Reviews

Don’t let the modest appearance of the HomePod mini 2 fool you. The audio quality is excellent for a speaker in this price range and size. It’s even better than its predecessor. And the speaker is useful for more than music or podcasts. It really is smart — though not as clever as it will be after the arrival of a future software update that will bring support for Siri AI.

As a longtime HomePod mini user, here’s what it’s like using the second-generation version.

The Obsbot Tiny 3 is a small webcam with a sensor as large as the one in the iPhone 17 Pro’s main camera. And, frankly, it delivers a ridiculous leap in image quality over standard webcams.

I spend a lot of time in online meetings — a couple of hours every other day. While I never paid much attention to image quality, I knew that my Creative 4K webcam was not really up to the task. So I tried the Obsbot Tiny 3. It’s great, but at $349, it costs a lot more than a regular webcam. Is it really worth it?

The Jsaux VoidJoy SkyLark S1 Pro game controller packs an impressive assortment of features into a portable and lightweight design.

A highlight is extreme flexibility. It connects to Mac, iPad and iPhone, as well as a Nintendo Switch 2, Android or PC. And connections can use Bluetooth, 2.4GHz wireless or USB.

I put the very affordable gamepad to the test and came away generally pleased. Here’s what I like and what I don’t.

By Jessica Kanzler, Cult of Mac Deals

Headway is a fun app that pulls insights from more than 2,000 popular nonfiction books and condenses them into brief summaries with all the key insights. It turns them into audio and text, so you can listen or read to absorb big ideas in just 15 minutes.

I reviewed the app, which is currently on sale at Cult of Mac Deals, and found it surprisingly helpful for burning through my to-read list. And a lifetime subscription to Headway Premium is currently on sale for just $49.97 (regularly $299.95) with code SAVE20.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris was made for consoles but is perfect for mobile. The action-puzzler delivers a compact arcade-style game easily broken up into playable chunks.

So it makes complete sense that Feral Interactive brought the game to iPhone and iPad. And rather than creating a stripped-down mobile version, Feral has delivered what is essentially the full 2014 game, including its downloadable content.

The result is an unusually complete mobile port that holds up surprisingly well more than a decade after the original’s release. I loved the original and I’m enjoying the heck out of the port.

The Clevetura S keyboard stands out due to its dual functionality, which combines a Mac keyboard with a built-in trackpad. The twist is that instead of adding a dedicated trackpad to the keyboard, it turns the keys themselves into a touch surface.

This clever idea works well in daily use, although it comes with a learning curve.

Apple TV found an unusual premise for its latest comedy: What if Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson really were brothers? That is the question at the heart of Brothers, the new Apple TV comedy starring the longtime friends as fictionalized versions of themselves.

And while critics are divided about the show itself, plenty of reviewers and I agree that watching McConaughey and Harrelson goof around together is a lot of fun.

Here are three reasons you should watch Brothers on Apple TV.

The Razer Prio is a new mobile game controller that’s small enough that you might actually carry it everywhere.

For travel, the accessory folds up to be not much larger than a deck of cards. When it’s time to play, unfold it then clip it to on either side of your iPhone to add physical buttons, triggers and sticks.

I tested the Prio with my iPhone 17 and came away impressed with how easy it is to carry around. It’s fun wherever you need it.

The more I use the BenQ PD2732U monitor, the more I appreciate its quality 27-inch 4K panel. Colors look spot-on to my eyes, uniformity is good, and the extensive connectivity fits neatly into my Mac setup.

However, while there’s plenty to like about BenQ’s newest professional monitor, the PD2732U misses out on a few key features. My review will show you where the BenQ PD2732U shines and where it falls short.

The KYY K1302R Portable Monitor stands out from its rivals with a rotating kickstand that makes switching between landscape and portrait modes a breeze.

The LCD is 1080P, but nevertheless looks bright and clear. And its modest resolution helps make this external display very affordable.

It also appears professional thanks to a slim chassis that’s all aluminum, not plastic. And connecting it to your Mac or iPad is as easy as plugging in a USB-C cable.

I’ve used the portable monitor for weeks as part of my mobile setup. Here’s why I like it.

Apple made some big promises for AirPods 5, particularly when it comes to active noise cancellation. After spending time with the new earbuds, I can say the company wasn’t exaggerating. ANC is dramatically better than it was on previous open-ear AirPods, making AirPods 5 much more useful in noisy environments. Which is great, because Apple put ANC in its most affordable AirPods, too.

And that’s not the only upgrade that makes a difference. Apple also added something I’ve wanted on my AirPods for years: volume controls right on the stems. That’s reserved for the slightly pricier AirPods 5 variant, though.

I’m a long-time AirPods user, and I could argue that there are enough improvements in AirPods 5 that you might want to replace your AirPods 4. Here’s why.

Finding a great Mac monitor usually means choosing between Retina sharpness, a high refresh rate and reasonable pricing. The BenQ MA320UG tries to strike a better balance with its large 31.5-inch 4K panel, glossy finish and 120Hz refresh rate.

After using it as my primary display for several weeks, I found plenty to like. However, there are also a few compromises that keep it from being the complete Studio Display alternative.

The Orico MacData Vault puts five SATA drives and hardware RAID into a compact aluminum enclosure that looks right at home beside a Mac. It feels solid and runs quietly.

However, its screw-mounted drive trays and hardware-only RAID controls make the setup feel more dated than I expected from a premium direct-attached storage, aka DAS, device in 2026. There is also an important catch for Mac users. Find out more in my review.

The best wall chargers include a display so you don’t have to guess about how much power is flowing. The BMX GaNsta Pixel has one too… and it’s both cool-looking and really easy to read.

More than that, the charger goes up to 140 watts — plenty to power your MacBook. Plus, there are three USB-C charging ports and a USB-A one, too.

I put the Mac/iPhone accessory through real-world testing and came away impressed. And I love its large display.

When I first reviewed Halo Collar 5 in fall 2025, I called it “simply the best GPS dog tracker.” Imagine my surprise that it got better. Since the product launch, Halo added Precision+, which makes tracking your pet even more exact.

It’s also a real benefit with Holo’s virtual fence feature.

I tested Halo Collar 5 with Precision+ added, and came away even more impressed.

I love my Logitech MX Master 3S and MX Keys S keyboard. They are my go-to devices for my Mac. However, I don’t feel the same way about Logi Options+, Logitech’s companion app for its mice and keyboards.

The software feels unnecessarily bloated for what I need it to do. So, I replaced it with a third-party alternative called BetterMouse that’s lighter and even more feature-rich.

The Mophie Roam 3-in-1 Travel Charger pumps power more quickly into an iPhone than almost any other charger I’ve tested that’s designed for use on the go. And it can juice up an Apple Watch and AirPods case at the same time. There’s a trade-off, though.

I put the accessory through a full round of testing with my Apple devices. Here’s what I found.

The Razer Travel Case Folio is a combination keyboard case/stand created for gamers who need a keyboard while they game on the go with an iPad, Steam Deck or even an iPhone. And it’s also useful when you need to get some work done on your tablet.

Put a Razer Joro or an Apple Magic Keyboard into the folio, then deploy its built-in kickstand and it’s ready to prop up your tablet, gaming handheld, etc. for fun or productivity.

I tested the new accessory with my mobile setup. Here’s what I found.

When fraudsters targeted an elderly relative of mine last year, they scammed her out of thousands of dollars. We tried to stop them, without much success. But then we scrubbed her personal data from the internet using a service called Incogni.

Surprisingly, using this affordable data removal service made all the difference. Here’s how I stopped my relative from getting scammed.

The Chargeasap Miko solves the biggest problem with tiny iPhone chargers: remembering to carry them in the first place.

Chargeasap calls it the world’s smallest 30W GaN charger, but the device’s dimunitive size isn’t its only strong point. The Miko packs several thoughtful design touches that help it stand out from the competition. Here’s how the tiny charger performs in real life.

I have a case for my iPhone, a power bank, a wireless charger … plenty of other accessories. But when I heard about one gizmo, I literally laughed out loud. The idea was so ridiculous that I had to get it so I could relentlessly mock it on Cult of Mac.

The joke’s on me: Turns out I love it.

What is it? A USB-C fan. Sounds stupid, right? All it does is blow cool air in my face while I use my iPhone or iPad, but now I use it all the time. Here’s why.

As a Mac user, Apple Mail seems like the obvious email client. It comes installed on every Mac, costs nothing and works with practically every email provider. Yet I prefer using Mimestream’s native macOS app to manage my email.

That’s not because Apple Mail is a bad app. The problem is that Apple Mail treats Gmail like any other email service. Mimestream doesn’t, and that makes all the difference.

The highlight of the Mophie 4-in-1 Wireless Charge Stand is StealthCharge, Mophie’s own improvement to Qi2.2 that lets iPhone wireless chargers run more quickly because they stay cooler.

The stand can also charge an Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time. Plus, it sports an integrated, 60W retractable USB-C cable for powering other devices.

I put this multi-device charger to the test in my home office. Here’s why I’ll keep using it.

I have more than a dozen keyboard shortcuts set up on my MacBook. But between Slack, Zoom, Safari, Chrome and countless other apps, there’s no way I can remember them all. That’s the problem Project Mirage’s Dune aims to solve.

At first glance, Dune looks like a programmable macro pad. But it’s much smarter than that, as it adds three context-aware buttons next to your MacBook’s keyboard. It’s an interesting idea, but does it actually work in real life?

A free Mac app called WhatCable solves the biggest problem with USB-C cables: They all look alike, but they are not all the same.

Plug a USB-C cable into your Mac, and WhatCable can tell you how much power it can deliver, how fast it can transfer data and more. And a pro version for power users serves up even more data about the cables in your collection. The app’s earning accolades online (and hit No. 4 on ProductHunt), so I decided to put it to the test.