Mashable

SAVE 20%: As of August 5, most Owala water bottles are 20% off at Target, including Target-exclusive colors like Opal Dream.

Opens in a new window Credit: Owala Save 20% on select Owala btotles Shop Now

Whether it's their whimsical color palettes or their TikTok fans' undying loyalty, Owala's water bottles are impossible to miss.

As Mashable's favorite water bottle right now, we'd tell you to get one even at full price — but you may as well snag one for 20% off at Target while they're on sale.

This isn't the only place we're seeing a huge Owala sale right before school starts. Owala's website itself is also having a 20% off sitewide sale, which also includes tumblers and travel mugs. But if you already have a cart started with more of Target's back-to-school deals, you may as well take a peek at Target's Owala selection. Target has several more colors in stock for multiple iterations of the FreeSip than Owala's website does, including Target-exclusive colors like Opal Dream, Sandy Shores, and Very Very Dark.

SEE ALSO: Shop all the best back-to-school deals for college students

The FreeSip is the bottle that most people are swearing by, and it's all due to its sipping-to-chugging versatility. The FreeSip spout also has a built-in straw opening at the front, which is easier to clean. When not in use, the openings are covered by a hygienic locking lid. Mashable Shopping Reporter Samantha Mangino says it's the best water bottle she has ever used, ensuring that the FreeSip is worth the hype. If you're traveling soon, consider opting for the FreeSip Twist for a more practical airplane companion.

SAVE $64.27: As of Aug. 5, the Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (64GB, WiFI) is down to just $155.72 at Amazon. That's a savings of nearly 30%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ (64GB, WiFi) $155.72 at Amazon
$219.99 Save $64.27 Get Deal

If you want a tablet that checks all the right tablet boxes — nothing more and nothing less — you don't need to drop $1,000. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ is a reliable and capable low-cost tablet that'll get the job done for under $200.

As of Aug. 5, the Galaxy Tab A9+ with 64GB and WiFi connectivity is down to only $155.72 at Amazon. That's a savings of nearly 30% from its usual $219.99 and just $15 more than its record-low price from Prime Day.

When you think of Galaxy devices, you probably think of Samsung's flagship S-series lineup. The A-series is designed to deliver many of the same core essentials as the S series, but with a few swaps that bring down the price to budget-friendly territory. According to Samsung, the A-series tablets are "perfect for everyday tasks like streaming the latest movies, browsing the Internet or keeping the kids entertained."

The A9+, in particular, features an 11-inch display with slim bezels, quad speakers powered by Dolby Atmos, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor, expandable storage up to 1TB, and just OK battery life (it's fine, but nothing that impressive). Our friends at PCMag (also owned by Mashable's publisher Ziff Davis) called it the "best low-cost Android tablet you can buy" last year, noting that it "proficiently handles advanced productivity tasks as well as entertainment such as streaming and gaming at a low price." It's no laptop competitor, but it's not meant to be at sub-$200.

SAVE $100: As of August 5, get the Apple Watch Series 10 for $299 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $399. That's a discount of 25%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Apple Watch Series 10 $299 at Amazon
$399 Save $100 Get Deal

Smartwatches make just about everything you need to do throughout the day a bit easier. They can help you stay on track with your fitness journey, remind you of important things you need to do, and they're there when you need to make a quick call or text someone. So why not get one that you know you can rely on? The Apple Watch lineup is particularly reliable, and the newest non-Apple Watch Ultra model is on sale right now at Amazon, which you shouldn't miss.

As of August 5, get the Apple Watch Series 10 for $299 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $399. That's $100 off and a discount of 25%.

SEE ALSO: The Apple Watch SE is $80 off at Best Buy — a steal for such an awesome smartwatch

We named the Apple Watch Series 10 one of our favorite fitness trackers. It has a larger display than the Series 10 model and it's a bit lighter on your wrist, so it's not as bulky if you're coming from an earlier iteration. It's also absolutely jam-packed with features, including heart rate, sleep, and respiratory rate tracking with advanced metrics that can compile data about different aspects of your body.

Of course, that's all in addition to its normal smartwatch features like calling and texting as well as fall and crash detection and Emergency SOS features to help if you find yourself in an accident. Even if you're in bad shape, your watch can help you to get out of it.

This is a good time to invest in the Apple Watch Series 10, so if you're thinking about grabbing one, this might be the time to finally do it, especially since $100 off is no small discount.

SAVE $50: The 11-inch Apple iPad (128GB, WiFi) is on sale at Amazon for $299, down from the normal price of $349. That's a 14% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple iPad, 11-inch (11th gen, WiFi, 128GB) $299 at Amazon
$349 Save $50 Get Deal

A tablet is a terrific middle ground between a small smartphone screen and a full-on laptop. It's perfect for streaming your favorite shows or browsing the morning news. A tablet can also be awesome for students to take along to lectures and meetings. If you've been considering a tablet upgrade, Amazon is ready to help you out with your decision.

As of August 5, the 2025 11-inch Apple iPad (128GB, WiFi) is on sale for $299 at Amazon, marked down from the standard price of $349. That's a 14% discount that applies to the Pink, Yellow, Silver, and Blue colorway options.

On Mashable's list of the best iPads, the 11th generation Apple iPad earns the spot as the best budget option. That means it's great for students or those who simply want a larger screen to watch Netflix in bed compared to a phone.

SEE ALSO: The 41 best back-to-school laptop deals on MacBooks, Chromebooks, and more

The iPad is a great middle-of-the-road option for those who want a tablet but don't want to spend a fortune. It doesn't have the major specs that come from the Apple iPad Pro or the iPad Air, but it's also considerably less expensive. "The 2025 iPad model got a slight chip upgrade finally going from the A14 up to the A16. While that's not quite as impressive as the M-series of chips, it is quick and powerful," wrote Mashable Shopping Reporter Samantha Mangino in her review of the best iPads.

This version comes with an 11-inch display, which means it's awesome for streaming movies, but it's not massive enough to be a packing problem. Max brightness tops out at 500 nits, and you get 4K video recording, which is great for chatting with friends or recording social media content. Plus, you get dual microphones for calls, and it'll also be helpful when recording video or audio.

Before we fall into the rush of back to school, snag the affordable Apple iPad while it's even more affordable. Under $300 gets you a great iPad with 128GB of storage for your shows, apps, and downloaded textbooks for next semester.

SAVE $200: As of Aug. 5, you can still grab the 13-inch M4 Apple MacBook Air with 16GB RAM and 512 GB SSD for just $999 instead of $1,199. That's 17% in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple MacBook Air, 13-inch (M4, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $999 at Amazon
$1,199 Save $200 Get Deal

Back-to-school season remains one of the best times to shop for a laptop, after Black Friday and Prime Day, of course. If you haven't jumped on the deals yet, there's still time. For instance, the 13-inch MacBook Air is still down to its lowest price ever at Amazon.

As of Aug. 5, you can still grab the 13-inch MacBook Air with an M4 chip, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD for just $999 at Amazon. That's 17% or $200 off its usual cost of $1,199. This best-ever price has stuck around for a week, but we can't guarantee how much longer it will last. In other words, if you're eyeing a new MacBook, you might want to pull the trigger. FWIW, the model with 256GB of storage is also sitting at a best-ever price of $799 if you want to save a bit more cash.

Still debating which MacBook is right for you? We're huge fans of the M4 MacBook Air. In fact, it earned the title of our top pick for a MacBook overall on our best MacBooks guide and our best laptops guide. A Mashable Choice Award winner, it's also a great option for students looking for a laptop with longevity.

When asked if the M4 Air is worth buying, Mashable's reviewer Stan Schroeder writes, "Yes, absolutely," noting its powerful processor that runs silently, solid battery life, better webcam, and new low price. For under $1,000, it's a total steal.

Nobody can resist a good mystery.

Whether it's a whodunnit crime story, a tale of suspense that keeps you guessing, or a mind-bending psychological thriller, putting the pieces together sitting in front of your screen has long been a highly satisfying activity for amateur sleuths.

Often, the best mysteries span out over a whole series on Netflix, making the TV side of things pretty well populated — think The Fall of the House of Usher, The Sinner, Dark, Midnight Mass, Wednesday, The Haunting of Hill House/Bly Manor, The Watcher — but there are plenty of mystery movies on the streaming service for those who'd like a more comprehensive experience. Spanning its horror, thriller, and sci-fi genres, Netflix has a range of mystery films now streaming, each offering up an unexpected twist or reveal.

SEE ALSO: The 10 best movies of 2025 (so far), and where to watch them

What's inside the walls in Remi Weekes' His House? Why does the boarding house in Santiago Menghini's No One Gets Out Alive have so many locked doors? What's at the heart of the disturbing prison system in The Platform? What exactly, David Lynch asks, did Jack do? Is Adam Sandler's Murder Mystery actually worth watching? From creaking haunted houses to vengeful masked killers, here are the best mystery movies on Netflix.

1. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery Credit: Netflix

Southern gentlemen detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back on the case in Glass Onion, Rian Johnson’s sequel to his modern, Agatha Christie-style mystery movie Knives Out. With an eye for the tiniest detail, Blanc again finds himself investigating a murder in a secluded location with a wealthy cast of suspects (and what a cast it is). This time it’s a private island owned by billionaire tech founder Elon Musk Miles Bron (Edward Norton) and his cohort of "disrupters." When someone winds up dead, only an intricate web of deception stands between Blanc and the truth.

Though less satisfying than the original Knives Out, Glass Onion is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery whose twists and turns will genuinely surprise you. Delivering some truly delightful character work, Kathryn Hahn, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Odom Jr., Kate Hudson, and Dave Bautista star as Bron's guests, each with their own secrets. — Kristina Grosspietsch, Freelance Contributor

How to watch: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is now streaming on Netflix.

2. The Call Don't pick up the phone. Credit: Netflix

Not the 2013 Halle Berry film or the revenge-based horror film of the same name, but based on Matthew Parkhill's 2011 supernatural horror film The Caller, Lee Chung-hyun's The Call is a dark, chilling South Korean mystery that you can't hang up on.

SEE ALSO: 12 of the best suspense movies on Netflix to put you on edge

When Kim Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) visits her family home, she loses her phone, then starts getting weird, disturbing calls and finds a connection to a woman called Young-sook (Jeon Jong-seo). Where this film twists and turns from here, you’ll never predict, so paying light attention is not an option. Strong performances, unnerving use of sound, stunning cinematography, and a well-woven structure make this one surreal and disturbing journey.* — Shannon Connellan, UK Editor

How to watch: The Call is now streaming on Netflix.

3. His House There's something in the walls... Credit: Netflix

The best types of horror films are more than just a trickbox of scares. Some are character studies, others explore deeper themes or grapple complex social issues, and a few manage to move you in more ways than just a raising of the pulse. Writer-director Remi Weekes' debut His House does all of the above at once.

Following asylum-seekers Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) as they arrive in the UK from South Sudan only to be thrust into an unforgiving world of bureaucracy and racism, His House melds drama with a claustrophobic haunted house mystery. Noises echo in the walls, and Bol's fear and paranoia grows along with ours. But it's only as the movie progresses, and Jo Willems' creative cinematography starts hinting at what took place in the past, that the true horror of His House is revealed.* — Sam Haysom, Deputy UK Editor

How to watch: His House is now streaming on Netflix.

4. The Guilty Jake Gyllenhaal is on top form. Credit: Glen Wilson / Netflix

Following a cop with an anger problem during a 911 dispatch shift, The Guilty sees Jake Gyllenhaal at his vein-bursting best in this twisty thriller about a kidnapped woman.

"With the camera focused on him for almost the full 90 minutes in The Guilty, Gyllenhaal combines all [his] skills into one excruciatingly tense performance," I wrote in my review. "He throws himself into the role of detective-turned-911-dispatcher Joe Baylor with so much anger, pain, and sadness that you're forced to go through every single emotion with him."* — S.H.

How to watch: The Guilty is now streaming on Netlfix.

5–7. The Fear Street trilogy The "Fear Street" trilogy has a solid mystery at its bloody core. Credit: Netflix

What could have just been a kitschy homage to classic horror films of the '70s, '80s, and '90s actually has a really compelling core murder mystery, meaning it's on the list! The Fear Street trilogy, inspired by R.L. Stine's more grown-up novel series, centres around a cyclical curse that sees a string of murders plaguing the residents of Shadyside. Directed by Leigh Janiak, the three films (Part 1: 1994, Part 2: 1978, and Part 3: 1666) are set in different time periods, each linked by these happenings. A group of teenagers will have to delve into the past in order to figure it all out before the curse catches up with them. As far as horror mysteries go, Fear Street is the best thing since sliced bread (sorry). — S.C.

How to watch: The Fear Street trilogy is now streaming on Netflix.

8. I Am All Girls A masked killer is at the heart of the mystery in "I Am All Girls." Credit: Netflix

Fair warning: This one isn't an easy watch. Inspired by true events, the film begins with the interrogation of Gert van Rooyen, a South African sex offender who was suspected in the abductions of six young girls in the late '80s. Set in the present day, the movie uses van Rooyen's alleged crimes as a jumping-off point, with a detective working to uncover a child trafficking ring while also investigating a serial killer who seems to be exclusively targeting the criminals involved. Donovan Marsh's movie is a blend of mystery and thriller, a how-deep-does-this-go conspiracy that leads from dilapidated drug dens to the halls of government — uncovering a series of grim revelations with roots that go back 30 years. — S.H.

How to watch: I Am All Girls is now streaming on Netflix.

9. I Am Mother Friend...or foe? Credit: Netflix

The problem with robots is you can never tell what they're thinking. This is a lesson we've had drilled into us time and again in the sci-fi space, and Grant Sputore's futuristic mystery — about a girl being raised by a robot in a post-apocalyptic bunker — is of course no exception. Starring Hilary Swank, Clara Rugaard, and Rose Byrne, the suspense in this one comes hand-in-hand with the blank, impenetrable gaze of Mother (the robotic carer in question), before cranking into overdrive when a stranger's arrival casts suspicion on the metal guardian's real role.* — S.H.

How to watch: I Am Mother is now streaming on Netflix.

10. I'm Thinking of Ending Things All is not what it seems. Credit: Mary Cybulski / Netflix

Is this the most entertaining movie on this list? Almost certainly not. But is it the best mystery? Well, judging by how incredibly confused I was when I finished watching it, possibly. Writer/director Charlie Kaufman's story about a student travelling to meet her boyfriend’s parents for the first time is a head-scratching psychological nightmare that feels like watching a reality break for two straight hours. There's plenty of deep writing, philosophical musings, and reality-bending clues, all of which add up to a very Lynch-esque feeling that what we're watching isn't as it seems. But what are we watching? The answer might take some figuring out. — S.H.

How to watch: I’m Thinking of Ending Things is now streaming on Netflix.

11. Lost Girls Credit: Jessica Kourkounis / Netflix

Based on the real disappearance of Shannan Gilbert in 2010 and her mother Mari's attempts to find her, Lost Girls is a dark exploration of events surrounding the infamous Gilgo Beach serial killings that places a focus on the families left behind. Liz Garbus directs with a sense of grim realism, while Amy Ryan is a picture of angry desperation as she goes up against a police force that seems apathetic at best, and incompetent at worst. — S.H.

How to watch: Lost Girls is now streaming on Netflix.

12. No One Gets Out Alive Cristina Rodlo stars in this claustrophobic nightmare. Credit: Teddy Cavendish / Netflix

More horror than mystery? Perhaps. But Santiago Menghini's claustrophobic haunted house tale, based on an Adam Nevill novel of the same name, still comes with plenty of questions. Questions like, why does the boarding house that Mexican immigrant Ambar (Cristina Rodlo) arrives at have so many locked doors? And what are the noises she keeps hearing at night, and the nightmares about a strange stone box that she keeps seeing when her eyes are closed? You’ll have a hard job guessing, but this tense and well-written thriller will have you trying until the end. — S.H.

How to watch: No One Gets Out Alive is now streaming on Netflix.

13. Oxygen Uh, how did we get here? And where's the exit? Credit: Netflix

A futuristic twist on the fear of being buried alive, Alexandre Aja's Oxygen is a claustrophobic nightmare about a woman who wakes up in a cryogenic box with no idea of who she is or how she got there. The good news? She's able to communicate with the outside world via a robotic medical unit called M.I.L.O. The bad news? Nobody she speaks to seems willing to come clean with her, and her oxygen reserves are quickly spiralling toward 0 percent. Mélanie Laurent perfectly captures the short-breathed dread of this role, and Christie LeBlanc's screenplay has enough twists and turns to keep the story racing along at a heart-pounding pace. Just tread carefully if you have a fear of tight spaces — this one won't be a fun watch for claustrophobics.* — S.H.

How to watch: Oxygen is now streaming on Netflix.

14. The Wonder Credit: Christopher Barr / Netflix

The Wonder is a wholly engrossing period mystery about a young girl from a small, 19th-century Irish town who claims to not have eaten for four months, surviving purely on holy "manna." Florence Pugh is fantastic as Lib Wright, the stoic, science-driven English nurse sent to investigate. Over the course of a few weeks, Lib is charged with watching Anna (Kíla Lord Cassidy) for 12 hours at a day, while a nun observes during the other 12, to determine if there’s a heavenly or earthbound explanation for the girl's miraculous months-long fast.

Based on Emma Donoghue's novel of the same name, The Wonder is a solemn, subtle, and captivating masterpiece exploring religious prejudice, cycles of abuse, and the boundaries of our own realities. It’s a satisfying watch with an unexpected ending that will stick in your bones like an Irish winter frost. — K.G.

How to watch: The Wonder is now streaming on Netflix.

15. Wicked Little Letters

It's 1920, and the small English town of Littlehampton hasn't seen anyone like Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley) before. She's brash, she's reckless, and worse, she's Irish. Rose is the polar opposite of her neighbor, Edith Swan (Olivia Colman), the pious, shy spinster who still lives with her aging parents and is shocked by Rose's carefree employment of curse words. The two form a friendly acquaintance, until Edith receives a barrage of hateful, swear-laden anonymous letters. Rose is obviously to blame! Or is she?

This delightful poison-pen mystery is inspired by a very real scandal that consumed the minds and media of 1920s England. Starring a who's-who of British acting royalty (including Eileen Atkins, Timothy Spall, Anjana Vasan, and more), Wicked Little Letters is a darkly comedic puzzle full of top-notch characters. What more could any budding detective ask for? — K.G.

How to watch: Wicked Little Letters is now streaming on Netflix.

16. The Platform How far down does it go? Credit: Netflix

Prison cells are stacked one on top of the other, with holes in the floor and ceiling. Randomly assigned levels change each month. And a platform of food gets slowly lowered from the very top, getting sparser and sparser with each floor it descends. This is the concept at the centre of Spanish director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia's The Platform, a disturbing sci-fi thriller that wears its capitalist analogy plainly on its prison garb sleeve. It's one of those rare gems where the execution is as strong as the idea at its core, driven by an excellent screenplay from David Desola and Pedro Rivero that's dripping with horror and suspense. If you're a fan of movies like The Cube or Saw, this is well worth checking out.* — S.H.

How to watch: The Platform is now streaming on Netflix.

17. The Pale Blue Eye

Christian Bale is Augustus Landor, a grizzled retired detective and alcoholic who gets pulled into one last case, and it’s a whopper: A military academy student has been hanged and had his heart removed. To sniff out the gruesome murderer, Augustus recruits a student — none other than Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling) —  for insider knowledge of the school. 

Adapted from a Louis Bayard novel, The Pale Blue Eye is an atmospheric murder mystery with an excellent cast (shout out to Gillian Anderson!). And if Edgar Allan Poe is in the cast of characters, you know it’s gonna be a spooky one, y’all! — K.G.

How to watch: The Pale Blue Eye is now streaming on Netflix.

18. The Perfection Credit: Netflix

This isn’t the kind of movie you want to be watching while you eat. Richard Shepard's musical nightmare leans heavily into the body horror genre, with protégés Charlotte (Allison Williams) and Lizzie (Logan Browning) going on a truly hellish journey that starts with a bus ride through rural China and ends with them revisiting the prestigious music school where they both trained — and where all is clearly not as it seems. Tread carefully, because this story is really not for the faint-hearted — but it is full of surprises. — S.H.

How to watch: The Perfection is now streaming on Netflix.

19. What Did Jack Do? What did you do, huh? WHAT DID YOU DO? Credit: Netflix

For a truly baffling mystery, it's time for you to watch David Lynch asking a suited monkey if he's ever been a card-carrying member of the Communist party. It's a genuine thing that happens in David Lynch's What Did Jack Do?, a 17-minute film which sees the director interrogating a monkey called Jack in a train carriage.

Co-presented by Lynch's company Absurda and Parisian contemporary art museum Fondation Cartier, the film was written, directed, and edited by Lynch himself. Along with a small crew, he also did the sound editing, set design, and assisted with set construction.

We won't spoil what happens, but make sure you stick around for the catchy musical number toward the end. Yes, you read that right.* — S.H.

How to watch: What Did Jack Do? is now streaming on Netflix.

20.-21. Enola Holmes and Enola Holmes 2 Credit: Alex Bailey / Netflix

If you want your mysteries more adventurous and bright than bleak and despairing, then Netflix’s Enola Holmes films will certainly fit the bill. Based on author Nancy Springer's The Enola Holmes Mysteries, the films star Millie Bobbie Brown, ebullient and charismatic as Sherlock Holmes’ younger sister. Raised alone by an eccentric mother (a perfectly cast Helena Bonham Carter) who rejects societal expectations for women, Enola is every bit the prodigy her brother is, and then some. But when her mother goes missing, she takes it upon herself to solve the mystery, uncovering a larger enigma in the process. 

Cheerful, charming, with a moderate sense of danger and a whole lot of fun, Enola Holmes and its sequel are pure delights with surprisingly sophisticated mysteries at their core. Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin round out the sparkling cast as Sherlock and Mycroft, Enola's more famous older brothers, both visibly enjoying themselves with the material. — K.G. 

How to watch: Enola Holmes and Enola Holmes 2 are now streaming on Netflix.

22. Things Heard and Seen Credit: Anna Kooris / Netflix

Don’t let the low Rotten Tomatoes score put you off. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's Things Heard and Seen — based on the novel All Things Cease to Appear by Elizabeth Brundage — is one of those films that's sure to divide people. It hovers between multiple genres, splicing drama and thriller with horror and mystery in a balancing act that could easily be off-putting to some. The film follows a young couple – Catherine (Amanda Seyfried) and George (James Norton) – whose decision to move into a farmhouse in upstate New York leads to the discovery of some fairly unsettling secrets (both of the ghostly and the non-ghostly variety). Don't go into it expecting straight horror, though, or you’ll be disappointed. But if you like well-drawn characters and plenty of simmering dread, it’s worth checking out. — S.H.

How to watch: Things Heard and Seen is now streaming on Netflix.

23. Luther: The Fallen Sun Credit: John Wilson / Netflix

For five seasons, Neil Cross' highly addictive BBC series Luther followed Idris Elba in his iconic role as the hardened titular detective who plays by his own rules. The very first film of the TV franchise, Luther: The Fallen Sun, sees the brilliant and brash John Luther finally facing consequences for his years of flouting the law in the name of the greater good. He’s now in prison, just when an old case of his starts to heat up again. It’s a twisting and gripping thriller that will keep you guessing, and Andy Serkis' villain David Robey is truly chilling. While it may not be a wholly necessary addition to the Luther legacy, it’s certainly a welcome one. We’ll take any chance to see Elba’s reckless detective take on the world once more.* — K.G.

How to watch: Luther: The Fallen Sun is now streaming on Netflix.

24. Svaha: The Sixth Finger

Svaha: The Sixth Finger is a chilling, serpentine Korean mystery/thriller that explores unseen interpretations of Buddhism and probes the meaning of faith. Pastor Park (Squid Game's Lee Jung-jae), a man driven by his work exposing dangerous cults, looks into a remote religious sect called Deer Mountain or Dongbanggyo. Simultaneously, police begin investigating the murder of a girl found encased in concrete. Could the two be related? — K.G.

How to watch: Svaha: The Sixth Finger is now streaming on Netflix.

25. Murder Mystery Credit: Scott Yamano/Netflix

Sometimes you want your mysteries mindless and cheerful, and the fairly substance-less Murder Mystery Netflix franchise is just that. Adam Sandler is Nick, an NYPD cop, and his wife, Audrey (Jennifer Aniston), is a hairdresser and murder mystery book lover. On their first trip to Europe, their 15th anniversary celebrations are delayed when they board a luxury yacht, a murder occurs, and they're the number one suspects. Looks like these two amateur detectives will have to solve the case to clear their names. It’s a silly, lighthearted romp with a few solid jokes and an unchallenging plot. Murder Mystery (and Murder Mystery 2) make perfect background movies for cooking, cleaning, or scrolling on your phone, when nothing but fluff will hit the spot. — K.G.

How to watch: Murder Mystery is now streaming on Netflix.

26. It's What's Inside

A genre-bending 2024 hit, It's What’s Inside is "a deviously good time," according to Mashable film critic Siddhant Adlakha. At a pre-wedding party, a college friend group catches up and laughs about old scores. But when one of them arrives with a suitcase that allows them to switch bodies, mayhem ensues. Lingering resentments, unrequited loves, smoldering jealousies all rear their chaotic heads as the friends fight to get back into their own bodies… and wonder who really put them up to this in the first place. — K.G.

How to watch: It's What's Inside is now streaming on Netflix.

* denotes that this blurb appeared in a previous Mashable list.

UPDATE: Aug. 5, 2025, 3:00 p.m. EDT This article was originally published on Nov. 7, 2021. It has been updated to reflect current Netflix offerings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Netflix Netflix Get Deal

TL;DR: Live stream The Hundred 2025 for free on BBC iPlayer. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

We've already been treated to a lot of entertaining cricket this summer, but we're not done just yet. The Hundred is here to make sure the season ends on an exhilarating note. Fancy watching some of the most exciting players in the world compete in a totally unique 100-ball cricket format? You can do exactly that without spending anything.

If you want to watch The Hundred 2025 for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is The Hundred?

The Hundred is a professional cricket league in the UK. The tournament, organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board, is the only cricket league in the world that uses the 100-ball cricket format. The Hundred is comprised of eight teams, with seven based in England and one in Wales.

32 matches take place in the league stage of the tournament. Each team plays four matches at home and four matches away, including one match against every other side and then a second bonus match against their nearest regional rivals. The team that finishes top of the league progresses straight into the final. The teams finishing second and third compete for a place in the final in the Eliminator.

The defending champions are London Spirit (women) and Oval Invincibles (men).

When is The Hundred 2025?

The Hundred 2025 is the fifth edition of the tournament. This year's competition takes place from Aug. 5-31.

How to watch The Hundred 2025 for free

The Hundred 2025 is available to live stream for free on BBC iPlayer. 16 games will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer, including the opening Women's and Men's double header and both finals.

BBC iPlayer is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access these free live streams with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in the UK, meaning you can access free live streams of The Hundred 2025 from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of The Hundred 2025 by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK

4. Visit BBC iPlayer

5. Watch The Hundred 2025 for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can gain access to free live streams without committing with your cash. This is obviously not a long-term solution, but it does give you time to watch The Hundred 2025 before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for BBC iPlayer?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including the UK

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A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (including money-back guarantee).

Watch The Hundred 2025 for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

SAVE $80: Grab the Apple Watch SE (2nd gen) for just $199 (44mm) or $169 (40mm) at Best Buy — available in midnight, starlight, and silver.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Watch SE $199 at Best Buy
$279 Save $80 Get Deal

Eager Apple fans ready for a smartwatch upgrade should try out this hit deal at Best Buy. As of Aug. 5, Best Buy is offering the Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) for just $199 for the 44mm size — that’s a cool $80 off its regular $279 price. If you prefer a smaller fit, the 40mm model is also down to $169 (from $249), with the same $80 discount applied.

This limited-time offer includes three classic finishes: midnight, starlight, and silver, all matched with a sleek colour-coordinated back case that’s part of Apple’s ongoing effort to reduce carbon emissions. The Apple Watch SE may be positioned as the more affordable option in Apple’s lineup, but don’t let that fool you. As far as its specs go, this smartwatch is packed with the essential features most people actually use day to day. 

SEE ALSO: Yes, the Oura Ring is the best smart ring, but it's not your only option

With watchOS 11, the SE gets smarter and more personal, offering health tools like heart rate alerts, Fall Detection, and even Crash Detection for added peace of mind. The new Check In feature is a nice bonus, automatically notifying friends or family when you arrive at your destination.

On the fitness side, the Workout app is as robust as ever, giving you detailed metrics to track your progress and performance. What’s more, it’s swimproof up to 50m, so laps in the pool are fair game. In our Apple Watch Series 9 vs SE comparison, we found that the SE is perfect for fitness fanatics.

The SE also promises to keep you effortlessly connected — having you able to answer calls, reply to texts, check notifications, and use Siri, all from your wrist. Plus, you’ll get three free months of Apple Fitness+, making this even more of a value-packed purchase.

For more tech upgrades, check out the best Apple deals available this week — including iPads and MacBooks. If you’re open to other brands, we’ve got a selection of the best smartwatches for every wrist, including Samsung, FitBit, and Garmin, as well as Apple. 

SAVE $130: Get the Bose QuietComfort wireless headphones for just $229 at Best Buy — now in six stylish colors.

Opens in a new window Credit: Bose Bose QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones $229 at Best Buy
$359 Save $130 Get Deal

For any audiophiles who’ve been waiting for a price drop before investing in a big brand’s pair of noise-cancelling headphones, we’ve found the perfect Best Buy offer for you. As of Aug. 5, the Bose QuietComfort Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones are marked down to $229 at Best Buy, saving you a hefty $130 off the regular $359 price tag. That’s a solid deal for headphones known for their legendary noise-cancelling tech and all-day comfort.

What’s even better is that you’ve got a good number of colour options to choose from: lilac, black, blue dusk, cypress green, sandstone, and white smoke are all included in the sale. Whether you’re into bold, soft, or sleek tones, there’s a pair that’ll match your vibe.

As for features, the QuietComforts live up to their name with plush ear cushions and a protein-leather-covered foam headband that’s built for marathon listening sessions. Bose’s Quiet and Aware Modes let you switch between full noise-cancellation and awareness of your surroundings, and you can even create your own custom settings.

SEE ALSO: We put the top 10 headphones of 2025 to the test

As for sound quality, these headphones boast high-fidelity audio with an Adjustable EQ that gives you full control over bass, treble, and mids. You can even fine-tune it all in the Bose Music app. And with Spotify Tap, you can jump back into your favourite playlists or discover new music with just a press of a button — so, there’s no need to dig out your phone.

Battery life is another highlight: up to 24 hours of wireless play time on a single charge, or get a 2.5-hour boost with just 15 minutes of USB-C charging. Plus, built-in mics make hands-free calls crystal clear.

At $229, these are a smart pick for anyone who wants premium headphones without the premium price. 

If you still want to shop around first, we’ve put together a list of the top 10 headphones we’ve tested in 2025. For those who want to focus purely on keeping external sound away, we’ve got a selection of the best noise-cancelling headphones we use and love, too. 

There’s a lot that can complicate dating. The rise of dating app fatigue (one in five dating app users say they’ve had a bad experience), dealing with unrequited love, selfish dating culture – to name a few. Now throw having a sexually transmitted infection (STI) into the mix. It really shouldn’t, since one million of us contract an STI every single day and most are curable, but having an STI can complicate dating even further. 

Only 28 percent of people with an STI would feel comfortable disclosing their status to a partner. But communicating STI status should be a key part of sex. It’s important, not just for your health but for theirs too, and for helping reduce the very real stigma attached to STIs. One sex-positive dating app, WAX, is on a mission to make STI status sharing a natural part of dating by encouraging those conversations with an integrated test result sharing feature. 

To create the tool, WAX are partnering with Sexual Health London so their users can upload their results into the app directly, rather than writing them in their bios. There’s clearly demand for this sort of feature. WAX co-founder says users are often unsure whether they can trust someone’s claim to be STI-free, not least because there have been cases of people “forging or photoshopping results to give a false negative.” The integration with SHL solves that by offering verified test results, shared securely and directly between users. No screenshots. No guesswork.

From a tech standpoint, users are in control. With consent, their testing data is validated via SHL and made available to share privately with matches, not broadcast on public profiles. “User choice, user data and user privacy is paramount for us to hand to the user themselves,” says Sayle. Access can be revoked at any time.

Still, the feature lands in a digital landscape where sexual health stigma is alive and well — and putting that information out there, even with privacy controls, isn’t as simple as flipping a switch.

Add into the mix the horror show that is dating apps right now, are these apps the right place to have those all-important conversations? Mashable speaks to sex educators and people who’ve navigated dating with an STI to find out. 

SEE ALSO: Settle down this summer: Best dating apps for serious relationships Dating with a positive STI status 

Misconceptions around STIs make dating with one challenging, whether you’re dating for love, casual fun, or something in between. Though many STIs such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are both curable and relatively common, people still hold archetypal ideas about STIs based on moralist views – ideas that having an STI makes people untrustworthy, careless or even dirty. 

Where does this leave daters with STIs? Well, a Superdrug survey of 2,000 sexually active adults in the UK revealed that 91 percent believed an STI diagnosis would negatively impact their relationships, social life, love life and general confidence. 

SEE ALSO: The best sex and dating apps for hooking up

Laura Clarke, sex educator at My Body and Yours and author of Step Bi Step, believes the idea of STI integration on dating apps has potential but warns that we need to tread carefully. “In the best case scenario, sharing STI status results in a more normalised view of sexually transmitted infections and can help people to make informed choices about the sex they're having,” she tells Mashable. “It could lead to a rise in barrier methods and reduce the spread of infections.”

But she’s quick to point out that we’re not yet in that best case scenario. “While I wholeheartedly believe in a society where we banish STI stigma and have open and honest conversations, in reality, we're just not there yet. And while this update may push us further in the right direction, it could also be a safety risk to dating app users.”

“If this information is revealed after a match, there is a genuine risk that somebody might unmatch or ghost the individual who has shared this information,” warns Clarke.

Sex educator Leanne Yau from Polyphilia tells Mashable that this calls for a broader cultural shift. “People need to get tested every six months, even those who are in long-term monogamous relationships,” she says, pointing out that tools like WAX’s are great, but the matter of normalising STI status sharing needs more. 

Some STIs have more stigma attached than others

Dating with an STI isn’t easy. Luca, a 26-year-old customer support agent, has had four common, curable STIs: chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, and crabs. He once had the first three at the same time while casually dating. “Telling past matches wasn’t too hard, just a bit awkward,” he says. “Most people were okay, but one accused me of giving it to him. That part wasn’t nice at all. It really made me feel dirty.”

Luca thinks WAX’s feature is a great idea, but believes some communities handle STI conversations better than others. "I get the sense that us gay men are more cautious with STIs and [it's part of gay hookup culture] to get regular checkups and it’s something quite normal to talk about." He's not sure that straight communities have the same built-in communication line. 

SEE ALSO: From Grindr to Scruff: The best dating apps for gay, bi, and queer men

Luca believes how easy it is to share STI status on dating apps largely depends on the infection. On Grindr, he lists his negative HIV status and would disclose curable STIs. But, he admits, “I don’t know how I would feel about sharing it on dating apps if I was HIV positive.”

“People can be mean and cruel on the internet, even on dating apps,” he says, having seen harsh messages about those with HIV. While he would disclose a positive status to trusted partners before sex, “I definitely wouldn’t post it on my profile.” He also recognises his own privilege. “I think it’s easier for me to talk about STIs as a white male than it would be for a woman.”

Chloe*, a 32-year-old football coach is HIV positive and using a pseudonym as not everyone in her life knows about it. “I saw that WAX were adding this feature and it gave me so much hope that society is moving towards a more accepting culture around STIs, but I'm not sure I'd use it" she tells Mashable. 

"Part of having HIV unfortunately means educating every new person I start any kind of relationship with."

Now in a committed relationship with a woman she met on Bumble, Chloe says she waited until they met in person to disclose her status. “Part of having HIV unfortunately means educating every new person I start any kind of relationship with.. People are often open to dating me but only because I have the chance to tell them that HIV isn’t as scary as it used to be and there are pills we can both take to stop it from passing,” she explains, referring to PEP and PrEP, the former being a medication to be taken after unprotected sex to prevent HIV transmission, and the latter being the preventative version. 

“I didn’t want to subject myself to abuse or have people unmatch.” Like Luca, she feels a disclosure tool may be better suited to casual encounters. “If I was meeting someone on an app and wanted to have sex within the hour, I’d obviously tell them. And I think this tool would work nicely for curable STIs too. But there's still so much stigma around HIV so I don't think it fits every situation.”

More work is needed to destigmatise STIs

Sayle acknowledges stigma still exists and that WAX is a dating app set up for sex-positive people, so already set up for "reasonability and accountability". She hopes, however, that this move will set the standard and STI status uploads will soon become the norm for dating apps.

However, education alone is not enough. “More needs to be done to destigmatise STIs and share more about just how common they are.”

For some, sharing STI info on dating apps leads to open, positive conversations. Jamie, a 29-year-old producer, says that after testing positive for Hepatitis B, dating felt like a trap. “I never knew when to bring it up. Too soon and they’d freak out. Too late and it felt like I’d lied.”

“I never knew when to bring it up. Too soon and they’d freak out. Too late and it felt like I’d lied.”

But dating apps helped. “Being upfront filters out people who wouldn’t be empathetic anyway. I’d rather be rejected for being honest than ghosted later.”

Yau stresses disclosure is not just about the sharer. “People on the receiving end [of STI disclosure] also need to figure out how to make themselves a safe space for that disclosure and that honesty to happen. Offering this tool in tandem with more education around STIs in general would be beneficial,” she explains

Clarke adds that while honesty is important, context matters. “There’s a difference between doing this on a third date, when you're present and ready to debunk myths, versus via an app, where a partner can unmatch based on incorrect assumptions and you're unable to respond.”

SEE ALSO: Dating apps to add age checks in the UK

There are also privacy concerns. “This is your private medical information. Uploading it on the internet is bound to cause anxiety, especially around data breaches,” says Clarke. “What if you're okay with your sexual partners knowing your status but not your boss? Your mum? Your kids?”

She warns that STI data could be misused. “Could this also lead to matching with people just to screenshot their status and share it as some kind of medical revenge porn?”

It’s not far-fetched, given dating apps are already misused for harassment and Feeld’s alleged data breach earlier this year caused widespread concern.

For now, integrating sexual health data into dating apps is a cultural litmus test. Can we treat STI status as just another aspect of health, or do we still flinch at those three letters on a profile? 

As Yau points out, common, curable STIs should be seen like a cold: inconvenient but not shameful. We would not judge someone for pausing sex because of a stomach bug, so perhaps one day we will feel the same about STIs. At the very least, WAX’s feature prompts us to consider where sexual transparency ends and digital exposure begins. Conversations still falter due to deeper structural stigma, but tools like this may help shift STI status from deal-breaker to no big deal.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for August 4 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Public transport

• Green: Dice

• Blue: What Frosty might wear

• Purple: Passwords

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Subterranean transit

• Green: Make into smaller pieces while cooking

• Blue: Used to decorate a snowman

• Purple: ___ Code

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #786 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Subterranean transit: METRO, SUBWAY, TUBE, UNDERGROUND

• Make into smaller pieces while cooking: CUBE, GRATE, MINCE, SLICE

• Used to decorate a snowman: CARROT, COAL, PIPE, SCARF

• ___ Code: DRESS, HEALTH, SECRET, ZIP

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 4

Are you also playing NYT Strands?

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game.

Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferrined pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 4 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for August 4 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: We have a winner!

The words are contest-related.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words are types of raffles.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is vertical.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Lucky Break.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for August 5

• Giveaway

• Drawing

• Lucky Break

• Bingo

• Sweepstakes

• Lottery

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Strands.

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections today: Hints and answers for August 4 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT's The Mini crossword answers for August 4, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A long-legged bird.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter S.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

STORK.

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 4

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Wordle.

TL;DR: Live stream the 2025 NRL for free on 9Now. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

There are few other sports that can compete with rugby league when it comes to physicality and skill. It's clever handling and outrageous trickery combined with absolute brutality, and that's why love it.

And if you're looking for all of that and more on a weekly basis, you should check out the NRL. It's an electric competition featuring some of the best players and teams in the world.

If you want to watch the 2025 NRL for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the NRL?

The National Rugby League (NRL) is a professional rugby league competition in Australasia, including clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, and New Zealand.

SEE ALSO: How to watch the 2025 AFL online for free

Each team plays 24 matches in the regular season, with the first-placed team at the end awarded the minor premiership. This is followed by a finals series contested between the eight highest-placed teams from the regular season, culminating in the NRL Grand Final.

The defending champions are the Penrith Panthers.

When is the 2025 NRL?

The 2025 NRL season is the 118th edition of professional rugby league in Australia and the 28th season run by the National Rugby League. This season runs from March 2 to Sept. 7.

How to watch the 2025 NRL for free

The 2025 NRL season is available to live stream for free on 9Now. This free streaming service is offering live coverage of three matches per round, exclusive coverage of the Grand Final, and the State of Origin series.

9Now is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the NRL from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2025 NRL from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia

4. Visit 9Now

5. Live stream the 2025 NRL for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the 2025 NRL without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select NRL fixtures before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for 9Now?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on 9Now, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (with money-back guarantee).

Live stream the 2025 NRL for free with ExpressVPN.

Machine Gun Kelly, aka MGK, is best known for his singing — but it turns out he also has a hidden talent.

Appearing on The Tonight Show, MGK explained some of his more confusing social media posts to Jimmy Fallon, ending with one in which he wrote "growing up, jim carrey was dad."

Judging by what follows, this clearly means that he watched the actor's movie catalogue a whole lot growing up, to the point that he can now do an uncanny impression of Carrey in character as both The Grinch and Ace Ventura.

Trust us, it's more impressive than you think it'll be.

TL;DR: Live stream the 2025 AFL for free on 7plus. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Aussie Rules is a uniquely fast-paced and physical game that provides entertainment to millions of fans every week, but for whatever reason, this entertaining sport hasn't traveled well outside of Australia. We think this should change, because we firmly believe that the rest of the world would absolutely love footy.

If you want to watch the 2025 AFL for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

What is the AFL?

The Australian Football League (AFL) is the leading professional competition of Aussie Rules Football.

SEE ALSO: How to watch the Champions League online for free

The AFL currently consists of 18 teams spread over Australia's five mainland states. The league features 23 rounds in the regular season, with the team with the best record awarded the minor premiership. The top eight teams from the regular season standings compete in a four-round finals series, culminating in the AFL Grand Final.

The defending champions are the Brisbane Lions.

When is the 2025 AFL?

The 2025 AFL season is the 129th edition of the Australian Football League. This season runs from March 6 to Sept. 27.

How to watch the 2025 AFL for free

Every round of the 2025 AFL is available to live stream for free on 7plus. This free coverage includes matches on 23 Thursday nights, 24 Friday nights, State Footy Saturdays, 25 Sunday afternoons, five Sunday nights, plus every game in the Finals Series including the AFL Grand Final.

7plus is geo-restricted to Australia, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Australia, meaning you can unblock free live streams of the AFL from anywhere in the world.

Live stream the 2025 AFL from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia

4. Visit 7plus

5. Live stream the 2025 AFL for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch the 2025 AFL without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select AFL fixtures before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for 7plus?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on 7plus, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream the 2025 AFL for free with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: The DJI Mini 4K drone is available to purchase for $299 on Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon DJI Mini 4K Drone $299 at Amazon
Get Deal

DJI is one of the biggest names in drones, with a strong reputation for creating incredible aerial shots. The DJI product range is the top choice of TikTokers, YouTubers, and filmmakers. That being said, we were surprised to see the DJI Mini 4K drone so near the top of the charts of best-sellers over Prime Day. We knew these drones were popular, but surely not as popular as AirPods?

Then the real reason hit us like a drone to the head.

President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at helping the U.S. drone industry and shoring up protections against malicious drone activity. The measures don't actually order a full ban on Chinese-made drones (yet), but talk of a ban on DJI drones has been doing the rounds for a while now. That uncertainty is clearly causing an uptick in sales.

SEE ALSO: The DJI Power 2000 portable power station means business, and it’s great for DJI drone owners

The good news is that you can still find the DJI Mini 4K drone on Amazon, listed for $299 right now. It's being shipped and sold by Fly Image Tech. We don't generally recommend third-party sellers, but Fly Image Tech has a decent track record and times are tough right now. With stock running low, we'll take what we can get.

The DJI Mini 4K is full of helpful features for beginners and advanced users alike. It has one-tap takeoff options and a return to home function. But perhaps most importantly for content creators is the three-axis gimbal and 4K quality, as well as advanced wind resistance and extended battery life. It's a step up from the DJI Neo Mini 4K that we think creators will appreciate.

Get the DJI Mini 4K drone for under $300 at Amazon.

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Mini crossword answers, hints for July 31, 2025 Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Card combos

• Green: Regionally specific football

• Blue: Matching

• Purple: Same first word

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Hands in poker

• Green: NFC West teams

• Blue: Teams that wear orange

• Purple: Starting ___

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections Sports Edition #316 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today

• Hands in poker - FLUSH, FULL HOUSE, STRAIGHT, TWO PAIR

• NFC West teams - 49ERS, CARDINALS, RAMS, SEAHAWKS

• Teams that wear orange - BENGALS, SYRACUSE, TENNESSEE, TEXAS

• Starting ___ - 5, BLOCKS, LINEUP, PITCHER

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk will gain approximately $29 billion in shares under a new compensation package, in an effort to at least partially adhere to a $55.8 billion deal from 2018 which was thrown out by a U.S. court last year.

In a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Sunday, Tesla announced that it shall grant Musk 96 million shares under a new 2025 CEO Interim Award. Already approved by shareholders, the award enables Musk to purchase the stock for around $2 billion at $23.34 per share — the same price that was agreed to in his blocked 2018 compensation package. This new deal requires Musk to take a senior leadership role at Tesla for the next two years, and prohibits him from selling or transferring the shares for five years.

SEE ALSO: Elon Musk’s xAI is hiring someone to make anime girls

Posting a lengthy statement on Tesla's official X account, directors Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson stated that this compensation package is another effort to "honor the bargain that was struck [with Musk] in 2018."

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Musk's 2018 Tesla compensation package was thrown out last year after a Delaware court found the board of directors had breached their duty to shareholders when establishing the $55.8 billion deal. Specifically, Tesla's directors had failed to negotiate or evaluate the value Musk actually provided, instead simply agreeing to whatever the billionaire proposed. Tesla and Musk's later bid to reinstate the 10-year compensation package was also rejected, the judge unimpressed by their attempt to overturn a U.S. court judgement with a subsequent shareholder vote.

Tesla has since taken the matter to the Delaware Supreme Court in hopes of having the deal restored. In the meantime, the company is also trying another tactic to grant its billionaire CEO further billions. In their statement, Denholm and Wilson-Thompson said that the stock given to Musk under this week's new award amounts to approximately one third of his total 2018 compensation package, and is considered an interim measure while they work on reinstating the whole deal.

"[W]e have recommended this award as a first step, 'good faith' payment to Elon," they wrote. "It is imperative to retain and motivate our extraordinary talent, beginning with Elon…. While we recognize that Elon’s business ventures, interests and other potential demands on his time and attention are extensive and wide-ranging, including his leadership roles at xAI, SpaceX, Neuralink, X Corp., and The Boring Company as well as his other interests, we are confident that this award will incentivize Elon to remain at Tesla…"

If the Supreme Court ultimately rules in Tesla and Musk's favour, the CEO will be required to either return this week's award or forfeit a portion of the 2018 package so that "there cannot be any 'double dip.'"

"[W]e have recommended this award as a first step, 'good faith' payment to Elon." - Robyn Denholm and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson

Denholm and Wilson-Thompson also repeatedly praised Musk as demonstrating "unmatched leadership," an apparent effort to demonstrate what value he offers that could merit such outsized compensation. The court had considered $55.8 billion disproportionate to the value Musk offered Tesla when deciding to block his 2018 compensation package.

"[N]o one matches Elon’s remarkable combination of leadership experience, technical expertise, and, arguably most importantly, decades-long proven track record of building the most revolutionary and profitable businesses across different industries," they wrote.

The board's breathless admiration for Musk was also considered in the court's decision to throw out his 2018 compensation last year. Noting at the time that veneration of the billionaire had even moved one director to tears, the court found that it was unclear whether they were acting for Musk or Tesla in making the $55.8 billion deal.

Denholm and Wilson-Thompson's X post states that Tesla is currently working on a "longer-term CEO compensation strategy," which will be put to a shareholder vote on Nov. 6.

Featured Video For You I took a ride in a robotaxi: How close are we to a driverless future?

The richest man in the world, Musk has a current net worth of over $400 billion, which exceeds the GDP of Egypt. Responding in January to people questioning why he'd need a large Tesla compensation package to motivate him, Musk framed it as a matter of wanting dominant control over the company.

"I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control," Musk wrote. "Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned. Unless that is the case, I would prefer to build products outside of Tesla."

Musk currently has a 13 percent stake in Tesla, making him the company's largest shareholder. This new deal will increase his stake to around 16 percent.

Tesla has struggled significantly this year, experiencing a 71 percent drop in profit during Q1. The company suffered considerable reputational damage due to Musk's work with the Trump administration, with sales down globally, stock falling, and at least one early investor calling for the CEO to resign. Such problems haven't been helped by issues plaguing Tesla's vehicles themselves, including a growing list of incidents with the company's Robotaxis.

Musk appeared to take a step back from politics at the end of May, leaving his position as de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and expressing his intention to spend more time focusing on his various companies. However, he has since stated that he intends to start his own political party, a venture that seems likely to draw him away from his businesses once more.

In the months prior to the release of his widely-anticipated AI model update, GPT-5, Sam Altman's hype train built up quite a head of steam.

Long before he was OpenAI CEO, Altman wrote that "successful founders" of tech companies are actually building something "closer to a religion," and many of his 2025 statements attest to that. Take his "Gentle Singularity" post in June, in which Altman insists "humanity is close to building digital superintelligence" — suggesting he was seeing incredible new capabilities in GPT-5 and just couldn't wait to unveil them this August.

What capabilities, pray tell? Well, as soon as Altman started dropping details, it became clear that this hype train was making local stops in some pretty mundane places. Altman told alt-right podcaster Theo Von he felt "useless" when GPT-5 ... wrote a good email for him. And on X a.k.a. Twitter, Altman enthused about GPT-5 ... recommending a list of TV shows.

Granted, Altman said it was a particularly complicated email, and the list was "thought provoking TV shows about AI." These results, arguably, offered a deeper appearance of understanding than one might expect from GPT-4 and other OpenAI models. But if Altman were trying to signal that GPT-5 is an incremental improvement on its predecessor, rather than "true digital superintelligence," this is the sort of thing he'd say.

GPT-5 problems behind the scenes

Altman's careful language tracks with a new and devastating report from Silicon Valley scoop machine The Information. According to multiple sources inside OpenAI and its partner Microsoft, the upgrades in GPT-5 are mostly in the areas of solving math problems and writing software code — and even they "won’t be comparable to the leaps in performance of earlier GPT-branded models, such as the improvements between GPT-3 in 2020 and GPT-4 in 2023."

That's not for want of trying. The Information also reports that the first attempt to create GPT-5, codenamed Orion, was actually launched as GPT-4.5 because it wasn't enough of a step up, and that insiders believed none of OpenAI's experimental models were worthy of the name GPT-5 as recently as June.

The major problem — "a dwindling supply of high-quality web data" to train the model on — was supplemented by a problem of scale. OpenAI researchers were reportedly unable to get their full GPT-5 model to produce the same results found when it was in its infancy.

"Pure scaling is not getting us to [digital superintelligence]," veteran AI expert and noted skeptic Gary Marcus wrote in the wake of the report. "Returns are diminishing."

That appears to be true for AI models once they're incorporated into AI Agents, too. Yunyu Lin, a researcher for AI metrics startup Penrose, recently discovered that multiple Large Language Models (LLMs), including OpenAI's o3 and o4 mini, degrade over time — even when it comes to their supposed specialty, basic math.

When asked to do accounting using the company's QuickBooks, the models had error rates of roughly 15 percent within 12 months — basically committing unintentional accounting fraud as they tried to find ways to balance the books. But OpenAI's models were the worst, unable to complete a single month of accounting: They "consistently got stuck in loops," Lin wrote.

Why OpenAI's future could still be bright

So if GPT-5 degrades over time on basic math tasks like its predecessors and competitors, CPAs can breathe easy. Same goes for software engineers, given an increasing number of reports that AI-written code turns out to have more bugs than first expected (and in extreme cases, AI coding assistants have gone rogue, deleting entire company databases).

But what about Altman himself? He's probably fine, even though OpenAI has seen a number of high-profile defections in the last year (with many executives poached by Meta). OpenAI income, and its user base, have skyrocketed in the last year. The company is on track to beat its $12.7 billion annual income projection for 2025, even as it is projected to burn through about $8 billion in cash this year — the cost of researching new models like GPT-5.

The promise of incremental improvements that could bring more paying customers on board, plus the possibility that OpenAI could go public in 2026, is helping it secure as much as $40 billion in funding by the end of the year. That's laying a lot of track for the hype train that is GPT-5, not to mention its successors.

Back in 2024, Altman suggested OpenAI models could continue improving for "another 3 or 4" model generations. In which case, we'll see you back here in a few years for an explanation of why GPT-8 isn't true digital superintelligence either.