Category: Technologies

When it comes to premium smartphones, the two most prominent options have different approaches to taking photos. The shiny titanium-clad and -colored $1,300 Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra comes with four rear cameras, including two dedicated to zooming and one with a 200-megapixel sensor. Apple’s titanium-clad and -colored $1,200 iPhone 15 Pro Max packs three rear cameras, one for zooming and a main one with a 48-megapixel sensor.

Let me state the obvious: Both capture some of the absolute best photos you can take from any phone today, especially in challenging environments like high-contrast scenes (think a sunset) or places where the lighting is dim (think a restaurant).

Read more: Best Phone to Buy for 2024

Before I took a single snap, I expected the S24’s array of zoom cameras to handle distanced subjects better. And yet I also knew that Apple is no slouch and might bury Samsung’s best efforts with the iPhone’s masterful photo processing and video image quality. How do they stack up against each other?

I took them around San Francisco to find out.

After I shot hundreds of photos and videos with both phones and compared them side by side, a more complex reality revealed itself, with the iPhone and Ultra excelling in some situations and struggling in others.

Cutting-edge camera hardware, apps

The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a trio of lenses: wide, ultrawide and telephoto. The main camera has a 48-megapixel sensor, while the other two have a resolution of 12 megapixels. There’s a bit of a gulf in terms of zooming between the main 1x camera and the 5x telephoto. And that’s where the differences between the two phones start to reveal themselves.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a similar trio of lenses but adds a second telephoto, with a 3x zoom level. Think of it as if Apple took the 15 Pro Max and added the iPhone 15 Pro’s dedicated 3x telephoto to the back, thus creating an actually nonexistent iPhone 15 Ultra with both 3x and 5x cameras.

Camera hardware specs compared

Camera	Zoom level	Resolution	Aperture	Lens full-frame equivalent
15 Pro Max ultrawide	0.5x	12 megapixels	f/2.2	13 millimeters
15 Pro Max wide	1x	48 megapixels	f/1.78	24 millimeters
15 Pro Max telephoto	5x	12 megapixels	f/2.8	120 millimeters
S24 Ultra ultrawide	0.6x	12 megapixels	f/2.2	13 millimeters
S24 Ultra wide	1x	200 megapixels	f/1.7	23 millimeters
S24 Ultra telephoto No. 1	3x	10 megapixels	f/2.4	69 millimeters
S24 Ultra telephoto No. 2	5x	50 megapixels	f/3.4	115 millimeters

That’s a lot of damn cameras. Remember the days when phones had just one?

The S24 Ultra’s main camera has a 200-megapixel sensor, and the new 5x telephoto camera has a 50-megapixel one. Both Apple and Samsung use their main camera’s high resolution sensor (and in Samsung’s case the one on the Ultra’s 5x telephoto camera) to combine multiple pixels to create 12-megapixel photos that are brighter and have more detail and less image noise. The phones can also use sensor crop to effectively turn the main 1x shooter into a 2x camera that takes 12-megapixel photos (without pixel binning). It’s curious that the Ultra’s 3x 10-megapixel camera takes 12-megapixel images. Where does it get those two extra megapixels from?

In regard to the shooting experience, I love the S24 Ultra’s new screen, which is far less reflective than the iPhone’s. I don’t have trouble seeing what’s on the 15 Pro Max, even in direct sunlight, but the Ultra’s display feels more immersive because there’s less glare when taking photos.

The camera apps on both are packed with familiar options like dedicated photo, video and portrait modes, as well as the ability to shoot Raw files and change resolution on some of the cameras.

The iPhone can capture ProRes video files and spatial videos (which can be viewed on the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 VR headsets). Samsung’s camera app has dedicated pro modes for photos and videos, and is more customizable. I can move the camera modes around to my liking and add ones I prefer. I can also use the Ultra’s S Pen as a remote shutter button to take a photo.

One of my favorite options is adding a floating shutter button that can be positioned anywhere on screen to take a photo. It’s great for those times you can’t reach the absolute bottom of the screen to tap the regular shutter button, or when using volume buttons isn’t an option.

Photo smackdown: Galaxy S24 Ultra vs. iPhone 15 Pro Max

Both phones take excellent pictures. Below are a few of my favorites.

But let’s get to the good stuff: head-to-head photo comparisons. And let’s start with the images below of a challenging high contrast scene of a sunset in San Francisco’s Mission District. The photos are from the main cameras, and I’m impressed with both. The biggest difference is the way each phone handles the glare from the sun, which is more pronounced in the iPhone’s photo. The S24 Ultra’s snap is a tad brighter, especially when you pinch in a bit. The S24 Ultra boosts the shadow details — notice the trees on the bottom right. In the iPhone’s picture, the trees kind of get lost in the shadows, but in the Ultra’s image, you can actually make out more of the individual branches.

Below is another set of main camera images, this time of a plant in a window. At first glance they look similar, but notice how the S24 Ultra rolls off the highlights on the leaves — so smooth. The text on the books under the plant is readable in both images, though it’s crisper in the iPhone’s snap.

I took the photos below, of my CNET colleagues Jessica Fierro (left) and Amy Kim playing foosball, with the ultrawide cameras. Compared to the main camera, there’s a definite step down in image quality from both phones, but compared to each other they’re similar.

Both phones applied a lot of noise reduction. The ceiling in the iPhone’s photo is riddled with image noise, and in the Ultra’s photo, the noise is gone but the same ceiling looks overly soft and almost blurry. Notice how the phones handled the image noise on Jessica and Amy. In the iPhone’s photo, Jessica’s skin and hair looks more natural, albeit soft from motion blur. Whereas in the Ultra’s image, she almost looks like a painting from all the noise reduction and over sharpening.

The Galaxy S24 Ultra’s 3x zoom

I absolutely love this photo from the Ultra of my CNET pal Celso Bulgatti, taken with the dedicated 3x zoom camera. There’s a good balance when it comes to detail, and the highlights look so good. It’s subtle, but the cutout effect looks clean, with the transition between in-focus and out-of-focus looking natural. His skin tone is a bit more saturated than in real life, but it looks good.

Speaking of 3x, remember the Ultra has a dedicated 3x camera whereas the iPhone is using a 3x digital zoom to get the same image. And you can see the difference below. The iPhone’s photo isn’t bad, but it has artifacts from the digital zoom, especially around the flag. Overall the iPhone’s photo looks softer — notice the details in the ornamentation on the building in the background but also in the bricks in the building on the right.

Here’s another pair of 3x photos — of a Star Wars figurine on my desk. The Ultra’s photo looks better in every way.

iPhone vs. Ultra: 5x zoom battle

Here are some photos of downtown San Francisco that I took from a rooftop with the 5x camera on both phones. Right away, the iPhone nailed the focus, which the Ultra struggled to do. I don’t know if it was the sun reflecting off Salesforce Tower, but the Ultra hunted for focus in this setup anytime I used the 5x camera, especially as I started to zoom in digitally.

Below are 5x optical zoom images, both in focus. I like the Ultra’s more. It feels like the iPhone is protecting highlights by ramping down the exposure, and as a consequence the shadows are darker. The Ultra has good detail throughout — notice the trees in the foreground and the windows on Salesforce Tower.

I kept zooming in further on this scene. Below are 15x digital zoom photos. And again the Ultra struggled to get focus. I took four photos and all are out of focus, with the fourth one below the least out of focus.

The iPhone’s maximum digital zoom is 25x. Below are photos from both phones at that magnification. You might get away sharing these on social media, but neither photo looks good. I give the edge to the Ultra’s photo, which looks cleaner.

But the Ultra can zoom even more, with the image quality deteriorating even more. Below is a 50x digital zoom photo. As you can see, the noise reduction is making the image look more like a painting than a photo from a $1,300 phone!

And here’s one last photo of this scene, taken at 100x digital zoom. It’s so processed and soft that it doesn’t look like a photo. And again the Ultra struggled to get focus.

Below is a pair of 5x photos of Maisie the cat. Both look good. The iPhone captured more of the texture in her fur and is overall brighter.

The Ultra’s generative AI factor

I can’t believe I’ve made it this far without mentioning AI. For years, phones have used AI, algorithms and machine learning to improve photos and create unique modes, like for portraits or night photos. None of this is new to either phone. But the S24 Ultra has some new generative AI tools called Galaxy AI, similar to the technology that powers ChatGPT and Dall-E and ranging from novelty to useful.

Most of this happens in the Ultra’s Gallery app and can be applied only after you take a photo or record a video. For instance, I can use the Generative Edit tool to remove a person or object from a photo and fill in the empty space. I can also move a person or object around or change their size. This tool and others still feel more experimental than dependable. Sometimes when I removed an object or a person there were obvious signs that something was manipulated, whether it was a strange texture or an odd halo of what was there before. Other times, the AI generated something random to fill in the space.

For example, I tried to have it remove a person from the photo below only for the Ultra to replace him with a circular cafe table. Did it remove the person? Yes. Is it odd for there to be a cafe table on the roof of a building where there isn’t a cafe or other tables? Yes.

One area where the Generative Edit tool is useful is for straightening photos. When I straighten a photo on the iPhone (and most other phones) the picture is cropped in to get the desired result. On the S24 Ultra, Generative Edit can fill in the parts of a photo beyond the frame, that weren’t even there, eliminating the need to crop in.

Obviously, the iPhone doesn’t have any of these generative AI features built in to its Camera or Photos apps. At this point, I don’t think that’s a miss, but as generative AI features improve and become more useful, their absence could be a huge disadvantage. Even though portrait mode doesn’t use generative AI, think how much better it is today versus the clumsy background blurs of years past when the feature first came out.

iPhone vs. Samsung: Final thoughts

As you’ve seen, both phones take excellent photos. In my time with the Ultra, I’ve been blown away by the quality of the photos, especially those from the 3x lens. And I absolutely love that low-reflection screen, it’s a small but significant improvement.

Though I didn’t go into comparisons of all the various modes or videos, both phones are evenly matched in those areas as well. The iPhone has a slight edge in its ability to record ProRes video files, though there are third-party Android apps that can do the same.

The biggest barrier for me, and most people, is going to be the price. Paying $1,200 or $1,300 or more for larger storage is a giant investment that goes well beyond just how good the cameras are. I’d likely push people toward a smaller iPhone 15 Pro, or Google’s Pixel 8 Pro. Both still cost a grand, but are hundreds less than the Ultra or 15 Pro Max.

Want to see how the Ultra does against one of the other best phone cameras? Check out our camera comparison between the Galaxy S24 Ultra and the Pixel 8 Pro.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.

Chelsea’s recent improvement under boss Mauricio Pochettino will be firmly put to the test on Saturday as they travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on a Man City side that has hit all-conquering form.

City are on a 10-match winning run, and showed their class in midweek in an impressive 3-1 Champions League away win over FC Copenhagen.

Big wins over Crystal Palace in the English Premier League and Aston Villa in the FA Cup have meanwhile given Chelsea renewed hope of a top-seven finish.

Neutral fans will be hoping for more of the same after these two sides played out an absorbing 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge earlier in the season in the reverse fixture.

Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game live wherever you are in the world.

Manchester City vs. Chelsea: When and where?

Manchester City host Chelseaat the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 17. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. GMT (12:30 p.m. ET, 9:30 a.m. PT in the US and Canada; and 4:30 a.m. AEDT on Sunday, Feb. 18, in Australia).

How to watch the Man City vs. Chelsea game online from anywhere using a VPN

If you find yourself unable to view the game locally, you may need a different way to watch the game — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.

With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, non-blackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.

Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.

Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.

Livestream Man City vs. Chelsea in the US

Saturday’s Man City vs. Chelsea match is streaming on Peacock. You’ll need a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus account to catch the game live.

Livestream the Man City vs. Chelsea game in the UK

Premier League rights in the UK are split between Sky Sports, Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports (previously known as BT Sport). Man City vs. Chelsea is exclusive to Sky Sports, showing on its Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and Ultra channels. If you already have Sky Sports as part of your TV package, you can stream the game via its Sky Go app, but cord-cutters will want to get set up with a Now account and a Now Sports membership to stream the game.

Livestream the Man City vs. Chelsea game in Canada

If you want to stream Man City vs. Chelsea live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to Fubo. The service has exclusive rights for this Premier League season.

Livestream the Man City vs. Chelsea game in Australia

Football fans Down Under can watch this EPL fixture on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League game live in Australia this season.

Quick tips for streaming the Premier League using a VPN

• With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming EPL matches may vary.
• If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
• If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
• All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
• And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.

This year’s TV offerings are bound to keep you entertained. Despite a few setbacks in 2023, viewers can look forward to a new wave of shows that include spinoffs, anime, returning series and video game adaptations. We’ll also see beloved properties hit the small screen in ways we haven’t necessarily seen before.

For example, there’s Netflix’s live-action take on Avatar: The Last Airbender. Most of us saw a previous attempt at adapting Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino’s animated series, and as a fan, I’m cautiously optimistic about this upcoming version (but still can’t wait to watch it). New releases like Fallout, The Penguin, X-Men ’97, Shōgun and Agatha: Darkhold Diaries seem like prime candidates for watchlists.

Star Wars fans are in for a treat, as the brand has multiple shows hitting Disney Plus this year, while Netflix is saying goodbye to popular franchises like Cobra Kai, You, The Umbrella Academy, Big Mouth and Sweet Tooth. There’s lots of action with returning series such as House of the Dragon, The Boys, Tales of the Jedi and Squid Game. Comedy is also on deck with Abbott Elementary and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

We’ll also admit there are some shows we’re hoping will air in 2024, but it’s unknown whether their premiere dates have been pushed back — including Starz hits like Power Book II and P-Valley, and Peacock’s Poker Face and Bel-Air. Here’s a sampling of the best to come in 2024, and we’ll keep this list updated throughout the year with release dates and titles.

Read more: Best Streaming Services of 2024

Netflix

Griselda (Jan. 25): A fictionalized story about the real-life Colombian crime boss, Griselda Blanco. The series stars Sofia Vergara along with Alberto Guerra, Christian Tappan, Martín Rodríguez and Karol G.

Squid Game: Season 2 is set to return this year, according to Netflix, and the story will pick up with Gi-hun, Front Man, detective Hwang Jun-ho and the Recruiter.

3 Body Problem (March 21): The new sci-fi mystery series is based on the book by Liu Cixin, and comes from Game of Thrones duo David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

The Gentlemen (March 7): This Guy Ritchie series follows Eddie Horniman (Theo James), an unsuspecting heir to a weed business who gets sucked into the British criminal underground.

Ripley (April 4): Fleabag’s Andrew Scott plays Tom Ripley in this thriller based on The Talented Mr. Ripley book.

Bridgerton (May 16; June 13): Ready to get swept up in another Bridgerton romance? Season 3 is all about Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton’s love story, which will be broken up into two parts with four episodes each.

Sweet Tooth: The final installment is expected to come out this year. Watch Gus, Bear, Jepperd and Wendy when their journey takes them to frigid Alaska.

The Umbrella Academy (Aug. 8): Season 4 will debut with more timeline mayhem, Hargreeves sibling drama and a round of new characters.

You: It’s the final bow for Netflix’s hit psychological thriller series. Of course, I need to see how things turn out forits extremely unhinged protagonist, Joe.

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft: Hayley Atwell voices the titular character in the animated series, which is adapted from the video game.

Vikings: Valhalla: Will Freydis, Leif and Harald reunite in season 3 — and will these relationships survive their time apart? Stream it to find out and to meet Freydis’ and Leif’s father, Erik the Red.

Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid spinoff that finally brought Danny and Johnny together on one accord ends with season 6. However, the show’s creators have hinted there may be new things in store for “the Miyagiverse.”

Big Mouth: Middle school finally ends for Nick, Maurice, Andrew, Jessi, Connie and the rest of the gang when season 8 arrives later this year.

The Night Agent: FBI agent Peter Sutherland possibly takes on a covert new role in season 2.

Devil May Cry: The video game adaptation will make its anime debut, but we’ll let the trailer speak for itself.

Disney Plus

X-Men ’97 (March 20): A revival of the 1992 animated series, this Marvel show includes a voice cast from days past with favorites like Wolverine, Magneto, Rogue, Beast, Gambit and Storm. Keen on this nostalgia trip.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Disney continues to build out its Star Wars universe with this new series that revolves around four kids lost in space trying to get home.

Moana: Based on the Disney film, the musical TV show is meant to be a sequel to the 2016 movie.

Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi: After a well-received first season, a new installment of the animated anthology series is on the way, exploring more character lore.

The Acolyte: Another original series in the Star Wars franchise, The Acolyte is described as a mystery show that unites a Jedi master with one of his former proteges to investigate crimes.

Hulu/ABC

Abbott Elementary (Feb. 7 on ABC and Feb. 8 on Hulu):Quinta Brunson’s hilarious comedy returns to TV with a one-hour premiere for season 3. Will Janine and Gregory ever truly make it out of the friend zone? Let’s see.

Shōgun (Feb. 27): This FX and Hulu series debuts Feb. 27 and kicks off when an English sailor arrives on the shores of Japan. Hiroyuki Sanada plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga in the latest adaptation of James Clavell’s novel.

Grey’s Anatomy (March 14 ABC/ March 15 Hulu): Season 20 will see Meredith Grey back for a spell and the newest crop of interns in the long-running medical drama.

HBO/Max

Curb Your Enthusiasm (Feb. 4): Larry David is back for one last go after a nearly 25-year run. Ten episodes will wrap up the series, with each airing on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.

Tokyo Vice (Feb. 8): Set in the late ’90s to early 2000s, the crime drama returns with more dangerous twists and turns for its protagonist, Jake, and those close to him.

The Sympathizer (April 14): It’s part dark comedy, part spy drama coming from HBO and A24, and is based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel.

The Regime (March 4): A new HBO political satire starring Kate Winslet. The Regime is everything your Sunday nights have been missing. But will six episodes be enough?

Hacks (spring 2024): Deborah and Ava may not have seen the last of each other yet, as season 3 is coming this spring which could mean their comedy-writing partnership finds new life.

Dune: Prophecy (fall 2024): A prequel that takes place 10,000 years before the events in the book and film, the series will explore the Bene Gesserit. It is due to stream on Max later in 2024.

The Penguin (expected fall 2024): A Max original starring Colin Farrell that picks up after The Batman, with the villain as a Gotham gangster. What’s not to like?

Prime Video

Expats (Jan. 26): Nicole Kidman’s character is among the community of women living in Hong Kong whose lives intertwine through tragedy.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Feb. 2): Two spies in a fake marriage can’t risk blowing their cover in this retelling starring Donald Glover and Mia Erskine. We’re eager to see how action, subterfuge and relationship drama blend.

Invincible (March 14): Part 2 of season 2 will see Mark still grappling with his father Omni-Man’s betrayal, and an overarching danger from a new threat. Strap in for the next four episodes of the season.

Fallout (April 12): The famous apocalyptic game hits the small screen in a live-action adaptation that we can’t wait to check out.

Apple TV Plus

The New Look (Feb. 14): If you’ve ever been curious about the history of luxury fashion icons, then The New Look will take you there. It’s fiction, but the series is about how Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain and Cristóbal Balenciaga created their designs and empires in Nazi-occupied Paris — with some rivalry thrown in.

Palm Royale (March 20): Kristen Wiig in a late-1960s backdrop? In this comedy, she plays a woman aiming to become part of the privileged class in Palm Beach.

Peacock

Chucky (May 5): The second half of season 3 is slated for a spring return with an aging — yet foul-mouthed — Chucky, who may or may not make it to season 4. Stream it on Peacock to see if Damballa comes through for him.

Paramount Plus

Halo (Feb. 8): At the time of its 2022 debut, Halo set a record as the most-watched premiere for the streamer. Don’t miss season 2 when it lands this winter.

AMC/AMC Plus

Parish (spring 2024): Giancarlo Esposito plays a family man in New Orleans who loses his son, but gets pulled into the criminal world when an old acquaintance pops up.

Interview with the Vampire (TBA, spring 2024): Season 2 is about more than Lestat and Louis in 19th-century New Orleans, and there are vampires in Paris this time. We like how the story is told from a modern perspective with great music, costumes and performances.

Orphan Black: Echoes: If you loved the original Orphan Black series, then you’ll want to give this spinoff a chance. It features Krysten Ritter as Lucy, who has no memory but learns she’s a print-out of Eleanor. Stream its 10 episodes this year.

Liverpool head to west London on Saturday looking to maintain their title push as they face Brentford in the weekend’s first English Premier League fixture.

Jürgen Klopp’s Reds are currently 2 points clear of Man City at the top of the table, having played a game more. Klopp will have been encouraged by the way his side bounced back from their recent defeat to title rivals Arsenal by battling to a 3-1 win over Burnley last weekend.

Brentford also come into this clash off the back of a positive result, having claimed a crucial 2-0 away win over Wolves last time out — a result that edged them 6 points clear of the relegation zone.

Below, we’ll outline the best live TV streaming services to use to watch the game live wherever you are in the world.

Brentford vs. Liverpool: When and where?

Brentford host Liverpool at the Community Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 17. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. GMT local time in London (7:30 a.m. ET, 4:30 a.m. PT in the US and Canada, and 11:30 p.m. AEDT in Australia).

How to watch the Brentford vs. Liverpool game online from anywhere using a VPN

If you find yourself unable to view the game locally, you may need a different way to watch the game — that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on game day by encrypting your traffic, and it’s also a great idea if you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.

With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the game. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, non-blackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN, make it really easy to do this.

Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US, UK and Canada, as long as you have a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.

Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals taking place right now.

Livestream Brentford vs. Liverpool in the US

Saturday’s Brentford-Liverpool match is streaming on USA Network, which you can access as part of your cable package or at the NBC Sports website with a valid login, and can be streamed via Sling TV and other more expensive streaming TV services.

Livestream the Brentford vs. Liverpool game in the UK

Premier League rights in the UK are split between Sky Sports, Amazon Prime Video and TNT Sports (previously known as BT Sport). The Brentford vs. Liverpool game is exclusive to TNT Sports — showing on its TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 1 HD and TNT Sports Ultimate in 4K.

Livestream the Brentford vs. Liverpool game in Canada

If you want to stream Brentford vs. Liverpool live in Canada, you’ll need to subscribe to Fubo. The service has exclusive rights for this Premier League season.

Livestream the Brentford vs. Liverpool game in Australia

Football fans Down Under can watch this EPL fixture on streaming service Optus Sport, which is showing every single Premier League game live in Australia this season.

Quick tips for streaming the Premier League using a VPN

• With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming EPL matches may vary.
• If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
• If you’re having trouble getting the game after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
• All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
• And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.

Your Android phone‘s web browser picks up a lot of data from all of the websites that you visit, and a lot of that does not need to be on your phone. Whether you’re using Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Samsung Internet, this data stored in your cookies and cache can be helpful in some cases. It’s what lets you quickly access websites you frequently access and keeps you logged into accounts you have. That’s nice, but there’s plenty of information in the cookies and cache of your browser that isn’t necessary and could even be a privacy risk.

Why you should regularly clear out your cookies and cache

A lot of what ends up building up within your cookies and cache is just plain junk. Some of it could have arrived from websites you’ve visited just once. Others seem to be tracking your browsing history on an active basis, helping to serve up advertisements based on what you are buying or streaming on the internet. For instance, I’m constantly receiving advertisements for buying glasses online after browsing a few stores, or Amazon ads that just happen to show what was last in my shopping cart.

Because of this, it’s good to clear out your cache every so often. It allows you to remove data you don’t need on your phone, especially if an unknown data tracker is among your phone’s cookies. Clearing your cache is a minor inconvenience — you’ll have to log back into some of your favorite websites, but it’s a small price to pay to make sure your phone isn’t stocking up on extraneous data.

The steps differ slightly depending on the type of phone and web browser app you’re using. Below, we’ll go over how to clear this data for Google’s Chrome browser (often the default for many Android phones, like the Google Pixel line), Samsung’s internet browser (often the default on the Galaxy phone series) and Mozilla’s Firefox browser. You can also check out our separate guide on how to clear your cache on an iPhone web browser, in case you have a few Apple devices to tidy up, too.

Google Chrome

You can delete your cookies and cache from within the Android version of Google Chrome by first tapping the More button in the top right corner of the browser, indicated by a column of three dots, then tapping History, then Clear browsing data. You can also access this from the Chrome Settings menu, tapping Privacy and Security and then Clear browsing data.

Chrome also offers Basic and Advanced settings for clearing your Browsing history, Cookies and site data and Cached images and files. You can use the Time range drop-down to select whether you want to delete the entire history or a selection of anywhere from the past 24 hours up to the last four weeks. Tapping Advanced will also give you access to deleting Saved passwords, Autofill form data and Site settings. After selecting what you want to delete, tap the blue Clear data button. You might receive an additional prompt in the event Chrome deems certain websites as being “important” to you, and if so you’ll get the chance to confirm before clearing. Otherwise if you do not receive that prompt, Chrome will immediately proceed to clear as you instructed.

Read more: Ditch Google Chrome and Use This Privacy-Focused Browser Instead

Samsung Internet

There are two different ways you can clear your Samsung Internet browser’s cache and cookie data. You can clear from within the browser itself, or you can go through your phone’s Settings app.

To clear while in the Samsung Internet browser app, first tap the Options button in the bottom right corner represented by three horizontal lines, then Settings; scroll down to and tap Personal Data, then tap Delete browsing data to get a menu of options to delete. You can clear your Browsing history, Cookies and site data, Cached images and files, Passwords and Autofill forms in any combination. After tapping Delete data, you’ll then receive a prompt asking for you to confirm your choices before deleting.

Going through the browser app itself provides the most customization of what you want to delete. However, if you want to access similar options from your phone’s settings menu, open the Settings app and tap on Apps, then scroll down to and tap Samsung Internet and then Storage.

At the bottom of Storage, you get separate options to Clear cache and Clear data. Tapping Clear cache will immediately delete the cache, but Clear data brings up a prompt that warns you that all of the application’s data will be deleted permanently, including files, settings, accounts and databases. While it doesn’t specify cookies, this “going nuclear” approach should zap all remaining data, letting you restart the Samsung Internet browser as if it were brand-new.

Read more: Change These Android Settings to Get the Most Out of Your Phone

Mozilla Firefox

Much as with Google Chrome, you can clear the cache from within the Mozilla Firefox Android app. To access this function, tap the More button on the right of the address bar, again symbolized by three vertically aligned dots. Then tap Settings and scroll down to Delete browsing data.

Of the three browsers we’re discussing here, Firefox gives you the most options under the Delete browsing data menu, allowing you to also delete any existing Open tabs, your Browsing history and site data, Site permissions and even your Downloads folder alongside Cookies and Cached images and files.

While you can’t pick a time range as you can for Chrome, you can be more specific regarding what type of data you would like to remove.

Read more: Browser Privacy Settings to Change ASAP in Firefox, Chrome and Safari

And Firefox has an additional option for those who never want to keep their browsing data after they’re done using the app. Inside of Settings is a Delete browsing data on quit option, which instructs Firefox to wipe any combination of these same settings every time you quit the application. It’s a useful feature if you’d like to keep the browser tidy and, say, avoid accidentally handing off your browser history to someone who may have stolen or otherwise gained access to your phone.

The Galaxy S24 lineup is getting a software update that will bring more display setting options and upgrades to various camera functions, Samsung announced Wednesday. The update comes after various complaints about the Galaxy S24’s display and camera have surfaced online.

The update, which will begin rolling out to the Galaxy S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra on Feb. 22, will allow users to adjust the display’s vividness level with a slider under the display settings. That addition is particularly important considering users have complained in Samsung’s user forums and on Reddit about the current vivid setting appearing too washed-out. A user on X who goes by the alias Ice Universe, and frequently leaks upcoming Samsung products, recently reported that the tech giant was working on this fix.

Read more: Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra Missed an Opportunity With Galaxy AI

Samsung is also making changes to camera shooting styles such as zoom, night mode and portrait mode, as well as video recording with the rear camera system. The company hasn’t specified what those updates will entail, but it follows complaints that have appeared online about the S24 Ultra’s zooming capabilities. X user S M A Sithick posted about an issue when shifting from 1x to 5x zoom on the Galaxy S24 Ultra, for example, and also called portraits “grainy.”

Samsung didn’t cite these gripes specifically, but said in a blog post that the changes are “based on your feedback.” CNET didn’t experience any of the issues mentioned above on our Galaxy S24 review units.

Aside from camera and display updates, the new software should also improve language recognition and accuracy, according to a Samsung representative. That’s important because the Galaxy S24’s new language translation tools as part of Galaxy AI are among its headlining new features.

Samsung isn’t the only major tech company to face complaints regarding a major smartphone launch. Apple released a software update in October after some users had reported an overheating issue with the iPhone 15 Pro. Google also updated the Pixel 8 Pro after CNET’s Andrew Lanxon and Stephen Shankland noticed issues with its camera.

AI startup OpenAI has unveiled a text-to-video model, called Sora, which could raise the bar for what’s possible in generative AI.

Like Google’s text-to-video tool Lumiere, Sora’s availability is limited. Unlike Lumiere, Sora can generate videos up to 1 minute long.

Text-to-video has become the latest arms race in generative AI as OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and more look beyond text and image generation and seek to cement their position in a sector projected to reach $1.3 trillion in revenue by 2032 –and to win over consumers who’ve been intrigued by generative AI since ChatGPT arrived a little more than a year ago.

According to a post from OpenAI, maker of both ChatGPT and Dall-E, Sora will be available to “red teamers,” or experts in areas like misinformation, hateful content and bias, who will be “adversarially testing the model,” as well as visual artists, designers and filmmakers to gain additional feedback from creative professionals. That adversarial testing will be especially important to address the potential for convincing deepfakes, a major area of concern for the use of AI to create images and video.

In addition to garnering feedback from outside the organization, the AI startup said it wants to share its progress now to “give the public a sense of what AI capabilities are on the horizon.”

Strengths

One thing that may set Sora apart is its ability to interpret long prompts — including one example that clocked in at 135 words. The sample video OpenAI shared on Thursday demonstrate Sora can create a variety of characters and scenes, from people and animals and fluffy monsters to cityscapes, landscapes, zen gardens and even New York City submerged underwater.

This is thanks in part to OpenAI’s past work with its Dall-E and GPT models. Text-to-image generator Dall-E 3 was released in September. CNET’s Stephen Shankland called it “a big step up from Dall-E 2 from 2022.” (OpenAI’s latest AI model, GPT-4 Turbo, arrived in November.)

In particular, Sora borrows Dall-E 3’s recaptioning technique, which OpenAI says generates “highly descriptive captions for the visual training data.”

“Sora is able to generate complex scenes with multiple characters, specific types of motion and accurate details of the subject and background,” the post said. “The model understands not only what the user has asked for in the prompt, but also how those things exist in the physical world.”

The sample videos OpenAI shared do appear remarkably realistic — except perhaps when a human face appears close up or when sea creatures are swimming. Otherwise, you might be hard-pressed to tell what is real and what isn’t.

The model also can generate video from still images and extend existing videos or fill in missing frames, much like Lumiere can do.

“Sora serves as a foundation for models that can understand and simulate the real world, a capability we believe will be an important milestone for achieving AGI,” the post added.

AGI, or artificial general intelligence, is a more advanced form of AI that’s closer to human-like intelligence and includes the ability to perform a greater range of tasks. Meta and DeepMind have also expressed interest in reaching this benchmark.

Weaknesses

OpenAI conceded Sora has weaknesses, like struggling to accurately depict the physics of a complex scene and to understand cause and effect.

“For example, a person might take a bite out of a cookie, but afterward, the cookie may not have a bite mark,” the post said.

And anyone that still has to make an L with their hands to figure out which one is left can take heart: Sora mixes up left and right too.

OpenAI didn’t share when Sora will be widely available but noted it wants to take “several important safety steps” first. That includes meeting OpenAI’s existing safety standards, which prohibit extreme violence, sexual content, hateful imagery, celebrity likeness and the IP of others.

“Despite extensive research and testing, we cannot predict all of the beneficial ways people will use our technology, nor all the ways people will abuse it,” the post added. “That’s why we believe that learning from real-world use is a critical component of creating and releasing increasingly safe AI systems over time.”

If you exercise outdoors near cars, you need to stop wearing normal headphones and start wearing bone-conduction headphones so you can hear what’s around you. Specifically, in my personal opinion, you need OpenRun Pro headphones from Shokz, because they’re the best you can buy. And during Presidents Day sales, these headphones are also on significant discount.

I love a good pair of headphones, but I don’t love spending a ton on them. My threshold for spending on headphones is about $100, which is why when all of my cycling friends started raving about bone-conduction headphones a few years back, I was more than a little hesitant. The headphones I was looking at were around $180, and because they use bone conduction instead of normal earbuds I wouldn’t be able to wear them on airplanes or anything like that. I’d only use them as workout headphones, which is why it took me a while to spend the money.

A week after I did, I was nearly sideswiped by a pickup truck, and the only thing that saved me was hearing it come up behind me. There’s a reason these are recommended on our list of the best running headphones you can buy.

Bone-conduction headphones sit just outside your ear, resting on the bone. Music vibrates through a set of pads into your skull, and you hear those sounds as if they’re coming from a speaker a few feet away. You can hear everything you’re listening to on your phone without interrupting the sounds coming from the rest of the world around you. For cyclists and runners — really anyone who does anything outside — this is a game-changing experience. It’s more accurate and pleasing than normal headphones with “passthrough mode” and you sacrifice very little in audio quality.

My favorite bone-conduction headphones, and I’ve tried them all, are the OpenRun Pro headphones from Shokz, the company formerly known as Aftershokz. They’re waterproof (which means easy to clean when I’m all sweaty), the battery lasts me about seven hours on a charge (perfect for those 70-mile riding days), and they’re comfortable enough that I can wear them all day and not feel them pressing on me. They charge magnetically with a proprietary charger, but Shokz includes two cables in the box in case you lose things like I do. Oh, and right now the price on these has dropped to an incredible $130. The one catch with this deal is that only the Best Buy-exclusive steel blue color is on sale at that price during Best Buy’s Presidents Day bonanza, which is a shame for those that would prefer one of the other options but it’s a nice hue.

If this headphone deal still a little rich for your blood, no worries. Shokz also has cheaper OpenRun and OpenMove bone-conduction headphones with up to six hours of battery life and IP55 dust- and water-resistance with prices from $55.

Whether you’re physically active outdoors or you just like exploring new things, I highly recommend giving these headphones a try.

Max subscribers danced the night away with Barbie, and now Peacock subscribers are gaining the other inescapable movie of the summer: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

As of Friday, Oppenheimer is streaming exclusively on NBCUniversal’s streaming service. The three-hour thriller stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, often referred to as the “father of the atomic bomb,” and joins Nolan’s films Dunkirk, Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) and Memento on the service.

Oppenheimer initially hit theaters in July (on the same day as Greta Gerwig’s doll-themed comedy) and has grossed more than $950 million worldwide. Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. and Florence Pugh are also in the cast, and the movie won five Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture Drama. Here’s more on the Peacock service, and how a VPN could potentially assist with streaming.

When to watch Oppenheimer on Peacock

Oppenheimer hit Peacock in the early morning hours on Feb 16, (5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT, to be exact) and is available to stream now.

Don’t have Peacock? You can subscribe to ad-supported Peacock Premium for $6 a month or mostly ad-free Peacock Premium for $12 a month. You may be eligible to get Peacock for free or at a discount if you’re a student or a Spectrum, Xfinity internet or Instacart customer.

Oppenheimer won’t be on the free tier of Peacock, so you’ll need to upgrade if that’s the version of Peacock you currently use. You can also rent the film for $6 from services like Amazon and Vudu.

How to watch Oppenheimer from anywhere with a VPN

Perhaps you’re traveling abroad and want to stream Peacock while away from home. With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the movie from anywhere in the world. There are other good reasons to use a VPN for streaming too.

A VPN is the best way to encrypt your traffic to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds. Using a VPN is also a great idea if you’re traveling, find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network and want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. Streaming TV can be a bit smoother with a reliable, quality VPN that’s passed our tests and security standards.

You can use a VPN to stream content legally as long as VPNs are allowed in your country and you have a valid subscription to the streaming service you’re using. The US and Canada are among the countries where VPNs are legal, but we advise against streaming or downloading content on illegal torrent sites. We recommend ExpressVPN, but you may opt for another provider from our best list, such as Surfshark or NordVPN.

Follow the VPN provider’s instructions for installation, and choose a country where Oppenheimer will be streaming on Peacock. Before you open the streaming app, make sure you’re connected to your VPN using your selected region. If you want to stream Oppenheimer on more than one device, it’s possible you’ll need to configure each one to ensure you’re signed in. Go to settings and check your network connections to verify you’re logged in and connected to your VPN account. Now you’re ready to open Peacock to stream.

If you run into issues with streaming, first make sure your VPN is up and running on its encrypted IP address. Double-check that you’ve followed installation instructions correctly and you’ve picked the right geographical area for viewing. If you still encounter connection problems, you may need to reboot your device. Close all apps and windows, restart your device and connect to your VPN first. Note that some streaming services have restrictions on VPN access.

The current iPad lineup is a cluttered and confusing mess. There are two sizes of iPad Pro, a single iPad Air, two generations of the regular iPad and the iPad Mini that’s still alive and kicking. It’s hit or miss with which Apple Pencil works with which iPad, and only one iPad has the camera on the side for landscape FaceTime calls.

The iPad has always occupied the middle ground between the iPhone and the MacBook, and now it has company in this in-between zone with the arrival of the Vision Pro. CNET’s Scott Stein said the Vision Pro feels like “an iPad exploded into space.” The Vision Pro is far too expensive right now to cannibalize iPad sales, but as its price comes down in the years to come, it will compete with the iPad for our third-screen needs and dollars.

Apple needs to do something with the iPad to keep consumers interested in its device that’s neither iPhone nor MacBook. We should get an answer soon to which direction Apple is taking its tablets. New iPad models are expected as early as March, according to reports. And these updates are long overdue. The company didn’t release any iPads last year, making it the first calendar year without a new iPad since Apple’s tablet was first released in 2010. Here’s what the rumored updates will look like for each iPad line.

OLED coming to iPad Pro

OLED is the big news with Apple’s top-end iPad Pro. The new models will reportedly ditch mini-LED screens for OLED displays that will deliver more vibrant colors, true black levels and superior contrast. The OLED panels could also support a wider range of refresh rates. The newer iPhone Pro models feature always-on OLED displays that can operate as slow as 1Hz to extend battery life.

The updated iPad Pros will come in 11- and 13-inch sizes, with the latter being slightly larger than the current big Pro at 12.9 inches. The new Pros are also expected to upgrade from Apple’s M2 chip of the current models to the M3 chip. Other rumored changes include USB-C and MagSafe wireless charging along with an updated Magic Keyboard with an aluminum cover and larger trackpad.

iPad Air expanding to 12.9 inches

A larger iPad Air is expected to be added to the line this spring. The current, fifth-gen iPad Air is based on a 10.9-inch display and an M1 chip. The new lineup will be based on M2 chips and available in both 10.9-inch and 12.9-inch models. A 12.9-inch Air would give tablet buyers the ability to get a larger screen without needing to pay the premium for a Pro model.

The new iPad Airs are not expected to move to mini-LED or OLED displays and will keep their LED-based liquid retina panels. The rear camera, according to 9to5Mac, is expected to be housed in a new camera bump that includes a flash, a feature not offered on the current Air. The new models are also expected to work with the current Magic Keyboard and not the keyboard update that will be exclusive to the new Pro models.

Processor bumps for iPad and iPad Mini

The rumors are foggier for the entry-level iPad and iPad Mini. Each could get a processor bump, with the 11th-gen iPad moving to the A15 chip and the seventh-gen iPad Mini getting the A16 chip. With the arrival of the 11th-gen iPad, Apple will likely keep the 10th-gen iPad as its budget offering and phase out the ninth-gen model, which is the last remaining model with the home button. These updates are expected not in the spring but later in the year.

And by the end of the year, perhaps we will finally see the long-rumored foldable iPad.