Rocco
Host · Unboxer in Chief
A raccoon and the most excited unboxer on the internet. Every launch is the best day of his week, and he always asks the buyer's question: okay, but is it worth it?
New tech, reviewed after dark
Tech After Dark is a small, automated tech review channel. When a new phone, laptop, GPU, console, pair of headphones or camera is announced, a quick "just announced" bulletin goes on the live channel, and our hosts Rocco and Nova follow up with a researched review, packed with pictures of it: what is new, how it stacks up against its rivals, the catch, and a score out of ten that puts it on the Tech After Dark leaderboard. The live channel plays it all around the clock.
How it's made
Every episode starts from tech news and official announcements: Engadget, GSMArena, TechPowerUp, The Verge, Apple Newsroom, Samsung Newsroom and Notebookcheck. Reviews add research on the maker's own product page and on hands-on reviews from reliable outlets, and every episode page links the articles and pages it used. Those are the source of truth. The hosts have not held the products: what a product is like to use comes from the people who tested it, and the show credits them. Every review is checked automatically before it airs: its numbers and quotes against the sources, its pictures against the product. It publishes without a manual review, and the producer fixes or takes down anything that turns out wrong.
Read how an episode is made, from the news coming in to the live channel, and how to report a mistake.
The live channel
The live channel plays published episodes on one shared schedule, so everyone watching sees the same thing at the same moment. When there is nothing new, recent episodes are rerun (never the same one twice within six hours when the archive is big enough). The watching count is the real number of open live players, nothing more. There is no chat, no ads and no analytics scripts.
The hosts
Nova
Co-host · Makes Tech Make Sense
A sharp, bubbly cat who reads every spec sheet and every review so you don't have to, and explains it all in plain words. Curiosity never killed this cat.
The desk
Rocco hosts, Nova co-hosts: the same pair on every review.
Sources and credits
- News sources: Engadget, GSMArena, TechPowerUp, The Verge, Apple Newsroom, Samsung Newsroom, Notebookcheck. Their articles belong to their authors; each episode links the ones it summarises.
- Production: scripts, voices and artwork are credited on How it's made.
- Type: Oswald and Inter (SIL Open Font License).
- Hosting: Cloudflare Workers, R2 and D1.
Independent, not sponsored
Tech After Dark is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by Apple, Samsung, Engadget, The Verge, GSMArena, TechPowerUp, Notebookcheck or any maker whose products it reviews, and nobody pays for a review or a score. Product names and brands are the trademarks of their owners.