of 154.4°F, and after an hour the temperature had dropped to 130.6°F. If you want a kettle that can hold specific temperatures for long periods of time, I would recommend a temperature controlled kettle like the Fellow Corvo EKG Kettle or Fellow Stagg EKG Kettle. The Cosori was louder than other kettles we have tested. When rapidly boiling, I got a reading of 66-70dB on the Decibel X app. The Fellow Stagg EKG Kettle was only 51dB and the Ninja Precision Temperature Kettle was 50dB. The Cosori Electric Glass Kettle is, as the name suggests, glass, so will require a little upkeep to ensure it stays sparkling. After only boiling six times there was visible limescale on the walls of the kettle, although I did my testing in Bath, England, which is a very hard water area. Cosori advises regular cleaning by waiting for the kettle to cool and then wiping the outside with a damp cloth. It also says you should descale the kettle once a week. This can be done by adding the juice of half a lemon with two cups of water and boiling. You can then wipe the inside with a cloth to remove any stubborn mineral deposits. Alternatively, you can use descaling tablets, which we would recommend keeping a supply of if you own one of the best espresso machines. The Cosori Electric Glass Kettle is a very basic product. There are no bells and whistles like temperature control or temperature holding, but it boils quickly and you get a light show out of it as a bonus. It's incredibly easy to use and holds temperature very well. Since the walls of the kettle are glass, any mineral build up will be very obvious, and in hard water areas it takes regular cleaning to stay looking good on your counter top. The kettle is also a lot louder than others on the market, so if you'd find that a sensory nightmare, then you may want to look in another direction. But overall, it does a good job at boiling water efficiently. And at $27, you can't ask for more.
Tom's Guide
7 days ago
- Business
- Tom's Guide
I just tested one of Jura's entry-level automatic coffee machines — it nails what others miss
More often than not, automatic coffee machines are ignored when coffee lovers get together and discuss the best espresso machines on the market. There's a very good reason for that: automatic coffee machines just can't make 'proper' espresso. Brewing espresso is an art, from the dosing, the grinding, the tamping, and the extracting — things that automation simply can't replace. I'm often disappointed by automatic espresso, but not from the Jura ENA 4. The ENA 4 actually brews deliciously balanced, yet complex espresso, and I found myself drinking multiple cups of a day. However, it's not perfect, thanks to its lack of milk functionality and almost unbelievable price tag. But could it be a shoe-in for espresso lovers who want convenience over anything else? Find out in this Jura ENA 4 review. Price $999 / £765 Weight 18.5 lbs Grinder Yes Dimensions 10.7 x 12.7 x 17.5 inches Heating system Thermoblock Pressure 15 bar Water tank capacity 37.2 fluid ounces Accessories None The Jura ENA 4 is a pretty massive $999 from Amazon U.S. and $999 on Amazon U.K.. On Jura's U.K. site, it's a more palatable £765 but the same $999 on Jura U.S.. While the ENA 4 appears to be suitable for office use, Jura recommends the ENA 4 is only used in 'private domestic' dwellings. Jura has a range of professional options on its website, including the 200-cups-a-day Giga X. This is an extremely high price for a coffee machine that only makes two drinks. For the same $999, you could get a Breville Bambino Plus, as well as one of the best coffee grinders (like the affordable Baratza Encore ESP), and still have $300 left over for pounds and pounds of coffee. However, I guess you're paying a premium for uber-convenience, and that's what the ENA 4 is here for. It's to ensure you can have hot espresso at the touch of a button. Considering the De'Longhi Rivelia is just £749 in the U.K. and does everything the ENA 4 can and more, I'd recommend the De'Longhi for U.K. customers. If you really want a Jura, the U.K.-only (as of right now) Jura C8 is £899 and it makes milk drinks, so I'd recommend that. The ENA 4 feels considerably smaller than other Jura machines. It's just 10.7 x 12.7 x 17.5 inches, which makes it about 0.3 inches smaller than the C8. This doesn't sound like much, I know but the ENA 4 looked considerably smaller than the C8 and the E8 (a pretty hefty 13.8 inches wide) on my kitchen counter. My favorite design aspect of the ENA 4 is the diamond-faceted water tank. It's pretty small, at just 37 fluid ounces, but this is fine if you're happy to refill it every 7 drinks or so. I found that the ENA 4 alerted me to refill the tank when it had about 10% remaining. Comparatively, the C8's water tank is 54 ounces. Although still not a touchscreen, the ENA 4's LED screen is much more user-friendly than the C8's. The ENA 4's screen is brighter and easier to navigate, although it took me a few tries to figure out which button was 'yes' and which was 'no'. However, after just a few minutes fiddling with the machine, I had this sorted. Like the C8, the ENA 4 can take both ground and wholebean coffee. As it's intended primarily to be used with wholebeans, the grinder hopper is larger than the grounds funnel. You also use the grounds funnel to insert cleaning tablets, which I'll discuss later on. The grinder itself is Jura's own 'Professional Aroma Grinder'. Now, I've tested my fair share of coffee grinders, and I feel like I know what's what when it comes to crushing coffee, but this description feels arbitrary, and raises the 'marketing jargon' red flag. There are no specifics here: no claim of the grinder being a burr or blade (although I can tell from appearance it's a burr) and no assertion of material. The grinder is simply an average bean-to-cup grinder. You can adjust the grind size with a tactile ring around the hopper. My machine came on notch three, and I never had to change this for the beans used in testing, as the espresso tasted great. Mileage will vary depending on the beans/roast used. Lastly, I'll discuss the drip tray and grounds drawer. I'll discuss this more in detail in the 'Storage & maintenance' section below, but the long and short of it is that I needed to empty the drip tray about once every 6 drinks. The drip tray is angled so the water funnels out at the far end, which makes cleanup very easy. So the ENA 4 can't make milk-based drinks, which means its sole purpose is to craft black coffee and espresso. Thankfully, it performs that one job really well. While the Jura C8 makes milk drinks and black coffee, the coffee tasted very average. It was overly bitter and burnt, even when using specialty light-roasted beans. This was probably due to overdosing shots or extracting the espresso with overly-hot water. The ENA 4 was able to extract delicious, balanced coffee. The shots were powerful yet nuanced, and I was surprised by how delicate the overall flavor was. All my colleagues said their coffees were great, which was a major success after they weren't huge fans of coffee made by other automatic machines. Unlike the C8 and the E8 machines, the ENA 4 only has three intensity levels. Personally, I think the coffee tasted best on the weakest intensity as I was able to enjoy the coffee flavor without being overwhelmed by bitterness. Although there's not really much visual difference between the three intensities, here are three photos of the ENA 4's shots from weakest to strongest. As you can see, the shots look creamy and thick, with a nice layer of crema on top. The black heart of the shot is small, which suggests the coffee will taste sweet, with the perfect amount of acidity and bitterness to balance it out. Although the ENA 4 only makes two drinks, espresso and coffee, both of these drinks were delicious. The default amount of 'coffee' is about half a mug, which threw me the first few times I used the machine. However, all is not lost. It's very easy to manually adjust the amount of coffee dosed. I just held down the 'coffee' button until the cup was full and the ENA 4 remembered this measure. It's possible to adjust this amount infinitely, so you'll always have enough to fill a cup regardless of cup size. There's also the option to fill the machine with ground coffee (for example, if you want decaf), but I didn't use this as wholebeans tend to give a much more pleasant flavor. The De'Longhi Rivelia has two interchangeable bean hoppers for easy switching of wholebeans, so you can have freshly ground caffeinated and decaf coffee. While the ENA 4 doesn't brew espresso delicate and complex enough to impress coffee aficionados, this is a machine that places convenience above everything else (affordability included). As a result, the ENA 4 excels at its job: make coffee after coffee in quick succession. It just won't be winning any flavor awards. If that's what you want from your coffee machine, then this is a great option — easily the best espresso of any Jura machine I've tried thus far. As I touched on earlier, I'll discuss the drip tray and grounds drawer in full detail here. The drip tray is very long; it stretches all the length of the machine itself. This means it can hold a pretty large amount of water. There's no red tab that pops up when the tray needs emptying; the machine tells you on the screen. Emptying is easy as the water is funnelled out of a small opening at the rear of the tray. The grounds drawer is just behind the exterior mesh, and sits nice and flush in the tray itself. I found it easy to clean with hot running water, but it's made of plastic, so might be quite easily tarnished. However, I only had this machine on a short loan so I unfortunately can't test long-term usage. Jura recommends (well, demands) that you only use Jura-branded cleaning tablets. These cleaning tablets are quite expensive: $21 for 6 tablets on Jura's website, $20 for one water filter on Jura's website, and $20 for 6 descaling tablets on Jura's website. Jura recommends changing the water filter every 2 months, cleaning the water tank with multiple descaling tablets every 2 months. The machine will prompt cleaning tablet usage depending on how often you use it — minimum once a month. These continuing costs will make daily machine operation quite expensive, so it's worth accounting for these charges when figuring out if you should buy the ENA 4 or not. If these costs seem a little too high, then I recommend the De'Longhi Rivelia automatic machine. De'Longhi sells a maintenance kit for $45 on its website, which includes a water filter, descaler, and a coffee machine cleaner as well as a microfiber cloth, but this should be repurchased every few months so the price difference could be negligible. If money is no object to you and you just want quick, fresh coffee, then I think the ENA 4 is one of Jura's most adept machines. It makes delicious espresso that is much sweeter and more drinkable than other Jura machines. However, it is very expensive for what it is. It's $999 and all it does is make espresso and black coffee. That's it. It doesn't steam milk, and it certainly doesn't add syrups. For such a large product (albeit smaller than other Jura machines), you'd hope it would do something else. The De'Longhi Rivelia is far more versatile. In the U.S., it's a pretty hefty $1,299, compared to the more palatable £749 U.K. price. I think it's a worthwhile investment seeing as it can make 13 drinks, compared to the $999 ENA 4's meager 2. For serious automatic coffee machine lovers, I can recommend the Terra Kafe TK-02 ($1,599) which can make a seemingly infinite amount of recipes in the Terra Kafe app. If you want the best of the best, opt for that instead. If you want just black coffee and don't care that you're spending $$$ for easy espresso, then the ENA 4 won't let you down. The Jura ENA 4 has one customer in mind, and it looks after that one customer well. If you want hot, fresh espresso multiple times a day and you're happy to pay a premium price for convenience, then the ENA 4 is your perfect choice. Just don't expect it to start brewing lattes and cappuccinos, because, well, it's physically incapable. However, if you do want a machine to make milk drinks, I'd recommend the De'Longhi Rivelia or the Terra Kafe TK-02 I mentioned earlier. The ENA 4 simply is not designed to prepare milk. Even so, the ENA 4 definitely has a place. It's easy to adjust coffee intensity so it would be good for a family or small office where people have different tastes. I'd just recommend getting a milk frother to go with it.
Tom's Guide
7 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I just tested this $67 soundbar, and I'm blown away for the price
The Majority Naga 60 has something I've never seen before on a soundbar: a sub-$70 MSRP. The Naga is by far the cheapest soundbar I've ever tested. But is that enough to make it one of the best soundbars on the market today? Well… it depends on what you're after. Are you looking for a super affordable upgrade from TV speakers? Then it could be the one for you. Conversely, if you're looking for a buildable home theater setup, then it's probably not adept enough to impress you. If you configure the EQs correctly (Movie mode and 3D on), then the Naga can hold its own. However, for just $67, I'm inclined to say that this is the top bang-for-buck soundbar out there — admittedly, there's not that much bang, but there's so little buck that I can forgive it. Find out the full info in this Majority Naga 60 soundbar review. Price $67 / £69 Connectivity HDMI ARC (not eARC), Optical, Bluetooth, USB Weight 3.7 pounds Dimensions 24 x 4.6 x 3 inches Colors Black Subwoofer Built-in, but poor. Sub output for wired third-party Dolby Atmos No Channel 2.1 The Majority Naga 60 is incredibly affordable. The 2.1 channel soundbar is just $67 from Amazon U.S. and £69 from Amazon U.K. It is, by far, the cheapest soundbar I've ever reviewed. The other budget options I've tested are the Majority Elias ($99, 3-stars) and the Sony HT-S100F ($99, 4-stars). While I would wholeheartedly recommend the Sony HT-S100F (which you'll be hearing a lot about in this review) over the Naga 60, for that extra $32 saving, the Naga 60 could be a good option for those on a very tight budget. I'm just going to discuss the Naga's connectivity issues right off the bat. Even though it has an ARC HDMI output, it won't work without fiddling with your TV's settings. Once the soundbar is connected, you'll need to go into the advanced settings and change the S/PDIF settings to PCM. PCM is usually reserved for optical connectivity, so I was utterly baffled by this. However, once this was sorted, I was able to watch TV as usual with the Naga soundbar. While this might seem a bit daunting for newbies, if you follow Majority's steps carefully, it should be easy to correct. Connectivity issues aside, the soundbar looks like any other soundbar. It's a little bulky at 3 inches tall and 4.5 inches deep, which is considerably bigger than the Sony HT-S100F's 2.5 and 3.5 inches respectively, but this could be a worthy sacrifice for the $32 saving. There's a range of buttons on top, but these are all remote controlled too. The remote feels decently made, with slightly tactile buttons. These buttons control EQs (flat, movie, music, dialogue, 3D), bass and treble levels, and Bluetooth connectivity. Disappointingly, though, I didn't find the tone controls all that effective. This is either due to such a weak built-in subwoofer that increasing the bass volume to max does nothing, or that the button controls don't actually do anything. The minimum volume (01) and max volume (04) sounded virtually identical to me. Volume 4 resulted in some unpleasant vibration interference, but didn't actually improve the movie's sound, so I turned it back down to stop this vibrating. Considering this is a $67 soundbar, I didn't expect a massive range of features, and that's exactly what I got. There's a built-in subwoofer, Bluetooth connectivity for music or linking to your phone/laptop, and a range of playback EQs I mentioned above. I got the best sound out of the 'Movie' mode with '3D' mode turned on. It appears you can turn on 3D mode and one of the listening modes simultaneously. I found 'Flat' to be very tinny, so I would never choose that EQ. Similarly, 'Dialogue' and 'Music' did little to improve the sound itself — only 'Movie' mode sounded good. I'll discuss the quality of the sound and Bluetooth connectivity for music in detail in the 'Sound quality' section below. I always test soundbars with 'Top Gun: Maverick' on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, a range of TV shows on Netflix, and music via Spotify and Qobuz. As with all soundbars I test, I watched 'Top Gun: Maverick'. The opening scene is fantastic for putting soundbars through their paces: it has thumping bass in both the diegetic jet engines and the soundtrack, plus high-frequency sound effects of whipping ropes, clinking metal, and radio sounds. While a lot of this nuance was lost, I could still hear sounds like the roaring engines and the whooshing wind. True, I couldn't make out the clinking metal sounds and flicking rope effects, but for a $67 soundbar, can I really complain? Throughout the movie, the OST's brass motif was a little tinny and flat, and I wanted some extra oomph from the action scenes — especially when Maverick was flying. However, this soundbar is a little better than my Panasonic TV speakers, and is just $67. There were some moments where the Naga 60 couldn't handle the sound: for example, when Maverick's jet is taking off at the start of the movie. This sound was condensed and clipped, almost muted. When I increased to volume 20+, the jet sound didn't really get louder, while dialogue and the soundtrack did. To test sound quality on TV, I watched a variety of shows on Netflix. Considering the Naga 60 is just $67, I think it's a worthwhile assumption that most customers will be using it for TV rather than surround-sound Dolby Atmos setups. Especially as the Naga 60 isn't actually compatible with Atmos. There were a few standout moments during testing: for example, when I was watching 'Stranger Things', the characters speaking over walkie-talkies was really immersive. The radio dialogue sounded as if it was coming from around me. When the characters were hiding in a school bus, the footsteps on the metal body echoed throughout the scene. While the soundtrack was pinchy in the treble and a little crackly at the top of the frequency range, this didn't detract massively from the general experience. The soundbar really struggles with high-pitched feminine voices, especially Winona Ryder's — which is a massive shame seeing as she's the main character in 'Stranger Things'. This impacted my ability to watch the show for long periods. The Naga 60 also really struggled with the 'Stranger Things' intro, which is very bassy, and just churned out an unpleasant vibrating and grating sound. Overall, the soundbar performed well, all things considered. It's a major step up from TV speakers, but it won't impress when playing Dolby Atmos-enabled movies or home cinema enthusiasts. For that, I'd recommend the Sony HT-S100F. To test music playback, I connected to my Naga 60 via Bluetooth on Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles. First, I listened to 'Certified' by Miso Extra, which is an upbeat pop track with synth motifs and a groovy bass beat. I couldn't really hear the bass synths, but the treble melody was audible. The vocals were soft yet a little flat, but overall the song sounded alright — just nowhere near as good as one of the best Bluetooth speakers. 'Memoirs of Miso' by The Orielles is a psychedelic indie track with rolling guitar melodies and airy vocals. This track sounded quite muffled in the bridge and chorus, as if the soundbar couldn't separate all the instruments layered across the track. However, the sound was still palatable. Another track worth noting was 'There's No Future In Optimism' by Garbage, which has a dense soundscape with electronic bass, guitars, and heady percussion. There was a little crackling at the peak of the bass, and the vocals were a little overpowered by the rest of the sound, but, again, I can't really expect more from a $67 soundbar. Overall, the soundbar did alright with music, but I'd just recommend getting a speaker (like the JBL Flip 7, $149 on Amazon). The Naga 60 soundbar is a great way to upgrade from TV speakers for as little money as possible. However, $67 is still a decent amount of money for a first soundbar, and, given the setup headache, I'm not sure how easy this is to use for complete beginners. If you can spare another $32, I'd recommend the Sony HT-S100F soundbar. It's just $99 and has fantastic, room-filling sound quality. On top of that, it never struggled with dialogue or bass like the Naga 60 did. However, it's worth noting that it doesn't have a subwoofer output (unlike the Naga, which can be connected to a wired sub), so it is not great for building a home theater. With all that being said, if you want a super cheap soundbar that sounds better than TV speakers (but not as good as a pricier soundbar), then the Majority Naga 60 is a good option — it just won't blow you away.
Tom's Guide
06-06-2025
- Tom's Guide
Neewer Basics R06 7-inch Round Light review
Getting the best lighting for selfies and first person video shooting has become pretty much essential, so the best ring light should definitely be on your shopping list. Luckily, the Neewer Basics R06 7-inch Round Light offers a consistent and reliable lighting solution. It enhances images and video when using my phone, generating flattering but natural light thanks to its CRI of 95+. There's also a range of 5 color temperatures from 3000-6500k, plus variable light intensities to make sure your illumination is on point. Meanwhile, the R06's telescopic arm, adjustable light angle and 360° rotation phone holder all make for an easy and customizable experience. Its fixed diffuser is quite thick, for very soft light, so if you want more contrast, look elsewhere. As a panel light, you'll also need to give more thought to light placement to avoid shadows (typical ring lights provide a more even light over your whole face), but this also makes the R06 more flexible as a general purpose light than typical ring lights. But there are a few small things to consider. There is no built-in battery support so the light will need to be plugged in at all times with the attached USB-C cable. And because of the building required to set up the light, it's better suited to a fixed set up and not for on-the-go vlogging or shooting. You can find out more in my full Neewer Basics R06 7-inch Round Light review. Price $35/£35 Dimensions 7 x 33.1 x 33.1 inches Weight 38.8 ounces Number of LEDs 84 Maximum illumination 680Lux/0.5m Accessories Phone holder, telescopic arm CRI (color rendering index) 95+ Color temperature 3000-6500k The Neewer Basics R06 7-inch Round Light is available at Amazon U.S. for $35 where prime members can get it for $26, and at Amazon U.K. for £35. There is a 1-year warranty included with the purchase. The light can also be purchased directly from through the Neewer website for the higher price of $45. While the panel light comes with a 1-year warranty, purchasing directly from Neewer and signing up to their newsletter will further that by an extra year. While I didn't come across any niggles with the ring light, you may think the added piece of mind is worth the extra money. If you need something more transportable, you may want to consider the Neewer 5-inch ring light which is $21. Or for something specifically for video, the Rotolight Video Conferencing Kit is $339 but is often discounted on Amazon. The Neewer Basics R06 7-inch Round Light is a panel light, meaning its LEDs are arrayed in a rectangle/square instead of a ring, such as the Neewer Basics BR60 5-inch Ring Light. The ring light will give an even lighting effect to your face when straight on where the panel will cause more shadows to your nose or eyes for example. That being said, the panel light is more versatile for other things like product photography lighting up a whole foreground. The light had to be assembled but this was simple to do as everything screwed together with ease, although the built-in cable gets tangled pretty easily. The panel of the light has a lot of adjustment, moving 180° horizontally and 210° vertically, helping me to achieve the perfect lighting angles — necessary given you can't easily move the whole stand around due to its bulky design and mains-only power. The light has a metal base which is weighted to keep the light completely stable. But the 7.08' base doesn't make it heavy, since it still only weighs 38.8 ounces. There is a metal telescopic column that meets the edge of the base. The column has a minimum height setting of 23.5 inches and a maximum of 33.1 inches. This meant that I was able to set the height based on whether I was sitting down or standing up, and could alter it based on where the camera I was using was positioned. There is a phone holder that clips on to the column, and can be adjusted up and down along the full height of the column. The holder opens from 2.4 inches to 6 inches, so I was able to easily fit my iPhone 14 and it should be able to fit larger phones like the iPhone 16 Pro Max. The holder also has a cold shoe mount, so you can fasten one of the best microphones, and a 360° bevel so you can adjust the angle of the phone for pretty much any situation. The only thing missing from this 7-inch panel light is any sort of camera mount. If you need to stand up a camera for filming you will need a separate tripod. Neewer keeps the controls simple on this 'basic' round light. Unlike Neewer's other lights, like the RP18 Pro, there is no Bluetooth connection, nor remote or Neewer App control. The control panel is attached to the 6.2ft charging cable and has four buttons to control the color temperature, brightness, and power. The brightness has 10 levels of adjustment which changes by 10% each time. The color temperature has 5 different settings ranging from 3000K to 6500K. There is a lighting setting for pretty much every situation, and the controls mean it is possible to have gentle lighting for more natural filming and photography scenarios. I found the light incredibly easy to control, and since the controls are attached to the power cord there was no worry of my misplacing it. After being blown away by the performance of Neewer's smaller 5-inch ring light, I was looking forward to seeing what the Neewer Basics R06 7-inch Round Light could do. It is worth noting that this light is bi-color, so only white and yellow hues are used. If you're only using this light for portraiture this shouldn't be an issue, but if you want to get a bit more creative, the lack of RGB lighting could be a con for you. The light has a CRI (color rendering index) of 95+. CRI is measured on a scale of 0-100 and denotes how naturally a light shows colors on a subject, and a score of 95 is impressive. The Rotolight Video Vlogging Kit ($29) has a CRI of 95+ but it has no adjustment like the Neewer Basics R06 7-inch Round Light. The R06 has a non-removable diffuser, which is very thick, producing highly diffused, soft light. It generated enough light to brighten up my face enough, but wasn't at all harsh and gave a very natural effect. The level of adjustment with the light also meant I could play around with the color tones and brightness to find the right settings for me. As a panel light, the R06 isn't as well-suited to selfies as ring lights — the ring array allows a phone to go in the center, letting an even light hit your entire face to remove shadows (on your nose for example). Ring lights also cast a halo light in your eyes, which is often sought-after in beauty vlogging and photography. On the R06, the phone can't sit in the middle, and even in its holder can get in the way of the actual LEDs, causing shadows of the phone itself. You can get around this by placing the light separately to your phone or camera, but then you will also see facial shadows. That being said, for a setup where the light was simply illuminating my entire setting and not just focused on me, like in a video call, the light worked perfectly. So I would totally recommend this as a work from home studio solution. The panel array also makes this a flexible light for more than just selfie footage, so if you produce different types of content, it could be a great solution. Unfortunately this ring light must be plugged in when in use. While this is inconvenient as you're unable to move around with the ring light, when in use, it actually has its perks. Since it is plugged in via the USB-A cable connected to the light, you are ensured consistent lighting over long periods of time with no worries of the power of the light fading or flickering as the battery runs out. If you do need to be on the move with it though, you can always plug in to a portable power bank. However, with the design of this light it is better used for a fixed set up. The Neewer Basics R06 7-inch Round Light is a brilliant lighting solution for any home office or studio. At $35 it is affordable, it produces lovely, soft light and has a sturdy but customizable build. There is a whole lot of adjustment with this light, letting you alter the height and filming angles to suit your setup. The panel array and adjustment of the actual lighting settings opens up many opportunities, from doing make-up in the mirror to shooting vlogging content to camera. If you're looking for something purely for selfies though, I would recommend the Neewer Basics BR60 5-inch Ring Light — as ring lights produce a more even light over the face. There isn't any on-board battery support and this weighty light isn't one you'll want to move around, but once I set up the light at my desk I didn't need to move it, so these are very minor issues. I loved the light for making short vlogs of my day and taking selfies with less harsh lighting — it is certainly a winner for me.
