Eliana Willis

Adam Breeden/ZDNETSoundbars are gaining in popularity because of their sleek design and ability to provide an ample boost in audio quality compared to built-in TV speakers. Even with their plug-and-play nature, you can make a few modifications to help unleash the best possible sound quality. Also: I replaced my Sonos Arc Ultra with this Samsung flagship soundbar – and it’s a worthy alternativeWhether you’re new to soundbar setups or a self-proclaimed audiophile, familiarizing yourself with some key settings can elevate your viewing and listening experience. Read on for five pointers on how to optimize your soundbar’s performance. More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETI’ve spent large portions of my life looking for ways to extend the battery life on my Android phones. Admittedly, that sounds rather dramatic, but growing up with only budget models meant I was constantly tweaking device settings to squeeze every bit of juice out of their batteries. Thanks to this micromanaging, I successfully pushed the batteries on all my past smartphones to their absolute limit. I don’t want to hoard this knowledge to myself, so I’ve decided to share it with everyone.Also: The best Android phones to buy in 2025There are many different methods for saving battery life. However, there are 12 key settings that you can change right now to see improvements immediately. The following list highlights the most effective, easiest, and quickest tweaks to improve device longevity regardless of the Android phone you’re rocking, whether it’s the latest model from Samsung or a fancy Google Pixel. Plus, you won’t have to sacrifice the high-quality experience of using your phone.Although the power settings are practically the same on every Android phone you can buy, the process for adjusting them can vary between devices. Be sure to keep this factor in mind when following the steps I lay out because the approach might be slightly different depending on the model you’re using. More

Wyze Wyze just launched a new Lamp Socket v2<!–> that screws into an existing light fixture and lets you conveniently power your Wyze Cam directly from it. The lamp socket makes your light work intelligently with your Wyze cam, so you can control it from the Wyze app or set automation for it to turn on […] More

Dell 14 Premium <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways Dell’s latest high-performance laptop is currently on sale starting at $1,500. It’s superbly designed, with a sleek, modern build and powerful, but accessible, hardware. It runs warm, and requires power management from the user to get the most out of the battery. –> Dell’s laptop rebrand may have […] More

Cesar Cadenas/ZDNETNearly every part of modern life depends on our connection to the internet. When my provider experiences an outage, everything grinds to a halt — working remotely via VPN, streaming music on Spotify, and even using smart home devices. It’s a stark reminder of how much we rely on the invisible network that keeps us connected. Almost every aspect of modern life is affected by our connectivity to the Web. Also: Is your Roku TV spying on you? Probably, but here’s how to put an end to itA total outage feels completely unacceptable. But a sketchy connection afflicted by lag and buffering can be even more frustrating. If you’re sure that your signal is strong but you’re still experiencing issues, the problem might be the location of your router.1. Location is key, but reach mattersIt’s always true that location is key. But your router’s efficacy is also impacted by the size of your home and how far the router’s signals can reach. A single wireless access point should be adequate for most apartments and smaller homes (1,500 square feet or less). Larger, multistory homes present a different challenge that can best be met by upgrading to a mesh network. Mesh networks consist of a main access point and additional nodes that can be placed throughout your space to ensure consistent coverage. More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETI’m no stranger to refurbished products. While buying refurbished or renewed isn’t always my first go-to, I did purchase a refurbished 2019 Apple iMac in 2020 that still gets daily use. Buying refurbished, especially with a warranty, is a great way to save money. It’s like buying a used car or secondhand furniture; you may not know the whole history, but whether it’s worth the risk depends on the buyer. I swapped my iPad Air for a refurbished 10th-generation iPad More

DaryaDanik/Getty I use Linux for both desktop and server. My preference for a server OS is one without a GUI, which means I have to turn to a lot of command-line tools. In some cases, I prefer to use the same command-line tools for both desktop and server, because it simplifies everything. After all, I […] More

Microsoft / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETMicrosoft’s on a relentless quest to embed its Copilot AI into every software product it owns. That campaign takes another big step forward today with the addition of some new generative AI features in the company’s Edge browser.Today’s release beefs up the capabilities of Copilot Mode, the chat-based search interface for Edge, on Windows PCs and Macs. You can use natural voice commands to navigate pages, and the chatbot can see all the open tabs in the current browser window instead of being limited to whatever’s on the current page. Also: Microsoft gives Copilot a face – here’s how to try your new Appearance chat buddyIf that sounds appealing, you can go to the Copilot Mode sign-in page and flip a switch that lets you enable Copilot Mode in Edge Settings. That replaces the old search box with a Copilot chat input box that’s designed to handle search, chat, and web navigation. It also gives you the option to open Copilot Mode in a sidebar, where you can ask it questions about the current set of open tabs. More