– Article invité, rédigé par Vincent Lautier , contient des liens affiliés Amazon –

Teufel a lancé la ROCKSTER Cross 2 , une enceinte Bluetooth portable qui mise sur un son stéréo puissant, une autonomie de 38 heures et une certification IPX5 contre les éclaboussures. Vendue 240 euros sur Amazon, elle embarque un système 2 voies avec subwoofer, la technologie Dynamore et une fonction powerbank, je la teste depuis plusieurs semaines, et je la valide complètement ! Voilà pourquoi :

Un son qui a de la patate

La ROCKSTER Cross 2 est équipée d'un système 2 voies avec deux tweeters de 20 mm, un subwoofer de 120 mm et deux membranes passives à l'arrière. Le tout est propulsé par un amplificateur classe D de 39 watts qui peut grimper jusqu'à 98 dB. Et ça s'entend : les basses sont profondes et bien tenues, le son reste maîtrisé même quand on pousse le volume, et l'ensemble dégage une assurance qui fait plaisir.

Pas de distorsion désagréable, pas de saturation aux aigus. La technologie Dynamore, propre à Teufel, élargit la scène sonore et donne une vraie sensation de stéréo, ce qui change des enceintes portables qui sonnent souvent mono dans les faits. Pour les sorties en extérieur, un mode Outdoor ajuste le rendu pour compenser l'absence de murs, et l'inclinaison intégrée permet de poser l'enceinte au sol avec un angle de diffusion optimal. Malin.

38 heures sans charge

Côté autonomie, Teufel annonce 38 heures à 70 dB selon la norme IEC, et jusqu'à 46 heures en mode Éco. C'est quand même confortable : on peut partir en week-end sans emporter le chargeur. La recharge se fait en USB-C, et bonne nouvelle, l'enceinte fait aussi office de powerbank pour dépanner un smartphone à plat. Le boîtier est certifié IPX5, ce qui le protège contre les projections d'eau dans tous les sens.

Le design anti-chocs, les boutons en caoutchouc et les finitions antidérapantes sont clairement rassurantes pour un usage en extérieur, y compris avec les mains mouillées. Teufel fournit une sangle de transport réglable et des poignées latérales, et l'ensemble se transporte sans problème. Elle est disponible en trois coloris (noir et vert, noir et rouge, gris clair), le design a le mérite de ne pas ressembler à ce qu'on trouve chez la concurrence.

Bluetooth 5.3 et Party Link

Côté connectivité, on est sur du Bluetooth 5.3 avec codec AAC, compatible Google Fast Pair. La portée annoncée est de 15 mètres, et la fonction Multipoint permet de connecter deux smartphones en même temps pour enchaîner les playlists sans coupure.

Mais le vrai plus de l'enceinte, c'est le Party Link : vous pouvez connecter sans fil jusqu'à 100 enceintes compatibles (ROCKSTER Cross 2, Neo, Go 2 ou Mynd) pour diffuser le même son partout. Et en mode Party Link Stereo, deux ROCKSTER Cross 2 forment une paire stéréo avec canal gauche et droit séparés. Pour 240 euros l'unité, ça devient intéressant pour ceux qui veulent un vrai système audio d'extérieur sans trop se ruiner.

Bref, à 240 balles sur Amazon, la ROCKSTER Cross 2 est un bon choix. Le son est riche et bien calibré, l'autonomie laisse tranquille pour un bon moment, et la construction inspire confiance pour un usage baroudeur. Disponible ici sur Amazon !

Article invité publié par Vincent Lautier .

Modern laptops aren’t short on power, but they’re increasingly short on ports. One USB-C port ends up doing everything: charging, video out, storage, and peripherals, while a small pile of adapters accumulates next to the keyboard. The setup works, but it doesn’t look like the clean, minimal desk you were going for, and it means carrying more pieces than you’d like when you’re working somewhere that isn’t home.

ADAM elements’ Hub S is a USB-C hub with built-in SSD storage, designed around the idea that a hub and an external drive don’t need to be two separate objects. Instead of plugging in one thing for ports and another for files, you plug in one slim aluminum accessory that handles both. It isn’t trying to replace a full docking station, but it’s the right-sized tool for someone who needs the essentials covered without the clutter.

Designer: ADAM elements

Click Here to Buy Now: $69.30 $99 (30% off, use coupon code “30YANKOHBSN”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

The built-in SSD is available in 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB capacities, so there’s a size for whether you’re keeping a working project library or just enough space for recent shoots and backups. Having storage physically attached to your hub means it’s always there when you need to dump footage, move large project files, or keep a client’s assets close during a session, without remembering to pack a separate drive.

Transfer speeds are rated at up to 520 MB/s read and 456 MB/s write, which makes moving large files feel routine rather than something you schedule around. That kind of speed isn’t just a spec, though. It’s the difference between waiting through a transfer and forgetting it’s happening. For photographers and video editors working on the road, that matters more than it sounds on a product page.

For Mac users, the ADAM elements Hub S is also Apple Time Machine compatible. That means it can act as a rolling backup target every time you plug in, turning a habit that’s easy to forget into something that happens automatically. Backup isn’t exciting, but having it built into the same accessory you’re already using for everything else makes it feel less like a separate job.

The USB-C port on the hub supports PD 3.0 pass-through charging up to 60W, so your laptop doesn’t lose its charge while the hub is handling storage, display, and peripherals. That’s a meaningful consideration when you’re transferring large files and streaming to an external display at the same time, both of which can pull enough power to make a laptop feel like it’s running a sprint.

The HDMI port outputs up to 4K at 30Hz and supports HDCP 2.2, which is the protocol required for streaming 4K HDR content from services like Netflix. A lot of hubs advertise “4K output” but fail on DRM handshakes, so the HDCP 2.2 compliance isn’t a minor footnote. Whether you’re mirroring for a presentation or extending to a monitor for a proper editing session, the connection holds up where it matters.

Rounding out the port selection is a USB-A 3.1 port rated at up to 5 Gbps for peripherals or flash drives, and a 3.5mm headphone jack that supports 48kHz/16-bit audio. Neither is glamorous, but together they cover the inputs that would otherwise require yet another adapter. The aluminum alloy body is designed to sit flush on a desk surface, and the whole thing weighs about 2.5oz, roughly the weight of a single C battery.

The ADAM elements Hub S works best as the kind of accessory you stop thinking about. You plug it in, your files are there, your display is connected, your laptop is charging, and your headphones are plugged in. That’s it. For people who’d rather carry one considered piece of hardware than a small collection of adapters and drives, consolidating all of that into a single slim object that fits in a jacket pocket feels like the more sensible way to work.

Click Here to Buy Now: $69.30 $99 (30% off, use coupon code “30YANKOHBSN”). Hurry, deal ends in 48-hours!

The post Carrying a USB-C Hub and SSD? ADAM elements Hub S Does Both first appeared on Yanko Design.

Remember when instant cameras were magic? You pressed a button, a mechanical whir filled the air, and moments later you were shaking a photo like it owed you money. Polaroid made photography feel like alchemy, turning light into physical memory right in your hands.

The Poor Man’s Polaroid by Boxart brings that instant gratification back using a thermal printer (the same kind that spits out your CVS receipts) and costs less than a cent per print compared to roughly a euro for each Polaroid picture. The name is a bit tongue-in-cheek since the parts actually cost more than the cheapest Polaroid cameras, but the creator clarifies it’s a “fun DIY project, possibly made by poor hands”.

Designer: Boxart

The whole setup is beautifully straightforward. A Raspberry Pi Zero and camera drive a receipt printer, all housed in a 3D-printed case with the guts of a power bank providing juice. Press the button, wait a beat, and out slides your photo on thermal paper. No film cartridges to buy, no wondering if you loaded it correctly, no accidentally exposing your entire pack to light.

Does the image quality match a real Polaroid? Not even close. The photos aren’t the same quality as self-developing film, but they have some charm to them. You get a not-very-good grayscale image on curly paper. But that’s kind of the point. The beauty of instant photography was never really about pristine resolution. It was about immediacy, about physicality, about having something tangible to pin on your wall or slip into someone’s hand.

This project lives in that sweet spot between nostalgia and practicality. Thermal paper might fade over time and the images might look like they came from a 1990s fax machine, but you can shoot hundreds of photos without bankrupting yourself. The economics are almost absurd when you compare it to authentic instant film, which has climbed to luxury pricing in recent years.

I love that this exists because it reminds us that the tools we carry don’t always need to be the most advanced or expensive. Sometimes the joy is in the making itself, in cobbling together a Raspberry Pi, a webcam, and a thermal printer to recreate something that used to cost hundreds of dollars and came from a factory. It’s technology as craft project, gadgetry as personal expression.

The curling thermal paper and grainy output might not win photography awards, but they capture something else: the spirit of experimentation that made instant cameras revolutionary in the first place. Edwin Land didn’t perfect the Polaroid overnight. He iterated, tinkered, and eventually changed how we thought about photography. Boxart’s version might use Python code instead of complex chemistry, but the impulse is the same.

What makes this project particularly appealing is its accessibility. The parts are 3D printed and the code is in Python, meaning anyone with basic maker skills can attempt it. You’re not locked into a proprietary ecosystem or dependent on a company that might discontinue your film stock. You own the entire chain of production, from capture to print.

Sure, you could buy cheap instant print cameras from import sites for less money. But where’s the story in that? Where’s the satisfaction of building something yourself, of understanding exactly how it works, of being able to modify and improve it over time? This isn’t just a camera. It’s a statement about what technology can be when we strip away the branding and the markup and the planned obsolescence.

The Poor Man’s Polaroid won’t replace your smartphone camera or even a proper instant camera if image quality is your priority. But it offers something more valuable: proof that with a little ingenuity and some off-the-shelf components, you can recreate the magic of instant photography on your own terms. And sometimes that curly thermal paper printout means more precisely because you built the machine that made it.

The post A Maker Just Built A Polaroid Camera for 100x Cheaper Using Thermal Receipt Paper first appeared on Yanko Design.

Nintendo had a choice when designing the Switch 2. They could iterate on the formula that made the original a cultural phenomenon, refining the single-screen hybrid into a faster, sharper, better version of itself. Or they could reach back into their own history, pull out the design philosophy that once made the DS family the best-selling handheld hardware line of all time, and merge two eras of thinking into something genuinely new. They picked the first path. Designer Juan Manuel Guerrero just sketched out the second.

The concept arrives as a series of beautifully lit 3D renders: a folding Nintendo Switch with dual screens, a hinge running through the center of the body, and Joy-Cons in the familiar blue-red split attached to either end. The renders carry the finish of product photography, which makes it genuinely easy to forget this never shipped. Closed, it looks like a sleek, pocket-ready device with a tighter footprint than the original Switch. Open, it recalls something older and warmer, the quiet satisfaction of flipping a DS open on a long car ride, except now the screens are large, the controllers are proper, and the whole thing feels built for today. The proportions are deliberate, the design choices are considered, and the whole thing wears its Nintendo identity without apology.

Designer: Juan Manuel Guerrero

The Nintendo DS sat at 154.02 million lifetime units for years, the gold standard for Nintendo hardware, until the Switch finally crept past it in early 2026 with 155.37 million. Two hardware generations, both cultural touchstones, separated by fewer than two million units across a combined history of roughly three decades. The closeness of that race matters. The DS built those numbers on a genuine design idea, a spatial logic where two screens gave developers room for two distinct kinds of information at once, and players responded to that for fifteen years. Guerrero’s concept asks whether the Switch era ever had to leave that behind.

Phantom Hourglass let you draw on the bottom screen to annotate your own maps and solve puzzles, an idea original enough to win awards at the time. Pokemon Diamond and Pearl split the party menu from the battlefield, giving battles a spatial clarity the GBA never had room for. GTA: Chinatown Wars ran the full city map on the lower display and handed the top panel entirely to the action. These were designs built entirely around the format, dependent on the split in a way that made them fall apart on a single screen. That vocabulary has been sitting idle for the better part of a decade.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 6 runs a 7.6-inch interior display and represents the sixth generation of the company working foldable hardware into something genuinely reliable. Motorola, OnePlus, Google, and Huawei all have competitive entries in the space. Display durability and hinge reliability have been largely solved through successive product generations and real commercial pressure. A dual-screen Switch in 2025 wouldn’t be asking anyone to invent something new; the foldable category has already done the hard engineering work. Guerrero’s concept asks someone to point that already-mature technology at a gaming audience.

The DS touchscreen read as a toy gimmick in 2004. The Wii’s motion controls got laughed at before that console sold 101 million units. The Switch itself looked like a confused category play until it climbed past 155 million units and became Nintendo’s best-selling platform ever. That history of moves that look sideways before they land is the context Guerrero’s concept actually lives in. The foldable technology exists, the Joy-Con design language holds across both halves of the fold, and the IP is coherent. Someone drew it. Now it’s genuinely difficult to look at the Switch 2 without wondering what the other path could have looked like.

The post Nintendo Patented a Dual-Screen Switch and Never Made It. Here’s What It Looked Like. first appeared on Yanko Design.

At some point in the last couple of years, something quietly shifted in the gaming world. Not in the blockbuster, billion-dollar-franchise sense, but in the more personal, “why am I actually having more fun with this tiny device than my main console” sense. Search interest in retro gaming handhelds jumped 400% year-over-year, hitting 90,500 monthly searches in January 2026 alone. That’s not a blip. That’s people rediscovering something they forgot they wanted, and then telling everyone they know about it.

What’s driving it isn’t hard to understand. Modern gaming has gotten heavy, with big installs, long tutorials, and games that feel like part-time jobs. A retro handheld sidesteps all of that. You pick it up, you’re playing something in thirty seconds, and it fits in your jacket pocket. The designs themselves have become worth caring about, too, from machined aluminum bodies to translucent clamshells to square screens that look like props from a ’90s anime. These aren’t budget toys. Some of them are genuinely beautiful objects that happen to play games. Here are seven that are worth your attention.

Anbernic RG Cube: The one with the square screen that somehow works

The first thing you notice about the RG Cube is the screen shape, a perfect square, and your brain immediately goes: that can’t be right. Gaming moved to widescreen fifteen years ago. A 1:1 display in 2024 looks like a design mistake, or at best a gimmick. It is neither. The 3.95-inch IPS panel at 720×720 turns out to be native to more retro games than you’d expect, with Game Boy, arcade titles, and Nintendo DS with dual-screen stacking all living here without compromise.

Designer: Anbernic

The broader package is hard to argue with. An octa-core Unisoc T820 processor and 8GB of RAM run Android 13, with emulator support up through PS2 and GameCube, though more demanding titles on those systems will push its limits. The asymmetric thumbstick layout borrows from the Steam Deck playbook, and the Saturn-inspired D-pad is precise without drama. At around $170, it comes in Beige White, Radiant Purple, Black, Grey, and the radiant purple has no right looking as good as it does.

What we liked

• Square 1:1 screen is genuinely ideal for Game Boy, arcade, and DS emulation
• RGB lighting and color options make it a genuinely attractive object

What we disliked

• Widescreen games require letterboxing or aspect-ratio compromise
• Demanding PS2 and GameCube titles push the processor to its limits

ModRetro Chromatic: The Game Boy Color that Nintendo never made

There’s a version of this product that could have been embarrassing: a magnesium alloy Game Boy Color clone bundled with a new Tetris cartridge, sold at $199. On paper, it sounds like a premium nostalgia trap. In practice, it’s one of the most carefully considered handheld devices released in years. It’s FPGA-based, meaning it reconstructs the Game Boy hardware at the circuit level rather than emulating it in software, which produces zero input latency and a millisecond-accurate match to original hardware behavior.

Designer: ModRetro

The physical design earns its price in ways spec sheets can’t capture. The curved battery compartment gives your hands something to grip. A physical volume wheel, a detail so obvious it’s shocking how rarely it appears on modern devices, lets you kill the sound without touching a menu. Colors run from Inferno and Bubblegum to a very wearable Wave blue, with English or Japanese button labeling as an option. It plays physical Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges only, which is either a dealbreaker or a feature, depending on how you think about focus.

What we liked

• FPGA hardware delivers true zero input lag, not a software approximation
• Magnesium alloy shell feels premium and genuinely durable
• Comes bundled with a new Tetris cartridge

What we disliked

• Plays only Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, no ROMs or other systems
• AA battery requirement adds ongoing cost; rechargeable Power Core is sold separately

Analogue Pocket: The one photographers keep picking up

The Analogue Pocket is the device that made the retro handheld conversation respectable. It uses an FPGA rather than software emulation and plays Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and GBA cartridges out of the box. Via cartridge adapters, it adds Game Gear, Neo Geo Pocket Color, Atari Lynx, TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine, and SuperGrafx. Via its microSD slot and the OpenFPGA community platform, it loads cores for nearly every retro system that ever existed. The 3.5-inch LCD at 1600×1440 and 615 ppi is, simply, one of the sharpest displays ever put in a handheld.

Designer: Analogue

At $239, it sits at the premium end of this list, and it’s also frequently out of stock. Firmware updates require a microSD card reader, which feels like friction that shouldn’t exist on a $239 device. TV output needs the separately sold $99 Dock. These aren’t dealbreakers so much as signals that Analogue built this for the dedicated enthusiast first. If you want one device to handle everything in your retro library for the next decade, this is probably it.

What we liked

• OpenFPGA community support covers an enormous range of retro systems
• Plays GBA in addition to GB and GBC, plus many more with adapters
• MicroSD slot enables ROM loading
• Premium aluminum build with a distinctly modern design language

What we disliked

• Frequently out of stock; restocks sell out within minutes
• Firmware updates require an external microSD card reader
• TV output requires a separately purchased $99 Dock

Retroid Pocket Flip 2: The clamshell that brought the GBA SP back with PS2 power

The GBA SP was the handheld that arguably peaked the clamshell form factor: it folded, it protected its own screen, and it had a backlit display before that was standard. The Retroid Pocket Flip 2 arrives in 2025 with that same closing-hinge energy, but with a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED screen, a Snapdragon 865 processor, and enough emulation horsepower to run PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Wii. When closed, it has roughly the same desk footprint as a modern smartphone. Closing the lid puts it to sleep; opening it wakes it up.

Designer: Retroid

Color options include a translucent Ice Blue, GameCube Purple, a two-tone 16-bit US, and Black. Retroid clearly understands its audience. The AMOLED panel brings deep blacks and accurate color to games designed for CRTs, and the results are often striking for titles you’ve played a hundred times. At $229 for the Snapdragon variant, there is no meaningful clamshell competitor at this performance level. One persistent note from extended use: the form factor rewards shorter sessions more than marathon ones, which is maybe appropriate for a device meant to live in a bag pocket.

What we liked

• 5.5-inch AMOLED at 1080p is impressive for the price
• Handles PS2, GameCube, Wii, and Dreamcast emulation
• Translucent Ice Blue colorway is a design highlight

What we disliked

• Thicker than it looks in product photos
• Extended sessions can feel less comfortable than flat handhelds

AYANEO Pocket Micro Classic: The one that fits in an actual pocket

The Game Boy Micro launched in 2005 as Nintendo’s most polarizing hardware decision. It was tiny, it was beautiful, it only played GBA games, and it was discontinued within a year. Design historians were kinder to it than the market was. The AYANEO Pocket Micro Classic is clearly in conversation with that history. It removes the analog joysticks, uses a CNC-machined aluminum alloy frame with a seamless all-glass front, and produces something that slides into a front jeans pocket without catching on anything.

Designer: AYANEO

The 3.5-inch borderless IPS display at 960×640 in a 3:2 ratio is built for GBA emulation, with 4x pixel-perfect upscaling. Available in Obsidian Black, Charm Red, Vintage Grey, and Gold, each colorway has a different character. The Gold skips “gaming device” and lands somewhere closer to “considered object.” The MediaTek Helio G99 handles everything up through PS1 confidently. If your retro library is 8-bit and 16-bit with a strong GBA presence, the Pocket Micro Classic is probably the most beautiful way to play it.

What we liked

• CNC aluminum and all-glass build is genuinely premium for the category
• No joysticks make it notably slimmer and more pocketable
• Android 13 with Play Store access expands utility beyond emulation

What we disliked

• No joysticks limit N64, Dreamcast, and PSP playability

TrimUI Brick Hammer: Budget price, luxury aluminum shell

The original TrimUI Brick arrived in 2024 with an unusually sharp 3.2-inch IPS screen at 1024×768, giving it a pixel density of 405 PPI, a number that belongs on a premium smartphone, not a $55 device. The Brick Hammer edition, launched in 2025, replaces the plastic shell with a full CNC-machined aluminum alloy in Gunmetal Gray, Rose Gold, and Fluorescent Green. The metal shell doubles as a heatsink, dropping operating temperatures noticeably. Three interchangeable shoulder button sets ship in the box.

Designer: TRIMUI

The software runs CrossMix OS on a Linux base: clean, fast, minimal overhead. Load your ROMs, pick a game, and play. Battery life lands around four to six hours. The processor handles Game Boy through PS1 without complaint; N64 gets through most titles; Dreamcast is inconsistent. The CNC backplate can be engraved, which no other device at this price point offers. The Rose Gold aluminum version sitting next to a MacBook on a desk looks less out of place than it has any right to, and that’s a strange and interesting thing to say about a $99 handheld.

What we liked

• CNC aluminum Hammer shell runs noticeably cooler than the original plastic
• Swappable shoulder buttons and engravable backplate are genuinely rare customization options
• Rose Gold and Gunmetal colorways punch well above the budget tier

What we disliked

• No analog joysticks, which limits 3D game compatibility
• Dreamcast and demanding N64 titles run inconsistently

Miyoo Mini Plus (and Mini Flip): The one that started the whole obsession

If there’s a single device responsible for bringing this category to mainstream attention, the Miyoo Mini Plus is probably it. It weighs 200 grams, fits in a jeans pocket, has a 3.5-inch IPS screen at 640×480, and runs OnionOS, a community-built firmware that turns a modest Cortex-A7 processor into a near-perfect front end for everything from the NES to the original PlayStation. The interface is clean, the emulator library covers over a hundred platforms, and save states work the way save states should.

Designer: Miyoo

The Miyoo Mini Flip takes the same hardware and wraps it in a GBA SP-style clamshell, adding screen protection and an extra wave of nostalgia. Early production runs had hinge concerns, though those appear to have been addressed in more recent batches. At $69-99, this is the gateway to the category that doesn’t feel like a compromise. The honest question isn’t whether this device is worth the money, since it clearly is. It’s whether starting here will satisfy the itch, or simply make you want to own the other six devices on this list as well.

What we liked

• Genuinely pocketable at 200g, fits in a jeans pocket without bulk
• Covers NES through PS1 with confident performance
• Mini Flip clamshell adds nostalgic GBA SP energy and screen protection

What we disliked

• Not powerful enough for N64, Dreamcast, or PS2
• 640×480 screen resolution shows its age

The post 7 Retro Handhelds So Good They Actually Beat Consoles first appeared on Yanko Design.

For power users loaded with a laptop, tablet, drone, a robot, and, of course, a smartphone, the ordinary power bank options do not make the cut. The amount of power required to keep these gadgets juiced up is considerable, especially when on the go. The only solution is a custom-made power bank that suffices all the needs of your power-hungry gadgets.

A custom-built portable power station offers a high-capacity solution for people who need to run multiple devices without reliable access to wall power. Standard consumer power banks are often too limited for users carrying a laptop, phone, tablet, router, and other gear at the same time, especially in remote or mobile situations. To solve this problem, creator Luq1308 developed the Omnibus 4×8, a DIY backpack-friendly power bank with enormous capacity and flexible output options.

Designer: Luq1308

The heart of this project is a dense battery pack made from 32 brand-new 18650 lithium-ion cells arranged in a 4S8P configuration. Each cell is rated at 3000 mAh, and when assembled into the pack and scaled for usable voltage, the complete system delivers roughly 96,000 mAh, equivalent to about 345 watt-hours (Wh) of stored energy. This substantial capacity makes it suitable for powering a range of electronics for prolonged periods without recharging. Critical to the build is a battery management system (BMS) rated for 4S and 30 amps. The BMS monitors and balances the individual cells, prevents overcharging and deep discharge, and includes multiple safety fuses. The system also draws very little power at rest, with a standby current of less than 400 microamps, helping to preserve stored energy when the unit is not in active use.

The Omnibus 4×8 offers a wide range of outputs to suit both everyday gadgets and more demanding equipment. There are four USB-C ports, each capable of delivering up to 36 watts, which is enough to charge phones and tablets simultaneously. A 100 W bidirectional USB-C port supports fast laptop charging and can also accept power input from compatible charging sources. For broader custom needs, a DC jack provides adjustable outputs between 2.7 V and 20 V, and a high-wattage XT60 connector can handle loads exceeding 400 W. A dedicated 150 W AC outlet enables the use of small appliances through an inverter, expanding the range of devices that can be supported.

Inside the power station, an ESP32-C3 microcontroller oversees system operations. It reads real-time data such as voltage, current, and temperature from sensors and displays this information on a 1.3-inch OLED screen with simple navigation buttons. Four temperature sensors monitor the battery pack, heatsinks, and inverter, and dual 40 mm cooling fans are triggered as needed to manage heat during high loads. Custom aluminum heatsinks with thermal pads are included to further reduce thermal stress.

The enclosure combines hand-cut G10 fiberglass plates for strength with 3D-printed ABS plastic sides in a subdued matte black finish. Brass spacers and mesh vents enhance airflow and protect internal components while maintaining a rugged aesthetic suitable for outdoor use. Internally, thick-gauge silicone wiring and a perfboard distribution bus with fuses connect the various modules safely and efficiently.

One notable feature of this DIY build is its adaptability. The inverter was modified to work across the full battery voltage range, and the system can accept solar input with maximum power point tracking (MPPT) for efficient off-grid recharging. All design files have been made open source on GitHub, allowing others to replicate or expand on the concept.

The post Custom-built 96,000mAh power bank charges your laptop, phone, and even runs small appliances off-grid first appeared on Yanko Design.

– Article invité, rédigé par Vincent Lautier , contient des liens affiliés Amazon –

UGREEN nous a envoyé en test sa WebCam haut de gamme FineCam Pro 4K , une webcam équipée d'un capteur CMOS 1/2 pouce de 8 mégapixels, bien plus grand que ce qu'on trouve habituellement à ce prix. Avec un autofocus PDAF, des contrôles gestuels et un tarif correct, c’est un produit franchement sympa pour ceux qui veulent améliorer leur image en visio sans se ruiner.

Un vrai bon capteur

C'est le gros argument de cette FineCam Pro 4K : son capteur CMOS de 1/2 pouce, capable de capturer 8 mégapixels. Pour une webcam, c'est franchement pas mal. Là où la plupart des modèles se contentent de capteurs minuscules qui galèrent dès que la lumière baisse, celui-ci capte bien plus de lumière et produit une image nettement plus propre, même dans un bureau mal éclairé. En 4K à 30 images par seconde, le niveau de détail est très bon, et le mode 1080p à 60 fps assure une fluidité confortable pour les visios où vous bougez beaucoup, même si ça reste assez gadget de passer à une telle vitesse.

Autofocus, gestes et double micro

Pour ce qui est de la mise au point, la marque a intégré un système qui ajuste la netteté automatiquement en temps réel, que vous soyez à 10 centimètres de la caméra, ou à 5 mètres. Vous bougez la tête, vous vous levez pour montrer un truc, la caméra suit la mise au point sans problème. Pour aller plus loin il y a des contrôles gestuels pour activer le zoom ou le recentrage, sans installer quoi que ce soit, tout est intégré dans la caméra. Vous avez aussi deux micros avec réduction de bruit active pour isoler votre voix du bordel ambiant autour de vous, ça fonctionne très bien. Un petit bouton permet aussi de choisir des filtres de couleur directement au niveau de la caméra, donc sans installer de logiciel là aussi, c'est rigolo.

(Beau gosse)

Bien équipée, bien placée

La webcam dispose d'un cache de confidentialité physique, et c'est un vrai bon point si vous êtes un peu parano. Elle est livrée avec un support magnétique et un adaptateur USB, et elle fonctionne sous Windows, macOS et Linux sans installer quoi que ce soit. Côté prix, elle est affichée aux alentours de 120 euros, mais une promo la fait passer sous la barre des 100 euros en ce moment. Il y a un autre accessoire qui est livré avec et qui change tout pour moi, c’est le petit trépied qui permet de poser, si on le souhaite, la Webcam sur le bureau, plutôt que sur l’écran. Parce que oui, moi je ne peux pas mettre de Webcam sur mon écran, parce que j’ai déjà une barre lumineuse de chez BenQ ( que j’ai testée ici ).

Bref, cette FineCam Pro 4K a pas mal d'atouts. Le capteur 1/2 pouce est clairement top, surtout dans cette gamme de prix, et ça se voit à l'usage. Les contrôles gestuels sont un plus sympa (même si on ne s'en sert pas tous les jours), et le bundle d'accessoires est nickel. Pour 120 euros, on est sur un bon rapport qualité-prix pour les visioconférences et le streaming. C’est un super choix pour qui veut passer un cran au-dessus de la webcam intégrée dégueulasse de son Mac ou de son PC portable. En tout cas moi je valide.

Notez qu’en ce moment elle est même à moins de 100 euros, il vous suffit de cocher un coupon sur Amazon au moment de la commander ! Dispo ici .

Article invité publié par Vincent Lautier .
Vous pouvez aussi me lire sur mon blog , sur Mac4ever , ou lire tous les tests que je publie ici, comme ce dock Thunderbolt 5 ou ce chargeur Anker Prime 250W .

– Article invité, rédigé par Vincent Lautier, contient des liens affiliés Amazon –

Tiens, et si on parlait de NAS aujourd’hui ? On va même parle d’une nouveauté qui est sortie il y a quelques jours, le UGREEN NASync DXP4800 Pro . On ne parle pas de la version "Plus", mais bien du modèle "Pro" qui commence à avoir de sérieux arguments pour lui.

Pour tout vous dire, j'ai profité du besoin d’un couple d'amis pour leur faire une installation propre, avec ce modèle, et c’est vraiment un super produit. Lui est sur PC, elle sur Mac, et ils bossent tout les deux dans la création audiovisuelle. Sauf que voilà, comme souvent dans ces métiers, avec des centaines de gigas de russes qui trainent un peu partout, la gestion des données devient vite un sujet sensible et d'inquiétude, avec plein de disques durs externes un peu partout, en vrac, rien de pratique.

Si on regarde dans les détails son équipement c'est vraiment pas mal du tout. Le bouzin est équipé d'un processeur  Intel Core i3-1315U avec 6 cœurs, de 8 Go de RAM DDR5 (qu'on peut pousser jusqu'à 96 Go) et surtout d'un port 10GbE et d'un port 2,5GbE. On a aussi deux emplacements M.2 NVMe pour le cache, c'est complètement optionnel mais ça peut servir pour booster les accès aux petits fichiers. Alors oui, vous allez me dire que ce NAS est peut-être un peu surdimenssioné pour un usage à la maison, mais quand on a aussi un usage pro ou semi-pro, c'est quand même rassurant d'avoir une machine qui ne sera pas à genoux dans trois ans, et qui est évolutive.

Pour l'installation des disques, on a essayé d'être stratégiques en optimisant au mieux les 4 baies. On a monté les deux premiers disques en RAID 1 pour tout ce qui touche au boulot : sauvegarde des projets, rushs originaux et documents administratifs. C'est la ceinture et les bretelles, si un disque lâche, le travail est en sécurité. Pour les deux autres baies, on est partis sur du RAID 0 dédié à Plex. Pourquoi ? Parce que leur bibliothèque de films, on s'en fiche un peu de la perdre. Si un disque fini par décéder, ce n'est pas un drame national, on re-télécharge les fichiers et c'est reparti.

Ce qui m'a vraiment bluffé, c'est la rapidité de la mise en route. En quelques minutes, l'UGOS Pro, le système d'exploitation maison basé sur Debian, était opérationnel. UGREEN a fait un boulot assez dingue sur l'interface : c'est propre, c'est fluide et on n'est pas perdu dans des menus labyrinthiques. On sent que la marque veut venir chasser sur les terres de Synology en proposant une expérience utilisateur léchée tout en gardant une puissance matérielle brute supérieure. L’installation de Plex n’est pas encore proposée nativement sur l’OS de UGREEN (ça reste possible, en passant par Docker). Mais très franchement, même sur mon Synology je préfère avoir Plex qui tourne sur une machine déporté (en l’occurrence un Mac mini dans mon cas). Pour eux, ça sera sur le PC de la maison. Le NAS servant uniquement pour le stockage et le partage de données.

Ce NAS est disponible pour sa sortie à 699,99€ en promo (au lieu de 779,99€, il faut cocher le coupon sur Amazon) , ça n’est pas donné, mais c’est vraiment un NAS très solide, bien fini, et qui doit faire le job pendant au moins 7-8 ans. Puis quand on regarde la qualité de fabrication en aluminium et la connectivité réseau, le rapport performance-prix est vraiment bon. C'est une machine de guerre silencieuse qui s'intègre parfaitement dans un bureau ou un salon. Mes amis ont maintenant un système où le PC et le Mac communiquent sans friction, avec une vitesse de transfert qui permet de monter directement depuis le NAS.

Si vous voulez un NAS solide, qui tiendra dans le temps, et que vous n'avez pas à bidouiller dans tous les sens, c'est franchement un très bon choix, et pour tout vous dire j'ai même envie d'en prendre un pour moi ha ha.

Le NAS UGREEN DXP4800 Pro est disponible ici sur Amazon , et n’oubliez pas de cocher le coupon pour avoir la promo !

Article invité publié par Vincent Lautier . Vous pouvez aussi faire un saut sur mon blog , ma page de recommandations Amazon , ou lire tous les tests que je publie dans la catégorie "Gadgets Tech" , comme cette liseuse Android de dingue ou ces AirTags pour Android !

Transformer n'importe quel écran en panneau LED géant, avec juste une URL... ça vous chauffe ? C'est en tout cas ce que propose led.run , un petit outil open source sous licence MIT qui fait le taf sans avoir besoin d'installer quoi que ce soit.

En gros, vous tapez votre texte directement dans l'URL, genre led.run/KORBEN JE T'AIME et hop, votre navigateur affiche un gros panneau lumineux comme ce qu'on retrouve dans les concerts ou dans les vitrines de magasin.

Et ça tourne dans n'importe quel navigateur (même celui de votre grille-pain connecté).

led.run en action avec le thème par défaut - sobre mais efficace

Le truc sympa, c'est qu'il y a une vingtaine de thèmes disponibles. Du néon qui clignote au style rétro avec des scanlines façon vieux moniteur CRT, en passant par un mode "panneau routier", un effet feu d'artifice ou encore une ambiance Shibuya sous la pluie. Y'a même un thème "bois artisanal" pour ceux qui veulent faire chic. Attention par contre, sur un vieux smartphone certains effets un peu chargés peuvent ramer.

Et tout se paramètre via l'URL. Vous voulez du texte rouge ? Ajoutez ?c=ff0000. Un fond blanc semi-transparent ? ?bg=40ffffff. Du défilement vers la droite à vitesse turbo ? ?speed=120&dir=right. C'est super car avec ça vous pouvez automatiser plein de trucs. Par exemple je me ferais bien un panneau d'affichage au dessus de la porte du bureau pour dire aux enfants de pas débouler en plein pendant mes lives Twitch (oui c'est les vacances en ce moment...).

Vive l'éducation positive !

D'ailleurs, l'outil détecte automatiquement si votre texte est court ou long. Dix caractères ou moins, ça s'affiche en mode panneau statique. Au-delà, ça défile tout seul. En fait c'est plutôt bien foutu, sauf si vous voulez un long texte en statique... dans ce cas, forcez avec ?mode=sign ou ?mode=flow.

Voilà c'est parfait pour transformer un vieil iPad ou une tablette Android en enseigne de bar ("HAPPY HOUR JUSQU'À 21H"), brandir votre téléphone en mode pancarte à un concert pour dire à Taylor Swift que vous voulez l'épouser, ou afficher un "NE PAS DÉRANGER ON BRASSE DU VENT" sur l'écran de la salle de réunion.

Voilà voilà. Si vous avez une vieille tablette qui traîne, vous savez quoi en faire maintenant.

C'est sur GitHub !

Merci à Lorenper pour la découverte !

If you appreciate retro computing and DIY electronics, a new project from This Does Not Compute (YouTube channel) will be the best thing you will see today. The build emulates the 1984 Apple Macintosh, but in a miniaturized version. Not the smallest, but decently small to sit in the corner of your desk and do more than its intended function of a clock.

If that sounds puzzling, here’s a clearer explanation. The modder has actually taken a Maclock, which is a clock that looks identical to the original Mac, but of course considerably smaller, and ripped it open. He replaced the original alarm clock mechanics with a Raspberry Pi, turning it into a homage to the classic Apple computer.

Designer: This Does Not Compute

The project, as the modder himself states, “is just for fun” and doesn’t really reach out to prove anything other than love to toil with anything Mac. With the innards of the clock replaced by Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, the original display of the clock is also swapped with a 640×480 2.8-in color screen from Wave Share, and the project is interestingly called Wondermac. The name is in reference to Wonder Boy, the Chinese company that makes Maclock.

The modder, as you can see in detail in the video above, starts by cracking open the Maclock case, which has screws, but they are only used to mimic the Macintosh and have no significant usage. Opening the case was “probably the hardest part of the whole project,” he says. The case is clipped together pretty tightly, but he was able to separate the front bezel from the back using a wide metal pry tool. Once the front panel was free, he unplugged the wiring harness and pulled out the main circuit board and the screen to clear up the space inside the Maclock body, which will now have new guts and a new purpose.

“Compact, low power, and relatively inexpensive,” Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W was a clear choice for the Mac’s innards, the modder affirms. It comes with a pin header presoldered and includes a heatsink, which would be a nifty addition to keep this tiny computer cool when it does some computing. The Pi is now connected to the externally purchased screen, and the modder gets down to launching the Raspberry Pi imager app and installing Minivvac on an SD card for the software side of the project.

For powering the Wondermac, the modder doesn’t rely on the Maclock’s built-in battery; instead, they take advantage of the USB-C port on the back housing for power. After some tweaking to power output, some wire soldering, and sticking, he was able to get the power going as required to run the screen. Finally, he designed a 3D printed bracket with black filament to fit the screen in place, and then everything was assembled back into shape. Content with the outcome, he leaves the little Mac on the desk with the Afterdark screen saver.

The post This Does Not Compute Turns Tiny Mac Clock Into Working Raspberry Pi Macintosh first appeared on Yanko Design.

– Article invité, rédigé par Vincent Lautier, contient des liens affiliés Amazon –

Je vais vous parler d’un truc improbable aujourd’hui. Comme je suis passionné de tests à la con et de trucs genre télé-achat, on me qualifie parfois de vendeur de tapis. Eh bien vous savez quoi, je vais le prendre au pied de la lettre, et je vais vous parler d’un tapis que j’ai acheté ha ha.

J’ai déménagé récemment dans un nouvel appartement, avec un chouette bureau, équipé d’un parquet en bois. Jusque-là rien de fou, c’est la première fois que j’ai un bureau avec un parquet. Sauf que littéralement 48 heures après mon emménagement, j’ai eu une lettre de mon voisin du dessous m’expliquant que j’étais un affreux punk qui faisait trop de bruit au-dessus de sa tête. J’ai compris que ma chaise de bureau avec ses roulettes, en plus d’abîmer le parquet, faisait un bruit des enfers chez mon voisin du dessous.

Je me suis souvenu qu’il existait des sortes de tapis en plastique transparent pour ce genre de truc, j’ai déjà eu ça chez certains clients chez qui je travaillais. C’était moche et pas très agréable sous la roulette. Alors j’ai cherché sur Amazon et j’ai trouvé ce truc merveilleux . C’est un petit tapis assez fin en polyester, qui permet tout simplement de cesser le bruit infernal des roulettes sur le parquet, et en plus de le protéger. Il y a plein de designs assez mignons, moi j’ai choisi celui-ci un peu vintage, et franchement, c’est top. C’est fin, c’est dense, les bords ne repiquent pas, et ça évite les traces de votre chaise de bureau.

Le gain au niveau du bruit généré par votre chaise est assez fou, les vibrations aussi sont absorbées, et le tout adhère parfaitement au sol. Si vous décidez de le déplacer, il ne laissera aucune trace, c’est vraiment un tapis, juste avec la bonne texture et la bonne épaisseur. Vous pouvez même le passer à la machine à laver si besoin.

Bref, voilà, si vous avez une chaise de bureau posée sur un sol dur, je recommande très très fort. Disponible ici sur Amazon .

Article invité publié par Vincent Lautier . Vous pouvez aussi faire un saut sur mon blog , ma page de recommandations Amazon , ou lire tous les tests que je publie dans la catégorie "Gadgets Tech" , comme cette liseuse Android de dingue ou ces AirTags pour Android !

There’s something deeply satisfying about watching designers take a swing at corporate boredom. Fevertime, a recent collaboration by Dugyeong Lee, Gyeong Wook Kim, MyeongHoon Cheon, and Dayong Yoon, does exactly that by transforming the typical video conference setup into something that looks like it belongs in a mid-80s arcade.

The concept is deceptively simple: what if meetings felt less like mandatory Zoom rectangles and more like gathering around a shared screen? The team created a physical meeting system inspired by retro game consoles, complete with a bright red spherical camera perched on a stand like some cheerful robot companion, and a base unit that wouldn’t look out of place next to your old Nintendo. There are even cartridge-style slots and that unmistakable game controller aesthetic, all rendered in a palette of scorched red, neon accents, and soft grays.

Designers: Dugyeong Lee, Gyeong Wook Kim, MyeongHoon Cheon, dayong Yoon

But this isn’t just nostalgia bait. The designers identified a real problem with modern collaboration tools: everyone staring at their own screens creates this weird isolation, even when you’re supposedly “together” in a virtual room. Fevertime flips that script by projecting content onto a shared surface, encouraging actual eye contact and spatial awareness. The physical device becomes a focal point, something to gather around rather than disappear behind.

The system lets users set up meetings in advance, defining time, participants, and structure before anyone logs on. When the session starts, participants can instantly share content from their personal devices onto the collective display. Everything stays synced and visible to everyone simultaneously. No more “Can you see my screen?” or fumbling through share settings while everyone waits. The interface shows meeting cards, schedules, and project data in a clean, modular layout that feels more like organizing a playlist than managing corporate logistics.

What makes Fevertime visually compelling is how committed it is to the gaming metaphor. The red sphere isn’t trying to look sleek or invisible like most tech hardware. It wants to be noticed. It practically begs to be the conversation starter in the room. The cartridge system for what appears to be different meeting modes or templates plays into that collectible, tactable quality that made physical media so satisfying. You’re not just clicking through digital menus; you’re handling objects, sliding things into slots, physically engaging with the technology.

The UI design carries that same energy. Bright pink highlight screens pop against neutral backgrounds. Typography is bold and condensed, channeling the space constraints of old arcade cabinets where every pixel counted. Cards and modules feel like game level selects or achievement screens. There’s a playful confidence in the branding, with the Fevertime logo rendered in that wavy, almost melting typography that suggests heat and intensity without being aggressive.

The designers describe the project as capturing “a single moment of high-intensity creative output,” that fever state when an idea finally clicks and everything flows. That philosophy shows up in the pulsing, breathing quality of the custom lettering, where font weights fluctuate to create visual rhythm. It’s design that refuses to sit still, much like the creative process it’s trying to facilitate.

From a product design perspective, Fevertime sits in that interesting space between speculative concept and plausible near-future tech. The physical components look production-ready, with thoughtful details like ventilation ridges on the base unit and a weighted stand for the camera sphere. But there’s also a conceptual boldness here, a willingness to say “what if meeting technology looked completely different from what we’re used to?”

The team used Adobe’s creative suite to develop the project, combining Photoshop and Illustrator for the identity work with After Effects for motion elements. That mix of static and animated content gives Fevertime a kinetic presence even in still images. You can imagine the interface cards sliding, the logo pulsing, the whole system humming with that arcade-ready energy.

Whether Fevertime ever makes it to market is almost beside the point. As a design exercise, it asks useful questions about how we physically and emotionally experience collaboration technology. It challenges the assumption that workplace tools need to look serious and minimal. And it demonstrates how pulling from gaming culture can make even something as mundane as meeting software feel fresh and approachable. Sometimes the best design projects are the ones that make you think, “Wait, why doesn’t everything look like this?”

The post Someone Finally Made Video Meetings Look Like a Game Console first appeared on Yanko Design.

– Article invité, rédigé par Vincent Lautier, contient des liens affiliés Amazon –

En mai dernier, je vous parlais de mon coup de cœur pour le Revodok Max 213, un dock très complet , Thunderbolt 4, qui faisait déjà des miracles sur mon bureau. Sauf que voilà, les mois ont passé, et je suis un geek bien trop relou pour accepter de continuer à utiliser un ancien modèle, alors qu'il a été mis à jour ! Entre une promotion indécente sur Amazon et mon envie de préparer le terrain pour mon future MacBook Pro, j'ai fini par sauter le pas pour le UGREEN Revodok Max 2131, la déclinaison Thunderbolt 5 , et je suis bien content.

Soyons honnêtes deux minutes : mon MacBook Air M4 actuel ne gère "que" le Thunderbolt 4. En branchant cette nouvelle version, je ne gagne clairement pas de vitesse de transfert immédiate par rapport à mon ancien modèle. C’est même techniquement surdimensionné pour mon usage actuel, mais l'investissement est en fait stratégique. Je prévois de passer au prochain MacBook Pro M5 dès sa sortie, et avec ce dock, je suis certain que mon setup sera prêt le jour J pour exploiter la pleine puissance du TB5. Et puis surtout, à 315 euros au lieu de 450 euros, je n'avais pas trop à hésiter.

Alors sur le papier vous le savez, l'intérêt du Thunderbolt 5 c'est surtout sa bande passante délirante. On passe de 40 Gbps à 80 Gbps bidirectionnels, et même jusqu'à 120 Gbps via le mode "Bandwidth Boost" pour l'affichage. Pour ceux qui travaillent avec des écrans haute résolution, c'est quand même sympathique. Ce modèle permet de gérer un double affichage 8K à 60 Hz sur les puces Pro et Max, ou de saturer des SSD externes ultra-rapides sans ressentir le moindre ralentissement sur le reste des ports. Zéro compromis donc.

C'est aussi un monstre de charge.

On passe de 90W sur l'ancien modèle à 140W de Power Delivery sur celui-ci. Pour mon MacBook Air, c'est toujours inutile, mais pour les utilisateurs de PC portables gaming ou de MacBook Pro gourmands en ressources, vous pouvez mettre le chargeur d'origine de votre ordi à la poubelle. La station gère intelligemment la distribution d'énergie, envoyant même du jus supplémentaire sur les ports de façade pour charger un smartphone ou une tablette en charge rapide simultanément.

Il a plutôt une bonne tête en plus, avec un châssis en aluminium pour bien dissiper la chaleur. La connectique est complète avec 13 ports, dont du RJ45 en 2,5 GbE pour les amateurs de réseaux rapides et des lecteurs de cartes microSD et SD 4.0 pour les photographes comme moi. Point important quand même, il faut obligatoirement être sous macOS 15 Sequoia ou Windows 11 pour en profiter pleinement, mais bon, si vous lorgnez sur ce genre de produit, c'est que vous êtes à jour.

Bon, vous l'avez compris, si vous aimez avoir du bon matériel sur votre bureau, ça se considère clairement, surtout avec la promo actuelle sur Amazon. Et oui, même si votre ordinateur du moment est limité au Thunderbolt 4, vous gagnez quand même en puissance de charge, et vous êtes déjà prêts pour votre prochaine évolution matérielle. Dispo ici sur Amazon !

Article invité publié par Vincent Lautier . Vous pouvez aussi faire un saut sur mon blog , ma page de recommandations Amazon , ou lire tous les tests que je publie dans la catégorie "Gadgets Tech" , comme cette liseuse Android de dingue ou ces AirTags pour Android !

Digital nomads, field photographers, and mobile creatives share a common frustration: needing wall outlet power in places that don’t have walls. USB power banks handle phones and tablets, but cameras, projectors, and portable monitors still demand actual AC power. The world’s slimmest AC power bank exists because someone finally asked the right question: why do portable power stations look like car batteries instead of something you’d actually pack? The Noomdot N1 brings 70W of pure sine wave AC output to a device thin enough to slip into the laptop sleeve of a standard backpack.

At 16mm thick, it’s built around portability rather than maximum runtime. The semi-solid-state battery delivers approximately 40 minutes of continuous output at full 70W load, or several hours for lower-draw devices like LED lights or camera batteries. That’s not camping-weekend capacity, it’s designed for day trips, flights, and situations where outlets exist but aren’t convenient. The unit stays flight-safe under 100Wh limits, recharges in 90 minutes, and includes both USB-C PD output and pass-through charging. It’s live on Kickstarter at early pricing before the $259 retail launch.

Designer: PB-ELE

Click Here to Buy Now: $169 $259 ($90 off) Hurry! Only 17 of 200 left.

Years ago, a company called Memobottle had a brilliant, simple idea: since our bags are full of flat things like books and laptops, why are our water bottles round? The Noomdot N1 is the Memobottle of portable power, born from that same flash of spatial intelligence. It abandons the dense, pocket-bulging brick in favor of a slim slab of milled aluminum designed to slide into the forgotten spaces of a laptop sleeve or document pouch. This design is not an aesthetic choice; it is a fundamental understanding of the modern carry ecosystem. The N1 is engineered to be a good citizen in a world of flat devices, integrating seamlessly rather than demanding you build your bag around its awkward shape.

The use of a semi-solid-state battery is what enables this form factor without compromising on safety or longevity. While not a true solid-state cell, this hybrid chemistry significantly reduces the amount of volatile liquid electrolyte, leading to better thermal stability and a much slower rate of degradation. The claim of retaining 99% capacity after 100 full charge cycles is a direct benefit of this technology. For anyone who has felt the disappointment of a lithium-ion pack that barely holds a charge after a year, this focus on durability is a welcome and practical innovation. It reframes the device as a lasting piece of essential kit.

The main event is, of course, the 70W AC outlet. Its pure sine wave inverter is the kind of detail that professionals appreciate, ensuring clean, stable power that will not harm sensitive electronics. This is what separates it from cheaper, modified sine wave alternatives that can introduce electrical noise or even damage delicate circuits in cameras and audio gear. The inclusion of a 60W USB-C PD port is a nod to modern workflows, allowing it to charge a laptop directly or be slowly recharged itself. For a quick turnaround, the dedicated DC input remains king, refueling the entire 20,000mAh capacity in a scant 90 minutes.

Packing an inverter into a 16mm-thin chassis is a thermal challenge, and the N1 addresses this with a feature I’ve never seen in a power bank: an active cooling fan. An internal 6000 RPM fan kicks in during AC output to pull heat away from the core components, ensuring the device can sustain its peak performance without overheating. It is a pragmatic, if slightly brute-force, solution. The tradeoff is acoustics. While the fan is likely tuned to be as quiet as possible, it will not be silent… but that’s honestly a tiny price to pay for running a bunch of appliances or charging gadgets off a ‘wall-less power outlet’.

The N1 is a tool for a very specific mission: bridging the gap when AC power is needed for a short, critical period. It is for the wedding photographer who needs to juice up strobe batteries between the ceremony and reception. It is for the consultant who needs to run a projector for a 30-minute pitch in a conference room with no available outlets. Its 40-minute runtime at maximum load defines its purpose clearly. This is not an off-grid power solution for a weekend in the woods; it is a mobile professional’s get-out-of-jail-free card, ensuring a dead battery never becomes a single point of failure.

An IPX4 rating means it can shrug off a sudden rain shower, and passing a 1-meter drop test suggests it can survive being fumbled out of a backpack. These are not features one typically finds on power banks, and they speak to an understanding of the chaotic nature of travel and fieldwork. Combined with its TSA-friendly sub-100Wh capacity, the N1 is one of the few AC power sources truly designed from the ground up to leave the house and see the world, legally and safely.

You get to choose between two variants – 110V and 220V (depending on the country you live in and the rated voltage its appliances operate on). The Noomdot N1 ships along with a DC adapter for charging it, at a fairly discounted price of $169 ($90 less than its MSRP of $259). The device ships globally starting May 2026.

Click Here to Buy Now: $169 $259 ($90 off) Hurry! Only 17 of 200 left.

The post World’s Slimmest AC Power Bank Can Run Appliances And Charge Your Laptop At Just 0.6 Inches Thick first appeared on Yanko Design.

Lighting Design in 2026 has shifted from a background utility to an emotional design language, influencing how spaces are experienced while shaping atmosphere, flow, and everyday comfort. Today, light works quietly in the background, adapting to your routines, responding to natural rhythms, and enhancing your experience of home.

Rather than acting as a static fixture, lighting now plays an active role in creating atmosphere. Soft transitions, layered illumination, and nature-inspired tones help interiors feel calmer, warmer, and more connected to the outside world. Whether you are unwinding after a long day or starting your morning, let’s decode how 2026’s lighting trends support the emotional flow of your space, making the home feel less like a structure and more like a living, responsive environment.

1. Invisible Smart Lighting

In 2026, the most advanced lighting systems are designed to blend effortlessly into your space. Powered by Ambient Intelligence, they use sensors and AI to adjust brightness and tone based on occupancy, daylight levels, and your daily routines. Instead of relying on switches, light flows naturally from one area to another, subtly guiding movement and defining zones without drawing attention to the technology behind it.

This approach focuses on supporting your body’s natural rhythms. Predictive dimming and gentle colour shifts mirror the changing quality of daylight, helping you feel more alert during the day and relaxed in the evening. By working in sync with your internal clock, lighting becomes an invisible wellness tool that improves comfort, focus, and overall quality of living.

This AI-assisted ceiling light illuminates the lives of the elderly while monitoring their safety

AI-enabled lighting systems for elderly care combine illumination with continuous health and safety monitoring. Integrated sensors and computer vision allow the lamp to detect falls, unusual movement patterns, and prolonged inactivity, while also tracking indicators such as respiration and coughing. Advanced algorithms analyse behaviour over time to predict potential risks before accidents occur. When an incident is detected, the system automatically alerts designated caregivers or emergency contacts, enabling faster response and reducing the severity of injury through timely intervention.

Designed to function as a standard household lamp, this technology integrates seamlessly into residential interiors without appearing medical or intrusive. The familiar form factor encourages acceptance while delivering round-the-clock support through a single device. With low heat emission, energy-efficient LEDs, and autonomous operation, AI lighting solutions provide a scalable approach to assisted living. By combining safety, monitoring, and illumination in one product, these systems offer a practical way to support independent ageing while maintaining comfort, privacy, and dignity.

2. Sculptural Light Forms

Lighting fixtures are increasingly treated as architectural features rather than background utilities. Instead of relying on scattered recessed ceiling lights, spaces now favour bold, sculptural pieces that visually anchor the room. These luminaires are appreciated for their authentic materials, including hand-blown recycled glass, alabaster, and bio-based composites, which add depth and softness while creating a gentle, diffused glow.

Beyond function, such fixtures shape how you perceive space. A large pendant naturally draws the eye, balancing volume and form while adding a sense of rhythm to the interior. Light becomes a focal point that connects design with atmosphere, creating rooms that feel considered, expressive, and emotionally engaging.

The Arc Lamp by designer Divyansh Tripathi is defined by a single bent wooden arm that curves gracefully to support a suspended light source, creating a strong sculptural identity. The continuous arc forms a balanced structure that distributes weight evenly while guiding the eye from base to bulb. This fluid geometry gives the lamp a sense of motion, turning a functional object into a visual centrepiece suitable for display as much as daily use. The suspended bulb is positioned to provide soft ambient illumination while reducing direct glare.

Material choice is central to the lamp’s character and performance. Bent timber introduces warmth, tactile depth, and visible grain patterns that make each piece visually distinct. Finished with protective natural coatings, the wood maintains its organic appearance while ensuring durability. Paired with a low-profile LED bulb, the lamp delivers even, diffused light that enhances surrounding textures without overpowering the space. Its minimal structure allows it to integrate across interior styles, functioning as a lighting solution and a collectible design object.

3. Honest Sustainable Materials

Lighting design now places strong emphasis on the full life cycle of a fixture, not just its appearance. You see a growing focus on low-impact production, modular construction, and upgradable LED components that extend usability rather than encouraging replacement. Materials such as repurposed mycelium, salt crystals, and recycled composites are no longer experimental choices but trusted options for those who value responsible design.

This shift brings both ethical and practical benefits. Durable construction and adaptable technology mean fixtures last longer and age more gracefully. When materials are chosen for integrity and longevity, lighting becomes more than décor as it becomes a lasting design investment, valued for craftsmanship and environmental responsibility rather than short-term trend appeal.

The Air suspension light by Contardi Lighting, designed in collaboration with Adam Tihany, is engineered to deliver soft, evenly distributed ambient illumination. Its dual-shade construction houses upper and lower LED light sources that spread light both upward and downward, improving overall spatial brightness while avoiding direct glare. Laser-cut detailing on the shades allows controlled light diffusion, creating subtle shadow patterns that add visual depth without reducing functional output. This configuration supports balanced lighting suitable for dining areas, lounges, and hospitality interiors.

Lighting efficiency is supported by the use of high-performance LED modules that maintain consistent colour temperature and stable light intensity over time. The shade material is designed to transmit and reflect light effectively, ensuring minimal loss while preserving a warm tonal quality. The integrated structure reduces the need for additional ambient fixtures, making the lamp suitable as a primary light source in medium-sized spaces.

4. Power of Shadow

Good lighting design recognises that darkness plays just as important a role as illumination. Instead of flooding every corner with brightness, subtractive lighting uses restraint to highlight key architectural features while allowing other areas to remain calm and visually quiet. This balance of light and shadow adds depth, especially in double-height or open-plan spaces, where contrast helps define structure and scale.

Techniques such as narrow-beam spotlights and subtle floor-level washes guide movement and create visual pauses. As you move through the home, light reveals selected moments rather than everything at once. The result feels intentional and layered, turning everyday interiors into curated, gallery-like environments instead of uniformly lit, commercial-looking spaces.

The Foreshadow Table Lamp is designed to transform direct illumination into patterned ambient light. Its perforated metal shade filters the light source into multiple fine beams, projecting structured shadows across nearby surfaces. This controlled diffusion adds visual depth while maintaining functional brightness for side tables, consoles, and accent lighting applications. The lighting effect varies depending on placement, surface finishes, and surrounding geometry, allowing the lamp to interact with its environment rather than delivering flat, uniform output.

Construction focuses on durability and tactile quality. The metal shade features precision-punched perforations that regulate light distribution while maintaining structural rigidity. The matte finish reduces surface glare and complements both contemporary and transitional interiors. When switched off, the lamp retains a clean, sculptural profile, functioning as a decorative object even without illumination. Designed to operate as a lighting fixture and an ambient feature, the Foreshadow Table Lamp provides atmospheric enhancement while remaining practical for everyday use.

5. Colour and Comfort

Modern lighting is closely linked to energy efficiency and indoor comfort. Advanced LED systems release very little heat, helping reduce strain on cooling and ventilation systems while keeping rooms comfortable throughout the day. This makes lighting an active part of managing how a space performs, not just how it looks.

At the same time, colour temperature is used to influence how warm or cool a room feels. You can shift from soft, golden tones during colder months to cooler, moonlit hues in warmer seasons, subtly shaping your emotional and physical response to the space. By adjusting light colour, interiors feel more adaptable, balanced, and supportive of everyday well-being.

The Wipro EcoLumi Flex is a modular lighting concept designed to function as a table lamp and a suspended ceiling fixture. Its adjustable structure allows users to modify height and angle through a simple twist mechanism, ensuring precise light placement for different tasks. A slidable shade enables directional control and glare reduction, improving visual comfort during focused work. Multiple units can be connected using integrated joints and connectors, allowing customised lighting layouts for desks, workstations, or collaborative spaces.

Lighting performance is enhanced through built-in circadian modes that automatically adjust brightness and colour temperature throughout the day. Warm tones support relaxed morning and evening use, while cooler light promotes alertness and productivity during peak work hours. The modular construction supports part replacement and future upgrades, reducing material waste and extending product lifespan.

Lighting is evolving into a true architectural philosophy in 2026, where atmosphere takes precedence over mere fixtures. Intelligent systems, sculptural forms, and sustainable materials work together to create spaces that are visually compelling.

The post 5 Smart Lighting Trends That Just Made Traditional Fixtures Look Outdated first appeared on Yanko Design.

– Article invité, rédigé par Vincent Lautier, contient des liens affiliés Amazon –

Après cinq ans sans mise à jour, Apple sort enfin la deuxième génération de ses traqueurs Bluetooth. Je les ai reçus ce matin, et je les ai testés dans la foulée. Le verdict ? Des améliorations bienvenues, mais pas de quoi jeter vos anciens AirTags.

Ils ont quoi de neuf ?

Apple a franchement pris son temps pour sortir cette nouvelle version, et les nouveautés se comptent sur les doigts d'une petite main à laquelle il manquerait pas mal de doigts. La puce Ultra Wideband passe à la dernière génération (celle des iPhone 17). Sur le papier, la fonction de localisation précise fonctionne 1,5 fois plus loin qu'avant. Dans les faits, chez moi ça détecte à 24 mètres au lieu de 19 mètres. Pour retrouver vos clés sous un coussin de canapé, ça ne change pas grand-chose. Pour un sac dans un aéroport bondé, c'est déjà un peu plus utile, mais ça ne changera pas la face du monde.

Le haut-parleur gagne, lui, 50 % de volume. Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire ? Eh bien ça veut en fait dire qu’on entend le son à environ deux fois la distance. J'ai testé chez moi, l'ancien AirTag devenait à peine audible à travers deux murs, le nouveau s’entend un peu plus. C'est la seule amélioration vraiment perceptible au quotidien.

Alors il y a aussi cette fonction de recherche précise qui arrive sur les versions récentes d'Apple Watch. C'est vaguement pratique quand on n'a pas son iPhone sous la main. On peut retrouver ses affaires directement depuis le poignet avec la flèche directionnelle. Mais bon, clairement, c’est très niche comme besoin, et pour être très honnête avec vous, j'ai été infoutu de la faire fonctionner haha.

Design et compatibilité

Et sinon, bah absolument aucun changement côté design. C'est toujours le même petit galet blanc et acier, il a juste gagné 1 gramme sur la balance**.** La batterie reste une CR2032 standard. On aurait aimé une batterie intégrée et une recharge sans fil, mais on attendra visiblement 5 ans de plus pour ça.

On achète ?

L'AirTag 2 coûte 35 euros à l'unité ou 120 euros le pack de quatre en France. Bon, ok. Sauf que voilà : les AirTags 1 sont régulièrement en promotion. En ce moment, on trouve le pack de quatre à 100 euros sur Amazon, et 30 euros pour une seule unité . Eh bien vous savez quoi ? Même moi qui adore tous les derniers trucs de chez Apple, je ne vous recommanderais pas ces AirTags 2. Trouvez plutôt les 1 en promotion, et si vous êtes sur Android, vous prenez ceux-là qui sont très bien !

Article invité publié par Vincent Lautier . Vous pouvez aussi faire un saut sur mon blog , ma page de recommandations Amazon , ou lire tous les tests que je publie dans la catégorie "Gadgets Tech" , comme cette liseuse Android de dingue ou ces AirTags pour Android !

We’re living through a strange moment where our refrigerators are smarter than ever, our thermostats learn our habits, and now, apparently, dogs can control household appliances. The Dogosophy Button, developed by researchers at The Open University’s Animal-Computer Interaction Laboratory, is a wireless switch designed specifically for canine use. Think of it as a smart home device, but instead of asking Alexa, you’re teaching your golden retriever.

This isn’t some novelty gadget cooked up to go viral on TikTok. The button is the result of years of serious research led by Professor Clara Mancini, who runs the ACI Lab. Initially created for assistance dogs who need to help their owners turn on lights, fans, or kettles, the button has now been launched to the public for any dog owner who wants to give their pet a bit more agency. The philosophy behind it, called “Dogosophy,” centers on designing technology around how dogs actually experience the world, rather than forcing them to adapt to our human habits.

Designer: The Open University’s Animal-Computer Interaction Laboratory

So what makes this button dog-friendly? Start with color. Dogs see the world differently than we do, and blue happens to be one of the colors they can recognize most clearly. The button’s push pad is a bright blue, set against a white casing that creates high contrast, making it easier to spot against floors, walls, or furniture. The slightly curved, raised shape means dogs can press it from various angles without needing pinpoint accuracy, which anyone who’s watched a dog enthusiastically miss their water bowl can appreciate.

The button itself is built to handle the reality of being used by an animal. The outer casing is sturdy plastic designed to withstand repeated nose-booping and paw-whacking. The push pad has a textured surface that helps dogs grip without slipping, whether they’re using their snout or paw. Inside, a small light flashes when the button is pressed, soft enough not to hurt their eyes but clear enough to confirm the action worked. It’s the kind of thoughtful design that comes from actually studying how dogs interact with objects, not just shrinking human tech down to pet size.

The system is refreshingly simple. Each set includes the button, a receiver, and basic mounting hardware. The receiver plugs into whatever appliance you want your dog to control, from a lamp to a fan to a kettle. The button connects wirelessly up to 40 meters away, giving you flexibility in where you place it. Press the button once, the appliance turns on. Press it again, it turns off. No app required, no monthly subscription, no “please update your firmware” notifications.

For assistance dogs, this kind of tool is genuinely useful. A dog trained to help someone with mobility issues could turn on a light when their owner enters a dark room or switch on a fan during hot weather. But the public release opens up more playful possibilities. Your dog could theoretically learn to turn on a fan when they’re overheated, activate a toy dispenser when they’re bored, or signal when they want attention by flipping a lamp on and off like a furry poltergeist.

Of course, training matters. Professor Mancini tested the button with her own husky, Kara, noting that huskies are notoriously stubborn compared to more biddable breeds like Labradors. The button works if your dog is motivated and you’re patient. This isn’t plug-and-play; it’s more like plug-and-train-with-treats-and-repetition.

The Dogosophy Button is priced at £96 (including VAT) and is currently available through retailers like Story & Sons. Whether it becomes a legitimate tool for pet owners or just an interesting experiment in animal-computer interaction remains to be seen. But there’s something appealing about the idea of designing technology that considers more than just human needs. Professor Mancini puts it plainly: humans have built a world measured for ourselves, often pushing other species out. A button that meets dogs on their terms feels like a small step toward sharing space more thoughtfully.

The post Your Dog Can Now Turn On the Lights (No, Really) first appeared on Yanko Design.

– Article invité, rédigé par Vincent Lautier, contient des liens affiliés Amazon –

Bon vous commencez à le savoir, j’ai une passion sans nom pour les câbles et les chargeurs USB-C. Mais j’imagine que je ne suis pas le seul, On connaît tous cette angoisse du geek en vadrouille : le sac à dos qui pèse un âne mort à cause de la collection de transformateurs qu'on se sent obligé de trimballer. Entre la brique du MacBook, le chargeur rapide du smartphone et celui de la tablette, on se retrouve vite avec une multiprise ambulante. Après avoir bavé devant son annonce, j’ai fini par acheter le tout dernier Anker Prime 160W , et si vous cherchez à optimiser votre setup de voyage, ce petit concentré de technologie risque fort de vous taper dans l'œil. C’est clairement une dinguerie.

La première chose qui frappe quand on déballe la bête, c'est le contraste entre sa taille et sa fiche technique. Anker a réussi à faire tenir une puissance totale de 160 Watts dans un boîtier de plus en plus compact qui n'est pas beaucoup plus gros qu'un boîtier d'AirPods Pro. Grâce à l'utilisation massive du GaN (Nitrure de Gallium), ils obtiennent une densité énergétique de plus en plus folle, rendant ce chargeur environ 70 % plus petit que si vous deviez empiler les trois chargeurs standards nécessaires pour obtenir la même puissance. C'est fini l'époque où puissance rimait forcément avec encombrement. Mais ce qui est fou c’est quand on compare ce chargeur à des chargeurs GaN d’il y a un ou deux ans, les progrès sont encore fous…

Sous le capot, la gestion de l'énergie est impressionnante grâce à leur puce PowerIQ 5.0. Si vous êtes pressé et que vous branchez uniquement votre ordinateur portable sur le port principal, le chargeur est capable de délivrer 140 Watts en continu, ce qui permet par exemple de remonter la batterie d'un MacBook Pro 16" de 0 à 50 % en seulement 25 minutes. Mais la vraie force du produit réside dans sa capacité à gérer trois appareils simultanément sans sourciller. Vous pouvez brancher votre laptop, votre iPhone 16 et votre iPad en même temps, et le chargeur va négocier intelligemment la tension pour chaque port afin d'optimiser la vitesse de charge globale sans surchauffe.

Là où Anker va chercher notre petit cœur de geek, c'est avec l'intégration de la technologie AnkerSense View. Le chargeur est équipé d'un écran tactile et rotatif qui vous donne toutes les infos en temps réel. C'est peut-être un détail pour le commun des mortels, mais voir s'afficher la puissance exacte délivrée à chaque appareil ou la température interne du chargeur procure une satisfaction assez particulière.

Screenshot

Le tout est même connecté en Bluetooth, ce qui vous permet via l'application dédiée de surveiller les courbes de consommation, de vérifier la santé de la charge ou même de définir une priorité sur un port spécifique directement depuis votre smartphone.

Au final, même si le tarif dépasse les 100 euros (souvent en promo) ce qui peut sembler élevé pour un accessoire, c'est un investissement que je recommande vivement à ceux qui bougent beaucoup. Remplacer trois blocs d'alimentation par un seul objet aussi design, performant et intelligent, c'est un vrai gain de confort au quotidien. C'est typiquement le genre d'accessoire qu'on regrette de ne pas avoir acheté plus tôt une fois qu'on l'a glissé dans sa poche. Il est disponible par ici sur Amazon !

Article invité publié par Vincent Lautier . Vous pouvez aussi faire un saut sur mon blog , ma page de recommandations Amazon , ou lire tous les tests que je publie dans la catégorie "Gadgets Tech" , comme cette liseuse Android de dingue ou ces AirTags pour Android !

For audiophiles, nothing gets beyond their love for music and the audio gear they own. The exploration for the best headphone, IEM, or DAC never ends, given there is so much to discover and the different permutations of combining the gear for blissful audio output. This has consequently led to several brands trying to cater to this serious hobby while staying on a budget.

Fiio, as a Chi-Fi brand, has ensured that audiophiles don’t always have to invest in steeply priced gear to get the preferred sound without breaking the budget. The DM15 R2R Portable CD Player by the Chinese brand already demonstrated how serious they are about spreading the love for music in all forms and shapes. Now they’ve revealed the Snowsky Disc digital audio player, which is the perfect amalgam of modern audio technology and the unrelenting charm of the CD player.

Designer: Fiio

The compact DAP is designed with the needs of modern audiophiles in mind, who prioritize audio quality, intuitive operation, and a love for physical music libraries. Versatility is the key here as the audio player is compatible with all the devices you throw at it, and supports a wide array of file types. Connect it to your valued in-ear monitors or pair it with sensitive headphones; Snowsky Disc can handle it all without much fuss. The player is built on a dual DAC architecture that promises balanced, clean, and detailed audio, no matter what file type you are playing it through. This enhances the overall musical tonality for a more engaging listening experience.

The CD player-inspired design of this DAP is something anyone would appreciate. There’s a circular touch screen on the front to toggle all the on-screen controls. The inclusion of lyrics playback and album artwork adds to the engagement with your music listening sessions. The audio gadget can also be controlled via the compatible smartphone app for convenience. Along with support for 2TB memory expansion to carry your high-resolution music files, the player also supports audio streaming via apps. It has built-in Wi-Fi support for AirPlay streaming and installing firmware updates on the fly.

For wired connectivity, the player has a USB-C port, a 3.5mm single-ended jack, and a 4.4mm balanced output. The player can even be connected to external DACs, hi-fi systems, amplifiers, and other audio gear via the SPDIF output. If you want to enjoy music wirelessly, the LDAC high-res codec can be connected to supported headphones, IEMs, and earbuds. Snowsky Disc boasts 12 hours of playback, which is enough to get you through a day of work or travel. Priced at $80, the digital audio player will be available to buy in January.

The post Fiio Snowsky Disc is a compact audio player tailored for modern listeners first appeared on Yanko Design.