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Google and Apple’s app stores both have a reputation for being pretty trustworthy these days. It’s easy to assume that if an app is in either the iPhone App Store or the Google Play Store, it’s safe to download. But a new Google crackdown this week reminds us that this isn’t so clear cut.

Yesterday, a third-party security report revealed that Google had recently removed 224 malicious apps from the Android Play Store. Dubbed “SlopAds” apps by security company Human, which discovered the apps and wrote the report, these apps evaded Google’s usual security procedures and instead used a clever workaround to secretly install malware on users’ devices, even when downloaded straight from Google’s servers. 

The way these apps worked was that, if you downloaded them by searching for them through the Google Play Store, they would work as advertised with no malware dragging them down. Generally, these apps were pitched as simple utilities, or attempted to pass themselves off as more popular programs like ChatGPT, to try to trick users into downloading them. Not the best tools, certainly, but if accessed directly through Google, they wouldn’t hurt you.

But the trick is that, if you downloaded one of these apps after arriving at the Play Store via one of SlopAds ad campaigns, it would also secretly download an encrypted configuration file that, after a few post-download checks, would install malware on your device.

Once a device was infected, the app would then steal its information, and start using it to generate fake ad impressions on sites run by the scammers, maximizing profit.

It was a clever way to get around Google’s regular review process, and a good reminder that, even as major companies try to make their app stores safe to use, you should still be vigilant while browsing them.

How to avoid installing malware on your device

While SlopAds has been thwarted for now, you should still take a few steps to keep your device safe while downloading new apps, especially since SlopAds isn’t alone in sneaking Malware onto the Play Store. Here are just a few ways to protect your device while browsing for new apps.

Download your apps directly from the Play Store

Android is different from iOS in that it allows you to sideload apps onto your device. This can be convenient when working with smaller developers, who might not have the resources to get their programs on the Play Store. But downloading an app that hasn’t been verified by Google opens you up to extra risk. Always ensure you trust a developer and the specific APK file you’re using before sideloading an app. Google is currently working to block sideloading unless a developer is verified (which has been controversial, despite the extra security it gives you), although these changes aren’t set to hit most of the world until 2027.

Find apps through the Play Store

As SlopAds proves, navigating to an app through an outside source can flag it to download extra files to your device that you won’t get if you find the app through the Play Store’s own search functionality. Always be cautious about links to apps that you find on suspicious websites, and especially in ads. Using the Play Store to discover new apps instead could save you some headaches down the line, especially as Google’s search is less likely to send you to suspicious apps than it is popular apps that have been verified as safe by other users.

Check user reviews and permissions

If you scroll down before downloading an app through the Play Store, you’ll see which permissions an app needs to do its work on your phone, and you’ll also be able to read user reviews. This can be handy if there are known issues with an app, or the requested permissions seem to be a bit too generous for what the app claims to do. However, this isn’t a catch-all solution—SlopAds did its malicious behavior in the background without needing any sort of permissions, and depending on where a user downloaded a SlopAd app from, it might not have even installed malware on their device. It’s possible apps with good reviews could still have harmful software included on the sly.

Turn on Google Play Protect

While SlopAds was able to bypass Google Play Protect, it’s still a good idea to turn it on if it isn’t enabled on your device already. This will scan an app for known malware before downloading it, giving you an extra layer of protection. It will also periodically scan apps already installed on your device. To ensure it’s turned on, open the Play Store, click your profile icon in the top right corner, and navigate to Play Protect > Settings. To scan sideloaded apps, you can also turn on the Improve harmful app detection setting, which is in the same spot.

Run a Google Security Checkup

Finally, you can run a Google Security Checkup on your device via a web browser. This will help you tighten your online security, encouraging you to take security steps like adding a recovery email or phone number to your Google account. It’ll also list recent security activity, and will generally ensure that, even if a malicious app steals your data, you’ll be able to lock it out of your account with the least issue possible.

Google is starting the rollout of its Ask Gemini AI assistant in Google Meet, but it will initially only be available to “select Google Workspace customers.” The assistant can answer participant’s questions by referring to captions generated during the call, resources like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides they have permission to view, and public websites. It can also provide summaries of what a specific participant said, identify important decisions and action items, and generate a summary of what you missed when joining a meeting late, but only when Google Meet’s Take Notes for Me feature has been activated by the host.

Ask Gemini’s responses are kept private to every participant and, alongside other meeting data like captions, they’re not stored after a Google Meet call ends. Every participant will also see when Ask Gemini is enabled during a call and while it’s turned on by default, the hosts can disable it at any time, and admins can switch the default to starting meetings with it off.

Ask Gemini in Meet is only available on the desktop for now, and it only works during meetings held in English. Google says support for additional languages is coming soon. Over the coming weeks it’s being rolled out to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Enterprise (Standard), Business Plus, and Business Standard customers first. In Q1 of 2026, Google plans to also make it available to Workspace Business Starter, Enterprise Standard, and Enterprise Plus customers once the company has “collected and applied critical user feedback to improve the feature.”

Google cautions that “Gemini in Workspace can make mistakes, including about people, so users should review its output.” Using it to catch up on missed parts of a meeting is useful, but it’s potentially worth your time to go back and review those parts yourself after it’s over.

Specialized aimed to please everyone with the new Levo, incorporating all their tricks into this bike’s 4th iteration. Anything on your list of desires for a full-powered e-bike is likely covered here. The laundry list of new features Specialized gave the new Levo is awe-inspiring. If the price doesn’t deter you, consider the bike’s merits and our thoughts below.

Downhill Performance

When designing an electric mountain bike, manufacturers can really lean into pushing the bike’s downhill performance through geometry and spec. Making an ebike slack and rowdy has much less effect on the bike’s climbing and handling abilities than it would on an acoustic model. Why not kick that headtube back to 63.5 degrees (adjustable 63.5 to 65.5 with 160mm fork) and give it the ability to run a 180mm single crown fork? Why not give it a ten-pound battery and add some frame storage? DH tires? Now you’re feeling what the engineers behind the Gen 4 bike were thinking.

At 53.3 pounds, gravity has a bit more sway with the new bike, and that’s not all bad. The Genie shock and Grid Gravity T9 tires stick the bike to the ground with traction that is positively hero-level. With so much adjustability to the bike’s geometry, we could almost write different reviews for each configuration, but we’ll sum up the majority of our testers’ impressions and speak to the extremes. Aside from the adjustable headtube and fork travel, the bike has a flip chip in the shock that allows you to lower the bottom bracket for more stability or raise it for a bit more clearance. An additional flip chip on the seatstays lets you adjust the length of the wheelbase, but unlike the Levo SL, you can’t run a 29″ rear wheel.

Our S4 test bike has a 480mm reach and 627mm top tube, giving the cockpit a wide-open feel with plenty of room to move around and find comfort. Thanks to 435mm chainstays, the wheelbase is a respectable 1254mm, making the bike feel agile, poppy, and responsive. We’re fans of the Specialized sizing system, with this bike offered in 5 sizes from S2 to S6. While the geometry is highly adjustable, it isn’t tuned to be as size-specific as we see on other models. All sizes get the same 64.5-degree headtube, 77-degree seat tube, 435mm chainstays, and 350mm bottom bracket height. This gives larger models a lower break-over angle and seems less ideal for riders of the S2 and S6, but there aren’t any geometry complaints about the S4.

Pointing downhill, the bike picks up speed readily, and the massive amount of traction gives you more confidence than any past platform has delivered. The Maven brakes with 220/200mm rotors feel designed for the bike; rapid deceleration is a gentle finger pull away. The bike’s tremendous traction allows for braking like you’ve never felt before. Specialized chose a Fox 36 Rhythm fork, which puts you in the right position, but its chassis feels woefully inadequate for a bike this fast, heavy, and capable. While other models get 38’s or the venerable Podium, the 36 feels like one of the few boardroom decisions.

If you’ve spent much time on an e-mtb, you’ve probably experienced that motor cut-off at 20mph that feels like the nightclub lights flickering on at the end of the night. 20mph hasn’t felt like the right speed limit, but it allowed us to shoehorn Class 1 bikes into the “bicycle” category and gain access to forest service and MTB trails across the country. The new Levo pushes the limits by giving the motor Class 3 capabilities and a top speed of 28mph. On one hand, it’s amazing, allowing for insanely fast trail speeds that push the limits of our trails. On the other hand, it poses a significant threat to the access e-bikers have been granted and provides a new foothold for the anti-e-bike crowd. Specialized calls it commute mode for getting to and from the trails, but I’ve yet to see someone call it that with a straight face.

At high speeds, the bike feels more planted than heavy; the tire compound, shock tune, and geometry give it more composure than any other e-mtb we’ve reviewed or ridden. The weight feels like it sits low enough that you can still change directions rapidly, flick the bike side to side, and manual through the whoops. When the ground turns chunky, there is no loss of confidence (aside from some fork flex) and the Genie shock flexes its tune. Small bump compliance is a strong suit with a supple initial stroke and support that ramps up gradually deeper in the travel. Further into the travel, the bike feels like it’s pushing the trail around with coil-like compliance and inertia that is on your side. The FSR suspension and Genie tune provide excellent anti-rise in heavy braking, and overwhelming the bike with inputs isn’t easily done, even when drifting in the rubble.

In the air, the bike’s mass feels less positive; whipping it around is difficult, and returning to center before landing requires concerted effort. With plenty of reach, you have room to steez it up, but the effort required to throw a bit of style reminds me of riding motocross. That weight turns positive again at the landing when the bike seems to dominate any spot you land. Poor choices are rewarded with silence and clean run-outs. Even with the bottom bracket in the low position, the 155mm crank arms keep your pedals off the ground and let you make the most of unintended new lines.

The fork aside, most of the bike’s specs feel spectacular and favor the performance you experience on the way down. The cockpit is nothing fancy with house-branded 35mm bars and stem and a 190mm (S4) X-Fusion Manic dropper, but the dimensions are all near ideal for our testers with no complaints or “things I’d change immediately.” The 800 x 40mm rise bar was a highlight, and we’d love to see higher-rise handlebars across the board.

Keeping with convention, the Comp model is Specialized’s least expensive carbon model. Most of the $9200 purchase price seems to go into the frame, motor, battery, and associated technology, with the rest of the bike getting adequate parts that don’t distract from its performance, but brakes aside, don’t impress independently. For an extra $1500, you can upgrade to the Expert model with a 38 Performance Elite and a few additional features, but we believe the sweet spot is this bike with a Fox Factory 38 or RockShox Zeb.

Climbing Performance

Is it disingenuous to start this section talking about the geometry and suspension kinematics since the elephant in the room is the Brose motor with 666 watts of power and 101 Nm of torque?! We’ll do it anyway and cover the motor below. The astute 77-degree seat tube angle puts you front and center over the bb, letting you drop the full weight of your legs into the drivetrain. The Genie has positive anti-squat performance, and despite the plush off the top feel, we never felt like we were dropping too far into the travel, even when out of the saddle. We felt our center of mass fall behind the rear axle in steep situations when the chainstays were in their short (435mm) setting, but that didn’t happen with the rear center extended to 445mm. The traction always felt exceptional with the bike clawing at the earth and rewarding us with elevation.

The big S uses terms like SuperNatural and Unparalleled to describe the way the motor fortifies the power coming from your legs, and they seem totally appropriate after spending a couple of months on the bike. There were no climbing situations when we didn’t want our fingers on the brake levers. The 27.5″ rear wheel could hang up in places that our bikes with larger wheels did not, but the bike’s power and suspension path came to the rescue. In general, the suspension just felt like it increased traction, but the shock has a lever to increase its firmness, which worked well to isolate the rear end in places where traction wasn’t an issue.

We had no problem finessing switchbacks and found the turning radius agreeable in all but the slackest headtube setting. At 63.5 degrees, the front end tended to wander and required more rider input to maintain control. Pulling the front end up over an obstacle, whether by wheelie or manual, reminded you of just how heavy the downtube is and required some strong arming.

Power Output

And now for the Brose-built Specialized 3.1 motor. With DJI dropping big numbers in a small package, Bosch amping up their line, and several other manufacturers in the motor power race, Specialized needed a home run here, and they seemed to have nailed it. The numbers quoted above are part of the story (although the S-Works models get 720 watts of power and 111 Nm of torque), but it’s the Specialized software that makes the biggest impression.

Even before opening the app, it’s clear that Specialized has invested considerable time and resources in developing software that fully leverages the new motor’s sensors. Where e-bikes of just a few years ago felt like heavy-duty mountain bikes with a motor bolted on, the new Levo feels like a computer and motor with a mountain bike built around it. The level of integration between the software and the bike is impressive; the motor measures your cadence and input power, relaying that info to the TCU, which is brimming with data and ways of displaying it.

The bike comes with four ultra-adjustable ride modes: Eco, Trail, Auto, and Turbo. You can adjust the level of motor support, the acceleration, and the top speed of each mode. You can switch the bike to Class 3 mode (although you’ll need to change to that setting each time you power the bike on) and enjoy a top assisted speed of 28 mph. In Turbo mode, the power and torque are quite strong, letting you be a passive observer, pushing out less than 100 watts of your own power while careening up steep ribbons of single track at speeds high enough to warrant not taking your fingers off the brake levers.

In each mode, you can also tune the Shuttle, Responsiveness, and Overrun. Shuttle refers to the amount of rider input required for the motor to reach full power. Responsiveness refers to how rapidly the motor engages after sensing rider input, and Overrun refers to how long the motor will continue powering after sensing the rider has stopped pedaling. If you’re riding highly technical terrain, having more overrun helps you clear sections of trail where continuing to pedal would cause a pedal strike.

Range

On our standardized test course, we squeezed 27.2 miles out of the 840Wh battery with 4585 feet of climbing. Our test rider had the bike in Turbo mode the entire time and kept his pedaling wattage as close to 100 watts as possible. Notably, the TCU displays your input wattage. When we cross-referenced this with our Garmin power meter pedals, we found almost identical numbers on both the TCU and our Garmin Edge 840.

The last generation Levo registered 33.1 miles on the same course with its 700Wh battery. Undoubtedly, the sticky tires and higher torque contribute to slightly less range. Riders wanting more range have several options: you can ride in a lower setting, de-tune the Turbo mode, or use the optional (expensive) 280Wh range extender. Of course, you can always just pedal harder. Specialized’s pursuit of more power costs the bike some distance, even with the larger battery. If you’re the type of rider who never kicks up to Turbo mode, you might enjoy the bike more with the available 600Wh battery that brings the total weight down to just below 51 pounds. The modular battery system seems to be a win for consumers that can tailor their battery size for the type of riding they do but those extra batteries add a significant sum to the already pricey bike.

E-bike Controls

The new Levo has the most complex and impressive suite of software we’ve ever seen on an ebike, and Specialized does a great job of explaining each feature in great detail. We won’t reiterate what they’ve said, but let’s look at some of the highlights. The newest Specialized app integrates with all of the top fitness apps (Garmin, Wahoo, Strava, Komoot, Apple Health) for ride tracking and data sharing; you can even close the rings on your Apple Watch or pair a heart rate sensor. You can lock the bike with a PIN, sound an alarm, or track the bike with Apple FindMy.

On the bike, your interface with the controls is through the top tube-mounted MasterMind TCU. The flush-mounted, crystal-clear, full-color display has vivid graphics and easy-to-read data layouts. It’s the best display we’ve ever seen on a mountain bike. Controlling the TCU is done through the wired remote next to the left grip. While the remote looks simple, it allows for a wide array of adjustments without pulling out your phone to interface with the app. One of the settings we’ve enjoyed on the Levo is Micro-tune, which allows you to adjust the motor’s support in 10% increments using the remote. This gives you a much finer level of control than we find on any other bike currently available. This bike features Dynamic Micro-Tune, which works similarly but provides 100% of the power when you need the extra oomph. Riding in this mode is similar to riding in Auto, where you’re entrusting the level of support to the bike, and all of our testers were impressed by how spot on the level of assist seemed to be.

Without a button on the top tube, powering the bike on is now done through the remote. It’s a simple push, and you can program which mode the bike wakes into. The remote’s central toggle allows you to switch between modes, and pushing it inward allows you to switch screens on the TCU display. Turning the bike off requires holding the power button for longer than we’d like, but you can be sure that you won’t power it off by accident.

One of the significant changes with the Gen 4 Levo, which enables the use of a range extender, involves removing the Rosenberger charge port and relocating it above the bottom bracket. The bike uses a 5-amp, 200-watt standard charger that can fill a depleted battery in just over 3 hours. If that’s too long for you to wait, Specialized offers a 3.1 Smart Charger that puts out 12 amps, allowing you to charge to 80% in less than an hour. That charger costs $600 or can be had with the S-Works models. The standard charger puts out 2.5 amps when charging the range extender, making the task take just under 3 hours.

Build

The Turbo Levo Comp is the least expensive of the carbon Levo models at $9200, and here’s what you get for that used car price.

• Fact 11 Carbon frame with adjustable geometry, Fox Float X Performance Genie Shock, and SWAT storage.

• Fox Float 36 Rhythm with GRIP damper.

• SRAM S1000 Transmission AXS drivetrain.

• SRAM Maven Bronze brakes 220/200mm.

• Specialized house brand, wheels, tires, cockpit, and saddle.

• X-Fusion Manic Dropper post, 125mm on S2, 170mm on S3 and 190mm on S4-S6.

The “budget spec” on the Levo Comp.

On one hand, the bike rides incredibly well, and we have to give Specialized credit for making such high-quality house-branded products. We’re less than excited about the fork choice and will swap out our tires moving forward, but they didn’t miss the target here. On the other hand, the price of this bike (over 10k with tax in most states) makes you feel like you should be riding some premium parts. Specialized invested heavily in the frame, motor, and software, which leaves the Levo build spec inferior to most brands at this price point. Considering the top spec Levo is $20,000, and you can buy the frameset for .. $8100, this bike looks like a solid value if you’re only shopping the Specialized website.

Should You Buy the Turbo Levo Comp?

We feel great about recommending products that are an exceptional value or offer exceptional performance within their respective categories. While value may be difficult to ascribe to this bike, it’s a phenomenal piece of engineering and a more impressive package than anyone else is currently offering. If you can comfortably afford this bike, it will blow your mind with its tech, integration, and software. Since it gets over-the-air updates, it’s likely to continue to impress for years to come. The full-power motor takes a bigger toll on the battery than other similar e-bikes. This makes the bike fun to ride and powerful, but also heavier than we’d like, with range compromised by its power consumption. Since Specialized has a large dealer network, getting out on a new Levo for a test ride should be fairly easy, but be forewarned, if your credit card has the room, you’re probably going home with one.

What Other Electric Mountain Bike Should You Consider?

There are so many great e-mountain bikes on the market, but none with quite this level of integration and refinement. If you want to spend less without losing capability, consider the Ibis Oso 1.1. The Oso uses a Bosch motor with 85Nm of torque and has a 750Wh battery, giving it a bit more range than the Levo. The Oso starts with more travel than the Levo, but if you have big mountain ambition, it can be upgraded to 170mm of rear travel and accommodate a 190mm fork. It also comes with lights and costs several thousand dollars less. If the Levo sounds compelling but “too much bike”, you might consider the Specialized Turbo Levo SL Comp, which is over 13 pounds lighter, has the same travel numbers, adjustable geometry, and the ability to run a 29″ rear wheel. It has about half the torque of its full-powered counterpart, but it has a delightful ride quality that often made us forget we were riding with assistance.

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Currently being edited in London

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• Uncategorized
• 17 Sep 2025
• 35 min