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bitcritiq — Tech, judged

Straight-talking reviews, buying advice and tech news. We lead with the verdict, then show our work.

How we judge

AI

Models, tools, and the hype gap between them.All 29

What the free plans cap, and what paid costs. US list prices from each maker’s own page, read 12 October 2026. Grammarly Free: 100 AI prompts a month; paid, $30 a month or $144 a year. QuillBot Free: paraphrases of up to 125 words; paid, $19.95 a month or $99.95 a year. Wordtune Basic: 10 rewrites and AI suggestions a day; paid, $13.99 a month, or $6.99 a month billed yearly. ProWritingAid Free: 10 Rephrases a day, and reports on up to 500 words; paid, $30 a month or $120 a year. Microsoft Editor: basic spelling and grammar; paid, $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Cheapest paid plan from each, before tax; Microsoft’s is Microsoft 365 Personal. Not a ranking.
AI · Explainer

Free AI Writing Tools Ration Rewrites in Different Units

Grammarly gives 100 AI prompts a month, Wordtune 10 rewrites a day, QuillBot 125 words a paraphrase. Yearly billing halves most prices.

Computing

Laptops, desktops, chips, and the things you plug into them.All 29

What a mini PC's graphics chip works with, from AMD and Intel spec pages read 10 October 2026; compare within a brand. Intel N100: UHD Graphics, 24 execution units. Intel Core Ultra 7 255H: Arc 140T, 8 Xe-cores; Arc only with 16GB or more in dual channel, otherwise Intel Graphics. AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS: Radeon 780M, 12 graphics cores. AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370: Radeon 890M, 16 graphics cores; 90fps in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p low with upscaling, as reported by Notebookcheck. AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395: Radeon 8060S, 40 graphics cores.
Computing · Explainer

A Mini PC Can Game, but Its Graphics Chip Sets the Ceiling

Balatro's minimum is integrated graphics; Cyberpunk 2077's is a GTX 1060. A Radeon 890M ran Cyberpunk at 1080p low in one reported test.

Mobile

Phones, tablets, wearables, and the software that runs them.All 54

Screen Time and Family Link, who manages whom, from Apple's and Google's help pages, read 14 October 2026. Parent on iPhone, child on Android: yes, Google's Family Link app runs on an iPhone or iPad with iOS 16 or later. Parent on Android, child on iPhone: Apple names an iPhone, iPad, Mac or the child's own device, and no Android app. Family Link on a child's iPhone: it can't supervise it; Chrome filters apply in Chrome, but the child can sign out. The child's phone decides which system you use.
Mobile · Explainer

Family Link Works From an iPhone. Screen Time Needs Apple

Neither app supervises the other maker’s phones. App limits, downtime, web filters and more, side by side, with iOS 27’s changes.

Audio & Home

Headphones, speakers, TVs, and living-room kit.All 30

Can AirPods pair with the seatback screen? What five US airlines’ own pages say, read 14 October 2026. United: yes, on more than 800 planes, on select flights. American: yes on the A321XLR, fleetwide later. Delta: announced for the A350-1000 and refreshed A330s. JetBlue: announced for BlueFirst seats. Alaska: not mentioned; seatback screens only on the 787. No Bluetooth on the screen? Plug into the jack: a wired set, or a transmitter.
Audio & Home · Explainer

Seatback Bluetooth: United on 800+ Planes, Others Starting

American’s A321XLR has it and JetBlue and Delta have announced it. Without it, the seatback jack needs a wired plug or a transmitter.

Smart Home

Cameras, sensors, robots, and the hubs that herd them.All 27

Apple Home, Google Home and Alexa compared on their makers’ stated requirements, read 14 October 2026. Apple Home: phone, iPhone or iPad; hub, HomePod or Apple TV; voice, Siri; camera video, iCloud+ from $0.99 a month. Google Home: phone, Android or iPhone; hub, a Google speaker, display, router or TV streamer; voice, Gemini for Home; camera video, Google Home Premium from $10 a month. Alexa: phone, Android or iPhone; hub, an Echo or eero; voice, Alexa or Alexa+; camera video, Ring from $4.99 a month. All three add Matter devices over Wi-Fi and Thread, and each needs one of its own devices as the Matter hub.
Smart Home · Explainer

Apple Home Needs an iPhone; Google and Alexa Run on Both

All three add Matter and Thread devices. They differ in which hub you need, which assistant answers and what camera video history costs.

Services

VPNs, streaming, cloud, and subscriptions worth paying for.All 24

Which Spotify plan includes what: US prices from Spotify’s Premium page, read 13 October 2026. Every Premium plan here has ad-free music and downloads. Individual, $12.99 a month: 1 account, 15 audiobook hours a month. Student, $6.99: 1 verified student account, no audiobook hours. Duo, $18.99: 2 accounts at the same address, 15 hours for the manager only. Family, $21.99: up to 6 accounts at the same address, 15 hours for the manager only. Premium streams lossless audio up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz. Free is ad-supported. Student includes Hulu (With Ads) for eligible college students.
Services · Explainer

Spotify Premium Is $12.99; Family Covers 6 for $21.99

Duo is $18.99 for two at one address and Student $6.99 with Hulu. Individual and plan managers get 15 audiobook hours a month.

Gaming

Consoles, handhelds and the hardware you play on. Not game reviews.All 32

Switch Online or the Expansion Pack? What each tier includes, from Nintendo’s US pages, read 13 October 2026. Nintendo Switch Online, $19.99 a year, family $34.99: online play in compatible games, Save Data Cloud, NES, Super NES and Game Boy classics, the Nintendo Music app and member offers, GameChat on Switch 2. Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, $49.99 a year, family $79.99: everything in Switch Online, plus Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance and SEGA Genesis classics, Virtual Boy with an accessory sold separately, three DLC packs at no extra cost, and on Switch 2 only, GameCube classics and the Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom upgrade packs. Nintendo lists the Expansion Pack at a 12-month price only.
Gaming · Explainer

Switch Online Is $19.99 a Year; Expansion Pack Adds $30

The $49.99 tier adds N64, GBA, Virtual Boy and Genesis games and three DLC packs; GameCube games come only on Switch 2.

Buying

Prices, returns, warranties, and the rules shops write for themselves.All 17

Restocking fees on electronics returns, from each store’s own return policy read 9 October 2026. Best Buy: 15% on opened cameras, drones, projectors and some other categories, and 45 dollars on opened activatable devices. Newegg: 15% on opened hard drives, motherboards, graphics cards, projectors and TVs. Target: up to 35 dollars on opened phones. B&H: a minimum 15% if return conditions are not met. None listed: Walmart, Costco, Apple and Micro Center, on their own sales. Footnote: Best Buy, Target and Newegg charge no fee on unopened returns.
Buying · Explainer

Best Buy, Target, B&H and Newegg Can Charge Restocking Fees

Walmart, Costco, Apple and Micro Center list no fee on their own sales. Best Buy, Target and Newegg waive theirs if the box is unopened.