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WELCOME Editor Jim Martin Group Managing Editor Marie Brewis Art Director Mandie Johnson Production Editor Rob Woodcock Multimedia Editor Dominik Tomaszewski Consumer Tech Editor Chris Martin Engagement Editor Ashleigh Allsopp Staff Writer Lewis Painter Staff Writer Christopher Minasians Staff Writer Henry Burrell Staff Writer Miriam Harris Associate Online Editor David Price Associate Editor Karen Haslam Associate Editor Neil Bennett Forum Editor Peter Thomas Editorial Director Matt Egan

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elcome to another issue of PC Advisor. This month we’ve got a variety of interesting reviews and features for you, including the two convertible laptops sitting proudly on the cover. They’re great examples of what Microsoft is trying to do with Windows 10, namely make an operating system that works whether you’re working or playing. Unlike some Windows 10 machines, which are essentially tablets to which you can attach a keyboard (think Surface Pro 4), these are laptops first. But thanks to hinges which allow the screen to be folded back flat against the underside of the keyboard, they can also function as a tablet. Lenovo was one of the first companies to do this with its Yoga range, but this month we’ve taken an in-depth look at the latest offerings from Dell (page 22) and HP (page 25). Gigabyte’s P57 (page 28) is interesting because it’s the first laptop we’ve seen with one of Nvidia’s new graphics cards. It has a GTX 1070 rather than the 1080, but as this is the same GPU you’ll find on a GTX 1070 in a desktop PC, it makes for one powerful gaming laptop. We expect to see many more laptops with the new AMD and Nvidia graphics chips arrive over the next few months, so watch this space if you’re after a gaming laptop. We’re big advocates of building your own PC, not because it necessarily saves loads of money – it doesn’t – but because it teaches you a lot about how it works. It also puts you in a great position when it gets a bit older as you’ll be able to upgrade only the parts which need it, and that will save you money. It’s really not difficult to put together a PC – someone with no previous experience can do it as you’ll see on page 74. Talking of PCs, gaming and saving money, we’re convinced that the humble PC is still king and beats all console rivals. And on page 92 we’ve listed nine reasons why. We’ve also been testing out 13 of the best VPN services. Most people will want a VPN so they can watch TV in a different country, but they’re equally useful if you simply want to browse the internet without being tracked everywhere you go. If it still sounds mysterious, you’ll find a complete explanation on page 64. There are more and more gadgets which claim to help you get fit – or at least more active – and Fitbit’s new Charge 2 (page 52) is arguably one of the best fitness bands around. But if that’s too pricey, there’s always cheaper options – check out the chart on page 135. Don’t miss our Android tips starting on page 108, and if you ever use Excel, there are some great time-saving tricks on page 96.

PC Advisor is published by IDG UK IDG UK, 101 Euston Road, London NW1 2RA. Tel: 020 7756 2800 Printer: Wyndeham Press Group Ltd 01621 877 777 Distribution: Seymour Distribution Ltd 020 7429 4000 No material may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission. While every care is taken, the publisher cannot be held legally responsible for any errors in articles, listings or advertisements. All material copyright IDG UK 2016

ISSUE 256 ON SALE 9 NOVEMBER 2016 December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk 3

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CONTENTS

NEWS & ANALYSIS 6

FEATURES & GROUP TESTS

Latest technology news

10 Intel’s low-cost Apollo Lake 12 AMD’s Vega GPU 13 Touchscreen Chromebooks 14 Car hacking in the spotlight 16 PC orders boost Intel 17 Smartwatch vendors’ plans 18 Google must pay for news 19 Sony TVs drops YouTube

REGULARS & OFFERS 3 Welcome 20 Subscribe

64 64 GROUP TEST: VPN services 74 Things you’ll learn building your first PC 80 How SSDs work

88 A ndroid apps that could transform Chromebooks 92 W hy PC gaming is better than consoles 96 Excel time-saving tips

119 Software downloads zone 146 Outbox

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22 25 28 31 34 36 38 40 41 42 44 46 48 49 50 52 54 56 59 62

TEST CENTRE

ell Inspiron 13 5000 D HP Envy x360 Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 Huawei P9 Plus Bush Spira E3X Huawei MediaPad M3 Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 470 04G Leapfrog LeapStart HP DeskJet 3720 Sky Q Mio MiVue 618 Ring Smart Doorbell Jam Double Down F ossil Q Grant Motorola Moto 360 Sport Fitbit Charge 2 Misfit Ray Xbox One S No Man’s Sky Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

VPN SERVICES 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72

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4 www.pcadvisor.co.uk December 2016

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CONTENTS HOW SSDS WORK

BUILDING YOUR FIRST PC

HOW TO 100

74

80 WHY PCS ARE BETTER THAN CONSOLES

ANDROID APPS FOR CHROMEBOOKS

100 Install Microsoft Edge browser extensions 102 Repair Windows’ MBR and fix a bricked PC 106 Turn off enhanced notifications in Windows 10

92

88 TEST

ON THE COVER

CENTRE

119

22-25

TOP 5 CHARTS: BUYER’S GUIDE 121 122 123 124 125 126 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137

28

108

64

Laptops Budget laptops Ultraportable laptops Chromebooks Gaming laptops Gaming PCs All-in-one PCs Smartphones Budget smartphones Phablets 7- and 8in tablets 9- and 10in tablets Smartwatches Activity trackers Budget printers/Printers Wireless routers/ Powerline adaptors 138 NAS drives/External hard drives 139 SSDs/Smart thermostats 140 Budget graphics cards/ Graphics cards 141 4K flat-panel TVs/ 4K flat-panel displays 142 e-book readers/Media streamers 143 Games console/ Budget portable speakers 144 Budget headphones/Headphones 145 Power banks/Desktop chargers

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107 Enable location services on your phone

108 Use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot 110 Give your smartphone’s GPS signal a boost 112 Turn on the Night Mode in Android Nougat 114 Change the wallpaper on an Android device 116 Take charge of the stock Android keyboard

104

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NEWS

More than half of PCs don’t have the Windows 10 AU yet, and no one is sure why There’s no rush, Microsoft seems to be saying. Mark Hachman reports Microsoft appears to be taking a go-slow approach to rolling out Windows 10’s Anniversary Update (version 1607). At the time of writing, just 34.5 percent of all PCs are running it, according to AdDuplex, maker of a Windows 10 SDK for third-party app makers. The majority, 59.9 percent, are still running the older version 1511, which was released in November 2015. In August, Microsoft said the Anniversary Update would be rolled out “in phases”, with newer machines receiving the update first. That presumably meant it was providing the update to those PCs that would likely have the fewest issues updating. What’s surprising is how slowly the firm is pushing it to older computers. There are two likely reasons for this: Microsoft, and businesses, who want to ensure the update doesn’t break their own apps. “It’s hard to know exactly what is going on,” Steve Kleynhans, an analyst for Gartner, said in an email. “Some of this is intentional throttling on Microsoft’s part. I’ve got several machines that are still waiting for the Anniversary Update. They are some of my older more ‘troublesome’ machines, so there is definitely some selection process going on. I think this is all part of the learning process for Microsoft.” Microsoft declined to comment on the AdDuplex data. “The Anniversary Update will continue to roll out over time,” a company representative said in an email. “Given the scale of delivering updates to more than 350 million monthly active devices around

the world, our rollout will be measured and deliberate to ensure we deliver a great customer experience.” The conservative approach may simply be an attempt to minimise problems that have already plagued users, such as an issue where PCs running the Anniversary Update froze when their data was split between an SSD and a conventional hard drive. With Microsoft now giving you just 10 days to roll back to the previous build, some columnists warned enterprises to avoid it altogether. Still, platform fragmentation is already a concern for Microsoft, with its user base split between Windows XP, Windows 7, 8, and 10. A slow rollout divides its resources further. In any case, businesses traditionally take a go-slow approach, which explains

With the Anniversary Update for Windows 10, you can now access Cortana on your lock screen for basic functions why a large chunk of enterprise PCs won’t have received the update yet. “My thought is that business implementations do take time piloting, testing, application redevelopment, deployment,” argued Forrester analyst JP Gownder. The Current Branch for Business, an enterprise upgrade policy Microsoft implemented in 2015, also deploys Windows 10 updates sometimes months after consumers receive them. Companies on the CBB will receive the Anniversary Update most likely in December, Kleynhans added. It’s also likely that Microsoft’s conservative approach is intended to change consumer attitudes and perceptions about Windows 10 and its upgrades: that instead of something to be avoided, they should be welcomed. That’s not going to be easy. “I think some [of it] is caution and some is a response to real issues (like the USB Kindle problem),” Kleynhans wrote. “I think Microsoft wants to be doubly cautious to understand how to ensure updates are a positive experience and not a negative disruption.”

Windows 10’s November 2015 update is still found on the majority of PCs

6 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news December 2016

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NEWS Keep up to date with PC Advisor news: pcadvisor.co.uk/news

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CHRIS MARTIN

Games pulled from Steam after developer sues users for negative reviews The web can be an unpleasant place and one game developer is going to court over it, writes Ian Paul A game developer’s catalogue recently disappeared from Steam after the company decided to sue 100 Steam users who were leaving negative reviews. Digital Homicide co-founder James Romine, the game developer in question, is seeking damages of $18 million from the commenters for a variety of claims, including harassment, stalking, criminal damage and criminal impersonation, according to a copy of the complaint posted to Scribd by Kotaku. Steam owner Valve confirmed to Motherboard that it had removed Digital Homicide’s games from the platform for “being hostile to Steam customers”. Valve stopped short of mentioning the lawsuit as its reason for dumping Digital Homicide. Digital Homicide’s titles include Starship: Nova Strike, Krog Wars and Wyatt Derp. For its part, Digital Homicide said it was being treated unfairly. Responding to Valve’s comments on its website, the company said Valve had failed to properly moderate Steam comments, the result of which meant that Steam users were “making personal attacks, harassment... on not only us but on other Steam customers who were actually interested in our products”. Digital Homicide’s response includes some of the comments it found objectionable. As you might expect from anything related to the Internet, these included comments with threats of murder, entreaties to commit suicide, and personal attacks. Digital Homicide is now seeking counsel to take legal action against Steam in addition to the 100 Steam users. With all the games now off Steam, it’s not clear how many of the comments from the defendants included hateful or violent speech. Nevertheless, Digital Homicide does have a point that comments such as “I want

have Sterling’s video evaluations of Digital Homicide games taken down. In that case, Romine says Sterling has made false claims and that the critic’s viewers have also left nasty and harassing comments on Digital Homicide’s game forum pages, according to Romine’s GoFundMe project page. Romine says the harassment has also gone offline. In one case, Romine says he received “a pile of faeces in the mail”. Despite all that, however, threats against the firm and the people behind it are undeserved. At the same time, a lawsuit attacking those you want as your customers isn’t productive either. In fact, it’s already had a negative result for Digital Homicide since its catalogue is now absent from the most important retail platform for PC games.

to murder everyone responsible for this [game]” should not be tolerated on Steam or anywhere else online. There are no good guys in this situation. True, the game developer does not have the best reputation. Many critics and users say it produces endless amounts of shovelware that flood Greenlight – Steam’s crowdsourced catalogue curation system. In 2015, the firm was accused of a shady tactic of using different developer names for its various games, as reported by MMO Fallout. Ostensibly, it did this in order to avoid too many bad user reviews tainting its name. This is not the only lawsuit Digital Homicide has going, either. Romine is also suing game critic Jim Sterling, after filing since-overturned DMCA claims in order to

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News

Opera’s free, unlimited browser VPN is ready for secure surfing Opera says its VPN service exists as an independent company. Mark Hachman reports In April, Opera added a free, unlimited VPN to the developer edition of its browser. The company has now brought that same capability to the stable version of its Opera 40 desktop browser. While some other VPN services charge for letting you surf anonymously across the web, Opera’s service is both free, unlimited, and built right into the browser. There are no restrictions on bandwidth, though you’ll have just a few locations to choose from when deciding on your VPN endpoint. A VPN works by providing a secure, encrypted tunnel between your computer and a website or remote server – Opera uses a 256-bit AES encrypted connection. Another advantage is something that Netflix users have known for years: by choosing a foreign endpoint, a user can virtually ‘place’ themselves in that country, allowing his PC access to content that would otherwise be off limits. (Netflix has moved to crack down on this practice, however.) Opera represents just a tiny fraction of the browser market, but the company has been impressively aggressive in rolling out customer-friendly features such as native ad blocking, battery saving, and more. In some ways, it is the T-Mobile of the browser world, attempting to upend more-entrenched competitors by giving customers a number of tantalizing free features.

How Opera’s new VPN works To enable the new VPN service, first ensure you have the latest version of Opera. If you don’t see the VPN icon in your address bar, you will need to make sure the VPN option is toggled on in Settings. Next, click the VPN icon in the address bar to reveal its settings. You will see that the VPN service is on, as well as how much data has been transferred that month. You can select from a list of five locations for the endpoint, including Canada, Singapore and Germany. You can also select an ‘Optimal’ endpoint, which allows Opera to select the VPN endpoint based on the network speed, latency, location, and server capacity. Don’t be surprised if your bandwidth drops as a result of enabling the VPN. We measured how fast PCAdvisor.co.uk loaded with and without the Opera VPN enabled,

The blue ‘VPN’ button to the left of the URL highlights that you’re protected as well as using the various endpoints. Unsurprisingly, we found that VPN performance seems to be affected by the round-trip distance, with overall page load times taking more than three times as long with the VPN than without it. Note that we used Opera’s existing, VPN-enabled developer browser for testing, and measured the page-load times using Opera’s built-in tool to load the same page with and without ads, simultaneously. Though we were measuring a live site, with theoretical variations in the ads displayed, we’re assuming a consistent experience. Your results may vary, though, due to changing conditions in network traffic and available server resources.

Privacy One concern, however, is whether your surfing habits will be truly anonymous. Opera was purchased by a Chinese conglomerate earlier this year, and there will always be some portion of the internet that believes that the Chinese government is peering over the shoulder of every Chinese product.

When asked for comment, an Opera spokesman specified that the VPN is a no-log service, which means no user data is collected. “The service is provided by SurfEasy Inc, which is a Canadian company that has not been acquired by the Chinese conglomerate,” he added in an email. “SurfEasy acts under strict Canadian privacy laws.” The firm also offers a paid service for Chrome and other browsers, which provides unlimited bandwidth for a monthly fee. Historically, the paid service has offered a greater number of endpoints and faster performance. Of course, you don’t have to use Opera’s new VPN if you use the browser. In fact, the performance penalties suggest that enabling it on a 24/7 basis probably doesn’t make sense. But when you need to, combining private browsing (Ctrl+Shift+N within Opera) together with the new VPN tunnel is a pretty good assurance that your online activities won’t be tracked. To find the best VPN services read our group test on page 64.

Opera represents just a tiny fraction of the browser market, but the company has been impressively aggressive in rolling out customer-friendly features such as native ad blocking


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28/09/2016 12:49 03.08.16 14:43

News

Intel’s low-cost ‘Apollo Lake’ Celeron and Pentium processors quietly debut The next generation of Celeron and Pentium chips are coming to budget systems soon, writes Ian Paul Intel’s biggest reveal during IFA Berlin was the new Kaby Lake seventh generation Core processors, but it wasn’t the only CPU news from the chipmaker. It also debuted the new 14nm Apollo Lake platform featuring six different Celeron and Apollo processors, though the company didn’t make a big deal about it. Apollo Lake uses the next‑generation Atom architecture, Goldmont, that was meant primarily for the defunct Broxton and Sofia mobile chips. Like its predecessors, the processors will be used in low‑end notebooks and desktops and succeed the 14nm Braswell chips that rolled out in 2015. Intel’s new Atom Lake SOCs feature three different Pentium processors for

desktops. They’re all 10W processors and come rocking Intel’s 500‑series integrated graphics. The top processor is the 1.5GHz quad‑core Pentium J4205 SOC, with a boost speed of 2.6GHz and an recommended retail

price of $161 (£124). The other two lower‑end processors are priced at $107 (£82). Moving on to the stingier 6W notebook Pentium processors, the top of the line is the 1.1GHz quad‑core Pentium N4200, which maxes out its burst speed at 2.5GHz. Just like the Pentium J4205 this notebook SOC has a suggested price of $161 (£124) and uses 500‑series Intel integrated graphics. The new Apollo Lake chips were first tipped in June when an Intel document named the six new chips. A slide snapped by an attendee at Computex added some expected specs for the new processors, as reported by Liliputing. Then in mid‑August, HP accidentally shared details of the Pentium N4200 on its own site.

Microsoft faces two new lawsuits over aggressive Windows 10 upgrade tactics Tech giant in court over its Windows 10 upgrade strategy. Ian Paul reports Microsoft is facing two more lawsuits over the company’s questionable Windows 10 upgrade tactics. Both are seeking class‑action status. The first was filed in Florida’s US District Court. It alleges that the firm’s Windows 10 upgrade prompts “violated laws governing unsolicited electronic advertisements,” as reported by The Seattle Times. The suit also says Microsoft’s tactics are against the Federal Trade Commission’s rules on deceptive and unfair practices. The second lawsuit was filed in Haifa, Israel, and alleges that Microsoft installed Windows 10 on users’ computers without their consent. The firm had already paid out a $10,000 award in a previous US suit over similar circumstances. Microsoft told The Seattle Times it believes the suits won’t succeed. The paper also reports that Microsoft said Windows 10 upgrades are a “choice, not a requirement”. That’s a disingenuous statement considering that Microsoft violated the

known behaviour of the Windows interface to in essence trick people into upgrading.

The ‘forced upgrade’ saga For a time, clicking the ‘x’ in the upper‑ right corner of the Windows 10 upgrade

prompt window was interpreted as consent to upgrade to the new operating system. The typical expectation for all users is that clicking this ends the program, and in fact, doing so was the only way to reject the free upgrade offer for most of the pop‑ups notification’s existence. The same prompt could upgrade your system to Windows 10 without explicit consent if you left your computer on for an extended period, as well. There have been hundreds of complaints about ‘forced’ Windows 10 upgrades after Microsoft began using those tactics. Although the firm used aggressive upgrade tactics for several months, more recent upgrade offers have been significantly dialed back. In late June, the upgrade pop‑ up that offers Windows 7 and 8.1 users a free bump to Windows 10 was revamped. The expected behaviour of the ‘X’ returned, and Microsoft offered clearer options to stop receiving the free upgrade offer altogether. The free upgrade period for Windows 10 closed on 29 July. J


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NEWSANALYSIS

AMD’s Vega GPUs will start shipping in the first half of 2017

IMAGE: AMD

The new graphics processors will initially target high-end desktops, reveals Agam Shah

A

MD has been tight-lipped about its upcoming GPUs, codenamed Vega, but here’s a new, key detail: they will start rolling out in the first half of 2017. The first processing units will be aimed at high-end enthusiast PCs, Mark Papermaster, chief technology officer at AMD, said during a recent talk at the Deutsche Bank 2016 Technology Conference in Las Vegas. Some earlier estimates had put the release as late this year. The chipmaker’s road map, however, listed it for release next year, though the timeframe wasn’t clear. The Vega GPUs will provide significant performance and power efficiency improvements compared to AMD’s Polaris, Papermaster revealed. They are aimed at gaming, virtual reality and other desktop applications that require high-performance. The new graphics processors could slot nicely into high-end desktops alongside AMD’s Zen chip, which will become widely available in PCs next year. The firm hopes to regain its lost glory in PCs and servers

with Zen, which is a new CPU design that stresses performance. The initial Zen chip for gaming PCs will have eight cores. AMD is also mulling a mega-chip for servers and high-performance computers that combines a Zen CPU chip with a GPU. CEO Lisa Su hinted that chip, which could be released next year, could have a Vega GPU. The unit will have next-generation HBM2 (High-Bandwidth Memory), which is stacked memory that can provide throughput of up to 256GB/s (gigabytes per second), depending on the configuration. Earlier this year AMD launched GPUs based on the Polaris architecture, including the Radeon RX 480, which brings VR on the cheap to desktops. AMD will continue to focus Polaris on budget PCs. The chipmaker is locked in a battle with Nvidia, whose GPUs, such as the GeForce GTX 1080, are based on the Pascal architecture and will compete with Vega. AMD’s discrete GPU market share was 34.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016,

AMD’s Radeon Pro Duo graphics card in a desktop having grown from 26.9 percent in the same quarter a year ago. Nvidia’s market share was 65.8 percent in the second quarter this year, dropping from 73.1 percent, according to Mercury Research. It has lost market share by de-emphasizing the sale of GPUs in large volumes through mainstream PC makers, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. That void is being filled by AMD, which is the reason why the company has gained market share. The chipmaker is also filling a space in the low-end PC gaming market, while Nvidia focuses on selling high-margin GPUs through retailers and enthusiast PC makers. Gaming PC makers such as Alienware and Falcon Northwest prefer Nvidia products for high-end PCs. While AMD is gaining market share, Nvidia is generating more profits from GPU sales, McCarron said. J


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NEWSANALYSIS

Pressure-sensitive touchscreens on the way for Google’s Chromebooks Chrome OS’s source code just spilled the beans, writes Chris Hoffman

P

ressure-sensitive touchscreens are becoming an increasingly common sight these days, and Chromebooks are set to get in on the act. Recent changes to Chrome OS’s source code show Google is working on support for pressure-sensitive touchscreens, or what’s known as ‘3D Touch’ on the iPhone. This change was first spotted by Chrome Unboxed. It noticed that the operating system’s developers have been adding support for touchscreens made by Melfas, a Korean company. More interestingly, the source code for the touchscreen driver

includes references to two types of touch: ‘Touch only’ and ‘Touch + Force (Pressure)’. Google recently released Android 7.0 Nougat, which was supposed to include support for pressure-sensitive displays. Unfortunately, this was delayed. Still, there are Android phones with pressure-sensitive screens, and Google will want to get all Android phone manufacturers on board with a common standard – just as it added standardised fingerprint reader support with its Marshmallow OS. With Android getting this feature and the entire Google Play Store and all its apps

coming to Chromebooks, it makes sense for Google to add pressure-sensitive display support to its laptops as well. It’s unclear whether that pressure sensitivity will be used for anything outside of Android apps that use it, though. This doesn’t mean a Chromebook with a pressure-sensitive touchscreen is on its way any time soon. Google is just adding the low-level code, and manufacturers must choose to build machines with pressuresensitive screens even when the firm fully supports this hardware. It’s also worth noting that your old Chromebook won’t get this feature – you’ll need a new model. J



29/09/2016 15:47

News: Analysis

Volkswagen reveals it’s founding a new cybersecurity firm to prevent car hacking

IMAGE: VOLKSWAGEN

Security experts have been warning that connected cars are vulnerable. Michael Kan reports

s cars become more computerised, they are also facing a greater risk of being hacked. That’s why Volkswagen is founding a new cybersecurity company devoted to protecting next-generation vehicles. The German carmaker recently announced that it would partner with a former Israeli intelligence agency director to jointly establish a new company, called Cymotive Technologies. It’s unclear how much Volkswagen is investing in the new firm, but security experts have been warning that internetconnected cars and self-driving vehicles could one day be a major target for hackers. Even older cars from Volkswagen are vulnerable. In August, researchers revealed that millions of vehicles from the carmaker could be broken into by exploiting the remote control key systems.

A

In a paper, the researchers showed that by reverse-engineering the car’s firmware, and then eavesdropping on signals sent from a car owner’s key fob to the vehicle, they could remotely open and lock the doors. Volkswagen would need to roll out a costly firmware update to fix the problem, the researchers added. At the time, the company simply said it was continually improving its cars security. Other security experts have been warning that newer cars, with network connectivity, also contain security holes. Last year, two researchers demonstrated

they could remotely hack a 2015 Jeep Cherokee and kill the engine or cut the brakes. Fiat Chrysler later issued a safety recall and sent out USB drives loaded with the software fix to affected cars. Volkswagen called its own attempt to bolster its cybersecurity a “long-term investment”. Three Israeli security experts, including Yuval Diskin, a former chief with the country’s internal security service Shin Bet, will lead the new company. Diskin will serve as the company’s chairman. “Together with Volkswagen we are building a top-notch team of cyber security experts,” he said. J

Researchers showed that by reverse-engineering the car’s firmware, and eavesdropping on signals sent from a car owner’s key fob, they could remotely open and lock the doors


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1and1.co.uk 29/09/2016 11:53

06.09.16 16:26

News: Analysis

IMAGE: MARTYN WILLIAMS

Strength in PC orders leads Intel to raise Q3 revenue guidance Intel says PC makers are renewing inventory, which is helping boost chip shipments, writes Agam Shah he PC market is showing signs of recovery, with Intel increasing its revenue guidance based on improved chip shipments. The chipmaker has raised its revenue guidance for the third quarter to $15.6 billion, plus or minus $300 million, which is an improvement from $14.9 million, plus or minus $500 million. This is due to PC makers replenishing their laptop and desktop inventory, which means Intel is shipping out more chips. It’s probably in anticipation of the Christmas period, when PC shipments rocket. “The company is also seeing some signs of improving PC demand,” Intel said in a statement. In the second quarter of the year, PC makers slowed down chip orders and were clearing out existing stock of laptops and desktops. PC sales declined by 4.5 percent during that period, according to IDC.

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Shipments of gaming PCs, 2-in-1s and Chromebooks are driving shipments. Microsoft’s free upgrade offer to Windows 10 has also ended, which means users are more likely to buy new PCs to get the OS. Meanwhile, new laptops with Intel’s Kaby Lake chips are now available. All the top PC

makers have announced 2-in-1s and laptops with the processor. Kaby Lake chips for gaming PCs will be announced in January. The company has also started shipping Pentium and Celeron chips, both aimed at low-cost laptops, based on the same architecture and codenamed Apollo Lake. Many Chromebooks use these. Intel will announce third-quarter earnings on 18 October. J Shipments of gaming PCs, 2-in-1s and Chromebooks are driving PC shipments



29/09/2016 15:59

News: Analysis

LG, Huawei and Moto won’t release any more new Android Wear watches this year Companies are holding off refreshing their line-ups before Christmas, finds Derek Walter

he companies behind some of the top Android Wear watches are heading for the bench. LG, Huawei and Motorola aren’t planning a new smartwatch in the final months of the year, according to a CNET report. This decision is driven by a sense among these companies that wearables have yet to become the hot item they were once thought to be. The public’s enthusiasm just doesn’t match that it has for smartphones, which still drive many buyers to an annual upgrade cycle. With Christmas approaching, it appears they are going into the season with an unchanged line-up. It’s not just Android Wear that’s hitting the doldrums. An IDC analyst said that Apple Watch shipments have fallen 55 percent from a year ago into the second quarter. “Smartwatches still have yet to make a significant impression on consumers as a must-have device,” explained Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC, told CNET. Apple recently released the Apple Watch Series 2 and a refreshed Series 1,

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retooling them to focus to health and fitness. Samsung, meanwhile, will release the Gear S3, which runs its own Tizen software, later in the year. On the Android Wear front, it appears that LG is sticking with its Watch Urbane Second Edition LTE as the flagship for the remainder of the year. Motorola’s

current second-generation Moto 360 was released last October, so the company may go beyond a year before offering a new model. Instead of new hardware, the most compelling change to the smartwatch experience will be with Android Wear 2.0. The update should hit the vast majority of watches out there (not the first-generation Moto 360, unfortunately), so if you have one you’ll be able to get a refreshed experience without the need to splurge for new hardware. If you’ve yet to dip into the Android Wear waters, this momentary pause by some of the hardware companies may mean deals for you as current watches are likely to dip in price as they age. Given that Apple is targeting fitness more directly, we’d expect this same type of focus to emerge on the Android Wear side, as most of us want a smartwatch to offer fitness tracking and bits of data instead of trying to take over from our smartphone. J The Moto 360 Sport is Motorola’s attempt to woo buyers who want a watch focused on fitness and health needs



29/09/2016 16:07

News: Analysis

Google may have to pay for news snippets under EU copyright reform Search giant warns that ‘paying to display snippets is not a viable option, writes Peter Sayer proposed reform of European Union copyright law grants online news publishers additional rights that could lead to the closure of services such as Google News if strictly enforced. Copyright law already provides reporters with protection for the news stories they publish, but in a draft directive, the European Commission has revealed it wants to create an extra, related right, giving newspapers more powers to make news aggregators pay for using snippets consisting of, say, the headline and a sentence or two of each story. News publishers say that in reusing such snippets without payment, aggregators like Google News are stealing their content. Meanwhile, aggregators maintain that they are sending news websites additional traffic they can monetise. Two EU countries have already tried what the Commission is proposing, and it

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didn’t turn out well. In Germany, publishers decided not to charge Google for using their snippets rather than lose the traffic its aggregator brings them. In Spain, however, a 2014 law gave publishers no option but to charge for the republication of their snippets, so the search giant closed down the local edition of Google News. It said that it couldn’t afford to pay for the excerpts because it makes no money from the service. The Commission’s latest proposal will hurt not just Google but also European startups trying to build a business on news aggregation, Google’s vice president for global policy, Caroline Atkinson, wrote on the company’s European public policy blog. “Paying to display snippets is not a viable option for anyone,” she wrote, implying that the company will respond across Europe as it did in Spain.

It’s not just Google that dislikes the proposal. John Higgins, director general of industry group Digital Europe, warned: “This appears to be sacrificing the next generation of young, innovative European creators in order to protect the interests of legacy media and their rigid business models.” And Joe McNamee, executive director of European Digital Rights, a lobby group usually found on the opposite side of the online privacy debate to Google, described the proposal as poison for Europeans’ free speech, for business and for creativity. “It could not conceivably be worse,” he said. There was one piece of good news for those who feared the Commission would also introduce a so-called hyperlink tax. The additional protection envisaged for news sites “does not extend to acts of hyperlinking which do not constitute communication to the public,” the draft directive noted. J



29/09/2016 16:00

News: Analysis

YouTube disappearing from 50 Sony Bravia sets highlights why smart TVs are rubbish Smart TVs look like a great idea, but they have a serious downside, reveals Ian Paul f ever there was a cautionary tale about why it’s a bad idea to buy Smart TVs, this is it. Sony has pulled the YouTube app from 50 different 2012 Bravia TV models. The reason for this loss is due to the sets hardware limitations following a change to YouTube’s specifications. Google announced in August that the video-sharing service would be moving all its traffic to https and warned that it’s phasing out insecure connections, which means some devices would lose access to YouTube. Samsung users of the affected Bravia TVs recently started complaining of freezing issues, black screens and error messages when using YouTube. It appears the https

I

switch may be the cause of these issues, though Sony has not confirmed this. You can find a complete list of Bravia models affected by this change on Sony’s support site (tinyurl.com/zp6c6bt), which includes televisions ranging in sizes from 20- to 89 inches. In our opinion Smart TVs are generally a bad buy. While those apps look enticing, they are restricted by the expensive hardware that runs them and televisions are often lower down the priority list for updates by app developers. Accessories such as an Apple TV, Chromecast or Roku, however, don’t cost that much and are easily replaceable once they fail or also hit the limits of their internal capabilities.

Sony’s 2012 TVs are only the latest victims of YouTube’s modernisation. The original iPad and any other device older than the iPhone 4 lost access to YouTube in 2015 after the site shut down its older developer programming tools. J

Microsoft may dump Band fitness trackers as it backs away from hardware Microsoft is backing away from another consumer hardware line: the Microsoft Band. Ian Paul reports e’re not huge fans of Microsoft’s Band devices, but the fitness wearable does have a dedicated fan base. Unfortunately for its boosters, the Band 2 may be Microsoft’s final fitness tracker as the company continues to scale back its ambitions. ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports that Microsoft has no plans to roll out a new Band in 2016, according to sources. On top of that, Foley says there was a group inside Microsoft trying to get Band hardware to run Windows 10 instead of custom firmware. That group has since been disbanded. When pushed for a comment on the future of Band devices, a Microsoft spokesperson told Foley it will “continue to invest and innovate in the Microsoft Health platform, which is open to all hardware and apps partners across Windows, iOS and Android devices”. They also said it will continue to sell the Band 2, and is “deeply committed” to wearables as a market. That reaction is very similar to what Microsoft has said about Windows 10 Mobile. The company currently shows no interest in

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producing its own phones. The firm explained it will continue iterating the software, but is leaving it up to third-party manufacturers to carry the Windows 10 Mobile banner. Similarly, the platform behind the Band – Microsoft Health – will continue, though it seems that other companies will have to build hardware around it. The Redmond-based company is slowly retreating from the hardware strategy that began under former CEO Steve Ballmer. The Nadella-era Microsoft has backed away from phones, killed a so-called Surface Mini

that was reportedly ‘awesome’, and now the Band experiment is ending. Even the Xbox is morphing from a major piece of consumer hardware into a platform that extends across PCs and consoles – largely via Xbox Live and the new Xbox Play Anywhere strategy. Devices won’t entirely disappear from Microsoft, though. It seems unlikely the firm would give up on the business-friendly Surface line-up of tablets and laptops, but it doesn’t seem to be eager for further experiments in consumer hardware – at least for now. J



29/09/2016 16:00

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DVDRW. J Andrew Williams

REVIEWS LAPTOP

£799 inc VAT

Dell Inspiron 13 5000

Contact n

dell.co.uk

Specifications

13.3in (1920x1080, 165dpi) IPS LCD glossy touchscreen; 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U CPU, up to 3.1GHz Turbo; Intel HD 520 GPU; 8GB RAM DDR4-2133; 256GB SSD; 802.11b/g/n/ac 2x2; Bluetooth 4.0; 2x USB 3.0; USB 2.0; HDMI 1.4a; SDXC card slot; stereo speakers; 0.9Mp webcam with Windows Hello; single mic; 3.5mm headset jack UK tiled keyboard; 42Wh lithium-ion battery non-removable 324.8x224.4x20.4mm; 1.62kg

Build: Features: Performance: Value:

The Dell Inspiron 13 5000 is a sign that convertible laptops are now mainstream. Models like this and the Asus ZenBook Flip UX360CA (reviewed last issue) have hints of high-end style and powerful components, matched with a practical approach that means they cost £700 rather than £1,200. Laptops like this mark a renaissance for Windows laptops, once again seriously undercutting comparable Apple MacBooks.

Price There are three main specifications for the Dell Inspiron 13 5000. The most commonly-sold is the middle variant. It costs £649 to £699, and is probably the version we’d recommend most people look into. It has an Intel Core i5, a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM. At first glance, the low-end £499 model is alluring, cutting down to a Core i3 CPU and 500GB hard drive. However, it also has a non-IPS screen. We’ve not seen it in person, but it likely uses a lower-quality panel whose viewing angles aren’t well-suited to a hybrid like this. The screen may look funny from the wrong angle, in other words. The top-end Dell Inspiron 13 5000 we’re looking at costs £799, and upgrades the RAM to 16GB, the CPU to a Core i7. That’s several hundred pounds cheaper than you’d

oking yle e

pay for such a specification list in a laptop with a high-end metal frame.

Design Dell has pulled off a clever trick with the Inspiron 13 5000. It’s managed to create a plastic, mostly sensiblelooking laptop that still has panache and the sort of lifestyle sensibility that makes MacBooks so attractive. It has a 360-degree hinge, an ultrabook-influenced layout and little hints, such as curved edges around the front of the laptop, that tell you this is more than a boring work machine. Even though, among convertible laptops, it’s definitely the one with a biro in its shirt pocket. This isn’t a case of Dell being unable to create a stylish laptop – just look at the XPS 13 for proof. It’s deliberate. The firm wants to offer modern laptop sensibilities in a more affordable package. A MacBook Pro with similar specifications to the £799 Inspiron 13 5000 will set you back over £1,600. (Granted, the Core i7 CPU Apple uses is slightly higher-end). In terms of build there are two main sacrifices for this attractive price. First, the entire shell is plastic. Laptops like this often use aluminium for the lid of the keyboard surround for a higher-end feel, but that’s not the case here. It is, however, rigid, which is more important. The Asus ZenBook Flip

UX360C, for example, is a similar device, but its keyboard flexes far too much under moderate pressure. Not only does this make the typing experience worse but flexing can ruin the trackpad click too. The Dell’s keyboard is flex-free. The Inspiron 13 5000 isn’t perfect, though. It has a pressure point in the bottom left of the keyboard surround that kills the trackpad click if, say, you rest your elbow on it too heavily. It’s mostly very solid, though. Its second somewhat budgetrelated compromise is weight. The Inspiron 13 5000 weighs 1.6kg, a bit heavier than something like the Lenovo Yoga 900, which weighs just 1.3kg. It’s heavy enough that you won’t marvel at its lightness when you first pick it up, but still light enough to carry around with you. This is nothing like the archetype chunky Dell you may have been lumbered with at work before. The hinge is more proof of its modern edge. Like other convertibles, it flips around to meet the back of the keyboard, and can stick at any angle. The hinge is one of the few metal parts, and gives it the required strength. It’s pragmatic, though. Truly design-led laptops make sure you can open the lid without holding the base in place. It’s a classy finishing touch. You’ll need to put a finger on

22 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016

022_024 Dell Inspiron 13 5000 257.indd 22

28/09/2016 16:31

REVIEWS the lower part here, because Dell’s main priority has been making sure the hinge is stiff enough. You may be familiar with these convertibles by now. The idea isn’t really to make the Dell Inspiron 13 5000 work as a tablet, at least not in the conventional sense. In its tent position, or with the screen flipped so the laptop is resting on the keyboard, the touchscreen becomes the closest control method rather than the keyboard and trackpad. The hinge may not revolutionise the way you use a laptop, but as the Inspiron 13 5000 demonstrates, you’re not paying an extra 50 percent for the privilege. We’re seeing convertibles this size become more affordable, whereas previously you’d have to pay a lot for them.

Connectivity If you need more proof of how wide and frankly ‘normal’ an audience Dell is aiming for, just look at the Inspiron 13 5000’s connections. It has two USB 3.0 ports, an extra USB 2.0 socket and a full-size 1.4a HDMI. This is a great low-maintenance array for a laptop like this. You can plug it into a monitor or TV without a special cable, and the USB ports are designed for today’s gadgets. It’s just not as well-equipped for the future, though. There’s no USB-C port, which is slowly taking over from full-size USB. The Inspiron 13 5000 also has a full-size SD card slot. It’s a practical bunch of connectors, just make sure you’re not going to miss having a USB-C in 12- to 18 months. Don’t worry about your next phone, it’s more about ultra-fast peripherals such as SSDs whose transfer speeds are faster than USB 3.0’s, and for attaching a hub that’ll connect loads of accessories to a single port.


Keyboard and trackpad There’s no major sense of compromise when it comes to the keyboard. It’s a standard chiclet design, with light but crisp keys. Typing is comfortable, although the character of the key travel could be a little mellower. This is a case of personal preference, though. One great extra feature here is a keyboard backlight. There are two intensity settings, and it makes typing in dark rooms much easier. Asus UX-series rivals at the price don’t offer this, although HP’s range of Envy two-in-ones do. The trackpad feels cheap in one respect, though. It’s not about the surface, the size or the reliability of the pad, all of which are fine. What we’re not totally convinced by is the high-pitch button click response.

Display The Inspiron 13 5000 has exactly the right kind of screen for a laptop of this type and price. It’s 13.3 inches across, uses an IPS LCD panel, has a touch layer and

a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. It has the sharpness, viewing angles and general display quality we’ve become accustomed to in a convertible laptop, roughly bridging the gap between a traditional notebook’s screen and that of a modern tablet. It looks slightly mottled when viewed from an angle, most likely an effect of the touch layer, but it’s only obvious when you get up-close. We think it looks better to human eyes than our colorimeter, the device we use to benchmark screens. In our tests, it recorded that the Inspiron 13 5000’s colour covers a disappointing 61.6 percent of the sRGB standard. This, however, is mitigated by a solid contrast of 1086:1, a glossy finish and the fact the display has a slim construction that makes the most of that contrast. The recently-reviewed Asus UX360CA, for example, scored a much better 89 percent of sRGB, though light-reflecting air gaps in its display layers make its screen

28/09/2016 16:31


Reviews

look washed out, spoiling the impact of those colours. The Dell’s display doesn’t look like the screen of a £1,000-plus laptop, but it doesn’t have any glaring problems either. There are a few things to consider, though. First, this is a glossy laptop, which helps with colour. On the downside, because the screen has a layer of glass on top, the Inspiron’s screen is reflective. We recorded a maximum brightness of 243cd/m2, which isn’t high enough to compete with lots of ambient light. Use it outdoors on a sunny day and it’ll look very dim.

Performance Our review unit has an Intel Core i7-6500U CPU with 16GB RAM. It’s a dual-core CPU, but its cores are rather powerful. It scored 6992 in Geekbench 3 and 2722 in PCMark 8. This is powerful enough to use as almost anyone’s main computer, more so than a skinnier-lighter Core M alternative. The only way to get a lot more power in a laptop is to head to a machine with an HQ-series quad-core CPU, though that will be larger, more expensive and have much worse battery life. Windows 10 is slick in day-to-day use, though this is down to the use of an SSD rather than a Core i7 CPU. The £100-less Core i5 version should feel similar to use until you start abusing the RAM by opening large number if browser windows or using demanding applications.

The Inspiron 13 5000’s SSD isn’t that fast by SSD standards, though. We’ve tested models that can read at 1300MB/s, but this one reads at 533MB/s and writes at 284MB/s. We see this a lot in midrange laptops, because the extra performance of a higher-end SSD isn’t going to mean much to your average high street laptop buyer. If that’s what it takes to get a laptop from £1,200 to £700, we’re happy. The Dell can’t handle games, but if you want a gaming laptop that’s thin and light, you’ll have to save up for a Microsoft Surface Book, which is almost twice the price at £1,299. A few recent titles will be playable if you drop the resolution and visual quality down. At 720p with some of the graphics effects turned off, Alien: Isolation recorded an average score of 31.5fps. You may have to put up with some occasional frame rate chugging, but it’s playable. At 1080p with the visual effects turned back up, the frame rate dropped to 13fps, which is unplayable. We tried 2013’s Thief with the same high and low settings applied and neither was fast enough to be fun. It’ll average 21.8fps at 720p, and a truly poor 6.2fps at 1080p. These are recent games, though. If you have a Steam library of oldies from, say 2005 and before, they’ll run just fine. As the Inspiron 13 5000 has a Core i3/i5/i7 CPU rather than a Core

M, the fans run most of the time, and we noticed a few moments where they seemed to rev up for no real reason. It’s not, however, a loud laptop. Note, its fan outlets are on the very back of the underside, so be careful not to block them or the fans will start revving.

Audio The speaker outlets are a little temperamental about how they’re treated, too. They sit on the underside at each end, seemingly firing down rather than being angled outwards. This doesn’t help the higher frequencies reach your ears, making the top-end seem rather soft, but Dell has clearly put some work into making the laptop sound beefier than those with traditional laptop speakers. They are loud, seem to extend beyond the laptop’s dimensions and have a nice and thick, if not hugely detailed, mid-range. Some content causes a bit of mid-range resonance at higher volumes, and there’s no separated bass either. The Inspiron 13 5000 doesn’t have the finer points of sound quality nailed down, but it does sound louder and warmer than we expected. We have criticisms, but the laptop is a lot louder than our reference 13in MacBook Pro.

Battery life Dell says the Inspiron 13 5000 will last up to 10 hours on a single charge. Right away we knew this was a bit optimistic for our review machine as it’s the amount of time we would expect from less powerful laptops. Playing a looped MP4 720p file, it lasted six hours 25 minutes. That’s not enough for a full day’s work unless you’re luckier than we are, but it’s still a respectable result.

Verdict The Inspiron 13 5000 is reasonably affordable, looks good and has roughly the same power as some laptops over £1,000. Unfortunately, there are a few downsides, including a screen that isn’t as colourful as the best and the plastic casing. On the plus side, it fits in well among its more stylish peers. J Andrew Williams 24 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


28/09/2016 16:31

Reviews

LAPTOP

£779 inc VAT

HP Envy x360 15-aq005na

Contact n

hp.com/uk

Specifications

15.6in (1920x1080, 141dpi) IPS LCD glossy; Windows 10; 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-6550U, up to 3.2GHz Turbo two cores four threads; Intel HD 540 GPU; 8GB RAM DDR4-2133; 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD (7200rpm); 802.11b/g/n/ac 2x2; Bluetooth 4.2; 2x USB 3.0; USB-C Gen 1; HDMI; SDXC card slot stereo; Bang & Olufsen speakers; 0.9Mp webcam with Windows Hello; single mic; 3.5mm headset jack; UK tiled keyboard; 55.7Wh lithiumion battery non-removable; 380x250x18mm; 2.19kg


With a 15.6in screen, the HP Envy x360 15-aq005na is one of the largest convertible laptops currently available. It’s solidly-made and the competitive price means you’re not paying over the odds. One question remains: what are you going to with a hybrid this big? If you don’t have an answer, you should also consider the Envy 15, this laptop’s non-convertible brother.

Design You have to admire HP’s resolve in continuing with many of its Envy lines. Not only was the original x360 poorly received when it was first introduced in 2014, there are even still 17in models available. Unlike some brands though, HP still

025_027 HP Envy x360 15-aq005na 257.indd 25

believes in the laptop. The Envy x360 is a bit of a head-scratcher, though. It’s a 15.6in laptop with a 360-degree hinge. Such hinges are commonplace nowadays, though you don’t often see them on systems this size. In case you’re new to hybrids, the hinge feels a lot like that of a normal laptop, but instead of stopping at around 135 degrees, it carries on (see overleaf). The screen can be folded right back onto the keyboard. Start off trying to position these convertibles as an alternative to an iPad and you’re on a bad road. They need to be appreciated for their particular talents: you can prop up the screen at any angle you like and use it in small space.

Those benefits start to sound muted in a 15.6in laptop, though. The Envy x360 is a plain and tasteful full-size computer. Its shell is aluminium, and while it’s huge compared with most convertibles, it is rather slim and portable for a computer with a 15.6in screen. Our review model weighs 2.19kg, which is slightly heavier than a 15in MacBook Pro, and around 200g heavier than the HP Envy 15, this laptop’s non-convertible sibling. We find this sort of weight a little too heavy to be perfectly suited to super-portable use. However, the only obvious choice among 15in laptops substantially more portable is the Dell XPS 15, which is also a lot more expensive at £1,149.

28/09/2016 16:44

Reviews

The Envy x360 comes across as a desktop-replacement system with a lifestyle edge. A laptop for people who value being able to able to perch the thing comfortably on the kitchen top over beating rivals in a CPU number-crunching drag race. (We’ll look at this more closely in the performance section.) This is also one of the first laptops we’ve reviewed to come with Windows Hello, a combination of software and hardware that lets you wake the x360 using face recognition rather than having to input a PIN number or password. It uses IR cameras next to the webcam and works fine in dark rooms as well as well-lit ones. Don’t start thinking this is some sort of Retinal-scanning security. The cameras are quite low-res, relying on facial geometry rather than recognising fine detail. Performance is somewhat patchy, veering between working in a second or so failing altogether after 10 seconds of ‘checking’ a face. However, it does work whether the Envy x360 is used in laptop or ‘tent’ position, where the camera sits at the bottom of the screen.

Connectivity The other up-to-date extra is the inclusion of a USB-C port, which is set to one day replace the cables we’ve been using for the past 20 years. Right now USB-C ports are not essential, but you may need one in two- to three years. Other basic connections are covered, too. There are two USB 3.0 ports, a full-size

SD card slot and full-size HDMI. The non-folding HP Envy 15 gets you an extra USB, though you do get enough connections to make this the brains of a desktop PC.

Keyboard and trackpad We’ve been using the Envy x360 alongside the Envy 15, and the two have slightly different keyboard characteristics. While they share the same full-size layout, with a numberpad attached to the side, the x360 has slightly greater key resistance, but softer feedback in general. Neither keyboard is perfect, but by losing the crisp feel of the Envy 15, it’s harder to see what sort of feel HP was aiming for here. It’s a little indistinct, which may disappoint if you’re coming from a laptop with a good keyboard. There is a backlight though, adding a touch of flair to what is otherwise an average typing surface. The Envy x360’s trackpad is large and wide, but once again it isn’t up to what you get in the cheaper Envy 15. For the best trackpad feel you want a frosted glass top, which is smooth to use and offers the right level of resistance but no tackiness. The Envy x360 uses something else, though. While the resistance is fine, there’s the telltale tackiness of a plastic trackpad surface. There’s also far greater variance in the depth of the pad’s movement from end to end and the button placement isn’t as smart. Whereas the Envy 15’s right button is kept to a very small corner in the bottomright here it spreads out far enough to cause some accidental presses until you get used to the layout. The Envy x360 has a decent trackpad, but it’s disappointing to see HP sneakily use a superior one in its cheaper machine. And all in service of that hinge.

Display It’s also the hinge that puts a particular focus on the screen, as viewing angles are more important, and a touch layer can have an

impact on image quality. Once again, the Envy x360 puts in a decent but unenviable performance. The display is 15.6 inches across and has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, for density of 141ppi. This is low density for any tablet-style purpose, as you notice pixellation rather clearly as soon as you get any closer than arm’s reach. Of course, the sheer space of those extra 2.3 inches of screen is a key appeal. Display quality is middling. Colour coverage of sRGB is just 55.8 percent, resulting in clear undersaturation. The Envy 15 has similar (just slightly better) colour performance, but the undersaturation is less evident because display contrast is higher. The Envy x360’s native contrast of 762:1 is still good, though. Despite having an IPS LCD screen, viewing angles are disappointing. There’s none of the contrast shift you’d see in a cheap TN-based hybrid display, and brightness severely drops off at an angle. This is made worse by poor maximum brightness of 234cd/m2. Despite the lifestyle flourishes, the Envy x360 is not ready to be used outdoors. We tried using it outside on a sunny day, and while you can make out text on the white background of a word processing app, anything with less contrast is very difficult to make out. It’s less of a disappointment than the recently reviewed Asus ZenBook Flip UX360CA though, whose touchscreen design makes the entire screen appear grey rather than black. The Envy x360 looks fine indoors, it just doesn’t fare too well when challenged.

Performance Typical of a larger convertible laptop, the HP uses a low-voltage Intel Core-series CPU rather than one of Intel’s more powerful quadcore models. Our test unit came with an Intel Core i7-6560U CPU, a dual-core, four-thread chipset with a standard clock speed of 2.2GHz and a Turbo of 3.2GHz. This is a very solid all-purpose chipset for those with low-end and mid-level performance demands. While not a desktop-grade CPU, it’ll handle any kind of productivity task with relative ease. It’s also one of the few areas where the Envy x360 trumps the



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simpler Envy 15, scoring 7280 in Geekbench 3 and 3053 in PCMark 8. In each case that’s around 200 points better than the Envy 15. The most interesting part of the Intel Core i7-6560U is that it uses Intel HD 540 Iris graphics rather than the standard HD 520. While still not a match for a dedicated GPU, it results in an extra handful of frames per second in our gaming tests, potentially enough to turn around a game from painful to playable. Our 720p Low settings Alien Isolation test, for example, runs at 44.5fps on the Envy x360, and just 31fps on the Envy 15, which uses an Intel HD 520 GPU. Unfortunately, at Low settings Thief runs at 27.3fps, which isn’t ideal but playable for the patient among you. Neither game runs well when we increase the resolution to 1080p and max out the visuals, Alien Isolation slowing to 18.7fps and Thief to a dismal 6.9fps, but if you like to play the occasional game, an Iris upgrade is well worth having. The Envy x360 doesn’t get too hot or loud under strain, but it doesn’t have the cleanest fan noise either. You’ll only notice it when the laptop comes out of sleep, when it briefly revs its CPU fan, but in a quiet room this can be distracting. Different to most convertibles, the x360 has both a 128GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive. This gets you zippy Windows 10 responsiveness and loads of storage to play with. The SSD is not particularly fast with read speeds of up to 512MB/s and writes at 185MB/s. Given the modest SSD performance, it’s slightly surprising that HP has used a faster 7200rpm 1TB rather than a bog-standard 5400rpm one. It reads and writes at 146 and 135MB/s respectively, though


the performance increase is meaningless if you’re largely going to be storing media on the HDD.

Audio One other element that has had some extra effort put into it is the Bang & Olufsen speaker that fires out of the funky-looking grille above the keyboard. It offers a satisfyingly chunky tone and good top volume. It is, however, slightly prone to mid-range distortion when maxed out and, presumably thanks to the workings of the hinge, the drivers do not sound as though they are wellspaced along the x360’s width. They are loud and fat, but also somewhat narrow-sounding speakers.

Battery life The Envy x360 has a 55.7Wh battery that HP says will last for up to 10 hours, although this wasn’t our

experience. Playing a 720p video back at 120cd/m2, which is low-strain in terms of display brightness and CPU demand, it lasted seven hours 20 minutes. This is decent and better than you’d see from a more powerful quad-core laptop, but still much worse than the HP Envy 15, which lasts for over nine hours of video playback.

Verdict The Dell Envy x360 is an unusual laptop, as a convertible that’s slightly too large and heavy to be considered ultra-portable. Lengthy battery life, an aluminium frame and core specs help bring it back to the mainstream, though. There are, however, a few too many little issues, such as the slight lack of keyboard definition, to consider it a hit, especially when compared to the Envy 15. J Andrew Williams

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Reviews

LAPTOP

£1,899 inc VAT

Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2

Contact n

uk.gigabyte.com

Specifications

17.3in (1920x1080, 165dpi) IPS LCD matt touchscreen; 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-6700U CPU, up to 3.5GHz Turbo, four cores, eight threads; Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB DDR5; 16GB RAM DDR4-2133; 256GB SSD; 1TB 7200rpm; Hot-swappable Super Multi DVD writer optical drive; Gigabit Ethernet; 802.11b/g/n/ac 2x2; Bluetooth 4.0; 3x USB 3.0 port; USB-C; HDMI 2.0; VGA; SDXC card slot; stereo speakers; 0.9Mp webcam; single mic; 3.5mm headset jack; UK tiled keyboard; 75.8Wh lithium-ion battery, non-removable; 421x290x28.6mm; 3kg


The Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 is the first laptop we’ve reviewed to have one of Nvidia’s new Pascal-generation graphics cards. It’s therefore also the first laptop we’ve tested that’s ready for both VR and 4K gaming. However, we’re not simply going to be swayed by Nvidia’s fantastic new hardware. The question is: what has Gigabyte done with it?

Design Gigabyte doesn’t tend to go in for the sort of design posturing you’ll see in some Alienware laptops. The P57x V6-CF2 is a very large but mostly-plain laptop. It doesn’t have

multi-colour LEDs or giant heat vents. Its flair is limited to an orange band that runs along each side. The style is otherwise typical of a high-end gaming laptop, though. It’s made of plastic rather than aluminium or magnesium, but it’s tough plastic rather than the flimsy stuff often used in cheap machines. A soft touch finish gives the lid and keyboard surround a better feel, too. However, some parts of the build could be better. There is, for example, a bit of flex to the righthand side of the keyboard. It’s not jarring or obvious in general use, but it’s worth noting given the price you pay.

We expect the ‘flagship’ 17in gaming laptops from Alienware and Asus to be at least a bit thicker and heavier than the Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2, though. This laptop is 28.6mm thick and weighs 3kg. Compared with the Asus G753 we reviewed a while ago, the most obvious difference is thickness. Topend gaming laptops often use giant heat outlets at the back, but the P57x V6-CF2’s don’t add much bulk. It does have room to fit in an optical drive, though. As in previous Gigabyte machines it’s a hotswappable bay, released using a slider on the underside. You get a DVD writer as standard. Its positioning isn’t the most convenient, though. It’s inside the front edge, under the trackpad. You may find you accidentally open it while playing a game, or even just using the trackpad. We’ve done so at least half a dozen times so far.

Connectivity The Gigabyte’s sides are packed with connections. On the left are two USB 3.0 ports, an Ethernet socket, an SD card slot and the separate headphone/mic 3.5mm jacks. On the right you get another USB 3.0 port, both VGA and HDMI video connections and the most recent addition, a USB-C. This side is also where we see the tip-off this shell isn’t specific to this model. There’s a bung over the space where it looks like, to our eyes, 28 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016

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a Mini DisplayPort might go. You wouldn’t see this in one of today’s ultra-slim style laptops, but the P57x V6-CF2 certainly has much better connectivity than those.

Keyboard and trackpad Another benefit of a larger, thicker laptop is that the keyboard doesn’t have to be compromised. The Gigabyte has a full-size keyboard with a numberpad on the right. While a more conventional design than some gaming laptops — there are no macro buttons and the feel is that of a standard laptop keyboard — there’s a good meaty feel to the key action, and a decent amount of travel. It’s similar to a MacBook’s keyboard in feel, but with a darker, deeper character to each keypress. Gigabyte told us that it has included anti-ghosting technology, so you can press multiple keys at the same time and be sure that all the presses register. As you’d hope for a laptop this expensive, the P57x V6-CF2’s keyboard is backlit. Some gaming laptops have dazzling rainbow backlights — again it’s more of the classic gamer gloss — but this is a simple two-stage white LED backlight. It’s either moderately bright or bright. Gaming laptops often have very good keyboards, but you tend not to see quite as much effort put into the trackpads. The assumption is that you’ll probably use a mouse most of the time. The P57x V6-CF2 has a goodsize rectangular pad with built-in buttons. Its surface is smooth and of high quality, but for any sort of fastpaced gaming use, it would be better to have separate buttons, as on the Alienware 17 or Asus G753. When similar models from those brands

are released, they’re likely to be far more expensive, though.

laptop is a big upgrade if gaming is your top priority.

Display

Hardware

The P57x V6-CF2 has a 17.3in 1080p IPS LCD screen. Like just about every gaming laptop out there, it’s not a touchscreen and the surface is matt rather than glossy, making sure reflections don’t get in the way. It’s a very good panel in terms of colour, hitting 100.5 per cent of the sRGB gamut which is what gets you potent but natural-looking colour rather than the overcooked style that has become popular among some mobile devices. Contrast is good rather than stellar at 853:1, but the main way you’ll notice this is that the blacks look ever so slightly blue when the screen’s backlight is maxed-out. That’s a common character of matt laptop displays. Glossy ones tend to skew greyer, matt ones a bit bluer. Viewing angles are solid and the extra space you get over a 15in

One side of the P57x V6-CF2’s core hardware is exciting, while the other is familiar. Forgetting the gaming side for a minute, the CPU and RAM use hardware we’ve seen before. You get 16GB DDR4-2133 RAM and a quad-core Intel Core i7-6700HQ, the same used in many of the laptops that use the older Nvidia GTX970M and GTX980M cards. The CPU has four cores, eight threads, a base clock speed of 2.6GHz and maximum turbo boost of 3.5GHz. This is among the fastest of ‘mainstream’ Intel laptop CPUs, powerful enough to avoid becoming a bottleneck in this system. It scores 13249 points in Geekbench 3 (3702 single-core) and 3387 in PCMark 8. These are similar scores to what we saw in the Asus ROG G753. It’s a do-anything grade of performance

December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 29


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with easily enough power to replace many a desktop. The more exciting side of the Gigabyte is the GPU, an Nvidia GTX 1070 with 8GB of DDR5. With this Pascal generation of GPUs, Nvidia has managed to use similar hardware to the desktop versions. Previously, the laptop editions were only roughly as powerful as the desktop equivalent a tier below.

Performance VSync engaged, both Alien: Isolation and Thief manage a rock solid 60fps at max settings, 1080p. Switching VSync off to let the P57x V6-CF2 rip, Thief averaged 89fps. Again, this is with maximum settings and using 1080p resolution. It increased to an average 95.4fps at 720p, low settings. Not that you’d ever choose to use such a setting with a laptop like this. Alien: Isolation averages 163fps at high settings, and 186fps at 720p. Right now, the hardware is actually a little wasted on the Gigabyte’s display, but offers scope for several other important eventualities. There’s VR, of course, attaching a 4K monitor or TV and upping the resolution of your games, or just having the security of knowing the spare power means games are going to run well on the 1080p display for years to come. Nvidia’s new GPUs are the most important laptop gaming hardware advancement in years. Finally, you don’t need to feel like you’re paying over the odds for graphics hardware that doesn’t really compare with the desktop alternative. There is a problem, though. The P57x V6-CF2 is not very good at managing its own heat output. Look at the underside and you can see the two main fans, one at either side. They are large enough to make a low whooshing sound rather than a much more annoying whine, but the airflow is not all that effective. After a few minutes of highintensity gaming, the right side of the keyboard starts to get warm, and this starts to spread across the laptop as you play. After half an hour much of the keyboard ends up a little toasty. The crucial WSAD keys are some of the last affected, and don’t get anywhere

near as warm as the righthand side of the board, but it is not ideal. The heat seems to cause some throttling of performance too, although not to an extent that will affect you in real terms at this point. We ran our Thief benchmark test over and over to see whether performance would fall off a cliff, but the P57x V6-CF2 only dropped by around 5fps. One run dropped by almost 10fps, though this appeared to be an aberration. Poor handling of heat is the main reason to consider waiting to see the Alienware, Asus and Acer alternatives, which tend to use larger rear heat/air vents. It otherwise has just about everything you could need. There’s a 256GB SSD for performance-critical data, and a 7200rpm 1TB hard drive for all your general files.

Battery life With truly muscular power on tap, the P57x V6-CF2 was always unlikely to last that from a charge. It does have, however, a large, non-removable 75.8Wh cell that lasts for a handful of hours if you only leave it to handle light work. Playing back a 720p movie on loop, it lasted four hours 50 minutes. Don’t expect anything like that if you start playing demanding games, though. This is standard performance for a good gaming laptop.

each side of the front’s underside. Those parts above the keyboard that look a bit like speaker grilles are actually ‘passive’ heat outlets: just a bit more ventilation. As you’d hope for a laptop this big, maximum volume and the general bulk of the sound are decent. However, it’s not superrefined. The mids are a little boxy, a tiny bit crude and prone to occasional distortion with certain material. Now that makers of smaller laptops are starting to put more effort into making their speakers sound better, the P57x V6-CF2 is shown up a little, but like the conventional trackpad, the assumption is likely that you’re going to use speakers for any serious gaming.

Verdict The Gigabyte P57x V6-CF2 is an eye-opening demo of what Nvidia’s new GPUs are capable of. If you have some money to spend, laptop gaming has never been so good. Unfortunately, there are a few issues that make us hungry to see what other laptop-makers will come up with. The one serious problem is that it gets hot, and not just in areas you won’t notice. That the keyboard gets toasty after a relatively short stint under pressure is a sign of flawed laptop design. J Andrew Williams

Speakers Gigabyte hasn’t put any special effort into the speakers either. The P57x V6-CF2 has a pair of drivers that fire out from



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SMARTPHONE

£629 inc VAT Contact n

consumer.huawei.com/uk

Specifications

5.5in IPS SuperAMOLED Full HD screen (1920x1080, 401ppi); Android 6.0 Marshmallow with EMIU 4.1; Kirin 955 octa-core processor; Mali-T880 MP4 GPU; 4GB RAM; 64GB storage; microSD up to 128GB; Dual-12Mp rear cameras with Leica lenses; 8Mp front camera; 11ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.2; IR blaster; USB-C; 4G LTE Cat 6; 3400mAh nonremovable battery; 75x152x6.98mm; 162g


Huawei P9 Plus Huawei is on the up in the UK with its latest flagships. While the P9 launched in April, it’s taken longer for the P9 Plus to reach us.

Design Looks wise, the sleek P9 Plus is gorgeous. Our review unit had a smooth, shiny finish that picks up fingerprints, though there’s also a model with sandblasted finish, which should stop grubby fingerprints from appearing as easily. In terms of colour options, you have four: Ceramic White, Rose Gold, Haze Gold and Quartz Grey. This handset is the larger option in Huawei’s 2016 flagship offerings, with a 5.5in display compared to the 5.2in panel of the P9. What’s impressive is that despite the larger screen and all the technology featured in this flagship smartphone, the P9 Plus is still slender and lightweight – at 152.3x75.3x6.98mm and 162g. This makes it thinner and lighter than the iPhone 7 Plus, which measures 7.3mm and weighs 188g, and the impressive screento-body ratio of around 72.7 percent means the P9 Plus isn’t an unwieldy handful. The bezels at the sides of the screen are just 1.7mm, meaning it’s not too hard to use one-handed, although those with small hands may disagree. The curved edges of the smartphone, combined with the 2.5D glass, also make this phone comfortable to hold over long periods of time.

Display As we touched upon above, Huawei has opted for a 5.5in display, which isn’t much bigger than the P9’s 5.2in screen. That’s a good thing if you ask us following the mammoth 6.8in P8 Max – hence the Plus branding, instead of Max. However, if you assumed a bigger display would mean a higher resolution, you’d be wrong as it’s still Full HD (1920x1080), though the

screen is SuperAMOLED rather than IPS. This provides a screen that’s crisp, bright and gorgeous-looking, although the contrast is a little too high for us. On the plus side, it means that photos look vibrant. As well as this, the phone supports Press Touch, which is essentially the same as Force Touch on the iPhone 7 Plus. The P9 Plus can detect different levels of pressure when you press it. Unfortunately, just 18 apps currently support Press Touch, which we believe is because Huawei has to add support itself and isn’t something that third-party developers can do.

Hardware Inside, the P9 Plus has the same Kirin 955 processor (a 64-bit octacore chip) as its smaller brother, the P9, but with a few notable upgrades, including more RAM at 4GB instead of 3GB, and a base storage of 64GB. The P9 also has a 64GB storage capacity option, but users will have to pay more for the privilege. However, it’s worth noting that the P9 Plus also has a microSD card slot, which can expand your internal storage by up to 128GB.

It can handle pretty much anything you throw at it, especially when it comes to gaming, as we’ve not experienced any lag or screen tearing

Performance The P9 Plus is extremely responsive, apps open almost instantly and the smartphone can go from standby to capturing a photo in 1.3 seconds. In our experience, it can handle pretty much anything you throw at it, especially when it comes to gaming, as we’ve played a number of these and not experienced any lag or screen tearing. We put the Huawei through our usual benchmark tests. The first of these, Geekbench 3, examines the processing power of the smartphone – it scored 1853 in single-core mode and 6682 in multi-core mode. This is slightly more powerful than Samsung’s Galaxy S7 in terms of multi-core performance, which scored 2128 and 6466 respectively. However, while the P9 Plus was the leader in our Geekbench 3 test, it wasn’t the case when we ran our GFXBench tests. While the Huawei managed a respectable 44fps in T-Rex and 20fps in Manhattan, the Galaxy S7 beat this by a long shot with 53- and 27fps. Despite this, it’s worth noting that both smartphones feature high-end GPUs and are more than capable of high-quality mobile gameplay. Finally, we ran the JetStream benchmark, which tests the speed of the mobile browser of the smartphone. Surprisingly, the P9 Plus bested the Galaxy S7 in this aspect, achieving a score of 67 compared to 61, offering fast loading


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times when browsing the internet on the smartphone.

Geekbench 3

Connectivity Connectivity is top-notch with 11ac Wi-Fi, and an infrared transmitter (or IR blaster, which is not on the standard P9). Of course, the phone supports 4G LTE networks, too. Although there is a Dual-SIM model, it’s not what we’re getting in the UK. Both the P9 and P9 Plus have a fingerprint scanner, which sits below the rear camera. During testing we found it to be incredibly fast and it unlocked our review unit almost instantly. The scanner can also be used for gestures such as swiping down to access the notification centre and swiping left to right to swipe between photos. The P9 Plus has a 3400mAh battery compared to the P9’s 3000mAh offering, and provides seven hours, 40 minutes of battery life. The battery is non-removable, but the Huawei has reversible USB Type-C and dual-IC Rapid Charging to get you untethered quicker.

Cameras Like the P9, the P9 Plus’s main selling point is the dual-camera Leica-certified set up, which consists of two 12Mp sensors: RGB and monochrome. According to Huawei, the cameras combine the two separate images to produce better quality images, with 300 percent more light and 50 percent more contrast. The P9 Plus also takes incredible black and white photos because unlike most smartphones, it has a black and white lens instead of applying a monochrome filter over a colour image. There’s also an 8Mp front snapper for selfie lovers and video chatters. During testing, we found that the phone captured a great amount of detail in well-lit conditions with vibrant colour reproduction. However, despite the ability to capture 300 percent more light than a standard one-lens setup, the P9 Plus disappoints in low-light environments. As with many phones, the levels of noise began to rise and colours became flat as the light in the environment drops. You can see some of the photos we took on the Huawei P9 Plus opposite. Fans of smartphone photography will appreciate the number of options on offer, including a

GFXBench Manhattan

GFXBench T-Rex

JetStream

professional mode. Huawei even offers a Leica UI, fonts and shutter sound for the camera, which is a nice touch. It can perform tricks like we’ve seen on other dual-camera phones such as refocusing a shot after it’s been taken and adjusting

the depth of field, which adds a professional feel to selfies. There’s no optical image stabilisation (OIS) though, as Huawei says the camera takes pictures so quickly that it doesn’t need it, although we’re left wondering if



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the firm forgot about the benefits for video. You can’t, for example, shoot in 4K resolution, which is strange as it’s a feature of many other 2016 flagships and some of last year’s, too. The maximum the P9 Plus can record at is 1080p at 30fps, which is surprising when the firm has invested so heavily in the camera.

Software As you’d expect from a 2016 flagship phone, the Huawei runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It’s also no surprise that the firm has added its own software user interface, Emotion UI (or EMUI) 4.1 this time around, which it says it’s fully committed to with a team of developers constantly working on improving the user interface. As with previous Huawei P devices, the software is one of the phone’s weak points as it lacks an app menu/tray. The result is an iOS-like setup with app icons all displayed on the homescreen, which may be a bonus for those recently jumping the iOS ship, but not for long-time Android fans. There are many other tweaks throughout, including the notification bar that is laid out like a timeline of notifications rather than a list, and it doesn’t feel as Android-like as many rivals. Unfortunately, as with other of the firm’s smartphones, the device comes packed with bloatware – much of it Huawei branded, but also with apps it thinks you’d like, including Facebook, Twitter and demos of paid-for games. We’re not fans of preloaded apps as we’d like to make the choices ourselves straight out of the box, but Huawei does let you remove many of the preinstalled apps, although not the company’s own branded ones.

Verdict If you’re in the market for a sleek, premium phablet with a great dual-camera setup, the Huawei P9 Plus is a great option. The 5.5in SuperAMOLED FHD display is bright and crisp, and shows off the detailed photos taken by the rear-facing dual 12Mp snappers. The processor is strong enough to compete with Samsung’s Galaxy S7, although it doesn’t compare in terms of graphical power. However, it’s worth noting that there aren’t

huge differences between the P9 Plus and Huawei’s flagship P9, so depending on what you want from the smartphone, it may be

worth taking a look at the £100 cheaper P9. Otherwise, it’s a decent premium flagship that we’re impressed with. J Lewis Painter December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 33


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SMARTPHONE


argos.co.uk

Specifications

5.5in (1920x1080, 400ppi) TFT; Android 6.0 Marshmallow; octa-core ARM MT6755 CPU clocked at 1.95GHz; 4GB RAM; 64GB storage;Sim free; 2G, 3G and 4G network capability; Wi-Fi; Bluetooth; GPS; DualSIM card phone; 21.5Mp rear camera, 8Mp front camera; 3000mAh battery capacity; MP3 and MP4 player; headphone port; fast charge technology; fingerprint scanner; 148.5x74x8.8mm; 186g


Bush Spira E3X The hunt is on for the best cheap phone you can buy. A handset that offers premium experience without forcing you to take out a loan. The Spira E3X – made by Bush and sold by Argos – has the look of a winner, but can it live up to the promise?

Design The 5.5in handset feels sturdy and well built. It’s not a dainty device, but feels as though it will withstand the rigours of daily life. Thick, chunky and robust, but stylish enough if you don’t have tiny hands. Next to our Galaxy S7 edge it looks like a beast, but it’s a lot cheaper and the effect is certainly not all bad. The front consists of a 2.5D toughened Dragontrail Glass slab, with a polished metal frame around the edge. There is a bezel, but it’s not huge: you get plenty of screen real estate for your gadget. Inside that metal edge you’ll find the SIM tray on the left: this accepts either two Micro-SIM cards or one Micro-SIM and a microSD card of up to 32GB. Around the back is a plastic panel with a rough sandstone effect that reminds us of the OnePlus One. It’s non-removable and offers grip and texture, without being particularly stylish or even pleasant to hold. It is, however, practical. The back panel is broken up by the camera lens and fingerprint sensor. We found the latter as easy to use as any we’ve seen, though we still prefer an unlock PIN. The Spira E3X is not small either: its dimensions of 148.5x74x8.8mm are on the hefty side, and you will feel every one of those 8.8mm.

Display The 5.5in TFT screen has a resolution of 1920x1080, which gives it a pixel density of 400ppi. It’s not the brightest nor the sharpest display we’ve seen, even when we turned up the screen brightness to 100 percent. Again, laid next to the Galaxy S7 edge and its beautiful OLED panel it looks pale in comparison, but it competes well with the most recent Moto G. In general, it is a large, clear and decently sharp display. Perfectly adept at showing documents and images, without blowing you away.

Viewing angles are good, the touchscreen responsive and the screen itself tough. We dragged it around for weeks without putting a dent in it. This is a well-made device, with a screen to match.

Performance The internal components are the only area in which the Spira E3X’s spec sheet is less than stellar. We are not talking about the 64GB of storage, which is standard but high end: we found 53GB of this was readable, and only 3.6GB taken up out of the box. Nor is it the 4GB RAM. The very best smartphones may pack in more, but this is a respectable amount of memory that should power good performance (more in a bit). No, the only thing that concerns us about this £200 phone is the octa-core chip. A central processor with eight cores should be a great performer, but this a MediaTek chipset we haven’t seen before: an ARM MT6755 clocked at 1.95GHz. In the Geekbench 4 test, which measures CPU performance, the Spira E3X returned an average score of 724 and 2450 single- and

multi-core. That puts it roughly in the same space as the Galaxy Note 4, a quad-core product from two years ago. It’s considerably faster than the most recent Moto G though, and in the same ballpark as the OnePlus One with which it is compared – both in terms of price and build. In general use we found the Spira E3X responsive and fast. Smartphones have mostly been this way for a year or two now. You don’t need the absolute best CPU/RAM performance unless you regularly run multiple intensive processes at the same time. To test graphical performance, we use two GFXBench GPU tests, Manhattan and T-Rex. In the first of these, the Spira E3X returned an average score of 5.1fps, with 18fps in T-Rex. These are lowly but competent scores – nothing like the performance of a flagship such as the Galaxy S7. This is not a graphical powerhouse, but in general we had no problems playing casual games or watching video. We run the JetStream benchmark to measure a variety of JavaScript benchmarks, covering a range of advanced workloads and


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programming techniques. Here we recorded an average score of 20, which is pretty low. We can’t say that Bush’s phone offers a noticeably poor web browsing experience, but it isn’t outstanding either. We also ran the AnTuTu performance benchmark, which tests graphics, RAM, CPU and user experience. In this test, the Spira E3X scored an average of 51,283, which is pretty good. Nowhere near the Galaxy S7 or Huawei P9, but ahead of – say – the Samsung Galaxy Ace, and definitely the best of the mid- to budget phones. Overall, this is a decent middleof-the-road performer, both in terms of benchmarks and real-world performance. It would have been a flagship two or three years ago, so there are no problems here unless you absolutely have to have the fastest phone.

Battery life This is a big handset with a large, rich display and a lot of processing power, which means that battery life is a concern. This is offset with the 3000mAh battery. In general, we were impressed. On charge but not in use, the Bush lasted for days and days, while in moderate use we could string it out for two days. The critical test is when used as our only phone, and there we comfortably got a day’s use out of it.

During testing, we recorded an average score of 237 minutes, which is roughly the same as that of the Galaxy S7 edge, or the Honor 8.

Cameras Phone cameras have come a long way when a budget handset like this offers a 21.5Mp rear camera with Sony IMX sensors and a front-facing one with a resolution of 8Mp. Both can take videos in Full HD resolution at 30 frames per second. We do, however, have some minor gripes. In our tests, we found that even swiping up on the lock screen camera icon seemed to take an age. In reality, it took only a second or so for the camera app to open, but this seemed an eternity when we were trying to take action shots.

Software The Bush comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which is pretty good. If you haven’t used Android before, don’t worry: it’s as easy to use and as full featured as iOS. The only downside is that this phone is unlikely to ever be updated to Android 7.0 Nougat or beyond, but that is no real hardship. What is good is that this is a vanilla version of Android, with none of the unnecessary flourishes added by less respectful manufacturers. And it offers full access to the Google Play app- and media store.

Verdict If you want to buy a smartphone outright for less than £200, the Bush Spira E3X is an excellent

Viewing angles are good, the touchscreen responsive and the screen is tough. We dragged it around for weeks without putting a dent in it The feature set is good, with HDR, automatic or manual flash, panorama mode and multiple scene modes. You can also set specific settings for particular locations, capture RAW files, use features such as face detection and set the level of quality you want to capture with the main camera, as you can with video capture.

choice. It isn’t the most stylish handset, but it’s not unbearably ugly either, and it is built to last. Performance is the biggest weakness, but it is okay, and the software, battery life and camera options are about as good as you get these days, without shelling out for a £700 phone. A good, cheap smartphone. J Matt Egan December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 35

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Reviews

TABLET;

€349 (£TBC) Contact n

consumer.huawei.com/uk

Specifications

8.4in (2560x1600, 359ppi) IPS touchscreen; Android 6.0 Marshmallow with EMUI 4.1; Kirin 950 octa‑core processor; 4GB RAM 32/64GB storage; microSD up to 128GB; 8Mp autofocus main camera; 8Mp fixed focus front camera; Wi‑Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.1; optional 4G LTE; Nano‑SIM; 5100mAh non‑removable battery; 215.5x124.2x7.3mm; 310g


Huawei MediaPad M3 For years a strictly B2B company, Huawei is making strides in the consumer market in an attempt to put the pressure on rivals like Samsung and LG. The MediaPad M3 is the company’s latest attempt to make the best tablet on the market. The reason for the prices in this review being in euros is that Huawei has yet to announce UK pricing. It can, however, be found for sale on Amazon from third-party retailers.

Design This is the follow up to the MediaPad M2 10.0, and the most obvious design change the orientation from landscape to portrait. As the name suggests, it was a 10in tablet. The new MediaPad M3 scales things down to 8.4in along with becoming portrait in design. This makes it feel distinctly thin, almost like a huge smartphone to look at and hold. When compared with an iPad mini 4, its screen is taller and its bezels pleasingly thin. The MediaPad M3 is a tad thicker than that 6.1mm iPad, coming in at 7.3mm – barely noticeable. There’s no denying the MediaPad M3 is a beautiful piece of kit. It has diamond-cut chamfered edges, and the same curvature and finish as some of the company’s flagship smartphones such as the P9. Now that the M3 is portrait to naturally hold, there’s a front facing camera at the top and a fingerprint scanner/ home button at the bottom. The tablet loses the four speaker grills of the MediaPad M2, instead having two; one each on the top and bottom edges of the device. They are, like on the M2, manufactured by Huawei’s audio partner Harman Kardon. They still manage to pump out audio at a decent level, but it’s what you’d expect from a tablet. For long video viewing sessions, reach for some headphones. On the bottom edge of our review sample was also a microphone, Micro-USB port for charging and data transfer as well as a SIM card slot if you fancy a cellular plan. The headphone jack is located on the top, while the rear of the device is a clean silver sheen, with an iPhone-esque aerial line at the bottom, subtle Huawei logo and a

white aerial strip at the top that also houses the camera sensor. The left edge is completely clean, while the right has a subtle volume rocker just above the power/lock button. Overall, we think Huawei has done a great job with the design of the MediaPad M3. Portrait orientation makes sense on an 8.4in device, and most tablets designed landscape make sense if used with a keyboard. You can hold the MediaPad M3 with one hand – just – but there won’t be much you can do other than read an e-book. At 310g, you’ll probably be using it two-handed for all tasks. It’s not a complete iPad clone – which is good – but the screen is perhaps a sliver too tall rather than wide. We can imagine the M3 as a to-die-for 5.5in smartphone, but as an 8.4in tablet, the dimensions are just a tiny bit off. Only just.

Display The screen is excellent, boasting a Full-HD 2560x1600 resolution with 359 pixels per inch. While the design of a tablet is first port of call for impressions of premium quality, it has to be married with the software and how the screen shows it all. Thankfully, the Huawei is well prepared to deliver the media its name promises. Colours and app icons pop nicely; it’s a pleasure to zip around

Android Marshmallow. If anything, the backlight could be a tad brighter, particularly during the day, but we are nitpicking slightly. However, next to an iPad Air (first generation), the whites on full brightness are crisper and clearer on the M3, though arguably not as natural. There’s also an ‘eye protection’ mode, something akin to Apple’s Night Shift but less refined. You can toggle it on and off manually via the pull-down shortcut tray, and you may want to use it if reading in the dark, but otherwise it’s a gimmick. Games such as Asphalt 8 look amazing, while video playback is as smooth as you’d expect from Huawei’s Kirin CPU on its latest flagship tablet. The display more than holds it own here compared to rival devices such as the iPad mini 4 or the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2.

Performance As mentioned, the MediaPad M3 has a Huawei-made Kirin 950 processor, paired with a respectable 4GB RAM. Our LTE model came with 32GB of on-board, non-expandable storage which may not be enough – there’s luckily a 64GB version, which is more reasonable, but costs €449, €50 more than the 32GB model with LTE. There’s also a slot that takes a Nano-SIM, but remember you can get a Wi-Fi only version if you prefer.


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It also takes a microSD card for expandable storage up to 128GB. At 8.4in, the M3 is a good size if you’re after a tablet to use with a data plan as it’s compact and light enough to carry around all day, stuffed full of your favourite music and films. The MediaPad M3 did very well in our standard benchmark tests. It scored an immense 5060 in Geekbench 4’s multi-core benchmark score. The iPad Air 2 (admittedly a two-year-old tablet) scored 4643, while the iPad mini 4 scored 3108. The M3 is not far behind the 9.7in iPad Pro, which scored 5257. On paper, Huawei has produced a lightning quick tablet. In actuality, it can perform noticeably slow, but only in highly intense games such as Asphalt 8, where gameplay occasionally lagged. For most users, however, the MediaPad will be completely adequate for all tasks. Video playback is buttery smooth, and 8.4in is a great size for throwing in a bag for the bus or even a long plane ride; videos look amazing on it.

Cameras We’re still firmly in the ‘never take a photo with a tablet’ camp, but if you are truly forced to, then luckily the MediaPad M3 is up to the task. It has a 8Mp main camera that produces pleasingly crisp, defined images. The front-facing camera is the one you’ll probably use most for video calling and selfie sessions. Huawei has put some quirky but largely useless functions on this camera’s software, such as a beautifying mode where you can make your eyes bigger and your skin whiter. It’s pretty odd. Obviously this isn’t an iPad, so there’s no FaceTime, but if you’ve got a SIM card, then you can use Google Duo, which is excellent. Failing that, Google’s other video service, Hangouts, works well, as does Skype. The MediaPad has no problems keeping up with these types of calls as long as you have a decent Wi-Fi connection.

Software The M3 landed on our desk with Android Lollipop 5.1. We had to manually update to Marshmallow 6.0, but hopefully the final product will ship with 6.0 given it has been out for several months now (the press materials state it ships with

6.0). Also, when we updated, we were presented with the screen below, complete with Chinese script. Again, hopefully this won’t feature on the final English language release as we couldn’t read what the update even was. Huawei’s EMUI (Emotion user interface) overlay of Android isn’t unattractive, but we feel it’s slightly less eye-catching than stock Android. The MediaPad ships with version 4.1, and it’s a solid user experience. Icons are plain and have muted tones. It’s still easy to flick around, but features such as the notification tray aren’t as intuitive or easy on the eye as stock Android, or even rival Samsung’s lately improved TouchWiz overlay. If you’re used to either of those, EMUI will take a few hours to get your head around. There are no sign up offers here for additional cloud storage unlike on some other tablets where manufacturers partner with Microsoft or Google to offer OneDrive or Drive upgrades. Overall for casual use, which after all is what this tablet is for, the EMUI OS won’t hinder your enjoyment of it. That might not sound like a glowing endorsement, but while this is a fine tablet to use, it’s important to note that we weren’t totally blown away by the experience. One cool thing that works well with the software and improves use is the fingerprint scanner. Also a home button, there are integrated touch gestures that, once learned,

improve day to day use. Where most tablets’ home buttons simply take you back to the home screen when pressed, the MediaPad M3’s takes you back one page or step if tapped once. It’s not a physical button, and you end up using it like the Android back button (which is still displayed just above the button on-screen). Hold down your finger on the button (which doesn’t physically move) and the tablet vibrates a tad, showing you’ve full-pressed and it whisks you back to the home screen. The other function is handy too; swipe over the pill shaped button from left to right or vice versa, and it brings up your open apps. This means you can use the one home button for all Android’s usual function buttons. It’s very good indeed and it makes you wonder why it isn’t standard on loads of Android devices already.

Verdict In a stagnated market, the MediaPad M3 initially felt underwhelming. After extended use though, we reckon it’s a cut above the midrange, but then again, from €349, you are paying for it. It’s a good alternative to an iPad if you want an Android tablet that’s bigger than an iPad mini but smaller than an iPad Air 2. But, who is specifically looking for that? The MediaPad is excellent and we recommend it, but it lacks a certain ‘wow’ factor that’s largely down to the high number of existing Android tablets. J Henry Burrell December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 37

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GRAPHICS CARD


asus.com/uk

Specifications

AMD Radeon RX 470 GPU; 32 compute units; 2048 stream processors; 926MHz core speed base; 1270MHz (OC Mode) 1250MHz (Gaming Mode) boost speed; 6.6GHz memory speed; 211GB/s memory bandwidth; 256bit memory bus width; 4GB GDDR5 RAM; 5120x2880 maximum digital resolution; PCIe 3.0; CrossFire Ready; 120W power consumption: 450W recommended system power supply 1x 6-pin; 2x DVI-D, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x DisplayPort 1.4 Card width: 2 slots; 129x242mm; ASUS GPU Tweak II, Aura utility; 3-year warranty


Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 470 04G AMD is currently throwing all of its new graphics card technology at the more affordable end of the spectrum. Now, not long after the release of the company’s first Polaris-based product, the Radeon RX 480, comes the even less expensive RX 470 with its eye fixed on the 1080p prize.

Features With the vast majority of PC gamers running at 1080p, AMD decided to target exactly this resolution with its latest technologies. First came the Radeon RX 480, which is promoted as an entry-level VR-capable card, and now the more price-sensitive RX 470 reviewed here. If you’re not into virtual reality gaming, or can’t afford it, then an RX 470 may be all you need for solid 1080p gaming at a reasonable price. The card reviewed here has been given the Asus Strix treatment, which adds extra features to AMD’s reference design along with overclocked gaming performance. The RX 470 employs exactly the same graphics processor as its bigger brother, the RX 480, but with selected components disabled, thereby producing a reduced performance version. Where the RX 480 comes with 2304 stream processors, the RX 470 leaves only 2048 of these enabled. The memory bandwidth on this 4GB model is also reduced from 224GB/s to 211GB/s. Core clock speeds in reference versions of the card also suffer a similar reduction, but this Asus Strix model comes preoverclocked with a maximum core speed of 1270MHz, which is 4MHz faster than a standard RX 480, helping narrow the performance gap while keeping the cost low. Like the RX 480, the RX 470 uses AMD’s latest 14nm FinFET technology to enable higher performance with lower power consumption than previous generations. It will also support the latest DirectX 12 games. In addition to boosting the clock speeds, Asus has also provided its GPU Tweak II utility, which provides a choice of three preset performance modes, allowing you to balance performance, power and fan noise to your own requirements. You can also

switch into manual mode to push performance even further. High levels of overclocking require an efficient cooling system, and the Strix RX 470 comes with a custom twin fan solution fitted to a large heatpipe-based heatsink. This design leaves many of the board’s components visible and makes the card look completely different to the standard fullyenclosed box of AMD’s reference design. Another major cosmetic difference is the RGB illuminated logo, which changes colour under the control of the supplied AURA software utility. Unlike some of the more expensive Strix cards, there’s no metal backplate on this model, which we think is fair considering its price-sensitive positioning. If even more cooling is required, you can make use of the Asus FanConnect feature. This lets you wire up a fan from your system case directly to the graphics card and will control the fan speed as required to keep GPU temperatures down We found the built-in fans to run very quietly and they’ll switch off entirely when not required, so you can build a PC that operates silently when gaming performance is required. Unfortunately, we noticed audible coil whine coming from the card while running benchmarks, but it’s not as loud as many other cards we’ve tested. Asus has fitted this board with a pair of DVI-D ports for compatibility with older displays, along with one each of HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort

1.4 for modern ones. The latter two ports are the latest versions which support high refresh rates and also HDR when using DisplayPort. To install the card in your PC you’ll need a single 6-pin power connector.

Performance If you’ve familiar with the RX 480, then the benchmarks from the RX 470 will be much as you would expect. It offers all of the same capabilities of its bigger brother, but with a little less speed. The RX 470 still delivers enough power for high quality 1080p gaming and from our benchmarks we can see that it does, achieving average frame rates of 83.5fps in Thief and 118fps in Alien Isolation, both on Ultra settings. Drop the quality level a little and you may even get away with 1440p on some titles, although we recommend a faster card if you’re serious about gaming at the higher resolution.

Virtual reality If you’re thinking of venturing into the world of VR, then we’d advise you not to take an RX 470 with you on that trip. While its Steam VR Performance Test results show it can pass the test without dipping below the required 90fps, it does so with only a ‘Medium’ quality rating and a VR quality score of 5.8. This results in it failing to be deemed VR ‘Ready’ by the test, achieving instead the lower result of ‘Capable’. An RX 480 on the other hand will get you the ‘Ready’ rating you should


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be looking for as well as a higher quality score of 6.7. So, while the RX 470 will run VR titles, we feel that if you can stomach the kind of expense required for a VR headset, you should seriously consider saving a little more for a more powerful graphics card than this one. All things considered, this does exactly what it sets out to do, by delivering solid 1080p performance at an affordable price. If you have an older graphics card and you’re looking for an upgrade, then you’ll find this one consumes less power than previous generations and brings with it all of the latest technologies you could want, such as DirectX 12 support.

Buying advice Where things start to get tricky is in deciding whether this particular card is the one for you. Thanks to the large number of options AMD has provided with the RX-series cards, and the sometimes very tiny price gaps between them, it can be hard to decide which one to get. An 8GB version of the RX 470 is available, but Asus has decided to offer only a 4GB version of this card. You will see factory-overclocked 8GB models from other vendors, but we feel the price premium you’ll pay for one of these isn’t worth it for a card aimed at 1080p gaming, where 8GB is seldom an advantage. We feel 4GB is ample for 1080p gaming and there are no new cards from Nvidia competing in this price segment at the moment, making the Asus ROG Strix 04G an attractive proposition. However, the biggest competition for any Radeon RX 470 has to come from the 4GB version AMD’s own Radeon RX 480. With price differentials sometimes as low as £10 between the two GPUs it may make sense to so save up just a little more and get the fullyspecified version of the GPU.

Verdict The ROG Strix RX 470 O4G is a highly competent, modern graphics card for 1080p gaming with cool quiet fans, factory-overclocked performance and many desirable custom features. It’s very affordable too, but keep a look out for 4GB RX 480 cards which can offer better performance for only a little more cash. J Paul Monckton

3DMark Ice Storm

3DMark Ice Storm Extreme

Alien Isolation 1080p Ultra

Alien Isolation 4K Ultra

Thief 1080p Ultra

Thief 4K Ultra


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TABLET

£34 inc VAT

Leapfrog LeapStart

Contact n

leapfrog.com/en-gb

Specifications

Preschool LeapStart: stylus; stereo speakers; 3.5mm headphone jack; 28.2x27.2x4.1xcm; 907g Pimary school LeapStart: stylus; stereo speakers; 3.5mm headphone jack; 27.3x26.7x4.1cm; 907g

The LeapStart is the latest in LeapFrog’s range of technology products for children, and this particular offering is aimed at building educational and life skills.

Design


In essence, the LeapStart is a folding plastic case into which you insert one of a range of 16 books, each of which is designed to help a child progress with maths, literacy, phonics, problem-solving, and more. Connected to the case by a cable is a stylus that the child uses to touch the book, activating buttons that trigger games and activities, or give them hints and clues. The stylus reads invisible dots on every page, triggering engaging audio, by which the LeapStart ‘talks’ to the child, asking them questions, setting puzzles and encouraging them forwards in their learning. The tablet is available for two different age ranges: the Preschool system for two- to four-year-olds (pictured above), and the Primary School system for five- to seven-year-olds. Both are compatible with all LeapStart books (priced £9.99), so you needn’t buy a new tablet when your child progresses to the older titles. Each has enough memory (256MB) to hold eight books. They also have stereo speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Performance We tested the Preschool system with the help of a three-year-old – one who is used to navigating his way

around electronic devices, but who’s happier with Netflix and Milkshake than he is with the ins and outs of phonics and numeracy. First impressions were positive. It feels robust,and the chunky case looks like it could cope with some rough treatment around the house, such as being dropped on a wooden floor or bouncing down stairs. The stylus has a similarly reassuring feel: a fat plastic pen that Leapfrog say is ergonomically designed for smaller hands. Weight wise, it shouldn’t trouble a young child but you wouldn’t call it light. Setup straight out of the box is a doddle. Simply pop some AA batteries (not included) in the device, download the LeapFrog Connect software to your computer, download some audio files, and you’re up and running. Included in the box is a sampler book that is primarily there to showcase some of the types of activities that are contained in the 16-book library that’s available for the device. The Primary School model’s Sampler book is for Reception and Year 1 pupils. Our tester was gripped from the start. He quickly learned to use the stylus on the page to find named items and enjoyed tracing numbers and letters – for the very first time in his life – and hearing the sounds made by various animals as he touched their pictures. He did, however, find the power button tantalizing, accompanied as it was by a jaunty jingle – leading to a slightly frustrating session of

turning it on and off, and on and off, and so on. Leapfrog might think about introducing a delay to the Off button in future, saving parents from shredded nerves. The sampler is a good introduction, but we’d recommend picking up a couple of the other books to begin with, as a typical toddler’s attention span is soon exhausted by a 10-page sampler. Bear in mind also that the device is intended as a progressive system of teaching children, with the activity books bringing them on as they get further into the series. That means that the price of £34 is to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt. If you want to get the most out of the LeapStart, you’ll need to think of it as a learning system – and one that requires deep parental pockets. The device itself, plus the 16 books that are available for it, would tot up to just under £195 if you bought the whole set. Whether you do that will depend on your child’s level of engagement with the LeapStart. Judging by the reaction of our tester, we think there’s a good chance that you’ll more likely be spending a threefigure sum than a two-figure one.

Verdict Overall, we found the LeapStart easy to set up and immediately appealing to our tester with its fun audio. While the initial price is low if your keep buying the books the cost will add up, but at the same time as your child is learning basic educational skills. J Chris Hayes


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PRINTER

£55 inc VAT

HP DeskJet 3720

Contact n

hp.com/uk

Specifications

4-colour (CMYK) inkjet printer; 1200x1200dpi print resolution; 600dpi scanner resolution; Wi-Fi, USB, Apple AirPrint; 60-sheet (A4) paper tray; 140x403x180mm; 2.3kg


A few years ago Epson launched a range of compact ‘small-in-one’ printers that were specifically designed for people who were a bit tight for space at home. It’s taken HP a while to come up with something similar, but the company now claims that its new DeskJet 3720 is the world’s smallest all-in-one printer. We’d be hard pushed to disagree with that claim, as it measures just 140mm high, 403mm wide and 180mm deep as you lift it out of its box. You’ll need an extra couple of inches for the 60-sheet paper tray that folds out of the back of the printer, but you can certainly sit it on a desk or shelf at home without taking up too much space.

Design Like its stablemate, the DeskJet 3630, the 3720 has a modern white and blue livery. The compact design is made possible by ditching the traditional A4 flatbed scanner used by most multifunction printers. Instead of placing documents onto a glass plate you have to feed each page through the scanner by hand. That’s a minor inconvenience, though, and shouldn’t be too much of a problem for occasional use at home. Our only real complaint here is that the printer is noisy, as the lightweight plastic casing tends to rattle while the printer is working. We weren’t initially impressed by the quality that the 3720 produced with our various test documents, and it took a little while with the rather clumsy HP Utility app – which

sometimes couldn’t even connect to the printer despite the fact that we were using the USB connection – to adjust the printer alignment and improve the print quality. The final text quality was good – it lacked the smooth outlines produced by the best inkjet printers, but will be perfectly adequate for simple documents such as letters and school reports. Colour graphics were also good and the DeskJet 3720 even managed to produce some very attractive photo prints when using glossy postcard paper. Bear in mind that it does not support borderless printing, so there will always be small white borders around photos if you’re printing on A4 or 6x4in sheets.

Performance Performance is modest, as you’d expect from a low-cost printer, but speeds of eight pages per minute (ppm) for mono text and 4ppm for colour will be adequate for light use at home. Our 6x4in postcard prints took a lengthy 100 seconds but, again, that’s not bad for a printer in this price range.

Print costs You can buy the 3720 direct from HP for £55. But, as always with low-cost printers, the sting in the tail comes with the cost of the replacement ink cartridges. The standard 304 black and tri-colour cartridges included with the printer cost £10 each, but only last for 120 mono pages and 100 colour pages. That works out

at a hefty 10p per page for colour, and an extravagant 8.3p per page for mono. Using HP’s high-yield 304 XL cartridges brings the cost of colour printing down to a more reasonable 7p per page. However, mono printing with the 304 XL black cartridge still comes to 6.5p per page – which is around three times what it ought to be. That’s hard to stomach, but HP is clearly trying to tempt you into signing up for its Instant Ink subscription service, which lets you print a fixed number of pages each month in return for a flat-rate monthly fee. A modest printer such as this would probably gain most from the entry-level subscription, which allows you to print 50 pages per month for £1.99 – or 4p per page. Again, that’s good for colour printing, but still high for mono. HP is, however, running a special offer with the DeskJet 3720 that gives you the first three months subscription for free, so it might be worth signing up for a few months to see how you get on.

Verdict We like the compact design of the DeskJet 3720, and its print quality and performance are good for a printer that costs just £55. However, its running costs are pretty high even if you commit to HP’s Instant Ink scheme, so the DeskJet 3720 will only be a good deal for people who have very light printing needs for the occasional letter or school report. J Cliff Joseph


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SET-TOP BOX

£44 per month

Sky Q

Contact n

sky.com/SkyQ

Specifications

HDMI out; 1x USB, (1A port, non-charging); optical S/PIDF (Digital Audio); 1x 10/100Mb/s Ethernet RJ45 port; composite video/L/R 4-pole 3.5mm jack (L/R/ Video/GND); wireless works dual band on 2.4- and 5GHz concurrently; 801.11n 2x2 MIMO; 5GHz 801.11ac is 3x3 MIMO; Bluetooth 4.0 LE support; 4:3, 16:9 aspect ratio support; video resolution supported: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 576p

Sky Q is a new type of set-top box from Sky that offers technical improvements on the existing Sky+ boxes, plus streaming and other home and offline benefits. In fact, with its new user interface, built-in apps and accessories, it’s really a whole new premium TV platform rather than just a shiny box. Build: Features: Performance: Value:

Design Sky has released three versions of its set-top box: the entry-level Sky Q, the high-end Sky Q Silver, plus the smaller Sky Q Mini. Both larger editions measure 330x210x43mm and are much slimmer than the chunky Sky+ box. As you’d expect from the name, the Sky Q Mini is even smaller at 232x155x35mm. The entry-level Sky Q box can record up to three shows at the same time, while allowing you to watch a fourth. It also has 1TB of storage space, enough to store 150 hours of HD TV according to Sky, and offers streaming onto one television or a tablet. The top-end Sky Q Silver box lets you record up to four shows while you view a fifth. It comes with 2TB of storage space, enough to store 350 hours of HD TV, and allows you to stream programmes onto two TVs or tablets. Last but not least is the Sky Q Mini, which works with Sky Q Silver to give you further access via your home network. All you need is an Ethernet cable or wireless connection, and a TV with an HDMI

port. It mirrors the experience from the main box so you can view shows and recordings as if you were in the main living room. All three boxes also act as a Wi-Fi hotspot for Sky Broadband customers when used with the Sky Q Hub router.

Remote control Sky Q comes with two types of remote control. One is a more compact version of the old Sky+ remote and is a standard pushbutton device. The more innovative Bluetooth Sky Q Touch controller is meant to help you navigate ‘naturally’ via touch controls that you swipe and tap. We suspect that many will lie gathering dust under the TV or in a drawer rather than becoming the first-choice remote. That said it has some handy tricks. For instance, if you’re one of those people who often lose the remote, you can press the Q button on the front of the box and the remote will start beeping. It could get cleverer yet as the Touch remote has a built-in mic, which Sky says will add voice search “before the end of the year”.

Wi-Fi hub Sky Broadband customers also get a new Sky Q Hub router, which enables your set-top boxes (including the Mini) to act as Wi-Fi hotspots. Although at the time of writing this feature is unavailable, Sky says it should be ready later this year.

Interface Sky Q comes with a new EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) and user interface, which will take some getting used to. Existing Sky customers have their browsing habits ingrained, and will need to learn the new interface through trial and error. This means trying to forget their old ways of doing things. You can, for example, search for your recordings alphabetically rather than slogging through chronologically – one reason why you have so many old unwatched shows. You can also view recordings via visual thumbnails as opposed to the old list format. Programme information is displayed at the top of the grid, and the live picture of the currently playing channel has moved to the middle of the left panel. A new feature called My Q helps you find the last show you watched and start where you left off. Here you can click on Continue, New Series or For You. Continue highlights programmes that you’ve started but not finished, while New Series suggests new seasons based on what you’ve previously enjoyed. For You recommends shows, films or sporting events you might like to view based on what you’ve watched before and even what time of day it is. Sky Q’s algorithm will need some time to get to know your viewing habits, and it will be mixed up with your wife and kids viewing habits, so expect a mash up of Breaking Bad


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and Peppa Pig, separated only by the time distinction. Another new innovation involves the remote’s Home button. Now when you press this, you won’t be taken to the EPG as before. Instead, the first page you’ll see is Top Picks, which feels a bit pushy after having more control previously. Here Sky Box Office programmes and other pay-per-view options are shown. We’d prefer the ability to hide or at least move this and choose our own first-click destination – probably either the TV guide or Recordings. There’s not even a Guide button on the remote, which also seems odd. Sky’s response is that Sky Q “was designed as a completely new way to watch TV” and is focused more on recordings and on-demand content. We still found ourselves mainly using the EPG, though. There’s also a new Sky Mini Guide (nothing to do with Sky Q Mini) that appears at the bottom of the screen when you click the touchpad on the touch remote. This shows you details of what is playing now – like the old ‘i’ information button on Sky+ – and you can swipe to the right to see what’s on later. Swipe down for programme information and even a live preview of other channels. While watching recordings you can use the Mini Guide to download other episodes or similar movies. When using pause, forward or rewind you’ll see where in the programme you are, which is useful, and a definite improvement on the previous interface. It’s worth noting that you can’t simply stream on-demand content, instead it must be downloaded to the box first – you don’t have to wait for the download to finish before watching though. This seems a little odd as although you can then keep the content (even if it gets removed from the library), it takes up space on the box. Sky said that the box will automatically delete things if the hard drive is full based on shows that have been watched and the oldest content. You can mark items to ‘keep’ to make sure programmes you love don’t suddenly disappear. Another annoyance is that you can’t download an entire series in one click. For example, Boardwalk Empire was about to be removed from Sky Box Sets but we had to download each episode one at a time. Sky is, however, introducing

Auto Download Next Episode – when you start watching an episode from a show, provided the next episode is available. There’s also Auto Play, which will prompt you to download the next episode when you reach the end, it will start playing after 30 seconds. These don’t exactly solve the problem, though.

Apps Sky Q brings smart TV features straight to the box, including a bunch of apps such as Sky Sports News HQ, Sky News, Music, My Photos, Weather and Help. The My Photos app lets you share your favourite photos on your big-screen TV, while Music uses video-streaming site Vevo to bring your favourite artists and new music videos and live performances to your TV. Plus, you can play your tunes via Apple AirPlay or Bluetooth. You can also tell Sky Q the name of your favourite football team, and it will keep you up to date with latest scores and transfers, for example. There’s even a goalalert function if you want it. These are all built into the Sky Q interface and you’ll need the Sky Q app itself to download your recordings onto a tablet for offline viewing. During testing we found it worked well, though it isn’t flawless. You can’t, for example, send set recordings from it, even when you’re at home, as you can with YouView, so you’ll need the Sky+ app for this.

4K Sky has launched 4K services on Sky Q Silver (not the basic non-Silver Sky Q or the Sky Q Mini) – one of the main demands it has received since Q launch day. Note, you’ll need a 4K-ready TV that supports 2160p at 50 frames per second and HDCP 2.2. Sky Q 4K content includes live Premier League games, every Formula 1 race from 2017, 70 movies including Spectre, 30 hours of natural history and new dramas such as The Blacklist. Customers can browse the 4K content via dedicated ‘Ultra HD’ sections.

Verdict Sky Q is a whole new TV platform, built around flexibility of viewing both online and offline. The kit is suitably stylish and makes the old Sky+ box look like a dinosaur. The ability to record up to four channels at once solves many of the old clashes that depressingly showed up in the old Planner listings. The extra storage on the Sky Q Silver will also be appreciated by most. You’ll either love or hate the Touch remote, and getting used to the new controls and user interface will infuriate you until you’re used to the changes. With an extensive range of content on offer, 4K on the way at no extra cost and the ability to take recordings with you via the app, Sky Q is the best home entertainment package you can get right now. J Simon Jary and Chris Martin


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Reviews

DASH CAM

£89 inc VAT

Mio MiVue 618

Contact n

eu.mio.com/en_gb

Specifications

2.7in display; 140-degree wide-angle lens; maximum resolution of 2304x1296 at 30fps; .MOV (H.264) video format; GPS logging; lane departure warning; speed camera alert; 32GB SD card recording time five hours; 90.2x49x35.2mm; car charger, suction mount

Mio is perhaps best known for its satnavs, but has now released a new range of dash cams. The MiVue 618 sits in the middle of its range and has a few interesting features which make it stand out from the crowd, such as speed camera warnings.

Design


Mio has clearly thought long and hard about how its dash cam and has come up with a near-perfect design. We like the fact that the front is all-black, which makes it more inconspicuous to anyone outside the car. The windscreen mount has a ball-joint for adjustment, and the cup is actually part of the dashcam

MiVue Manager

itself, which makes it more compact and it therefore sits higher on the windscreen and out of the way. However, the Mini-USB port is badly located on the top edge right under the lever for the suction mount, and this makes it awkward to plug in the power cable. Buttons are on the righthand edge and on-screen labels tell you their functions, which makes menus much easier to navigate. The menus are clear and nicely arranged, with plenty of options. It’s easy to enable a parking mode, although for anything more than a few hours we recommend getting the camera hard-wired with an external battery to avoid draining your car’s battery.

There’s an orange button on the rear next to the screen that lets you easily lock a recording if something happens, which prevents that clip being overwritten when the card becomes full. Similarly, there’s a G-sensor that will detect an impact and again lock the video file. You can adjust the sensitivity, but don’t put it on ‘high’ as every little bump in the road will set it off. There’s lane-departure and speed warning options, although the former (as we’ve seen on other dash cams) is too temperamental and is likely to be disabled soon after you first try it. The speed warnings can be useful, but we really like the safety camera alerts that show a distance meter on screen as you approach a camera location, so you can adjust your speed accordingly. The audio alerts are useful, although it’s a shame Mio hasn’t gone to the trouble of offering different voices: the Asian English speaker quickly got on our nerves. You can choose the resolution, the clip duration and all the other options you’d expect to find, including the ability to choose which data is stamped onto the video such as your speed and location. There’s also the choice of speed in miles or kilometres per hour. If you are involved in a collision, you can remove the camera from the car and use it to snap photos as evidence – these also have GPS location on them to prove where you when it happened. There’s a small battery in the 618 for this, and also to ensure the video is recorded to


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the microSD card (none is supplied) when you unplug it or switch off your ignition. If your car cuts power to its accessory socket when you turn off the ignition you can leave the power cable plugged in and the 618 will automatically start and stop recording. What the MiVue 618 doesn’t have is Wi-Fi, although we’ve yet to find this a useful addition in any dash cam. The £140 MiVue 658 has this, plus a touchscreen.

Daytime image

For video clips, go to tinyurl.com/jgnpg35

Performance The MiVue 618 defaults to its highest resolution of 2304x1296 at 30fps, but you can select 1920x1080 (or lower) if you prefer. There’s no 60fps option at these resolutions. The 140-degree lens means plenty of the scene in front of your car is captured, but also means registration plates are small unless you’re very close to another car. We didn’t find that the ‘extreme’ resolution offered much more detail than 1080p, but a bigger annoyance was the inaccurate colours. Roof tiles appeared bright orange and grass a lurid, unnatural shade of green. Other dash cams have better colours, if not noticeably better details. Above right is a still from the video. The 618’s image was also grainy and oversharpened, though it doesn’t really matter as it was still possible to read registration plates of cars driving in the opposite direction on a single-carriageway road when you pause the video. At night, quality drops off markedly. This is true of all dash cams, and like most of its rivals, it’s not possible to read registration plates from the 618’s night footage. Files are recorded in MOV format using H.264. For some reason, the default video player in Windows 10 refused to play audio from these files, but VLC was able to play them with sound. Also, you can download MiVue Manager from Mio’s website to review footage along with your speed, the G-sensor data and links to share on YouTube and Facebook. It’s one of the better utilities we’ve seen from a dash cam maker, but

100 percent crop

it doesn’t show a map of your location. All you can do is click the KML button to export a route that you can see in applications such as Google Earth.

Verdict Overall the MiVue 618 is well designed, easy to use and has some useful features, especially the speed camera warnings. Image quality isn’t the best, but unless you plan to use the footage for home movies, it doesn’t really matter: you can see the detail that’s important if you’re involved in a collision. J Jim Martin

An orange button on the rear lets you lock a recording if something happens, which stops that clip being overwritten when the card becomes full December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 45

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Reviews

SMART HOME

£159 per month

Ring Smart Doorbell

Contact n

ring.com

Specifications

180-degree field of view; 720p HD camera; nightvision mode; motion detection; smartphone alerts; two-way communication system; built-in 5200mAh battery; cloud storage optional; 126.4x61.7x22.1mm; 635g Smart home security systems are becoming increasingly popular in the UK with the likes of MyFox, Netgear and Piper all releasing smart security cameras that can be accessed via smartphones and computers. But what about the front door? While smart doorbells are relatively new in the UK, US residents have been using them for a while and Ring is one of the more popular options. Now available in the UK, we’ve spent some time with Ring to see if smart doorbells are a good idea, or just a technological fad. Build: Features: Performance: Value:

Design The Ring Doorbell is certainly interesting looking, and is far from discreet in terms of design. The rectangular doorbell looks sleek, modern and exciting looking, but some may argue that it draws attention to itself – especially the light-up LED ring around the button and the fish-eye camera staring back at you. However, it comes in a number of different finishes (Satin Nickel, Venetian Bronze, Antique Brass and Polished Brass), which should help the doorbell blend into the environment around it – or at least not stick out like a sore thumb. It’s big, too – larger than we thought it would be when looking at photos online, measuring in at 126.4x61.7x22.1mm. However with all that the Ring offers, we’re happy to attach a slightly bulky bell on our front door. It’s also worth mentioning that it was designed to be weatherproof, and the manufacturer claims it’ll survive not only in the rain but sleet, snow and extreme heat too, so no need to detach it when it starts to rain. When you press the Ring, visitors are provided with visual and audible

feedback in the form of an LED light pulsing around the doorbell button, and the chime of the door, which is played back via the built-in speaker. We’ve all been in situations where we’ve rung a doorbell and haven’t been sure whether it actually works – this simple feature removes the guess work and will let the visitor know that the doorbell is functional, an important factor to consider when installing a battery-powered doorbell that requires charging from time to time. Of course, the premium look and feel of the Ring may potentially make it a target for thieves. While the doorbell is securely fastened during setup, users can’t protect against all eventualities, and the company understands this, which is why it offers a free replacement doorbell if yours gets stolen. Yep, that’s right, if it ever gets broken, the company will replace it free of charge. It’s great of it to offer such coverage, especially as it alleviates some of the worries about attaching technology to a front door where it can be easily stolen.

Setup Before we go on to talk about the kind of features that Ring offers, we feel that we should first mention the setup process as it was one of the easiest smart home product setups we’ve ever done – and here’s why. Ring comes nicely packaged with easy access to the doorbell, but that’s not all – the smart doorbell also comes with a tool kit with everything you need to attach the doorbell to your front door, with everything from screws to a screwdriver and even a spirit level to make sure it’s properly aligned. It also comes with comprehensive

video instructions (via the Ring app) that will take you through the setup process for both wireless and wired setup (for those that want to wire it into an existing doorbell setup for power or ringing). Following the video instructions via the app and using the tools provided, we had our doorbell set up within five minutes of starting and as it connects to the internet via Wi-Fi and is powered by a battery, we didn’t have to faff around with any wiring. It was surprisingly simple to install and is something that anybody can do in our opinion.

Features So, what does Ring offer that a standard doorbell doesn’t? First of all, it features a wide-angle camera that offers a 180-degree field of view so you can always see what’s going on near your front door. While the camera offers only 720p HD video recording, we felt that the quality of the video was more than enough to assess who was at the front door. Of course, the quality does degrade as lighting does – it looks best on sunny days, with quality generally dropping at night. When it’s dark, users can still see what’s going on outside their front door thanks to the inclusion of infrared LEDs, which flood the area with infrared light and is picked up by the night-vision camera. The only downside to the night vision camera is that visitors are generally close to the front door, and the LEDs can shine brightly on their faces – while it’s undetectable by the naked eye, it does blow out their faces on video. See above right for a screenshot to illustrate our point. So, what actually happens when a visitor approaches your


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door and rings the doorbell? As soon as the doorbell has rung, you should receive a notification on all smartphones, tablets (iOS and Android compatible) and even PC and Macs (Windows 10 and Mac OS X) that have the Ring app installed – it can be installed on an unlimited number of devices, so no need to worry about limits. As well as receiving a notification on your device, a standard plug-in chime will play the same doorbell tone in case, for whatever reason, you don’t receive the notification. On one or two occasions we didn’t receive the Ring notification until 10- to 15 seconds after the doorbell was pressed. If we hadn’t had the chime plugged in near us, we would have missed the encounter completely – while a 10to 15-second delay may not seem like much, there’s a chance it could result in a missed delivery among other things. Another minor bug bear with Ring is that despite being extremely high-tech with NV, an app and more, you can’t actually change the default doorbell chime – something you can do with the cheapest standard doorbells. Once you open the notification on your smartphone, you’ll be welcomed with a full-screen live video stream of your front door. While your microphone is muted by default, tapping ‘Talk’ enables your microphone and allows you to talk directly to the person at the front door – no matter where you are. The glorious thing about a Wi-Fi connected doorbell is that you’ll be notified about doorbell rings wherever you are in the world as long as you have an internet connection. Users can pinch-to-zoom to get a better look of the person, and you can tap the ‘End’ button to end the video stream and upload it to Ring’s Cloud Storage, making it available for playback at a later date on any device. Though it seems simple, having a video camera at your front door provides users (especially the more vulnerable) with piece of mind – you’ll always be able to see who’s at your front door day or night before opening it, and you can communicate with the visitor without opening the door at all. While the cloud storage service is great and allows you to look back on visitors you’ve missed while you’ve

been away, you do have to pay for the service – following a 30-day trial, you have to cough up £2.50 per month for the service despite paying over £100 for the doorbell in the first place. It’s not uncommon in the smart security industry to have to pay extra for cloud storage, but is something we don’t agree with when there is no other alternative (SD card support). Along with notifying you whenever somebody rings your doorbell, Ring can also notify you whenever it detects motion near your front door – in fact, it can detect movement from up to 30ft away. This means that if you have some less-than-reputable characters lingering in your front garden/by your door, you’ll know about it. It also helps keep track of who is in (and who has left) the house. The app allows users to set up ‘zones’ to track detection in specific areas – for example, only the lefthand side of the view if your front door is right next to your neighbours – although we did have a few issues with the functionality. While Ring was phenomenal at detecting movement, even with the sensitivity at its lowest, it’d notify us about cars driving by and people walking past our house. With this being said, the feature works better with houses that have large front gardens opposed to city houses that generally have small gardens or open directly onto the road, and we disabled movement notifications quickly.

video stream and even interact with the visitor via your smartphone, tablet or computer provides extra security for those that may need it. The 720p HD camera isn’t the greatest quality in the world, but is more than enough to identify who is at your door and thanks to the two-way communication system, you can even talk to the visitor without opening the door. It’s beautifully simple to set up, the app is easy to use and the lifetime replacement offer is too tempting to say no to. J Lewis Painter

Verdict Despite a couple of flaws here and there, Ring is a favourite of ours. The ability to be notified on multiple devices whenever somebody is at the front door is very handy, and the fact that you can view a live December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 47

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Reviews

BLUETOOTH SPEAKER

£59 inc VAT

Jam Double Down

Contact n

uk.jamaudio.com

Specifications

Pair up for stereo audio; water resistant; six-hour battery life; 4W output; 88x89.5x89.5mm; 363g

Jam Audio has been producing audio devices for over 20 years. Its latest offering is the Double Down Bluetooth speaker.

Design


As you can see, it resembles the shape of a bongo drum, with a rounded body and flat top, which is where the single 4W speaker is housed. The device is clad mainly in a rubber-like material, which should give it some extra grip when playing bass heavy tunes, as well as extra protection if/when it gets dropped – normal plastic would simply crack, where rubber is more durable. It’s available in three colours – red, black or blue. The Double Down is robust, but still portable enough to sit in the palm of your hand, measuring in at 88x89.5x89.5mm. It’s lightweight too, weighing in at 363g, making it an ideal travel companion as it can be left in a rucksack/bag and forgotten about until required. Physical buttons on the front control audio playback, allowing users the option to control music via the speaker and not the source of the audio.

Features The main draw for this speaker the ability to pair it with another Double Down, providing users with wireless stereo audio. Doubling up on speakers provides users with louder, stereo audio and is a handy setup for trips to the beach, small house parties, and so on. Along with the ability to pair with another Double Down, the speaker also offers water resistance, though we’re not sure to what level. As both the ports and the speaker are exposed, we imagine it’ll survive a splash of water from a swimming pool, but nothing more. In terms of connectivity, the Jam has Bluetooth 4.1 and a 3.5mm auxiliary input, allowing the speaker to be used with non-Bluetooth enabled devices. There’s also a built-in mic for hands-free calls. The battery will last for around six hours between charges, which should be enough for an afternoon at the beach or a barbecue. The device is charged via Micro-USB.

Audio For a £59 speaker, the Double Down doesn’t sound bad. It comes with a

4W speaker that provides punchy, rounded bass tones, making it ideal for dance/Dubstep songs, although the bass levels did start to decrease as the volume levels rose. However despite the slight drop in bass at high volume, it didn’t ruin the overall audio experience for us – if you continuously desire loud music, think about buying two and pairing them up. Despite the aboveaverage levels of bass, it doesn’t drown out the mid-tones, although the vocals weren’t always as clear as we’d have liked. Overall, it’s a decent all-round speaker and although it won’t be able to compete with more premium Bluetooth speakers, it’s great for its price range.

Verdict Jam’s Bluetooth speaker is a decent option for those looking for a cheap Bluetooth speaker with decent levels of bass. The ability to pair up with another Double Down for stereo output is another selling point. It’s lightweight and compact too, and the water-resistance should protect the speaker from splashes of water, although not much else. J Lewis Painter


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ACTIVITY TRACKER


fossil.com/uk

Specifications

Android 4.4 or later; iPhone 5 onwards, with iOS 8.2 or later; Bluetooth 4.1 LE; 3-axis Accelerometer; vibration/haptics engine; wireless charging with included dock; 3ATM water resistant; 27mAh battery; 44x15mm; 72g


Fossil Q Grant charger

Fossil Q Grant A smartwatch with a screen isn’t the best solution for everyone. The Fossil Q Grant puts smart features such as notifications and activity tracking inside an analogue watch.

Finally, the Fossil has a 3ATM rating, which means it’s splashproof and water resistant, though you shouldn’t fully submerge it so don’t wear it swimming.

Design

Features

A ‘semi-smartwatch’ means that the device looks and works like a regular analogue watch. It is one after all, and the Fossil Q Grant is leagues ahead of the competition when it comes to design and build. It may be more expensive than some rivals we’ve tested but you’re buying a well-known and respected watch brand. The Q Grant will certainly turn heads with its gorgeous watch face. Our review unit was a stylish cream colour, with roman numerals and a sunken section in the middle that houses three more dials (more on these later). We love the chunky 44mm metal frame, which has a chrome finish where it meets the glass and a brushed finish round the edge for a two-tone look. There’s also the matching buttons and crown on the right-side. The leather strap is comfortable and starts to look weathered after a while, adding to its character – it’s 22mm and quick release so it’s easy to change it. Bear in mind that the more feminine ‘sand leather’ option still has a 44mm case, which will be too big for a lot of women. It’s also not the most slender of watches at 15mm, making it all the more manly. Disappointingly, the rear is made from a light grey plastic, which is clearly visible when the watch is on your wrist and detracts from the overall style.

There’s not a massive amount to talk about when it comes to the Q Grant’s specifications since the watch doesn’t have a touchscreen. This means it doesn’t need powerful components, though there is an Intel logo on the rear indicating the supplier of the tech element. Instead, the smart features come in the form of a vibration motor and LED lights (one on either side of the case). Connected to an iPhone (5 or later with iOS 8.2 or later) or Android (version 4.4 or later) over Bluetooth (4.1 LE), you can get notifications through to the Q Grant. During our tests, we had issues using the Q Grant with Android and experienced frequent drop outs, and sometimes had to pair it with the phone as if for the first time. Other reviewers seem to have had the same issue, though not with iOS. We’ve seen some software updates since receiving our sample, but nothing has solved the problem. Using the Fossil Q app, you can customise the notifications you receive. You can set up to five contacts, each with a different colour (choose from seven options) and vibration patterns, so you’ll know exactly who is calling or texting you. It’s just a shame you can’t have a setting for all your contacts. Customisation options include how strong the vibration is and the length of delay between the vibration and the LED coming on – handy if you need more time to glance at the colour. You can have just one or the other if you prefer. There’s also the choice of which LED to use or have both flashing. The Fossil Q Grant can also track your activity thanks to its 3-axis accelerometer, which provides basic information via the app such as

steps taken, distance covered and calories burned. There’s nothing fancy like a heart-rate monitor, elevation or sleep tracking, though. It’s a shame, then, that none of the watch face’s small dials are linked to your activity progress. We imagined one would be your step count (or percentage of goal), as on the Withings Activité, but sadly none are. Instead they represent (from left to right): stopwatch minutes, stopwatch seconds and a 24-hour count. You control the stopwatch with the two buttons either side of the watch crown. Fossil says that the battery will last for a week, though we found that it lasted for longer if we didn’t receive too many notifications. It’s easy to charge too, as the supplied stand is also a wireless charger.

Verdict The Fossil Q Grant is the best looking and well made ‘semi-smartwatch’ we’ve seen. It’s both stunning and affordable, though the plastic rear is a shame. Smart features such as customised notifications and activity tracking work well but are basic. Our main issue is the connectivity issues with Android. J Chris Martin


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Reviews

SMARTWATCH

Motorola Moto 360 Sport


motorola.co.uk

Specifications

1.37in (360x325, 263ppi) LCD screen; Android Wear (Android 4.3 or later) and (iPhone 5 onwards, with iOS 8.2 or later); Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 1.2GHz quad-core CPU; Adreno 305, 450MHz GPU; 512MB RAM; 4GB internal storage; Bluetooth 4.0 LE; Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g; accelerometer; ambient light sensor; gyroscope; vibration/haptic engine; optical heart-rate monitor; GPS; altimeter; dual digital mics; wireless charging with included dock; IP67 dust and water resistant; 300mAh battery; 45x11.5mm; 54g


If you’re looking for the best smartwatch for fitness, then the Moto 360 Sport, with its heart-rate monitor and GPS, could be for you.

Design Motorola’s latest offering has the familiar Moto 360 style, but with the added traits of a power button at two o’clock and micro-etching on the bezel. At 45mm, the case size is a tiny bit smaller than the larger Moto 360, but is slightly thicker at 11.5mm. Weighing in at 54g, it’s not heavy though. The main difference is that the watch is enclosed in an all-in-one silicone strap. Build quality is just as good, but the emphasis is on practicality rather than style. You can’t personalise it with the Moto Maker, but it’s available in white or ‘Orange Flame’, though most retailers offer only the black model. Opting for a silicone strap might not look as good but it’s much better for activities such as running. The stretchy rubber means it stays put while you’re moving your arms around and can easily be cleaned – handy since dust and dirt tent to stick to it. The Moto 360 Sport band can’t be removed though, which is a little strange but perhaps means things are held together better. Like other Android Wear smartwatches, the Moto 360 Sport

is IP67 rated, which means it’s both dust and water resistant. Running in the rain is fine, but you shouldn’t fully submerge it.

Performance The core specifications of the Moto 360 Sport match up to those of Motorola’s non-fitness watch (and other Android Wear devices). The combination of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 4GB of storage and 512MB of RAM is familiar, and it’s no surprise that the watch runs smoothly in operation. The Moto 360 2 is available in either 35- or 40mm options for the screen, but the Moto 360 Sport comes in just 35mm. The resolution matches its sibling at 360x325 pixels. Sadly, the ‘flat tyre’ – the black section at the bottom of the display – remains. This houses the ambient light sensor that the hybrid screen makes use of. The shape of the glass around the edge makes the screen look a bit odd, distorting the pixels, but it’s not a huge issue. Motorola claims the ‘AnyLight’ display is the “world’s first hybrid screen”. It means that indoors you’ll get the normal LCD experience, but

go outside for a run and the screen automatically switches to a black and white mode that reflects natural light. During testing, we found this worked pretty well. The battery is the same size as the Moto 360 2’s at 300mAh and you’ll probably need to charge it every night, especially if you go out for a run. It’s easy to charge though, since the docking station sits nicely on a bedside table and provides wireless charging. To be the best smartwatch for fitness GPS is essential and is present here. When you’re out for a run, it’s easy to start tracking via the custom watch face using the preinstalled Moto Body. You can also use other running and fitness platforms if you like, including Google Fit, RunKeep, Strava, Under Armour Record and Fitbit. You get all the details you’d expect such as pace, lap time, distance and more, plus you don’t need to go running with your phone, which is a bonus. You can even listen to music if you store music on the Moto 360 Sport and use Bluetooth headphones. Just remember to sync the data for your runs with


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the paired smartphone because it won’t stay there forever – this caught us out and we lost the data for a number of long walks we did on the Acer Scilly Media Challenge. To accompany the GPS is an optical heart-rate monitor on the back of the watch. This is designed to measure your heart rate continuously, but while it’s pretty accurate for resting heart rate, we found it erratic when we were running. Like other Android Wear smartwatches with heartrate monitors, you can’t fully rely

on it for accurate data; therefore real enthusiasts will want to look elsewhere if this is important. That’s pretty much everything covered aside from the fact that the Moto 360 Sport has Wi-Fi (in case you’re not connected to a phone over Bluetooth) and runs on Android Wear – compatible with Android and iPhone – so you can use it like any other smartwatch on Google’s platform. You’ll receive notifications on your wrist, plus you get extras such as voice commands and directions on Google Maps.

Verdict Available for under £200, the Motorola Moto 360 Sport is one of the best smartwatches for fitness we’ve seen. You get some of the regular 360 style in a design that is practical for activities such as running. The GPS tracking is accurate, though it’s shame the same can’t be said of the heart-rate monitor and we still find the ‘flat tyre’ on the screen an eyesore. A solid effort, but hard-core fitness fans might need something that is more in-depth. J Chris Martin


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ACTIVITY TRACKER

£129 inc VAT

Fitbit Charge 2

Contact n

fitbit.com/uk

Specifications

iOS, Android, Windows, OLED display; pedometer; optical heart-rate tracker; sleep tracking; alarm; third-party synching; call notifications; waterproof; 3-axis accelerometer; altimeter; vibration motor; 5-day battery life; 35g

Build: Features: Performance:

Fitbit has replaced its popular Charge and Charge HR activity trackers with the Charge 2. With interchangeable straps, new sports features and a larger display there’s much to like, but at £129 it’s not an impulse purchase. We put the tracker through its paces.

Value:

Features Using its MEMS 3-axis accelerometer, the Charge 2 continues to track steps, distance travelled, calories burned, active minutes and hourly activity, plus sleep duration and quality. It also has an altimeter that records the number of floors climbed. Fitbit’s tracker might not have HR in its name any more, but it retains the PurePulse heart-rate monitor, which allows users to monitor workout intensity

and calories burned, plus see the results via interactive charts and graphs on the app and dashboard. The heart-rate icon on the Charge 2’s display tells you if you’re in one of three heart-rate zones: Fat Burn: Low- to medium-intensity exercise at 50- to 69 percent of maximum heart rate Cardio: Medium- to high-intensity exercise at 70- to 84 percent of maximum heart rate Peak: High-intensity exercise area for short intense sessions at 85 percent of your maximum heart rate During testing, we found that heart-rate monitoring worked well with the new interval training feature, which guided us through alternating periods of high-intensity exercise and recovery to maximise workouts, so you can stay focused. If you want accurate heartrate data, you’ll need to strap a specialist device to your chest as it will measure your heart beat at source. Wristband trackers, instead, use an optical monitor that detects the pulse by shining a light through the skin to see your blood flow. The Charge 2 isn’t 100 percent accurate but will give you an indication of your heart rate, which will be fine for most casual athletes.

The firm has also upgraded the smartphone caller ID, text and calendar alerts, which use the Charge 2’s vibration motor – adding Reminders to Move, which prompts you if you aren’t moving enough. Fitbit encourages you to take at least 250 steps per hour during the day. These hourly activity stats also show up on the mobile Fitbit app. The device’s call and calendar notifications are excellent, although texts are a little slow to arrive and not as easy to read as we hoped. Such notifications are welcome though, especially when exercising. The Charge 2 also expands on the HR’s multi-sport tracking capabilities, with a connection to your smartphone’s GPS for data on pace and distance. Users can track specific exercises, such as running, weights or yoga, to see their workout stats on the tracker’s display. The lack of built-in GPS will, however, disappoint some runners and cyclists, who prefer not to carry their phone around with them on a run or bike ride. Fitbit’s latest device now lets you complete a series of guided intervals during your workout. Interval training includes any workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity followed by periods of lower intensity activity or rest. Adding


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intervals to your workouts can help you burn more calories and improve your aerobic capacity. The Charge 2 will vibrate and you’ll see the word ‘Move’ on your screen when you should begin moving. When it’s time to recover, your tracker will vibrate again and you’ll see the word ‘Rest’. Another new feature is the Fitbit Cardio Fitness Level, which allows users to see a snapshot of their fitness level using a personalised Cardio Fitness Score. Viewable in the heart-rate section of the app, the score is an estimation of your VO2 Max (the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use when you’re working out at your hardest). You’ll get a rating based on your resting heart rate and personal information (such as weight) from your profile, which compares your fitness levels against other people of the same age range and gender. Sometimes it’s healthy to calm down, and with this in mind Fitbit has introduced Guided Breathing, which is designed to help users find ‘moments of calm’ throughout the day with personalised breathing sessions based on their heart rate. It uses the device’s vibration motor so you can breathe in sync without looking at the screen. Each session can last either two- or five minutes, and it takes around 30 seconds to measure your initial heart rate.

Display The most obvious improvement to Fitbit’s tracker is the larger interactive OLED display, which shows off more fitness data right on your wrist. As well as the time and date, you’ll also see two stats, and a simple tap on the screen toggles to the next set of information. You can personalise what you see, and choose from different clock styles via the Fitbit app. It’s monochrome, and less luscious than the Apple Watch or even Fitbit’s own Blaze, but this ensures the battery lasts longer. This type of display was first seen on the Fitbit Alta, with customisable watch faces. You can wear the Charge 2 as your main timepiece or double up with your favourite standard watch if you prefer. With the call, text and calendar notifications (plus the fitness tracking features) the tracker will certainly offer you more than a traditional wristwatch.

At first we wondered how useful this larger screen would be – after all, we don’t need to see the time and date alongside every stat. However, the more we used the Charge 2, the more we appreciated the bigger display. We found ourselves having to push the device’s button less, plus it’s handy receiving text and caller alerts on the larger screen. To view the wealth of exercise metrics the tracker produces, you’ll need to delve deeper, either by pushing the side button or tapping the screen.

Straps One of the complaints about the older Charge HR was that you couldn’t replace the wristband, so if it was damaged you had to buy a whole new tracker. Fitbit has fixed this by giving the Charge 2 interchangeable straps, so you can swap around colours and versions of wristband, from the Classic or Special Edition bevelled-diamond designs, to luxury leather straps. The tracker retains the HR’s stainless steel watch-buckle, which is much more secure than the pop-in clasp connectors of the Alta.

Battery life Fitbit claims that the Charge 2 has a battery life of up to five days, which is a little less than the five+ days promised by the older Charge HR. This slight reduction is probably due to the larger display. The battery is lithium-polymer, with a charge time of between one and two hours. Unfortunately, Fitbit continues its annoying habit of designing a new charging cable for every single one of its trackers, with the Charge 2 requiring a different cable to previous models.

Waterproof Fitbit’s Flex 2 tracker is waterproof and ready to track swimming stats, but the Charge 2 remains water resistant only, so is fine against rain, sweat and splashes but not up to a dive in the sea or your local swimming pool.

Challenges and badges The joy of using a Fitbit is not just in the hardware. The mobile app is superbly designed, with simple, clear graphics and graphs that show you how you are doing to hit those daily health metrics (step count,

floors climbed, distance, calories burned, sleep duration and quality, heart rate, weight loss, and so on). Each can be tapped for more detailed historical analysis, so you can see how all that exercise is helping you get fitter. Fitbit also leads the way when it comes to making fitness fun and competitive. It’s a real incentive to take part in your seven-day step count against friends, colleagues and family. You can also contest in special daily or weekend Challenges. Fitbit Adventures is a new series of immersive Challenges in the app that let you virtually exploring scenic destinations and even compete on famous running courses. Get more steps by seeing how you are doing on the New York City Marathon, which features a 3.1-mile Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K race experience, a 10-mile challenge, and the full 26.2-mile distance. With each of your real-world steps you virtually advance on a preset route.

Verdict The Fitbit Charge 2 is a worthy upgrade to the extremely popular Charge HR. It will appeal to both the casual get-fit user and the more serious fitness freaks, although runners might prefer a tracker with built-in GPS. Users will love the larger display and interchangeable wristbands, plus the updated fitness features. It has most of the features a serious keep-fit enthusiast demands, and can connect with a smartphone’s GPS for runners who want to track their pace and lap times. Fitbit has more minimalist or fashion-conscious wristband trackers (Flex 2 and Alta, both of which lack the Charge 2’s heart-rate monitor and associated benefits such as Cardio Fitness ratings), but this has it all and looks more chic than the average activity tracker and is our favourite. J Simon Jary December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 53

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ACTIVITY TRACKER


misfit.com/uk_en

Specifications

iOS, Android, ; pedometer; sleep tracking; alarm; third-part app synching; call notifications; waterproof; 6-month battery life; 8g


Misfit Ray We’ve reviewed several of Misfit’s activity trackers over the past few years, and have found them to be a very worthy Fitbit rival (read our review of the Charge 2 on page 52). The Ray is our favourite yet, with a stylish design, solid feature set and a really reasonable price tag to boot. It’s a bit of an odd one though, because its features are not all that different from the older Misfit Shine 2. Both offer the usual fitness tracker features to help you count steps, calories, miles and other activities; use the same app to help you see all of that data in one place; offer automatic sleep tracking; have haptic feedback and are swim proof. The main differences are the design, which in turn means that only the Shine 2 can be used as a watch. The Ray has a stylish cylindrical design that we like, while the Shine 2 is a slightly less stylish disc shape that’s more in-keeping with a traditional watch. It will come down to personal preference and the need for a timepiece when deciding between the two, but for us the Ray is the winner here. And if you’re up for it, it can sit comfortably next to your current watch without looking too clunky, so that’s an option too.

Design As we’ve already mentioned, the Misfit Ray has a cylindrical design

that makes it one of the more stylish activity trackers available. It comes in six different colours: Carbon Black, Rose Gold, Navy, Forest, polished Stainless Steel or polished Stainless Steel Gold. Each has multiple band options too, including a leather option if you’d prefer that to the default plastic, although that will bring the price up to almost £100 from the cheaper £79. There are also accessories packs available for the Ray, including strap three-packs to help you coordinate with your outfit, a nice double-wrap leather band, or even a chain that lets you wear the Ray as a necklace. The tracker can’t be removed from the band for attaching to your belt or popped into your pocket, though – the Shine 2 can but that means you won’t be able to take advantage of the vibration or the watch features anyway. While testing the Shine 2, we did pop the device into our pocket during a fancy meal out because we weren’t the biggest fan of its plasticky and somewhat masculine design, but we felt much more comfortable wearing the Ray on an evening out. We found the Misfit Ray comfy to wear – we usually get uncomfortable with activity trackers on our wrist while we sleep, but this one is easily adjustable to make it as loose or as tight as you’d like it, and it rests comfortably on the top of your wrist too. The plastic band and the device itself are very durable – they look as good as new after our several weeks of constant wear. It’s waterproof too, so there’s no need to take it off in the shower or during a swimming session, although we’d advise taking it off if you’re in the sea.

Tracking features Setting up the Ray is easy. Simply download the Misfit app to your Android or iPhone, and then connect the tracker using Bluetooth.

It will work with any device running iOS 7 or later, or Android 4.3 and above. You’ll need to set up a Misfit account if this is your first tracker from the company, which requires your gender, age, weight and height to improve the tracker’s accuracy. Once that’s set up you can pair your devices and you’re good to go. You don’t need to tell the Ray when you start running or sleeping either – it’s all automatic. Your default daily targets are an hour of walking, 20 minutes of running and 30 minutes of swimming, and you’ll be awarded points for your activity each day. You can change those targets to suit you, then try to hit them each day. We’ve found wearing the Ray to be very motivating. When there’s the option to take the bus or walk, we’ve been choosing the latter (and saving a few pennies, too). It’s even more motivating if your friends have a Misfit device, as you’ll be able to connect with them and compete. We’d like to see an altimeter for tracking how many floors you’ve climbed, and it’s also missing a heart-rate monitor and GPS. That’s why we’d argue that the Ray is for the more casual user, rather than a serious athlete. If you’re in the


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We usually get uncomfortable with activity trackers on our wrist while we sleep, but this one is easily adjustable to make it as loose as you like second group, we’d advise looking at a GPS-enabled tracker or even one of the more pricey Fitbit models such as the Blaze or Charge 2. Additional features include notification vibration alerts, which means you don’t need to have your phone with you at all times to know that you’ve got a message or a call. Those notifications are paired with a light, too. If it’s an incoming call, for example, you’ll see a green flashing light as the Ray vibrates. For texts you’ll see a blue pulse, and for other alerts you’ll see purple. The light will show a different colour depending on how much activity progress you’ve made too. Red for 25 percent; red to orange for 50 percent; red to orange and then yellow for 75 percent; red to orange, yellow and white for 99 percent; and red to orange, yellow and finally green once you hit the target. You can download the Misfit Link app and pair it with the Ray

too, although we found it to be a bit on the clunky side. You can tap the tracker twice or three times to perform a preset action, but it’s hard to know whether your taps have registered so we tended not to use it. When it comes to battery life, there is absolutely no charging involved. You’ll need to replace its little button battery (included) about

once every six months, though you’ll be alerted when this is running low by the app, so there’s no need to worry about running out of charge without you realising.

Verdict We’d recommend the Misfit Ray. It’s really good-looking and the choice of colours makes it even more stylish to suit each individual, haptic feedback is a real boon and it compares really well with rivals in the same price range. Battery life is excellent and the app is intuitive too. ;You’ll find that you’re motivated to get out there and get fit in no time. J Ashleigh Allsopp


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GAMES CONSOLE

From £299 inc VAT Contact n

xbox.com/en-GB

Specifications

500GB hard drive (internal); Xbox Wireless Controller with 3.5mm headset jack; console stand (for vertical orientation); HDMI cable; AC power cable

Xbox One S If you’re a PC-first type of person, there’s really only one reason to buy Microsoft’s Xbox One S: you own or plan to own a 4K HDR TV, and want a relatively affordable but featurepacked media box to show it off. As a gaming machine, the Xbox One S fills an awkward niche in Microsoft’s line-up. At £249 for 500GB of storage, it’s £30 more than the existing Xbox One for the same 1080p gameplay. Microsoft says the One S will upscale games to 4K, but this slimmer Xbox One will almost certainly be eclipsed in a year’s time, when the firm’s more powerful Project Scorpio and its promise of 4K console gaming launches in 2017. But unlike Sony and its PlayStation 4, Microsoft has always seemed to think of the Xbox One as the living-room gateway to its software and services. Whether touting the system as an all-in-one media box or the best platform for console-exclusive games, the company tied the machine into the Windows ecosystem. In the Windows 8 era, Microsoft provided an app that let you control the console from your PC. With Windows 10, it dangled the lure of features such as streaming from an Xbox One to a PC, with new ones continually in the pipeline for launch. Microsoft has now pushed live its update for the Xbox One – which some might call the equivalent of the Windows 10 Anniversary Update – and the One S is the first console designed to show off its new media support. This slimmer Xbox One might catch the eye, but being 40 percent smaller by volume than its predecessor isn’t its strongest selling point. The compact design is meaningful, but not as much as the sparkling 4K content that the console can push to your TV.

4K After 3D televisions largely bombed, TV makers began selling consumers on the next big thing: 4K Ultra High-Definition (UHD) displays. To make them even more tempting, the newest sets feature a new metric of visual quality: high dynamic range (HDR). This is harder for us to appreciate without seeing a direct comparison

with non-HDR content, but we can certainly see the benefit of 4K. The additional resolution lends an air of reality that even 1080p lacks. More and more 4K content is finally becoming available too, making it more worthwhile to upgrade. It’s no longer just limited handfuls of Netflix series and YouTube videos, but you now can buy 4K Blu-ray discs as well. To take advantage of the latter, however, you need to buy a 4K Blu-ray player, and they’re not cheap. Prices bounce around between roughly £250 and £500. So the Xbox One S’s support for both 4K Blu-ray discs, 4K streaming, and HDR make it seem inexpensive, especially given all of its other capabilities – much like how Sony’s PlayStation 3 was generally thought of in the same light for the first Blu-ray discs in 2006. (Sony has unveiled its own 4K, HDRcapable PlayStation 4 Pro, which is set to ship in November.) And that 4K content looks great on the screen, whether it’s streamed from Amazon, Netflix, or YouTube, or played off a 4K HDR Blu-ray. How much of a ‘wow’ factor you’ll encounter will depend on what you watch – Microsoft provided a 4K Blu-ray of 2009’s Star Trek, but that film’s brown-and-orange palette didn’t do much for us despite looking sharp and detailed. Netflix and YouTube offered many more impressive moments,

especially when viewing the sort of bright, vibrant nature videos that television makers use to show off their latest products. The S will support games with HDR, incidentally. But the first ones with that feature, such as Gears of War 4, and Scalebound, are still some months away. Microsoft’s Mike Ybarra has also said that the One S will upscale games to 4K resolutions – if it does, though, we saw no obvious indication of that in our review unit, even with a 4K, HDR-enabled display. Keep in mind, though, that upscaling interpolates pixels, which is different than processing a game and textures specifically designed for 4K.

Home entertainment centre Unlike the original Xbox One, the One S actually looks like a media box that would fit comfortably in your existing living-room setup. Measuring 29.5x22.8x5cm, it’s about 40 percent smaller. Cooling appears to be a priority. The dimpled front panel lacks any obvious vents. If laid flat, however, both the sides and top include an ample grille of small holes above roomy cutouts. Although there appears to be what looks like a second grille inside, guarding some of the components, it’ll be interesting to see how much hair and other gunk accumulates inside over the course of its life. That


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said, in its clean state, the One S remained cool to the touch and without any apparent fan noise when tested in an air-conditioned house and office with ample airflow. Microsoft has designed the One S to be stored vertically as well as horizontally. A low-profile stand, which comes included for free with the 2TB version, slides snugly onto one side of the console, with two plastic tabs that fit into small slots. Once it’s on and the Xbox One is positioned vertically, the console should withstand a slight knock but perhaps not a disgruntled cat that’s intent on ‘accidentally’ knocking it off. Microsoft says that the stand is removable, but the process is not for the faint hearted; it fastens very securely, so your best bet is to plan your entertainment console layout beforehand. It also seals off a whole side of the One S, although we imagine the system’s cooling scheme accounts for this – we played Forza Motorsport 6 and Grand Theft Auto 5 for at least an hour, and even with the stand connected, the One S felt cool to the touch. We didn’t hear its fan either. On the rear are two HDMI ports, one in and one out from the TV, as well as a pair of USB 3.0 sockets, SPDIF and ethernet, plus an IR-out port. On the front, there’s a third unmarked USB port for USB drives, a button to sync with the controller, an IR receiver, a power button, as well as a button to eject game discs. However, the One S lacks a dedicated Kinect port. Those who own a Kinect and are upgrading from the original Xbox One can ask for a free USB dongle (tinyurl.com/jzoyp3h) that can accommodate the Kinect. (Microsoft didn’t send us that dongle in time for this review, so we couldn’t evaluate how well it works.) Besides altering the scheme from black-on-black to white with black accents, only very subtle changes differentiate the standard Xbox One controller from the one that comes with Xbox One S. They include a textured back that promises a better grip for sweaty hands, and a 3.5mm audio jack in the front that allows you to easily plug in a headset or headphones. The new One S controller is also Bluetooth-enabled and can be used with a Windows 10 PC sans a dongle or cord.

Both controllers are otherwise virtually identical, though the One S controller feels slightly more ‘squished’ from the side, perhaps in keeping with the compact feel of the One S. The shoulder buttons are both less pronounced and firmer than the original Xbox One’s controller, without as much travel distance and play.

Interface Gamers tend to fixate on frame rates, visual quality, and the graphics horsepower available to games on their console. But one of the shortcomings of the original Xbox One is much simpler: the lengthy boot time. Our system currently requires a whopping one minute and 20 seconds just to actually load the main UI, and as much as one minute and 47 seconds before the standard notifications (External storage ready) disappear. The One S required just 45 seconds. However, if you compare that to a standard Surface Pro 4 running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, 45 seconds seems like an eternity. The SP4 takes 20 seconds to launch from a cold boot, and just three seconds to resume from a sleep state. Clearly there’s room for improvement here, and the fact that you can’t (officially) swap out the internal hard drive for an SSD means that performance will still lag. Even if you were to go that route, switching to an SSD would inflate the price of your console while reducing the amount of available storage. (Unless you really have deep enough pockets to buy a 2TB SSD.) Another issue is that the user interface itself seems to require time to ‘warm up’. The first time you try to open up the left-hand sidebar interface, the system seemingly lags for a second or two. Using the shoulder buttons to navigate back and forth between the Dashboard’s sections is satisfactory, though it seems that every so often the One S doesn’t register a button click. Once you’re navigating around the Dashboard, other small irritations crop up. These stem from legacy UI design: when the Xbox One first launched, it came out of the gate as a living-room entertainment device. For example, you can let NFL game highlights play in a snapped window alongside

OneGuide listings. The problem is, snapping is cumbersome if you don’t use voice commands (either through a headset or Kinect), which is what the interface had originally been designed to use. We never thought we’d say this, but our existing Comcast Xfinity X1 set-top box provides a superior approach. Not only does the voiceequipped remote work better than Cortana (more on that later), but the X1 lumps all of its movies into one content bin, eliminating the need to download multiple apps. We do like OneGuide’s ‘trending’ programmes (which are handled better than how Comcast does it), and how Microsoft allows you to see tweets from people watching a given show. Fortunately, there’s nothing precluding us from using our Comcast interface while otherwise using the Xbox One S as a gateway.

Windows 10 With the emergence of Windows 10 and Microsoft’s cloud services, it’s not enough to talk about the Xbox One S as a standalone console, such as the Nintendo Wii U. As part of the Windows 10 ecosystem, the Xbox One S (like the original Xbox One) can tap into apps like Microsoft’s Edge internet browser. It can also run UWP apps such as Netflix. Likewise, Windows 10 has features built into it that tightly with Xbox usage. And the Anniversary Update brings with it improvements for features like higher frame rate (60fps) recording of games captured on Windows 10 PCs, enables crossplatform access to Xbox Play Anywhere games, and adds game hubs for PC games.



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On the Xbox One and One S, Cortana makes its official debut. (As does voice commands over a headset.) In many ways, Cortana just replaces the familiar ‘Xbox, [do this]’ commands, such as snapping a live TV window alongside a game. It’ also a bit slow to respond in certain situations, but Microsoft’s hardware, properly configured, can pick out your commands from a noisy environment. For original Xbox One owners who were frustrated by Kinect’s lack of consistent responsiveness to voice commands, this Dashboard update may provide some relief. But these updates also come accompanied by some quirks in performance. In particular, our experience with the game streaming feature (which allows Windows 10 PC users to remotely control and play games from their Xbox One) was far less successful on the One S than my original console. Even though we reproduced our earlier setup – the Xbox One S was down a floor, and several rooms away – performance was inconsistent. On one night, we were able to connect a Windows 10 Anniversary Update PC to the One S, and play Forza Motorsport 6 and Forza Horizon 2 at Medium detail levels, with just occasional disconnects. A day later, and the PC couldn’t find the One S at all. Granted, we’ve had better luck playing games such as the slowerpaced The Witcher 3 over streaming, which probably places less stress on the connection. So much of the experience when streaming games depends on the game, the network quality and bandwidth, and other factors. But for us, the experience wasn’t as good. We will say, however, that the wireless connection between the controller and

the Xbox One S is excellent. While the controller can connect wirelessly to your PC via Bluetooth (click the pair button on the controller to initiate it), you may find, as we did, that it will first successfully connect to the console. That may have played a role in our streaming issues, since we had better luck connecting a wired Xbox 360 controller to a PC and playing that way.

Games We haven’t forgotten that the Xbox One is a game console. Perhaps you like to play the occasional console game (Halo, after all, has yet to come to PC) – maybe you enjoy playing more often than that. If so, you’ll be happy to know that the One S is virtually the same gaming experience as the Xbox One. There are some minor differences, due to improved hardware. The launch edition of the Xbox One S has a massive 2TB hard drive, which allows games to be stored locally and launch quickly. (That said, the cheap USB external drive attached to our original Xbox One does provide the equivalent amount of storage with acceptable performance.) Games that take advantage of the One S’s HDR capabilities are also on their way, such as Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3 – though it’ll take months before they arrive. And the One S is supposed to upscale games if you’re playing on a 4K TV, but so far we haven’t seen anything that indicated that is

indeed happening. We connected the Xbox One and the One S to different HDMI ports on the same 4K display, then played the same games to try and discern any difference. Of the games we tried, all looked identical between the two systems, and we noticed no differences in frame rate. (In a report, Eurogamer found that the One S clock is 7 percent faster than the One – 914MHz versus 853MHz, resulting in small frame rate increases of 2fps to 5fps in certain games and under specific conditions. Again, we noticed no differences between the two consoles in terms of frame rate.) “Upscaled experiences will vary based on the game or app,” Microsoft said, when we asked it our experience was out of the ordinary. So this feature’s appeal will depend on how well and pervasively it’s supported in the future.

Verdict For us, the One S is the equivalent of retooling an American car for the European market, shrinking it down while adding the latest gizmos to appeal to a fresh audience. For PC fans who already happen to own an Xbox One and don’t own a 4K TV, we’d say to hold on to your money and wait for Project Scorpio in 18 months. By then, 4K TVs should be even more advanced and potentially cheaper, and in the meanwhile you can still play whatever console exclusives you love on the original Xbox One. But if you’ve already invested in 4K hardware, and either want to get your hands on Halo or just a much more versatile 4K Blu-ray player, then why not? The One S has taken Microsoft’s original concept of an all-in-one entertainment device and improved it nicely for the 4K generation. J Mark Hachman



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GAME

From £34 inc VAT

No Man’s Sky

Contact n

no-mans-sky.com

Requirements

Windows 7 or later; Intel Core i3; 8GB RAM; Nvidia GTX 480, AMD Radeon 7870; 10GB storage space; PlayStation 4

Before its release, No Man’s Sky was the most hyped game of recent years, offering users the ability to explore a universe of 18 quintillion planet-sized planets, each with unique plant and wildlife. We look at whether it managed to live up to people’s expectations.

Gameplay In its simplest form, No Man’s Sky is an open-world game built upon four simple pillars: exploration, survival, combat and trading. It’s also unimaginably large and while there’s no official number on how many planets there are to explore in the game, its developer (Hello Games) has said there are a whopping 18 quintillion, all with unique flora and fauna. The planets aren’t all similar, either. In our experience they vary widely. Some, for example, were full of life, while others were desolate, bleak environments with no fauna or flora. We also encountered huge differences in temperature, ranging from arctic conditions to extremely hot. It was, however, the variety of wildlife on those planets that we found to be the most exciting and fascinating feature of No Man’s Sky. Going from one planet to another was exciting as we had no idea what to expect, and the appearance of the animals differed depending on the

environment – grassy planets would have bug-like animals, while dry, hot planets had reptile-esque creatures. The weirdest animal we encountered has to be one that had the body of a Llama and the neck of a long flower, with no head. However, despite having no head, a trumpet noise bellowed from the opening of the flower, and trust us when we say that being chased around a dangerous planet by that is a terrifying experience. The coolest/saddest thing about the game’s size is that there’s a large chance that no other person will ever visit the planet we found it on, and no one else will ever experience the amazement/terror of the Llama/plant hybrid. If, however, a person were to stumble upon the planet and find the animal, they’d be informed that we were the ones who discovered it, and it’d be called whatever we named it on our game. That’s due to its online capabilities, although there isn’t any real multiplayer, which is disappointing. All we had to do was scan the peculiar animal with our discovery scanner and upload it from the start menu, earning credits in return for our find. One of the fundamental pillars of the game, the discovery element, should keep gamers occupied well after the journey to the centre of the universe is over.

Story There is, however, more to No Man’s Sky than exploration as it does have a storyline. At the start of the game, players find themselves marooned on a random planet on the outskirts of the universe, with a broken ship, damaged suit and malfunctioning multitool. The aim at this stage of the game is to scavenge the parts you’ll need to repair ship and get off the planet. You’ll also need to mend your suit and fix the multitool – you’ll need it to protect yourself from a planet’s hostile inhabitants. While our spawn planet was hospitable, we’ve heard of players starting out on heavily radiated/ freezing cold/boiling hot planets, making scavenging a much more challenging process. Because of this off-the-rails setup, it makes it extremely difficult to implement any kind of storyline into the game beyond “travel to the centre of the universe”. However, the mysterious ATLAS being you encounter at the beginning offers a more interesting route, although this doesn’t take you to the centre of the galaxy. You’ll have to decide for yourself when to break away from the (rather weak) ATLAS storyline to move closer towards the centre of the galaxy, which is something we’re not a huge a fan of. Why the ATLAS storyline couldn’t slowly lead you to the centre of the galaxy, we don’t know.


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Certain elements, such as Plutonium and Carbon, are easy to come across and are used to fuel the most common pieces of technology in your arsenal, from your lift-off thrusters to your suit’s shield and even bullets used by the multi-tool and ship. However more exotic elements, such as Gold and Emril, are much harder to come across, making them more valuable. The annoying thing is that there’s no real way to search for a specific element that you need – you can only look at the description and must work out for yourself the best place to hunt. While this is part of the exploration pillar of the game, it does become frustrating when you only require a few more units of a certain element to upgrade the specs of your ship. The valuable elements found on your travels can be used for highend upgrades for your suit, ship and exosuit as you discover them, or can be sold on at trading posts found throughout the galaxy in exchange for credits, the currency of No Man’s Sky. The good thing is that you can buy rare elements from the trading posts, although you’ll pay more or less than the galactic average, depending on how abundant it is in that solar system/on that planet. You’ve also got the option of approaching non-player character

ships and buying/selling items from them, as well as making an offer on their ship (although this is a pricey method of upgrading your ship). A better option is to search for abandoned ships on the planets you visit, as each one should have one additional inventory slot compared to your equipped ship. More slots means more upgrades and more space to collect elements, but this can be frustrating. We had to choose between which elements we wanted to keep and which to throw away throughout the game, as our ship’s inventory space was never enough for our huge mining appetite. The abandoned ships aren’t in working order, either – just like when players start the game, repairs to various elements are required to bring them back into operation. While some require only one or two repairs, we’ve come across (impressive) ships that have over half of their upgrades damaged, although once fixed they were always much stronger than the craft we had previously. It isn’t always the case though, and players should always compare the offering of the new ship to what they already have. It’s worth noting that you can carry on upgrading until you have a 48-slot ship, which is currently the largest in the game.

There are a number of nonplayer characters on every planet. These are usually found at points of interest, such as trading posts, and are one of three species – Gek, Korvax or Vy’keen – each of which have their own language and unique characteristics. The catch is that you can’t understand any of the languages at the beginning of the game, and must interact with the race/find Monoliths scattered throughout to be taught words on a word-by-word basis. As you find more Monoliths and your understanding of each race increases, you’ll understand more of what they’re saying and if you’re offered a choice of responses in conversation, you’re more likely to select the response that’ll get you a new technology blueprint, heath regeneration, and so on. Gek, Korvax and Vy’keen aren’t the only forms of alien life you’ll come across, though. Each planet is also filled with sentinels, little robots that protect the flora and fauna of the planet. There are distinct similarities between the sentinels and the police in Grand Theft Auto games – if they see you killing wildlife of aggressively mining the environment, they’ll attack you just like police would in GTA. You’ll also be assigned a wanted rating, and



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Reviews

while a level 1 rating will merit little response, level 5 rating is extremely dangerous and large, powerful sentinels will try to hunt you down. While the robots will usually leave you to your own devices (unless you do something wrong) some planets have aggressive sentinels that will attack on sight, although these are usually where rarer materials and objects can be found. We’ve discovered some planets with items worth between 30- to 50k credits at trade posts, although picking these up gives us an instant three-star wanted level. It’s worth noticing small rules when playing No Man’s Sky, as they tend to be universal throughout the game’s universe. So, with all those mechanics and an insanely vast area to explore, No Man’s Sky must be one of the best games of 2016, or possibly ever, right? We’re not so sure. While every element is individually impressive, combined, they just don’t provide enough of an impact to keep gamers playing, us included. While the novelty of being able to land on any planet-sized planet in an entire galaxy kept us playing for hours, the lack of a storyline or narrative bored us, and it quickly became monotonous, even with the varying points of interest

on each planet. We felt that we were travelling from one world to another, discovering a few animals, collecting elements to refuel our ship and then moving on to the next world to do exactly the same thing. While the environments on the planets were challenging at times, it still didn’t provide us with enough excitement to want to pick up the controller and get back into the No Man’s Sky universe after more than 15 hours of gameplay. While online multiplayer hasn’t been confirmed, we feel that large open-world games such as this need an online element to survive. Take Elite: Dangerous as an example. Both games feature massive virtual universes with planet-sized planets, factions and more, although Elite: Dangerous lets you meet others and join a single ‘wing’, allowing you to explore and battle in space in a squad. This means that years after launch, gamers are still flocking to it, but the same can’t be said for No Man’s Sky just a couple of months after its launch. The game has been created to provide you with an infinite number of possibilities, but exploring them alone just isn’t fun. We’d love to laugh at our Llama/plant hybrid with friends, not take screenshots and show it to them at a later date – it

just doesn’t have the same effect. You can’t have a game with a weak storyline and no online capabilities, because those are the things that will draw gamers back.

Verdict No Man’s Sky is a confusing game to say the least. Its four pillars – survival, exploration, trading and combat – provide players with a lot to do, from upgrading your ship, equipment and exosuit to discovering exotic, out of this world animals and everything in between. Unfortunately, it lacks a certain something to make gamers come back. While the game is technically impressive with 18 quintillion planets to explore and an almost infinite number of flora and fauna to discover, the lack of a decent storyline and no multiplayer capabilities makes exploring the vast universe a boring and lonely task once you’ve travelled between a few solar systems. Hello Games has promised free updates to improve the game in the future, but we’re yet to hear what this may provide. It’s definitely worth playing, although be warned that you might not make it all the way to the centre of the universe. J Lewis Painter December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 61


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Reviews

GAME

£49 inc VAT

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Contact n

deusex.com

Requirements

Windows 7 or later; Intel Core i3; 8GB RAM; AMD Radeon HD 7870 (2GB), Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 (2GB) ; 45GB storage space; PlayStation 4; Xbox One

Set in the not-too-distant-future, the Deus Ex series offers a satirical (but very serious) look at where society could be headed if our obsession with technology continues. The latest in the series, Mankind Divided, takes place two years after the events of Human Revolution with Adam Jensen doing what he does best – getting to the truth by any means possible.

Story The game is set in Prague, although it’s not the city we know and love today. It’s plagued with violence, and is on the brink of a civil war, though not between people and the authorities. Think of it as more of a mechanical apartheid where humans with augments, or ‘augs’ as they’re known in game, are considered a sub-class of human following ‘The Incident’, which took place two years prior. This was triggered by The Illuminati, an extremely powerful anti-aug group that conceals its actions behind rumours, disinformation and widespread panic, and caused all augmented humans to fly into an uncontrollable, murderous rampage. The Incident was the climax of the previous game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and for those of you that don’t remember the entire story/ didn’t play it, don’t fret – Square Enix offers gamers the option to

watch a 12-minute video recapping events of the last game, although it works just as well as a standalone offering you pieces of background information when needed. As with other games in the series, you experience the world through the eyes of the aforementioned Adam Jensen, a one-man army in the war against The Illuminati. He does, however, have the benefit of being an augmented ex-security officer that works for Interpol, while at the same time secretly working for the Juggernaut Collective, a hacking group that’s helping him confront and thwart The Illuminati. The story sees Jensen travel from place to place, chasing up leads from both Interpol and the Juggernaut Collective. While this may not seem exciting to some, it’s worth noting that the player must make crucial choices at certain points in the game that can change everything from his relationship with other characters to what will happen later on in the game. You find a piece of valuable information: do you give it to Interpol or the Juggernaut Collective? It’s a choice that only you can make, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly as the consequences can, and often are, grave. We won’t spoil the story for you, but can reveal that it was a

lot shorter than we’d originally expected. We have memories of playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution for hours on end, but it felt like Mankind Divided was over far too quickly, and that’s with taking on as many side missions as we could find. While the storyline is full of juicy conspiracy theories, shady characters and a lot of drama, Square Enix wraps it up quickly in an admittedly slightly disappointing way that left us with a feeling of “oh?” as the game’s end credits rolled.

Gameplay When you first start playing Mankind Divided, you may find the controls a little complicated. First, the control scheme is unlike any other first-person shooter we’ve played, and takes a serious learning curve to get used to, although the developers recommend learning their way of playing to get the most out of the game. This is true – once we got used to it, it did enable us to perform a number of actions without entering the game menu, but we died a lot in the meantime, usually by standing up from a crouch instead of staying under cover. If you get over the slightly awkward control scheme, you’ll find an abundance of side missions to take on in and around Prague, although these aren’t easy to


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spot. Unlike in other games where non-player characters (NPC) with missions are easily identified (usually via some kind of marker), a side mission can come from almost any NPC in Mankind Divided. The only telltale sign that a passer-by might have some valuable information is the fact that they have a name above their head, opposed to being marked as something generic such as ‘Citizen’. Side missions are just as detailed and riveting as main ones, and we were surprised at just how small, seemingly insignificant details in them helped us make crucial decisions during the main story. The game provides users with a number of ways to complete each level, allowing users to take different approaches – stealth, all-guns blazing or a combination of both. In fact, the way you decide to tackle certain levels will influence how others look at you – using lethal rounds will cause you to come across as reckless, while using less effective stun tactics leaves you with a better reputation. However, the most impressive factor is that you can go through the entire game without killing a single person, although that would be tough to do. Mankind Divided also offers a rather unique way to play, as it’s generally speaking a first-person shooter, although it changes

to a third-person view when in cover and interacting with the environment, allowing for a rather fun and satisfying stealth element. The animations are seamless, and add a bit of drama to any situation – especially when using the more advanced augments in Adam Jensen’s arsenal. Speaking of augments, our hero has had a serious upgrade when compared to the augs available in Human Revolution. While the old augments do make another appearance, Jensen can access a number of experimental augs that he doesn’t remember getting, although activating one forces him to deactivate another permanently, making you choose which style of gameplay you want to use quickly in the game. Augments and their subsequent upgrades offer a range of abilities, from being able to withstand more damage to becoming invisible for a short time or upgrading the hacking skills to make hacking terminals a quick and painless job – it’s your choice. It also means that if you specialise in stealth, for example,

you can’t go up against heavily armoured bosses. This unbalanced nature can help or hinder a player, depending on their upgrade choices. This applied to us during our time with Mankind Divided, as we were stuck at a boss fight for so long that we considered giving up – and that’s not fun for anybody.

Verdict While Deus Ex: Mankind Divided has all the core mechanics to make a great game – upgrades, conspiracy theories, a solid storyline and great voice acting – it seems to fall flat after the first few missions. The storyline, although interesting, doesn’t last for nearly as long as the Human Revolution campaign, even with a sprinkling of interesting and varied side missions and the button layout is just a bit too different to other first-person shooters to make it a game you can just pick up and play without a serious learning curve. If you’re a fan of the series we’d still recommend playing it as the story is great, but don’t expect to sink hundreds of hours into the game. J Lewis Painter

Augments and their upgrades offer a range of abilities, from being able to withstand more damage to becoming invisible for a short time December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 63

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GROUP TEST

VPN SERVICES

Benny Har-Even tests out 13 of the best VPN services to find out which is the best ver the past few years public awareness of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) has grown, but for many they are still a mystery. Traditionally, they were used by businesses to enable their employees to access a company’s internal network securely. Nowadays people use them for two main things: watching TV and privacy. We all view catch-up TV video. Unfortunately, a lot of this is intended only to be watched in home territories. The BBC iPlayer and Sky Go, for example, are only meant to be viewed in the UK, and while Netflix is accessible around the globe, the content available varies across countries due to licensing restrictions. This creates a problem as it means you can’t watch Bake Off when you’re abroad or access the second season of your favourite programme that’s on in the US but isn’t available over here. That’s pretty annoying, but is where a VPN can help.

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How it works A Virtual Private Network creates a private tunnel over the internet to a server. This can


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be located in the same country as you or located somewhere else. This means that, in theory, you can watch your favourite US show because that’s where it thinks you are. Crucially, all data traffic sent over the VPN is encrypted, so it cannot be intercepted. To get started you’ll need to install some software on your PC, Mac or mobile device.

information about your web browsing habits. Furthermore, Netflix is now actively clamping down on VPNs both free and paid, so there’s no guarantee that they will work. While you can try out a free service, we’d recommend going for a reasonably priced, paid-for VPN. These should perform better, be properly supported and your privacy will

While you can try out a free service, we’d recommend going for a reasonably priced, paid-for VPN. These should perform better, and your privacy will be better protected Once you’ve logged in, choose a server in the location where you’d like to ‘virtually’ appear. You then just carry on as normal, safe in the knowledge that your activities are protected from prying eyes.

Free and paid-for services You don’t have to pay for a service either as some are freely available, though these can have their drawbacks. They may, for example, be slow, unreliable or collect

be protected thanks to the added security of an encrypted connection.

Protect your privacy The story of activists such as Edward Snowden and Apple’s battle with the US government to unlock an iPhone, have raised the profile of the need for privacy. Your ISP will have records of all the websites you visit and if so ordered by the government could be compelled to hand over that information.

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O

GROUP TEST

If you don’t like the sound of that using a VPN all the time makes sense. Even if you are not too concerned about this, when you’re using a laptop or mobile device on a public Wi-Fi, you are exposing your browsing habits to anyone that is so inclined to snoop. And if you have ever conducted online banking over a public Wi-Fi network, you are really asking for trouble if you’re not going through a VPN. Another use for VPNs is to bypass ISP restrictions such as line throttling when using peer-to-peer (P2P). By going via a VPN your ISP can’t tell what you’re doing and the throttling won’t kick in.

Selecting a service If you’re concerned about privacy, it’s important to know where your VPN is based. In recent years some countries have got together to agree to exchange information freely, nominally in a bid to enhance everyone’s security. However, many groups are critical of this behaviour believing that mass surveillance impinges on our freedoms. The countries that have agreed to exchange information are known as the

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Five Eyes: USA, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. (Read more about the alliance at tinyurl.com/mn5nwbu.) The concern from privacy groups is that a government could compel a VPN provider to supply information on its users through a court order. To avoid this you should choose a VPN provider that is based outside of one of these countries.

Logging Additionally, many VPN providers have different levels of logging. Some choose to log connection time stamps, IP address and bandwidth used, while others choose to log nothing at all. Needless to say you have to trust the VPN provider that it isn’t monitoring your traffic, otherwise you are heading right into a privacy breach, instead of protecting yourself from one. Some will also store basic payment information, such as your name and address. However, those looking for complete anonymity can seek a provider that accepts payment in the form of gift cards or Bitcoin, which makes it near-impossible to trace back to an individual.

Pricing Naturally, the cost varies between providers and you should look for value for money. Keep an eye out for special offers that pop up after you’ve been on sites for a while.

Features Most VPNs support all the major platforms but some offer more unusual platforms such as Kindle or Google Chrome. Also look out for restrictions on usage – some ban P2P, while others are fine with it. Freeand trial versions normally have speed restrictions, while paid-for versions should have none. Note that encryption can slow down connections. OpenVPN provides more protection, while PPTP is faster but less secure. You should be able to switch between them depending on need. Also if you’re connecting to a server that’s geographically far away, you are less likely to get the full speed that your ISP provides. Look out for server speed claims and make sure that you conduct tests to check whether you are happy early on, so you can get a refund within the time limit if you’re not.


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Group test: VPN services

NORDVPN

TOTAL VPN

£4.34 per month • nordvpn.com

£5.98 per month • totalvpn.com

From the off, NordVPN impresses. Despite the Scandinavian-sounding name, it’s actually based in Panama. It maintains the Nordic ideals of freedom and trust, though. It has a strict ‘no logs’ policy, so you won’t have to worry about it having any record of your internet traffic. As of writing there were more than 500 servers to choose from across 51 countries. Encryption levels are higher than most, too. You’ll have the option of DoubleVPN, which refers to a AES-256 CBC cipher used twice over and relayed through the Netherlands. There’s also a Kill Switch to end internet activity should the VPN drop for any reason. On top of that is the option to uses the TOR network over VPN offering an even greater level of anonymity and access to Tor’s ‘onion’ sites – that is sites that are part of the deep web and not accessible via the regular internet. No surprise, then, that you can pay using an anonymous method such as Bitcoin if you wish, but you can also use more conventional methods such a credit card or PayPal. It claims to be the easiest VPN to set up and it proved to be quick to setup on the Mac and is easy to use on Windows. It also supports Linux, iOS and Android and up to six devices can be connected at one time. A 24/7 live chat service for support is also available from the web site. All in all, NordVPN is a very strong option.


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If you want your VPN to be easy to use as well as secure, then you would do well to look at Total VPN. If your use is only occasional, then the fact it has a free plan might well appeal. This offers only three server locations and limited usage though, with speeds capped at 2Mb/s. By contrast, the £5.98 plan offers unrestricted browsing from over 61 servers in over 30 countries with no speed restrictions. However, 47 of these are located in the US and Europe, so if your aim is to avoid the prying eyes, then your server choice is more limited, which could impact availability. It’s also based in the UK, so again, potentially at risk from the ‘snoopers charter’, plus it doesn’t offer totally anonymous payment, should that be a concern for you – major credit cards and PayPal are accepted. Annoyingly, however, the sign-up process proved overly secure – it wouldn’t recognise our test email address, and we assumed it was due to it containing a hyphen. Indeed, retrying it with a hyphen free alternative worked fine. Total VPN supports, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android – and Chromebook is looking as ‘coming soon’. Linux support is not available Total VPN scores well for ease of use. When it first fires up it provides some useful tips, such as using a server in your own country when banking online to avoid the bank thinking its fraudulent activity. Overall, if ease of use is the main priority, then Total VPN is a good choice but it’s not the cheapest.

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CYBERGHOST

HIDE MY ASS! PRO VPN

£3.74 Premium per month; £5.98 Premium Plus per month

£3.99 per month for the annual plan; £6.99 per month

• cyberghostvpn.com

• hidemyass.com

CyberGhost has built a solid reputation for security and transparency over the years. The platform boasts a number of key features that make it one of the safest ways to roam the internet. Alongside the anonymising of your online identity, it also features military grade encryption to fend off information thieves. You don’t need an additional browser or plug-in as the VPN works with pretty much everything and is also available as an app for Android and iOS. A built-in ad-blocker also makes surfing even quicker, although it does deprive impoverished writers of their hard-earned money. (Hint, hint.) While CyberGhost does offer a free tier, it has many of the main features disabled, employs a waiting period each time you connect, and automatically disconnects after three hours, although you can reconnect immediately.

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Hide My Ass! Pro VPN is a versatile VPN service with a large number of servers listed all over the world – over 940 at time of writing and has attentive technical support staff to help with setup issues, Despite a name that draws on the US spelling of our nickname for a person’s posterior, the company is actually based in the UK. This is a disadvantage if your hope is to guarantee privacy as Hide My Ass! abides by our special data-retention laws that deny anonymity to VPN users. While HMA does not keep a record of your Internet traffic it does log connection timestamps and IP addresses. It has already demonstrated that it’s ready to inform on its users when asked, so if that’s an issue, stay away. Additionally, it does not maintain its own DNS servers but rather uses OpenDNS, effectively outsourcing any concerns over DNS leaks. For local network security and placing yourself virtually anywhere for shopping or entertainment purposes, Hide My Ass! Pro works as advertised, but even though its competitively priced, the cost is high in terms of principle.


29/09/2016 14:55


BUFFERED

EXPRESSVPN

£6.30 per month • buffered.com

£6.32 per month • expressvpn.com

If long-term anonymity is a priority, then Hungary-based Buffered is an attractive option as it’s not part of the confidential data swapping collective. However, in terms of ultimate privacy, it’s something of a mixed-bag. It does keep a record of time stamps and IP address that use it, and it doesn’t offer an anonymous payment method, which some would view as counting against it. However, it does run its own DNS servers and supports OpenVPN. A big plus is that it claims to offer unfettered VPN access to Netflix, which is becoming increasingly rare since the streaming video company’s crackdown of earlier this year. It currently offers more than 30 countries in which you can virtually reside and there are no limitations to the speed or bandwidth to worry about. Plans include a yearly option of $8.25 per month, a biannual option (billed every six months) for $9.99 per month, or the regular monthly plan at $12.99 per month. Its monthly cost in on the high side, but it does boast fast servers and a 24/7 customer support. There is a 30-day money back guarantee but beware, as according to the T&Cs this is only if your usage does not exceed 100 sessions, 10 GB of bandwidth or 10 hours of sessions. Overall, unless Netflix is a priority, there are cheaper and more privacy-minded options to look at.


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ExpressVPN advertises itself as the fastest VPN on earth, so if outright speed is your concern it should immediately find a place on the shortlist. It also speaks proudly about not logging time stamps or your IP address describing itself as an armoured car service for the internet. This is a major plus for those who do not like the idea of privacy. A caveat, though, is that it does record date stamps. It advertises itself as still working for Netflix, but this did not work initially for us. We had to contact support who told us which server to choose, and this got it working. We do like, however, the fact that it offers its own first-party DNS servers, has support for the OpenVPN protocol and gives access to the Tor network. Residing the British Virgin Islands, it is technically based outside the Five Eyes countries, but as a British overseas territory, if push came to shove it could be considered something of a grey area, which may be too close for comfort for some. ExpressVPN service costs £6.32, and payment can be accepted in regular credit cards and Bitcoin if you prefer. We found it quick, easy and simple to use but it’s not the cheapest option.

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HOTSPOT SHIELD

PUREVPN

£1.58 per month • hotspotshield.com

£3.82 per month • purevpn.com

If you’re looking for a very low-cost VPN solution, then Hotspot Shield’s annual deal working out at only £1.58 a month will appeal. It also offers a free version, albeit with several limitations, such as being ad-based. It works on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android and, unusually, on Kindle. The paid-for version removes the restrictions and provides unlimited bandwidth. However, Hotspot Shield is based in the US, the epicentre of the ‘Five Eyes’ and it does log time stamps and IP addresses. You can pay with Bitcoin should you wish, but no other forms of anonymous payments such as a gift card. It also doesn’t run its own DNS server, or support VPN. Nor will you be able to access US Netflix with it as it’s detected as a proxy. Installation was unusual compared to others in that it asked to install a profile to our Mac and then a pop up asked if we would care to rate it, the moment we activated it for the first time. If absolute long-term privacy is not a concern, then the low cost might attract and the free version might suffice for some, but frankly we’d consider the ad it serves up as malware. All told, there are other options out there we’d prefer to use.

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PureVPN is based in Hong Kong, which has the advantage of being out of view of the prying ’Five Eyes’. It uses 256-bit grade encryption and boasts more than 500 servers across 141 countries. While it makes a big play of the fact that it does not monitor or record any activity that passes through its servers, it does admit to keeping record of connections and bandwidth, which it says is in order to optimally manage its servers. It also offers the more secure OpenVPN protocol and maintains its own DNS servers. Features include split tunnelling, which routes specific apps to access the web via their local internet connection and other specific apps via their VPN connection simultaneously. There’s also a Kill Switch that ensures that your actual IP is never exposed should the VPN drop. The interface is a little dated looking but gets the job done. You can choose a location either by city, or by activity, such as online sports streaming, and it will connect you to an optimal server. Pricing is reasonable at £3.82 per month, and you can pay via anonymous payment methods such as cards, and there is a seven-day money back guarantee, as long as you don’t exceed 3GB. There’s also 24/7 support available.


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ZENMATE

PRIVATE INTERNET ACCESS

£5.99 per month • zenmate.co.uk

£2.55 per month • privateinternetaccess.com

Not every VPN offers a free trial, so ZenMate gets off to a good start by offering one. It can be used for free with restrictions – an unrestricted annual plan is £49.99, equating to £5.99 a month. It started out as a plug-in for Chrome, but is now also available as an extension for Firefox and Opera, as a Windows or macOS desktop app and for Android and iOS. However, only one connection at once is supported. The Chrome plug-in works seamlessly with Chrome with a browser extension providing a slick dashboard. It’s easy to use and controls are stripped down, but this is partially because ZenMate is light on features. It doesn’t support OpenVPN and it doesn’t support a Kill Switch. You can choose from 28 countries and in Premium you can set it to switch location automatically depending on the web page you’re visiting. (We tested with Netflix and unlike many VPNs it did enable us to view US content). However, it doesn’t reveal how many servers it actually runs. We like ZenMate for its simplicity but hardcore privacy advocates will look elsewhere especially as it’s based in Europe.


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If it’s a wide choice of servers you’re looking for, then you won’t be disappointed by Private Internet Access. It boasts a massive 3,340, more than any of the VPNs we’ve looked at. At a monthly cost of just $3.33 (£2.55) for an annual subscription, it’s also one of the cheaper options available. For that you get five licences so it can be run at the same time on Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. Additionally, it scores points by stating that it doesn’t track IP address or even connection timestamps. It runs its own DNS servers and supports the slower but more secure OpenVPN protocol. A Kill Switch feature means it will shut down all connections should the VPN be disconnected. Furthermore, you can pay anonymously should you wish. However, for those who are truly concerned about privacy, all this good work is undone by the fact that it’s based in the USA – the heart of the ‘Five Eyes’ data swapping collective. Private Internet Access is easy to use and is considered one of the fastest VPNs available. As long as you’re not overly concerned about the fact that it’s based in the US this is a contender.

TEST CENTRE

29/09/2016 11:31


HIDEIPVPN

TORGUARD

76p per month • hideipvpn.com

£3.85 per month • torguard.net

If there was an award for the most awkwardly named VPN, then HideIPVPN would win. And if there was an award for cheapest paid-for VPN, then HideIPVPN would win that too – currently on offer for just $99 cents (76p) per month. This includes a SmartDNS and the capability to add up to five connections at once. However, be warned that if you’re interested in using it for Torrents it has harsh rules. If you use P2P on US, UK or Canadian servers you’ll get a warning from them to cease, and if the offence is repeated you’ll get your account terminated without a refund. While the SmartDNS features is a bonus, we found that it still did not let us access US Netflix. We were at least impressed by the honesty of its web page where it admits as much, with no sense it was trying to pull the wool over our eyes. HideIPVPN is also based in the US, which isn’t a country which has your privacy interests at heart. We could also not find any information regarding the number of countries of servers it offered. We found HideIPVPN easy to use so if you just want something cheap to keep your activity private in certain situations, then it will do the job, but it’s not one for those looking for real privacy or for a way to bypass Netflix restrictions.

TEST CENTRE

064_073 GT VPNs 257.indd 71

Despite what its name suggest TorGuard is not in any way related to the Tor browser project. The Tor in the name refers to ‘torrents’. This makes it a great choice for those looking to avoid ISP P2P throttling. It offers a choice of over 1,600 servers in 50 countries, and says it does no logging whatsoever. Furthermore than are no restrictions on speeds and it offers its own DNS severs. It runs OpenVPN and will do so on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. In the US, it’s even possible to buy routers with TorVPN preflashed onto the firmware. If you buy an annual fee the monthly price of £3.85 seems reasonable though it’s not that the most affordable in our selection. A potential issue with TorGuard is that it’s based in the US, which means it’s off the table for anyone that doesn’t want to use a VPN in a ‘Five eyes’ country. It also will not let you access US Netflix from the UK. TorGuards interface appeared somewhat dated to us If your mainly interested in protecting BitTorrent traffic it’s worth considering but as there trial version, so it might be worth trying to for one month, before signing up for the whole year.


29/09/2016 11:31


STRONGVPN

£4.49 per month • strongvpn.com StrongVPN is a US-based VPN so immediately that will turn you off if you aren’t keen on being vulnerable to local internet privacy laws. The site says it does not log any information regarding its users, but it wasn’t clear if that referred to IP addresses and connection time stamps or just activity. It supports a good selection of protocols, including the more secure OpenVPN. However, on macOS this will require the download and installation of the free third-party Tunnelblick software. At the time of writing StrongVPN offers 43 servers in 20 countries, and immediately stood out by letting us access US Netflix, a rarity these days. What’s more you can get routers with StrongVPN built-in, useful for watching US Netflix on your TV. The service also advertises itself as being ideal for use with torrents and suitably has no restrictions on bandwidth. It also has a reputation for being good for accessing the internet from China, though we weren’t able to test that. Finally, the interface was simple if unspectacular, but usable. The price is also reasonable.

Conclusion Of the selection we tested Total VPN offers a clean, simple interface but being based in the UK and not giving us access to US Netflix, let it down. Buffered did deliver US Netflix access, but it’s relatively expensive. We’d definitely stay away from the Hotspot Shield as the ads in the free offering are not worth it, and while the paid-for version is cheap, it is US-based and also happy to log your IP address. If you just use Chrome and want a simple browser-based extension rather than a Prices converted from $

NORDVPN

Jurisdiction

Panama

Number of countries

desktop app, then ZenMate works perfectly well. With US Netflix access and a reasonable price, we like it’s elegance, though on the downside it’s based in Europe. Private Internet Access, Hide IPVPN and TorGuard and StrongVPN are all US based so we’d be reluctant to recommend them. HideIPVPN does at least have a very low price to boost it as a choice and TorGuard is idea for torrents. As its name suggests Express VPN majors on speed, and we really liked its

HIDE MY ASS! PRO

BUFFERED

Romania

UK

Hungary

20

29

190+

33

87

61

43

700

940+

Not stated

13

No

No

Unknown

No

Yes

Yes

No

Logs IP address

No

No

Unknown

No

Yes

Yes

No

Anonymous payment

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Ye

First-party DNS servers

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

Ye

Open VPN

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Ye

Netflix

Yes (not iOS)

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

Ye

£4.34 per month (annual plan)

TOTAL VPN

stripped down interface with a large button to activate it. It’s a good choice. Our favourite though, would have to be NordVPN. It is Panama-based, has a strict no logs policy and offers a double layer of encryption should you need it. There’s access to ‘onion sites through Tor, and has lots of servers, including ones that are torrent-friendly, and it still works with US Netflix. The price, if you catch an offer, is great too, at just £4.34 per month. Overall, it’s a winner.


STRONGVPN CYBERGHOST £4.49 per month (annual plan)

From £3.74 per month (annual plan)

UK

USA

51

30+

Number of servers

500+

Logs time stamps


064_073 GT VPNs 257.indd 72

From £3.99 per month (annual plan)


TEST CENTRE

29/09/2016 11:31

E

£ p (a

B Is

ED

an)


One extra reason to use a VPN: get a cheap flight online Depending on your destination, flights can make up a large chunk of what you spend on a holiday. To minimise this cost you’ll want to employ every trick possible to ensure the results you get online are the best ones available. Sometimes though, your internet browser can work against you, causing different results to appear, solely based on your browsing habits or location.

How your browser changes the prices Recent research conducted by a university in America, and reported in the Washington Post, found that smartphone users could be offered different prices to desktop ones. These weren’t from small sites either, but some of the biggest around; including Expedia, Travelocity, Cheaptickets, and Hotels.com. The way these price changes are determined is still a mystery, but what seems certain is you might be paying more than you need, due to your choice of device.

General tips on getting the best price Obviously looking for the cheapest flights is going to involve a fair amount of detective work. Initially it’s a good idea to try various comparison sites such as Expedia, Travelocity and Travel

EXPRESS VPN £6.32 per month (annual plan)

British Virgin Island

HOTSPOT SHIELD


US

Supermarket, but it’s also worth checking the airlines themselves as they sometimes have deals exclusively on their own sites. Where you fly from is another determining factor, so if you live near more than one airport be sure to check flights from both. The most galling price hikes, as any parent will tell you, take place during the school holidays, so if you don’t have children then be sure to book dates that coincide with the school term.

Four ways to get a cheaper price Use your phone: Many of the sites named above seemed to offer more favourable deals to smartphones than to laptops and desktop machines. After you’ve looked at the prices, make a note, then revisit the site on your PC. You might not always find there is a massive gap between the prices, and sometimes none at all, but at least you will have narrowed down the chances of missing out on a good deal. Use Incognito modes on your browser: All browsers have built-in privacy modes that allow you to surf the internet incognito. They are easy to turn on and off, plus you can run an incognito tab next to a normal one without it having and impact on your PCs behaviour.

PUREVPN


Hong Kong

ZENMATE


Germany

Delete your cookies (for that specific site): Whenever you use a website your browser will store little digital records called cookies. These allow the site to remember your preferences and keep you logged in as you move from page to page. On the whole they are a very helpful feature.

Use a VPN One other factor that can alter the prices you are offered is your location. Sometimes this can be regional, but more often it’s down to the country where you live. Websites can detect your location due to the unique IP address that identifies your network connection. A VPN is a way of tricking this system by allowing you to use a virtual network address located in another country. Sometimes this can have quite dramatic effects on the price you’re offered for your trip. VPNs are quite easy to setup, but will need a bit of concentration. As with any retail purchase be sure to check the terms and conditions when buying online, and remember that while a VPN is virtual, you’re not. So if a requirement of the ticket is that you live in a certain country you’ll just have to empty your basket and keep on shopping. J

PRIVATE INTERNET ACCESS £2.55 per month (annual plan) USA

HIDE IPVPN 76p per month (annual plan)

USA

TORGUARD £3.85 per month (annual plan)

USA

87

20

141

28

24

Not stated

50

136+

Unknown

500+

Unknown

3340+

Not stated

1600+

No

Yes

Yes

Unknown

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

No

No

TEST CENTRE

064_073 GT VPNs 257.indd 73


29/09/2016 11:31

FEATURE

7

THINGS I LEARNED AFTER BUILDING MY FIRST PC LET BEN PATTERSON’S MINOR TRAUMAS BE YOUR TEACHABLE MOMENTS

T

here I was, a first-time PC builder sitting in my office with all the components I’d ordered: a CPU here, a PSU there, plus my trusty anti-static wristband and a screwdriver. I had everything I needed to build my first PC. But I was afraid to open that first box. Why was I paralysed? Lots of reasons. With no single manual to cover all my PC parts, where was I supposed to begin? What if I couldn’t cram all those cables into my case? Had I already blown it by not getting an optical drive? Worst of all, what if I put everything together and my PC refuses to turn on? In retrospect, I wish I’d worried a little less about my first build and enjoyed it a bit more. After all (and as I ruefully discovered later) there’s only one first time when it comes to putting together your own computer. Let my minor traumas be your teachable moments. Read on for seven things I wished I’d known before building my first PC, starting with…

74 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features December 2016

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23/09/2016 12:41

FEATURE

December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features 75


23/09/2016 12:41

Feature: Five Excel time-saving tips

TRANSFER YOUR 1PCPARTPICKER CHOOSEMYPC BUILD TO WITH ONE CLICK This first tip is more about the planning stage rather than the build itself, but it’s still something I wish I’d known before wasting a precious hour or two. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, ChooseMyPC (choosemypc.net/uk) is a great first stop for building your PC. Just pick a price point by adjusting a slider, make a few quick choices (such as whether you’re planning on ‘overclocking’ your computer and whether you need a copy of Windows), and the site will generate a parts list for you. Of course, the parts list it creates won’t be definitive – part of the fun of building your own PC is picking and choosing your own components. That said, an initial, autogenerated ChooseMyPC build makes for a helpful starting point. Once you’re ready to customise, you’ll want to move your parts list over to PCPartPicker (uk.pcpartpicker.com), an invaluable site for organising and tinkering with your PC part lists (and believe me, you’re going to end up with multiple lists for your first build). Handy though it is, PCPartPicker didn’t make it easy when it came to recreating my

ChooseMyPC build. Searching for a particular component often came up with multiple hits, and I was puzzled that even the most generic searches (Intel Core i3, for example) came up empty. (The reason: PCPartPicker’s ‘compatibility filter’ screens out parts that won’t work with your current build.) Little did I know that I could have saved lots of time and frustration with a single click. Once you’ve created your ChooseMyPC build, look for the PCPartPicker Link button at the bottom of the parts list and click

Not only do you want to make sure your cables go where they need to go but you also need to make sure they’re tucked inside in a fashion that allows for plenty of airflow

it. The entire build will be transferred to PCPartPicker, no searching required.

MATTERS WHEN 2SIZE IT COMES TO THE CASE

It’s easy to get distracted by bright, shiny things when it comes to picking a PC case, and I mean that quite literally. In your research, you’ll find plenty of cases with flashy, neon-lit windows, perfect for showing off the innards of your custombuilt PC. Cool though those side windows are, another feature meant much more to me: space, and lots of it. Why the need for space? One of your main tasks when it comes to building your PC is dealing with all the cables connecting your various components. Not only do you want to make sure all your cables go where

There’s nothing wrong with choosing a jumbo case if you’re a first-time PC builder



23/09/2016 12:41

Feature: Seven things I learned after building my first PC

There are plenty of walkthroughs for building a PC, but nothing on how to assemble my own specific components. Instead, there was a manual for each individual component they need to go but you also need to make sure they’re tucked inside in a fashion that allows for plenty of unobstructed airflow. Proper cable management will keep the inside of your PC neat, tidy, and cool. Sloppy cables, on the other hand, could leave you with a melted CPU. Expert PC builders pride themselves in picking just the right case for their particular build – not too big, not too small. Indeed, perfectly weaving all those cables into a cramped PC case can be akin to building a ship in a bottle. As a novice PC builder though, I wasn’t aiming for a work of art. I just wanted to get through it – and for me, that meant having plenty of room to work. I wanted to go big. Generally speaking, PC cases come in three sizes: ATX (the biggest), Mini ATX (smaller) and Micro ATX (even smaller), with variations within each category for ‘full tower’, ‘mid tower’, ‘mini tower’, and so on. In my case, I went ahead and sprang for an Full Tower ATX case. Now, did I really need a case that big? Of course not. After all, the motherboard I eventually picked was a smaller Mini ATX form factor, I was only installing a single video card, and I wasn’t even dealing with any bulky after-market CPU coolers. During

the actual build, though, I loved all the extra room. I never felt cramped, and I had plenty of space for bundling my cables just as I wanted. I also have lots of room to grow. Note that if at all possible, you should consider springing for a slightly pricier PC case (and by pricier, I mean £50-ish instead of £40-ish) with beginner-friendly features such as ‘tool-less’ drive bays.

YOU DON’T NEED 3NO, AN OPTICAL DRIVE

One of the first questions you’ll be asked at ChooseMyPC is whether you want an optical drive to be part of your build. My initial answer was yes. After all, how would I install Windows without a Windows DVD? Of course – and as I should have known, giving that I can’t remember the last time I touched a PC DVD drive – it’s easy to install Windows on a PC without an optical drive. Plenty of online guides are available, but here’s the short version: Just use Microsoft’s free ‘media creation’ tool (tinyurl.com/hv23bgr) to install a copy of Windows onto a (3GB or larger) USB memory stick. The first time you boot your new PC (and yes, you’ll get there), you’ll land on the BIOS screen. From there, navigate to your system boot options, then

set your PC to boot from the USB stick. Once you boot from the USB drive, the Windows installation wizard will take care of the rest. Beyond Windows, practically any program or game you’d ever want to install is available for download, no DVD required. But what if you find yourself in the (unlikely) situation where you need an optical drive? If that happens, you can always go back, crack open your custom PC and install one, or just grab an external USB optical drive (for all of £15 or so).

MOTHERBOARD MANUAL 4THE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND

One of the most daunting things about building my own PC was the fact that there wasn’t a single, IKEA-like manual that covered the whole process. Mind you, there are plenty of generic walkthroughs for building a PC, but nothing telling me how to assemble my own specific components. Instead, there was a manual for each individual component, and many of the directions were sketchy at best. My reaction was to blunder into the build practically blind, installing the drives first because that seemed like the easiest thing to do. (While the experts will tell you to install the motherboard first, getting those drives installed was not only easy, but also a big confidence-booster.) Then I seated the CPU in the motherboard (with a sickening crunch as I pushed down on the lever). Soon enough, I was staring at my PSU, GPU, memory sticks and a tangle of cords in my PC case, without a clue about what to do next.

Don’t be afraid of the motherboard manual. It looks complicated, but it’s an invaluable guide for first-time PC builders



23/09/2016 12:41


A semi-modular power supply unit can keep the inside of your PC from getting stuffed with a jumble of unneeded power cables Eventually, my gaze drifted to the motherboard manual, and I began to page through it. Initially, few of the diagrams made sense, but the closer I looked, the more I recognised. Those thin little frontpanel connectors dangling in the case? They go right here, the manual said (or at least, that’s how I deciphered the diagrams and connector labels.) Expansion ports? Here and here. Memory slots? One here, and one here. Your power cables go here and here, and right here is where your SATA connectors for the drives go. The more I studied, the more I realised (belatedly, I guess) that the motherboard manual was the key to this whole puzzle. After all, all roads lead to the motherboard as far as your computer build is concerned, and once you understand where all the various cards, cables, and connectors go on the motherboard, you’ve pretty much nailed your build.

THERE’S NOTHING SCARY 5 ABOUT A ‘MODULAR’ OR ‘SEMI-MODULAR’ POWER SUPPLY “Keep it simple” was my mantra as I picked the parts for my first PC build. But nothing sounded simple when it came to one of the

biggest choices about picking a power supply – specifically, whether I should go with a modular, semi-modular, or non-modular PSU. For those of you new to PC power supplies (as I was until just a few weeks ago), the whole modular versus nonmodular issue centres around the cables that connect the power supply to your various PC components. A modular PSU’s cables are all detachable, meaning you can connect just the cables you need and avoid a tangle of unused cables in your PC case. A semi-modular PSU has only the essential power cables attached, with the rest of the cables detached until you need them. A non-modular PSU arrives with all its cables already attached, so no need about worrying whether you’ve got all the power cords you need. Initially, I was intimidated by the idea of a modular or semi-modular power supply. What if I didn’t know which cables

I needed, or where they were supposed to plug in? Did ‘modular’ mean one more thing I had to put together? I started leaning toward a non-modular model, reasoning that a PSU with all the cables attached would be easier to handle. Tempted by the idea of fewer loose cables in my case, I eventually took the leap for a semi-modular PSU, and I’m glad I did. After all my worry, it turned out the optional detached power cables (like those for the case fans and the hard drives) were easy to identify and connect. As with the motherboard, the PSU came with a manual that mapped out which cables go where. Best of all, I used only the power cables I needed, making for easier cable management in the end. Of course, that’s not to say my PSU installation went perfectly. I made a crucial mistake when it came to plugging in a main power cable, which leads to my next point…

The PSU came with a manual that mapped out which cables go where. Best of all, I used only the power cables I needed, making for easier cable management in the end



23/09/2016 12:41


Dying to build another PC right away? A £28 Raspberry Pi might tide you over

PANIC WHEN YOUR 6DON’T PC DOESN’T TURN ON

So there I was, all systems go – or so I thought. My motherboard was screwed in and wired up, ditto for the hard drives and front-panel controls, my power cables were plugged in and even my monitor was ready. Taking a deep breath, I flipped the main power switch. At first, good news: the system fans whirred to life, meaning I’d done something right. But the monitor stubbornly displayed a ‘No Signal’ error, and a telltale red light flashed on the motherboard’s ‘debug’ panel. Then, the bad news: it was the CPU error light that was lit, meaning some kind of processor failure. The temptation to panic was strong, but I tried to stay cool as I retraced my steps. The motherboard’s wiring had been complicated, but I’d followed the manual’s directions carefully and a second look revealed no

missteps. The power supply, though, gave me pause. I had been a little sketchy on where the main power cables plugged into the motherboard, and I began to suspect my problems lurked there. And I was right: I’d ignored a four-pin power socket in the motherboard because I couldn’t find a matching power supply cable, but a closer look at the PSU’s manual revealed the answer: an eight-pin plug that could be snapped apart into a pair of four-pin plugs. I split the plug in two, connected the correct four-pin section into the motherboard, hit the power switch, and – it worked. Never in my life had I been so happy to see a BIOS screen.

GOING TO WANT 7YOU’RE TO BUILD ANOTHER PC

Perhaps my biggest surprise about building a PC was how quickly I’d finish building it – and indeed, I was a little disappointed that it was

After spending weeks agonising over my parts list and painstakingly assembling my components, the actual build took only a few hours over two days

so easy. After spending weeks agonising over my parts list and painstakingly assembling my components, the actual build took only a few hours over two days. I hoped that installing and configuring Windows 10 would be something of a challenge, but that turned out to be easy, too. Within another day, I found myself back at PCPartPicker, fiddling around with a new parts list. Yes, I already wanted to build another PC, and if you’re a first-time builder, don’t be surprised if you wind up with the same urge once you finish. Instead of coughing up several hundred pounds to build a second PC that I didn’t need, I tackled some different DIY projects instead. First, I replaced the optical drive in my aging iMac with a solid-state drive, a £200-ish project that turned out to be far more difficult than building an entire PC from scratch. (Three trips behind my iMac’s 27in monitor and a failed SSD later, I finally got it done.) Next, I snagged a £28 Raspberry Pi, a circuit board the size of a deck of cards that can run Linux and even a pared-down version of Windows 10 – just plug in a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse and an SD card to get started. J



23/09/2016 12:41

FEATURE

HOW

SSDs

WORK

Thomas Ryan tears apart a hard drive and SSD to show you how they work

t’s the day everybody dreads. You power up your PC and it sits dormant, failing to boot because your hard drive or SSD has died. But after you stop swearing and reaching for your backups, you might as well make the best of things. There’s a world of small wonders hidden inside every storage drive if you take the time to dig around. Since storage drives die far less frequently than they used to, the opportunities for dissection are rare. So we’ve broken out our screwdrivers and dissected both a solid-state drive and a traditional hard drive for you, to reveal what makes them metaphorically tick. If your drives start actually ticking, back up your data now and start looking for a new one pronto.

I

Inner knowledge Let’s start with a traditional hard drive. Here’s a look at the key technology inside a Western Digital HDD: three magnetic platters that spin at 7200rpm when the drive is powered on. Each plate offers about 80GB of storage, for a total capacity of 240GB in this particular model.


080_087 How SSDs Work 257.indd 80

23/09/2016 12:32

FEATURE

Popping the top Using our handy screwdriver and Torx bit, we removed the cover plate from our dead hard drive. In the upper-left corner you can see the mechanism that controls the position of the magnetic read head that’s floating over the disk platter near the centre of the image. This arm moves around to read or write data to different places on the disk.



23/09/2016 12:32

Feature: How SSDs work

Connections Shifting to a different angle reveals the orange ribbon cable that connects the mechanical portion of the drive to the controller chip underneath. Look at how smooth and reflective the spinning platters are.

Use your heads Here’s a closer look at a read-andwrite head that manages data on the drive. Although we’re only looking at one of the heads in this picture, there’s a separate head for each of the three platters in this drive. These heads fly mere nanometres above the platters as they rotate at 7200rpm.



23/09/2016 12:32


Logic, captain Those platters and heads need to be told what to do, of course. Here’s the logic board from our dead hard drive. As you can see, it was manufactured by Foxconn in China. This relatively small board holds a controller chip near the centre, and then routes the data out to the SATA connector at its edge. That’s where you insert the SATA cable that connects the hard drive to your motherboard.

The brains The hard drive’s controller chip, made by Marvell, is ready for its close-up. The chip is a tiny low-power processor that facilitates the seamless transfer of data between the platters and the rest of your PC.



23/09/2016 12:32


The sum of its parts Finally, here’s an overview of the entire family of components that come together to make a hard drive. Four short screws, six long screws, a small PCB, and some monstrous mechanical hardware.

He’s dead, Jim This particular SSD is an old 128GB OCZ Vertex 4 that gave up the ghost just a few days ago. The large rectangular chips are the NAND flash memory, which Micron manufactured.



23/09/2016 12:32


RIP Indilinx As with hard drives, all SSDs feature a controller chip, which routes the data to the NAND and then back to your PC. The OCZ Vertex 4 relies on an old Indilinx Everest 2 chip that was pretty great circa 2012 thanks to its generous feature set and support for speedy SATA 3.0 connections.

Staying connected Speaking of SATA, here’s the connector. SSDs are tiny enough inside their 2.5in form factor enclosures, but seeing one without its housing really highlights how small solid-state drives really are.



23/09/2016 12:32


NAND, meet RAM Most SSDs use a few hundred megabytes of RAM as a buffer between the NAND and the PC. This drive is no exception, with the RAM chips supplied by Hynix.



23/09/2016 12:32


Deceptively simple There’s not much to an SSD physically. In fact, you won’t find a single moving part onboard – just chips on a circuit board and a protective enclosure. Combine that with eight short Philips-head screws and years of semi-conductor R&D, and you’ve got blazing fast performance for your storage system.

But wait! There’s more We love ripping things apart here at PC Advisor. If you enjoyed this glimpse at the innards of storage, be sure to check out our graphics card, RAM, and motherboard dissections, too. We’ll also be taking an in-depth look at the physical design of AMD and Intel processors. J



23/09/2016 12:32

FEATURE

7

ANDROID APPS

THAT COULD TRANSFORM

CHROMEBOOKS For Chrome OS to be the new Windows, it needs apps that perform like they belong on the desktop. Derek Walter reveals those we’d like to see he Google Play Store is coming to a Chromebook near you, but for this to really make a major difference in how we use Chrome OS, it’s going to take the right apps. Plus, they need to do more than just look and perform like blown-up phone apps. For the OS to be a gamechanger, it will need Android apps that are repurposed to offer more than their web counterparts. Time is running out for developers though, because the Google Play Store is already rolling out to the Asus Chromebook Flip in the developer channel version of Chrome 53. After a stopover on the Chromebook Pixel (2015 model only) and Acer Chromebook R11/C738T, Google will start to make the Play Store available on several other Chromebooks later this year. But if Android app developers do it right, then it won’t be long before your Chromebook is a substantially more powerful computer than it is right now. Allow us to reveal the Android apps we want to see.

T


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FEATURE MICROSOFT OFFICE During the demo at May’s Google I/O, presenters showed off Microsoft Word to illustrate how a Chromebook could be just like a traditional PC. In fact, we couldn’t help but think during the event that Google had just invented… Windows. While you’d think this would be very bad for Microsoft, that may not be the case. The firm is all about selling those Office 365 licences, and if Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote perform well, then Chrome could be a great platform on which Microsoft can peddle its wares. How times have changed. A Microsoft spokesperson told our sister title PCWorld: “With the Google Play Store coming to Chromebooks, Office 365 subscribers will be able to use Office apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and others to be productive wherever they go with their Chromebooks or tablets. Our joint customers will enjoy the flexibility, power and familiarity of Office with a look and feel they’re used to on their Google devices.”

ADOBE LIGHTROOM Yes, you can do photo editing on a Chromebook, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy, especially if you end up somewhere with limited internet access. Lightroom, and by extension similar photo-editing apps, would go a long way toward bridging the gap between Chromebooks and more traditional PCs. Adobe’s tools on Android are already strong, and there’s possibly more that could be done with a larger platform to address. If even moderatelevel photo editing can be performed on a Chromebook, that bodes well for anyone thinking about making one their full-time computer.

SPOTIFY It doesn’t have to be all work and no play. When it comes to streaming music, Spotify is the current king, though that web interface could definitely use some work. Using the Android app could turn out to be the right solution, particularly if you’re able to tap in to offline storage and use many of the app-specific features on Chrome OS. The Android app is far superior to the web experience, so if there are some tweaks to the interface to make it scale well on a larger screen, Spotify could rule our hearts and tunes when working away on Chrome OS.



26/09/2016 13:16

Feature: Android apps that could transform Chromebooks

THIRD-PARTY BROWSERS You may not think it, but Firefox and other browsers work just fine on a Chromebook. If so, this would surely make Google’s laptops more like full-blown PCs, which

have no allegiance to any one browser. Whether you like variety or need access to different browsers as a developer or for some other function of your job, this

openness could make a huge difference for Chrome OS. It also can’t do Google’s efforts to stave off further antitrust investigations any harm.

AUTOCAD Facilitating advanced design work, as with AutoCAD and similar tools, was never part of Chrome OS’s charge. But now it’s a real possibility if the Android app can be brought up to speed. It’s an especially intriguing possibility on touchscreenequipped Chromebooks, from the expensive Pixel to the impulse-buy-level Chromebook Flip. Pen input is currently ruled by Microsoft’s Surface line and other touch-friendly Windows laptops. But Chromebooks could make a play for those who want to design tools that are friendlier to touch.



26/09/2016 13:32

Feature: Android apps that could transform Chromebooks

GOOGLE NOW We’ve often felt that Google Now is underserved on our Chromebook. Considering you’re on a Google OS, there ought to be deeper integration.

A dedicated Google app could fix this, giving you all those instant sports scores, contextual updates, and other details to get you through your day. Google’s

superior contextual awareness is one of the things that drives people to Android, and it would be a great advantage if put to full use on Chromebooks.

TWITTER Love it or hate it, you can’t ignore Twitter. At least managing the social network will be a lot easier with a dedicated app. On a Chromebook you’re stuck with the website or the oft-neglected TweetDeck. With a dedicated app, you’ll be able to get notifications, direct messages, and all the other missives that should keep you sufficiently unproductive. J



26/09/2016 13:16

FEATURE

9

REASONS WHY PC GAMING IS BETTER THAN CONSOLES

Hayden Dingman reveals why the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox Scorpio drive the point home his may come as a surprise to you, but we here at PC Advisor are big fans of PC gaming. Shocking, we know. And so please, all you console lovers, factor in whatever amount of bias you’d like to the following statement: PC gaming is the most affordable it’s ever been, and for a lot of people it’s also the best value, for a multitude of reasons. The announcement of Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro just drove that point home. Here’s why.

T

Price First let’s talk about the elephant in the room: how much you’ll need to spend. That’s normally where the PC’s fallen behind in the past, compared to consoles. “Yes, I could spend thousands of dollars on a PC or £250 to £400 on a console.” PC gaming is still more expensive, at least up front. That hasn’t changed. If you can build a gaming PC for £300, you’re either a wizard or extremely good at snagging discount parts

and waiting for sales. More power to you. But the PC isn’t that much more expensive at this point. Head to PCPartPicker (uk.pcpartpicker. com) and you’ll find plenty of entry-level builds in the £400 range and some high-end builds in the £650 to £700 range. Prices have come down a lot – video card prices especially. AMD’s Polaris GPUs are an especially great bargain for those looking to game on the cheap. A Radeon RX 480 will cost you only £199, which is incredible. Max


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FEATURE

Nvidia AMD graphics cards out graphics at 1080p resolution and you’ll still hit 60-plus frames per second in basically every modern game. For under £200. Now, finding an RX 480 at its recommended list price is tricky, but the point is that companies want PC gaming to be accessible. They want enthusiasts buying GPUs. Competition has made the PC more affordable than ever before. Spending £200 will get you a graphics card that ,on paper at least, is better than what you’ll see in the PS4 Pro. Grab the rest of your parts and you’re all set, especially if you already have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor handy, as many people do. Hell, you can go lower than that if you’re only looking to match the performance of the original PS4 and Xbox One. A £120 graphics card like the GeForce GTX 950 or Radeon RX 460 paired with AMD’s affordable FX-6350 (£109) will get you over that low bar.

But wait, there’s more “Okay, PC gaming is more affordable than ever before, but it’s still expensive compared to consoles. I don’t see how you can also say it’s the best value for most gamers.” We’re getting to that part, fictional rhetorical device.

Better upgrade path This is the big change, and the inspiration for this article. A lot of people are going to be frustrated come November. A few years ago they bought a PlayStation 4— – at the time the most powerful console ever made. And they expected it to last them for years. We can talk all we want about expectations around consoles, about why people are willing to spend over £600 on a phone every two years but expect a £300 console to last them for 10. But we’re not talking about that here. We don’t really care – this is PC Advisor, after all. Besides, it’s a tangential argument. The difference, this time, is that consoles are now using a faux-PC upgrade strategy. If the recent PlayStation event is any indication, we can now expect consoles to transfer into ‘platforms’ – tiers of hardware, with more powerful boxes released every three to four years. It’s not just Sony doing this. Microsoft has its own Project Scorpio upgrade planned for the Xbox One in Q4 2017.

Consoles are bad at upgrades, though – in that you can’t actually upgrade them. It’s a misnomer. You don’t crack open the PlayStation 4, shove a new GPU in it, then fire it back up. You throw your old system on eBay and buy a new one. The PC is admittedly more expensive up front, but your upgrade path later is markedly easier. If you’re a budget gamer, you can probably run the same processor for up to six years, and the same graphics card for fourto five years. Case? RAM? Power supply? Fans? Hard drives? All surprisingly cheap stuff you’ll carry in perpetuity, build to build, replacing only when absolutely necessary. You could easily stick to a budget build with as-needed upgrades and be totally fine for a long, long time, especially if your goal is only to stay ahead of consoles. Stagger them and you’ll end up spending the same or less than if you bought a new console every three- or four years. Again, we’re not sure whether we’ll see another iteration of the PS4/Xbox One in a few years. Maybe this is a one-time thing. We doubt it, though.

Console exclusives are over Tonight we could pop open Steam and play Street Fighter V. We could also play Dead

Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro

You can’t insert Microsoft’s powerful new Scorpio processor into your Xbox One



27/09/2016 12:36

Feature: Why PC gaming is better than consoles

Rising 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Axiom Verge, Talos Principle, Killing Floor 2, Darkest Dungeon, No Man’s Sky, Downwell, SOMA, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Transistor, Grow Home, Hotline Miami 2, N++, Volume, and so many others. All of those games are exclusive to either the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4. Or rather, they’re marketed as ‘Console Exclusive’ for those systems meaning they also came to the PC. Both Microsoft and Sony seem to consider the PC neutral territory. Sony is more cautious, keeping its firstperson titles all to itself. You won’t find Uncharted 4 on the PC yet. But there’s signs that might change, given that Sony recently released PlayStation Now – its subscriptionbased game streaming service – on the PC. Microsoft has gone further and wholesale embraced its involvement in both the Xbox and Windows 10, creating the Xbox Play Anywhere program. Nearly every ‘Xbox Exclusive’ is coming to Windows 10 day-anddate nowadays, including Gears of War 4, ReCore, Quantum Break, Forza Horizon 3, and more. The only Xbox series we haven’t heard plans for yet is Halo. Buying a PC rarely means missing out on console games these days. Of course, you won’t be able to play handful of first-party titles on Sony’s end, but everything else makes it over – and often in better condition than the console versions.

PC exclusives aren’t Maybe you have that friend who asserts, vehemently, “The PC has no exclusives.” We’ve all run into that person before – if not in person, at least on forums. It’s a weird argument, and one that belies an ignorance about the PC as a platform. Maybe it’s shorthand for “The PC has no exclusives [that I want to play],” but there are far more PC-only games these days than console-only. The entire strategy genre, for one. With the exception of Halo Wars and a handful of less-successful others, both turn-based and real-time strategy games are mostly found

Civilization VI is only available on PCs on the PC—and there are a ton. It’s not all plodding strategy games either. There are hundreds of games each year that make a name for themselves on PCs and never make it onto consoles. These span genres, from shooters such as Unreal Tournament and Quake Champions, to RPGs, including Tyranny, Mount and Blade II.

Backwards compatibility Another point worth stressing is that once you own a game on the PC you own it forever. (Unless you’re one of those people who’s preternaturally paranoid that Valve’s Steam will fold and take your games down, too. In which case there’s always GOG.com.) The PC’s gaming heritage stretches back something like 40 years at this point. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the PC community, most of that 40 years is immediately accessible to you. Text adventures? The Interactive Fiction Database has you covered. DOS? Thanks, DOSBox. The more complicated environments of 15- or 20 years ago? Again, there’s GOG. com, plus (if the game you’re looking for is popular) probably dozens of mods to improve You can still play this 24-year-old game on PCs

the experience. And we won’t even mention the PC’s more legally-grey console emulators. Not in this article, at least. Buy a PC, and all that history is open to you. Steam recently added a bunch of classic Sierra games: everything from Gabriel Knight to Phantasmagoria to Caesar III. Some of the best the 1990s had to offer, still accessible to today’s players. Sure, it can be tricky. Installing mods can be a hassle, or intimidating if you have no idea what you’re doing. But we’ll put in the work if it means having the ability to replay Planescape: Torment on our current hardware instead of scrounging up a PC from 1999 or relying on some publisher to fund a remaster. PlayStation 4 owners can only play PlayStation 3 games if they pay £12.99 per month for PlayStation Now.

Sales and free-to-play games “Okay, but I don’t like classic games and/or I played all those games before.” Well good news. It’s also cheaper to be a PC gamer when it comes to new titles. Our prices fall faster, go lower, and stay that way. The vaunted Steam Sales comes to mind first, but it’s far from the only sale in town. GOG.com, Amazon, Green Man Gaming, Gamersgate, Humble – all of them regularly run sales. You can easily amass a huge library of games on the cheap, more than making up for the cost of your hardware. It’s not unusual to see preorders for big games go for 10- or even 20 percent off on Steam, and by six months post-release many big games will fall to £10- £15 during a sale. Or lower. Great indie games often go for under £7.50 or even £5 on sale if you’re patient. Consoles? Even on sale, most many AAA games seem to bottom out around £20 for years on end.



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Feature: Why PC gaming is better than consoles

necessity (or at least a preference). People doing photo or film or audio work, or working on games of their own, or typing for long hours every day need a PC. Others simply like sitting at a desk and having a large screen and a meaty keyboard. In other words, there are ways to subsidise the cost of a gaming PC in your own head. “Well, I need a desktop PC anyway to use Ableton and Word and Premiere, so why not tack on £200 for a Radeon RX 480 and make it a gaming machine at the same time?” A console? That’s a one-use machine: especially in the age of the £30 Chromecast. There are so many ways to get Netflix, HBO Go, and the like onto your TV, you don’t really need a console to do those things anymore.

Verdict

And then there’s free-to-play. Often a dirty word, the fact is that some of the world’s biggest (and most-loved) games are free. Maybe you’ve heard of Dota 2 and League of Legends? Team Fortress 2? Path of Exile? Evolve? You can spend hundreds (or thousands) of hours playing some of the PC’s best games and never spend another penny.

Point of view Get motion-sick? Gaming on the PC allows you to change your field of view, or FOV, potentially mitigating that issue. Personally, we run all our PC games at an FOV around 100 degrees. Consoles, being played on a screen farther away, are usually around 60 degrees. That’s not an issue in itself. The bigger problem is that console games are typically locked to a certain FOV, meaning if it’s making you sick you can’t change it. (Disabling motion blur also falls in this category.) Played a game and hated it? Steam, Origin, GOG.com, and many other retailers now allow you to refund any game you purchase, as long as you meet certain parameters. Not only does it let you get your money back when developers don’t deliver on a game, but it also lets you test whether it runs on your machine – thereby removing much of the guesswork from PC gaming. And don’t get us started about the idea of paying for online multiplayer.

play some of them with the original control scheme. Dark Souls comes to mind, as does Assassin’s Creed. These games just play better on a gamepad. Luckily, it’s easier than ever to connect an Xbox One controller or a DualShock 4 to your PC, either wired or (in the case of the Xbox One S and DS4) with Bluetooth. And most games support controllers on the PC these days, especially the big multi-platform releases.

You probably need a PC anyway And here’s where we end. The be-all-end-all argument. It’s easy to discuss the price of a gaming PC in a vacuum. There are good reasons to do so: Maybe you prefer laptops for your day-to-day computing. Maybe you get all your work done on a tablet. But for many people, a desktop computer is still a

PC gaming still has issues it needs to overcome. Streaming to Twitch is overly convoluted for the layperson. Prepare to spend a bit of time on Google or Steam forums if a game breaks. Updating graphics drivers? A hassle for sure. Even the sheer act of building a PC can be stressful, at first. It’s not for everyone. Not yet. But PC gaming is a lot more accessible than it was in the past. There are practically infinite resources on the internet for any question you might encounter, for any error code a game might spit back at you. Driver updates are done with the push of a button now and take far less time than any console firmware update. The PC is in a good spot – probably the best it’s ever been, and getting better all the time. If you watched Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro announcement with disappointment, or bemusement, maybe it’s time to think about moving to a more open platform. We’d be more than happy to have you. J

Why not use your PC for work and play?

Control flexibility We could also talk at length about the mouse and keyboard, but we won’t. Suffice it to say: it’s more precise, more approachable (for new gamers), and more responsive than a controller. But there are so many console games on PCs nowadays, it’s only natural you want to



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FEATURE

EXCEL:

5

TIME-SAVING POWER TIPS

There’s no such thing as too fast when you’re crunching numbers on deadline in Excel. JD Sartain’s power tips will speed up your tasks

1

Formulatext() adds notes to formulas If you and your colleagues share spreadsheets, it’s handy to have notes that explain what your formulae are doing (plus a copy of the formula). Some organisations even require it, especially if you’re a programmer or analyst. This formula and the +N function are the quick answer to your spreadsheet documentation needs. Move your cursor to the column beside the formula column. If that column of cells has additional data in it, you can insert another column (which you can hide when you’re working or printing the spreadsheet), or you can create a separate FORMULATEXT matrix out to the side of your original spreadsheet. The spreadsheet shown here occupies A1 through D15. Move your cursor to E5 and select the FORMULATEXT() function from Formulas > Function Library > Lookup & Reference. In the Reference field of the Function dialog, enter the cell address D5 or just point to it and click OK. Notice that a text version of the actual formula prints in cell E5.

Use the FORMULATEXT() function to display actual formulae


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FEATURE

2

N() function: another way to add notes In this example, the formula is selfexplanatory, so additional comments aren’t really necessary. However, if this were a long, complicated formula, you could add comments that explain what the formula is doing by just entering +N plus the comment, inside quotes inside parentheses, at the end of your formula in D5. (Note: you would not put it at the end of the Reference in E5.) For example, move your cursor back to cell D5 and press Function key F2 (to edit your formula). Then type +N(“your comments here”) at the end of your formula (with no spaces). And, if you’d like (although it’s redundant), copy and paste the formula down to D15 and E15.

Use the N function to insert comments at the end of your formulae

3

Case Functions fix upper- and lowercase messes Have you ever typed an entire paragraph with the caps lock key on? In Word, the solution is an easy shortcut key (Shift+F3 repeated/cycled until the correct case displays). In Excel, it’s a simple function: the UPPER() function converts all characters to uppercase. The LOWER() function converts all characters to lowercase. Pop quiz: how does one convert upper- or lowercase, or a mixture of both, to what typographers call the Title, Name, or Sentence case? The command in Excel (which is also the preferred term) is Proper case, or PROPER() when written as a function. In the sample spreadsheet on the next page, the names are entered in various upper-, lower-, and proper-case formats. Use the PROPER() function to repair these mistyped names: move your cursor to cell B4, then click Formulas > Function Library > Text. From the Text drop-down, select Proper. The Function Arguments dialog box will appear. In the Text field, enter or point to cell A4, then click OK. Copy B4 down through B10 and notice how the PROPER() function has repaired all the mistyped names in this list. Next move your cursor to cell C4 and enter the LOWER() function, which you can find in the same Text drop-down menu or enter it manually in cell C4: =LOWER(B4) and press Enter. Move your cursor to D4 and enter the Upper function in this cell, or type =UPPER(B4) and press Enter. Copy cells C4 and D4 down through C15 and D15. Now each name in each list is displayed correctly. These functions also work for imported or copied text.

Use the Case functions UPPER(), LOWER(), and PROPER() to repair case typing errors



23/09/2016 12:27

Feature: Five Excel time-saving tips

4 5

Transpose feature to rearrange columns and rows All experienced users know that in Excel, fields are placed in columns and records are placed in rows. However, sometimes you inherit a spreadsheet from a beginner who has it backward. Retyping all that data is out of the question, and using copy/ paste one row at a time would be horribly tedious. This doesn’t seem like a big deal on a small spreadsheet, but imagine reorganising 40 columns and 200 rows and you’ll like this tip much better. Highlight the data matrix you want to transpose (in our example, it’s A1 through F6). Select Copy and move your cursor to the new, target location. Go to Home > Clipboard and click Paste > Paste Special. In the Paste Special dialog box, check the Transpose field box and click OK. And that’s it. The data moves to the new location with the columns and rows transposed.

The Transpose feature easily converts rows to columns or columns to rows

Save more seconds with Autofill Everyone who handles series data should use Autofill to save typing and retyping for things that are always the same – for example, a list of consecutive numbers or letters or days of the week. 1. Enter a day of the week in cell A3. 2. Hover the cursor over the bottom right corner of the cell until it changes to a black cross. 3. Click and drag horizontally or vertically to copy the content down or over. Notice the tag following your cursor as it drags. The information inside the tag changes to the next item in the series (in this case, the next day of the week). 4. When you release the left-mouse button, the Autofill Options icon appears (overwriting the black cross). Click the down arrow and note the options available:

• Copy Cells • Fill Series • Fill Formatting Only • Fill Without Formatting • Flash Fill If not already selected, click the Fill Series button. The series displays (in consecutive order) up to the point where you stopped dragging the cursor. If the Autofill Options icon does not appear when you stop dragging the black cross, Select File > Options > Advanced. Scroll down to the Cut, Copy, And Paste section. You’ll see these three options with radio buttons:

Use Autofill to automatically enter items in a series

How Autofill enters a sequence (automatically)

• Show Paste Options Button When Content Is Pasted • Show Insert Options Buttons • Cut, Copy, And Sort Inserted Objects With Their Parent Cells

Ensure that the first and second buttons are both clicked on. (The third button is optional.) J

Autofill options



23/09/2016 12:28

FOR EVERYTHING

ANDROID

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Every issue is packed with the latest reviews, features, tutorials & more.

HOW TO

Install Microsoft Edge browser extensions Ian Paul reveals how to install and manage your browser extensions in Microsoft Edge The Anniversary Update for Windows 10 has been rolling out, and with it comes the ability to install browser extensions on Microsoft Edge. The new feature is just one of many tweaks that Edge needs to compete with more popular browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. At the time of writing, the number of extensions available for Edge is limited, but you’ll find a few notable ones, including AdBlock, AdBlock Plus and Pocket.

100 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to December 2016

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HOW TO Once the Anniversary Update is installed on your PC, here’s how to download and install extensions in Edge. First, open Edge and click on the menu icon (three horizontal dots) in the upper-right corner. Next, select Extensions from the drop-down menu. This will open a second panel that will show any extensions you already have installed. Click the link labelled Get Extensions From The Store. The Store app will now open on the dedicated extensions page with all the various extensions you can install in your browser. From here on out, installing extensions works the same way as installing Store apps.

Let’s say you wanted to install AdBlock Plus. First, click on the extension’s listing, and you’ll come to its page in the Store. Next, click the Free button and it will install. Once it’s ready, Action Centre will send out a toast notification letting you know it’s available. The next time you’re in Edge, the browser will ask you if you want to turn on the extension or leave it off. If you want to enable it, click Turn It On.

See it Now the extension is working, though you won’t see it next to the address bar like you would in Chrome or Firefox. Microsoft decided against automatically cluttering up your browser chrome with add-on icons. If you want to see the icon, click on the three horizontal dots again and select Extensions. Next, hover over AdBlock Plus (or whichever add-on you’ve installed) and click on the settings cog icon. On the next screen, click the slider labelled Show Button Next To Address Bar so that it’s in the On position. You should now see the extension icon in your browser. This screen is also where you’d go to enable or disable any extension-specific options. That’s all there is to installing and managing extensions in Edge. J

December 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to 101

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22/09/2016 10:03

How to: Repair Windows’ MBR and fix a bricked PC

Repair Windows’ MBR and fix a bricked PC Your PC won’t work if its master boot record has been corrupted. Ian Paul shows how to fix it A nasty new form of ransomware is wreaking havoc on computers. Hackers that encrypt your files and demand money from you in the form of bitcoin is bad enough, but a few versions also overwrite your Windows PC’s master boot record (MBR). The master boot record is a key part of your PC’s startup system. It contains information about the computer’s disk partitions and helps load the operating system. Without a properly functioning MBR, your PC simply won’t work. Ransomware that overwrites the MBR isn’t all that new, with examples of it dating back to at least 2012. More recently, the

Petya variant of ransomware has been causing MBR problems. Then in August, a pesky bit of malware popped up on FossHub that overwrote the MBR, which caused headaches for affected users. And the master boot record can sometimes be damaged via less hostile actions, as well. Luckily, destroying the MBR usually isn’t irreversible. But it’s still problematic since overwriting the MBR renders your PC inoperative until it’s repaired. On top of that, the method for fixing it is far from obvious. Here’s how to make everything right if your master boot record was erased.

How to fix the MBR The main way to fix the MBR is to use a command prompt and run the bootrec.exe command. In versions of Windows prior to Windows 8 and 10, you usually accessed the command prompt through recovery media like a DVD disc or USB drive. That still works in Windows 10, and we’ll discuss that method at the end of this tutorial. But the latest versions of Windows offer an easier method for running recovery commands without external media. When you first boot up a Windows 10 PC it should recognise that there’s a problem and enter ‘automatic repair’ mode. When it does, you’ll see the words ‘Preparing Automatic Repair’ appear below the blue Windows logo.


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If that doesn’t happen, but you do see the blue Windows logo, turn off your computer using the hard reset/power button. Keep turning the computer on and off until you see your PC booting into automatic repair. It should only take a few reboots. Once automatic repair mode is ready, you’ll see the Automatic Repair screen. From here select Advanced options.

On the next screen, click Troubleshoot and then Advanced options once again.

You’ll see a screen with six options. If you want, you can select Startup Repair before turning to the command prompt and Bootrec. Startup Repair is an automated program that will try to fix any problems it finds on the computer disk without any intervention from the user. It’s a good utility that may fix your problem, but Startup Repair will take far more time to complete its task than simply running Bootrec. To use the Bootrec option, click the Command Prompt tile. This may prompt your computer to reboot yet again and then ask you to login with your password. If that happens, do so. Once the command line appears, all you have to do is type the following, then press Enter: bootrec.exe /fixmbr Note the space between exe and /fixmbr – it’s critical to include this space for the command to run properly. The first part tells the PC to run the Bootrec program, while the /fixmbr option tells Bootrec exactly what we want it to recover.



22/09/2016 15:22


If all goes well, the command prompt should print out, ‘The operation completed successfully’. When you see that you can reboot your PC. If you’re trying to recover from ransomware or some other form of malware, be sure to boot into Safe Mode and then run an antimalware program.

Bootrec from a system repair drive If you’re running an older version of Windows, or if your Windows 10 PC isn’t launching the repair options, you’ll need to use a recovery drive to fix your MBR. Start by inserting the system repair media into the PC. This will be either one you created, or a purchased version of the Windows install discs. Next, boot your system. If you’re using a USB drive, your system’s BIOS needs to be set to boot from USB before falling back to any internal drives. If you don’t have your BIOS correctly configured, the system recovery drive will be of no use. Adding to the complication, the way you enter the BIOS is not universal. We reveal how to handle setting up your BIOS to boot from USB at tinyurl.com/j6ws688. Once you’ve booted into the recovery drive, you should be asked to select a keyboard layout in your language – UK English in our case. Next, you’ll land on the troubleshooting screen we saw earlier. At this point you can continue to the command prompt as we discussed earlier and run Bootrec. If you’re on Windows 7, you’ll need to follow slightly different steps once you launch into the recovery mode. After you’ve selected the input method, choose Repair your computer, followed by the operating system name. Then, click Next > System Recovery Options > Command Prompt and start Bootrec using the same bootrec.exe /fixmbr as above.

Next steps Although the MBR problem is relatively easy to repair, it’s still best to be prepared for the worst in case this problem ever strikes again. The most important thing you can do to protect against MBR erasure and most other catastrophic PC malfunctions: back up your personal files. That means keeping a local daily backup on an external hard drive or using a third-party program for daily backups. It’s also a good idea to have a secondary backup that lives offsite, such as an online backup service like Backblaze, Carbon, or CrashPlan. You’ll also want to create a system recovery drive. This is an especially important measure in the age of Windows 10, since many early Windows 10 users upgraded to the new operating system via a digital download – and thus don’t have a physical copy of the operating system. If the automatic repair method ever fails, you’ll need a system repair drive in order to use Bootrec or any other system recovery tools. J



22/09/2016 15:22

iPad & iPhone User magazine is the essential guide for all things iOS-related DOWNLOAD THE LATEST ISSUE TODAY

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22/09/2016 15:23

How to: Turn off enhanced notifications in Windows 10

Turn off enhanced notifications in Windows 10 Fed up with Windows Defender constantly telling you what it’s doing? Ian Paul shows how to stop it Microsoft’s Anniversary Update for Windows 10 wouldn’t be complete if there weren’t a few annoyances added to great features such as Cortana integration and an improved Action Centre. One such annoyance is Windows Defender’s unceasing penchant for telling you what a great job it’s doing. The new feature is called enhanced notifications, which amounts to Microsoft’s built-in antivirus software reporting the results of its scans. If you don’t mind the regular reports, then it’s a great feature, but if you really don’t see the point of such micro-monitoring there’s an easy way to turn it off. Open the Settings app by going to Start > Settings > Update & security > Windows Defender. Then, in the main part of the screen, scroll down until you see the Enhanced notifications section (see right). Simply flip the on/off slider to Off. That’s it. Enhanced notifications are turned off. If Windows Defender finds a threat to your PC you will still be notified. What you won’t see, however, are notifications whenever Defender completes a scan or any other routine activity. Anyone managing a multi-user PC at home might want to keep these notifications

active so they don’t have to open Defender very often just to see what it’s up to. For us, turning off the enhanced notifications was an easy way to reduce the number of alerts that already flood our PC without losing any mission-critical updates. J


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22/09/2016 15:24

How to: Enable location services on your phone

Enable location services on your phone GPS is handy if, for example, you need to access Google Maps. Chris Martin explains how to turn it on The GPS (global positioning system) on your phone is handy for a range of things, such as getting directions or finding your position on a map. In fact, many Android apps require your location to work fully and some to work at all. When you open an app that requires GPS, you’ll be asked to enable it if you haven’t done so already. It’s also helpful to know

how to turn it on and off as it can be a drain on your battery as well as a potential threat to your privacy. As with any Android tutorial there isn’t a one-size-fits-all guide. The layout of the user interface will vary, so it will be easier to enable GPS on some phones than others. We’ve tried to cover all the bases below.

Swipe down from the top of the screen to open your notifications bar (this should work even on the lock screen or if you’re in an app). If you have Quick Settings, find and tap on Location or GPS.

If not, open the settings menu and head to the Location section – this may be under Privacy. J

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22/09/2016 15:26

How to: Use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot

Use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot When you really need to access the internet from a PC your phone can save the day, writes Ian Paul


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27/09/2016 12:42

How to: Use your smartphone as a Wi-Fi hotspot

Wi-Fi is everywhere these days. So much so that Google is playing around with a mobile phone service that relies mostly on Wi-Fi. Nevertheless, there are times when Wi-Fi is just not an option. If your life is anything like mine, that will be the moment when you absolutely must get your laptop online to make adjustments to a

document or reply to a lengthy email. Yes, you could tough it out and do this work on your phone, but that small screen can be a big hassle for major work. That’s why knowing how to turn your smartphone into a Wi-Fi hotspot for your laptop is so useful. Here’s how to do so on Android, iOS and Windows 10 Mobile.

Android (based on Android Marshmallow)

iOS (based on iOS 10)

On Android, open the Settings app, and under Wireless & networks tap More. On the next screen, tap Tethering & portable hotspot and then tap Set up Wi-Fi hotspot. A small pop-up window will appear with the name of your Wi-Fi hotspot, the password and the Wi-Fi band your phone is using. All of these options can be changed from this window. Most people can ignore the band options, but you should definitely rename your Wi-Fi hotspot and change the password. Just like your regular router, it’s always a good idea to change the default name. To reveal your phone’s hotspot password, tap the Show password checkbox, and then change the password to something of your choosing. Once you’ve got everything set up the way you like it, tap Save to close the pop-up window. Now, it’s time to activate the portable Wi-Fi hotspot. Once again go to Settings > Wireless & networks > More > Tethering & portable hotspot. Tap the slider labelled Portable Wi-Fi hotspot to the on position (it will turn green). Note that Android users may have to turn to a third-party app to create a Wi-Fi hotspot as some carrier-sold phones have the functionality removed.

On your iPhone, open the Settings app and then tap Personal Hotspot. On the next screen, tap the slider labelled Personal Hotspot to activate the feature. Just below the slider button, you’ll see the password for your smartphone’s hotspot. Tap the password box and you will be able to change it to anything you like. Once you have done so, tap Done. The iPhone automatically uses the device name as the hotspot name. So if, for example, you called your phone ‘Bob’s iPhone’ that’s what your hotspot will be called.

Windows 10 Mobile

Back to your PC

Open the Settings app in Windows 10 Mobile and select Network & Wireless. Next, choose Mobile hotspot and turn the top slider under Mobile hotspot from Off to On. Below that you’ll see an option to share your internet connection over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. Wi-Fi is selected by default and is more desirable for our purposes here. Under that you’ll see two items: Network name and Network password. These are your phone’s hotspot name and password. To change them, tap Edit and in the next screen you can rename your hotspot and change the password.

Now that you’ve got your phone up and running, it’s time to switch your laptop over to the new Wi-Fi hotspot. These instructions are specifically for Windows 10, but other versions of Windows will behave similarly. There’s no difference between connecting a PC to your phone’s Wi-Fi hotspot or a regular router. In the taskbar, click on the Wi-Fi symbol on the far right. Then from the list of various Wi-Fi access points choose the name of the hotspot for your phone, and then enter the password. If all goes well you should connect. Using your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot can be slow at times, but for basic web browsing or email it will work just fine. Keep in mind that serving as a hotspot can be a drain on your phone’s battery, so have your charger handy or plug your phone into a USB port on your laptop that supports charging. Plus, be aware that you can quickly use up your monthly data allowance this way. J


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22/09/2016 15:32

How to: Give your smartphone’s GPS signal a boost

Give your smartphone’s GPS signal a boost If your phone is plagued by a weak or unreliable GPS signal, Martyn Casserly’s advice will help Granting access to location data It’s easy to overlook, so one of the first things you should ensure is that the app you’re using has access to your device’s location. If you’re installing an app for the first time, Pokémon GO for example, then those running Android 6.0 and above will be asked by the app for permission to use location data. Tap Allow to make this happen.

If the app is already installed on your device then you’ll need to open the Settings menu then find the Apps option in the Device section. Tap this then tap on the app itself. Scroll down until you find the Permissions section, tap that then look to see if Location is switched on.


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23/09/2016 10:43

How to: Give your smartphone’s GPS signal a boost

Using High Accuracy The GPS on your handset has a few different settings that affect both its accuracy and power consumption. If you want the best GPS signal, you’ll need to put your phone in High Accuracy mode, but be aware that this will drain your battery a bit quicker than the normal mode. Changing the mode is very easy. First off you’ll need to open the Settings menu, then under the Personal section look for Location. You can see beneath the heading whether the service is switched on and what mode it’s currently set to.

Tap Location, then select Mode from the top of the list of options. In here you’ll find three settings: High Accuracy, which gives the best results because it not only uses GPS but also incorporates the signals from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and your mobile network; Battery Saving; and Device only. Tap High Accuracy to change the mode.

GPS app There are GPS apps on the Google Play Store that are designed to improvement performance in subtle ways. One of the most popular is GPS Status & Toolbox by MobiWIA (tinyurl.com/cnt2mgu). The basic version is free, incorporating a few ads, while the Pro version costs £1.49. One of its best features is the ability to download A-GPS XTRA Data. This is additional information that fine-tunes the system, speeds up your GPS and generally makes things a bit sharper. You don’t need a Pro account to access this facility, but you will need to manually clear the cache and download new data for the A-GPS XTRA feature every few days. A Pro account does this automatically. Alongside the A-GPS XTRA data, the app has an excellent compass, levelling tool, and the ability to set waypoints. J


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21/09/2016 12:25

How to: Turn on Night Mode in Android Nougat

Turn on Night Mode in Android Nougat Martyn Casserly reveals how to enable Night Mode, so you can get off to sleep quicker Recent research suggests that the blue light emitted by phone and tablet displays can have a detrimental effect on sleep patterns. These wavelengths are said to stimulate parts of the brain that control alertness, and could even convince our bodies it’s daytime. The upshot of this is that using your smartphone, tablet, PC or TV in the late evening could make it harder for you to get to sleep. The new Night Mode in Android Nougat addresses this by diminishing the blue light on your screen, increasing instead the

warmer reds in an effort to reduce disruptions to your balanced circadian rhythm. It’s not a guaranteed solution. The NHS lists drinking tea or coffee in the four hours before you go to bed, drinking alcohol or smoking as other potential reasons why you might struggle to nod off when you finally hit the pillow. Still, it’s probably a good idea to address the blue light issue as well as all those other things, as many of us are spending an increasing amount of time gazing into glowing rectangles.


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20/09/2016 14:54

How to: Turn on Night Mode in Android Nougat

Adding the feature If your Android phone is running Nougat, then perusing the Settings menu will leave you with a profound lack of Night Mode. We have seen reports of people who upgraded from the Developer Betas actually seeing the feature listed automatically, but for the majority of us who wait for the official consumer releases it will be absent. In order for this workaround to be successful, you’ll first need to enable the Developer mode on your device. Head over to the Settings menu and scroll to the bottom of the list where you’ll find the About Phone section. Tap this, then scroll to the bottom of the next list until you find Build Number. Tap this repeatedly, it takes about seven- or eight presses, and you’ll be told that the developer mode has been activated. Now you’re ready to proceed. Accessing Night Mode involves downloading a small app from the Google Play Store that unlocks the feature. There are a few available, but we’ve had a good experience with Night Mode Enabler by Mike Evans (tinyurl.com/hpamty3). Once you’ve found the app on the Play Store, download and launch it on your device. You’ll be presented with a mainly blank screen instructing you to

Enable System UI Tuner. To do this, swipe down from the top of the screen to access the Settings menu, then long press on the Settings/Gear icon until you see the message ‘Congratulations! System UI Tuner has been added to Settings’. Now when you scroll down to the bottom of the Settings menu, you’ll find System UI Trainer just above the About Phone option.

Tapping on it brings up a warning entitled ‘Fun for some but not for all’, which simply outlines the fact that the features included in this section are experimental and may be a little unstable to use. Tap Understood and then leave the Settings and return to the Enable Night Mode app, which will now have a similarly named button in the middle of the screen that will banish your blues.

Tap it and you’ll be taken back to the System UI Tuner, where this time there is a section for Night Mode. Tap the ‘On’ button in the top-right corner and your screen should take on a reddish cast. You don’t want Night Mode on all the time though, so we recommend selecting the ‘Turn on automatically’ option, so your device will only apply the setting once the evening begins to draw in. If you ever want to turn it on or off manually, you can also access the Quick Settings menu (the one that appears when you swipe down from the top of your display) and tap the Night Mode option that should now reside among the other icons. So there you have it, Night Mode. Hopefully that will make your life more restful, well, as much as a setting on a smartphone ever can. Sweet dreams. J


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20/09/2016 14:54

How to: Change the wallpaper on an Android device

Change the wallpaper on an Android device Customise your Android device with Chris Martin’s tip for changing the home screen’s wallpaper


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23/09/2016 10:15

How to: Change the wallpaper on an Android device

One of Android’s main attractions is the amount of customisation on offer, including what wallpaper you use for the home- and lock screens. While some fit your device beautifully others aren’t so good. Luckily, it’s easy to choose a different image or even have separate wallpapers for the home- and lock screens. As with any Android tutorial, the experience and exact method will vary from phone-to-phone since they all use different skins/user interfaces. For the purposes of this review we’ve used a Sony Xperia Z5. If the following steps don’t match your phone, head to the settings menu and find the display section, which typically has options for the lock screen. Some phones allow you to search the settings menu so you can also try that. This is also where you can find and change lock screen security.

Long press on your home screen where there aren’t any icons or widgets.

This should open a customisation menu where you can select ‘Wallpapers’.

You may be given the option to change it for the home- or lock screen. If not, try the settings menu as detailed above.

Scroll through the list of wallpapers or open My photos to select a picture you’ve taken.

Adjust the position, crop and zoom where appropriate, then hit ‘Set wallpaper’. J

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21/09/2016 12:29

How to: Take charge of the stock Android keyboard

Take charge of the stock Android keyboard If you want to give Android’s default keyboard a new look, Ben Patterson’s six tips will help Sure, you’ve got plenty of choices when it comes to picking a new keyboard for your Android phone, but you shouldn’t overlook the growing list of customisation options available on the ‘stock’ Android keyboard. Not only can you change the colour of the

keypad but you can also create your own background using an image from your camera roll. You can even toggle key borders on and off, raise or lower the height of the keyboard, change the timing of a ‘long-press’ or get easier access to your favourite emoji.


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21/09/2016 12:31


Change your keyboard’s theme and background Back in the early days of Android, the stock keyboard was something of an ugly duckling, with boxy, chunky keys and a single white-on-black theme. Luckily, it was given a makeover a couple of years ago, complete with a sleek new look and a quartet of greyscale colour schemes. Today, the number of Android keyboard themes available has expanded to 15, plus the option to use a snapshot on your camera roll as a keypad background. Tap Settings > Language & Input > Google Keyboard > Theme to see the menu of available keyboard themes – everything from black and red to green and pink – and tap an option to make the change. To use your own picture as a keypad background, tap the My Image option near the top. Once you’ve given Google Keyboard access to your photos (just tap Allow when prompted), pick an image from your photo library, crop the image and use the slider to adjust the brightness of the background. Finally, select the new background from the Set Keyboard Theme screen.

Add borders to the keys When Google gave the Android keypad its sleek ‘material design’ makeover, one of the big changes was the elimination of outlines for individual keys; instead, letters, numbers and symbols appeared to be floating on the keypad. But if you miss seeing a border for each key, there’s an easy fix. Go back to the Set Keyboard Theme settings (Settings > Language & Input > Google Keyboard > Set Keyboard Theme), then toggle the Key border switch. Return to the keyboard, and you’ll see translucent borders for each key – and if you ask us, the effect looks pretty good.

Raise or lower the height of the keyboard By default, the stock Android keypad takes up about the bottom 40 percent of the screen. If, however, you want the keyboard to be a little roomier – or, on the flip side, if you want to shrink the keypad a tad – there’s an easy way to do it. Tap Settings > Language & Input > Google Keyboard > Preferences > Keyboard Height, then use the slider to pick a new setting. The Tall setting, for example, expands the keypad to about 45 percent of the display, while Short confines the keyboard to the bottom third of the screen.



21/09/2016 12:31


Long press to type symbols Here’s a great setting for anyone sick of having to tap the ‘?123’ key to access the symbol keys. Tap Settings > Language & Input > Google Keyboard > Preferences, then toggle on the Long press for symbols switch. Go back to the keypad; when you do, you’ll see little symbol icons in the corners of each letter key. Just tap and hold a key to type the symbol in the corner of the key you pressed, no extra keystroke required.

Change how long a Long press takes By default, you must hold a key about 300 milliseconds (or three-tenths of a second) for the Android keypad to register your keystroke as a Long press. If 300 milliseconds sounds a little too long – or too short – for you, give this setting a try. Tap Settings > Language & Input > Google Keyboard > Preferences > Key Long Press Delay, then pick a setting using the slider; 100 milliseconds (just a tenth of a second) is the shortest, while 700 milliseconds (nearly a whole second) is the longest.

Get shortcuts to your favourite emojis If you can’t resist ending a text message with a smiley face, there’s a nifty keyboard setting that’ll quickly put your most-used emojis at your fingertips. Tap Settings > Language & Input > Google Keyboard > Preferences, then toggle on the Show Emojis In Symbols keyboard setting. Now, whenever you tap the ‘?123’ key, you’ll see six of your favourite emojis appear in the suggestions strip just above the keyboard. J



21/09/2016 12:31

Reader software downloads zone

DOWNLOADS ZONE Download the latest software from the PC Advisor Software Downloads Zone Available in print and digital formats, and featuring latest news, reviews, group tests, features and tutorials, PC Advisor magazine is simply the best technology magazine you can buy. In every issue we bring you software downloads through the PC Advisor Download Zone. All software downloads can be found in a central location. To make things as easy as possible, we have removed the need for individual codes to download or register each program. The only code you’ll need is DOWNLOAD1215, which you can enter at the following page: pcadvisor.co.uk/magazine/download Once logged in, you’ll be able to browse the software on offer or search for something specific using the search box, or click the Downloads link at the top of each page and browse by category. The Downloads Zone has hundreds of great programs and apps that are just a click or two away.

December 2016 pcadvisor.co.uk/magazine/download 119

119 Software Download 257.indd 119

23/09/2016 09:54

TOP5CHARTS TEST CENTRE PC Advisor’s charts rank and rate the best products every month. If you’re looking to buy the latest and greatest kit, look no further than our 100-plus reviews

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Prices listed are those quoted by the distributor or manufacturer and include VAT. They are intended only as a guide. If you’re interested in purchasing one of the products reviewed here then please contact the manufacturer or supplier directly, mentioning both PC Advisor and the issue in which you saw the product. If it won’t supply the product as reviewed, contact us at [email protected]. Manufacturers are under no obligation to feature reviewed products on their websites. Our recommendations are for guidance only. Star ratings are awarded at the time of the original review and given in relation to the market competition at that time.

TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best laptops

1

2

3

4

5

Dell XPS 13 9350

Asus ZenBook UX303U

Microsoft Surface Book

HP Envy 13

Apple MacBook Pro Retina 15in

Price

£1,720 inc VAT

£899 inc VAT

£1,299 inc VAT

£799 inc VAT

£1,599 inc VAT

Website

Dell.co.uk

Asus.com/uk

Microsoft.com/en-gb

Hp.com/uk

Apple.com/uk

Processor

2.2GHz Intel Core i5-5200U


Intel Core i7100

2.5GHz Intel Core i7


RAM

8GB DDR3

12GB DDR3

16GB

8GB DDR3

16GB DDR3L

Storage

128GB SSD

256GB SSD

5112GB SSD

256GB SSD

256GB SSD

Screen size

13.3in matt IPS

13.3in matt

13.5in PixelSense

13.3in matt

15.4in matt

Screen resolution

1920x1080

1920x1080

3000x2000

1920x1080

2880x1800

Graphics

Intel HD Graphics 5500


Nvidia GeForce (custom)

Intel HD 520

Intel Iris Pro Graphics

Video memory

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Wireless

802.11ac

802.11ac

802.11a/b/g/n

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Ethernet

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Bluetooth











USB

2x USB 3.0

3x USB 3.0

2x USB 3.0

3x USB 3.0

2x USB 3.0

FireWire











Thunderbolt











DisplayPort











HDMI











DVI











VGA











eSATA











Media card slot











Audio

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Optical drive

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Extras

720p webcam

0.9Mp webcam

5Mp webcam

HD webcam

720p FaceTime

Operating system

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Pro

Windows 10 Home

OS X Yosemite

Bundled software

None

None

None

None

None

Gaming scores

24.5/17.9fps in Tomb Raider

38/30fps in Tomb Raider

Not tested

Not tested

Not tested

Battery

Not stated

50Wh lithium-polymer

51Wh tablet, 18Wh Keyboard

45Wh lithium-ion

74.9Wh lithium-ion

Battery life

Not tested

7 hrs 48 mins

16 hrs 25 mins

1 hr 24 mins

8 hrs 58 mins

PCMark8 score

Not tested

Not tested

Not tested

2657

Not tested

Dimensions

304x200x15mm

322x222x19.4mm

312x232x23mm

326x226x13mm

358.9x247.1x18mm

Weight

1.3kg

1.4kg

1.6kg

1.3kg

2kg

Warranty

2-year return-to-base

1 year


1-year collect-and-return


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Build rating Features rating Performance rating Value rating Overall rating

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20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best budget laptops

1

2

3

4

5

HP 250 G4

HP 255 G4

Asus X555LA-XX290H

Toshiba Chromebook 2

Dell Vostro 15 3000

Price

£299 inc VAT

£269 inc VAT

£300 inc VAT

£269 inc VAT

£442 inc VAT

Website

Hp.com/uk

Hp.com/uk

Asus.com/uk

Toshiba.co.uk

Dell.co.uk

Processor


2.2GHz AMD A8-7410


Intel Celeron


RAM

8GB

4GB DDR3

4GB DDR3

4GB DDR3

4GB DDR3

Storage

1TB HDD

1TB HDD

1TB HDD

16GB SSD

500GB SSD

Screen size

15.6in matt

15.6in matt

15.6in glossy

13.3in IPS

15.3in matt

Screen resolution

1366x768

1366x768

1366x768

1920x1080

1366x768

Graphics

Intel HD GPU

AMD Radeon 5


Intel HD Graphics


Video memory

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Wireless

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11b/g/n/ac

Ethernet

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Bluetooth











USB

1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

FireWire











Thunderbolt











DisplayPort











HDMI











DVI











VGA











eSATA











Media card slot











Audio

Headphone minijack

Headphone minijack

Headphone minijack

Headphone minijack

Headphone minijack

Optical drive

DVDRW

DVDRW

DVDRW

None

None

Webcam

Kensington lock slot, webcam


Webcam


Operating system

Windows 10

Windows 8.1 Pro

Windows 8.1

Google Chrome OS

Windows 8.1

Bundled software

None

None

None

None

None

Battery

31Wh Lithium-ion

31Wh Lithium-ion

37Wh Lithium-ion

Not specified

40Wh Lithium-polymer

Battery life

5 hrs 5 mins

4 hrs 6 mins

5 hrs 17 mins

9 hrs

5 hrs 17 mins

PCMark 8 Home score

2171

1863

1985

Not tested

2296

Batman (Low/High)

Not tested

28fps/Not tested

30fps/Not tested

Not tested

29fps/Not tested

Dimensions

384x254x24mm

385x255x24.6mm

381x257x26.3mm

320x214x19.3mm

1378x259x24.5mm

Weight

2.1kg

2.1kg

2.1kg

1.4kg

2.4kg

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

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Extras

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/PVGMVTS FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE 122 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best ultraportable laptops

1

3

4

5

Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13in HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1

2

Apple MacBook Air 13in

Dell XPS 13 9350

HP Envy 13

Price

£999 inc VAT

£2,116 inc VAT

£849 inc VAT

£1,720 inc VAT

£799 inc VAT

Website

Apple.com/uk

Hp.com/uk

Apple.com/uk

Dell.co.uk

Hp.com/uk

Processor


2.1GHz Intel Core i5-4600U 1.6GHz Intel Core i5



RAM

8GB LPDDR3

8GB DDR3L

4GB LPDDR3

8GB DDR3

8GB DDR3

Storage

128GB SSD

256GB SSD

128GB SSD

128GB SSD

256GB SSD

Screen size

13.3in matt

14in matt

13.3in glossy

13.3in matt IPS

13.3in matt

Screen resolution

2560x1600

1920x1080

1440x900

1920x1080

1920x1080

Graphics

Intel Iris Graphics 6100




Intel HD 520

Video memory

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Wireless

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Ethernet

Gigabit

Gigabit

None

Gigabit

Gigabit

Bluetooth











USB

2x USB 3.0

2x USB 3.0

2x USB 3.0

2x USB 3.0

3x USB 3.0

FireWire











Thunderbolt











DisplayPort











HDMI











DVI











VGA











eSATA











Media card slot











Audio

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Optical drive

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Extras

720p FaceTime

0.9Mp webcam

720p FaceTime

720p webcam

HD webcam

Operating system

OS X Yosemite

Windows 7 Professional

OS X Yosemite

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Home

Bundled software

None

None

None

None

None

Gaming scores

Not tested


Not tested

24.5/17.9fps in Tomb Raider

Not tested

Battery

74.9Wh lithium-ion


38Wh lithium-ion

Not stated

45Wh lithium-ion

Battery life

17 hrs 5 mins

5 hrs 41 mins

12 hrs 49 mins

Not tested

1 hr 24 mins

PCMark 7 score

Not tested

4783

Not tested

Not tested

2657

Dimensions

314x219x18mm

338x232x17.3mm

300x192x17mm

304x200x15mm

326x226x13mm

Weight

1.6kg

1.6kg

1.4kg

1.3kg

1.3kg

Warranty






FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NG98LD4

TINYURL.COM/OWV2FRR

TINYURL.COM/PH3YN5K

TINYURL.COM/ZZF4ZQ2

TINYURL.COM/HDAQHQX


HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/PKNC5CL FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best Chromebooks

1

2

3

4

5

Toshiba Chromebook 2

Dell Chromebook 11 (3120)

Asus Chromebook Flip C100PA

Acer Chromebook R11

Acer Chromebook 13

Price

£269 inc VAT

£202 inc VAT

£249 inc VAT

£229 inc VAT

£219 inc VAT

Website

Toshiba.co.uk

Dell.co.uk

UK.asus.com

Acer.co.uk

Acer.co.uk

Processor

Intel Celeron

2.16GHz Intel Celeron N2840 1.86GHz Rockchip RK3288C 1.6GHz Intel Celeron N3050

2.1GHz Nvidia Tegra K1

RAM

4GB DDR3

4GB DDR3

4GB DDR3

2GB DDR3

4GB DDR3

Storage

16GB SSD

16GB SSD

16GB SSD

16GB SSD

32GB SSD

Screen size

13.3in IPS

11.6in HD

10.1in

11in IPS

13.3in

Screen resolution

1920x1080

1366x768

1280x800

1366x768

1920x1080

Graphics

Intel HD graphics

Intel HD graphics

Rockchip Mali T764

Intel HD graphics

Nvidia Kepler

Video memory

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Wireless

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/n

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Ethernet

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Bluetooth











USB

1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

2x USB 2.0

4x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

2x USB 3.0

FireWire











Thunderbolt











DisplayPort











HDMI











DVI











VGA











eSATA











Media card slot











Audio

Headphone minijack

Headphone minijack

Headphone minijack

Headphone minijack

Headphone minijack

Optical drive

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Webcam

Webcam

Webcam

Webcam

Webcam

Operating system

Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS

Google Chrome OS

Bundled software

None

None

None

None

None

Battery life

7 hrs 36 mins

9 hrs 46 mins

9 hrs 33 mins

9 hrs 30 mins

9 hrs 20 mins

SunSpider score

Not tested

697ms

803ms

802ms

660ms

Dimensions

320x214x19.3mm

297x217.7x120.1mm

262.8x182.4x15.6mm

19.2x294x204mm

18x327x227.5mm

Weight

1.4kg

1.25kg

890g

1.25kg

1.5kg

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/OP9NQAY

TINYURL.COM/ZQFP4MF

TINYURL.COM/J9CU5YH

TINYURL.COM/GOVMT3X

TINYURL.COM/Q2YT5AD


Extras

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/NPO9J8A FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE 124 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best gaming laptops

1

2

3

4

5

Asus RoG G752

Alienware 17

Asus G501JW

Schenker XMG U506

Alienware 13

Price

£1,299 inc VAT

£1,350 inc VAT

£1,299 inc VAT

£1,585 inc VAT

£1,100 inc VAT

Website

Asus.com/uk

Alienware.co.uk

Asus.com/uk

Mysn.co.uk

Alienware.co.uk

Processor

2.7GHz Intel Core i7-6820HK

4.1GHz Intel Core i7-6820

2.6GHz Intel Core i7-4720HQ

3.5GHz Intel Core i5-6600K 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-5500U

RAM

32GB DDR4

8GB DDR5, 16GB DDR4

8GB DDR3

8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3

8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3

Storage

1TB HDD

512GB SSD, 1TB HDD

512GB x4 SATA SSD

256GB SSD, 1TB HDD

256GB SSD

Screen size

17.3in IPS

17.3in IPS

15.6in matt

15.6in matt

13.3in matt

Screen resolution

1920x1080

1920x1080

3840x2160

1920x1080

1920x1080

Graphics

Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M





Video memory

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

2GB

Wireless

802.11ac

802.11ac

802.11ac

802.11ac

802.11ac

Ethernet

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Bluetooth











USB

3x USB 3.0

3x USB 3.0, 1x USB-C

3x USB 3.0

3x USB 3.0, 1x eSATA/USB 3.0

3x USB 3.0

FireWire











Thunderbolt











DisplayPort











HDMI











DVI











VGA











eSATA











Media card slot











Audio

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Headphone jack, mic

Optical drive



None

None

None

None

Extras

1.2Mp webcam

2Mp webcam

0.9Mp webcam

2Mp webcam

2Mp webcam

Operating system

Windows 10

Windows 10 Home

Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 Pro

Windows 8.1

Bundled software

None

None

None

None

None

Gaming scores

Not tested

Not tested




Battery

66Wh lithium-ion


96Wh lithium-ion



Battery life

4 hrs 37 mins

3 hrs 59 mins

4 hrs 30 mins

2 hrs 23 mins

10 hrs 20 mins

PCMark 7 score

4184 (PCMark 8)

3400 (PCMark 8)

3018 (PCMark 8)

4000 (PCMark 8)

5429

Dimensions

428x334x43mm

430x292x34.4mm

381x255x20.6mm

387x266x37.5mm

328x235x26.7mm

Weight

4.4kg

3.8kg

2kg

3.4kg

2kg

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year


FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/J8AFNHP

TINYURL.COM/JYK953S

TINYURL.COM/GR8KVAL

TINYURL.COM/NT6UUKF

TINYURL.COM/O8VXAGL


HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/QCDUCZ7 FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best gaming PCs

1

2

3

4

Chillblast Fusion Catapult

Wired2Fire Diablo Predator VR

Yoyotech Warbird RS14

Overclockers Kinetic VR Gaming Palicomp i5 Matrix

Price

£999 inc VAT

£1,150 inc VAT

£999 inc VAT

£739 inc VAT

£1,199 inc VAT

Website

Chillblast.com

Wired2fire.co.uk

Yoyotech.co.uk

Overclockers.co.uk

Palicomp.co.uk

Processor

3.5GHz Intel Core i5 6600K (4.4GHz OC)

3.5GHz Intel i5-6600K (OC 4.4GHz)

3.3GHz Intel Core i5-6600 (3.9GHz Intel Boost)

3.2GHz Intel Core i5-6500 (3.6GHz Turbo)

3.5GHz Intel Core i5-6600K (OC 4.7GHz)

CPU cooler

Corsair Hydro H55

ID Cooling SE-214

Silentium Spartan PRO

Intel CPU

BeQuiet Pure Rock

Memory

16GB DDR4

16GB DDR4

8GB DDR

8GB DDR4

16GB DDR4

Storage

1TB HDD

1TB HDD, 250GB SSD

21TB HDD, 128GB SSD

1TB SSHD

2TB HD, 256GB SSD

Power supply

750W FSP

750W FSP

600W Aerocool Integrator

Kolink 600W

750W FSP

Motherboard

Asus Z170-K

Asus Z170-E

MSI B150M Mortar

Asus H110M-A micro ATC

Asus Z170-Pro Gaming

Operating system

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 (64-bit)

Windows 10 Home (64-bit)

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 (64-bit)

Screen

None supplied

None supplied

None supplied

None supplied

None supplied

Graphics

XFX AMD Radeon R9 390X

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070

MSI GeForce GTX 980Ti Armor X2

Asus GeForce GTX 970 Turbo KFA2 nVIDIA GTX 980

Sound

Onboard

Onboard

Onboard

Onboard

Onboard

Connectivity

Gigabit ethernet

Gigabit ethernet

Gigabit ethernet

Gigabit ethernet

Gigabit ethernet

Ports

2x USB 3.1 Type-A, 6x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0, 1x USB 5Gb/s (Type C), 2x DVI, 1x DP, 1x HDMI

4x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0 On Motheboard I/O, 1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 3x DP

2x USB 3.1 Gen2, 6x USB 3.1 Gen1, 6x USB 2.0

2x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0, 2x dual-link DVI, 1x DP, 1x HDM

1x USB 3.1 (Type-A) 1xUSB 3.1 (Type-C) 4xUSB 3, 2x USB 2.0, 1xPS/2, 1x DVI, 1x D-Sub, 1x DP, 1x HDMI

Optical drive

None

None

None

None

None

Case

Zalman Z11 Neo

Aerocool QS240 M-ATX

Phanteks Enthoo Pro Mid

Kolink Satellite Cube

Sharkoon VG5-W

Keyboard & mouse

None supplied

Cooler Master Devastator Keyboard and Mouse

None supplied

None supplied

Nemesis Kane Gaming Keyboard and Mouse

PCMark 8 2.0 Home score

4832

5670

4818

4669

5911

Alien Isolation score (4K)

17.02/49.28fps

12.99/63.23fps

16.48/59.94fps

20.24/40.43fps

116.55/50.37fps

Thief (4K Ultra)

21.5/32.9fps

36.2/42.1fps

35.4/42.5fps

Benchmark failed to run

27.6/32.8fps

3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited

212,222

227,383

183,814

145,866

230,982

3DMark Fire Strike

10,629

14,235

13,482

7,005

11,917

Power Consumption

Not tested

56/385W

48/369W

36/235W

73/436W

Warranty

5 years labour, 2-year C&R

2 years return to labour, 3 years labour

3 years RTB. first year parts and labour, 2 years labour only

2-year parts and labour C&R warranty

3 years C&R

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/J6X5HFD

TINYURL.COM/JJCP6N3

TINYURL.COM/ZOQXPGU

TINYURL.COM/GV5AZTU

TINYURL.COM/ZZMN9HW

5


HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/OW68EKE FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE 126 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:42

Don’t miss a single copy of Macworld by subscribing digitally Subscribe from as little as £1.99

083 MACWORLD FILLER.indd 83

31/05/2016 15:48

Top 5 charts

1

2

3

4

5

Apple iMac with 5K display

Acer Aspire AZ3-615

Chillblast Volante AIO

Asus Eee Top

HP Envy Beats 23-n001na

Price

£1,999 inc VAT

£799 inc VAT

£1,299 inc VAT

£799 inc VAT

£900 inc VAT

Website

Apple.com/uk

Acer.co.uk

Chillblast.com

Asus.com/uk

Hp.com/uk

Processor

3.9GHz Intel Core i5-4690

2.7GHz Intel Core i5-4460T

4GHz Intel Core i7-4790S


3.2GHz Intel Core i7-4785T

RAM

8GB DDR3

8GB DDR3

16GB DDR3

6GB DDR3

8GB DDR3

Storage

1TB Fusion Drive

1TB HDD

1TB SSD

1TB HDD

1TB HDD

Screen

27in

23in touchscreen

24in

23in touchscreen

23in touchscreen

Screen resolution

5120x2880

1920x1080

1920x1080

1920x1080

1920x1080

Graphics card

AMD Radeon M9 M290X

Nvidia GeForce GT 840M

Nvidia GeForce GT 750M



Video memory

2GB

2GB

2GB

N/A

N/A

Wireless

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

Ethernet

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Gigabit

Bluetooth











USB

4x USB 3.0

2x USB 3.0, 3x USB 2.0

4x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

3x USB 3.0, 3x USB 2.0

2x USB 3.0, 4x USB 2.0

FireWire











Thunderbolt











HDMI











Media card slot











Optical drive

None

DVD Writer

Blu-Ray Combo

DVD Writer

DVD Writer Wireless keyboard and mouse, Beats Audio stereo speaker system (8x 12W)

All-in-one PCs


Other

Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Aperture

1Mp webcam, wireless keyboard and mouse

Logitech MK520 wireless keyboard and mouse

2Mp webcam, Freeview TV, wireless keyboard and mouse

Operating system

OS X Yosemite

Windows 8.1 64-bit

Windows 8.1 64-bit

Windows 8.1 64-bit

Windows 8.1 64-bit

Power consumption (idle/max)

46/215W

46/91W

35/177W

33/69W

43/81W

Sniper V2 Elite (Low/High/Ultra)

Not tested

47.7/18.7/5.1fps

91.5/41.2/10.5fps

31.4/7.8/5fps

27.7/7.4/5fps

PCMark 8 Home score

Not tested

2906

3776

2828

2702

Dimensions

650x203x516mm

540x489x579mm

585x200x450mm

571x359x50-214mm

563x143x413mm

Weight

9.54kg

8.8kg

14.6kg

9kg

8.4kg

Warranty


Not specified

5-year labour (2-year collect-and-return)


1-year limited parts, labour, and pickup-and-return service

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NWJUJSF

TINYURL.COM/QEY8FOE

TINYURL.COM/LO8A5MC

TINYURL.COM/PRPHC7L

TINYURL.COM/O6M4BCN

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/PGXGFWE FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE 128 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best smartphones

1

2

3

4

5

Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

Samsung Galaxy S7

LG G5

Google Nexus 6P

Apple iPhone 6s Plus

Price

£639 inc VAT

£569 inc VAT

£529 inc VAT

£449 inc VAT

£619 inc VAT

Website

Samsung.com/uk

Samsung.com/uk

LG.com/uk

Google.co.uk

Apple.com/uk

OS (out of box)

Android 6.0 Marshmallow




iOS 9

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810

A9

RAM

4GB

4GB

4GB

3GB

2GB

Storage

32GB

32GB

32GB

32/64/128GB

16/64/128GB

MicroSD support











Graphics

Adreno 530

Adreno 530

Adreno 530

Adreno 430

M9

Screen size

5.5in

5.1in

5.3in

5.7in

5.5in

Screen resolution

2560x1440

2560x1440

2560x1440

2560x1440

1920x1080

Pixel density

534ppi

577ppi

554ppi

518ppi

401ppi

Screen technology

IPS

IPS

IPS

AMOLED

IPS

Front camera

5Mp

5Mp

8Mp

8Mp

5Mp

Rear camera

16Mp, LED flash

12Mp, LED flash

8/16Mp, LED flash

12.3Mp, LED flash

12Mp, LED flash

Video recording

4K

4K

4K

4K

4K

Cellular connectivity

4G

4G

4G

4G

4G

SIM type

Nano-SIM

Nano-SIM

Nano-SIM

Nano-SIM

Nano-SIM

Dual-SIM as standard











Wi-Fi

802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band





Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.2

GPS

GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS

A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

NFC











USB OTG











Extra features

Fingerprint scanner

Fingerprint scanner

Fingerprint scanner

Fingerprint scanner

Fingerprint scanner

Geekbench 3.0 (multi)

6469

6466

5404

3939

4407

SunSpider

Not tested

Not tested

Not tested

636ms

210ms

GFXBench: T-Rex

53fps

53fps

53fps

34fps

59fps

GFXBench: Manhattan

27fps

27fps

29fps

14fps

38fps

Battery

3600mAh, non-removable


2800mAh, removable


Lithium-ion

Dimensions

151x73x7.8mm

142x70x7.9mm

149x74x7.7mm

159.3x77.8x7.3mm

158.2x77.9x7.3mm

Weight

157g

152g

159g

178g

192g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/ZDKDRE4

TINYURL.COM/J5CQ9OU

TINYURL.COM/JES3ZUD

TINYURL.COM/NABSV4E

TINYURL.COM/OYRA5MX


HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/PNWWW6X FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best budget smartphones

1

2

3

4

5

Motorola Moto G (3rd gen)

Vodafone Smart Ultra 6

Vodafone Smart Prime 7

Vodafone Smart Prime 6

Xiaomi Redmi 3S

Price

£149 inc VAT

£125 inc VAT

£75 inc VAT

£79 inc VAT

£121 inc VAT

Website

Motorola.co.uk

Vodafone.co.uk

Vodafone.co.uk

Vodafone.co.uk

Xiaomi-mi.co.uk

OS (out of box)

Android 5.1.1 Lollipop




MIUI 7.5

Processor

1.4GHz Snapdragon 410





RAM

2GB

2GB

1GB

1GB

2GB

Storage

16GB

16GB

8GB

8GB

16GB

MicroSD support

Up to 32GB

Up to 128GB

Up to 128GB

Up to 64GB

Up to 128GB

Graphics

Adreno 406

Adreno 405

Adreno 304

Adreno 306

Adreno 505

Screen size

5in

5.5in

5in

5in

5in

Screen resolution

1280x720

1920x1080

1280x720

1280x720

1280x720

Pixel density

294ppi

401ppi

294ppi

294ppi

294ppi

Screen technology

IPS

IPS

IPS

IPS

IPS

Front camera

5Mp

5Mp

5Mp

2Mp

5Mp

Rear camera

13Mp

13Mp

8Mp

8Mp

13Mp

Video recording

720p

1080p

720p

1080p

1080p


4G

4G*

4G*

4G*

4G

SIM type

Micro-SIM

Nano-SIM

Micro-SIM

Micro-SIM

1x Micro-SIM, 1x Nano-SIM












Wi-Fi

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.1

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.1

GPS

GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS

GPS, A-GPS

A-GPS

A-GPS

GPS, A-GPS

NFC











USB OTG











Extra features

FM radio, accelerometer

FM radio

FM radio

FM radio

Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner

Geekbench 3.0 (single)

Not tested

649

Not tested

464

Not tested


1628

2469

1098

1401

2848

SunSpider

1344ms

1545ms

Not tested

1301ms

Not tested

GFXBench: T-Rex

10fps

14fps

10fps

9.4fps

24fps

GFXBench: Manhattan

4fps

5.7fps

4fps

3.8fps

13fps

Battery




Not specified


Dimensions

142.1x72.4x11.6mm

154x77x9mm

144x72x8mm

141.65x71.89x9mm

139.3x69.6x8.5mm

Weight

155g

159g

128g

155g

144g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/HTEFW7H

TINYURL.COM/Q7Q9NXR

TINYURL.COM/ZTLQLUZ

TINYURL.COM/Q5DSNHE

TINYURL.COM/J8HXZ49


* Locked to Vodafone. All other models here are unlocked

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/PAUHFUN FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE 130 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:42

Top 5 charts

Best phablets

1

2

3

4

5

Google Nexus 6P

OnePlus 3

Samsung Galaxy Note5

Apple iPhone 6s Plus

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

Price

£449 inc VAT

£309 inc VAT

£499 inc VAT

£619 inc VAT

£599 inc VAT

Website

Google.co.uk

Oneplus.net

Samsung.com/uk

Apple.com/uk

Samsung.com/uk

OS (out of box)


Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow


iOS 9

Android 4.4 KitKat

Processor

Qualcomm Snapdragon 810

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 2.1GHz Exynos 7420

A9


RAM

3GB

6GB

4GB

2GB

3GB

Storage

32/64/128GB

64GB

32/64GB

16/64/128GB

32GB

MicroSD support









Up to 128GB

Graphics

Adreno 430

Adreno 530

Mali-T760MP8

M9

Adreno 420

Screen size

5.7in

5.5in

5.7in

5.5in

5.7in

Screen resolution

2560x1440

1920x1080

1280x720

1920x1080

2560x1440

Pixel density

518ppi

401ppi

518ppi

401ppi

515ppi

Screen technology

Quad HD capacitive

AMOLED

Super AMOLED

IPS

Super AMOLED

Front camera

8Mp

8Mp

5Mp

5Mp

3.7Mp

Rear camera

12.3Mp, LED flash

16Mp, LED flash

16Mp, LED flash

12Mp, LED flash

16Mp, LED flash

Video recording

4K

Auto HDR

4K

4K

4K


4G

4G

4G

4G

4G

SIM type

Nano-SIM

Nano-SIM

Nano-SIM

Nano-SIM

Micro-SIM












Wi-Fi


802.11a/b/g/n/ac




Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.1

GPS

A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

GPS, Glonass

NFC











USB OTG











Extra features

Fingerprint scanner

Fingerprint scanner

Heart-rate sensor, fingerprint scanner

Fingerprint scanner

Fingerprint, UV, heart-rate sensors, S Pen stylus


Not tested

Not tested

1497

2527

Not tested


3939

5546

Not tested

4407

3272

SunSpider

636ms

Not tested

718ms

210ms

1367ms

GFXBench: T-Rex

34fps

59fps

37fps

59fps

27fps

GFXBench: Manhattan

14fps

46fps

15fps

38fps

11fps

Battery




Lithium-ion

3220mAh, removable

Dimensions

159.3x77.8x7.3mm

152.7x74.7x7.4mm

153.2x76.1x7.6mm

158.2x77.9x7.3mm

78.6x153.5x8.5mm

Weight

178g

158g

171g

192g

176g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

2 years

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NABSV4E

TINYURL.COM/Z3HQ6BZ

TINYURL.COM/OCQAJPL

TINYURL.COM/OYRA5MX

TINYURL.COM/PNHJCZ4


HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/OE56HJY FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best 7- & 8in tablets

1

2

3

4

Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8

Apple iPad mini 4

Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4

Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact Apple iPad mini 2

5

Price

£319 inc VAT

£319 inc VAT

£319 inc VAT

£299 inc VAT

£219 inc VAT

Website

Samsung.com/uk

Apple.com/uk

Samsung.com/uk

Sony.co.uk

Apple.com/uk

OS (out of box)

Android 5.0 Lollipop

iOS 9

Android 4.4 KitKat

Android 4.4 KitKat

iOS 9

Processor

1.9GHz Exynos 5433

Apple A8, Apple M8

Exynos 5420, octa-core


Apple A7, Apple M7

RAM

3GB

2GB

3GB

3GB

1GB

Storage

32GB/64GB

16GB/64/128GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

MicroSD support

Up to 128GB



Up to 128GB

Up to 128GB



Graphics

Not specified

Apple A8

ARM Mali-T628 MP6

Adreno 330

Apple A7

Screen size

8in

7.9in

8.4in

8in

7.9in

Screen resolution

2048x1536

2048x1536

2560x1440

1920x1200

2048x1536

Pixel density

320ppi

326ppi

359ppi

283ppi

326ppi

Screen technology

Super AMOLED

IPS

Super AMOLED

IPS

IPS

Front camera

2.1Mp

1.2Mp

2.1Mp

2.2Mp

1.2Mp

Rear camera

8Mp

8Mp

8Mp, LED flash

8.1Mp

5Mp

Video recording

QHD

1080p

1080p

1080p

7200p


4G version available





Wi-Fi

802.11a/b/g/n/ac




802.11a/b/g/n, dual-band

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.1

Bluetooth 4.2

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.0

GPS

A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

NFC











USB OTG











Fingerprint scanner











Waterproof











Extra features

None

None

Stereo speakers

PS4 Remote Play, stereo speakers

None


Not tested

1719

Not tested

Not tested

Not tested


4305

3101

2765

2708

Not tested

SunSpider

Not tested

Not tested

1089ms

1017ms

397ms

GFXBench: T-Rex

26fps

52fps

14fps

28fps

Not tested

GFXBench: Manhattan

11fps

25fps

3fps

11fps

Not tested

Battery

4000mAh, non-removable, Qi 5124mAh, non-removable




Dimensions

198.6x134.8x5.6mm

203.2x134.8x6.1mm

126x213x6.6mm

213x124x6.4mm

200x134.7x7.5mm

Weight

265g

304g

294g

270g

331g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/P37QFDW

TINYURL.COM/PBMONMA

TINYURL.COM/OUEM64Z

TINYURL.COM/NJ6VHEO

TINYURL.COM/PCJPB5L


HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/QXC8GDB FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE 132 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best 9- to 13in tablets

1

2

3

4

5

Apple iPad Air 2

Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet

Microsoft Surface Pro 4

12.9in Apple iPad Pro

Apple iPad Air

Price

£399 inc VAT

£499 inc VAT

£749 inc VAT

£679 inc VAT

£319 inc VAT

Website

Apple.com/uk

Sony.co.uk

Microsoft.com/en-gb

Apple.com/uk

Apple.com/uk

OS (out of box)

iOS 9

Android 5.0 Lollipop

Windows 10 Pro

iOS 9

iOS 9

Processor

Apple A8X, Apple M8

Snapdragon 810

Intel Core m3

Apple A9X, Apple M9

Apple A7, Apple M7

RAM

2GB

3GB

4GB

4GB

1GB

Storage

16/64/128GB

32GB

128GB SSD

16GB/32GB

16GB/32GB

MicroSD support



Up to 128GB







Graphics

Apple A8X

Adreno 430


Apple M9

Apple A7

Screen size

9.7in

10.1in

12.3in

12.9in

9.7in

Screen resolution

2048x1536

2560x1600

2736x1824

2048x2732

2048x1536

Pixel density

264ppi

299ppi

None

264ppi

264ppi

Screen technology

IPS

IPS

PixelSense

IPS

IPS

Front camera

1.2Mp

5.1Mp

5Mp

1.2Mp

1.2Mp

Rear camera

8Mp

8.1Mp

8Mp

8Mp

5Mp

Video recording

1080p

1080p

Not specified

1080p

1080p








Wi-Fi



802.11a/b/g/n


802.11a/b/g/n, dual-band

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.1

Bluetooth 4.1

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.0

GPS

A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass



A-GPS, Glonass

A-GPS, Glonass

NFC

 (for Apple Pay)





 (for Apple Pay)



USB OTG











Fingerprint scanner











Waterproof











Extra features

None

None

None

None

None


1816

Not tested

Not tested

Not tested

1487


4523

4573

6721

5498

2703

SunSpider

Not tested

580ms

Not tested

Not tested

400ms

GFXBench: T-Rex

48fps

37fps

47fps

59fps

23fps

GFXBench: Manhattan

Not tested

16fps

22fps

34fps

Not tested

Battery



Not specified

10,307mAh, non-removable


Dimensions

240x169.5x6.1mm

254x167x6.1mm

292x201x8.45mm

305.7x220.6x6.9mm

240x169x7.5mm

Weight

437g

393g

766g

713g

469g

Warranty

1 year

1 year


1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/PLQXWSZ

TINYURL.COM/JG34GZP

TINYURL.COM/HE9UYXU

TINYURL.COM/HFFVJR9

TINYURL.COM/NVOOF6H


HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/PC9D92G FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best smartwatches

1

2

3

4

Huawei Watch

Motorola Moto 360 2

Samsung Gear S2

LG G Watch R

Fossil Q Founder

Price

£289 inc VAT

£229 inc VAT

£199 inc VAT

£195 inc VAT

£259 inc VAT

Website

Consumer.huawei.com/en

Motorola.co.uk

Samsung.com/uk

Lg.com/uk

Fossil.com/uk

Operating system

Android Wear

Android Wear

Tizen-based OS

Android Wear

Android Wear

Compatibility

Android

Android, iOS

Android, iOS

Android

Android, iOS

Display

1.4in 400x400 AMOLED

1.37in 360x325 LCD

1.2in 360x360 AMOLED

1.3in 320x320 P-OLED

1.5in, 360x326 LCD

Processor

Snapdragon 400

Snapdragon 400

1GHz Exynos 3250

1.2GHz Snapdrgon 400

Intel Atom Z34XX

RAM

512MB

512MB

512MB

512MB

1GB

Storage

4GB

4GB

4GB

4GB

4GB

Waterproof

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Battery

300mAh

300mAh

250mAh

410mAh

400mAh

Dimensions

42x11.3mm

42x11.4mm

42.3x49.8x11.4mm

46.4x53.6x9.7mm

47x13mm

Weight

40g

53.6g

47g

62g

156g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/PXV9PVX

TINYURL.COM/GUJR9XX

TINYURL.COM/P4UKB74

TINYURL.COM/QATY8FT

TINYURL.COM/Z3X6D6F

5

Overall rating

Best smartwatches

6

7

8

9

10

Asus ZenWatch 2

Motorola Moto 360

LG Watch Urbane

Sony Smartwatch 3

Microsoft Band 2

Price

£149 inc VAT

£199 inc VAT

£259 inc VAT

£189 inc VAT

£199 inc VAT

Website

Uk.sasus.com

Motorola.co.uk

Lg.com/uk

Sony.co.uk

Microsoft.com/en-gb

Operating system

Android Wear

Android Wear

Android Wear

Android Wear

Windows 10 based

Compatibility

Android, iOS

Android

Android

Android

iOS, Android, Windows

Display

1.63in 320x320 LCD

1.56in 290x320 LCD

1.3in 320x320 P-OLED

1.6in 320x320 LCD

32x12.8mm 320x128 AMOLED

Processor


TI OMAP 3


1.2GHz ARM V7

Not specified

RAM

512MB

512MB

512MB

512MB

Not specified

Storage

4GB

4GB

4GB

4GB

Not specified

Waterproof

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Battery

300mAh

320mAh

410mAh

420mAh

Not specified

Dimensions

40.7x49.6x10.9mm

46x11.5mm

46x52x10.9mm

36x51x10mm

Small, medium, large sizes

Weight

50g

49g (leather band model)

67g

45g

59g (medium)

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/ZVRZLNJ

TINYURL.COM/O9C69K6

TINYURL.COM/Q3VK7ES

TINYURL.COM/OQVZ3PN

TINYURL.COM/HHP4LMR

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/QCXEDLX FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE 134 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best activity trackers

1

2

3

4

5

Fitbit Charge HR

Fitbit Alta

Fitbit Surge

Misfit ray

MyZone MZ-3

Price

£119 inc VAT

£99 inc VAT

£199 inc VAT

£79 inc VAT

£129 inc VAT

Website

Fitbit.com/uk

Fitbit.com/uk

Fitbit.com/uk

Misfit.com

Myzone.org

Compatibility




iOS, Android


Display

OLED

OLED

Touchscreen

No

No

Pedometer

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Heart-rate monitor

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Sleep tracking

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Alarm

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Third-party app synching Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Call notifications

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Waterproof

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Battery life

5+ days

5 days

5 days

6 months

7 months

Weight

26g

32g

51g

8g

Not stated

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/PCKV4SU

TINYURL.COM/ZO8TN2L

TINYURL.COM/O83DR47

TINYURL.COM/JG3XVT9

TINYURL.COM/HK5JOXX

Overall rating

Best activity trackers

6

7

8

9

10

Microsoft Band 2

Fitbit One

Moov Now

Xiaomi Mi Band 2

Misfit Shine 2

Price

£199 inc VAT

£79 inc VAT

£59 inc VAT

£33 inc VAT

£79 inc VAT

Website

Microsoft.com/en-gb

Fitbit.com/uk

Welcome.moov.cc

Mi.com/en

Misfit.com

Compatibility


iOS, Android

iOS, Android

iOS, Android

iOS, Android

Display

AMOLED

OLED

No

OLED

12 colour LEDs

Pedometer

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Heart-rate monitor

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

Sleep tracking

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Alarm

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Third-party app synching Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Call notifications

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

Waterproof

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Battery life

2 days

10-14 days

6 months

20-day

6 months

Weight

159g

8g

6g

7g (tracker only)

8.5g

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/HHP4LMR

TINYURL.COM/PT2TC6F

TINYURL.COM/GSYKBCT

TINYURL.COM/ZAF6OAW

TINYURL.COM/HE5HJJ2

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/PGMS2PW FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best budget printers

1

2

3

4

5

HP OfficeJet 3830

Samsung Xpress M2022W

Brother HL-1110

Canon Pixma MX535

Canon i-Sensys LBP6230dw

Price

£60 inc VAT

£79 inc VAT

£59 inc VAT

£70 inc VAT

£91 inc VAT

Website

Hp.com/uk

Samsung.com/uk

Brother.co.uk

Canon.co.uk

Canon.co.uk

Technology

Colour inkjet

Mono laser

Mono laser

Colour inkjet

Mono laser

Max print resolution

1200x1200dpi

1200x1200dpi

600x600dpi

4800x1200dpi

1200x1200dpi

Actual print speed

B=11ppm C=4ppm

B=20ppm

B=16.4ppm

B=9.7ppm C=3.8ppm

B=22.2ppm

Scan/fax facilities

None

1200x1200 scans

None

1200x2400 scans/fax

None

Supported interfaces

USB 2.0, 802.11b/g/n, AirPrint

USB 2.0, 802.11b/g/n

USB 2.0

USB 2.0, 802.11b/g/n, AirPrint

USB 2.0, 802.11b/g/n

Cost per page

B=6p C=7p

B=2p

B=2.7p

B=2.7p C=4.8p

B=2p

Media card/auto duplex











Input capacity

60 sheets

150 sheets

150 sheets

100 sheets + 30-sheet ADF

250 sheets

Dimensions

222x454x362mm

332x215x178mm

340x238x189mm

458x385x200mm

379x293x243mm

Weight

5.8kg

4kg

4.5kg

8.5kg

7kg

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/PJ4K9D7

TINYURL.COM/PQ9JUDN

TINYURL.COM/OQE9LGJ

TINYURL.COM/N9LXVN7

TINYURL.COM/KZW8VU3

Overall rating

1

2

3

4

5

Canon Pixma MG7550

Samsung Xpress M2835DW

Canon i-Sensys MF6180dw

Epson WorkForce Pro

Brother HL-L9200CDWT

Price

£130 inc VAT

£143 inc VAT

£320 inc VAT

£200 inc VAT

£548 inc VAT

Website

Canon.co.uk

Samsung.com/uk

Canon.co.uk

Epson.co.uk

Brother.co.uk

Technology

Colour inkjet

Mono laser

Mono laser

Colour inkjet

Colour laser

Max print resolution

9600x2400dpi

4800x600dpi

1200x600dpi

4800x1200dpi

2400x600dpi

Actual print speed

B=14.3ppm

B=22.7ppm

B=24ppm

B=18.9ppm

B=30ppm C=30ppm

Scan/fax facilities

2400x4800dpi scanner

None

600dpi scanner, 33.6Kb/s fax

None

None

Supported interfaces

USB 2.0, ethernet, 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0, ethernet, 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0, ethernet, 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0, ethernet, 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0, ethernet, 802.11b/g/n

Cost per page

B=2.4p C=8.1p

B=1.5p

B=1.5p

B=1.1p

B=1p C=5.9p

Media card/auto duplex











Input capacity

125 sheets

250 sheets

250 + 50 sheet + 50 ADF

250 + 80 sheet

750 sheets + 50 sheet

Dimensions

435x370x148mm

368x335x202mm

390x473x431mm

3461x442x284mm

410x495x445mm

Weight

7.9kg

7.4kg

19.1kg

11.4kg

28.3kg

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/PZ3SVH7

TINYURL.COM/QECOF7V

TINYURL.COM/LE9WA5N

TINYURL.COM/OC7FUJ3

TINYURL.COM/PT52MH6

Best printers

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/NMMP4ER FOR OUR PRINTERS BUYING ADVICE 136 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best wireless routers

1

2

3

4

5

Apple AirPort Extreme

Netgear Nighthawk R7000

TP-Link Archer VR900

AVM Fritz!Box 3490

Asus DSL-AC68U

Price

£169 inc VAT

£150 inc VAT

£139 inc VAT

£135 inc VAT

£129 inc VAT

Website

Apple.com/uk

Netgear.co.uk

Tp-link.com

En.avm.de

UK.asus.com

Standards supported

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Frequency modes

2.4GHz/5GHz (concurrent)





Antennas

6x internal

3x external

3x external

Internal

3x external

Built-in modem











Manufacturer’s rating

1300/450Mb/s

1300/600Mb/s

1300/600Mb/s

1300/450Mb/s

1300/600Mb/s

WPS











Ports

Gigabit WAN, 3x gigabit LAN, USB

Gigabit WAN, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

Gigabit WAN, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

ADSL, 4x gigabit LAN, 2x USB 3.0

1x USB 3.0, 4 x RJ45, 1x RJ11

Average power use

8W

9W

N/S

8W

N/S

Max speed (11n/11ac)

171/572Mb/s

171/592Mb/s

146/622Mb/s

114/563Mb/s

114/565.3Mb/s

Dimensions, weight

98x168x98mm, 945g

285x186x45mm, 750g

245x181x90mm, 720g

190x120x60mm/Not specified 220x160x83.3mm, 640g

Warranty

1 year

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/MFDLLSC

TINYURL.COM/Q2NRQ8Q

TINYURL.COM/OF8KYPC

TINYURL.COM/OF8KYPC

TINYURL.COM/PGHOUFQ

Overall rating

Best powerline adaptors

1

2

3

4

5

Solwise SmartLink 1200AV2

TrendNet Powerline 500 AV2

TP-Link AV1200

Devolo dLan 1200+

Devolo dLAN 500AV

Price

£43 inc VAT

£41 inc VAT

£88 inc VAT

£119 inc VAT

£129 inc VAT

Website

Solwise.com

Trendnet.com

Uk.tp-link.com

Devolo.com/uk

Devolo.com/uk

No of adaptors in kit

1 (2 required)

2

2

2

2

Max throughput

1200Mb/s

600Mb/s

1200Mb/s

1200Mb/s

500Mb/s

Near test result

410Mb/s

146Mb/s

500Mb/s

357Mb/s

96Mb/s

Far test result

107Mb/s

71Mb/s

200Mb/s

126Mb/s

47Mb/s

Ethernet ports

2x gigabit

1x gigabit

1x gigabit

1x gigabit

3x gigabit

Passthrough socket

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Wireless hotspot

No

No

No

No

Yes

Encryption

128-bit

128-bit

128-bit

128-bit

128-bit

Dimensions

62x122x41mm

55x87x58mm

230x190x100mm

130x66x42mm

152x76x40mm

Weight

Not specified

90g

898g

Not specified

Not specified

Warranty

2 years

3 years

1 year

3 years

3 years

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NZ4EJW8

TINYURL.COM/QYEPJQ7

TINYURL.COM/NVONCWT

TINYURL.COM/Q4EOO4M

TINYURL.COM/OVNPPQ7

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/PNUDFBK FOR OUR PERIPHERALS BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best NAS drives

1 Synology DS115j

2 Qnap HS-210

3 WD My Cloud EX2100

4 Synology DS216play

5 Synology DS414j

Price

£83 inc VAT (diskless)





Website

Synology.com

Qnap.com

Wd.com

Synology.com

Synology.com

Drive bays

1

2

2

2

4

Processor

800MHz Marvell Armada 370

1.6GHz Marvell single-core

1.3GHz Marvel Armada 385

1.5GHz STM STiH412

1.2GHz Mindspeed Concerto

Memory

256MB DDR3

512MB DDR3

1GB DDR3

1GB DDR3

512MB DDR3

Remote access











eSATA









1x

USB port

2x USB 2.0

2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0

2x USB 3.0

2x USB 3.0

1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0

Raid options

None

0/1/JBOD

00/1/JBOD

00/1/JBOD

0/1/5/6/10/JBOD

Software

DSM 5.1

HD Station

My Cloud

DSM 5.2

DSM 5.0

Dimensions

71x161x224mm

302x220x41mm

216x109x148mm

165x100x226mm

184x168x230mm

Weight

700g

1.5kg

3.5kg

1.8kg

2.2kg

Warranty

1 year

2 years

3 years

2 years

3 years

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/MNEYVNK

TINYURL.COM/OEXRYNY

TINYURL.COM/M643BSG

TINYURL.COM/JTQF67V

TINYURL.COM/M643BSG

Overall rating

Best portable hard drives

1

2

3

4

5

Adata SE730

Samsung Portable SSD T3

Transcend ESD400

SanDisk Extreme 500 Portable SSD

Toshiba Canvio Connect II

Price

£106 inc VAT

£606 inc VAT

£420 inc VAT

£70 inc VAT

£104 inc VAT

Website

Adata.com

Samsung.com/uk

Transcend-info.com

Sandisk.co.uk

Toshiba.co.uk

Price per GB (at capacity tested)

46p

32p

39p

31p

3p

Capacity tested

250GB

2TB

256GB

240GB

3TB

Capacity range

250GB

250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB

128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB

120GB, 240GB, 480GB

500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB

Storage

MLC NAND Flash

NAND Flash

NAND Flash

NAND Flash SSD

HDD

406.9/211.2MB/s

410.8/163.8MB/s

398.3/203.4MB/s

131.1/135.5MB/s

Overall rating

Sequential performance 380.8/278.5MB/s 4K performance

19.8/38.9MB/s

21.9/2.3MB/s

16.1/2.7MB/s

19.8/3.7MB/s

0.5/1.2MB/s

Other interfaces

USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C

USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C

USB 3.0

USB 3.0

USB 3.0

Encryption

None

256-bit AES

None

128-bit AES

None

Software

None

T3 Security Enabler

Transcend Elite Data Management

SanDisk SecureAccess

NTI Backup Now EZ, Tuxera NTFS for Mac

Dimensions

44x73x12mm

58x74x10mm

92x62x10.5mm

75.7x75.7x10.7mm

78x109x19.5mm

Weight

33g

51g

56g

79g

230g

Warranty

3 years

3 years

3 years

3 years

2 years

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/OABWL4B

TINYURL.COM/M72D3EP

TINYURL.COM/J43SQM5

TINYURL.COM/HNKNV3M

TINYURL.COM/GVWUTV2

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/O99Z6ZO FOR OUR STORAGE BUYING ADVICE 138 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best SSDs

1

2

3

4

5

Samsung 850 Evo (500GB)

Toshiba Q300 (480GB)

Samsung 850 Pro (1TB)

SanDisk Extreme Pro (480GB)

Kingston KC400 SSDNow (512GB)

Price

£109 inc VAT

£79 inc VAT

£365 inc VAT

£172 inc VAT

£132 inc VAT

Website

Samsung.com/uk

Toshiba.co.uk

Samsung.com/uk

Sandisk.co.uk

Kingston.com/en

Price per GB

23p

18p

36.5p

35.8p

28p

4K performance

36.3/106.2MB/s

29.8/65.1MB/s

36/89MB/s

32/88MB/s

29.4/98.2MB/s

529.3/511.5MB/s

508/482MB/s

513/490MB/s

533.7/521.6MB/s

Overall rating

Sequential performance 525.4/512.1MB/s Memory cache

512MB DDR3 SDRAM

Unknown

1GB LPDDR2

1GB

Unknown

Controller

Samsung MGX Controller

Toshiba TC58NC1000

Samsung MCX

Marvell 88SS9187

Phison 3110

Encryption

AES 256-bit

None

AES 256-bit

AES 256-bit

None

Flash

Samsung 3D V-NAND

TLC NAND

Samsung 40nm V-NAND MLC

SanDisk 19nm MLC

Kingston NAND

Connection

SATA III 6GB/s

SATA III 6GB/s

SATA III 6GB/

SATA III 6GB/s

SATA III 6GB/s

Power consumption

4.7W active/0.5W idle





Warranty

5 years

3 years

10 years

10 years

5 years

Dimensions

69.85x100x6.8mm

69.85x100x7mm

69.85x100x6.8mm

69.85x100.5x7mm

69.9x100.1x7mm

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/JB2VWLF

TINYURL.COM/ZZBWFJZ

TINYURL.COM/OVHDALD

TINYURL.COM/NMSJU25

TINYURL.COM/JF4E3NL

Smart thermostats

1

2

3

4

5

Honeywell EvoHome

Heat Genius

Nest Learning Thermostat

Hive Active Heating

Tado

Price (from)

£249 inc VAT

£249 inc VAT

£179 inc VAT

£179 inc VAT

£199 inc VAT

Website

Honeywelluk.com

Heatgenius.co.uk

Nest.com

Hivehome.com

Tado.com/gb

Zones controlled

12

6

1

1

1

Hot water control











Underfloor heating











Warranty

18 months

2 years

2 years

1 year

1 year

Verdict

EvoHome is the best smart heating system we’ve tested. It isn’t perfect though, and it’s also very expensive, or can be. But if you value convenience and comfort above saving money, it’s the one to buy.

Heat Genius is very good at a very useful thing. It is easy to use and efficient. How long it takes to pay for itself will depend on your circumstances, and it may be that a full system is too much of a long-term investment for you. If you are looking to install in your a zoned smart heating system, we are happy to recommend Heat Genius.

If you need only a single thermostat and don’t need control over hot water, the Nest is a good choice. The Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm also works with the thermostat, but it’s not cheap. There’s also the Nest Cam, but the tie-in with the thermostat is minimal.

The Hive Active Heating system is a great upgrade for anyone that wants or needs the ability to be able to control their heating remotely. It’s by no means the most advanced smart thermostat, but it will do the job at a good price for a lot of people.

Tado is the best smart thermostat if you like the idea of presence detection as it simply follows you and your smartphone via GPS, and turns the heating up or down as you get further away or nearer home. There’s also hot water control, but the thermostat itself isn’t the best looking.

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/Q3CXA4Z

TINYURL.COM/Q2TUKL9

TINYURL.COM/N9MWV4G

TINYURL.COM/PDLCSAS

TINYURL.COM/O4K3A2A

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/O99Z6ZO FOR OUR STORAGE BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:43

Top 5 charts

Best budget graphics cards

1

2

3

4

5

Sapphire Radeon R7 250X

MSI R7 260X OC

EVGA GeForce GTX 750

Asus GeForce GT 740 OC

MSI GeForce GT 730

Price

£65 inc VAT

£91 inc VAT

£90 inc VAT

£65 inc VAT

£48 inc VAT

Website

Sapphiretech.com

Uk.msi.com

Eu.evga.com

Asus.com/uk

Uk.msi.com

Graphics processor

AMD Radeon R7 250X

AMD Radeon R7 260X


Nvidia GeForce GT 740

Nvidia GeForce GT730

Installed RAM

1GB GDDR5

2GB GDDR5

1GB GDDR5

1GB GDDR5

2GB GDDR3

Memory interface

128-bit

128-bit

128-bit

128-bit

128-bit

Core clock

950MHz

1175MHz

1294MHz

1033MHz

780MHz

1625MHz/6.5GHz

1253/5012MHz

1.25/5GHz

900/1800MHzHz

Overall rating

Memory clock/Effective 1125/4500MHz Stream processors

640

896

512

384

320

Texture units

40

56

32

32

20

Power connectors

1x 6-pin

1x 6-pin

None

1x 6-pin

1x 6-pin

DirectX

12

11.1

Unknown

Unknown

Unknown

Digital interface

1x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort

2x DVI, HDMI, Mini-DP

1x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort

1x DVI, HDMI, VGA

1x DVI, HDMI, VGA

Warranty

2 years

3 years

3 years

3 years

2 years

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/OLJ83SQ

TINYURL.COM/OZ6WUYT

TINYURL.COM/PB3F6EN

TINYURL.COM/PAH5VMJ

TINYURL.COM/P8J4C2R

Best graphics cards

1

2

3

4

5

Asus ROG Strix GTX 1080

Nvidia GTX 1080 Founders Ed

MSI GTX 1070

Nvidia GTX 1060 Founders Ed

XFX Radeon RX 480

Price

£659 inc VAT

£619 inc VAT

£419 inc VAT

£275 inc VAT

£249 inc VAT

Website

Asus.com/uk

Nvidia.co.uk

Uk.msi.com

Nvidia.co.uk

Novatech.co.uk

Graphics processor





AMD Radeon RX480

Installed RAM

8GB

8GB

8GB

6GB

8GB

Memory interface

256-bit

256-bit

256-bit

192-bit

256-bit

Core clock/boost

1759/1898MHz

1607/1733MHz

1607/1797MHz

1506/1708MHz

1120/1288MHz

Memory clock

10,010MHz

10,000MHz

4006MHz

4006MHz

7000MHz

Stream processors

2560

2560

1920

1280

2304

Texture units

160

160

120

80

144

Power connectors

1x 8-pin, 1x 6-pin

1x 8-pin

1x 8-pin, 1x 6-pin

2x 6-pin

1x 6-pin

DirectX

12

12

12

12

12

Digital interface

DVI, 2x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort

DVI, HDMI, 3x DisplayPort

DVI, HDMI, 3x DisplayPort

DVI, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.4

3x DP 1.4, HDMI

Warranty

3 years

3 years

3 years

3 years

2 years

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/HL4SOJ2

TINYURL.COM/ZEQXYQU

TINYURL.COM/J6HWN55

TINYURL.COM/HH6TYT8

TINYURL.COM/HSVQWBQ

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/M7DF9RF FOR OUR GAMING BUYING ADVICE 140 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:44

Top 5 charts

Best 4K flat-panel TVs

1

2

3

4

5

Panasonic TX-50CX802B

Samsung UE48JU7000

Sony KD-55X8505C

Philips 40PUT6400

Finlux 55UX3EC320S

Price

£1,299 inc VAT

£1,200 inc VAT

£1,200 inc VAT

£449 inc VAT

£799 inc VAT

Website

Panasonic.co.uk

Samsung.com/uk

Sony.co.uk

Philips.co.uk

Finlux.co.uk

Screen size

50in

48in

55in

40in

55in

Panel type

LCD (LED)

LCD (LED)

LCD (LED)

LCD (LED)

LCD (LED)

Native resolution

3840x2160

3840x2160

3840x2160

3840x2160

3840x2160

3D enabled











Apps

BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4, Demand 5, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon

BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and apps store

YouView with BBC iPlayer, ITV BBC iPlayer, Netflix, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Player, All 4 and Demand 5; Spotify Connect, Daily Motion, YouTube, Twitter, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Philips App Store, Google Play Facebook, Viewster, Flickr

Networking

Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct




Ethernet, Wi-Fi

Inputs

3x HDMI, 3x USB

4x HDMI, 3x USB

4x HDMI, 3x USB

4x HDMI, 3x USB

4x HDMI, 3x USB

Dimensions

112.1x4.6x65.2cm

108.7x6.7x63cm

123.6x6x72.2cm

90.4x8.3x52.6m

123.3x10.6x71.3cm

Weight

18kg

11.1kg

19.9kg

7.8kg

17.2kg

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/ZLFQ3JV

TINYURL.COM/Q2W3VZY

TINYURL.COM/ZGSP9FM

TINYURL.COM/JQVWCFU

TINYURL.COM/P934VXT

Overall rating

Best 4K flat-panel displays

1

2

3

4

5

BenQ BL3201PT

Philips BDM4065UC

Samsung UD970

Acer S277HK

ViewSonic VP2780-4K

Price

£699 inc VAT

£600 inc VAT

£1,400 inc VAT

£499 inc VAT

£699 inc VAT

Website

Benq.co.uk

Philips.co.uk

Samsung.com/uk

Acer.co.uk

Viewsoniceurope.com/uk

Screen size

32in

40in

31.5in

27in

27in

Panel type

IPS

VA

PLS

IPS

IPS

Native resolution

3840x2160

3840x2160

3840x2160

3840x2160

3840x2160

Pixel density

157ppi

110ppi

140ppi

163ppi

163ppi

Brightness

350cd/m2

120cd/m2

350cd/m2

300cd/m2

350cd/m2

Static contrast ratio

1000:1

5000:1

1000:1

530:1

1000:1

Response time

4ms

8.5ms

8ms

4ms

5ms

Ports

DVI-DL, HDMI, DP, mDP

HDMI, DP, mDP, VGA

HDMI, DVI, 4x USB 3.0

DVI, HDMI, DP, mDP, 4x USB 3.0 HDMI, DP, 4x USB 3.0

Dimensions

490.2x740.3x213.4mm

904x512x88mm

728x427x62mm

614x406x113mm

642.7x469.7x347.8mm

Weight

12.5kg

8.5kg

10.3kg

4.9kg

11.7kg

Warranty

3 years

2 years

Not specified

Not specified

3 years

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NPA62QL

TINYURL.COM/Q2W3VZY

TINYURL.COM/OBWBBYN

TINYURL.COM/NTV4EVD

TINYURL.COM/O69CMTB

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/LNLDBJX FOR OUR DIGITAL HOME BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:44

Top 5 charts

Best e-book readers

1

2

3

4

5

Amazon Kindle Voyage

Amazon Kindle Oasis

Amazon Kindle (8th gen)

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

Nook GlowLight

Price

£169 inc VAT

£269 inc VAT

£59 inc VAT

£109 inc VAT

£89 inc VAT

Website

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk

Nook.com/gb

Screen size

6in touchscreen

6in touchscreen

6in touchscreen

6in touchscreen

6in touchscreen

Screen technology

E Ink

E Ink

E Ink

E Ink

E Ink

Screen resolution

1440x1080

1440x1080

600x800

768x1024

758x1024

Built-in light

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Storage

4GB

4GB

4GB

2GB

4GB

Book store

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Kindle

Nook


Optional extra

Optional extra

No

Optional extra

No

Battery life

Six weeks

Eight weeks

Four weeks

Eight weeks

Eight weeks

Dimensions

162x115x7.6mm

143x122x8.5mm

160x115x9.1mm

117x169x9.1mm

127x166x10.7mm

Weight

180g

131g

161g

206g

175g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NXAAU3Q

TINYURL.COM/Z924POY

TINYURL.COM/HJONZA4

TINYURL.COM/PREZPRK

TINYURL.COM/OZ5WMPO

Overall rating

Best media streamers

1

2

3

4

5

Roku Streaming Stick

Roku 3

Google Chromecast 2

Amazon Fire TV Stick

Google Chromecast

Price

£49 inc VAT

£99 inc VAT

£30 inc VAT

£35 inc VAT

£30 inc VAT

Website

Roku.com

Roku.com

Play.google.com

Apple.com/uk

Play.google.com

Type

Dongle

Set-top box

Dongle

Dongle

Dongle

Ports

HDMI, Micro-USB

HDMI, USB, ethernet

HDMI, Micro-USB

HDMI, Micro-USB

HDMI, Micro-USB

Processor

600MHz single-core

900MHz single-core

13.GHz dual-core

Dual-core

Single-core

RAM

512MB

512MB

512MB

1GB

512MB

Graphics

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Storage

None

512MB, plus microSD slot

None

8GB (not user-accessible)

None

Voice search

No

Yes

No

No

No

Remote control

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

Dimensions

78.7x27.9x12.7mm

89x89x25mm

52x52x13.5mm

84.9x25x11.5mm

72x35x12mm

Weight

18g

170g

39g

25g

34g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/OAP9QF9

TINYURL.COM/PT7MGUL

TINYURL.COM/Q4B6B29

TINYURL.COM/NAQRNOC

TINYURL.COM/QBGTCS2

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/LNLDBJX FOR OUR DIGITAL HOME BUYING ADVICE 142 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:44

Top 5 charts

Best games consoles

1

2

3

4

Sony PlayStation 4

Microsoft Xbox One

Nintendo Wii U Premium

Sony PlayStation 3 Super Slim Microsoft Xbox 360

5

Price

£349 inc VAT

£349 inc VAT

£249 inc VAT

£249 inc VAT

£199 inc VAT

Website

Playstation.com

Xbox.com

Nintendo.co.uk

Playstation .com

Xbox.com

Processor

Octa-core AMD x86

1.75GHz octa-core AMD x86

IBM Power multicore CPU

IBM CPU

IBM Xenon CPU

Graphics

1.84TFlops AMD Radeon GPU

1.31TFlops AMD Radeon GPU

AMD Radeon GPU

256MB Nvidia RSX

512MB ATI Xenos

RAM

8GB GDDR5

8GB DDR3

Not specified

Not specified

512MB GDDR3

Storage

500GB

500GB

32GB, plus SD card support

500GB

500GB

Optical drive

Blu-ray, DVD, game discs


Wii U, Wii discs only


DVD, game discs

Ports

2x USB 3.0, AUX, HDMI

USB 3.0, HDMI

4x USB 2.0, HDMI

2x USB 2.0, HDMI

5x USB, HDMI

Connectivity

Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n

802.11b/g/n

Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n

Other

1 controller

1 controller, 4K, Kinect option

1 controller

1 controller

1 controller

Dimensions

275x53x305mm

333x274x79mm

46x269x171mm

290x230x60mm

269x75x264mm

Weight

2.8kg

3.2kg

1.6kg

2.1kg

2.9kg

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NBFLQK2

TINYURL.COM/M6J4KHS

TINYURL.COM/6J49LHL

TINYURL.COM/QDJP56O

TINYURL.COM/PFP9CCK

Overall rating

Best budget portable speakers

1

2

3

4

5

Sumvision Psyc Monic

Denon Envaya Mini

UE Roll

Marsboy 5W Orb

Lumsing B9

Price

£37 inc VAT

£99 inc VAT

£99 inc VAT

£38 inc VAT

£23 inc VAT

Website

Sumvision.com

Denon.com

Ultimateears.com

Amazon.co.uk

Lumsing.com

Speaker(s)

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth 4.0

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.1 + EDR

Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR

Handsfree calls

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

NFC

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Frequency response

90Hz to 20KHz

Not specified

108Hz to 20kHz

80Hz to 18kHz

20Hz to 20kHz

Impedence

Not specified

Not specified

Not specified

4 ohms

4 ohms

Extra features

None

IPX4 splashproof

IPX7 splashproof

MicroSD slot

MicroSD slot, lanyard

Claimed battery life

7 hours

10 hours

9 hours

12 hours

25 hours

Dimensions

200x60x60mm

209x54x51mm

134x39x40mm

150x148x138mm

177x50x70mm

Weight

Not stated

558g

330g

454g

300g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

2 years

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/JC8CZM2

TINYURL.COM/QDRNP3P

TINYURL.COM/O7T7ZUU

TINYURL.COM/JJLOPCD

TINYURL.COM/P623MK8

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/LNLDBJX FOR OUR DIGITAL HOME BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:44

Top 5 charts

Best budget headphones

1

2

3

4

5

Rock Jaw Alpha Genus V2

Verbatim 44400

RHA S500i

RHA MA450i

Sennheiser HD 429

Price

£43 inc VAT

£27 inc VAT

£39 inc VAT

£39 inc VAT

£45 inc VAT

Website

Rockjawaudio.com

Verbatim-europe.co.uk

Rha-audio.com/uk

Rha-audio.com/uk

En-uk.sennheiser.com

Type

In-ear

In-ear

In-ear

In-ear

Circumaural over-ear

Frequency response

20Hz to 20kHz

Not stated

16Hz to 22kHz

16Hz to 22kHz

18Hz to 22kHz

Nominal impedance

16 ohms

16 ohms

16 ohms

16 ohms

32 ohms

Sensitivity

108dB

96dB

100dB

103dB

110dB

In-line remote

No

Yes

Yes (3 button)

Yes (3 button)

No

Mic

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Extra tips

Yes, and filters

Yes

Yes

Yes

N/A

Carry case

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Cable length

1.2m

1.25m

1.35m

1.5m (braided)

3m

Weight

11g

Not stated

14g

14g

218g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

3 years

3 years

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NNYUFBF

TINYURL.COM/ZFSD333

TINYURL.COM/ZZ9PZDG

TINYURL.COM/P7W7RVL

TINYURL.COM/ND8TD8O

Overall rating

Best headphones

1

2

3

4

5

Final Audio Design Sonorous III

Bose QuietComfort 35

Denon AH-D600

Denon AH-MM400

Audio-Technica ATH-WS99

Price

£299 inc VAT

£289 inc VAT

£229 inc VAT

£196 inc VAT

£79 inc VAT

Website

Final-audio-design.com

Bose.co.uk

Denon.co.uk

Denon.co.uk

Eu.audio-technica.com/en

Type





Over-ear

Frequency response

Not stated

Not stated

5Hz to 45kHz

10Hz to 40kHz

8Hz to 25kHz

Nominal impedance

25 ohms

Not stated

25 ohms

32 ohms

37 ohms

Sensitivity

105dB

Not stated

108dB

96dB

120dB

In-line remote

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Mic

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Extra tips

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Carry case

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Cable length

1.5m

1.2m

3m

Not specified

0.8m

Weight

410g

310g

250g

310g

250g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/JQW529E

TINYURL.COM/JZWSSSQ

TINYURL.COM/NBCFJW6

TINYURL.COM/J7G56N9

TINYURL.COM/QDRCCAT

Overall rating

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/OKZ9TUK FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE 144 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews December 2016


TEST CENTRE

20/09/2016 14:44

Top 5 charts

Best power banks

1

2

3

4

5

Zendure A2 (2nd gen)

Anker PowerCore 10000

CHJDG UltraCompact

Xiaomi 10,000mAh

Flux Card

Price

£25 inc VAT

£20 inc VAT

£19 inc VAT

£11 inc VAT

£19 inc VAT

Website

Zendure.com

Anker.com

Chargedpower.com

Mi.com/en

Fluxchargers.com

Capacity

6700mAh

10,000mAh

10,000mAh

10,000mAh

2500mAh

Input

1x 7.5W Micro-USB

1x 10W Micro-USB

1x 5W Micro-USB

1x 10W Micro-USB

1x 5W Micro-USB

Outputs

1x 10.5W USB

1x QC 3.0 USB

1x 10.5W USB

1x 10.5W USB

1x 10W Micro-USB

Auto-on/-off

Yes

Yes/No

Yes/No

Yes

Yes/No

Passthrough charging

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Status indicator

4 LEDs

4 LEDs

4 LEDs

4 LEDs

1 LED

LED flashlight

No

No

No

No

No

Carry case

Yes

No

No

No

No

Dimensions

93x48x23mm

92x60x22mm

93x19x63mm

91x60.4x22mm

96x62x6.6mm

Weight

137g

188g

181g

207g

60g

Warranty

1 year

1 year

1 year

1 year

18 months

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/NGCNO5F

TINYURL.COM/ZSREH65

TINYURL.COM/JMOUUUO

TINYURL.COM/NFQZOCB

TINYURL.COM/JM593RM

Overall rating

Best desktop chargers

1

2

3

4

5

Tronsmart Titan

Tronsmart U5PTA

CHOEtech 6-port Charger

Aukey USB Charging Station

iClever USB Travel Charger

Price

£25 inc VAT

£22 inc VAT

£25 inc VAT

£17 inc VAT

£20 inc VAT

Website

Tronsmart.com

Tronsmart.com

Choetech.com

Hisgadget.com

Hisgadget.com

90W

54W

60W

54W

50W

USB 1 QC 2.0

QC 3.0

QC 2.0

QC 2.0

12W USB

USB 2 QC 2.0

12W

QC 2.0

12W

12W USB

USB 3 QC 2.0

12W

12W

12W

12W USB

USB 4 QC 2.0

12W

12W

12W

12W USB

USB 5 QC 2.0

12W

12W

12W

12W USB

USB 6 N/A

N/A

12W

N/A

12W USB

Overall rating Max output Outputs:

Colours available

Black

Black

Black

Black

Black

Dimensions

160x81x28mm

165x156x56mm

71.5x29x88.4mm

94x60x25mm

100x69x27mm

Weight

292g

390g

158g

149g

180g

Warranty

1 year

18 months

1 year

1 year

1 year

FULL REVIEW

TINYURL.COM/GMVDCHM

TINYURL.COM/QG4X5D9

TINYURL.COM/QG4X5D9

TINYURL.COM/P2CZMCU

TINYURL.COM/MPA4DWC

HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/QCD8J7Y FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE TEST CENTRE



20/09/2016 14:44

OUTBOX DEREK WALTER

Seven features the iPhone 7 ‘borrows’ from Android f you were watching Apple’s live stream and shouting at your computer, “hey, Android already has that!” over and over, you weren’t alone. The firm certainly took some ‘inspiration’ from many of the hardware innovations brought about by Android phone makers. Here’s a recap of the features that Apple ballyhooed on stage, but aren’t exactly news to those of us who have been using Android phones for the past few years.

I

Dual rear cameras No, you don’t have to stop us. We have heard this one before. Phones such as the LG G5, Huawei P9, and the HTC One M8 (from 2014) feature dual rear cameras, which was the major feature of the iPhone 7 Plus. It’ll bring 2X optical zoom and, according to the on-stage demo, produce some pretty impressive portraits and low-light shots. The smaller iPhone 7 will have optical image stabilisation, which was previously only available on the 6s Plus. It also features an f/1.8 aperture, something found in plenty of Android phones including the Moto Z and the LG G4. Apple isn’t the first to touch down in the world of 2X optical zoom either, as the Zenfone Zoom has 3X optical zoom along with optical image stabilisation (OIS). Same thing for RAW images – that’s new to iPhone 7, but has been available on lots of Android phones. The takeaway is that in the next year we should see companies push ahead even further with the camera now that Apple has seemingly bundled together a lot of the other innovations into an attractive package.

Farewell to the headphone jack What sounds anathema to iPhone users is already old hat if you have a Moto Z. Lenovo (Motorola) ditched the traditional hole-in-the-phone with its modular phone line in order to make it ultra-slim and compact. The other upside to this approach is that the port you use is USB-C, which is quickly the growing standard in smartphones, tablets and laptops. Lightning is, of course, ideal for those who live in an Apple world, but good luck using your Lighting headphones with non-iOS devices. Like most vestigial parts that disappear you probably won’t miss the headphone jack after long.

Water and dust resistance Samsung’s Galaxy phones have been dunked in water for a couple of generations now. The currentgeneration Galaxy S7 and S7 edge feature water and dust resistance to the tune of an IP68 rating.

Apple’s IP67 rating means slightly less water resistance. That means it can survive being in up to 1m of water for up to 30 minutes. It’s great that Apple has joined in the pool party, but it’s another area where the company is just catching up.

Stereo speakers Stereo speakers have been around on Android phones for ages. The HTC One M7 was one of the first phones I remember that truly blew me away with the audio experience. Apple is featuring stereo speakers in the iPhone, which will be great for gaming, TV shows, movies, and those long YouTube sessions. It’s nice to see them catch up here, as the iPhone speakers are a part that had felt left behind in comparison to some of the other flagships out there.

“

Apple certainly took some ‘inspiration’ from many of the hardware innovations brought about by Android phone makers

”

Quad-core, big-and-little CPU cores Apple’s Phil Schiller spent a lot of time talking about the A10 chip, which included a game demo with a spell-throwing scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. The key selling point was that the new quad core CPU, with two high-performance and two power-efficient cores. But keeping with the theme here, you’ll find that this came to us first with the big.LITTLE technology from ARM, used in phones as far back as 2013. Quad-core chipsets are also fairly common on Android phones, now the norm in many of this year’s flagships. Where Apple has an advantage is in controlling the software and hardware integration, but many other Android devices have certainly been no slouch.

Faster LTE Everyone wants faster internet speeds, right? Apple promised you’ll get that with the iPhone 7, as it jumps ahead to LTE Cat.9 from Cat.6. In numbers that matter, this means you’ll be able to get up to 450Mb/s (from 300) if you’re connected to a network that can serve this up. Again, Apple is a couple of years behind the curve on this one as the Galaxy Note 4 was among the first to offer this level. Most high-end Android phones have support for this speed, and we’re even starting to see LTE Cat.12 (up to 600Mb/s).

32GB of minimum storage Frankly, this is a move Apple should have made a couple of years ago. Storage options have long been the strengths of Android phones, as many similarly-priced phones have jumped to the 32GB minimum long ago. J

146 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/opinion December 2016

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22/09/2016 15:14

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