Holiday Gift Guide 2023: Best Gifts Under $1,000

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The holidays are coming, and if you’re looking to jump on the gift-buying tour early, we’ve got you covered. We have a series of gift guide articles running, and in this particular one, we’ll focus on somewhat pricey gifts. This article contains some of the best gifts under $1,000 that we’ve been able to track down. Of course, the selection is enormous, so these are only some of our picks, along with a bunch of information for each product. We’re also focusing on gifts above $500 and below $1,000 here, as we have separate gift guides for deals under $500. You’ll find five products below, that we’re focusing on, along with some honorable mentions at the very end. If you’re looking to spare no expense for someone, you may like some of these offerings. Let’s get to it!

Best gift for a movie aficionado: Samsung Freestyle smart projector

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Enjoy multimedia content on a huge canvas

Do you know someone who wants to get a projector? Well, if you’re willing to splash out a bit more cash, you can get a good projector as a gift. Projectors are nowhere near as expensive as they used to be, and they’re actually quite good. A projector can not only be a replacement for a TV, but it can be a way for you to watch your favorite content outdoors, it can be a TV that you can carry with you. That is especially true if you get one of these “portable” projectors that have been heavily advertised for years now.

The Samsung Freestyle is one such product. This projector is quite compact, and it has a rather nice design. It is a fullHD HDR projector that comes with Amazon Alexa built-in. It also has rather powerful speakers built in, which is not something you’ll see on every similar product. HDR10 is supported here, and so is Dolby Digital Plus. The Samsung Freestyle also comes with a contrast enhancer, for super vivid content, and you can easily connect it with a device you’ll project from via an HDMI cable.

Bluetooth is also a part of the package, and the device runs Samsung’s Tizen OS. The Samsung Freestyle can also automatically adjust the picture for you, which includes both leveling and focus. You can even get an external battery pack if you plan on taking this device with you somewhere where you won’t have access to an AC outlet. And last, but not least, the image size. This thing can project a screen in a range between 30 and 100 inches. So it’ll basically suit every use case, it all depends on what you want/need, and how large your canvas is. The Samsung Freestyle project is priced at $314.99 on Amazon.

Samsung Freestyle smart projector (Amazon)

Best phone for under $700: Google Pixel 8

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A flagship-grade phone with a great camera & AI smarts

Having a smartphone in the US these days is a given. Everyone has one, and it’s not always easy to decide what to get, unless you’re locked into Apple’s ecosystem, of course. If you’re not, and you prefer Android devices, or a person you’re trying to find a gift for prefers them, well, we have a great recommendation. The Google Pixel 8 is not only brand new, but it’s one of the best phones you can buy at its price range. This handset is priced at $699 on Amazon, and it is a lot to splash out for a gift, but we’re in that $500-$1,000 price bracket here.

So, what’s so great about the Pixel 8? Well, other than the price tag, this smartphone also comes with software directly from Google. Not only does it bring a really clean UI, but the phone will continue getting OS and security updates for 7 years. Yes, you read that right, Google trumped even Apple with that one. The phone is also quite compact, it has a 6.2-inch display, which is not only great in terms of size for a phone, but it’s a very bright display that offers a 120Hz refresh rate.

Google’s Pixel phones are well-known for having great cameras, and this one is no exception. It includes a great main camera, and a very capable ultrawide shooter, which are only boosted by Google’s camera AI prowess. This phone allows users to make major changes to their photos thanks to AI. The battery life is not the phone’s strongest point, but it’s not bad either. Wireless charging is also included in the package, and the Pixel 8 is also water and dust-resistant. All in all, the Pixel 8 is a great value at $699, and very few people would disagree with that, especially given the smartphone price tags these days.

Google Pixel 8 (Amazon)

Best gift for a gamer in you: LG UltraGear QHD 34-Inch Curved Gaming Monitor

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A monitor every gamer will appreciate

Monitors come in all shapes and sizes these days. Big, small, wide, ultrawide, vertical… you name it. There are plenty of choices, so we couldn’t exactly go wild and place a ton on this list. After some consideration, we landed on the LG UltraGear 34GP83A-B monitor. This name may not seem exciting, mainly due to the model number, but it sure is a great monitor. This is an ultrawide monitor, and it measures 34 inches in diagonal. It is also a QHD (3440 x 1440) monitor, so it’s plenty sharp.

We’re looking at an IPS panel here, and a 21:9 aspect ratio. Ultrawide monitors are outstanding for productivity, as they allow you to stack several windows one next to each other, depending on what you’re doing. I love them, and I know many other people who do, especially people from the industry. They can also be great for gaming, and this particular one actually aims to please gamers. It aims to immerse gamers into action, with a 178-degree viewing angle. It also comes with an “overclocked” refresh rate of 160Hz, and 1-millisecond Motion Blur Reduction (MBR).

It has VESA DisplayHDR 400 high dynamic range compatibility, and with compatible video cards (NVIDIA G-SYNC and AMD FreeSync Premium) it can basically eliminate screen tearing and minimize shutter in high-resolution games. The bezel around the display is also quite minimal, which immerses gamers completely. This monitor also comes with a stand, which does look quite nice, but you can, of course, mount it too, if that’s what you prefer. This can be a great gift to buy yourself, but for others as well, it’s an outstanding monitor. Its current price tag is $639.62 (down from $749.99).

LG UltraGear curved gaming monitor (Amazon)

Best way to ditch manual vacuuming: roborock Q5 Robot Vacuum Cleaner

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Save time, and let a robot do the vacuuming for you

Vacuuming is not really a chore that many people love. That’s probably why robot vacuums managed to become very popular lately. There are all sorts of different robot vacuums on offer out there, and they can be a great tool to help you keep your house clean. These robots can be set to clean your floors whenever you want, you can even set everything up so that they clean when you’re not around. Some of them are better than others, though, of course. We’ll talk about a rather great robot vacuum here, the Roborock Q5.

The Roborock Q5 is a robot vacuum cleaner that offers very strong 2700Pa suction. On top of that, it has LiDAR navigation, and multi-level mapping. As if that’s not enough, the battery life on this thing is really great. There are also a number of advanced functions included, such as the ability to set no-go zones for the device. The Roborock Q5 is also quite often a part of the conversation when it comes to people who have pets at home. This robot vacuum is really good at removing dog and cat hair from carpets. We can’t really say the same for many other robot vacuums.

What else is there? Well, plenty, actually. This robot vacuum is also compatible with Amazon Alexa, in case you’re a part of that ecosystem. The company’s app will provide you with plenty of customization for the product, and the device can clean for around 180 minutes before it needs a charge. It also has a large dustbin (470ml), so you won’t have to clean it out as often as you think. The Roborock Q5 is priced at $699.99 on Amazon, and it’s one of the best robot vacuums the company has to offer.

Roborock Q5 (Amazon)

Best way to fly: DJI Mini 3 Pro

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Give your videos a new perspective

Drones were not really all that great at first. They were also obscenely expensive. Today, they come in all shapes and sizes, and also price tags. You can get one on the cheap, but if you want to get a truly compelling drone, you’ll have to splash out a bit more cash. Still, even the most expensive drones are cheaper than before. Having said that, if you’re looking for a great drone for yourself, or to give to someone, DJI is the company that comes to mind first. The DJI Mini 3 Pro is actually a great example of an immensely capable drone, and a truly compact one at the same time.

Needless to say, it’s important for drones to be somewhat compact, as chances are the user will be carrying it around. You want to capture that beautiful scenery when you go on a holiday, and so on. The DJI Mini 3 Pro is a compact drone that can shoot 4K video, and take 48-megapixel photos as well. This thing weighs less than 249 grams, so it’s actually lighter than some smartphones out there, which is great. It also has a rather good battery life, as it can provide the user with over half an hour of flight time.

That’s not all, however, not even close. The DJI Mini 3 Pro comes with a capable remote controller, and tri-directional obstacle sensing. Piloting this drone should be fairly easy thanks to that. This drone can also return home on its own, and do it safely, thanks to all the tech baked inside. A ton of smart features are built into this drone, such as FocusTrack, True Vertical Shooting, MasterShots, Timelapse, QuickTransfer, and so on. We’re only scratching the surface here, as there’s plenty more that this drone offers. The DJI Mini 3 Pro is priced at $759 on Amazon as we speak.

DJI Mini 3 Pro (Amazon)

Honorable mentions

Here are a couple of more products in this price bracket that you may like…

Samsung 49-inch Odyssey monitor

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If you’re looking for an ultra-premium monitor for yourself or someone else, Samsung’s 49-inch Odyssey monitor definitely belongs in that category. This is a curved gaming monitor, with a 120Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10 content, and features an adjustable stand, but you can also mount it, if that’s what’s preferred. This is a dual QHD monitor, you’re getting 5120 x 1440 resolution here, and the bezels are also quite thin. This thing is optimized for gaming, but it can be great for general productivity too. This monitor is priced at $949 on Amazon.

Samsung 49-inch Odyssey monitor (Amazon)

T Thin Cast Capstone Touch Screen Smart Mirror

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Smart mirrors are a thing, and you may have seen one already. Needless to say, this can be a really cool gift and tech accessory in general. Having all those controls on a rather large mirror in the room of your preference can be great. This is the largest mirror offered by the company, and it’s extremely thin. It’s both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled, and compatible with both Android and iOS. There are four speakers included here, and you can easily mount it to a wall. The whole point is that you can cast from your phone to this piece of tech. You can get this mirror for $999.

T Thin Cast Capstone smart mirror (Amazon)

LaserPecker 2 laser engraver

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I, personally, would love to have something like this. The LaserPecker 2 is a laser engraver that enables you to engrave things… via lasers. It sounds expensive, and it is, at $959.99 (and this is a discounted price tag). By using this engraver, it’s possible to engrave paper, cardboard, wood, leather, aluminum, stainless steel, and more. It’s basically a plug and play machine. You should definitely read the instructions before use, though, as this thing is much more advanced than a printer.

LaserPecker 2 laser engraver (Amazon)


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Holiday Gift Guide 2023: Best Smart Home Products

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The Smart Home continues to be a pretty popular product category, even going into the holiday shopping season in 2023. Just about everyone is coming up with their own smart home products to put on sale, from doorbells, to smart lights, to thermostats, and everything in between. And a smart home product like one of those mentioned might be a really good option for some, this holiday season.

Best Doorbell: Ring Video Doorbell

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A cheap, but good way to keep an eye on your packages and who’s coming to your home

The Ring Video Doorbell is actually one of the cheapest doorbells you can buy. Ring also makes it super easy to install. I have this same doorbell at my home, and it took just a few minutes to add it to my home. What makes this doorbell so great is the quick release battery. With some other doorbells, you need to remove the entire doorbell to replace the battery or charge it. That’s not the case with the Ring Video Doorbell. Instead, you just lift up the quick release plate, and then press a button on the battery. It’s super simple, and you can get extra batteries for pretty cheap, from Amazon. Which is a life-saver when your doorbell battery starts to run low.

Of course, one of the great things about the Ring Video Doorbell is that it can tell you when someone is at your door. It will also tell you when anything is near your front-door. Including people that don’t ring the doorbell – like package thieves. I had a package stolen from my porch, and because of the Ring Video Doorbell, I was able to see exactly who it was, and take action. Without this doorbell, that would not have been possible.

Ring does include night vision on this doorbell, it’s black and white unlike its newer doorbells. But it’s still good enough to see what’s going on at night. Ring also includes two-way voice, so you can talk with whoever is at your door. Say, UPS is there and needs a signature, you can come on and tell them to wait a minute for you to get to the door, instead of just leaving with your package. I’ve actually done this, because we all know how quickly UPS and FedEx will leave that “Sorry we missed you” notice on your door.

Finally, the Ring Video Doorbell also allows you to share your doorbell with other people. So you can share it with others that live in your home, so they can also get notified when packages are delivered – there is a specific notification for packages being recognized. This is actually a really useful feature, even if you are only living with your significant other. It makes it much easier to see what’s happening outside your home and have that peace of mind.

Ring Video Doorbell – Amazon

Honorable Mention: Nest Doorbell (Battery)

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The Google Nest Doorbell is available in two versions – battery and wired. The battery version is great for those that don’t have existing doorbell wiring, or simply don’t want to mess with the wiring. While the wired version is great for those that do have existing doorbell wiring, and a big advantage it has is that it is slightly smaller and never needs to be charged.

I’ve used the Google Nest Doorbell, and do really like this doorbell. But it’s not perfect, and the reason why it’s an honorable mention instead of the best, is because of the battery charging. You see, to charge this doorbell, you need to pop off the entire doorbell off of the wall. And then plug it into a USB-C cable to charge. It can take a couple hours to charge, since this is not a fast-charging doorbell. This can be and is very inconvenient. Luckily, you only need to do this every six months or so, depending on your settings.

Google’s doorbell gives you some great quality video, both live and recorded and it is available in the Google Home app. It does also work with other Nest and Google products, making it easy to work together.

Nest Doorbell (Battery) – Best Buy

Best Robot Vacuum: iRobot Roomba Combo j9+

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Put away that vacuum and mop, and let the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ do it for you

This is the latest “Roomba Combo” from iRobot, which brings in some really nice upgrades over the Roomba Combo j7+. The new Roomba Combo j9+ has a great looking base, with a wooden-top, which makes it really great for blending into your living room, dining room, or wherever you have it placed.

The Roomba Combo is a pretty unique concept from iRobot. Basically, what it does is it completely lifts the mop up and over the vacuum. So it’s not going to get your carpet wet. We haven’t had a chance to test out the J9 yet, but the J7 performed beautifully, and we expect that the J9 is even better. Since this is a “plus” model, it does also have the ability to empty its dustbin while docked, and auto-fill the water reservoir inside the vacuum. Which is going to make your life a whole lot easier here.

There’s a few more upgrades that iRobot made here with the Roomba Combo j9+, which includes SmartScrub. This will allow the robot to identify where there’s a bigger mess that needs more attention and can run over that area up to two times in a deep scrubbing manner. It does a really good job at both identifying and cleaning these messes too.

To go along with SmartScrub, Roomba has also added Dirt Detective. This new feature is able to automatically prioritize the dirtiest rooms. It’s able to do this thanks to the camera and LED light on the front, which also help it to identify objects to avoid – like pet waste. Not to mention the Roomba Combo j9+ has about double the suction power as its previous robot vacuums. So dirt doesn’t stand a chance with this new robot vacuum.

iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ – Amazon

Honorable Mention: Roborock S8 Pro Ultra

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The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is one of my favorite robot vacuums, and I’ve actually used it the majority of the year. It has a lot going for it, like the increased suction which is now rated at 6,000Pa. It also has the Ultra dock, which can empty the dustbin, refill the water reservoir and also clean the mopping pad on the actual robot vacuum. Making it a really awesome experience, because you can have your home nice and clean, with a hands-off approach.

Roborock has also included its Reactive 3D feature here, which uses the front-camera to look for objects to avoid, and go around. Roborock has always done a good job at avoiding objects with the Reactive 3D feature, and now it’s even better. This is thanks to Roborock using AI and machine learning to make it better over the past three years.

Roborock S8 Pro Ultra – Amazon

Best Smart Thermostat: Amazon Smart Thermostat

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Save money on your energy bill with the inexpensive Amazon Smart Thermostat

What’s the main purpose of a smart thermostat? To save you money, right? That’s exactly what Amazon’s Smart Thermostat does, and why we have it listed as the best smart thermostat. It’s because it does not add in a bunch of bells and whistles to make it more expensive, it just does what you need it to do.

This smart thermostat has been ENERGY STAR certified, and will save you money on your gas and power bill this winter, and truly all-year round. That is because it can intelligently change the temperature of your furnace or AC, to keep your home nice and cool or warm (depending on the season), while using less energy.

Honeywell Home worked with Amazon on this thermostat, so you know you’re in good hands here. My parents actually have this smart thermostat and it has worked really well for them over the past two years, and saved them a good amount on their gas bill, especially in the winter.

Since this is an Amazon Smart Thermostat, you can of course connect it to Alexa and control it with your voice. Alexa can also show you how much energy you’ve been using from all of your devices, including your HVAC system. So if you’re really looking to save money on your electric and gas bill, this is a great way to do just that. While also adding the convenience of saying “Alexa, set the heat to 70 degrees”.

Amazon has also made this really easy to install in your home. Now you will need to make sure you get the C-Wire adapter if you have not already had a smart thermostat installed in your home. This adapter is needed because the smart thermostat actually needs power from the HVAC system, unlike regular non-smart thermostats that use a couple of AA batteries. It’s easy to install, I’ve done it myself, but you do need to make sure you get the adapter, which is included in this version of the Amazon Smart Thermostat.

Amazon Smart Thermostat – Amazon

Honorable Mention: ecobee Smart Thermostat

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The ecobee Smart Thermostat is a really great smart thermostat too, in fact it is one that I have in my own home. It does quite a few things, but the main reason why it is not our pick for the best smart thermostat, is the price and features, compared to Amazon’s Smart Thermostat. If you’re looking for something that does a bit more, this is your best option.

Ecobee’s Smart Thermostat does work with HomeKit, Google Home and of course Alexa, so you can use your voice with this, no matter what platform you’re using. Ecobee can also automatically learn your usage pattern, and change the temperature of your home when you’re away, so that you save more money. Your home doesn’t need to stay at 70 degrees all winter while you’re at work for 8 hours. Ecobee saves customers on average, about 26% on the heating and cooling bill.

ecobee Smart Thermostat – Amazon

Best Smart Display: Amazon Echo Show 8

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The new Echo Show 8 brings huge upgrades across the board for your smart home

The Amazon Echo Show 8 was actually just reviewed by your truly in October. This is the latest smart display from Amazon, and does quite a few things right. Amazon has improved the design on the Echo Show 8, making it edge-to-edge glass and a centered camera this time around. Giving it a more updated look than the previous model, but to be honest, you probably won’t notice nor care. I can’t say I’ve really noticed the difference, and it sits on my desk playing YouTube Music all-day long.

Amazon has also improved the processor here, which you will notice. Navigating around the OS is a whole lot smoother now compared to the previous version. And it even has Adaptive Content, which I thought would be a pretty gimmicky feature, but it’s not. Basically, the camera is used to know if you’re near the display or far away, and if you are far away, then everything on the display is larger. Once you move closer, it gets smaller and fits more info on the screen. Take the weather for example, it’ll move from just showing you today’s conditions, to showing you the conditions, temperature and weather for the next few hours.

One of the great features of the Amazon Echo Show 8 is the camera that’s built-in. Allowing you to call your loved ones and see them, like you’re there with them. And if you know someone that isn’t going to be able to make it to the holidays this year, then this is going to be a great option as a gift. As they can call in and still see everyone, thanks to that 13-megapixel camera.

Finally, it’s a smart display, and it has a speaker. So it is also great for streaming music. All of your favorite streaming music services work here, I’ve been using it with YouTube Music, and it sounds great. It does, surprisingly, have Cast enabled, despite that being a Google technology. Making it easier to start playing music from my computer or phone, onto the Echo Show 8.

Amazon Echo Show 8 – Amazon

Honorable Mention: Nest Hub

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The Nest Hub is a couple of years old at this point, but it’s still one of our favorite smart displays. It’s a small one, coming in at 7-inches, and there’s also no camera built-in. The big reason for this is so that you can put it in your bedroom. Which is awesome, because it does measure your snoring while you sleep. It’s cool and all, but I would take that data with a grain of salt, as it has routinely counted my dog’s snoring as my own, which is obviously not accurate. But there’s only so much accuracy it can get without a camera.

Google has made this a really great smart home display, allowing you to easily change up the temperature on your smart thermostat, turn off your lights and much more. It also has all of your favorite streaming music apps included, like Spotify, YouTube Music and Amazon Music.

Nest Hub – Best Buy

Best Smart Lights: Philips Hue 60W White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit

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Add some color to your home with the new Philips Hue smart bulbs

When it comes to smart lights, it’s hard to go wrong with Philips Hue. I actually have their lights all over my home, and absolutely love them. With Philips Hue, you really never need to worry about them disconnecting from your WiFi network, or having to change their settings if you change ISPs or get a new router. This is because it uses the Philips Hue Bridge, which plugs directly into the router. Now you can use these over Bluetooth as well, but the Bridge just makes things so much easier.

This is a starter pack from Philips Hue, which includes two white and color ambiance light bulbs, along with the bridge, for under $130. That might sound expensive, but smart lights generally are pretty pricey. These are color ambiance bulbs, which means there are millions, if not billions of colors that you can choose from. Allowing you to make your home more moody if you wish.

Philips Hue works with all of the big smart home platforms. These include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Homekit/Siri and even Samsung SmartThings. So no matter what platform you’re using, you’re all set here. Hue also integrates with a lot of third-party automations, including IFTTT and even works with Razer’s RGB software. So you can really have some fun in your gaming room with these lights.

The biggest reason why Philips Hue is so popular these days, is because of the ecosystem. While we’re listing bulbs here, Philips Hue also has a ton of other lights in its ecosystem. From other size bulbs, including E12 bulbs, and floodlights, it also has LED strips for the back of your TV, or LED strips to use outside, and so much more. There’s plenty of great lamps from philips Hue too.

The ecosystem is pretty rich, so if you’re looking to get into the smart lighting game, Philips Hue is a great place to start.

Philips Hue White & Color Ambiance Kit – Best Buy

Honorable Mention: GE CYNC Smart LED Light Bulbs

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GE, yes that same GE that’s been around for over a hundred years, has it’s own smart bulb brand. It’s called CYNC and it produces some pretty good smart bulbs for a pretty cheap price. This is their Full Color and Color Changing bulbs, which use Bluetooth and WiFi for connecting to your devices or network. That’s one of the big differentiators from Philips Hue, and it could disconnect, which would be a real hassle.

GE CYNC also has a pretty good ecosystem of lighting products that you can pick up for your home. And it also works with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and even Apple’s HomeKit and Siri.

GE CYNC Smart Bulbs – Amazon

 


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Gmail testing a new Quick reply UI for emails on Android

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Gmail is working on a nice update with a touch of modernization in a new test, reports Android Police. The email service is currently testing a quick reply UI, more similar to a chat service.

Gmail working on a Quick reply UI for a more modern feature set


Usually, replying to emails is quite the serious-looking process. You need to tap the Reply or Reply All button, enter a subject line, type out a response and include a signature and a salutation. Now, Gmail is working on making exchanging emails more like threads (back-and-forth conversations), if you wish to do so.

There’s a new test for Gmail on Android that is working on replacing the three large buttons for Reply, Reply All, and Forward, with a message box that looks more like a field in Telegram or WhatsApp, or any other chat app for that matter. You have a paperclip icon on the left for file attachments, and a more simple way to reply to the email.


You can, of course, still choose to change to “Reply All” or edit the list of recipients, but the default is “Reply”. You can also expand this field to get a full-screen email composition window to create a more sophisticated email response. The emoji button is on the right, outside the text field.

When you start typing, you get the keyboard and the text field moves close to the middle of your screen, just like a regular chat app. You don’t lose visibility of the email you’re replying to as well.


This seems to be a server-side test from Google, and not all users will be able to see it just yet.

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Outstanding sound quality in a tiny package

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Huawei has two lineups of flagship truly wireless earbuds. Both are a part of the ‘FreeBuds’ series, but one lineup comes with open-fit design, and the other features closed-fit design. In other words, one come without a silicone seal, while the others have it. Earlier this year, I checked out the Huawei FreeBuds 5. That are the company’s open-fit design, and they performed great. Now, for people who want smaller earbuds, and one with closed-fit design, well, Huawei has you covered. The company launched the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 truly wireless earbuds quite recently, and I’ve been using them for a while now, which is why this review is in place.

The Huawei FreeBuds 5 do come with some silicone seals, even though they’re open-fit earbuds, but the FreeBuds Pro 3 will appeal to more people, as they’re closed-fit by default. They’re much smaller than the FreeBuds 5, and offer much better active noise cancelling (ANC). The improvement here, even compared to the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 that I checked out last year, is quite significant. Not a single product is perfect, of course, but as you can probably tell already, I’m left impressed by the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3. In this article, you’ll be able to find out why, and get a pair yourself, if it fits your style and budget. So let’s get cracking, shall we?

Table of contents

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 Review: Hardware / Design

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 are made out of plastic, and the same goes for their charging/carrying case. That is a given these days, pretty much. Now, the thing is, the Ceramic White model is the only one that feature shiny plastic. The Green and Silver Frost models both have matte plastic, and I’m glass I got to review one of those two models. As you can see in the provided images, I got a chance to use the Green model. It looks really nice in real life, and it actually looks like a combo between green and gray colors. Both the charging case and the earbuds feel really nice in the hand, the build quality is top-notch, which is what we’re used to seeing from Huawei. That is especially true for the company’s higher-end products, of course, which these earbuds definitely are. They’re basically the top-end truly wireless earbuds the company has to offer.

Matte plastic > glossy plastic

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The matte plastic didn’t start feeling greasy at any point during my usage, which is not something I can say for the shiny finish. It can get quite greasy, and packed with fingerprints. That’s not an issue at all here, so I definitely do recommend getting either the Green or Silver Frost models. Products with shiny plastic definitely need to go away. In any case, the charging case has a Type-C port at the bottom (though wireless charging is also supported, more on that later), where you’ll also see three holes for a loudspeaker. Yes, the charging case does have a speaker for audio cues. The pairing button is located on the side of the case. There’s one LED light on the outside of the case, and one on the inside. The outer one signals the battery level of the case itself, while the inner one indicates the battery life of the earbuds. The outer one also shows you the pairing status, as it will start blinking white when it’s in pairing mode (you need to hold the physical button in order to enter the pairing mode).

The lid on the charging case feels really sturdy

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You need to hold the charging case in horizontal orientation in order to open them, which is the opposite of what the FreeBuds 5 offered. The lid feels very sturdy, it’s a far cray from cheap truly wireless earbuds you’ll find out there. That’s nothing new, though, Huawei has been doing it for years now. The charging case is not particularly grippy, it’s exactly what you’d expect out of matte plastic. Now, the earbuds themselves, on the other hand, are not made out of matte plastic, unfortunately.

The earbuds themselves have shinny plastic finish on them, and they do get rather messy fast. They end up being filled with fingerprints, which is not surprising. Considering they’re quite small, not many people will have a problem with that, but it’s worth noting. The earbuds are quite body, which is good for grip when you’re removing them from the charging case. They magnetize in the case when they’re charging, and you’ll find connectors on the bottom of the earbuds themselves, which is how they’re charging.

They support both swipe gestures & press-to-trigger gestures

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Each earbud has a touch-sensitive pad on them. Now, those tiny pads are not located on the part of the earbuds that is facing opposite of your head. They are located on the outer part, but the part that is looking forward/up. They react both on swipe and touches (physical ones), depending on what you’ve set up in the AI Life app. More on that later. It’s also worth noting that even though the surface area of the touch pads is small, they do work really. I didn’t have any issues whatsoever, even though I’d still prefer them to be on the outer part of the earbud. Do note that the earbuds are IP54 certified for water and dust resistance, but not the charging case.

What else sits in the box?

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Now, do note that if the pre-installed eartips don’t work for you, there are different ones included in the package. You have XS (Extra Small), S (Small), and L (Large) sizes included, while the M (medium) are pre-installed. In addition to that, and some paperwork, you’re also getting a Type-A to Type-C cable, in case you need it for charging.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 Review: Sound & Call quality

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 are the best-sounding earbuds I’ve ever used, period. I cannot emphasize how great these sound, especially considering the size, not to mention that ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) got improved as well. Even if you don’t mess with the equalizer (which is available, a 10-band EQ, actually), you’ll get great sound out of these earbuds. The sound is not too sharp, while it’s also nowhere near being muffled. It’s really well-balanced across the spectrum. I’ve listened to mostly rock and pop songs during my usage, but I also tested some R&B, songs heavy on bass, and plenty of power ballads, amongst others. Everything sounded great, pretty much. Other earbuds I’ve had contact with don’t even come close in terms of sound quality.

The call quality is excellent

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What about call quality? Well, that has been improved, and it’s also quite noticeable. People on the other end of the line said that I sounded great, even though I was in a rather busy part of town when I tested call quality, and I was constantly moving too, not to mention that I was riding in a tram too. In fact, several people told me that I sounded great, that they wouldn’t even notice that I was speaking via earphones if I didn’t emphasize that. Now, Huawei is utilizing something called ‘PireVoice 2.0’ in order to make this happen. The company says that the system is able to pick up voices a lot better thanks to this feature, 2.5x better, to be exact. This is done through neural network algorithms, while the extra mics don’t hurt either. All in all, the sound quality is top-notch.

ANC is much-improved compared to FreeBuds Pro 2, and it’s noticeable

Huawei actually claims that it improved background noise cancellation by 5 dB in comparison to the FreeBuds Pro 2. Wind noise cancellation has been improved by 80%, and noise cancellation in general by 50%, according to Huawei. Usually, when testing next-gen earbuds, I either can’t tell the difference in ANC, or the different is not that noticeable. With the FreeBuds Pro 3, however, the difference is easily noticeable. ANC is obviously better, as far as background noise cancellation is concerned. It’s outstanding for TWS earbuds, to be quite honest. It still doesn’t tune out everything, but that’ll never happen with earphones. I didn’t get much wind during my testing here, but wind wasn’t an issue. In fact, it wasn’t really an issue with FreeBuds Pro 2, so if that aspect is improved here, that’s great! Another thing to note is that LDAC support is included too.

There are several ANC modes you can choose from

Now, in regards to ANC, you do have several modes to choose from. Dynamic, Cozy, General, and Ultra modes are at your disposal. The ‘Ultra’ mode is for extremely noisy places, ‘General’ is for generally noisy places, ‘Cozy’ is for places with little noise, and the ‘Dynamic’ mode will allow the earbuds to decide on their own.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 Review: Battery

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The battery life varies considerably between different pairs of truly wireless earbuds. The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 don’t exactly excel in that regard, but I’ve seen much worse numbers, so… I can’t really complain all that much. Now, Huawei claims that you can get around 6.5 hours of battery life without ANC, and I see that happening. I didn’t really use them exclusively without ANC for that long to find out, but based on what I’ve seen, yes, it’s possible. With ANC on, you can count for around 4.5 hours, so two hours less than with ANC on. That’s not bad, actually, though as I said, I’ve seen earbuds with better battery life. Do note that the charging case boosts those 6.5 hours to around 25-26 hours. Huawei claims it will push the battery life to around 31 hours, but that didn’t pan out for us.

Wireless charging is also supported

You can charge these earbuds both via a wire (Type-C port), or wirelessly (Qi charging). The charging case can charge up the earbuds in around an hour, and it packs in enough punch to fully recharge them four times.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 Review: AI Life app

The AI Life is Huawei’s application that you’ll need in order to customize your Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 experience. Do note that it’s not necessary for general usage. However, if you’d like to tweak the touch gestures, ANC, or the equalizer, having this app is a must. The same goes for jumping between devices in terms of compatibility, and so on. You can get the Huawei AI Life app directly from the company’s website, or via the AppGallery app store you can install on your phone. The app is not available in the Google Play Store due to the US ban and everything connected to that.

The AI Life app comes with quite a few options, including a 10-band EQ

In the app, you can also choose from several EQ presets if you want (Bass boost, Treble boost, Voices, and Symphony). Alternatively, you can manually set the equalizer to your liking. As mentioned earlier, there’s a 10-band EQ included here for you to use. Customizing touch gestures is also possible, to a degree, and so on. Do note that you’ll get a click sound in your ears when you interact with touch gestures, regardless whether you’re swiping to increase or decrease volume, or if you’re pinching the touchpad for pausing/playing music. These are just some examples, of course.

You can easily re-assign gestures

In regards to default gestures, let’s just go over them real quick. If you pinch the stem where the touch pad is, you’ll be able to play or pause music, or answer/end call. Pinching it twice will reject the call or throw you to the next song, depending of whether you have an incoming call or not. Pinching three times calls up the previous song, while pinching and holding will let you switch between awareness mode, normal mode, and ANC. If you swipe up and down you’ll be able to control the volume. That’s it. The gestures worked really well for me.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3: Should you buy it?

So, should you buy Huawei’s flagship truly wireless earbuds? Well, if you’re looking for a great pair of truly wireless earbuds, love the closed-fit design, and have the money to make it happen… then yes, we’d definitely recommend these. You’ll hardly find a better pair of truly wireless earbuds for this price, to be quite honest. Not only are these earbuds very compact, and offer outstanding sound quality, but they also come with great ANC, and a 10-band EQ that you can utilize. You can fine-tune these earbuds to provide the sound exactly as you like/need, and have a useful tool to tune out when in a busy environment. Truth be said, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 are easy to recommend, as they stand out in many ways, and the price tag is just right.

AH Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 image 101

You should buy the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 if you:

…want great sound output in a tiny package
…need capable ANC, but don’t want to lug around large headphones
…like to fine-tune your listening experience via a capable equalizer
…need a good app to support your earbuds
…connect your earbuds to more than one device
…make a lot of phone calls using earbuds
…need LDAC support

You shouldn’t buy the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 if you:

…need basic earbuds
…hate glossy products


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Nude “before and after” photos stolen from plastic surgeon, posted online, and sent to victims’ family and friends

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The FBI is investigating a data breach where cybercriminals were able to steal patients’ records from a Las Vegas plastic surgeon’s office, and then post the details online which included nude photos.

In February, cybercriminals gained access to Hankins & Sohn’s network, which has offices in both Henderson and Las Vegas. From there, the cybercriminals were able to download patient information.

The practice sent a letter to patients in March and April notifying them of the breach.

“On or about February 23, 2023, Hankins & Sohn became aware of suspicious activity relating allegations by an unknown actor that data was stolen from our network. We quickly took steps to investigate the validity of the claims and to assess the nature and scope of the activity and what information may have been affected. We are also working with law enforcement to investigate the activity. We learned that files were taken by the unknown actor prior to this date.”

Apparently, the cybercriminals didn’t get what they wanted from Hankins & Sohn and started posting the information online. Several patients and court documents say that the stolen data included sensitive personal information, such as names and Social Security numbers, but also nude photos of patients taken before and after surgery.

They cybercriminals didn’t stop at that. They sent the data, along with the nude photos, to family and friends through patients’ email accounts.

According to 8NewsNow, about a dozen women have since filed a lawsuit against the firm, claiming they did not do enough to protect their private and personal information. None of the documents posted online were encrypted. It was unclear Monday if Hankins & Sohn was storing its data per HIPAA rules. A spokesperson for the office that oversees HIPAA-related investigations declined to comment.

HIPAA is short for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA is a federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.

The victims claim that the Hankins and Sohn failed to implement adequate and reasonable cybersecurity procedures and protocols to protect their Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected health information (PHI).

Data breach

There are some actions you can take if you are, or suspect you may have been, the victim of a data breach.

  • Check the vendor’s advice. Every breach is different, so check with the vendor to find out what’s happened, and follow any specific advice they offer.
  • Change your password. You can make a stolen password useless to thieves by changing it. Choose a strong password that you don’t use for anything else. Better yet, let a password manager choose one for you.
  • Enable two-factor authentication. Where possible, use a FIDO2 2FA device. Some forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) can be phished just as easily as a password. 2FA that relies on a FIDO2 device can’t be phished.
  • Watch out for fake vendors. The thieves may contact you posing as the vendor. Check the vendor website to see if they are contacting victims, and verify any contacts using a different communication channel.
  • Take your time. Phishing attacks often impersonate people or brands you know, and use themes that require urgent attention, such as missed deliveries, account suspensions, and security alerts.

We don’t just report on threats – we help safeguard your entire digital identity

Cybersecurity risks should never spread beyond a headline. Protect your and your family’s personal information by using Malwarebytes Identity Theft Protection.


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BIG Icons app puts a Windows Phone mask on your Android device

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If you’re missing Windows Phone, you’ll likely love the app we’re here to talk about. The app’s name is BIG Icons, and it has been released by Rushikesh Kamewar, a well-known Android developer.

This developer stands behind apps such as Shortcut Maker, Pixel Search, AppBar, and Notification Shortcuts. Now, one thing to note before we get started is that this app is currently in beta. You can buy it from the Google Play Store, but it’s in beta, so be warned.

Get a Windows Phone feeling on your Android device with BIG Icons app

This app’s goal is to populate your home screen with tiles, similar to the ones Windows Phone devices rocked. Of course, the integration is not as severe, but this implementation is interesting nonetheless.

With the BIG Icons app, you can place icons/tiles of various sizes on your homescreen(s). That’s not where the story ends, though. These are not just big app icons that you can tap, no, not at all.

In fact, the developer allows you to receive notifications right on those tiles, as you did on Windows Phone. You can choose for which apps you’d like to do that, from the settings.

Also, you can customize backgrounds for each of the tiles you place on the home screen. You have the ability to choose between clear adaptive icon backgrounds, custom colors, or your images, it’s up to you.

Icon pack support is also included

BIG Icons also has icon pack support, so that you can take customization to a whole new level. That’s quite interesting considering that this is still in beta. Icon pack support usually gets added later on.

This app also allows you to tweak the transparency of the icons/tiles, hide the names of apps they’re tied to, alter text size, and more. More options are coming.

If you’d like to check out this app, you’ll have to pay $1.99 in order to get it. It is still in beta, but it’s a paid app nonetheless. Check out the screenshots below, and if you’re interested in the app, you can get it from the provided link.

BIG Icons (Google Play Store)


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ChatGPT is down again, and it might be because of a cyberattack

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ChatGPT has been going through some issues lately with periodic outages. After issuing a fix for its AI chatbot, OpenAI confirmed that it’s down again, and the reason might be a bit shocking. According to a new report, ChatGPT is down again, and it might be because of a DDoS attack.

On Wednesday, OpenAI was experiencing periodic outages in its service, which it addressed. The cause of that attack wasn’t discovered by the company; however, a Telegram post by a user named “Anonymous Sudan” admitted to that attack. It was a targeted attack on OpenAI for its alleged support of Israel during the current conflict. The post also said that Anonymous Sudan is also attacking any American company.

ChatGPT is down again, but we’re not sure if it’s because of the same reason.

ChatGPT is down again, and OpenAI says it could be a DDoS attack

The company came out and confirmed that ChatGPT is suffering from outages with both the chatbot and the API. It’s working on solving the issue, as we speak, but the company stated that this could be because of a DDoS (Distributed denial-of-service) attack. It hasn’t been confirmed if the attack was linked to the previous attack. A possible link between these attacks could exist, however.

When you try to log on to ChatGPT, you’ll just get a screen saying “Our systems are a bit busy at the moment, please take a break and try again soon.” So, it’s still down at the moment.

While ChatGPT may be down, not all of the services powered by the chatbot are. If you’re a person who uses Bing AI, you can still use it, and that heavily utilizes  ChatGPT. So, if you’re waiting for ChatGPT to come back online, you might need to track down some alternatives to help fill the void.


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Disney Plus and Hulu to merge into a single app, beta launch set for next month

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Disney has recently secured a deal to acquire the remaining 33 percent stake in Hulu from Comcast, solidifying its complete control over the streaming platform. This move led to Disney preparing to unveil a unified streaming app that merges Disney Plus and Hulu.

In its fourth-quarter earnings results (via The Verge), Disney has announced plans to launch the new app in beta for bundle subscribers in December, with the official release set for early spring 2024. This integrated app aims to provide a seamless experience for subscribers of both streaming services.

During the earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger emphasized the goal of creating a more cohesive one-app experience domestically. He stated, “We expect that Hulu and Disney Plus will result in increased engagement, greater advertising opportunities, lower churn, and reduced customer acquisition costs.”

The merger of Disney+ and Hulu into a single app opens the door for Disney to potentially launch the Hulu brand globally. Currently, the Disney-operated Hulu service is restricted to the US. Hulu is also available in Japan, but the streaming platform in Japan is owned by Nippon TV, not Disney.

Earlier this year, Disney increased prices for its ad-free streaming services. Despite this, nearly 7 million core subscribers joined the streaming service, propelling Disney Plus to surpass 150 million global subscribers this quarter. However, it still falls short of the subscriber count from the previous year.

In Q4, Disney’s streaming business reported a loss of $387 million, marking a significant year-over-year improvement of 74% from a loss of $1.4 billion in the same quarter of 2022. Iger announced that Disney’s streaming business is on track to achieve profitability by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

It’s worth noting that Disney hasn’t abandoned its planned crackdown on password-sharing. Although the timing remains unclear, Iger mentioned that the “planned rollout” is not expected to have a “meaningful impact” on the streaming business until 2025.


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Microsoft Authenticator Restricts Suspicious MFA Notifications

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The Redmond giant has recently announced introducing a new privacy feature to its authenticator app. With this feature, Microsoft Authenticator app now blocks suspicious multi-factor authentication notifications to prevent potential abuse.

Microsoft Authenticator App Blocks Suspicious Push Notifications

In a recent post, Alex Weinert, VP Director of Identity Security at Microsoft, announced the roll-out of a new security feature in the Microsoft Authenticator. Specifically, the new feature in the Authenticator app blocks suspicious multi-factor authentication alerts to prevent malicious logins to Microsoft accounts.

As explained, despite securing the MFA alerts feature in Microsoft Authenticator, it remained possible for an adversary to abuse these notifications for phishing attacks. Therefore, to prevent this abuse, the tech giant has improvised the feature by segregating safe login alerts and suspicious notifications.

Specifically, when the Authenticator app detects a safe authentication alert, it appears on the screen as a timed push notification. However, suspicious logins do not appear on screen; rather, the app requires the user to check the Authenticator to review the request. As stated in the post,

In the event of a login request that looks risky to us, the standard notification will not be sent to the user. Instead, they’ll be given the following instructions: “Open your Authenticator app and enter the number shown to sign in,” with no corresponding notification displayed on the user’s phone.
When the user opens their Authenticator app, it will present the request, allowing the user to take appropriate action.

If the user approves the request, only then the app allows the account login, ensuring that no malicious requests inadvertently pass through.

Microsoft already rolled out this feature with the Authenticator app in late September 2023. Since then, the feature has detected and blocked over 6 million passwordless and MFA notifications. According to Weinert, most of these included malicious, hacker-generated alerts, from which Microsoft Authenticator saved the users.

Microsoft Authenticator is a robust authenticator app empowering users with a safe account login experience preventing password breaches. The app boasts a huge customer base, attracting home and professional users alike. And now, given this successful rollout of the new feature, Microsoft believes it will further streamline the user experience, enhancing security.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments.


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Chinese APT Posing as Cloud Services to Spy on Cambodian Government

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Cybersecurity researchers are confident that the targeted organizations are “still compromised” by “two prominent Chinese APT” groups.

Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 cybersecurity researchers have discovered that Chinese APT groups could be involved in a long-term espionage campaign against Cambodian government organizations using infrastructure masqueraded as cloud backup services.

According to the Unit 42 report, researchers noted network connections—specifically inbound connections—primarily originating from 24 Cambodian government organizations.

The researchers also believe that these organizations are ‘still compromised’ by ‘two prominent Chinese APT’ actors due to the infrastructure’s characteristics and the enduring persistence of these connections over several months.

It is worth noting that the certainty about the involvement of two Chinese APT groups stemmed from monitoring telemetry data, which established a clear link with these groups.

“We assess that these organizations are likely the targets of long-term cyberespionage activities that have leveraged this infrastructure for persistent access to government networks of interest,” said the Santa Clara, California-based cybersecurity giant.

These organizations were communicating regularly with the infrastructure between September and October 2023. Many of these organizations provided critical services to the following industries.

  • Politics
  • Commerce
  • Human rights
  • National defense
  • Election oversight
  • Natural resources
  • Telecommunications
  • National treasury and finance

The research emerged just days after Canada banned the Chinese WeChat app from all government devices due to spying concerns, prompting employees to promptly uninstall the application.

Researchers noted that organizations in these sectors could be targets of interest because of storing vast amounts of sensitive information, including financial data, classified government data, and PII (personally identifiable information) of citizens. They discovered at least six target-facing IP addresses used in the campaign, each hosting numerous subdomains. 

These domains were masqueraded as cloud storage services, which is the perfect alibi to create a sense of legitimacy to the unusually high traffic the server may observe during “high activity levels from the actor, such as data exfiltration from the victim network,” researchers wrote in their blog post.

Moreover, they had “high confidence” that these IP addresses served as the C2 infrastructure for the actor, and running the Cowrie honeypot on port 2222. Most likely, this honeypot was a cover to trick network defenders and security researchers investigating the “anomalous activity.”

In addition, they observed IP filtering on this infrastructure. It was used for blocking connections from IP ranges from known Palo Alto Networks several Big Tech and cybersecurity firms, and a number of VPS and cloud hosting providers. 

These C2 ports open only when the actor is active (between 08:30 and 17:30 UTC +08:00 (China Standard Time) on weekdays (Monday to Friday)) and remain closed otherwise. This means the actor is filtering connections to the malicious infrastructure to reduce the risk of C2 profiling by IP scanners or to evade detection.

Infrastructure overview of the Chinese APT groups (Unit42)

“This pattern might indicate the actor is attempting to avoid detection by blending into regular Cambodian business hours which are UTC +07:00.”

However, between September 29-October 8 2023, during China’s Golden Week and Special Working Days, the APT actors ceased their activity. This suggests that the attackers are based in China and following the country’s regular working hours, thus, validating Unit 42’s assessment regarding the attackers.

It is worth noting that Cambodia is among the signatories of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. The countries share strong economic and diplomatic relations. China has made significantly high investments to modernize Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, despite that the project sparked concerns within the West. After completion, this base will become China’s first overseas outpost in Southeast Asia. This indicates that Cambodia is an important ally of China.

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