Sonos goes ‘Ultra’ with new soundbar, headphones, and big update

A couple of years ago, Sonos wowed us with its debut headphones. Before then, it was well-known for making high-quality Wi-Fi speakers suited to kitting out an entire home. Overnight, Sonos brought both of those categories to the fore, announcing the Beam Ultra soundbar and Ace Ultra headphones.

An upgraded version of the Beam from a few years ago, the Beam Ultra gains extra audio drivers without adding much bulk. Now equipped with nine drivers as part of a 7.1.2 system, the Sonos Beam Ultra natively supports Dolby Atmos, with two of the drivers dedicated to up-firing audio.

Sonos describes the new soundbar as having “warmer bass”, plus clearer dialogue courtesy of a redesigned centre channel. Designed for 65-inch TVs, the mid-sized Beam Ultra is a bit wider than the previous model (750mm versus 651mm), but it still weighs less than 3kg. It is a bit pricier, though, at $1,099 in Australia, compared to the Beam’s $799 price tag.

Image: Sonos.

Sonos Ace Ultra upgrades internals, better connectivity

However, the Sonos Ace Ultra costs the same as its predecessor’s $699 launch price. From the outside, it looks similar, but most of the changes are underneath. It uses a new audio driver and gets an ANC upgrade based on 10 microphones, up from the first Ace’s eight mics. This system supports adaptive ANC, meaning it adjusts the noise cancellation in real-time based on your surroundings.

Sonos also estimates a longer battery life, 35 hours versus 30, while the Bluetooth connectivity steps up to version 6.0. Helpfully, the Sonos Ace Ultra’s ear cushions and battery can be replaced, joining a growing trend by headphone makers to engineer more sustainable devices. There’s more customisation, too, with 3- and 8-band EQ customisation, in addition to adaptive EQ.

Image: Sonos.

Arguably the biggest feature for those embedded in Sonos’ ecosystem comes from “Headphone Engine 2”. It’s what Sonos calls the hardware that drives the headphones’ enhanced connectivity. Launching in an early access phase, a major feature lets you send what’s playing on your Sonos speakers to the headphones, and vice versa, via a single button press.

Sonos added more interplay between its soundbars and headphones in post-launch updates, but this feature promises to make the overall Sonos ecosystem tighter and more seamless.

Another major Sonos software update

Another layer to this is the announcement of “Sonos 27”, the brand’s latest operating system. It’s the latest attempt by Sonos to rework its software platform, following a messy app rollout in 2024 that upset many users.

One part of the software enables more custom AI voice assistant integration, including pairing with external AI services, like ChatGPT. Sonos 27, which will also be the name of the revamped app, is set to support the aforementioned headphone-and-speaker linking feature, as well as position-based speaker optimisation.

For example, the app could detect that, based on a speaker’s location, it’s meant to be a rear speaker as part of a broader surround sound system. If a Sonos speaker’s position moves, the software will change how it functions accordingly.

All of Sonos’ major new hardware and software updates arrive this month. Both the Sonos Ace Ultra and Beam Ultra are now up for pre-order, ready to launch in Australia on 29 September. Meanwhile, the new Sonos 27 platform starts rolling out from 8 September onwards.

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BLUETTI FridgePower lands in Australia with slim design for blackout backup

The BLUETTI FridgePower has launched in Australia, offering a slim, wall-mountable backup power option built specifically to keep fridges, Wi-Fi routers and other essential appliances running through blackouts. Thanks to a 10 millisecond automatic UPS switchover, the unit steps in before sensitive devices even notice the grid has dropped out, addressing a gap left by bulkier portable power stations that struggle to fit compact Australian kitchens.

BLUETTI is offering a special discount for our readers when your purchase from the Australian BLUETTI website.

Enter the code “GGFP6” during checkout for a special discount.

If you purchase through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Read the GagetGuy BLUETTi FridgePower review.

Slim design for a seamless fit

Traditional portable power stations are blocky and occupy significant floor space. The FridgePower features an ultra-slim 75mm (2.95-inch) profile, allowing it to wedge into narrow kitchen gaps, sit atop the fridge, or be mounted directly to the wall. It also unobtrusively blends into tight spaces in camper trailers, caravan storage compartments, or 4WD canopy setups where every millimetre counts.

Automatic UPS backup 24/7

FridgePower includes a 10ms UPS switchover, keeping fridges, Wi-Fi routers, CPAP machines, and other essentials uninterrupted from sudden outages. With a 2016Wh battery, it can sustain a home refrigerator (consuming around 2kWh/day) for approximately 21.6 hours. For prolonged blackouts, adding three BC200 expansion batteries (2016Wh each) increases total capacity to 8064Wh, for up to four days of refrigeration backup. A grid power bypass feature offers extra protection if the unit sits idle.

Power beyond fridges

Its 1800W continuous output and 3600W surge make FridgePower capable of powering large appliances like sump pumps, microwaves, and travel kettles. With industry-leading efficiency and only 4W self-consumption, it runs low-draw appliances like TVs, Starlink terminals, and laptops for long road trips. Operating quietly at around 30dB, it can be used in bedrooms, offices, rooftop tents, and compact caravans.  

Smart energy control anytime

Through the BLUETTI app, users can monitor real-time power usage, receive Extreme Weather Alerts, and switch between four smart UPS modes: Standard, PV Priority, Time-of-Use (TOU), and Customised. Essential metrics can also sync to the optional Display 1 for quick monitoring, while voice and automation support integrate with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Home Assistant.

Who is FridgePower for?

With its thin-slab design, 10ms UPS protection, and powerful output, the FridgePower is a quiet, emission-free alternative to gas generators for home backup, 4×4 touring, and off-grid setups.

Homeowners: Those living in regional or coastal areas prone to grid instability, severe summer heatwaves, or storm-related blackouts who need plug-and-play backup for fridges and freezers.

Apartment, rental, and small-home residents: People with compact kitchens who lack space for traditional home battery systems and prefer a sleek unit that blends into modern interiors.

Caravan, RV, and 4WD owners: Touring enthusiasts who require a space-saving, reliable power source to keep fridges cold and devices charged on remote trips.

Families with critical care needs: Households using CPAP machines or storing temperature-sensitive food or medications like insulin.

Price and availability

The FridgePower is available on BLUETTI’s official Australian website starting 2 September, with special introductory bundle pricing and full local warranty support:

Bundle	MSRP	Launch Price	Feature
FridgePower	A$2499	A$1999	Short outage basic backup
2*FridgePower	A$4998	A$3799	4032Wh, 4 device backup
FridgePower+BC200+Display 1	A$4099	A$3499	4032Wh, real-time monitoring
FridgePower+2*BC200+Display 1	A$5999	A$5099	6048Wh,  long outage backup
FridgePower+Display 1	A$2548	A$1999	Slim, accessible power
FridgePower+Charger 2+DC Hub	A$3497	A$2999	Essential RV kit with 700W DC power and alternator charging
FridgePower+Charger 2+DC Hub+PV200	A$4096	A$3599	Off-grid power kit with solar and alternator charging

These special offers are valid until 7 October and can be combined with GadgetGuy’s 6% discount using code GGFP6, providing the perfect backup solution for winter storm preparation or week-long trips to the Outback.

Read more GadgetGuy BLUETTI articles.

About BLUETTI

Established in 2013, BLUETTI has evolved into a pioneer in the clean energy sector. Driven by robust in-house R&D and sustainable innovation, the brand empowers millions across 120+ countries to stay safe and prepared. Its portfolio of portable power stations and home battery backup solutions ensures reliable power for emergency preparedness, RV travel, and off-grid lifestyles.

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Has HP killed the bulky desktop PC tower?

PCs come in all shapes and sizes, with engineers able to squeeze more into smaller designs. HP took that a step further when it launched the HP EliteBoard G1a, a desktop PC housed entirely within a keyboard.

What’s most interesting about this PC is who it’s aimed at. Laptops are already highly portable, plus they have a built-in screen. So, the HP EliteBoard G1a is for workspaces where you want a fixed machine that takes up as little space as possible.

With an AMD Ryzen AI chipset inside, it’s a powerful little machine that only needs one USB-C cable to extend to two 4K monitors. Compared to the chunky PC towers of old, the EliteBoard barely takes up any desk space. It’s even small enough to be locked away in a drawer at the end of a workday.

Stay tuned for our full review soon, and see what HP’s PC and keyboard hybrid looks like in action.

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Ecovacs Winbot Neo Mini review: Great clean in a small package

I hate washing windows, so I love robot window washers. Most robot window washers are very simple: you strap a special cloth to a little robot that sticks to the window using a vacuum seal, and it drives around while periodically spitting out some cleaning solution. What separates the various models is how thick they are, if they have a base that cleans or organises, how they tether, how they navigate, and how far they can spray cleaning solution. I have yet to find meaningful differences between the end cleaning result of any of these robots.

That’s why it’s so exciting that Ecovacs has now introduced a $249 Winbot Neo Mini model at Aldi. It’s small, and it doesn’t have the latest tech. But, unlike robot vacuum cleaners where price correlates with performance (to a point), this is a device where the clean is almost identical, and you just pay for extras.

That said, is the Winbot Neo Mini worth picking up from the Aldi Special Buys aisle?

Table of content

• First impressions
• Specifications and price
• Cleaning indoor windows
• Cleaning outdoor windows
• Cleaning awkwardly shaped windows
• Storage
• Who is the Ecovacs Winbot Neo Mini for?

First impressions

My first impression of the Ecovacs Winbot Neo Mini was that it reminded me of the original Winbot, just smaller and cuter. It’s just a small, square robot with a long tether and an even longer power cord. Super simple to set up: just put the included cleaning solution in the robot, plug it in, turn it on, put it on a window and then walk away.

Images: Alice Clarke.

Ecovacs Winbot Neo Mini specifications and price

Robot size (mm) LxWxH	215x215x55
Suction power while moving (to stay attached to window)	3200Pa
Min. glass thickness	3mm
Min. window size	22cmx25cm
Water tank capacity	60ml
Spray width	8.5cm
Spray length (front)	10cm
Price	$249 (during Aldi Special Buys promotion)
Warranty	One year
Manufacturer’s website	Ecovacs Australia

Cleaning indoor windows

The limitation with almost every window cleaning robot I’ve used is that it doesn’t scrub; it just wipes a cloth around the window, which is great for smudges and dust, but does bugger all for windows that are actually dirty.

A good example is my window near the dining table. I have a toddler, so everything in my world has honey and pasta sauce on it somewhere. Because the Winbot Neo Mini is essentially an autonomous damp rag, of course it’s just going to spread wet pasta sauce, and it doesn’t have the scrubbing power to remove honey or candle wax.

What I love the Window Neo Mini for is its ability to remove smudges, fingerprints, and that fine layer of grime that you get from opening your windows near a busy road.

Ecovacs Winbot Neo Mini (left) and the Winbot W3 Omni (right). Image: Alice Clarke.

Because the Winbot Neo Mini is (as the name suggests) quite small, it does take a long time to clean my giant windows. However, given it is cleaning the window and not me, it’s welcome to take as long as it wants.

The only big issue is that it’s very loud, and because it doesn’t moisten its cloth as much as the bigger, splashier Winbots, it occasionally makes that unpleasant dragging sound that can be a bit like nails on a chalkboard. That’s standard across cheaper window-washing robots, but because it’s smaller and takes longer, the noise goes on longer. It’s not a dealbreaker, because it doesn’t require constant supervision on an indoor window. Rather, it’s just something to be aware of.

My other, smaller issue is that when it finishes its clean and I take it off the window, it leaves a wet mark from where it’s been sitting. I wish there was a way to mitigate that footprint somehow, and there has to be a clever design feature that could be implemented. Expensive robots do this too, so maybe they just haven’t found a solution yet.

Cleaning outdoor windows

I live in a high-rise apartment building on a floor that is a long way off the ground. Every time I test one of these window-washing robots on my outside windows, I hold my breath and await the screaming. So far, though, everything seems to be fine.

The process was the same as doing the indoor windows; it held securely, cleaned well, and let me know when it was done so I could remove it.

Image: Alice Clarke.

I did have to send it around a few times on the particularly dirty windows that I could reach, and the clean was noticeably not as good as the fancier, $1,300 Winbot W3 Omni on the first go. However, if the W3 did a 7.5/10 clean, the Winbot Neo Mini did a 6/10 clean. For a saving of more than $1,000, I can live with that, and it’s a better clean than the nothing I would have done otherwise.

Cleaning awkwardly shaped windows

The problem with houses and apartments is that they’re generally designed by people who don’t have to clean them. My apartment is one of those ones that has floor-to-ceiling windows for all my external walls. In my corner apartment, that’s 21 floor-to-ceiling windows, some with weird angles at the corners and (for some reason) a sliding balcony door to nowhere with a short glass wall in front of it. Coupled with all the hallways, I think someone needs to have a word with the architect.

Image: Alice Clarke.

These tight corners have meant that the original Winbot and the W2 Winbot model would occasionally get stuck in the corners and I’d have to use a lot of force to remove them. Because the Winbot Neo Mini is so thin and has bumpers that don’t compress as much, it didn’t get stuck there even once, including in an area the W3 Omni got stuck.

Larger window-washing robots get stuck here. Not the Winbot Neo Mini. Image: Alice Clarke.

Sadly, it’s still not thin enough to clean my dirtiest sliding door (RIP), but it was thin enough to do an excellent job of cleaning the other hard-to-reach areas.

Storage

This is where being small is both a blessing and a curse. Where other Winbots have had large cases to store, this is small enough to unobtrusively fit on a shelf. Unfortunately, because it’s so small, there’s nowhere for its cables to coil up in its tiny body, so storing them can get a little messy unless you’re excellent at cable organisation. I wish it had a little case or something to make it a bit neater. For a $249 device, though, you can just grab a tote bag.

Storing the cables neatly is tricky. Image: Alice Clarke.

Who is the Ecovacs Winbot Neo Mini for?

This is the perfect window-washing robot for the vast majority of people considering a window-washing robot. The Ecovacs Winbot Neo Mini cleans almost as well as the Winbot W3 Omni for less than a 5th of the cost (during the Aldi promotion).

While it’s perhaps not the right choice for huge properties, people who want to clean outdoor windows away from power (like a pool fence), or places with a lot of large windows, it is the right choice for everywhere else. It’s small, it gets into places bigger robots cannot, and it’s priced in a way that it’s less of a risk if you just want to give it a go. It’s the one I would buy.

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Beloved Bluey gets her own Tonies range for screenless play

Tonies, the company behind the extremely popular Toniebox, has launched the inevitable collection that every toddler parent has been waiting for: Bluey.

The range in Australia includes a $35 Tonieplay game (for the Toniebox 2), a $21.95 Bluey sleeve featuring the whole Heeler family for the Toniebox 2, and a matching $45.95 Listen and Go Bag (compatible with both Toniebox models).

Overseas, there’s also a pack of three Tonies featuring Bluey, Bingo and Muffin, but that’s not coming to Australia until 2027 due to licensing difficulties.

Playing with the Bluey Tonies

My toddler and I have been playing with the Bluey: Play All Day Tonieplay game for the last month, and I’m a big fan. It’s certainly going to be better for kids aged 3+, but I really enjoy how interactive it is, without the pitfalls of introducing screen time before we’re ready.

The game takes kids through eight different episodes, and from what I can gather (without having seen the show, but having read the Baby Race and Magic Xylophone books around 1,000 times), it’s just a faithful retelling of the episode, including original dialogue. But occasionally kids have to press the button or turn the dial to make something happen.

My two-year-old really enjoyed hearing the stories, but hasn’t quite grasped what “press this button repeatedly” entails, which made it a fun family activity with my wife and me trying to explain the concept to her as we listened.

Image: Tonies.

Existing Bluey fans, particularly ones in the correct age group, will absolutely love it. It’s not overly complicated, but it gives them a sense of being included in the activity, and it means they can take their favourite TV show beyond screen time and into an interactive activity, which I love.

For younger children, it really depends on the kid. As I said, my daughter hasn’t seen the show and has only had the books read to her, so this was the first time she’s gotten to hear what Bluey sounds like, which blew her mind. She’s asked to hear it a few more times since, though I think the regular Tonies will be a better fit for this age group when they do eventually hit Australian shores.

What else is included?

As for the other accessories in the range, the sleeve fits the Toniebox 2 really nicely. I like the idea of the Tonieboxes being neutral, plain colours, with the option of character sleeves so the expensive part can stick with the child through multiple interest cycles. It was a little fiddly to put on neatly, but once it was on, it was a perfect fit.

Image: Tonies.

The bag is the most useful item for my family. It holds the Toniebox, a good number of Tonies, and the included headphones, making it a must-have for any long journey or weekend away. We’ve used it a bunch of times now, and I really like how organised everything is without feeling like an effort. The pattern, like that of the sleeve, is fun and understated, clearly showing the Bluey family without ruining the curated aesthetics of a lounge room.

The Bluey Tonie collection is available now in all good retailers across Australia and New Zealand, with the Bluey Tonies coming to Australia early next year. They join the recently launched Pokémon Tonies range, appealing to millennial parents who want to spread the good word of Pikachu to younger generations.

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Samsung’s answer to changing TV habits? A screen on wheels

Nearly everything has a screen today, so a TV isn’t necessarily the living room centrepiece it once was. Phones, tablets, laptops, and even smart glasses provide more viewing options than ever, providing more ways to watch videos than a fixed screen. In response to this growing trend, Samsung wants to meet people halfway with its recently launched ‘Movingstyle’, a smart TV on wheels.

At 27 inches with a 2560 x 1440 resolution, the $1,999 Movingstyle is like a computer monitor. Standing at around 1.2m tall when mounted to its stand, the display can also be used as a standalone touchscreen, propped up by a built-in kickstand. There’s also the option of battery-powered operation (via its included 69.3Wh battery) or mains power.

Samsung previously showed the Movingstyle at IFA last year before launching it in recent months. If it looks a bit familiar, it’s because LG has its own variant, called the ‘StanByME’.

‘Movingstyle kid’ might not take off quite like ‘iPad kid’, but the functionality is similar. Image: Samsung.

This experimentation with portable screens stems from TVs becoming a less prominent medium for watching videos. According to Samsung’s research, 26 per cent of Aussies watch “major broadcast events” on either a laptop, tablet or phone. Samsung’s interpretation is that more people want screens that follow them, rather than going to a dedicated viewing room.

In the same breath, Samsung asserted that traditional TVs still have a place in Australian homes. The company claimed that 24 per cent of Australians listen to podcasts and music on TVs, while 16 per cent turn on TVs for workout sessions.

Whether more people gravitate towards portable screens, like the Movingstyle, remains to be seen. It’s an interesting approach to an ever-changing media consumption environment, one where some people watch movies in piecemeal clips uploaded to TikTok.

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Pikachu visits Apple Park before John Ternus takes over as CEO

Ahead of Apple’s upcoming September iPhone event, many might be fixated on how the new CEO, John Ternus, marks his fresh tenure. Tim Cook led the company for 15 years, a long time for any tech company, so seeing a fresh face at the helm will be a big change. So big, in fact, that Pikachu himself visited Apple HQ to meet Ternus.

In a video posted to the Hello Apple Instagram account, Cook and Ternus were joined by a Pikachu mascot and Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO of The Pokémon Company, at Apple Park. According to Cook’s socials, the agenda included introducing Ternus to the Pokémon team, discussing gaming, and politely asking Pikachu to stay out of the pond. “Two out of three were accomplished,” Cook quipped.

With the visit timed so close to the new iPhone reveal event on 10 September, could it mean a Pokémon-related announcement to coincide with the franchise’s 30th anniversary? Or was it just a chance for Pikachu to remind Ternus who’s really in charge?

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