diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 00b8a80c5..32a819d49 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -58,20 +58,20 @@
     <lang3.version>3.18.0</lang3.version>
     <junit.version>5.13.4</junit.version>
     <testcontainers.version>1.21.3</testcontainers.version>
-    <assertj-core.version>3.27.3</assertj-core.version>
+    <assertj-core.version>3.27.4</assertj-core.version>
     <jparams.version>1.0.4</jparams.version>
-    <mockito.version>5.18.0</mockito.version>
+    <mockito.version>5.19.0</mockito.version>
     <slf4j.version>2.0.17</slf4j.version>
     <logback.version>1.5.18</logback.version>
     <mock-server.version>5.14.0</mock-server.version>
     <jackson.version>2.19.2</jackson.version>
-    <oauth2-oidc-sdk.version>11.26.1</oauth2-oidc-sdk.version>
+    <oauth2-oidc-sdk.version>11.27.1</oauth2-oidc-sdk.version>
     <mock-server.version>5.15.0</mock-server.version>
-    <protobuf.java.version>4.31.1</protobuf.java.version>
-    <protobuf.java-util.version>4.31.1</protobuf.java-util.version>
-    <grpc-netty-shaded.version>1.73.0</grpc-netty-shaded.version>
-    <grpc-protobuf.version>1.73.0</grpc-protobuf.version>
-    <grpc-stub.version>1.73.0</grpc-stub.version>
+    <protobuf.java.version>4.32.0</protobuf.java.version>
+    <protobuf.java-util.version>4.32.0</protobuf.java-util.version>
+    <grpc-netty-shaded.version>1.75.0</grpc-netty-shaded.version>
+    <grpc-protobuf.version>1.75.0</grpc-protobuf.version>
+    <grpc-stub.version>1.75.0</grpc-stub.version>
     <annotations-api.version>6.0.53</annotations-api.version>
   </properties>
 
@@ -132,12 +132,6 @@
       <artifactId>oauth2-oidc-sdk</artifactId>
       <version>${oauth2-oidc-sdk.version}</version>
     </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>org.junit.jupiter</groupId>
-      <artifactId>junit-jupiter-api</artifactId>
-      <version>${junit.version}</version>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.testcontainers</groupId>
       <artifactId>weaviate</artifactId>
@@ -169,21 +163,14 @@
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
-      <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-      <version>${slf4j.version}</version>
-      <scope>test</scope>
-    </dependency>
-    <dependency>
-      <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
-      <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
-      <version>${logback.version}</version>
-      <scope>test</scope>
+        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+        <artifactId>slf4j-nop</artifactId>
+        <version>${slf4j.version}</version>
+        <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.mock-server</groupId>
-      <!-- TODO: check if we can reduce JAR size by using mockserver-netty-no-dependencies -->
-      <artifactId>mockserver-netty</artifactId>
+      <artifactId>mockserver-netty-no-dependencies</artifactId>
       <version>${mock-server.version}</version>
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/weaviate/client6/v1/internal/grpc/ByteStringUtilTest.java b/src/test/java/io/weaviate/client6/v1/internal/grpc/ByteStringUtilTest.java
index 382dd9212..147549b2c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/weaviate/client6/v1/internal/grpc/ByteStringUtilTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/weaviate/client6/v1/internal/grpc/ByteStringUtilTest.java
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 package io.weaviate.client6.v1.internal.grpc;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertArrayEquals;
-import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
-
 import org.assertj.core.api.Assertions;
 import org.junit.Test;
 
@@ -21,7 +18,7 @@ public void test_encodeVector_1d() {
     float[] vector = { 1f, 2f, 3f };
     byte[] want = { 0, 0, -128, 63, 0, 0, 0, 64, 0, 0, 64, 64 };
     byte[] got = ByteStringUtil.encodeVectorSingle(vector).toByteArray();
-    assertArrayEquals(want, got);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEqualTo(want);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -29,7 +26,7 @@ public void test_decodeVector_1d() {
     byte[] bytes = { 0, 0, -128, 63, 0, 0, 0, 64, 0, 0, 64, 64 };
     float[] want = { 1f, 2f, 3f };
     float[] got = ByteStringUtil.decodeVectorSingle(ByteString.copyFrom(bytes));
-    assertArrayEquals(want, got, 0);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEqualTo(want);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -37,7 +34,7 @@ public void test_encodeVector_2d() {
     float[][] vector = { { 1f, 2f, 3f }, { 4f, 5f, 6f } };
     byte[] want = { 3, 0, 0, 0, -128, 63, 0, 0, 0, 64, 0, 0, 64, 64, 0, 0, -128, 64, 0, 0, -96, 64, 0, 0, -64, 64 };
     byte[] got = ByteStringUtil.encodeVectorMulti(vector).toByteArray();
-    assertArrayEquals(want, got);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEqualTo(want);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -45,7 +42,7 @@ public void test_decodeVector_2d() {
     byte[] bytes = { 3, 0, 0, 0, -128, 63, 0, 0, 0, 64, 0, 0, 64, 64, 0, 0, -128, 64, 0, 0, -96, 64, 0, 0, -64, 64 };
     float[][] want = { { 1f, 2f, 3f }, { 4f, 5f, 6f } };
     float[][] got = ByteStringUtil.decodeVectorMulti(ByteString.copyFrom(bytes));
-    assertArrayEquals(want, got);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEqualTo(want);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -53,28 +50,28 @@ public void test_decodeUuid() {
     byte[] bytes = { 38, 19, -74, 24, -114, -19, 73, 43, -112, -60, 47, 96, 83, -89, -35, -23 };
     String want = "2613b618-8eed-492b-90c4-2f6053a7dde9";
     String got = ByteStringUtil.decodeUuid(ByteString.copyFrom(bytes)).toString();
-    assertEquals(want, got);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEqualTo(want);
   }
 
   @Test
   public void test_decodeVector_1d_empty() {
     byte[] bytes = new byte[0];
     float[] got = ByteStringUtil.decodeVectorSingle(ByteString.copyFrom(bytes));
-    assertEquals(0, got.length);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEmpty();
   }
 
   @Test
   public void test_decodeVector_2d_empty() {
     byte[] bytes = new byte[0];
     float[][] got = ByteStringUtil.decodeVectorMulti(ByteString.copyFrom(bytes));
-    assertEquals(0, got.length);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEmpty();
   }
 
   @Test
   public void test_decodeVector_2d_dim_zero() {
     byte[] bytes = { 0, 0 };
     float[][] got = ByteStringUtil.decodeVectorMulti(ByteString.copyFrom(bytes));
-    assertEquals(0, got.length);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEmpty();
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -82,7 +79,7 @@ public void test_decodeIntValues() {
     byte[] bytes = { 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 };
     long[] want = { 1, 2, 3 };
     long[] got = ByteStringUtil.decodeIntValues(ByteString.copyFrom(bytes));
-    assertArrayEquals(want, got);
+    Assertions.assertThat(got).isEqualTo(want);
   }
 
   @Test