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Microsoft Visio Pro is one of the go-to apps for creating complex diagrams whether you’re someone who needs to draw a network diagram or lay out a storyboard. Whatever you’re doing, the app would normally cost around $310 — but if you place an order today that price will plummet to just $30.

This discount doesn’t require that you enter any of those pesky codes or clip any coupons, but you do need to make sure that you order your new software soon. We don’t know how long this deal is going to last, but StackSocial deals don’t tend to hang around for long.

Lifetime access to Visio Pro 2021 will cost you a whopping $310 if you purchase it through Microsoft directly, but you only have to pay a fraction of that. The app features hundreds of templates and thousands of shapes and stencils for flow charts, timelines, floor plans and much more so you can distill complex processes into simple, easy-to-follow visual guides. Plus, it allows you to import data from other Microsoft programs like Excel.

Just note that this deal is only available to new subscribers, and the license can only be used for a single PC running Windows 10 or 11. You’ll also need to have a Microsoft 365 subscription and access to the desktop version of Microsoft 365 apps, along with a Power BI and Power Automate subscription. And you’ll have to redeem this offer within 30 days of the purchase. Be sure to check out the full list of requirements on the StackSocial page if you’re at all unsure.

The OnePlus 12 already impressed us with its powerful performance and epic battery life, but if its $800 starting price is too steep, you might want to consider the $500 ( 649, roughly AU$1,250) OnePlus 12R. This cheaper alternative shares some of its pricier sibling’s visual cues, along with a decent battery and solid performance. It makes some key tradeoffs to achieve its more affordable starting price.

The 12R runs on a slightly older Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor instead of the OnePlus 12’s brand new 8 Gen 3 chip, although it still packs a hell of a punch. The 12R also has a pared-back camera setup, which includes a 50-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 2-megapixel camera with a macro lens. It takes decent shots in mixed conditions, but those looking for a more fully-featured photography experience will want to opt for its flagship sibling.

Disappointing support periods

Both the camera and performance tradeoffs are to be expected for a more budget-focused phone, but what I find less excusable is the shorter software support period. OnePlus offers only three years of software updates and four years of security updates on the OnePlus 12R; a year less of each than the company offers on the standard OnePlus 12. Longer support means your phone will remain usable and continue to get new features for longer, which is better for you and the planet.

Read more: Best Android Phone of 2024

Intentionally offering shorter support periods on its cheaper model is a disappointing stance for OnePlus to take, as it suggests sustainability is a premium offering only available to those willing to spend more on the top model. I already argued that OnePlus needs to offer longer support on the OnePlus 12, as both Samsung and Google offer at least seven years of support on their higher-end phones. Even Samsung’s more midrange $599 Galaxy S23 FE is getting four years of software updates and five years of security updates. At the very least, I’d want OnePlus to offer the same support periods on both phones. Ideally OnePlus should take that even further to remain competitive with its rivals.

Familiar design, powerful performance

On the upside, the phone packs an impressive 5,500-mAh battery. It’s actually bigger than the one found in the OnePlus 12, which performed superbly on our drain tests. The 12R actually didn’t perform quite as well as its pricier sibling, likely due to the differences in power efficiency between each phone processor. That said, battery life is still much better than average, and a full day of mixed use is perfectly acceptable.

Like the OnePlus 12, the 12R offers super-fast 80-watt wireless charging, which takes it from empty to full in a little over 30 minutes. In the UK, the 12R actually offers 100-watt fast charging, which sucks down the juice even faster. A compatible fast charger comes in the box, which means you don’t need to factor buying a power adapter into your budget. Unlike the OnePlus 12, the 12R does not offer wireless charging.

OnePlus 12 and 12R Have an Elegant but Familiar Design

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The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip might be a generation older than the one found in the OnePlus 12, but it’s still a powerhouse of a processor. It earned excellent scores on benchmark tests, surprisingly beating the OnePlus 12 on CPU tests but underperforming on graphics tests. In general use, the phone feels extremely swift, with demanding games like Genshin Impact, PUBG and Asphalt 9: Legends all playing very smoothly at maximum graphics settings.

The 12R sports a frosted glass back, which feels sturdy and premium. The 6.78-inch display looks very bright and vibrant in my testing, offering a great experience for mobile games and vibrant YouTube videos. It includes the same wet-touch tech seen on the OnePlus 12 that allows the screen to remain responsive even when wet, which worked well in my experience. This combined with the phone’s IP64 water resistance rating means it’s usable even during heavy rain.

Good enough cameras

The OnePlus 12R’s main 50-megapixel camera can take good-looking shots in a variety of conditions. I’ve been pleased with the overall richness of colors, level of detail and the solid exposure of many of my test shots.

Taken in good conditions, these images from the main camera look great, with satisfying contrast, colors and detail.

The 8-megapixel ultrawide lens is decent enough, but there’s a noticeable color shift between the two lenses, along with mushy details towards the edges of the frame.

There’s no telephoto optical zoom lens here, which isn’t shocking for a phone of this price. The camera interface includes toggles for 2x and 5x zoom levels, achieved by digitally cropping into the image from the main lens. The 2x zoom is actually not bad since the 50-megapixel resolution provides plenty of room for cropping, but images shot at 5x are very fuzzy.

It takes decent shots in low-light situations too, with generally sharp details and low image noise.

While the camera setup isn’t going to turn the heads of pro photographers, it’s reasonable for the low price of the phone. Those of you simply wanting to take snaps of your friends and family on vacation will be well served.

Should you buy the OnePlus 12R?

The OnePlus 12R manages to be much cheaper than its flagship sibling while still providing plenty to be excited about. Its processor performance is good enough for most people, its battery life is solid, it charges impressively fast and its camera is perfectly fine for casual snappers. It’s frustrating that OnePlus doesn’t provide longer software support. Those of you looking for a decent all-round Android phone that won’t blow your budget will be served by the OnePlus 12R.

The flagship OnePlus 12’s higher price brings with it better camera performance, even better battery life, wireless charging and longer software support. Whether that’s worth the additional $300 is a question you’ll need to decide for yourself.

How we test phones

Every phone tested by CNET’s reviews team is actually used in the real world. We test a phone’s features, play games and take photos. We examine the display to see if it’s bright, sharp and vibrant. We analyze the design and build to see how it is to hold and whether it has an IP rating for water resistance. We push the processor’s performance to the extremes, using standardized benchmark tools like GeekBench and 3DMark as well as our own anecdotal observations navigating the interface, recording high-resolution videos and playing graphically intense games at high refresh rates.

All the cameras are tested in a variety of conditions, from bright sunlight to dark indoor scenes. We try out special features like night mode and portrait mode and compare our findings against similarly priced competing phones. We also check out the battery life by using the phone daily as well as running a series of battery drain tests.

With CBS the television network broadcasting this year’s Super Bowl, fans looking to stream the Big Game can once again turn to the company’s streaming service — Paramount Plus — if they don’t have an antenna, cable, satellite or streaming TV provider.

This will be CBS’ third Super Bowl that it streams on its own service, with 2019 and 2021’s Super Bowls having been available on CBS All Access (the precursor to Paramount Plus). Even better, Paramount Plus is one of the last streaming services that still offers a one-week free trial, so fans looking to watch can do so for free. No promo code is needed, you will just need to set a reminder to cancel the service after the Super Bowl in the event you don’t want to keep it.

Paramount Plus offers two tiers: A base “Essential” option that runs $6 per month and has ads as well as a pricier “With Showtime” plan that runs $12 per month, includes access to premium cable channel Showtime, allows you to download shows for offline viewing and has no ads “except live TV and a few shows.”

Both options are available at a discount if you want to sign up for an annual subscription ($60 per year for Essential, $120 per year for the “with Showtime” option) and either plan will get you live NFL games including this year’s Super Bowl.

You can stream Paramount Plus on a variety of devices ranging from iOS and Android phones and tablets and Xbox and PlayStation game consoles to smart TVs and streaming players running software from Amazon, Apple, Google, LG, Samsung, Vizio or Roku.

Paramount Plus details how to cancel the streaming service on its website, although for easiest use it may be best to sign up through a browser and then go sign in on your device of choice. If you do it this way, you can simply go to Paramount Plus’ website, click on your username in the upper right-hand corner, then head to “account” and select “cancel subscription” when you want to leave.

Signing up through other means can make canceling the service a bit more complicated. Going through other services like Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV Channels, for example, may require you to contact Amazon or Apple to close your Paramount Plus account.

Paramount’s approach of offering a free trial is a welcome change from other NFL streamers. Peacock, which had two exclusive NFL games this season including a Wild Card weekend contest between the Chiefs and Dolphins, notably does not offer a free trial, so fans looking for that game needed to sign up and pay. ESPN Plus, which similarly had an exclusive NFL game during the regular season, similarly does not offer any free trials.

In addition to the free trial, it’s worth pointing out that some services offer bundles that include Paramount Plus. Walmart Plus, for example, includes a subscription to Paramount Plus Essential with its Amazon Prime-rival subscription shopping service.

On Monday, the Weather Channel unveiled a remodeled and rebuilt app that aims to help people be more prepared for disruptive weather. The app now provides more in-depth information about the weather, as well as new features to help you better understand how you’ll be impacted.

“Our mission has always been to keep people safe and help them lead better lives,” Sheri Bachstein, CEO of the Weather Company, said in a news release. “Whether it is getting ahead of a storm, planning a social event or trip, understanding how air quality could affect your health, or simply deciding when to go for a hike.”

The Weather Channel app still shows you the basics, like your daily and weekly forecast, but I found that the new features provide users with a better understanding of how good, or bad, the weather in their area will be.

Here are the new features and changes in the Weather Channel app.

Current weather and future outlook are prominently shown

As soon as you open the revamped app, you’ll see a live banner at the top of the home screen that shows the current temperature and conditions where you are. If it’s cloudy, you’ll see clouds rolling across the sky, and if it’s sunny, you’ll see a clear-blue sky. Sometimes though, there will be an ad in this banner, like from McDonald’s, which I found to be jarring when I saw a Big Mac at the bottom of a weather report.

Beneath this banner you’ll see a menu with two options: Today and This Week. The Today option shows an hour-by-hour breakdown of your day. This menu can show you fluctuations in things like humidity, wind speed and the “feels like” temperature throughout the day. It can also show you a one- or two-sentence description of what to expect that day, like “Cold temperatures will result in the risk of frozen pipes tonight.”

This Week shows you a breakdown of the upcoming week’s weather. This menu also has a brief description of the week, which might read, “The nicest day in the next 7 days will be Saturday.”

The Weather Channel also said that when your area is expecting severe weather, like a winter storm or hurricane, another menu option will appear to offer you details about the forecast to help you prepare.

The short descriptions offered in both sections feel particularly useful, especially when warning about inclement weather. When I’m looking at the forecast, I can guess how good or bad the weather will be based on the temperature and sun or cloud icon, but having these descriptions about the forecast takes the guesswork out of it.

More health and wellness tools

If you’re worried about the spread of illnesses in your area, the Weather Channel app can now warn you before you head out the door. The Weather Channel said its app can now give you tools and tips related to several health conditions, like the cold and the flu, which could be affected by the weather. There’s also a skin health section that breaks down your risk of experiencing dry skin throughout the day or how likely you are to get sunburned outside at a given time.

The Weather Channel also added a new air quality forecast feature. This feature takes into account factors like air pollution, smoke from wildfires, humidity and more to create a new Breathing Index. This index is meant to give you a better idea of what steps you might need to take to protect yourself against air quality issues throughout the day.

These features are easy to read at a glance, thanks to color-coded bubbles and one- or two-word descriptions. So if the Breathing Index is good today, this feature will display a green bubble and read, “Very Good.” You can also tap into these features to see a more detailed breakdown of your day and week.

The Weather Channel said it’s planning to add more sections, like for heat illness, headaches and even pet health.

Be prepared for some confusion from advertising and sponsorships, though. Some of these features are sponsored by companies like CVS, and those features will display that sponsorship. So while you might be tempted to skip over something that reads, “Sponsored by CVS” because it seems like an ad, these are functional features. You will see other ads in the app, and they’ll usually have a banner over the top of them that reads Advertisement. I’m used to these sorts of in-app ads, but one time a full page ad popped up when I tried to open the radar. I didn’t see an X in a corner to close the ad, and I wasn’t sure how to get past the ad, so I ended up closing the app and reopening it.

Features to help you better plan outdoor activities

The Weather Channel app is introducing a new Activities tab to help you plan outdoor activities like walking with your pet. This tab is meant to give you a better idea of when the weather is ideal for doing things like hiking or going for a run. There are also new Sun and Moon features that are meant to help you plan for high and low tides, teach you about celestial events, and more.

I try to take my dog for a walk around my neighborhood every day. Before, I’d try to squeeze a walk in before it started to rain, based on my iPhone’s preloaded Weather app, only for the rain to start halfway through the walk. Or I’d try to wait for the rain to stop, because the app said it would stop in 10 minutes, only for the app to push that time back a half hour. Though the Activities tab may not be able to predict with total certainty the best times to take my pup for a walk, it’s also not telling me for certain that the rain will stop in five, no wait, 15 minutes.

The app shows what’s important to you

According to the Weather Channel, you can answer some questions in the app to give you more-customized content related to the weather conditions and topics that interest you the most, like gardening and pets. This content is presented in the app in the form of articles, videos and more, further down on the app’s home screen and in the app’s News tab. The Weather Channel also said that the more you use the app, the more the app learns what to show you.

While I do appreciate some of the food-related content presented to me in this section, what I really like is that this content doesn’t interrupt the forecast information. When I open a weather app, I want to see the weather for my area first and foremost, not how some zoo animals in Australia beat the heat — though I will check that out, because the animals are cute. I haven’t felt like these articles or videos have gotten in the way of presenting the weather to me.

Extended reality experience coming soon for some

If you have a premium subscription for the Weather Channel app ($5 a month or $30 annually) you’ll soon get access to an extended reality, or XR, experience within the app. The Weather Channel said this XR experience will show you virtual environments meant to help you better understand how certain weather conditions, like heavy pollen or storms, might impact your area.

I like the intent of the XR experience, but the ads here are more than a little surprising. In one video clip the Weather Channel sent me, the XR experience showed a sunny day outside, before a bottle of CVS sunscreen materialized from the ground. In a rainy day clip, the feature put rain puddles on the ground — which was great and exactly what I want from it — but then a can of Campbell’s tomato soup on a table appeared. Both these ads seem to be activated when you point your camera to the bottom-right corner of the XR field, so you might be able to avoid them as long as you don’t point your camera in that direction.

Overall though, I like the changes to the Weather Channel’s app. I find them to be mostly helpful, and useful for better planning my day — even if a stray McDonald’s ad rears its head from time to time.

You can download the Weather Channel app for free from either Apple’s App Store or the Google Play store.

For more on weather apps, you can check out our best weather apps of 2024, and you can also take a look at our best password managers and antivirus software of 2024.

Runners will find these lightweight, ninth-gen bone-conduction headphones with an open-ear design a great asset to keep them entertained and motivated while exercising. Bone-conducting headphones work by resting on your cheekbones, delivering the sound to your ears through vibrations, which means you’ll be able to stay aware of your surroundings, which is a safer option than traditional headphones or earbuds. The current flagship model from Shokz (formerly AfterShokz) earned a spot on our roundup of the best running headphones and earbuds of 2024 — and right now you can snag a pair at a discount.

You’ll normally have to shell out $180 to grab a pair of these headphones, but Amazon has slashed the price by 22% right now, meaning you can snag a pair for just $140. While we’ve technically seen the OpenRun Pro drop $15 lower during last year’s Black Friday seasonal deals, this is the first time we’ve seen a price drop since and it’s a great chance to snag a pair for yourself without paying top dollar. And they make a great Valentine’s Day gift, too. We don’t know how long this offer will last, so we recommend making your purchase sooner rather than later.

The lightweight, wrap-around design should remain comfortable and secure regardless of how intense your workout gets. And you’ll get up to 10 hours of battery life per charge, with a 5-minute top-off giving you up to 90 minutes of playback when you’re short on time and need a boost. They’re also IP55-rated water-resistant and come equipped with dual noise-canceling microphones and more powerful bass than its predecessor, which makes the OpenRun Pro a solid option for listening to music and podcasts or taking calls on the go. And you’ll also get a hard carrying case with your purchase to keep your headphones safe.

However, if this pair doesn’t quite meet your needs, you can check out our roundup of other earbuds and headphones deals happening now for more options that can save you some cash.

Flying can be a lot of fun, especially if you enjoy visiting new destinations, both domestic and international. Of course, the problem is that prices for flights have skyrocketed, and if you want to take regular trips, that can get quite expensive, even if you don’t overpay. Luckily, there’s a solution in the form of Matt’s Flights premium plan, which lets you know when new and interesting flight deals are available. Even better, while the usual lifetime subscription goes for $1,800, this deal from Stacksocial will net you nab it for just $90, which is a huge 95% discount.

A Matt’s Flights premium subscription saves you time as well as money by sparing you the headache of having to manually search and compare flights and prices across different services. You get unlimited search requests for both domestic and international flights, and Matt’s Flights will send the absolute best prices available straight to your inbox, which includes three or more deals per week. You also get 24/7 email support for one-on-one help planning your flights and trip. If you’re looking for ways to save on your upcoming summer vacation, this is a deal you won’t want to miss.

If you like to game but need to take your gear on the go, you might want to grab a gaming laptop to get your game on. Unfortunately, gaming laptops tend to be quite expensive, so we’re happy to see that there are some great deals as part of this gaming laptop sale on Woot. There are both new and refurbished options to go for, although most of them mostly have the older RTX 30-series GPUs, with some of them still being pretty excellent.

We’ve picked our favorite deals below, but it’s well worth checking everything available using the button below. Also, be aware that this sale ends on Feb. 7 at 12 a.m. CT, so grab the deals while they’re hot.

Probably one of our favorite budget-friendly picks is this ASUS VivoBook Pro 16X, which is a good option if you’re more interested in the screen quality since it has a 16-inch OLED screen and a 3,840×2,400 resolution. It also has a solid mid-to-high-end AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU that’s going to be more than enough for most productivity and day-to-day tasks. As for the GPU, you get the RTX 3050 Ti, which is admittedly a very entry-level graphics card, but you can certainly get some indie and casual gaming done. You can grab the VivoBook Pro 16X for $950 instead of the usual $1,500.

Another excellent budget-friendly option is the ASUS ROG Strix, which is going for just $900 and has a better GPU in the form of the RTX 3060. The 15.6-inch screen only runs at a 1080p resolution, although it can hit a 144Hz refresh rate, meaning that it won’t push the RTX 3060 too hard, and you should be able to hit that refresh rate pretty well. More surprisingly, you get the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX, which is a very high-end CPU, so it can handle complex things like streaming, music production and more resource-hungry game genres like Simulation and RTS.

Finally, if you want something with a bit of graphical oomph, then you might want to grab this Acer Nitro 5, which has the very impressive RTX 3080 under the hood. Luckily, that means it should easily be able to handle the 1440p screen running at 165Hz resolution, with a very tiny bit of graphical compromise. You also get a similar high-end AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, as well as 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. You can have all of that for just $1,120, so it’s well worth grabbing if you like what you see, and if not, be sure to check out some other great gaming laptop deals as well.

The Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset is now available to the general public. Its retail starting price is $3,499, and not everyone will be willing to spend that much money on a computer you wear on your face.

That said, you still might be interested in taking the Vision Pro for a spin; the headset is compelling. It’s a technical marvel, with impressive visuals. And you don’t necessarily need to be an Apple fanatic to be curious about trying out Apple’s foray into spatial computing.

If you check out our review of the Vision Pro, by CNET’s Scott Stein, you might understand why.

Read more: Apple Vision Pro Review: A Mind-Blowing Look at an Unfinished Future

If the price does give you pause but still want to test out the Apple Vision Pro right now, there’s some good news: v-pre You don’t have to drop thousands of dollars. You can just go to an Apple store. Scroll on for details about that.

Want to learn more about the headset? Here’s what you need to know before buying the Vision Pro, and here are all the apps that will and won’t appear on the Vision Pro.

Check Out Apple’s Vision Pro Headset and Everything in the Box

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Sign up today for a Vision Pro demo at your local Apple Store

You can sign up for a Vision Pro demo at your local Apple Store now.

During the roughly 25-minute demonstration, an Apple Store employee will walk you through the process of using the headset.

Be warned: With the frenzy surrounding the Vision Pro, you may expect lines, and the demos are first come, first served. So get there early on Sunday if you want a chance of trying out the headset.

To get a demo today, Sunday, you’ll need to head to your local Apple Store and sign up in person. Once you’re at the store, the process is easy: Find an Apple employee; tell them you want to demo the headset; give them your name and contact information; and reserve a demo time. You can leave the store and come back if your appointment is later on in the day.

The process to book a demo after Sunday (Monday through Thursday this week) is easier — you can do it online. Head to either Apple’s Vision Pro page or the Apple Store app and tap the Book a demo button. After you sign in with your Apple ID (you’ll need two-factor authentication enabled), book your appointment. Right now you can book a demo for Feb. 5 through Feb. 8.

I got to demo the Apple Vision Pro on Friday, and it went smoothly. I waited in line, an Apple employee checked me in, and then I came back during my appointment time. From there, I scanned my face to get fitted for the Vision Pro, and because I wear prescription glasses, I had them scanned to get the appropriate Zeiss Optical Inserts. An Apple employee then walked me through various gestures to navigate the headset, and I got to browse the internet in Safari, check out spatial videos shot on the iPhone and watch a really immersive video demo from Apple TV.

While you’re here, check out what iPhone spatial videos look like on the Vision Pro.

If you love to travel, or just enjoy learning languages, then grabbing a Rosetta Stone lifetime subscription is a good way to go. With over 25 languages to pick from, and as much time as you could ever want to learn, it’s a solid deal. Of course, the full price of $399 is a bit mind-boggling, which is why we really like this deal from Stacksocial, which knocks 52% off the price, bringing it down to just $190. That’s even $10 cheaper than what Rosetta itself is offering, so it’s worth grabbing quickly before the deal expires.

Rosetta Stone is our favorite language learning app for auditory learners and this membership gives you access to 25 different languages, from Spanish to Korean, allowing you to better communicate with locals on your travels and increase your comfort level in international settings. Even if you don’t plan on traveling far from home, improving your language skills has plenty of benefits. Whether you want to speak with international neighbors or enjoy movies and TV shows from other places, hobbyists can also take advantage of this deal.

Every single lesson — no matter the language — is broken up into manageable chunks, both online and offline. You also have access to an immersive learning environment that will keep you interested throughout the course to keep your mind on perfecting your studies. Plus, you can even practice your accent using speech recognition technology.