Eliana Willis

Adam Breeden/ZDNETDid you know that a modern TV uses significantly less energy than a TV that’s a decade old? Maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise, considering how much more power-efficient today’s display panels are. According to Perch Energy, the average power consumption of an old TV runs around $54 per year in energy costs. Because LED-backlit TVs and OLEDs consume less power than traditional LCD screens, newer models cost about $32 annually. Also: This futuristic power generator kept my home running during an outage. Here’s howIn large part, the bigger your screen size, the more power your TV requires. But there are ways to attenuate your TV’s power consumption every time you turn it on. Here are some settings you can change to save more money on your next electricity bill. Even if it’s just tens of dollars that you’re ultimately saving, it’s still a little less money coming out of your pocket, and that’s the goal. More

Adam Breeden/ZDNETIn the age of smart TVs, convenience reigns supreme. We can access a world of entertainment with just a few clicks, but this comes at a cost: accumulating cache data. Also: The best TVs of 2025: Expert tested and reviewedJust like on your phone or computer, a cluttered TV cache can lead to sluggish performance, app crashes, and even hinder new content from loading properly. That’s why it’s important to clear all that extra cache and make your TV feel like new again. Before I break down the steps for how to do it, let’s address the big elephant in the room first.What is a cache?A cache is a temporary storage area where data is kept for quick access. On your smart TV, the cache stores information from apps, websites, and system processes to help them load faster every time you turn it on. Think of it as a bunch of temporary files intended to speed up loading times for frequently accessed information. Also: How to clear your Android phone’s cache and make it feel like new for 2025For instance, when you open a streaming app, the cache might store thumbnails, login details, or recently watched shows. Caches are designed to help your TV load this content more quickly. Over time, however, the cache can become overloaded with outdated or unnecessary data, which can consequently slow down your TV’s performance. More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETI’ve been a Google Pixel fan since the beginning. I pre-ordered the original Pixel XL phone in 2016 and have upgraded every other year or so since, eventually owning the Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 6 Pro, and Pixel 8 Pro. I even picked up a Pixel Watch and Pixel Buds along the way. Also: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2025: Galaxy S25, Gemini AI, moreBut for the first time, I’m awfully tempted to leave the Google ecosystem. Samsung today unveiled its latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and while I’ve never been so eager to spring to its smartphones, my interest has more to do with the fact that the Google Pixel line is becoming less and less dominant when it comes to new features and capabilities. More

As implied by the inclusion of “personal” in the title, this is the most similar feature to the overarching principle of Apple Intelligence. Samsung’s Personal Data Engine functions as a personal LLM that learns from you with your everyday device usage, ultimately creating an assistant that can anticipate your needs using the context of your phone activity. Also: Every Samsung Galaxy S25 model compared: Which phone should you buy?Essentially, the Personal Data Engine learns what you do and what you want to do to provide you with all day support that predicts what you are about to do and display helpful insights. Of course, data concerns naturally arise from such an application, which Samsung addressed heavily upon launch. For starters, the experience can be turned on or off with a menu toggle. Even if you turn the feature on initially, if you change your mind and turn it off, all of your data is erased. When the toggle is on, the data is stored on the device, and not on the cloud, giving users the reassurance that their personal data will remain more heavily protected. However, the tradeoff of the extra security is that if you lose the device, your data is lost forever. Using this information, it can provide tailored experiences for you such as Now Brief, a feature that gives you suggestions accessible via your Now Bar on the lock screen. Intended to anticipate your needs based on your routines and habits, it may suggest driving mode or display directions to a specific destination. Also: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra hands-on: 3 major upgrades I’m looking forward to testingPersonal Data Engine will also provide morning and evening briefs, which each offer different relevant information depending on the time of day. Your morning brief may include summary of your sleep, weather forecasts for the day and schedule reminders. Your evening brief may include a summary of your day’s events and photos you took. Either way, it is a helpful tool to give you the information you need without you having to look for it — saving you time.  More

Kerry Wan/ZDNETToday at Samsung’s Unpacked event, the tech giant launched its Galaxy S25 smartphone series, which includes the Galaxy S25, Galaxy S25 Plus, and Galaxy S25 Ultra. The flagship lineup will feature a new exclusive display technology called ProScaler, designed to produce more “lifelike… sharper visuals and brighter colors,” according to Samsung’s marketing material.Also: Everything announced at Samsung Unpacked 2025: Galaxy S25, Gemini AI, moreProScaler is a real-time AI-powered image quality enhancement technology unique to Samsung, delivering visible improvements over the Galaxy S24 series, especially in color accuracy and sharpness.The feature, carried over from the brand’s TV lineup, essentially upscales content on your phone so what was previously low-resolution video appears more crisp. In other words, 480p videos should look closer to 720p videos, 1080p videos should look closer to 1440p videos, and so forth. More

A new year is an excellent time to tidy up your workspace and ensure your devices are charged, running at peak performance, and easily accessible with a laptop docking station. Laptop docking stations, or Thunderbolt docks, consolidate all your connectivity needs by providing a single hub for all your accessories. They allow you to connect keyboards, external monitors, external drives, and more. This is great for people who work from home and want to upgrade their system but may not have the budget (or the desk space). These devices allow you to enjoy improved usability that laptops don’t typically offer, though the toughest part is figuring out which one to get since many options exist.The top laptop docking station offers a wide selection of ports to handle different scenarios, the ability to output video signals to multiple high-resolution displays, fast data transfer speeds, and a compact design. These are features we’d recommend you look for if you’re looking to improve your work-from-home setup.Also: The best laptops you can buyWhat is the best laptop docking station right now?We researched and went hands-on with some of the top laptop docking stations available to find the best device for your setup. Our pick for the best laptop docking station overall is the CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock More

A laptop feature that often gets overlooked is its cooling system. Processors, graphics cards, and more demand a lot of energy, which results in a lot of heat. Ask anyone with a gaming laptop — they’ll tell you how uncomfortably hot it can get. Unfortunately, you can’t prevent your computer from generating heat, but you can mitigate it with a laptop cooling pad. These devices sit underneath the laptop, absorb the heat created, and actively cool the device with a combination of high-speed fans and clever airflow engineering.   Also: The best gaming laptops you can buyWhat is the best laptop cooling pad right now?We tested some of the top laptop cooling pads on the market, and the Llano Gaming Laptop Cooler More