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Engwe Mapfour N1 Pro e-bike review: the new ‘premium’

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Engwe Mapfour N1 Pro e-bike review: the new ‘premium’

Europe has an electric bike problem. Direct-to-consumer e-bikes from inexpensive Chinese brands like Engwe and countless others can be easily purchased online despite openly flouting EU restrictions. They feature throttles and powerful motors that can be easily unlocked to far exceed the 25km/h (16mph) legal speed limit — no pedaling required.

Here in Amsterdam, cheap Super73-knockoffs ridden at almost twice the legal speed have made the city’s renowned bicycle lanes increasingly chaotic and dangerous. Across the Netherlands, over 10,000 of these electric “fat bikes” were seized in 2024.

Engwe’s new Mapfour lineup is the company’s attempt at going legit by expanding from souped-up electric fat bikes and foldables into “premium commuter” e-bikes. And because they’re the first e-bikes that Engwe has designed exclusively for European roads, the company swears they can’t be unlocked for more speed.

I’ve been riding the new Mapfour N1 Pro model for the last few weeks. It lists for €1,899 (almost $2,000), or €1,799 during the initial launch — a price that brings heightened expectations.

The N1 Pro is slathered in premium capabilities like GPS/GSM tracking for which some bike makers charge subscriptions. The monocoque frame and fork are made from carbon fiber supplied by Toray — “the same high-quality carbon fiber as Trek and Specialized,” claims Engwe. There’s even turn-by-turn navigation built into the full-featured app, a large colorful display integrated into the handlebars, and a built-in mechanical lock in the rear wheel hub that automatically engages when the bike is turned off and stationary.

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My review bike was missing a fender bolt, occasionally flashed a strange error code, and the solar-powered rear light won’t turn on. Still, it’s likely the highest quality electric bike Engwe has ever made.

$1714

The Good

  • Looks and rides sporty
  • Long list of features for price
  • Removable battery
  • Can’t be speed hacked

The Bad

  • Strange error messages
  • Servicing parts likely an issue
  • Doesn’t support height range claimed
  • Can’t be speed hacked

I have lots of experience with assembling direct-to-consumer e-bikes and the N1 Pro was ready to ride in about an hour, which is typical. Even with a carbon-fiber frame it weighs 20.1kg (44lbs) fully assembled according to my scale, which is heavy for an e-bike — just not Veloretti-heavy.

I had to raise the saddle higher than recommended despite Engwe claiming support for riders much taller than me.

I had to raise the saddle higher than recommended despite Engwe claiming support for riders much taller than me.

In the box you’ll find a basic toolset that includes everything needed for assembly and instructions written in stellar English unlike some previous Engwe tutorials I’ve read. I had to assemble the pedals, front wheel, kickstand, handlebar, and fenders, and fish out a replacement fender bolt from some spare bicycle parts I had lying around. I then went to adjust the saddle to my height only to discover that I was too tall for the N1 Pro.

The saddle stem has a marked safety line that stops well before the height needed for my 6 foot (183cm) frame, despite being sold in the Netherlands where I’m considered a short king. Nevertheless, exceeding the line by about 2.5cm (one inch) hasn’t made the saddle feel insecure, even when riding over rough cobblestones. Engwe claims the N1 Pro supports riders from 165–190cm, and is considering offering the option for a longer saddle stem at checkout based upon my feedback.

The N1 Pro’s geometry puts the rider into what’s essentially a mountain bike stance: a moderate forward lean with hands spread wide out in front of the body. That wrist and body angle combined with a rather stiff saddle are not ideal for riding long distances, especially in combination with a backpack that’ll put even more weight on the hands and derrière. I do like that fun, sporty posture over short distances, but if you’re looking for a more relaxed ride then Engwe has the upright €1,399 MapFour N1 Air available in both step-over and step-through frames.

The battery can be unlocked and removed.
Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

The smart lock is reminiscent of the VanMoof kick lock. It automatically engages when the bike is turned off and stationary.
Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

The wires are mostly hidden and the lighting is integrated. The light bar can be customized with colors and animations that make it breath, pulse, or flow.
Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

The integrated display (pictured at startup) shows battery remaining, speed, light status, distance travelled, and direction and distance to next turn when using Engwe’s navigation.
Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

The 250W mid-drive Ananda motor on the N1 Pro is nearly silent under the din of road noise, and the integrated torque sensor provides an intuitive pedal-assist at all speeds. It produces up to 80Nm of torque that lets me easily start from a dead stop in fourth gear (of seven) on flat roads, but testing on a hill with a gradient of about 15 percent required a start from first gear. Typically, I only needed to shift to a high gear when I wanted to use my leg power to propel the bike at speeds above the 25km/h motor cutoff.

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Despite claiming a range of up to 100km from its modest 360Wh battery, my first test performed over a few weeks yielded just 23km off a full charge in near-freezing conditions. I usually rode in power setting three of five on mostly flat roads. The second test performed on a single warmer day improved the range to 27km with 28 percent charge remaining — or an estimated 36km if I had time to run the battery dry for a below average 10Wh consumed per kilometer travelled. The bike battery seems to suffer from idle battery drain of about 1-2 percent per day when parked inside my house.

Worrisome for a “premium” e-bike: on two occasions I saw an “09” error message flash on the display which Engwe is still diagnosing. Once, while starting the bike after it had been sitting outside in the rain for a few hours. Another time after riding home on a rain-soaked street while switching between the N1 Pro’s regular and high-beam lights. In the first case, a simple reboot cleared it and I was able to ride away fine, but the other time required riding home under my own power before it inexplicably cleared the next morning.

  • The bike’s integrated display is readable in all lighting, and shows the remaining battery level, speed, power level, and even distance and direction of next turn if using the navigation built into the useful but overwrought Engwe app.
  • I didn’t find Engwe’s turn-by-turn navigation very useful as the guidance presented on the display wasn’t informative or urgent enough for me to make confident decisions when traversing the dense network of crossroads in Amsterdam.
  • It has a very loud alarm that can ward off thieves and help locate the e-bike in large parking garages.
  • The daytime running lights are fun and help with visibility, but also dorky if you choose the animated options.
  • The solar-powered rear light never worked on my review unit.
  • Engwe provides a chain guard on shipping units.
  • The hydraulic disc brakes from an unspecified vendor provide good controlled stops.
  • Includes a 1-year warranty on electrical components, chassis, and battery.

1/19

Some parts are standard and easy to source.

There was a time when premium e-bikes had list prices around €2,000 / $2,000. Those days are as gone as the free venture capital propping up e-bike startups, pushing premium prices up to a starting price closer to €3,000 / $3,000. The Engwe N1 Pro is therefore priced about right. It’s not a bad e-bike, but it’s also not great despite checking off lots of features on a marketing sheet.

Just remember, servicing a direct-to-consumer e-bike can be a problem as it requires the ready availability of spare parts and the knowledge to replace them. As with any electric bike exposed to the elements and regular road use, the N1 Pro’s motor and any proprietary electronics like the controller, display, battery, lights, buttons, and integrated lock will eventually need servicing. So you’d better be on very good terms with your local bike shop or be handy with a wrench and oscilloscope to prevent your mail-order e-bike from quickly turning into e-waste.

Photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

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Netflix is raising prices again

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Netflix is raising prices again

Netflix’s prices just went up, with its cheapest, ad-supported tier now reaching $8.99 / month (up from $7.99 / month), according to an updated support page spotted earlier by Android Authority. The standard and premium plans are also getting a hike, going from $17.99 to $19.99 / month and $24.99 to $26.99 / month, respectively.

Netflix didn’t share its reasoning for the price hike this time around, as it last cited delivering “more value for our customers.” It’s also unclear when the price hike will go into effect for existing subscribers. The Verge reached out to Netflix with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

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Roblox is changing online safety with AI

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Roblox is changing online safety with AI

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

If you’ve ever wondered how platforms keep up with millions of users at once, this is where things get real. Roblox has over 144 million daily users. That scale creates a massive challenge. Harmful content does not always show up in obvious ways. Sometimes, it is the combination of things that creates the problem. Now, the company is rolling out a new system designed to catch exactly that. But first, it helps to understand what Roblox actually is.

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MEXICAN ILLEGAL ALIEN ALLEGEDLY USED ROBLOX CURRENCY TO SOLICIT EXPLICIT CONTENT FROM KIDS UNDER 10
 

Roblox rolls out a new AI system that analyzes entire scenes in real time to detect harmful content across its platform. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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What is Roblox

Roblox is an online platform where people can create, share and play games built by other users. Instead of being a single game, it is a massive ecosystem of user-generated experiences that range from simple obstacle courses to complex virtual worlds.

What makes Roblox different is how much control users have. Players are not just consuming content. They are constantly creating it in real time through avatars, text and interactive environments. That constant creation is exactly what makes moderation more complex.

A smarter way to spot harmful content

Most moderation tools look at one thing at a time. A message. An image. An avatar. That approach can miss the bigger picture. Speaking exclusively with CyberGuy, Matt Kaufman, Roblox’s chief safety officer, explained the shift clearly:

“We already moderate all of the objects in a virtual world, but how they come together and interact has long been a challenge. Our new real-time multimodal moderation system looks at an entire scene simultaneously from the user’s point of view – including 3D objects, avatars, and text – capturing all of these elements together in a specific moment to assess whether the combination of content types breaks our rules.”

This is called multimodal moderation. Instead of analyzing pieces in isolation, it looks at everything together in real time.

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Why older systems were missing the problem

Here is the issue platforms have faced for years. Something can look harmless on its own. But when combined with other elements, it can become harmful or violate rules.

Kaufman puts it this way: “Traditional AI moderation systems, which moderate one object at a time, can lack context and miss combinations that could be problematic in ways that the individual items are not. This model understands the relationship between different objects and how they come together to catch nuanced violations that standard filters may miss.”

That missing context is exactly what bad actors have been exploiting.

What this new AI actually catches

This system focuses on scenarios that previously slipped through. Think about games where users can draw freely or customize avatars. A drawing alone might seem fine. An avatar alone might seem fine. But together, they could create something inappropriate.

Kaufman explains how the system handles that: “The system can detect combinations of objects that may violate our community standards. For example, some games allow free-form drawing. This real-time multimodal moderation system would look at the drawing, avatar, and 3D setting together and assess it holistically, in order to catch and shut down servers with violating content.” 

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Right now, the rollout is already targeting problematic avatars and inappropriate drawings.

LOUISIANA SUES ONLINE GAMING PLATFORM ROBLOX FOR ALLEGEDLY ENABLING CHILD PREDATORS
 

Roblox officials say the new system aims to proactively protect children while maintaining gameplay for compliant users. (Riccardo Milani/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

The scale is bigger than you think

This is not a small tweak. It is operating at a massive scale. Roblox says it is already shutting down about 5,000 servers per day for violations.

Kaufman says that reflects the reality of the platform: “With 144 million users connecting and creating on Roblox every single day, our safety systems must be as agile and dynamic as our creators themselves.”

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He also adds an important reality check: “No system is foolproof against bad actors, so we are committed to doing our best to stay ahead of those attempting to bypass safety protocols, and we are working to scale this new multimodal system to capture and monitor 100% of playtime.”

What changes for everyday Roblox users

If you or your kids use Roblox, this system will likely work in the background without you noticing. But it changes how quickly harmful behavior gets stopped.

“When problematic behavior repeatedly occurs in a single game instance, this new system is designed to automatically detect and shut down those specific servers in real time, greatly reducing the number of users who might be exposed to that behavior.”

That last part matters. Instead of shutting down an entire game, it targets only the problem.

“By targeting only the violating server rather than the entire experience, we can help prevent violations from reaching more users while allowing well-intentioned players to continue their sessions uninterrupted.” 

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What this means for parents

For parents, this is a big shift toward proactive safety. Instead of waiting for reports, the system acts in real time.

Kaufman explains: “We want parents to know that we aren’t just reacting to reports – we are proactively building some of the most sophisticated AI moderation systems in the world to help protect their children in real time.”

There is also an important layer of protection during gameplay: “We can now evaluate a combination of problematic text, 3D drawings, or avatar movements in real-time and shut down that specific server immediately – often before a child ever encounters it.”

Still, Roblox stresses that technology alone is not enough. “No system is perfect, and we encourage parents to talk to their children about online safety.”

Ways parents can help keep kids safe

Even with advanced AI moderation, a few simple steps can help you stay one step ahead and keep your child safer online.

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1) Talk about what your child is doing online

Ask what games they play and who they interact with so you stay involved.

2) Encourage reporting anything that feels off

Remind your child to report behavior that seems inappropriate or uncomfortable.

3) Check privacy and safety settings together

Review account settings to limit who can chat or interact with your child.

4) Set clear boundaries for gameplay

Agree on rules around screen time and which types of experiences are allowed.

ROBLOX CEO RESPONDS TO SCRUTINY OVER CHILD SAFETY: ESTABLISHING THE ‘GOLD STANDARD’ FOR SAFETY
 

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Roblox targets nuanced rule-breaking by analyzing avatars, text and environments together instead of in isolation. (JasonDoiy/Getty Images)

How Roblox avoids false positives

One concern with any AI system is getting it wrong. Roblox says it is actively working to improve accuracy over time.

“We have a continuous evaluation loop set up to measure false positives from the multimodal moderation system, and we are training the system with that feedback to help it catch those types of examples in the future.”

User feedback also plays a role. “Our creators and users are often the ones to spot new trends emerging… This type of reporting is the most effective way for users to help protect the community.”

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AI plus human oversight still matters

Even with automation, humans are still involved.”We already use a combination of AI and a team of safety experts to review content uploaded to the platform before it is ever shown to users.”

The new system adds another layer, not a replacement. “This real-time multimodal moderation system is an additional layer and is fully automated in its evaluation of the entire scene.”

What about privacy and fairness?

Any system this powerful raises questions about privacy and overreach. Roblox says it is limiting how data is used: “Our systems and processes are designed so that data collected for safety is used only for safety purposes.”

On fairness, the company points to ongoing training and transparency: “We are focused on ensuring our safety systems are both highly effective and fair.”

They are also giving creators more visibility: “We have introduced a new chart in the creator dashboard that allows developers to see exactly how many of their game’s servers have been shut down.”

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Where this is heading next

This system is just getting started. One future focus is detecting recreations of real-world events that may cross the line.

Kaufman explains why context matters here: “Standard filters might see a specific building or a line of text in isolation and not recognize a violation. However, real-time multimodal moderation can understand the relationship between an environment, the way avatars are interacting within it, and the accompanying chat.”

There is also a push to go beyond shutting down servers: “We’re working on ways to identify specific bad actors so we can remove them without disrupting the experience for the vast majority of our well-intentioned players.”

Kurt’s key takeaways

This is a major shift in how online platforms approach safety. Instead of reacting after something goes wrong, Roblox is trying to stop harmful behavior before most users ever see it. That is a big promise, especially at this scale. At the same time, it highlights a deeper question about the future of online spaces. As AI becomes more involved in moderating behavior, the balance between safety, fairness and freedom will only get more complicated.

So here is the question worth thinking about: If AI is now deciding what crosses the line in real time, how much control are we comfortable handing over to it?  Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com

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Intel and LG Display may have beaten Apple and Qualcomm with the best laptop battery life ever

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Intel and LG Display may have beaten Apple and Qualcomm with the best laptop battery life ever

Just how little power might it consume? Notebookcheck has tested a version of the laptop with that LG Display screen and a new Intel Panther Lake chip — and it appears to be the most efficient laptop that’s ever gone through its Wi-Fi web browsing test. At idle, the Core Ultra 325 laptop drew as little as 1.5 watts, and lasted nearly 27 hours of web browsing despite only housing a 70 watt-hour pack. That’s well shy of the 99.5Wh Dell has sometimes crammed into its 16-inch models.

That’s more battery life than Notebookcheck has gotten out of any MacBook or MacBook Pro, and apparently more than all but two other laptops since it started running this test in 2014. And of those two laptops, one relied on a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip, a larger 84Wh battery, and a mere 60Hz screen — while the other had two batteries for a total of 149Wh and a 60Hz screen as well.

I should caution you that we typically see much less battery life in an actual workday than we do in fixed battery life tests. But compared to other laptops, this Dell + Intel + LG Display combo seems like the new battery life champ. Note that Dell also sells it with a higher-res tandem OLED screen, though. To get the best battery life, you’ll need to settle for 1920 x 1200, no OLED, and no touchscreen.

While Dell may deserve a lot of credit as the system integrator, this tech may not be exclusive to Dell for long. LG Display announced that it’s become the first in the world to mass-produce a 1–120Hz laptop LCD panel (which it’s branding as Oxide 1Hz), and plans to mass-produce an OLED version in 2027. Intel, too, isn’t just working with one display vendor: last October, it announced it was working with Chinese panel maker BOE on 1Hz refresh rate computers too.

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