Image: Apple

Apple announced the Studio Display XDR, a new pro-level entry in its display lineup aimed at photographers and video editors, thanks to its HDR and wider color gamut support. In addition to the new display, the tech giant unveiled an updated version of its standard Studio Display.

The Studio Display XDR effectively replaces Apple’s 32‑inch 6K Pro Display XDR in the lineup. It uses a 27-inch 5K Retina XDR display, with added mini-LED backlighting. It features 2304 local dimming zones and an impressive 1000 nits of SDR brightness and 2000 nits of peak HDR brightness, making it well‑suited for HDR workflows. It also offers a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio.

The Studio Display XDR is meant for creative professionals. Image: Apple

The monitor supports P3 and Adobe RGB color gamuts with over 80 percent coverage of Rec. 2020, making it ideal for those who need highly accurate colors. Additionally, it offers a 120Hz refresh rate and a continuously variable refresh rate between 47Hz to 120Hz, making it smoother for video playback than the outgoing Pro Display XDR.

In terms of connectivity, the Studio Display XDR can function as a Thunderbolt hub, offering one port with 140W of charging power, enough to charge a 16-inch MacBook Pro. It also includes a second port for connecting high-speed accessories or daisy-chaining other displays and two additional USB-C ports. The display features a 12MP Center Stage camera with Apple's Desk View support, a three‑mic array and a six‑speaker system.

Apple also updated its standard Studio Display, though it's more of an iterative update rather than a redesign. Like the previous generation, it is a 27-inch 5K Retina display with 600 nits of brightness and support for P3 wide color. However, it now offers Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, allowing users to connect high-speed accessories or daisy-chain displays. It maxes out at up to 96W charging, which is enough to fast‑charge a 14‑inch MacBook Pro.

The Studio Display XDR is still pricey, but at least it comes with a tilt- and height-adjustable stand this time. Image: Apple

All of the advanced features on the Studio Display XDR come at a steep price; the monitor starts at $3299, or $3599 with anti-reflective nano-texture glass. The good news is that it now includes a tilt- and height-adjustable stand, unlike the Pro Display XDR. The Studio Display keeps the same $1599 price as the previous generation. Preorders for both the Studio Display XDR and Studio Display begin tomorrow, March 4.

Image: Honor

Honor and Arri have announced a "strategic technical collaboration" to bring Arri's image science and workflow features to Honor phones. The two companies unveiled the partnership at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026, promising that the results will be showcased in the smartphone maker's upcoming Robot Phone.

The collaboration between the smartphone maker and high-end cinema camera manufacturer aims to bring pro-level video features to smartphones. The companies explained that they will combine Honor's mobile imaging capabilities with Arri's cinematic image quality, making high-end video creation more accessible.

Image: Honor

They didn't provide many details about the upcoming phone or how Arri-specific features will be integrated into it, beyond saying it will use Arri's "image science foundation." In theory, it may be similar to how Leica and Hasselblad have collaborated with phone companies to enable their color profiles on phones, though there could be other workflow features as well.

"The challenge is not to replicate cinema hardware, but to translate the underlying principles into compact, real-time mobile architectures," says Dr. Benedikt von Lindeiner, Vice President at Arri and responsible for the technical collaboration with Honor. "Our goal is to bring a true cinematic aesthetic to smartphone imaging – natural color, gentle highlight roll-off and a sense of depth that feels authentic to how stories are meant to be seen."

Honor first showed off the Robot Phone in October of last year with a CGI teaser. The video showed a concept smartphone with a gimbal-mounted camera that extends above the phone, resembling a DJI Osmo Pocket 3 with a phone in place of the handgrip. At the time, the company said it would share more at MWC. This collaboration announcement mentions the Robot Phone again, but doesn't include any new details. Honor did say, however, that the phone will be coming later this year, so it may be closer to reality than we originally thought.

Reviewing the a7 V reminded me of the challenges, and the importance, of including subjective assessment in reviews. Photo: Mitchell Clark

Reviews are, by most definitions, subjective: ultimately they always have some degree of opinion. An informed opinion, subject to careful consideration of any inherent biases and critically assessed by other editors, we'd like to think, but still, ultimately, subjective.

This is especially true of camera reviews. A camera isn't a simple device that can be summarized by conducting objective performance tests in an analytical report. For a start, the comfort and usability of a camera are important factors, that can't be objectively assessed. All the more so because a camera is a device that can be used for self-expression. Enjoyment is absolutely critical.

All of this was at the front of my mind as I wrapped up our recent review of the Sony a7 V, and as I, as lead reviewer on this camera, start to build my case for arguing its position in our various Buying Guides. It's a really difficult task, because the a7 V is an extremely capable camera, but one that competes against some of the most all-round capable cameras we've ever seen, battling it out in arguably the most competitive part of the market. There are a few differences in objective spec and performance, but they won't be significant enough for most people to help them make a choice.

The Sony a7 V: so good. And yet...

The a7 V was a particularly challenging camera to review in that regard. It's supremely capable and is an obvious choice for existing Sony users. It'll be a huge step up for anyone using an a7, a7 II, a7 III or a7C, and will be a better camera for some a7 IV users, especially if they shoot video. But for someone without a brand commitment, it's more difficult.

The first thing you have to do is check your own biases.

The easiest thing to do would be to look at how many lenses are available for the Sony E-mount, stop the count and brush any awkward concerns about usability or ergonomics under the carpet. But I feel that would be both simplistic and dishonest. Because, by the end of my review, I found myself thinking that I enjoyed using the Canon EOS R6 III more.

I have an annoying habit of admonishing my colleagues for using the term 'intuitive.' Almost no aspect of camera operation is intuitive: it's learned. And if you're thinking that it's intuitive, it might just be that it's something you learned so long ago that you've forgotten doing so. And that's where familiarity bias can creep in. Photo: Richard Butler

This puts me in perhaps the most uncomfortable position that you encounter, in reviewing: having to work out how much or how little your personal experiences and opinion count, and how much weight to give them. I spent a lot of time asking myself why I was impressed with the camera more than I was enjoying it. Could I point to why I found the interface of the camera rather more awkward than its rivals'?

How objective can you be?

The first thing you have to do is check your own biases. Do I dislike this interface because I haven't taken the time to learn it? Do I prefer a different way of working purely based on familiarity? I don't believe so: I've used Sony cameras just as much as any other brand, and have no more connection to, say, Canon's cameras than to Sony's.

I kept asking myself those questions, the whole time I was using the camera, to make sure I was being fair. And I kept looking to see if I could put my finger on why I found the interface so distancing.

The color-coded sections in Nikon's setup menu makes it easy to learn and navigate, but plenty of the rest of the menu structure is struggling under the weight of the feature set and level of customization. Composite image: Richard Butler

In the end, I'm not sure I found it. I can point to plenty of details I don't like: the strangely phrased and oddly truncated menu names (are Sony's menus still subject to the same character limits as MS DOS?), the superfluous control panel built awkwardly into the new menus, the clumsy handling of features with interacting settings. But I can't be sure that it's the sum total of these annoyances that left me feeling disconnected from what the camera was doing.

But, all the while I'm quizzing myself on this, I'm also very aware that lots of people don't find this a problem. Or simply don't mind. As I've written in just about every Sony review I've ever written: with a bit of customization, you rarely have to use the main menus. Equally, there'll be plenty of people whose primary experience of digital photography may be with Sony cameras: they won't find any of this a problem, because that's just how cameras work, from their perspective. And it's a completely valid perspective.

The interactive settings panel, shoehorned into Sony's latest menu system manages to be both too easy to inadvertently navigate away from, while simultaneously always feeling like it's in the way. I'm not sure a prompt to contemplate the nature of paradox is what I'm looking for in a user interface, but I have to assume it's possible that someone finds it useful. Composite image: Mitchell Clark / Richard Butler

Beyond the user interface, I also found the grip somewhat uncomfortable. Much of the time you tend to support a camera's weight by cradling the lens in your left hand, but I found that myself having to release the camera, relax and stretch my fingers, at regular intervals. Again, this risks being specific to my hand size or shape, or the way I try to grip the camera, but my colleague Mitchell seems to have had the same experience.

Conversely, I don't remember having the experience I've seen some people report, where the proximity of the mount to the hand grip means your knuckles can grate against some of the more stout E-mount lenses. Did I only avoid this through lens choice? Or, again, is this just another personal factor that didn't particularly make apply to me?

How do you proceed?

Is the Canon EOS R6 III's grip objectively better (for everyone) than the Sony a7 V's? It's impossible for me to know. But would it help anyone if I pretended there was no difference in my experience with each? Photo: Mitchell Clark

So what's the correct way to report these issues? I've seen some Sony users insist that they shouldn't be mentioned at all, because they may be personal, rather than universal. But it would be dishonest to omit a factor that might put me off buying a camera, if there's a chance someone might go and spend their money, based on what I wrote (or didn't write).

Instead I did what this job requires: I reported my concerns but was careful to present them proportionately and in context. I made clear which concerns and criticisms I felt would apply to everyone and which wouldn't. And I endeavored to stress that part of the reason the menus have become so overwhelmed, and potentially overwhelming, is that the camera does so many things and offers such a high degree of customization.

Subjective factors like usability aren't trivial complaints, they're fundamental

These are the questions we'll be wrestling with this, as a team, as we look to update our Buying Guides. Because, even on reviews with only my name at the top, we try to represent more than just a single perspective or opinion, in our coverage. But our decision will still factor-in the subjective, because cameras aren't simple devices where you can test a couple of metrics and report which one is objectively "best." And we'd be failing you if we treated them as such.

I saw the subjective concerns about the a7 V dismissed as "all they've got to complain about." And this is a position I don't need to be so introspective about: it's utterly wrongheaded. It's true that the a7 V is a really good camera (hence the Gold award) but at a time where some of the most significant things setting dedicated cameras apart from phones are the experience of controlling the photo and the enjoyment of photography, subjective factors like usability aren't trivial complaints, they're fundamental.

When combined, the Travel Backpack 2-in-1 provides 42L of storage. Photo: Peak Design

Peak Design has announced the launch of a new travel bag collection designed to meet the needs of various types of travelers. The lineup consists of a modular, two-in-one backpack, a duffel bag, a 20L backpack and a small crossbody bag.

The largest and most interesting of the new offerings is the Travel Backpack 2-in-1. This bag aims to solve the dilemma of deciding which backpack to bring on trips if you need extra space for packing but want a small bag at your destination. It consists of a 35L main pack and a 15L daypack that zip together (with the daypack on the front), providing 42L of storage when combined. It also comes with the company's detachable Travel Hip Belt. Both are made from a weatherproof 330D nylon canvas shell and offer hidden AirTag pockets, mesh water bottle pockets on both sides and luggage pass-throughs.

The Travel Backpack 2-in-1 includes a daypack (on the left) and a main pack (on the right) that can be zipped together. Photo: Peak Design

The main pack portion features a stowable sternum strap and removable hip belt, and the backpack's straps can be unclipped and put away if you need to check the bag. There are also magnets on the shoulder straps to keep them flat against the back panel when you don't want to unclip them. It is compatible with Peak Design's Camera Cubes, up to the large size, and offers padded laptop and tablet sleeves. The 15L daypack is slim and lightweight, making it easier to get around once you arrive at your destination. It also offers a padded laptop sleeve, but it's important to note that it isn't meant for the Camera Cubes, and most sizes won't fit inside the daypack.

The Travel Weekender 25L Photo: Peak Design

The Travel Weekender 25L is an ideal size for short trips, providing upright access, an extra-wide clamshell opening for easier packing and a vertical luggage pass-through. The bag features an organization pocket on the outside for essentials. On the inside are two zippered pockets and seven stretch panel pockets to keep things organized. It also uses a folding bottom design that allows it to collapse flat for easy storage or to compress when shoved under an airplane seat. The duffel bag fits up to one Large PD Packing Cube, two Smedium Packing Cubes or one Smedium Camera Cube, along with a 16-inch MacBook Pro. Like the Travel Backpack, it is weatherproof and will keep your stuff dry.

The Travel Backpack 20L Photo: Peak Design

The Travel Backpack 20L is designed for everyday use or travel. It's international carry-on approved, so you won't have to worry about needing to check it if you're hopping airlines around the world. Like the other bags, it features a vertical luggage pass-through and a padded laptop sleeve. It also offers an expandable main compartment for when you need a bit more space, a soft-lined top pocket for quick-grab essentials, a zipper-hidden water bottle pocket and magnetic shoulder strap keepers. There are also external straps to attach a tripod to the bottom of the bag. It fits up to a Smedium Camera Cube, two Smedium Packing Cubes or one Large Packing Cube when the bag isn't expanded.

The Travel Crossbody 3L Photo: Peak Design

Lastly, the smallest of the bunch is the Travel Crossbody 3L, which is meant for carrying essentials and small items. Peak Design says it builds on its Tech Pouch and features the company's origami-style interior pockets, an extra-wide clamshell opening, a hidden stash pocket with a magnetic closure and a discreet pocket for an AirTag. It can fit devices up to an iPhone 16 Pro Max or Samsung S, along with smaller tablets like the iPad Mini and Kindle. The XXS Ultralight Packing Cube also fits inside, and, like the other bags, it's weatherproof to protect your stuff.

As with many other Peak Design launches, the Travel Backpack 2-in-1, Travel Weekender 25L, Travel Backpack 20L, and Travel Crossbody 3L will first be sold through Kickstarter, beginning today. The bags will retail for $400, $200, $2000 and $100, respectively, but Kickstarter backers will get a $21 discount on the crossbody, $41 on the backpack and weekender, and $81 on the 2-in-1. The full launch is coming sometime at the end of May, though Peak Design hasn't provided a specific date.

Disclaimer: Remember to do your research with any crowdfunding project. DPReview does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate and come from reliable creators, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.