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What is the best internet provider in Fort Lauderdale?
Fort Lauderdale is a tourist hotspot in Florida, but thousands of people also move to this city every year, making it a top moving destination. If you live in Fort Lauderdale, or are planning on moving, you’ll need a quality internet provider for streaming, working from home and more. The city has a few good options, and Xfinity is CNET’s top pick for the best internet service provider in Fort Lauderdale. It takes the top speed in our list because of its widespread coverage in the area, fast internet speeds and affordable pricing tiers. AT&T and T-Mobile are also top contenders for internet services.
Depending on where you live in Fort Lauderdale, other internet providers may be available as well. The best provider for your home will come down to what’s available at your address and what you’re looking for.
If you’re looking for the cheapest connectivity, Xfinity has the cheapest internet plan in Fort Lauderdale, with speeds up to 150 megabits per second starting at just $35 a month. On the other hand, if you want the fastest internet in Fort Lauderdale, AT&T Fiber has the fastest speeds in the area, up to 5,000Mbps.
Beyond the top ISPs in Fort Lauderdale, there are a few other options to choose from.
EarthLink: EarthLink offers fiber internet in some areas of Fort Lauderdale, starting at $40 per month for 100Mbps. High-speed fiber connection won’t be available everywhere.
Easy Internet Now: Easy Internet Now also offers fiber connection in Fort Lauderdale, though it’s not quite as widely available and the prices are a bit higher. Packages start at $79 per month for a 300Mbps fiber connection or 18Mbps DSL. You won’t have any fees, contracts or data caps to deal with.
Satellite internet: Fort Lauderdale residents can get satellite service through Hughesnet, Starlink or Viasat. Hughesnet prices range from $50 to $95 monthly for 50 to 100Mbps, and Viasat starts at $100 per month for 15 to 150Mbps. Starlink features the best speeds of the three but also comes with the highest monthly price at $120 per month, not to mention the high upfront cost of $349 for your equipment.
Verizon 5G Home Internet: Verizon’s 5G home internet service is available to 34% of residents, and you’ll find it mostly near the beach. You can get Verizon 5G Home and 5G Home Plus for $50 to $70 a month. Eligible mobile customers could pay as little as $35 a month for internet service. Speeds range from 50 to 250Mbps.
Franckreporter/Getty Images
How much is the internet in Fort Lauderdale?
The average starting price for internet packages in Fort Lauderdale is $55. That falls just north of the average of the ISPs CNET has covered across the country, which have an average starting price of $43. Four of our top picks for ISPs in Fort Lauderdale start at $50 a month or less.
How many members of your household use the internet?
Cheap internet options in the Fort Lauderdale metro area
The lowest-priced internet package in Fort Lauderdale is Xfinity’s Connect plan, which costs just $35 a month and offers max download speeds of 150Mbps. That’s a decent price, as it nets 23 cents per Mbps.
What are the cheapest internet plans in Fort Lauderdale?
In Fort Lauderdale, Xfinity and AT&T have the top two median download speeds in the latest speed tests. The overall median download speed for ISPs in Fort Lauderdale (as of February this year) is approximately 248 megabits per second, while the median upload speed is another story at just shy of 42Mbps. This is often the case unless you’re dealing with fiber connectivity, which pushes that upload speed much higher. For context, the national median for upload speed is 34Mbps, so Fort Lauderdale is slightly ahead of the game, thanks to its few fiber options.
AT&T and Xfinity both offer multi-gigabit plans in Fort Lauderdale. AT&T has the most to choose from — and the fastest speeds — but they also run the highest price tag. It’s worth noting that both Xfinity and AT&T’s most expensive tiers have the lowest cost per Mbps — around 5 cents each– of any plan offered in Fort Lauderdale. It’s not a cheap plan by any stretch, but it’s a solid value.
What are the fastest internet plans in Fort Lauderdale?
How CNET chose the best internet providers in Fort Lauderdale
Internet service providers are numerous and regional. Unlike the latest smartphone, laptop, router or kitchen tool, it’s impractical to personally test every internet service provider in a given city. What’s our approach? For starters, we tap into a proprietary pricing, availability and speed database that draws from our own historical ISP data, partner data and mapping information from the Federal Communications Commission at FCC.gov.
It doesn’t end there: We go to the FCC’s website to check our data and ensure we consider every ISP that provides service in an area. We also input local addresses on provider websites to find specific options for residents. We look at sources, including the American Customer Satisfaction Index and J.D. Power, to evaluate how happy customers are with an ISP’s service. ISP plans and prices are subject to frequent changes; all information provided is accurate as of publication.
Once we have this localized information, we ask three main questions:
Does the provider offer access to reasonably fast internet speeds?
Do customers get decent value for what they’re paying?
Are customers happy with their service?
While the answer to those questions is often layered and complex, the providers who come closest to “yes” on all three are the ones we recommend. When selecting the cheapest internet service, we look for the plans with the lowest monthly fee, although we also factor in things like price increases, equipment fees and contracts. Choosing the fastest internet service is relatively straightforward. We look at advertised upload and download speeds and consider real-world speed data from sources like Ookla and FCC reports. (Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)
To explore our process in more depth, visit our how we test ISPs page.
The final word on internet providers in Fort Lauderdale
There are several ISPs in Fort Lauderdale, whether you want fiber, cable or fixed wireless. Xfinity and AT&T offer top speeds and availability, but all of our top selections should meet the needs of the right customer. It’s just a matter of what you’re looking for.
Internet providers in Fort Lauderdale FAQs
Is fiber internet available in Fort Lauderdale?
Yes. AT&T offers fiber plans starting at $65 for 300Mbps. In some locations, you may be eligible for its fastest, 5-gig plan for $255 monthly.
Though we’re calling Xfinity the best overall for Fort Lauderdale, both AT&T and Xfinity are excellent choices. Xfinity offers cheaper plans, but AT&T offers fiber, which often means faster, more reliable service. Check out CNET’s full AT&T vs. Xfinity comparison for more specific details.
Amidst the rapid rise of ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini, you might have forgotten all about Samsung’s Bixby – but a revamp is coming for the AI assistant, and it could be available worldwide at the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S25.
A new report in South Korean outlet ET News (via @Jukanlosreve) says that Bixby will come with Large Language Model (LLM) support at the start of next year, matching the generative AI chatbots we’ve already mentioned.
This Bixby upgrade has actually already been quietly pushed out – but only in China. Based on this new report, it looks as though the rest of the world will be getting access to the new version, most probably in January.
That’s when the Galaxy S25 series is rumored to be launching, and it’s also when we’re expecting One UI 7 (based on Android 15) to be pushed out to the masses. The One UI 7 software update is currently in beta testing.
‘The biggest selling point’
The biggest selling point of Galaxy S25 series: the new Bixby returns!December 15, 2024
Samsung has of course already pushed out plenty of Galaxy AI features on its phones this year – including Sketch to Image and the Circle to Search feature. Google Gemini is also available on Samsung handsets as well.
But with LLM support added to Bixby, Samsung phones will get even more powerful, with more comprehensive answers and image generation capabilities. Another well-known tipster, @UniverseIce, says it will be « the biggest selling point » of the Galaxy S25.
Google has already given its own Google Assistant an LLM upgrade in the form of Google Gemini – and it’ll be interesting to see how much competition Bixby gives Gemini when it comes to built-in options on the best Android phones.
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We’ll be sure to bring you all the details of the new and improved Bixby when it arrives – maybe in a month or so from now. In the meantime, Apple continues to push out its own Apple Intelligence features through iOS updates.
Earlier this year, Netflix done went and pulled the plug on Scavengers Reign, one of 2023’s best shows that was originally on Adult Swim. The good news is, that show’s production company Green Street has a new series coming next year called Common Side Effects, and it looks every bit as visually stunning as Scavengers did.
Created by Scavengers co-creator Joe Bennett and Veep’s Steve Hely, Common Side Effects focuses on Marshall (Dave King) and Frances (Emily Pendergast), a pair of former high school labmates who discover a mushroom capable of healing almost any disease. That kind of miracle drug would be an amazing discovery in real life, so it’s no surprise when a bunch of interested parties show up looking to take it from Marshall, including phamaceutical corporations hoping to make some big bucks off of it. As he goes on the run to try distributing it to the free world, Frances finds herself wondering if it’d be better to sell the mushroom to help her secure a promotion.
With last week’s surprise killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the show’s even more topical than it already was: as Marshall points out in the trailer, people spend so much money for medicine that barely seems to work (if at all), and corporations make tons of money off everyone’s sickness. Whatever commentary Common Side Effects provides about the United States healthcare system, it’ll also have the visuals to back it up. Scavengers Reign garnered acclaim for its Moebius-inspired art and atmosphere, and this looks to have a similarly eerie vibe. It isn’t just the sight of little gray creatures watching people die in an explosion of colors, it’s the more mundane elements, like how it shows people looking so exhausted and worn down, both in and out of the hospital.
So color us interested for Common Side Effects to hit Adult Swim and Max on February 2, 2025—but if you need more convincing, there’s a six-minute preview down below.
We’ve been hearing rumors about the foldables Apple may or may not be making for years, from to plans for a foldable iPad, but the latest suggests we may also be in for something much bigger. According to Mark Gurman in the newsletter this weekend, Apple is developing a foldable device with a display that opens up to be nearly 20 inches. The plan is for “something akin to a giant iPad that unfolds into the size of two iPad Pros side-by-side,” with elements of both iPad and Mac functionality, according to Gurman. The company is reportedly targeting a 2028 release.
Not only will the device be enormous, but Apple is also working to make it creaseless when opened, Gurman reports, which other companies have failed to do in their own foldables. Apple’s prototypes “have a nearly invisible crease,” he writes, but it’s not completely gone. The report comes about a week after a that described a similar device with an 18.8-inch display that’s allegedly due to be released between 2028 and 2030. Gurman predicts the foldable will run on “iPadOS or a variant of it.”.
The holidays are great for revisiting classic festive flicks, but you don’t need to limit yourself to options from Christmases past. Streaming services are loading up the sleigh with merry movies about human-snowman romances, Santa Claus rescue missions and letters to the North Pole gone terribly wrong.
With Jack Black, Danny DeVito, Dwayne Johnson, Lindsay Lohan and other big names featured in the holiday fare, there are enough stars to top a ton of Christmas trees. If you plan to spend time in front of the TV this season, check out this list of 2024 Christmas movies you can stream right now.
New streaming Christmas movies for 2024
Amazon MGM Studios
After hitting theaters in mid-November, the action-packed holiday offering Red One has made its streaming service debut. Starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, the PG-13-rated movie involves a globe-trotting quest to rescue Santa Claus. You can tune in to the film on Prime Video to see if these two movie stars ace the mission.
Chuck Zlotnick/Netflix
Exes on less-than-merry terms are brought together by Christmas after a decade apart in this Netflix movie. Lindsay Lohan and Ian Harding play former daters reunited when their partners — who are siblings — host them at a holiday gathering. Will they be able to keep their history a secret? You’ll have to tune in to find out.
Ryan Green/Disney
This festive flick stars Ben Stiller as a big-city dweller whose life takes a turn. He leaves Chicago to temporarily look after his four orphaned nephews on a rural farm, and kid-fueled chaos ensues. Real-life siblings play the quartet of boys, and Linda Cardellini stars as a social worker.
Sam Lothridge/Netflix
It’s Taron Egerton vs. Jason Bateman in this Netflix airport thriller with enough holiday energy to land it on this list. The showdown takes place when Bateman’s enigmatic character urges Egerton’s TSA agent to let a bag make it through security and onto a Christmas Eve flight. If you’re up for a different kind of holiday flick, leave room in your suitcase for this one.
Netflix
A Netflix holiday release no one saw coming — but that makes perfect sense — Hot Frosty stars Lacey Chabert as a small-town woman who meets a hunk with snowman origins. The comedic outing also features The Office’s Craig Robinson and Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Joe Lo Truglio — a sheriff and his deputy on the trail of a streaker who may or may not be the community’s hottest (and also technically the coldest) new arrival.
Adam Rose/Netflix
A Magic Mike–channeling crowd-pleaser, The Merry Gentlemen centers on a big-city dancer out to save her parents’ struggling business. The strategy? An all-male revue led by Chad Michael Murray’s chiseled handyman. All of this must be accomplished by Christmas, of course.
Disney
Want to spend Christmas with an adorable little owl? This animated short film on Disney Plus follows the journey of a young bird named Moon, who winds up alone in Rockefeller Plaza during the holidays and befriends a young girl who’s also far from home. The voice actors include Jim Gaffigan, Mamoudou Athie, Natasha Lyonne and John C. Reilly.
Netflix
Succession’s Brian Cox voicing Santa Claus is one of the draws of this PG-rated animated flick from Love Actually writer and director Richard Curtis. The film is based on three kids’ books by Curtis, who co-wrote That Christmas, and it wraps multiple tales in a holiday package.
Marni Grossman/Netflix
Pop group Pentatonix and Christina Milian feature in this holiday rom-comthat brings festive tunes and chemistry. Milian’s character hunts down tickets to a sold-out Pentatonix concert in New York City, hoping to join a guy she had a meet-cute with a year earlier. But a decision to hire a concierge introduces an unexpected second love interest.
Paramount Plus/Screenshot by Meara Isenberg/CNET
Paramount Plus’ first original Christmas movie, Dear Santa, has a star-studded cast and an envelope-pushing setup: What if a little boy unintentionally addressed a letter to Satan instead of the man with the bag? Jack Black stars as the kid’s devilish new acquaintance, and Keegan-Michael Key and Post Malone appear in this unconventional holiday movie that didn’t prove very hot with critics.
Lupus Films
Gerard Butler’s St. Nick encounters Emilia Clarke’s Christmas-loathing Queen of Hearts in this animated musical film based on the book of the same name by Carys Bexington. This is a holiday pic that can entertain the kids.
Notorious Pictures
Danny DeVito and Andie MacDowell star in this Hulu offering set in the Dolomites, Italy. In the merry comedy, a family holds Christmas at an unusual time of year as a 10-year-old girl tries to keep her parents from splitting up.
Hallmark Media
When it comes to new holiday movies, Hallmark has the winter goods. If you don’t have cable, you can use Peacock to catch the Countdown to Christmas lineup — but you’ll need to stay on top of the schedule. The streamer offers films live as they air on the Hallmark Channel on the East Coast or the next day on-demand. Just note if you go the on-demand route, the viewing window is limited to three days.
Oppo is back! The new Find X8 series is the company’s return to form, at least in regions like the UK and Europe, where patent disputes and the like led to a two-year absence for the company. No longer.
The Find X8 line is Oppo’s latest flagship phone family; it promises the best smartphone hardware the company can muster, paired with its latest Android-based ColorOS user experience.
While the Oppo Find X8 Pro is the headline-grabbing entry now topping the company’s current smartphone portfolio, it launches alongside the more modest – but still unquestionably potent – standard Oppo Find X8. Despite a true global rollout for the X8 Pro, however, the base X8 is proving a little harder to come by outside of key Asia Pacific markets, at the time of writing.
If you can get your hands on one, though, you’ll be pleased you did, as hardware-wise, it sports the same exceptional MediaTek chipset as the X8 Pro, the same cutting-edge silicon-carbon battery tech, the same rapid 80W charging, and a like-minded flagship-class display and camera setup.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
There are some great details throughout the experience served up by the Find X8: a physical alert slider, newfound compatibility with an ecosystem of magnetic accessories, and hardier IP69-certified protection against water compared to your average high-end handset, to name a few key features. This is also one of the first and only Android phones that supports wireless file transfers directly with iPhones, AirDrop-style (at the time of writing).
Depending on your conscience, Oppo’s clear ‘appreciation’ for Apple‘s famed smartphones runs unapologetically deep within the Find X8. Beyond the new MagSafe-like upgrade, ColorOS 15’s Live Alerts capsule looks to be a direct lift of the iPhone’s Dynamic Island, and you’ll find wallpapers that look as though they came straight out of iOS.
Provided that doesn’t put you off (or you see it as a bonus), the Find X8 otherwise presents itself as an incredibly well-rounded smartphone brimming with style, features, power, and camera prowess that should have similarly-priced rivals worried.
Oppo Find X8 review: Price and availability
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Priced from equivalent to $980 / £770 / AU$1,520
On sale from November 21, 2024
Limited international availability compared to rivals
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of the Oppo Find X8 is that in spite of its clean design and promising hardware and feature set, you’ll struggle to find the phone on sale outside of Oppo’s retail channels across the Asia Pacific region. You’ll readily find the X8 on sale in markets like China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines, but if you’re anywhere else, you’ll have to consider importing.
In the likes of the UK, Europe, and Australia, it’s only the pricier Find X8 Pro that’s available, while Oppo’s presence in the US is outright non-existent.
Using the Find X8 Pro’s UK pricing and the standard X8’s Indian pricing for guidance, the more modest of Oppo’s latest duo starts at equivalent to $980 / £770 / AU$1,520 for the 12GB RAM / 256GB storage model. Internationally, there’s also a 16GB / 512GB variant, which based on Indian pricing is about 12.5% more expensive.
Pricing places it in line with the non-Pro iPhone 16, Pixel 9, and base Galaxy S24, which considering the hardware on offer, makes it a compelling alternative.
32MP 1/2.74-inch Sony IMX615 sensor, ƒ/2.4, 90º FoV
Battery:
5,630mAh
Charging:
80W wired, 50W wireless
Colors:
Space Black, Shell Pink, Star Grey
Oppo Find X8 review: Design
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Straight sides, flat display
Physical alert slider
IP68/69-certified against dust and water
The Find X8 Pro is all pillowed glass and rounded metal, which stands in stark contrast to the standard X8. At certain angles, you’d be forgiven for mixing up the Star Grey Find X8 (pictured) with an iPhone 15 Pro or 16 Pro rendered in Natural Titanium. There’s definite aesthetic overlap, with both phones sporting flat displays and straight sides, plus just enough rounding along the edges to ensure they don’t feel too sharp in the hand.
The X8 stands out with its prominent ‘Cosmos Ring’ circular camera module, which gives the impression of four cameras on the phone’s back (one simply houses autofocus sensors), so as to better tie-in with the quad-camera-toting X8 Pro’s design.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Tolerances are tight (the phone boasts symmetrical 1.45mm bezels around the display), and the metal buttons along the right side of the frame have the perfect amount of give and click. The phone’s available colorways are tasteful in their execution; I particularly liked the Shell Pink finish.
Not only does the Find X8 look and feel like a beautifully crafted piece of kit, but it’s got some tricks up its sleeve too. For one, it continues Oppo’s use of the three-step physical alert slider we were initially introduced to on OnePlus phones; this lets you toggle between ring, vibrate, and silent sound profiles.
The X8 range is also the first to support the new Oppo Mag accessory line, which allows the MagSafe-style attachment of new magnetic accessories, like a 50W AirVOOC wireless charger and a 5,000mAh power bank; both are enabled by way of a new Oppo Mag case (sold separately). Original? No. Convenient? Yes.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Durability-wise, the promise of not only IP68, but IP69 certification, means the X8 is built to withstand more than your average smartphone. When it comes to water ingress, it can handle up to 1.5m of water for 30 minutes, as well as pressurized jets of water up to 80ºC.
Add to that Gorilla Glass 7i on the front and back (creator Corning’s newest mid-range toughened smartphone glass), and « Swiss SGS and Military Grade certification, tested to whole-phone drop resistance and MGJB 150.18A MIL-STD impact standards, » to quote Oppo’s press release, and despite its premium finish and good looks, the Find X8 is also built to be a tough nut to crack.
Oppo Find X8 review: Display
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Similar viewing experience across Find X8 range
Great colors, contrast and detail
LTPS, rather than LTPO means less dynamic refresh rate
It’s nice that, beyond size, you’re not really getting an inferior viewing experience by opting for the more modest Find X8 over the Pro model. Unlike Apple – who maintains a 60Hz refresh rate cap on its non-Pro iPhones – the Find X8 packs in similar ProXDR AMOLED tech as on the full-fat X8 Pro.
An impressively high 460ppi (pixels per inch) means the X8 delivers sharper visuals than the Pro model, outstanding panel-wide brightness of 1,600nits, and a whopping peak brightness of 4,500nits. Paired with the vibrancy and contrast afforded by OLED tech, not to mention Dolby Vision support, this is a great display on which to enjoy HDR content, and it copes well against bright conditions.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
From a practical standpoint, Oppo’s Splash Touch helps iron out erroneous screen taps, whether your fingers are wet or you’re using the Find X8 in the rain, while the in-display optical fingerprint sensor is pleasingly responsive, if a little too close to the bottom bezel, from a comfort standpoint.
As far as customizing the X8’s viewing experience goes, be sure to enable ‘High’ resolution mode to leverage the panel’s native pixel count; otherwise, everything is rendered in Full HD+ out of the box. You also have the option to force 120Hz at all times (or lock things down to 60Hz), but I found that the Find X8’s Auto mode wasn’t afraid of prioritizing super-smooth 120Hz visuals most of the time anyway, stepping down for apps like Spotify, Instagram, and some games.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
The phone’s display settings include three preset color space profiles, as well as a fine-grain color temperature control. There’s also automated (TÜV Rheinland-certified) eye comfort adjustment (which includes 3,840Hz PWM dimming below 70nits, beating out equivalent tech from the likes of the OnePlus 12 and Xiaomi 14 series), as well as image resolution and color upscaling, as part of Oppo’s ‘O1 Ultra Vision Engine’.
The only real fly in the ointment, display-wise, is the use of LTPS tech, in place of the more advanced LTPO panel used by the X8 Pro. The main effect of this is less dynamic refresh rate adjustment; moving in steps between 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz, where the Pro model can scale more gradually between 1Hz to 120Hz, which is designed to help improve battery performance.
Oppo Find X8 review: Software
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
5 years of OS & 6 years security updates
Launches with ColorOS 15 atop Android 15
AirDrop-like wireless file transfer support with iPhones
The company’s latest ColorOS 15 (running atop Android 15) is arguably one of the snappiest user experiences around, thanks to some smart behind-the-scenes technical refinements; not to mention it’s brimming with neat tricks that you won’t find anywhere else.
‘Share with iPhone,’ as the name suggests, adds AirDrop-like wireless file transfers with the latest and best iPhones; something we haven’t seen from any other Android phone maker to date. The feature is also set to become more seamless, with NameDrop-style proximity-based initiation coming in a future software update.
Speaking of updates, Oppo is promising five years of OS and six years of security update support across the Find X8 series, which, while not industry-leading, is decent, and helps up the Find X8’s long-term value too.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Oppo’s Theme Store is there to help redress ColorOS, with system-wide themes, as well as more granular alterations; including new fonts and wallpapers (some are paid). There’s also deeper control over the look and feel of everything, from app opening speed to whether a swipe down on the home screen grants access to quick settings and notifications, a global search bar or The Shelf: a dedicated widget dashboard, cribbed from OnePlus’ user experience.
The company’s desire to emulate Apple’s famed smartphones is a little too heavy-handed in places, though. While undeniably useful and elegant, the Live Alerts capsule is a carbon copy of the Dynamic Island introduced on the iPhone 15 Pro line, and even the default wallpapers look as though the development team copied iOS 14’s homework.
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Google’s Gemini is the AI assistant of choice on the Find X8 series, however, Oppo offers up its own AI tool set too; with a focus on productivity and image manipulation.
Provided you’re happy to use Oppo’s own Documents and Notes apps, the inbuilt AI Assistant serves up one of the most comprehensive skill sets of its kind and, in testing, the results generally impressed.
You have a suite of options, like formatting rough notes, cleaning up rambling prose, refining the tone of your copy (similarly to Samsung’s Galaxy AI), continuing or expanding upon your existing copy, and the option to make it more succinct too. It’s not foolproof but it’s a great starting point that’s only going to improve with time.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Dive into the native Photos app and you’ll find the AI Editor, which can upscale images, do a competent job when tasked with object removal, and has a handy reflection removal feature (which has its uses but could be better). Perhaps most impressive of all, the AI Editor also has an unblur option to rival that of the best Pixel phones.
Just note that, depending on the feature, you will need to be comfortable with off-device cloud processing.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
We’ve also been seeing an uptick in AI image-generation tools on smartphones from the likes of Xiaomi, Google, and, most recently, Apple, with the arrival of Apple Intelligence. The Oppo Find X8 features the company’s AI Studio app.
Arguably a more locked-down experience than the text-to-image generation of Google’s Pixel Studio, for example, Oppo’s AI Studio gives you a range of pre-defined portrait or scene scenarios to remix your images with, using AI. The former requires you to upload a photo of a person (or persons) from your camera roll, before spitting out four results at a time, while the latter simply dresses any image you give it in the trappings defined by the prompt.
It takes a few minutes to process each request and your usage is limited by an in-app currency called ‘Stars’. You accrue more Stars through actions like consecutive daily logins but right now, at least, Oppo isn’t charging an additional subscription or the like for any of its devices’ AI functionality.
There are some fun and interesting options in there, and the results generally hit their mark. It serves as a great way to introduce people to the concept of AI image generation and the fact that it’s siloed from the rest of the phone’s AI-based tools feels like a considered move too, but I suspect this is just the beginning for Oppo’s AI efforts.
Oppo Find X8 review: Camera
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
50MP main, ultra-wide & 3x telephoto cameras
32MP front-facing camera
Hasselblad image tuning and exclusive features
Across both the Find X8 and X8 Pro, you’re getting the same 50MP ultra-wide and 3x telephoto (with a compact triple-prism design and optical image stabilization, or OIS) cameras, as well as the same Sony-made 32MP front-facer. Beyond the absence of a 6x telephoto, the standard X8 also uses a smaller primary 50MP Sony LYT700 sensor, in place of the larger LYT808 leading the Pro model’s camera array.
Even with the technical downgrade, the Find X8 still proves to be an impressively competent and versatile camera phone in its own right.
Oppo Find X8 camera samples
Oppo knows how to make exceptional camera phones, most notably with last year’s Oppo Find X7 Ultra; one of the best camera phones of the moment. The company’s partnership with famed camera brand Hasselblad continues on the Find X8’s HyperTone system too; with custom image processing, portrait mode tuning, and the brand’s signature ultra-wide X-Pan capture mode.
There’s a consistency across the rear sensors that grants confidence when shooting with the Find X8, which isn’t guaranteed from certain rival devices. Low noise, impressive low light performance and solid dynamic range (even from the ultra-wide), mean you’re unlikely to find fault with stills captured in most conventional shooting scenarios.
White balance did sometimes wobble, but colors were otherwise faithfully captured; with nice skin tones and excellent subject separation in portrait shooting (you can also adjust the virtual aperture after capture, to alter the amount of bokeh on display).
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
The ultra-wide takes over when capturing macro shots, while the AI Telescope Zoom feature activates between 10x and 60x, filling in the holes in image data competently, especially in well-lit scenes. The only confusing aspect of the X8’s zoom is that the interface still gives you a 6x magnification button, even though results are simply cropped; unlike on the X8 Pro, with its 6x secondary telephoto sensor.
The 32MP selfie snapper is functional, with that HyperTone Image Engine doing a lot of the heavy lifting for what is otherwise an uneventful sensor. Front-facing Portrait mode does, at least, demonstrate the same great image segmentation around a subject’s hair and clothing, for example.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
Oppo augments the photography experience with extras like Lighting Snap; its take on an advanced 7fps burst mode, where every shot captured when you hold down the shutter button gets run through the full HyperTone imaging pipeline, delivering far less blur than you’d get from the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra under the same conditions.
If you’re looking for a phone that captures good video, the Find X8 also boasts great 4K 60fps recording in Dolby Vision across all of the phone’s sensors (including the selfie snapper).
Oppo Find X8 review: Performance
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
3nm MediaTek Dimensity 9400 chipset
Up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM + RAM Expansion up to 12GB
Up to 512GB UFS 4.0 storage (outside of China)
The production timeline of the Oppo Find X8 series meant that both phones were ready for market before Qualcomm’s newest flagship mobile chipset – the Snapdragon 8 Elite – was ready to be integrated into the phones’ development cycle. Instead, Oppo opted for MediaTek’s latest Dimensity 9400 SoC, paired with up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of fast storage, and the results are pretty stellar.
In artificial benchmarking, the Find X8 proves to be one of the highest-performing entrants I’ve ever tested, across the likes of Geekbench 6 and GFX Bench. Real-world multitasking and gaming performance are understandably excellent too, with titles like Zenless Zone Zero defaulting to ‘high’ graphical settings. That said, the phone’s comfortable being pushed much further.
Although the official numbers state that TSMC’s second-gen 3nm process grants the Dimensity 9400 35% faster CPU performance and 40% greater CPU efficiency, 42% faster GPU performance and 44% greater GPU efficiency, and 35% greater AI efficiency, the tangible benefits are that the Oppo Find X8 is equipped to handle anything and everything today’s mobile experience asks of the average smartphone with aplomb, whilst also being incredibly well future-proofed.
Oppo reportedly worked with MediaTek on its Trinity Engine to better optimize how the chipmaker’s hardware interfaced with its devices’ user experience and features.
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
What’s more, a revised cooling system, which includes a new thermal gel between a reworked graphene sheet and vapor chamber, means sustained performance – especially when gaming – is superb. In a 30-minute session against an otherwise similarly-specced Snapdragon 8 Elite device I had to hand, the Find X8 delivered the more consistent performance, with less heat build-up and fewer stumbles.
While hard to test for, Oppo also promises that the X8’s triple antenna design has optimized for high-performance gaming over WiFi.
Oppo Find X8 review: Battery
(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)
5,630mAh battery
80W wired + 50W wireless charging
The latest silicon-carbon battery technology
From a technical standpoint, the Find X8’s battery is pretty state-of-the-art. Switching from traditional lithium-polymer to silicon-carbon (or Si-C) has allowed Oppo to install a significantly more dense power plant than would otherwise be possible within the phone’s dimensions. The result is a whopping 5,630mAh cell in what remains an impressively unobtrusive sub-200g device.
With a battery capacity larger than the likes of the mighty Galaxy S24 Ultra’s – well on its way to Asus ROG Phone levels of capaciousness – a consistent peak screen-on time of 7 hours provides more than a day’s use without breaking a sweat, even if that is less than expected, going by the sheer amount of power the battery promises to hold.
Where Oppo’s phones stand apart from usual suspects, like Apple, Google, and Samsung, is with fast charging. The Find X8 can refill from zero to 65%, charge in 30 minutes flat, and fully replenish in under 55 minutes, thanks to support for the included 80W ‘SuperVOOC 2.0’ charger; that’s almost twice the wattage of the next-fastest charging phone from that aforementioned trio (at 45W).
What’s more, the X8 supports up to 50W wireless charging with a compatible charger too.
Should you buy the Oppo Find X8?
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Oppo Find X8 score card
Attributes
Notes
Rating
Value
Competitively priced but hard to find.
4 / 5
Design
Premium looks, unique features and hardier than your average premium phone.
4.5 / 5
Display
Stunning visuals, only really held back by the lack of LTPO tech.
4.5 / 5
Software
Brimming with great features, even if some feel as though they’ve come wholesale from iOS.
4 / 5
Camera
A superb set of camera features for a non-Pro flagship.
4 / 5
Performance
Astoundingly good performance, helped by thermal and software improvements.
5 / 5
Battery
A large battery and fast wired and wireless charging. I expected a single charge to last longer, considering.
I used the Oppo Find X8 as my main device for almost a month. It was my main camera, my means of checking social media, and my go-to phone for gaming for the duration of the review period.
I used a gamut of industry-standard benchmarking apps to test qualities like CPU and GPU performance, while also keeping tabs on battery drain (with timed tests for things like streaming Netflix and gaming at a fixed brightness), and screen-on time too.
I used the included in-box charger as the sole means of recharging the phone, and tried all the AI-supported features that Oppo has added here, plus all the key features found within the wider ColorOS user experience.
As a reviewer with 13 years of experience, and having reviewed Oppo phones for years, I felt confident assessing and scoring the Oppo Find X8 relative to other phones out right now, and in the context of the wider smartphone market.
It’s been over half a decade since 20th Century Fox revealed its plans to reboot Buffy the Vampire Slayer. While there hasn’t been much of it since then, it was only a few years later that original lead Sarah Michelle Gellar said she’d had her fill of the character and wasn’t looking to return anytime soon, mainly since she was looking to distance herself from creator Joss Whedon following allegations of abuse and misconduct from Charisma Carpenter and Ray Fisher.
But times have changed, and Gellar recently came onto Drew Barrymore’s talk show to hype up the Dexter prequel she’s in. While there, she indicated she’d be more open to a return nowadays. She still considers the original Buffy “in its bubble and so perfect,” but the sequel boom for old shows like Dexter and Sex & the City has made her realize the different ways one could revitalize a classic series. The reboot’s original pitch was to focus on a new hero, but Gellar noted Buffy “could be anything. It’s a universe, and makes you realize that in this world, we need those heroes, more than ever.”
Since Buffy ended in 2003, the franchise has been sustained through comics by Boom! Studios, novels, and last year’s Slayers audio drama. Pretty much any show within the last 20-30 years is likely to get a sequel or prequel, as we learned when Disney revealed its plans to do a Malcolm in the Middle sequel earlier this week. In late January, producer Dolly Parton said it’s still being considered for a revamp, but will Disney bite and greenlight it? And should it do so, how will world respond to it after everything to do with Whedon and so much of the current YA fantasy template borrowing from the original series?
It’s getting close to pinch time, when gifts bought online will probably arrive in time for the holidays, but then again, might not. If you’re willing to assume the odds are in your favor — or don’t really care when something arrives on your doorstep — you’ll be happy to know this turned out to be a pretty good week to save on tech.
Many of the sale prices from Black Friday expired after Cyber Week ended, but some deals have miraculously popped back up. The Apple Watch 10 is still down to $330 (with an on-page coupon), and the brand new Kindle Paperwhite is $25 off. Anker’s 3-in-1 power bank/wall charger combo is just $20, also with a coupon. We also found discounts on gaming gear, Bluetooth speakers, robo vacs and more. Here are the best tech deals from this week that you can still get today.
Anker 3-in-1 5,000mAh USB-C portable charger for $20 ($20 off with coupon): Click the on-page coupon to get this all-time low price on an battery bank. It’s similar to one of the models we chose for our best power bank list, but has a few more mAh of juice. It has a built-in and foldable AC plug that allows it to act as a 30W wall charger as well as a portable battery and there’s also a built-in USB-C cable.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $29 ($21 off): Woot currently has a three-month digital code for the game subscription for $34, but if it’s your first time shoppng at Woot, you can use the code GAMEPASS at checkout to get an additional $5 off, bringing the price down to $29. The deal runs through the end of the day today, December 13. Game Pass Ultimate is one of our favorite Xbox accessories and gives you the opportunity to try out titles you may have never played.
Elgato Stream Deck Neo for $80 ($20 off): The Neo is Elgato’s smaller (and much more affordable) take on one of our favorite game streaming items, the Stream Deck +. They both have eight customizable keys you can program with shortcuts for streaming or just knocking out your daily computing tasks.
Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (16 GB) for $135 ($25 off): This is $5 more than the all-time low of $130 the new Kindle Paperwhite hit for Black Friday, but it’s still $25 less than the list price. We gave the Signature Edition an 85 in our review. This standard model lacks wireless charging, auto-adjusting lights and has a smaller capacity, but we noted those features really weren’t essential — the standard Paperwhite is still plenty premium.
Cosori 6-quart 9-in-1 air fryer for $88 ($32 off): Our runner up for best air fryer of 2024 is just $3 more than its all-time low as a Prime Exclusive a few months ago. It has nine present modes, including preheat, broil, bake, roast, proof and frozen settings. The air fryer also includes a touchscreen, basket-release button and spacious cooking basket.
Backbone One mobile gaming controller for $70 ($30 off): A dedicated physical controller will let you more easily play the widening number of games that are available on your phone. One of our picks for the best mobile game controllers is the Backbone One, which is back on sale. The second-gen USB-C PlayStation Edition has dropped down to $70, though if you’re not a Prime member you may not see the discount until you add the item to your cart.
Amazon Echo Show 8 for $85 ($65 off): This is $5 more than the smart display went for over Black Friday, but it’s still over 40 percent off. It’ll handle all the things Alexa can do such as making shopping lists, predicting the weather and controlling your connected smart home devices just by asking. Plus it has an eight-inch screen so you can see your doorbell feed, make video calls, watch a Netflix show and watch recipe videos.
JBL Go 4 for $40 ($10 off): This is a return to the Cyber Monday pricing for JBL’s smallest portable speaker. It gives up to seven hours of battery life on a charge, has an IP67 waterproof rating and a tiny built-in carry strap so you can bring it wherever you go. Also at Amazon and Best Buy.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Sonos Move 2 for $359 ($90 off): Sonos speakers dipped down for Black Friday then shot back up. Since then, a few of the brand’s speakers have returned to their shopping holiday lows, including the Move 2 which we gave it an 80 in our review, praising the battery life, loud output, improved sound and handy line-in jack. Also at Amazon.
Sonos Era 100 for $199 ($50 off): The Sonos Era 100 has also returned to it’s Cyber Week pricing. It’s our pick for the best midrange smart speaker. We like the excellent sound quality plus it pairs well with other Sonos devices. It has Alexa built-in, so it can handle regular smart home duties, but it’ll also make your music sound far better than any spherical Echo can.
PlayStation 5 (slim) for $424 ($76 off MSRP): While this 15 percent price drop isn’t the biggest we’ve seen, larger discounts for Sony’s console have been uncommon over the past year. This bundle throws in a few Fortniteskins and V-Bucks, while the console alone is available for the same price. Alternatively, you can pair the machine with the recent RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard or an EA sports game for $450 at Walmart. Also at Target, GameStop and PlayStation Direct. Sony says its holiday PS5 sale will run through December 24.
Xbox Wireless Controller for $39 at Walmart ($21 off): This is another deal we’ve seen a few times before, but it’s a decent $5 to $15 off the Xbox pad’s typical street price, depending on which color you pick. A few different color options are still on sale, with some models priced $5 higher. Just remember that this gamepad requires a pair of AA batteries or a separate pack for power. Also at Amazon and Target.
Apple Watch Series 10 (42mm) for $330 at Amazon ($69 off): The latest Apple Watch is our top pick for the best smartwatch. It’s slightly thinner and lighter than previous models, with a rich wide-angle OLED display, (mildly) improved battery life and the usual array of fitness tracking features. We gave it a score of 90 in our review. This ties the best price to date for the 42mm model, though you’ll need to clip the on-page coupon to see the full discount at checkout. The larger 46mm version is also on sale for $360.
Apple AirTags (4-pack) for $73 at Amazon ($26 off): Apple’s Bluetooth tracker is our top pick for iPhone users, unsurprisingly, as it can accurately locate your belongings right from the Find My app. A waterproof design and replaceable battery help as well. Just make sure to grab a holder or case if you want to attach one to your keys. This deal is $5 more than the lowest price we’ve seen but still $7 off the four-pack’s typical street price on Amazon. Also at Walmart.
Samsung Pro Plus (1TB) for $90 at Amazon ($30 off): The Pro Plus is the top pick in our microSD card buying guide. It’s not the cheapest card you can buy, but it tested faster than most of its peers in our benchmark tests, with a particular edge in random performance. That lets it play a bit nicer in a portable gaming PC or a device like the Raspberry Pi, where it’d more frequently have to access smaller bits of data in random locations. This is a new low for the 1TB model, which Samsung released earlier this year. Also at Samsung and B&H.
Marshall Emberton II for $99 ($70 off): This is the smallest Marshall speaker in our guide. Its dual 10-watt drivers and passive radiators create an impressive, 360-degree sound. While it’s not super loud, we think the output is nicely balanced. You’ll get up to 30 hours of play on a charge. Also at Best Buy and directly from Marshall.
Razer Basilisk V3 for $40 at Amazon ($30 off): The Basilisk V3 is the top wired pick in our gaming mouse buying guide for those who prefer a more ergonomic shape. This discount ties the device’s all-time low. Razer released an revised version with an improved sensor a few months back, but that one costs $80 and isn’t an essential upgrade while the old model is still in stock. Also at Best Buy.
Astro Bot for $50 at Walmart ($10 off): The inventive 3D platformer Astro Bot is the closest thing the PS5 has to a modern Super Mario game, even if it is a bit too reverential to the PlayStation brand. Engadget’s Jessica Conditt called it “one of the best games Sony has ever made” in her review. The game briefly fell to $43 at Amazon on Black Friday, but this is its best price otherwise. Also at Best Buy, Target and GameStop.
Metaphor: ReFantazio for $50 at Amazon ($20 off): It’s about as subtle as you’d expect a game named “Metaphor” to be, but the latest from the minds behind Persona 5 is a fantasy JRPG through and through: bombastic, stylish and deeply earnest. (And long.) This leftover Black Friday deal marks its lowest price to date. Also at Walmart.
Hisense U7N 4K TV (55”) for $479 at Amazon ($319 off): Several reviewsaroundtheweb call the U7N one of the year’s best TV values. It pumps out better brightness and contrast than most alternatives in its price range, plus it supports a fast 144Hz refresh rate at 4K, which helps PS5 and Xbox games look more fluid in motion. Its picture will look washed out if you don’t view it straight-on, however, and it’s limited to two HDMI 2.1 ports. This is the 55-inch model’s all-time low. Other sizes are similarly discounted.
Amazon Echo Buds for $25 at Amazon ($25 off): We highlight the Echo Buds in our guide to the best budget earbuds for those who prefer an unsealed design that doesn’t totally mute the outside world. They sound decent for the price and can connect to multiple devices at once, though they aren’t fully water-resistant. This deal matches their all-time low.
Amazon Echo smart speaker for $55 at Amazon ($45 off): The latest Echo is the « best under $100 » pick in our smart speaker buying guide thanks to its strong-for-its-size audio quality, stereo pairing support and (mostly) handy range of Alexa skills and smart home integrations. This discount comes in $5 above the lowest price we’ve seen. Other Echo devices are still on sale as well, including the smaller Echo Dot for $23 and the Echo Spot smart alarm clock for an all-time low of $45.
Audible Premium Plus (3-month) for $3 at Amazon ($42 off): Non-subscribers can still get a three-month Audible Premium Plus trial for $1. Normally, the audiobook service costs $15 per month after a 30-day free trial. As a refresher, Premium Plus is Audible’s upper tier: Apart from giving access the full Audible Plus library, it lets you keep one title from a curated selection of audiobooks each month. We wouldn’t call it essential, but this is a good way to see if it’d work for you if you’ve been on the fence. Remember that the plan will auto-renew until you cancel.
MasterClass Premium (1-year) for $144 at MasterClass ($96 off): MasterClass is still taking 40 percent off the cost of its annual subscription plans for new or returning users, bringing the « Plus » and « Premium » tiers down to $108 and $144, respectively. As a refresher, both options support offline viewing — the cheaper « Standard » tier does not — but the Premium plan lets you watch from six devices simultaneously instead of two. Either way, this is a decent chance to save if you’ve been interested in taking one of the service’s many celebrity-led courses.
Ultimate Ears Everboom for $180 at Amazon ($70 off): The Everboom is a mid-sized entry in Ultimate Ears’ portable speaker lineup. We gave it a review score of 75 this past September and currently include it in our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers. Its rugged waterproof design, 20-hour battery life and 360-degree sound make it a solid outdoor companion, though it’s somewhat bulky, and it’s not the best at reproducing fine details in tracks. This deal price is a new all-time low.
Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 4 for $60 ($40 off): We put the Wonderboom 3 on our guide to the best speakers and this next-gen model includes a new podcast mode EQ for crisp vocals and is made from more recycled plastics. Like its predecessor, it’ll go for 14 hours on a charge and packs a waterproof build into its mini barrel-like shape. Also at Amazon.
Dyson Airwrap for $490 at Amazon ($110 off): This multipurpose styling tool uses the Coanda effect to create curls without excessive heat, and it comes with a bunch of other attachments that let it work as a hairdryer, heated brush and more. It’s certainly not cheap, but this is a good 18 percent off its normal street price. Also at Dyson.
iRobot Roomba Vac Essential (Q0120) for $149 at Amazon ($101 off): This entry-level robot vacuum has decent cleaning power with three cleaning modes and the ability to set cleaning schedules from iRobot’s mobile app. It’s a fairly basic model with no obstacle avoidance tech, but it should work for first-time or budget-minded robovac buyers. This deal has been live for a few weeks now but comes within a couple bucks of the device’s all-time low. Also at Best Buy.
Dyson V15 Detect Absolute for $500 at Dyson ($250 off): The V15 Detect is our pick for the best cordless vacuum thanks to its excellent suction power, impressively portable design and hour-long battery life (which is fairly long for these things). This model comes with a « Fluffy Optic » cleaning head that illuminates the ground in front of you so you can better see where dust and debris is hiding. You get a few other cleaning head attachments in the box alongside that. This discount matches the lowest price we could find.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) for $1,650 at Best Buy ($350 off): The 14-inch ROG Zephyrus G14 is the top pick in our guide to the best gaming laptops. We gave it a score of 91 in our review, praising its (relatively) elegant aluminum chassis and beautiful 120Hz OLED display. It can get toasty under load, and the memory isn’t upgradeable, but this config can still handle more demanding games at high settings and the native 2.8K resolution without much trouble. It includes a Ryzen 9 8945HS chip, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and an RTX 4070 GPU. Outside of one drop to $1,600 back in July, this ties the best price we’ve seen.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (13.8-inch) for $899 at Amazon ($300 off): We gave the latest Surface Laptop a score of 88 in our review, and we currently recommend it as a great ultraportable in our laptop buying guide. The caveat is that it uses an ARM processor, which runs well but may not work with every app or peripheral you use. If you can live with that, however, its bright 120Hz display, upscale aluminum design and long battery life all impress. Besides in-store-only deals, this is an all-time low for the config with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. A 15-inch version with a faster Snapdragon X Elite chip and 256GB of storage is down to a new low of $1,044. Also at Best Buy.
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Watch the Premier League in Australia from AU$7 a month
Optus Sport
Two Mancunian giants that are both desperately trying to drag themselves out of their respective malaises face off at the Etihad on Sunday, as Man City hosts Man United.
The defending Premier League champs come into this match with the team’s lowest points tally in the Premier League at this stage of the season since 2010-11, while United has its lowest ever points total after 15 matches in the Premier League era.
Cit’s seemingly unbelievable collapse in form continued in midweek with a 2-0 defeat in the Champions League to Juventus, while United battled back on Thursday to beat Viktoria Plzeň 1-2 in the Europa League.
Manchester City take on Manchester United on Sunday, Dec. 15, at the Etihad Stadium, with kickoff set for 4:30 p.m. GMT local time, making it a 11:30a.m. ET or 8:30 a.m. PT start in the US and Canada, and a 3:30a.m. AEDT kickoff in Australia on Monday.
Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the match as it happens, wherever you are in the world.
Rasmus Hojlund came off the bench to score a brace and steer Manchester United to a 2-1 Europa League victory over Viktoria Plzeň in midweek.
Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images
How to watch Man City vs. Man United in the US without cable
Sunday’s Man City vs. Man United match is streaming on USA Network, which you can access as part of your cable package or at the NBC Sports website with a valid login. It can also be streamed via Sling TV and other, more expensive streaming TV services.
Sling TV/CNET
Sling TV’s Blue plan includes USA Network, making it a great option for fans wanting to watch Premier League action. It’s $40 a month and features over 40 channels, including other sports channels like ESPN and FS1.
How to watch the Premier League 2024-25 season from anywhere with a VPN
If you find yourself unable to view EPL matches locally, you may need a different way to watch the games — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
James Martin/CNET
Latest Tests DNS leaks detected, 25% speed loss in 2024 testsNetwork 3,000 plus servers in 105 countriesJurisdiction British Virgin Islands
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It’s normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you’ll get three months free and save 49%. That’s the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
82% off with 24mo plan (+6 free months)
Livestream Man City vs. Man United in the UK
This Sunday afternoon kickoff is exclusive to Sky Sports, showing on its Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and UHD channels. If you already have Sky Sports as part of your TV package, you can stream the game via its Sky Go app, but cord-cutters will want to get set up with a Now account and a Now Sports membership to stream the game.
Now TV
Sky subsidiary Now offers streaming access to Sky Sports channels with a Now Sports membership. You can get a day of access for £15, or sign up to a monthly plan from £35 per month right now.
Livestream Man City vs. Man United in Canada
If you want to stream this EPL game live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to Fubo Canada. The service has exclusive rights to every Premier League fixture once again this season.
Fubo
Fubo is the go-to destination for Canadians looking to watch the EPL this season, with exclusive streaming rights to every match. It costs CA$30 per month, although you can save some cash by paying quarterly or annually.
Livestream Man City vs. Man United in Australia
Football fans down under can watch EPL matches live on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League fixture of the 2024-25 season live in Australia.
Optus
With exclusive rights to stream all EPL matches live this season, as well as German Bundesliga and Spanish La Liga games, streaming service Optus Sport is a particularly big draw for Aussie soccer fans.
If you’re already an Optus network customer, you can bag Optus Sport for a reduced price, with discounts bringing the price down to as low as AU$7 per month. If you’re not, a standalone monthly subscription to the service starts at AU$25.
Quick tips for streaming the Premier League using a VPN
With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming EPL matches may vary.
If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the « search for city or country » option.
If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
Remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
It’s a pretty safe bet that the iPhone 17 is going to break cover at some point during September 2025, but how much is it going to cost? Well, more than the iPhone 16, if recent comments from an industry analyst are to be believed.
Commenting at a guest lecture (via @Jukanlosreve), Samsung Securities Research Center senior researcher Jong Wook Lee has gone on record as saying « iPhone prices are expected to increase next year » – after no price increase in 2024.
iPhone 16 pricing currently starts at $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, which matches the launch pricing of the iPhone 15 (though that phone is now available for less) – in fact, the 2024 model was AU$100 cheaper than the 2023 model was in Australia.
According to Lee, that means Apple is set to hike prices this time around, though we don’t know how much they might go up. In fact, we haven’t heard much in the way of iPhone 17 price leaks at all, up to this point.
The price is right?
At a guest lecture, Jong Wook Lee, a senior researcher at Samsung Securities Research Center, stated, “Although there were initial expectations that Apple’s iPhone prices would rise this year, prices were unusually not increased. As a result, profit margins have declined since…December 14, 2024
While we don’t know how much the iPhone 17 will cost, we can look at current pricing. We’ve already mentioned the iPhone 16, and the iPhone 16 Plus starts at $899 / £899 / AU$1,599 for the lowest amount of storage.
The iPhone 16 Pro will set you back $999 / £999 / AU$1,799 and up, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max starts at a considerable $1,199 / £1,199 / AU$2,149. We’ll have to wait and see whether price hikes hit some or all of the iPhone 17 models.
And there’s rumored to be a new model arriving in place of the iPhone 16 Plus: the iPhone 17 Air. That phone is apparently going to set you back $1,299 (around £1,030 / AU$2,045), which would be a considerable jump over the handset it’s replacing.
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With sales of the iPhone 16 Plus reportedly not what they could be, perhaps a change in design can help – and of course a higher price will often mean more money per device for Apple. We can expect a few more price leaks to appear between now in September.
