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JIM
MARTIN
Tech in 2016
Why were excited about the year ahead
elcome to another issue of PC Advisor and let me take this

opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year. One of the most
common questions at the start of a year is, Whats going to
be the most exciting new tech? Most experts are predicting that virtual
reality (VR) will take off in 2016, but it remains to be seen whether products
such as the Oculus Rift, and rivals from Samsung, HTC and Microsoft, will
persuade enthusiasts to part with their cash.
The most compelling use of VR for home users is gaming, but there are
plenty of other things you can do with a VR headset, including watching
360-degree movies, taking virtual tours of places youre unlikely to visit in
person, and experiencing more immersive simulations than you get with a
flat PC monitor, such as driving a tank or train.
Dont forget that you can try virtual reality with your smartphone by
buying a Google Cardboard headset for around 10 and downloading the
Cardboard app from the Google Play store, or the App Store on an iPhone.
Aside from VR, 2016 isnt likely to be a breakthrough year for new
technology. Well see incremental improvements in phones, tablets,
cameras, and smart home (or IoT) gadgets will become more commonplace.
One relatively new gadget is the dash cam. Weve rounded up a selection
on page 76. These cameras record video while youre driving and provide
time-stamped evidence which you might be able to use to prove whose
fault it was if youre ever involved in an accident. Some insurance companies
will give you a discount off your premium for using a dash cam, too.
4K TVs will begin to replace HD sets this year as prices tumble even
further, and broadcasters (and streaming services such as Netflix and
Amazon) will increase their 4K content. BT is one of the first broadcasters
to have a 4K channel, although you need a fast broadband connection to
receive it. Weve checked it out on page 52.
Microsoft has made some predictions for 2016, which weve summarised
on page 146. One is that internet TV will overtake broadcast TV, as more
people choose to watch live or on-demand via the web than through an
aerial, satellite dish or cable.
2015 was a big year for Microsoft, putting its cloud first, mobile first
philosophy into practice. Windows 10 launched to mixed reviews, and
Windows Phone slumped even further in popularity. Weve taken a closer
look at the hits, misses and plain crazy things the company has been
up to on page 14, and reviewed the new Windows 10 phone it hopes will
restore its fortunes in the smartphone world on page 30.
PC Advisor is published by IDG UK

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No material may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission.
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errors in articles, listings or advertisements. All material copyright IDG UK 2015
ISSUE 249 ON SALE 10 FEBRUARY 2016

March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk 3
003 Welcome 248.indd 3
22/12/2015 11:35
CONTENTS

NEWS & ANALYSIS
6
Latest technology news
10 Is Windows getting better?
FEATURES & GROUP TESTS
66
14 Microsofts hits and misses

18 Steve Ballmer talks Android
19 Samsungs $548m payout
20 Dropboxs EU push
21 Smartphone growth slows
REGULARS & OFFERS

3 Welcome
22 New Products
117 Software downloads zone
118 Subscribe
146 Outbox
66 GROUP TEST:
Gaming laptops
76 GROUP TEST:
Dash cams
86 Improve smartphone
battery life
REVIEWS
GET FREE
SOFTWARE
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Subscribe to PC Advisor and
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SEE PAGE 118
26
27
28
30
34
36
38
40
42
44
46
47
48
49
50
52
54
55
56
57
58
60
62
64
88 H
ow RAM works
92 16 best free PC games
98 5 Google Drive features
TEST
CENTRE
Asus T100HA
HP EliteBook 1020
Amazon Fire
Microsoft Lumia 950
Motorola Moto X Force
Wileyfox Storm
ZTE Axon Elite
Motorola Moto 360 2
Microsoft Band 2
Google Chromecast 2
Brainwavz S0
Kef M400
Marsboy Bone Conduction
Bluetooth Headphones
Cowin Ark
Xiaomi Mi Band 1S Pulse
BT Ultra HD YouView Box
BT Home Cam 100
HP DeskJet 3630
Brother DCP-J562DW
Netgear Powerline 1200
Sphero SPRK
Mad Max
Until Dawn
Assassins Creed: Syndicate
GAMING LAPTOPS
68
69
70
71
72
Asus G501JW-F1201H
Dell Inspiron 15 7559
HP Omen 15-5001na
Schenker XMG U506
Toshiba Satellite P50T-C-109
DASH CAMS
78
79
80
81
82
Asus Reco Classic

Cobra CDR 840e
Dome D201-1
Sjcam SJ5000X Elite
Transcend DrivePro 200
80
4 www.pcadvisor.co.uk March 2016
004_005 Contents 248.indd 4
22/12/2015 11:32
CONTENTS
IMPROVE SMARTPHONE BATTERY LIFE
HOW RAM WORKS
88
86
BEST FREE PC GAMES
HOW TO
5 GOOGLE DRIVE FEATURES
100 Windows 10: Downgrade to

an older OS after 30 days
102 Windows 10: Sign in
with a local account
104 Windows 10: Customise
its appearance
92
98
66
108 Windows 10:

Use System Restore
TEST
ON THE COVER
110 Windows 10: Automatically

sign into a Windows account
CENTRE
117
TOP 5 CHARTS:
BUYERS GUIDE
121
122
123
124
125
126
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
100-112
28
76
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 Budget flat-panel displays/
Flat-panel displays
142 e-book readers/Media streamers
143 Games console/
Budget portable speakers
144 Budget headphones/Headphones
145 Power banks/Desktop chargers
004_005 Contents 248.indd 5
106 Windows 10: Add or

delete an email account
111 Windows 10: Enable or

disable the lock screen
112 Windows 10: Turn on the
Find My Device feature
113 Clear the clutter when
you print a web page
114 Get more from

Googles app store
116 Restore WhatsApp messages
on a new smartphone
March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk 5
22/12/2015 11:32
NEWS
2015 saw massive

decline in PC shipments
IDC says PC sales are expected to be down 10 percent this year, with the tough times continuing in 2016
The PC business cant climb out of the
four-year hole its dug for itself, according to
researcher IDC. Shipments of new personal
computers dropped 10 percent in the fourth
quarter of 2015, which means shipments
declined 10.3 percent from 2014. The firm
now expects all OEMs (original equipment
manufacturers) to ship 276.7 million PCs this
year, compared to 308.2 million in 2014.
This represents the largest one-year
contraction since the research firm began
tracking shipments in 1996, beating the 9.1
percent record decline of 2013. IDC blamed
the latest reduction in shipments on a variety
of factors, ranging from larger-than-expected
OEMs and sellers inventories to the ongoing
problem of getting systems off factory floors.
The macro reason, however, remained
the same as before: consumers have
not bought new PCs to replace their
increasingly-aging machines. They have
instead opted to spend their money on new
smartphones and, to a lesser extent, tablets.
That doesnt mean the PC is dead.
Despite the substantial shift in spending
and usage models from PCs toward tablets
and phones in recent years, very few people
are giving up on their PC they are just
making it last longer, writes IDC analyst
Loren Loverde in a statement.
Its thought that Microsofts free Windows
10 upgrade available to the hundreds of
millions of PC owners worldwide now running
Windows 7 or 8.1 hasnt helped. The free
upgrade... enables some users to postpone
an upgrade a little, says Loverde, though,
not indefinitely, he contends.
IDC is sticking to its guns, and predicts
that at least some consumers would
eventually upgrade their PC hardware
because of Windows 10. Some consumers
will use a free operating system upgrade
to delay a new PC purchase and test
the transition to Windows 10, Loverde
explains. However, the experience of
those customers may serve to highlight
what they are missing by stretching the
life of an older PC, and we expect they
will ultimately purchase a new device.
Research firms such as IDC and its rival,
Gartner, have maintained that consumers
will refresh their home PCs at some point,

but their regular predictions of that have
worn thin. The buy-a-PC time frame has
been repeatedly pushed out to a later date.
The silver lining in PC shipments, if
there is one, exists because businesses
have not and for the foreseeable future,
cannot relinquish their workforce machines
in anywhere near the numbers, or even
percentages, of consumers. Businesses still
regularly upgrade their systems, albeit often
on a lengthier schedule than previously, as
they migrate to a new operating system.
Once commercial adoption of Windows
10 accelerates, and in combination with
upgrades to steadily-aging consumer PCs,
we expect demand for new PCs to improve
for several years as
replacements will
also be boosted by
the end of support
for Window 7, just as
the end of support
for Windows XP
boosted shipments
in 2014, Loverde
maintains. Microsoft has set Windows 7s

retirement date as 14 January, 2020.
Other analysts have opined that
enterprises, having learned their lesson
from the scramble to dump Windows XP in
2013 to 2014, will be more likely to replace
Windows 7 with 10 before the due date
arrives. At the same time, Microsoft has
been promoting its new operating system
as ready for corporate adoption.
IDC forecasts that shipments will stabilise
by the end of 2016, and grow through 2019.
Even that prediction, however, means that
the bottom of the trough wont come until
next year, and the growth from that will be
so minor that 2019s shipments will remain
below those of 2015s.
PC shipments fell
by 10.3 percent in
2015, reveals IDC
6 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news March 2016
006_008 News 248.indd 6
17/12/2015 14:39
NEWS
Keep up to date with PC Advisor news:
pcadvisor.co.uk/news
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twitter.com/pcadvisor
plus.google.com/+PCAdvisor
facebook.com/pcadvisor
youtube.com/pcadvisor
CHRIS
MARTIN
Toshiba, Vaio and Fujitsu said to

be considering laptop and PC merger
Japanese giants considering combining their laptop and PC businesses, according to a media report
Its been reported that Toshiba, Fujitsu
and Vaio are considering a merger of
their laptop PC businesses. According to a
report in The Nikkei financial newspaper,
the three companies have begun specific
discussions on the merger later, with the aim
of launching the company on 1 April, when
the next Japanese financial year begins.
Vaio was spun off from Sony in mid-2014
and will likely be the surviving entity, with
Toshiba and Fujitsu merging their laptop
businesses into the unit. Ownership will be
roughly equal, says The Nikkei.
It wasnt possible to immediately contact
the three companies for comment.
As we report opposite, global demand
for PCs is decreasing. In the third quarter
of 2015, shipments dropped to 71

million units, according to IDC.
Laptops made up the majority of
these sales at 42 million units, but
they were also down on the previous
year. Were entering a phase in the
PC industry where we are expecting
some consolidation to happen, says
Linn Huang, an analyst at IDC.
He explains that price competition
is hurting PC makers, while the
prevalence of smartphones and
tablet PCs in homes is reducing
the need to continually refresh
machines as they get older.
The market is led by Lenovo, Dell, HP
and Apple, all of which do well in enterprise
Vaio was spun off from Sony in mid-2014 and will

likely be the surviving entity, with Toshiba and
Fujitsu merging their laptop businesses into the unit
laptop sales. Other brands are more

focused on the consumer market, which
is experiencing softer demand than the
enterprise sector, Huang adds. Weakness in
the domestic Japanese market is also hitting
the three companies in question, he says.
NEC, which was a market leader in the
Japanese laptop market, merged its portable
PC business with Lenovo in 2011.
Windows 10 Mobiles on a PC-like software update path

More frequent updates may mean more frequent restarts, however
Microsoft ended 2015 with a cosmic aligning
of sorts: all Windows 10 PCs and phones
were aligned around a single build. It
released a preview build of version 10586.29
on 4 December to Windows 10 Mobile
Insiders, and now all eligible Windows 10
PCs and phones can upgrade to this build
directly from Microsoft. Although Microsoft
has not pushed Windows 10 Mobile to
existing Windows 8.1 phones yet, virtually all
of its new Lumia 950 (reviewed on page 30)
and Lumia 950XL phones (pictured) have
been upgraded to Windows 10.
In announcing the new build, Microsofts
corporate vice president of engineering
systems Gabriel Aul said that more frequent
updates were in the works. As our partners

and Microsoft ship new Windows 10 mobile
devices and existing devices are upgraded
to Windows 10, all of our users will start to
see more updates coming through Windows
Update, he says. These will be addressing
feedback we receive from our Windows
Insiders and Windows 10 users.
If Microsoft increases the tempo of its
rollouts, Windows Phone owners will receive
new features and bug fixes more frequently
than before. Thats a feature Android users
have long prized in the Nexus line. Windows
10 Mobile phones purchased from carriers
will still ship with carrier apps installed, but
at least theyll otherwise be pure Windows.
006_008 News 248.indd 7
March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news 7
17/12/2015 14:39
News
Windows 10s Redstone update promises

a smarter, Office-savvy Cortana
Cortana update will allow it to dive into individual apps and provide more context
Windows 10s next major update, codenamed
Redstone, promises a smarter Cortana
that can work within Office applications.
According to a report from The Verge, the
personal assistant will become a contextual
tool that appears within documents. It will
facilitate transitioning tasks across the
various smartphone platforms. Microsoft
will also beef up the Notifications centre,
according to the site.
If the Verge is correct, the continued
enhancements to Cortana appear to be
evolutionary, rather than revolutionary. For
example, it provides contextual information
when you highlight a word or phrase in
Microsoft Edge. Its not clear how far
its developer plans to go, but Cortanas
improvements could be as minimal as
supplying that same sort of context in a
Word or PowerPoint document. So far, that
context is lacking from Microsoft Office.
The digital assistant is one of Windows
10s signature achievements, along with
Universal Apps. Richness is a critical

aspect of how Microsoft competes with
Google Now and Apples Siri the more
sophisticated the digital assistant, the
more useful it is. It seems likely that
Microsoft will continue to embed Cortana

deeply into its core apps Mail, Calendar,
Maps, Edge, and others with a gap on
third-party apps that it doesnt directly
control, such as Facebook.
Security vulnerabilities found in major laptops

Security flaws pile up in support applications installed by PC manufacturers
The number of vulnerabilities discovered
in technical support applications installed
on PCs by manufacturers keeps piling up.
New exploits have been published for flaws
in Lenovo Solution Centre, Toshiba Service
Station and Dell System Detect.
The flaws were discovered by a hacker
who uses the online aliases slipstream and
RoL, and who released a proof-of-concept
exploit for them. This prompted the CERT
Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon
University to publish a security advisory.
One of the issues is caused by the
LSCTaskService, which is created by the
Lenovo Solution Centre and runs with
SYSTEM privileges. This service opens
an HTTP daemon on port 55555 that
can receive commands. One of those
commands is called RunInstaller and
executes files placed in the %APPDATA%\
LSC\Local Store folder.
Any local user can write to this directory,
regardless of their privilege, but the files
are executed as the SYSTEM account. This
means that a restricted user can exploit the

logic flaw to gain full system access.
Furthermore, there is a directory traversal
flaw that can be exploited to trick the
Lenovo Solution Centre to execute code
from arbitrary locations, so an attacker
doesnt even need to place files in the
aforementioned Local Store folder.
Finally, the LSCTaskService is vulnerable
to cross-site request forgery (CSRF), an
attack method through which a malicious
website can relay rogue requests through
the users browser. This means that, in order
to exploit the previous two flaws, an attacker
doesnt even need to have local access to the
system where the Lenovo Solution Centre is
installed and can simply trick the user to visit
a specially crafted web page.
In a security advisory on its website,
Lenovo said it is currently investigating the
vulnerability report and will provide a fix as
soon as possible. Until then, concerned users
can uninstall the Lenovo Solution Centre in
order to mitigate the risk, the company said.
Slipstream also published proof-ofconcept exploits for two other, lower-impact,

vulnerabilities one in the Toshiba Service
Station (TST) and another in Dell System
Detect (DSD), a tool that users are prompted
to install when they click the Detect Product
button on Dells support website.
The TST app creates a service called
TMachInfo that runs as SYSTEM and receives
commands via UDP port 1233 on the local
host. One of those commands is called Reg.
Read and can be used to read most of the
Windows Registry with system privileges.
The flaw in DSD stems from the way Dell
attempted to fix a previous vulnerability.
According to slipstream, Dell implemented
RSA-1024 signatures to authenticate
commands, but put them in a place on its
website where attackers can obtain them.
These can be used as a crude bypass method
for Windows User Account Control (UAC).
This is not the first time vulnerabilities
have been found in support tools installed
on Lenovo or Dell computers. J
006_008 News 248.indd 8
17/12/2015 14:39
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15/12/2015 16:50
16.09.15 10:30
NEWSVIEWPOINT
Is Microsoft making Windows

worse to make it better?
Windows 10 is being presented as an operating system in continuous development. Were used to
cloud services being a work in progress, but how well does that transfer to an operating system?
indows 10 isnt just a new

operating system; its also a new
way of delivering an operating
system. In theory, Windows as a Service (as
Microsoft calls it) promises a continuous
stream of new features alongside the familiar
security updates, instead of saving up new
features for three years and then trying to
persuade users those features are worth the
cost of an upgrade. (And no, Windows as a
Service is not a paid subscription service,
unless youre a business paying for upgrade
rights with Software Assurance.)
This is increasingly the way the industry
is heading, says Gabriel Aul (pictured right),
corporate vice president for the Engineering
Systems team in the Windows and Devices
group at Microsoft. Its by no means isolated
to technology companies. For example,
you even see automotive companies like
Tesla using a services model to provide
new benefits to customers. We saw it as
a natural evolution for Windows.
Microsoft has been using the services
model for years with its regular security
updates, Aul says, and Windows 10 lets the
company take it to a new level. We really

do believe Windows 10 is the best Windows
ever, and embracing a services model lets
us keep making the experience even better
with additional productivity, safety and
entertainment value offered over time.
Thats the theory. But even before
Windows 10 shipped, there was considerable
pushback against the new Windows as a
Service model and especially against using
different branches to deliver updates at
different speeds, such as Current Branch
(CB) for consumers, who will get update
downloads as soon as they occur without
the option to postpone them, and Current
Branch for Business (CBB) for businesses
that want to delay updates (but still without
the option to postpone them indefinitely).
However, while a great deal of attention
has been given to concerns that Microsofts
new service policy gives you updates
whether you want them or not, theres been
much less discussion of other implications
of this approach. What this means when it
comes to features that have been delayed or
even downgraded (sometimes temporarily,
sometimes not) before they get updated.

In the process of Microsoft redesigning
the operating system, some features
have gone away (sometimes temporarily).
For example, the new Edge web browser
has fewer capabilities than Internet
Explorer users have known for years.
And new features in Windows 10 werent
all ready on day one; instead, theyll
keep arriving over the coming months.
Gabriel Aul
010_013 Viewpoint 248.indd 10
22/12/2015 11:40
NEWSVIEWPOINT
For most users, the November autumn
update was the first instalment.
This is a new approach for operating
systems, but its something thats been
business as usual for years from cloud
services such as Gmail, as well as for
mobile apps. Until it sought to appeal
to businesses with Google Apps, Google
services were notorious for staying in
beta as the company continued to develop
them, and Microsoft Office 365 has added
features regularly. Doing this at the
operating system level is definitely harder
than for a cloud-based service, Aul admits,
but we think the model makes sense and
were committed to making it a smooth and
low-friction process for customers.
Even so, its not clear how willing business
users are to make that transition.
Stepping back or starting small?

In some cases, making the Windows
experience even better has first meant
taking a step back and even removing
features. Or, as Aul phrases it, We believe
this approach will allow us to deliver better
features on a sustained cadence, but some
things will start small and grow as we add
capability to them.
With both Windows Mobile and the Edge
browser, that step back was inevitable,
because Microsoft started from scratch.
Edge Browser
It meant previews of the mobile version
of Windows 10 began by being far behind
what Microsoft was already shipping with
Windows Phone 8.1. Early previews lacked
features such as the ability to open Office
documents, and even now the new Mail
and Calendar apps dont offer significantly
more functionality than the Windows Phone
equivalents. In addition, the Windows Store
no longer allows users to send apps to their
phone from their PC; they have to load the
apps directly from the Store on their phone.
That step back to move forward
process may not always be comfortable,
Cortana integration
but the belief at Microsoft seems to be

that the sacrifices will be worthwhile once
the operating system reaches the moving
forward stage. For example, shifting to
a common operating system has allowed
Windows phones to get the Edge browser
and the same universal apps as Windows 10.
In particular, Microsoft seems to be
hoping it will reach the single, unified
messaging system its been working
toward for both PCs and phones. Over
the past few years, Microsoft dropped
Windows Messenger; it also integrated
and then removed Facebook messaging
(after Facebook removed the APIs to
support that). With Windows 10, Microsoft
can integrate Skype messages with SMS
and Skype calling with the Phone dialler;
and with Cortana on both phones and PCs,
users will see missed calls and be able to
send text messages from their PCs. The
first rudimentary pieces of this arrived in
the autumn update.
Aul paints the development of Edge as a
shift to implementing more web standards.
Consumers want a browser that takes full
advantage of the modern web and new
features in Windows 10, but Internet Explorer
still plays an important role for some
enterprise customers who require a legacy
browser. With Windows 10, were delivering
experiences for the modern web and new
22/12/2015 11:39
News: Viewpoint
Lumia 950 XL
apps, while still helping existing customers
who may need more time to transition.
However, although Edge supports the
latest HTML standards, it has fewer features
as a browser than Internet Explorer, Chrome
or Firefox. Its only in the fall update that
Edge added the abilities to synch Favorites,
to upload files by dragging them into a
browser window, to download files to a
specific folder and to stream video from
the browser to other devices features IE
has had since Windows 7. The update added
a thumbnail preview for tabs, but that
only works inside the browser; the taskbar
preview still works only for the active tab,
so you cant close individual tabs from the
taskbar thumbnail as you can in IE. You
cant pin specific sites to the taskbar either,
and you can only re-open the most recently
closed tab without digging into your history.
The promised extension support
(which replaces the IE model of plugins for
everything except Flash) that was expected
in 2015 is delayed until some time in 2016;
according to Microsoft, its still actively
working to develop a secure extension
model. And even though Windows Mobile
will bring the Edge browser to phones,
they wont get extensions as quickly as the
Windows 10 browser (something that would
have put Windows phones ahead of Android).
Groove technology, and it synchs as reliably

as the popular OneDrive consumer service.
But the consumer version of OneDrive
in Windows 10 lost the sophisticated
placeholder feature from Windows 8.1,
which let users work with files through
Explorer, whether or not they were locally
synced because according to Microsoft
that feature confused some users and
caused storage problems on small
Windows tablets. Users can still pick which
folders they want to sync, but doing so
requires they use a separate dialog rather
than choose directly from Explorer.
Sharing OneDrive files directly from
Explorer has also taken a step forward (the
Explorer option no longer takes you to the

OneDrive site to get the link) and backwards
(the feature moves from the Ribbon to the
context menu and shares a link that allows
editing by default, not just viewing).
It hasnt helped that Microsoft recently
announced that Office 365 users will no
longer have unlimited OneDrive cloud
storage and fees for OneDrive would be
revamped. Is Microsoft listening to user
views on functionality when it makes these
changes? As youd expect, Aul says yes.
Our metric for success is delivering
a product that people use and love. he
argues. We have a team of data scientists
who rigorously pore over data and
feedback from Insiders, and customers to
understand the features or changes they
want to see in the product, and to help the
engineering team build out road maps for
product development.
Its a little harder to see from the outside
what the feedback looks like, because the
Windows Feedback app is now the only
official way to report bugs and request
features. Although Microsoft is keeping its
more public UserVoice sites for developer
features, including the rendering engine in
Edge, its closing down the UserVoice sites
for Windows 10.
And users may not always feel that
Microsoft is listening. For example, when
Microsoft announced in January 2015 that
it was removing the placeholders that
allowed OneDrive users to access all their
files using a minimum of local drive space,
Chris Jones, who was then corporate vice
present for OneDrive and SharePoint,
stated that other [important capabilities]
will come in updates that follow later in
the calendar year most notably the core
capabilities of placeholders that are both
reliable and comprehensible. But there
has been no follow-up. More recently,
Troubles for OneDrive

Another area where Windows 10 has taken
a step forward and a step back is OneDrive.
The OneDrive for Business client has finally
advanced from the clunky SharePoint and
OneDrive
22/12/2015 11:40
News: Viewpoint
Microsoft Surface Pro 4
automatically switching time zones when you

travel. It also brought back some Windows
8 touch features, such as being able to
resize two applications at the same time,
and offered the first steps for integrated
messaging, with previews of the apps for
messages, video and voice calls.
Adapting to Windows as a Service
reductions in OneDrive storage allowances

precipitated a petition drive.
Building differently to build faster

Delivering major features more quickly
which is the core of turning Windows into
a service means Microsoft must build it
differently, Aul explains.
Moving at this pace requires we build
and test in smaller incremental steps than
in the past, and test and evaluate the
results quickly as we go, he reveals. This
represents a huge effort and we use stateof-the-art test automation, as well as good
old-fashioned dogfooding to find issues
quickly and create a tight feedback loop
back to developers making changes.
Aul suggests that building Windows
differently will also result in better
applications for the latest version,
because third-party developers will be
able to focus their energy on one up-todate operating system target rather than
a fragmented installed base.
Depending on Insiders
The testing goes beyond what Microsoft can
do alone. The key advance for us has been
adding the millions of Windows Insiders who
are contributing to the testing and feedback
process, he says, which allows us to ensure
coverage of new updates for quality and

compatibility before they ship broadly.
According to Aul, testing on so many
PCs helps Microsoft to balance the delivery
of new features with stability and usability.
With the Windows Insiders help, since
the release of Windows 10 in July, he says
Microsoft has found and fixed tens of
thousands of issues in preview builds.
Aul also credits the Insider program
with allowing Microsoft to test and make
improvements at a much faster pace and
claims Microsoft is responding to feedback
more quickly. In contrast with how Windows
has been released in the past, getting
new features out quickly to customers to
start using and giving us early feedback
allows us to respond quickly and tune the
experiences as needed. That includes the
companys recent promise to give more
details about what changes are included
in specific updates (although that came
after a Windows MVP started a petition
on Change.org rather than sticking with
Microsofts own UserVoice forums).
The autumn 2015 update (codenamed
Threshold 2) rolled up the improvements
Microsoft had been making since July,
continued the subtle interface changes to
make the design more consistent and added
a host of small extras and options, such as
Continuous delivery is likely to become

the norm for Microsoft software. In
addition to Windows 10 and Microsofts
Configuration Manager, Office 2016 has
the same service model. It even uses the
terminology of Current Branch and Current
Branch for Business. It also has the same
requirement: users must take regular
updates to stay supported.
All this doesnt seem to be holding back
Windows 10 adoption for the most part.
Just one month after release Microsoft
claimed on its blog that the new OS was
already installed on more than 75 million
PCs. And in a survey conducted in May
2015 by Spiceworks, 96 percent of 500 IT
professionals said they were interested in
Windows 10, and 60 percent said their IT
department was already evaluating it.
The two biggest reasons those IT
professionals gave were the Start button
and the free upgrade, followed by security
improvements. The faster update cycle
and the new Edge browser only made sixth
and seventh place on the list.
Iain Chidgey, vice president at Delphix,
which creates Data as a Service software,
says that Windows as a Service is part of
a sea change going on in technology one
that businesses need to take advantage
of. The likes of Apple and Android OS are
already steaming ahead with a continuous
delivery model; organisations need to accept
Microsofts latest change and jump in with
both feet to avoid missing the boat. J
MARY
BRANSCOMBE
22/12/2015 11:39
NEWSANALYSIS
Microsofts biggest hits,

misses and surprises of 2015
The tech giant righted itself in 2015, improving its products and delivering a few surprises.
By Mark Hachman
indows 10. Surface Book. HoloLens.

Office. Microsoft arguably delivered
the biggest updates, changes, and
surprises of any major tech company in
2015, most of them positive.
While Microsoft deserves credit for the
good, it cant escape the bad, and it ends
the year with a few notable disappointments.
Look back with us on a very busy year for
Microsoft. Weve winnowed the list to the
biggest hits and misses.
HIT: Windows 10
Windows 10 was the do-or-die makeover for
the companys flagship operating system,
and in most ways, Microsoft delivered. It
removed the worst of Windows 8, brought
back the best of Windows 7, and added cool
innovations such as the Cortana virtual
assistant and Universal Apps that promise

to work across all Windows platforms. It isnt
even charging for the operating system (yet).
Some of Windows 10s big changes
are less welcome: its forced updates, for
example, and its eagerness to watch your
online activity so it can help you (or sell you)
more. That may help explain why Windows 10
was still only the third (or fourth, depending
on how you look at it) most popular
operating system in Microsofts line-up. But
we still call it the best OS since Windows 7.
MISS: Microsoft Edge

So far, its hard to see what Microsoft
accomplished with the release of the new
Edge browser. It might be more secure
than Internet Explorer, and its been
integrated with Windows 10, but thats
about it. At launch, Edge underperformed
virtually every other browser. Though it
has markedly improved since then, a lack
of features including plugins and syncing
across platforms makes Edge just another
Microsoft browser well use to download
Windows 10 removed the worst of Windows 8, brought

back the best of Windows 7, and added cool innovations
such as the Cortana virtual assistant and Universal Apps
014_017 Analysis 248.indd 14
22/12/2015 11:13
NEWSANALYSIS
Microsoft Surface Pro

4 and Surface Book
competitors like Google Chrome, at least on
desktop PCs. On Windows phones, though,
its not too bad.
HITS: Surface Pro 4, Surface Book

Microsoft outdid itself on Surface hardware
this year, improving on the Surface Pro
4 and stunning the tech world with the
Surface Books innovations.
the same sort of bugs that plagued the

Surface Pro 3 during its early days but
theyre still outstanding ambassadors
for the Windows 10 platform.
MISS: Windows 10
Mobile OS and hardware
If only Windows 10 Mobile could borrow
some of Windows 10s mojo. The operating
Whats nifty about Continuum is that Microsofts

Universal Apps can be projected onto the larger screen,
including Microsofts superior Office Mobile apps
Microsoft has suddenly become a
hotshot hardware company. The Surface Pro
4 managed to improve upon the exemplary
Surface Pro 3 the combination of Intels
Skylake processor and an upgraded chassis
design eliminated nagging cooling issues.
Microsofts Surface Book, meanwhile,
is a showstopper: a two-in-one with a
keyboard that houses an extra battery
and even an external GPU. Some lingering
driver issues have held back both devices
system offers little to convince existing

Android and iOS owners to switch: its user
experience is a bit blah, and theres still the
persistent app gap. At the time of writing
(early December), Microsoft had yet to roll
out Windows 10 to owners of older Windows
Phones, meaning that for the bulk of
Windows Phone owners, the jury is still out.
Meanwhile, Microsofts first flagship
phone in almost two years barely placates
the Windows faithful. Compared against
other Windows Phones, the Lumia 950

(page 30) and larger 950XL represent a
true leap ahead, but not when compared
to cutting-edge hardware in the Android
and iOS camps. Theyre a solid effort rather
than a home run, and really, the ecosystem
needed the latter. Could a rumoured Surface
phone save the day?
HIT: Continuum
Yes, Continuum is something to be genuinely
excited about. Yes, it requires a standalone
peripheral (either the Display Dock or a
Miracast dongle), but whats nifty about
Continuum is that Microsofts Universal
Apps can be projected onto the larger
screen, including Microsofts superior Office
Mobile apps, which are supposed to be free
only on phones or tablets smaller than 10
inches. Most importantly, Continuum allows
Microsoft to claim that a Windows phone
can be a PC, too something that none of
its competitors can say yet.
HIT: HoloLens
Microsofts first stab at augmented reality
is an undeniable success, even though it
has yet to ship. Microsofts unveiling of the
22/12/2015 11:07
News: Analysis
HoloLens in January 2015 generated more

excitement than possibly any other product
announcement in its history, and the early
hands-on demonstrations were jaw-dropping.
There are caveats. It appears HoloLens
wont ship until 2016 at the earliest, and even
then, only as a developer product. The field
of view in which 3D holograms are overlaid
on top of real-world objects has seemingly
shrunk with each iteration. No ones sure
what it will be good for or what it will cost,
but what an amazing piece of technology.
MISS: Microsoft Band 2

Whats black like the HoloLens, curved like
the HoloLens, and yet not as amazing a piece
of technology? Microsoft debuted its second
generation Band fitness tracker, and it still
doesnt impress. Sure, its not a smartwatch,
but we must nevertheless compare its paltry,
20-odd fitness apps to the huge collections
available for Apple Watch and Android Wear
devices. (Not everyone hates it, though. See
Matt Egans review on page 42).
A recent update seems to signal a greater
commitment by Microsoft to developing the
Band, but its going to take more than a few
new tiles to make a dent in the wearables
market. Perhaps Microsoft is holding out
until a proper Windows 10 IoT version
launches, such as a third-generation Band.
Then can we call it a smartwatch?
HIT: Office 2016

Whether you buy the standalone version
or an Office 365 subscription, Offices
latest iteration is optimised for team
HoloLens
collaboration one of the chief demands,
we imagine, of Microsofts enterprise
customers. In this, it delivers. We like
introducing new capabilities that Office will

need to stay relevant in a rapidly shifting
software landscape.
Microsofts unveiling of the HoloLens generated more

excitement than possibly any other product announcement in
its history, and the early demonstrations were jaw-dropping
the tell me what to do feature that cuts
through the menu clutter, as well as the
Sway content publishing app. It keeps the
business faithful productive, while also
MISS: Project Islandwood, Project

Astoria, Windows apps market
Microsoft impressed developers and
journalists alike by announcing plans to
Microsoft Band 2
22/12/2015 11:13
News: Analysis
Xbox One
alleviate the Windows 10 app gap by
providing tools for porting Android and iOS
products to Windows 10 and Windows 10
Mobile. The Project Astoria bridge to port
Android apps to Windows has reportedly
stalled, however, leaving its iOStoWindows
toolset, Project Islandwood, as the last
hope. Islandwood, though, is in an alpha
preview state, and were not likely to
hear anything more about it until March
2016, when Microsoft holds its next Build
developer conference. Meanwhile, the
Windows app market languishes, both
on mobile and desktop.
HIT: New Xbox One Experience

Microsofts revamp of the Xbox One
interface reminds us more of a web page
than a game console, but it also provides a
backdrop to two other, fantastic features:
streaming games from the Xbox One to
Windows 10 PCs, and backward compatibility

to dozens of games for the Xbox 360. You
might think that Microsoft would charge
for such a feature, but no they are both
2015, Microsoft went back on its word.

Customers were not happy, but it was
too late: Microsoft had taken a moonshot
promise and brought it crashing back to
Microsofts revamp of the Xbox One interface reminds

us more of a web page than a game console, but it also
provides a backdrop to two other, fantastic features
free. And more features are to arrive in
the coming months, including Microsofts
digital assistant, Cortana.
MISS: Cutbacks
in OneDrive storage
In 2014, Microsoft promised that Office
365 subscribers would eventually receive
unlimited OneDrive storage. In November
earth. Thank goodness for Google and

Amazon, right?
Then at the start of December, Microsoft
quietly launched a preview site for keeping
your OneDrive space, though there is a
catch. From the rude initial news to this
almost reluctant backtracking, this is a
miss Microsoft could have avoided by not
messing with a good thing. J
22/12/2015 11:07
News: Analysis
Steve Ballmer thinks the future

of Windows Phone is Android
and he may be right
Is another Windows Android phone a possibility, or just a pipe dream? By Mark Hachman
indows 10 Mobile has barely
launched, and Microsofts former
chief executive is already burying
it, though in doing so, he may be pointing
toward a better way forward for the firm.
At Microsofts recent shareholder
conference, Bloomberg reporter Dina Bass
was in the right place at the right time. She
picked up former chief executive and still
shareholder Steve Ballmer criticising chief
executive Satya Nadella and other Microsoft
management. One of Microsofts faults,
according to Ballmer? Ignoring Android apps.
There really isnt much news here, just a
fraction of a quote:
Ballmer also criticised Nadellas answer

to an audience member questioning the
lack of key apps, like one for Starbucks, on
the companys Windows Phone. Nadella
responded by citing the companys plan to
appeal to Windows developers by allowing
them to write universal applications that
work on computers, phones and tablets,
targeting a larger array of devices than
just Microsofts handsets that have just a
single-digit share of the mobile market.
That wont work, Ballmer commented
as Nadella spoke. Instead, the company
needs to enable Windows Phones to run
Android apps, he said.
Was he right? Possibly. But how does
Microsoft convince Android developers to
port apps to Windows? It seems like another
Android phone might be one answer.
Apps dont seem to be working out

Microsofts app store clearly lags behind
its competition. True, the list of the most
downloaded free mobile Windows Phone
apps reads like a whos who of the web:
Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Twitter, and
more, especially when you compare them
against the most downloaded free apps on
Android, for example. But look a little closer,
and several apps, including Instagram and
Twitter, are either listed as beta apps or are
simply nowhere near the quality of apps
offered on other platforms.
It just gets worse when you consider that

games such as Plants vs. Zombies, Terraria
and Need for Speed are all available for
Android, but not Windows Phone. Both
Android and iOS simply generate more
revenue for developers than Windows
phones do, and Windows Phones miniscule
2.2 percent market share certainly isnt
helping. Most developers neglect or outright
ignore Windows Phone as a result, and
fewer apps only mean fewer would-be
Windows Phone buyers. It's a vicious circle.
Its not clear exactly what Ballmer
meant by his comments, though. Was he
implying that Windows Phones need to
run apps that were originally designed
for Android, and then ported over to
Windows? In that case, hes probably
aware that Project Astoria, the Windows
bridge tool designed to allow developers
to port Android apps to Windows, has
reportedly been put on hold. If developers
are going to run Android apps on Windows,
theyll need to take their iOS port if
they have one and then port that code
over to Windows with the complementary
Islandwood bridge.
However, at the time of writing,
Islandwood was still listed as a 0.1 Preview,
which seems to be about as far away from a
piece of finished code as you can get.
An Android fork?
At this point, Microsoft has several other
options. One of these clearly is its current
Microsofts Android phone, the

Nokia X, wasnt available for long
strategy: seed as many apps and services
on to other platforms as possible, both as
a revenue-generating opportunity (Office
365 subscriptions) and also to woo as many
customers as possible to Windows.
As Microsofts financial results indicate,
the bulk of the companys revenue still
flows from Windows, Office, and other
enterprise services; once you start using
the Outlook app for iOS; for example,
you might be interested in signing up for
more robust collaborative features that
Microsofts office suite offers.
Ballmers cryptic comment could also
imply that he thinks an emulation layer
might be the best bet. We have a hard time
believing thats the case, though BlackBerry
tried emulation with BB10, reportedly
somewhat successfully. (BlackBerry now
manufactures Android phones, however.)
The other option? As strange as it
sounds, a Windows-branded Android phone
might not be so far-fetched. You can
already jury-rig a Windows Android phone
by using Cortana, Bing, Outlook, Skype, the
Office apps and more into an (almost) all
Microsoft, all the time creation.
But given that Android is an open
operating system, theres really nothing
stopping Microsoft from actually crafting its
own fork of the Android OS, as long as they
adhere to the correct open-source licenses.
18/12/2015 11:05
News: Analysis
Googles Play Store and related services

require their own agreements and licensing,
but Microsoft wouldnt have to tap into that,
as Amazons own Fire OS also sidesteps
those restrictions. In other words, it could
use its own Microsoft Store for users to
launch and download apps.
The problem, as Greenbots Jason
Cross tells us, is that many Android apps
use Google Play services, which means
that either Microsoft would either have to
exclude those apps, or else ask developers to
craft special versions for Microsoft, though
that brings Microsoft right back to square
one in a way. But where attracting users

to Microsofts apps and services without
luring them to its platforms is a customerfacing philosophy, the company could
continue pursuing a similar strategy with
developers, providing app makers with back
end APIs to its services.
Its important to note that weve gone
down this road before. Shortly before
Microsoft acquired Nokias device business,
the Finnish company had developed the
Nokia X: an Android powered phone with
an array of Windows-like tiles. Stephen
Elop, the chief executive of Nokia who
joined Microsoft as part of the acquisition,

promised that the Nokia X would live on. It
didnt, and Elop left in the summer.
So far, there hasnt been the faintest hint
that Microsoft is developing its own Android
operating system or phone, though. And
with Microsoft already hurling billions of
dollars at its own Windows Phone and device
development, it may be that management
will balk at spending more. But the nagging
question remains: If Microsoft has hitched its
wagon to cloud first, mobile first, you need a
viable mobile platform to ride. And isnt that
increasingly looking like Android? J
Samsung agrees to pay Apple $548

million in damages with conditions
An appeals court had rejected Samsungs bid to review the damages award. John Ribeiro reports
amsung Electronics has agreed to
pay Apple $548 million (367m) in
damages in a patent infringement
lawsuit in California, which will be the first
shot at compensation Apple will get in the
dispute that has dragged on for several
years with many twists and turns.
The move by Samsung follows the
rejection in November by the US Court
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of a
full-bench hearing to review the damages
award in the patent dispute in the light of
new information about an Apple patent.
The South Korean company has
confirmed to Apple that it will pay the
iPhone maker the damages within 10
days of the delivery of Apples invoice
to Samsung, according to a joint case
management statement filed in the US
District Court for the Northern District
of California, San Jose division.
But Samsung has also reserved the right
to collect reimbursement if there are any
further developments in the case, including
results of proceedings before the US
Patent and Trademark Office that address
the patents at issue. Apple has disputed
Samsungs asserted rights to reimbursement.
The iPad maker sued Samsung in 2011
alleging that the Korean companys phones
infringed on several iPhone patents. It was
awarded damages of $930m (623m) by a
jury in the US District Court in California,
which found that Samsung infringed Apples
design and utility patents and diluted its
trade dresses, which relate to the overall
look and packaging of a product.
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit reversed the jurys findings that the
asserted trade dresses are protectable,

and vacated the damages relating to trade
dress dilution. The decision still required
Samsung to pay the $548m in damages,
while a jury trial the third in the case for
a reassessment of the remaining $382m
million in damages is scheduled for next
year in the California court. But Samsung
wanted the full bench of the Federal Circuit
to consider its challenge of $399m (267m)
in damages from the $548m (256m), as
the award included all of Samsungs profits
from infringing products even though the
patented designs are only minor features of
those products. The Federal Circuit refused

to go along with Samsung.
The Korean company has fought back
on other fronts too, including by asking
the courts to declare invalid and vacate
the damages in connection with the claim
of an Apple patent known as the pinch-tozoom patent, which figured in the lawsuit.
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the
USPTO decided in December that claims of
the patent had been found invalid, according
to a Samsung filing. Apple has filed to the
USPTO a notice that it intends to appeal
before the Federal Circuit court. J
18/12/2015 11:05
News: Analysis
Dropbox to add European

data storage in 2016
Firm says it will also open two new offices as part of a stepped-up EU push, reveals Katherine Noyes
ropbox recently became the

latest major cloud provider to
announce new storage options in
the European Union. Not only will the San
Francisco-based company add two new
European offices next year to its current
roster of three, but it will also build new
infrastructure for storing data within the EU.
Customer requirements in the region
have evolved, explains Thomas Hansen,
the companys global vice president of
sales and channel, in a post on the Dropbox
for Business blog. This will not only
build on the technical lead we have over
competitors, Hansen writes, but will also
give our customers more options about
where their data is stored.
Amazon and Microsoft are also among the
cloud providers racing to offer new European
storage options for customers worried about
data sovereignty, or the question of which
country has jurisdiction over the data.
Data sovereignty has long been a key
concern for companies in Europe because of
the regions strict data-protection laws. Since
the EUs top court struck down of the Safe
Harbor Agreement in October 2015, however,
it has become a hot-button issue. That
agreement had ensured EU-level protection
for European data processed in the US, so its

defeat left numerous companies floundering.
For Dropbox, the pressure is surely
significant. According to Hansen 75 percent
of its users are outside the US, including
tens of thousands of European companies.
Sharing activity in the region increased 200
percent this year, he said.
If Dropbox wants to do serious business in
Europe, establishing regional data centres is
a necessity because of the strict compliance
regulations there, argues
Charles King, principal
analyst with Pund-IT.
Increasing concerns
about individual privacy
are also an issue, he
says, particularly given
how cavalier American
intelligence agencies have
been about demanding
access to information
stored in US-owned data
centres, no matter
where it originates or
who might own it.
The recent terrorist
attacks in Paris will likely
only strengthen that
attitude, he says, making it difficult for US

technology companies to attract foreign
clients without having facilities and staff in
those markets. So, Dropboxs move isnt just
good for business its necessary for the
companys growth and survival, King adds.
Dropbox didnt specify the number of
European data centres it plans to build, or
their locations. Its new European offices will
be in Hamburg and Amsterdam, joining those
it already has in London, Paris and Dublin. J
18/12/2015 11:02
News: Analysis
IDC: Windows Phone down 10

percent as smartphone growth slows
Windows weakness due to lack of manufacturing partners, IDC says. Matt Hambledon reports
rowth in the global smartphone
market is slowing, and increased by
just 9.8 percent in 2015 the first
time growth has slowed into the single digits,
according to market analyst IDC.
Earlier IDC forecasts for 2015 had been
higher, but a Windows Phone decline of
10.2 percent for the year helped drag
down expected growth. That fall comes
despite the launch of Windows 10 during
the summer.
The forecast of 9.8 percent growth rate
is still healthy, but represents a big change
from recent years; smartphone shipments
grew by 27.5 percent in 2014.
IDCs updated forecast for 2015 is down
from its 10.4 percent growth prediction in
August, and the even higher forecast of 11.3
percent growth from May. At the 9.8 percent
rate, 1.43 billion smartphones will ship.
Slower growth in smartphones will
intensify slightly for the next five years,
according to IDC. A big factor in the change
is its lower shipment forecast for Windows
Phone and alternative operating systems
other than Android and Apples iOS.
Shipment growth in China will reach the
low single digits, says IDC. By comparison,
the highest growth in 2015 will be in the
Middle East and Africa, with an increase of
nearly 50 percent compared to 2014.
The Windows Phone fall-off means that
for 2015, the OS will have a 2.2 percent
market share, compared to 81 percent for
Android and nearly 16 percent for Apples
iOS. Despite all the effort Microsoft has put
in the launch of Windows 10, IDC does not
Phone will decline even further in 2016,

although IDC hasnt published a number
for 2015s decline. Over the next five years,
Windows Phone is expected to post a 4.5
percent annual growth rate.
The weakness with Windows Phone is
mainly due to lack of partner support by
manufacturers, argues IDC. I dont see any
A Windows Phone decline of 10.2 percent for the year

helped drag down expected growth. That fall comes
despite the launch of Windows 10 during the summer
expect Microsofts share of the smartphone
OS market to grow much over the coming
years, IDC argues in a statement.
The 10.2 percent decline is a big reversal
from what IDC forecast in May, when it
said Windows Phone would see 34 percent
growth for all of 2015 and would account for
the shipment of 46.8 million phones. With
just 31 million phones shipped, Windows
vendor stepping up to the Windows Phone

plate to say we will be a primary vendor of
Windows Phone, although they might have
it as secondary choice behind Android,
adds Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC.
He predicts that Microsoft will
eventually find another vendor partner
to sell Windows Phone devices as a
secondary line behind Android. Such
vendors could include HTC, LG, Samsung

or other, smaller Android vendors.
Llamas says that IDCs May forecast of
34 percent Windows Phone growth for 2015
was based on expectations that Microsoft
would focus more heavily on Windows
Phone improvements with its Windows
10 launch. The main focus has, however,
instead been on PCs and tablets.
IDC expects Androids share to move
from 81 percent of the total global market
this year to 82.6 percent in 2019. Apples
iOS will have 15.8 percent market share in
2015, IDC says, but drop to 14.1 percent by
2019, even though it will see a 6.5 percent
annual growth rate in shipments, reaching
263 million in 2019.
The market analyst notes that the
majority of Apples sales have transitioned
into replacement markets, which is a
reason why Apple has moved into the
iPhone trade-in space. A replacement
market is one where a customer replaces an
existing phone instead of getting a phone or
smartphone for the first time. J
18/12/2015 11:02
NEWPRODUCTS
More new products online:
tinyurl.com/gadgetspca
Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL

Smartphones
The first phones with Windows 10 have arrived.
The flagship Lumia 950 (see page 30) is available
in two sizes: 5.2- and 5.7in. Microsoft has opted
for Type-C USB ports, wireless charging, 32GB of
storage and a microSD card slot. Both devices have
a Quad HD resolution display and a 20Mp camera.
950: 449 inc VAT
950 XL: 529 inc VAT
microsoft.com/en-gb
22 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/new-product March 2016
022_025 New Products 248.indd 22
18/12/2015 10:25
NEWPRODUCTS
CHRIS
MARTIN
Sky Q
Home entertainment system
Skys upcoming entertainment system is made up
of various different pieces of hardware. The Sky Q
Silver box is the key one, with 2TB of storage and
12 tuners. It supports 4K content, and can resume
viewing in a different room or even download
recordings to a tablet using a new app.
TBC
sky.com
March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/new-product 23
18/12/2015 10:25
News: New products
Parrot Bebop 2
Drone
Drones are all the rage right now and Parrot is
aiming to be a key player with its latest effort.
The Bebop 2 is just 500g and has a flying time
of 25 minutes. It can reach up to 37mph and
comes with a built-in 14Mp fish-eye camera.
439 inc VAT
parrot.com/uk
Philips SHB8850NC
Headphones
A pair of headphones with noise cancelling
will normally set you back a decent
chunk of money, but Philips has broken
the 100 barrier with its latest pair. They
have 32mm drivers, NFC, Bluetooth and a
battery life of up to 33 hours.
89 inc VAT
philips.co.uk
Huawei Mate 8
Smartphone
Despite the recent launch of the Mate
S, Huawei has announced the Mate 8.
The phone has a 6in Full HD screen
and also comes with a Kirin 950
processor, fingerprint scanner, 16Mp
camera and up to 4GB of RAM.
419 inc VAT
huaweidevice.co.uk
24 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/new-product March 2016
18/12/2015 10:25
News: New Products
GoPro Hero4 Session

Action camera
The Session is GoPros smallest camera to
date, around the size of an ice cube. If you
can avoid losing it, the Hero4 uses a simple
onebutton waterproof design and is also WiFi
and Bluetooth enabled. It can wideangle
1080p, 60fps video and 8Mp photos.
159 inc VAT
gopro.com
Samsung Galaxy A range 2016

Smartphones
Following the introduction of the Galaxy A range of
phones in 2015, Samsung has announced a trio of
new models for 2016. The A3, A5 and A7 range from
4.7 to 5.5in in screen size. Strangely they will come
with Android 5.1 Lollipop and all feature a microSD
card slot and a 13Mp camera.
TBC
samsung.com/uk
OnePlus Icons
Headphones
OnePlus doesnt just make phones these
days. Apart from its iPhone case, the firm
now has another audio product. The Icons
headphones are the inear variety and
come in a choice of silver or gold finishes.
A carry pouch is included in the box and
the sound is provided by 11mm drivers.
39 inc VAT
oneplus.net
March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/new-product 25
18/12/2015 10:25
REVIEWS
LAPTOP
279
inc VAT
Asus T100HA
Contact
n
asus.com/uk
Specifications
10.1in (1280x800, 149ppi)

gloss IPS touchscreen;
1.44GHz Intel Atom
x5-Z8500; Intel HD
Graphics; 2GB 1600MHz
DDR3 RAM; 64GB eMMC;
802.11a/b/g/n dual-band 1x1
MIMO; Bluetooth 4.0; 1x
Micro-USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.1
Type C, 1x USB 2.0 Type A
(keyboard); Micro HDMI;
microSDXC card slot
(tablet); stereo speakers;
0.9Mp webcam; built-in
mic; 3.5mm headset
jack; UK tiled keyboard,
detachable; buttonless
trackpad 87x45mm; 30Wh
lithium-ion battery, nonremovable; 10W USB
adaptor; 265x181x19.5mm
(8.9mm tablet); 1089g
(594g tablet)
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
If it is broke, keep trying to fix

it. Thats Asus policy in making
a workable two-in-one tablet/
laptop device, suggests the latest
Transformer T100HA.
The story is similar to the Chi
incarnation we reviewed in June
2014 a budget 10in Windows tablet
with click-on keyboard that turns
it into something like a laptop.
The keys are exceptionally small,
making typing difficult.
Like all such devices its
hamstrung as a laptop, and poorly
balanced thanks to the rearward
mass of the tablet display. The inkling
to fit a touchscreen overrode the
necessity of readability, and again
the screen is too reflective. Screen
rake has some adjustment though.
The previous Chi managed
18 fps in Batman at lowest detail
and limited 1280 x 720 resolution.
This T100HA instead averaged
19fps, leaving it equally useless
for action gaming.
To give it usable battery life
in Windows, an underpowered
processor is fitted, the Intel Atom
x5-Z8500. This new 1.44GHz chip
is quad-core, backed with 2GB
memory. In Geekbench, it proved
faster than an iPhone 5s, multi-core;
but far slower in more typical
single-core operation (3095 vs 2532

points; and 948 vs 1406 points).
For storage, it uses an eMMC
card, as fitted to phones, rather
than a laptop SATA drive. Its a
sluggish solution, and in our testing
we found the Asus terminally slow
in daily tasks. One time, it took sixor seven clicks of the File Explorer
icon to launch. Thirty seconds
later, six windows opened at once.
Another time we discovered a new
Windows message not encountered
before working on it... to at
least let us know something was
ticking under the bonnet.
Asus has addressed one dealbreaker fault from before, Bluetooth
to connect tablet and keyboard. The
T100HA has electrical connection in
the hinge, so youre not left waiting
for repairs each time you type.
Theres no hassle to recharge the
battery-less keyboard either.
We did find problems with the
fiddly power button. It once failed to
boot up with USB power attached,
despite a full battery. Pulling the
power fixed this.
Battery runtime was better than
most Windows laptops 11 hours 38
minutes in the Wi-Fi video test. But
should it run flat itll take about as
long to recharge. From a flat battery,
it took 45 minutes before it would

even start. And thereafter around
12 hours to reach full charge.
Another problem was a frozen
cursor from dead trackpad. A
complete reboot fixed this. We
also noticed that while sat on
the desk like a laptop, it would
spontaneously switch the screen
into sideways portrait mode.
PCMark reported a better score
than previous version, rising from
a desultory 1223 points in Home
unit, to 1338. Any score below 2000
points is cause for concern.
The display has lower resolution
now, down from 1920x1080 to
1280x800 pixels. An excellent
contrast ratio up to 830:1 makes
this IPS screen stand out, even if
colour gamut is down at 78 percent
sRGB. An average Delta E of just
1.08 is commendable.
Verdict
The new chip is as slow as before,
but increased economy let it provide
a further hour of tortoise operation.
Windows is no more compelling on
a tablet than it was with previous
Transformers, leaving us a slow and
unreliable 10in laptop, weighing little
over a kilo and with a pretty IPS
screen. J Andrew Harrison
26 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews March 2016
026_027 Asus/HP 248.indd 26
18/12/2015 10:05
REVIEWS
LAPTOP
1,892
inc VAT
HP EliteBook 1020
Contact
n
hp.com/uk
Specifications
12.5in (2560x1440, 235ppi)

gloss IPS touchscreen;
Windows 8.1 Pro (supplied
and tested with Windows
10); 1.1GHz Intel Core M-5Y51
(2.6GHz Turbo) 2C, 4T; Intel
HD Graphics 5300; 8 GB
1600MHz DDR3 RAM;
256GB M.2 SATA SSD);
802.11a/b/g/n/ac 2x2 MIMO;
Bluetooth 4.0; 2x USB 3.0;
HDMI 1.4; fingerprint
sensor, Kensington
Security Slot, side dock for
ethernet and VGA dongle
(supplied); microSD card
slot; stereo speakers;
0.9Mp webcam with dual
mics; 3.5mm headset jack;
buttonless trackpad
84x54mm; 36Wh
lithium-ion polymer
battery; 45W mains
charger with IEC C6 inlet;
308x207x16.8mm; 1246g
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Ultraportable laptops are getting

ever more portable since the
introduction of the low-power
Core M processor from Intel. The
HP EliteBook 1020 is a 12.5in
screen Windows notebook using
just such a chip to enable modest
dimensions and fanless cooling.
Too many Windows laptops have
the build quality of something that
falls from a Christmas cracker.
The HP EliteBook is altogether
different, using enough milled
aluminium and magnesium alloy to
have Apple looking over its shoulder.
Comparisons cant stop there,
as this executive notebook shares
much with the 2015 MacBook. Its
a little larger at 308x207mm, and
thicker at 16.8mm rather than
13.4mm. And it feels incredible
tough, its 1.25kg metal mass
beautifully balanced when closed.
Unlike the Retina MacBook,
HP has given the 1020 with ports
around the chassis one USB 3.0
each side, plus an HDMI, microSD
slot and Kensington lock to the left.
Headset jack and power inlet are on
the right. Theres also a proprietary
multi-pin port for an included dongle
to provide VGA and ethernet.
Our sample had a 2560x1440 IPS
display, a glossy touchscreen with no
reflective treatment, but there is a
non-touch version (H9V72EA), which
can be found for around 1,130 with
otherwise identical components.
Keyboard is a pleasure to type upon,
firm Scrabble tiles with two-level

white backlight. The trackpad is
unusual, a Synaptics ForcePad like
Apples Force Touchpad, which
is also based on strain gauges to
detect pressure. Unlike the MacBook
version though, theres zero haptic
feedback to indicate what youre
doing, making operation uncertain.
Windows 8.1 Pro licence is
included with rights to Windows 7
Professional, although our sample
came with Windows 10 Pro.
Inside, this EliteBook runs an
1100MHz Intel Core M-5Y51 with 8GB
of soldered memory and a 256GB
Samsung M.2 SSD, connected by
SATA rather than PCIe. The Core M
is Intels attempt at a processor man
enough to run Windows without a
cooling fan. With fast SSD it here
works fine, although performance
is sometimes limited by aggressive
power throttling that limits speed
with rising internal heat.
Geekbench showed good
numbers of 2341 points singlecore and 3800 both cores. A more
real-world test with PCMark 8
demands the system run longer
and highlights power management,
here scoring 1804 points in the
Home unit, and 2192 points when

accelerated by integrated graphics.
Gaming is out, the Intel HD
Graphics 5300 in this Core M
is more suited to Solitaire than
Call of Duty. We averaged 18 fps
in Tomb Raider (720p, Normal),
limping to 29fps (but a 21fps
minimum) in glorious Low detail.
The EliteBooks glassy display
had good contrast at around
700:1 and 99 percent sRGB
coverage, while colour accuracy
was a commendable 1.48 Delta E.
Backlighting is PWM though, which
means you may notice some flicker.
Despite the frugal CPU and 36Wh
polymer battery, the HP lasted
just six hours one minute in the
streaming video test. The MacBook
with a comparably-sized screen
and battery lasted over 11 hours,
approaching twice the runtime.
Verdict
The reflective touchscreen is
the main blight on an otherwise
superbly machined executive laptop.
Build quality is faultless and it has
twice the USB count of the MacBook,
if less compact and with half the
battery life. J Andrew Harrison
Our sample had a 2560x1440 IPS display, a

glossy touchscreen with no reflective treatment,
leaving the standard-issue mirror to fend
March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 27
026_027 Asus/HP 248.indd 27
18/12/2015 10:05
Reviews
TABLET
49
inc VAT
Amazon Fire
Contact
n
amazon.co.uk
Specifications
7in (10240x600, 171ppi)

touchscreen; quad-core
1.3GHz processor; 1GB RAM;
802.11n Wi-Fi (2.4GHz only);
Bluetooth (with support
for A2DP); rear 2Mp
camera, front VGA camera;
8GB internal storage;
microSD slot for up to
128GB additional storage;
191x115x10.6mm; 313g
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
You can buy the Fire for 49 from

Amazon. Thats a crazy price for
a brand-new tablet, but it really
is that cheap. This price includes
special offers which means youll
get adverts for products on the lock
screen. When you buy the Fire youll
see an option to pay 10 extra to
remove these. You get a mains
charger and USB cable in the box.
The same tablet is available to
buy as a Kids Edition for 99.99.
This includes a special bumper case
in blue or pink, a years subscription
to Fire for Kids and a two-year
worry free guarantee that covers
accidental damage.
There are also two other models
in the range: the Fire HD 8 which
you can buy for 129.99 and Fire HD
10 which Amazon sells for 169.99.
Theres actually a fourth model, but
its not new: weve already reviewed
the 2014 Fire HD 6. The HD 6 was
available in a Kids Edition, too,
but as the basic tablet still costs
79.99 yet lacks a microSD slot, its
impossible to recommend in the
light of the new models. You cant
buy it in a Kids Edition any longer.
Design
This isnt just an older model with
a price drop: the new Fire has a
new design. Amazon has moved
away from the angled edges and
chamfered rear panel. Now theres
rounded edges and corners.
All the ports and buttons are
on the top edge, which makes
them easier to access when in a

case, and you can buy the official
Amazon case in a range of colours
for 19.99. The cases lid folds a
bit like a picture stand and props
up the tablet in both portrait
and landscape orientations.
Alternatively, you can buy a more
rugged kids case for the same
price, but Amazon says the Fire is
1.8 times more durable in tumble
tests than the iPad Air 2 anyway.
Its hard to know exactly what
that means, but if you want to you
can buy extra warranty for the tablet
that includes accidental damage for
14.99 for one year, 19.99 for two
years or 29.99 for three years.
Build quality doesnt feel
especially good. When you tap the
back panel the tablet sounds hollow,
and if you try to twist the whole
thing, colours change on the screen.
But that goes for most tablets: if you
try to break them, they will break.
The bezels around the screen
are still a bit fat to make it look
stylish, but such things arent
concerns when youre spending
this little. At 313g and 10.6mm thick
its a bit podgy, too, even though
its marginally lighter and smaller
than previous generations.
The screen is an IPS panel,
though. That means its instantly
better than the majority of budget
tablets, which insist on using
poor-quality TN screens. IPS means
viewing angles are good, and thats
one of the most important aspects
on a tablet. The low resolution of

1024x600 makes things look a bit
blocky and fuzzy, but the interface
has been designed around this and
everything looks better than youd
expect. There are exceptions, such
as when youre faced with a terms
and conditions screen with small
print and tiny tick boxes.
Colours are reasonable, as
is brightness and contrast. Our
main criticism is that the screen is
sometimes unresponsive to touch.
Whether this is a failing of the screen
itself (the touch-sensitive layer) or
the performance is unknown, but
sometimes you tap multiple times
before your gesture is acknowledged.
You get front and rear cameras, a
single rear-facing speaker, Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth, and little else. But there is
one major addition: a microSD card
slot. Until now, Amazon tablets have
been hamstrung by non-expandable
storage. This meant that the 8GB
versions filled up within days (if
not hours) and you were constantly
bombarded with messages telling
you delete things to free up storage.
The Fire is available in only one
capacity: 8GB, but you can add up
to 128GB by buying a microSD card.
You can install apps on the memory
card, but certain apps have to be
installed on the internal storage. Of
course, you can put movies, music,
home videos and photos on the card
to free up internal space.
Costs are cut by using the basic
versions of everything: the Wi-Fi
028_029 Amazon Fire 248.indd 28
18/12/2015 10:18
Reviews
is single-band 802.11n, and its a

USB 2.0 port rather than anything
newer. But few people need anything
better, and most people wont even
notice. What you will notice is that
the cameras are rubbish. The front
camera has a paltry 640x480
resolution and is barely up to being
used for Skype calls, and the rear
camera produces smudgy photos
and shaky, blurry videos. And
thats when theres lots of light.
Performance
With a quad-core 1.3GHz processor
and 1GB of RAM we were never
expecting great performance from
the Fire. We could list a load of
benchmark results here, but for
most people thinking about buying
this cheap tablet theres only one
question: is it fast enough?
In general, it is. Sometimes its
quicker than youd expect, and the
operating system Fire OS 5 feels
slicker than some Android tablets
costing twice as much. Apps load
within a couple of seconds, and even
faster if theyre already running and
youre just switching back to them.
But the limited amount of RAM
means you have to be careful not
to run too many in the background
as the Fire becomes sluggish and
unresponsive when you max it out.
The screen can take a while to rotate
when you turn the tablet, so you
turn it back and the screen rotates
to the other position as you do.
Its no speed demon for games,
either. But if youre just crushing
candy or playing other casual
games, its fine. Battery life is okay,
but not great. Amazon says it will
last up to seven hours, which is a
few hours short of the best tablets
today. Charging time can be an
issue, as it takes almost six hours
using the included mains adaptor.
screen brightness and toggle Wi-Fi

and Bluetooth on and off. Even the
on-screen buttons at the bottom are
the same as Androids. The square
icon brings up the standard Android
app switcher where you can swipe
away apps to close them.
You can also switch user
accounts in the usual Android way,
by tapping on the users photo
(or icon) on the lock screen or
from the notification panel. This is
particularly good if youre sharing
the tablet with your kids, or buying
one for them to share.
You can set it so that when they
switch to their account, the Fire for
Kids app automatically opens. It
lets you choose which apps, books,
games and more they can access in
their individual account. While weve
praised this mode before (it used
to be called Freetime), it could still
be improved. For example, it would
be more intuitive to have a search
option in each of the books, videos
and apps sections.
The benefit of using a child
profile is that theres excellent
control over how much time (and
when) they can use the tablet. You
can set separate times for weekdays
and weekends, as well as different
time limits for watching videos,
reading books and using apps. You
can even set goals, such as 30
minutes of reading per day, and
block access to videos and apps until
the goal has been met.
The main interface is also more
Android like. Instead of the old
carousel of recently-used apps,
you swipe between home screens
which are divided into Home, Books,
Video, Games, Shop, Apps, Music,
Audiobooks and Newsstand. All
your recently accessed stuff is off

to the left of the Home screen. We
prefer this segregation of content,
which also means tight integration
with Amazons various stores and
services. Obviously it makes the
most sense in conjunction with an
Amazon Prime account: youll only
see things in the Video section if you
subscribe to Amazon Prime Instant
Video or buy (download) videos from
Amazon to rent or keep. But as a
storefront for Amazons goods and
services, its very slick.
The downside is no Google apps
whatsoever. Want to use YouTube?
Youll have to do that via the web
browser or use one of the many
third-party apps. You can set up
your Gmail account to work with
the Email, Calendar and Contacts
apps, and you get separate apps
for Photos and Home Videos.
The selection of apps and
games in Amazons Appstore is
more limited than Google Play, but
the new Underground section is
welcome. Again, its a great feature
as you can be sure there are no inapp purchases with a free app. You
have to be careful, though, as there
are often two versions of a free
app: one in the Underground store
that is truly free, and a second,
which includes in-app purchases.
The range of preinstalled apps is
good, including a document viewer,
world clock, calculator and more,
but theres no mapping app and you
wont find Google Maps in the store.
Verdict
Its not perfect, and the lack of
Google apps will still put some
people off, but the Fire is excellent
value at under 50. J Jim Martin
Software
One of the biggest improvements
over previous Fire tablets is the
latest version of Fire OS, version 5,
but referred to as Bellini. Theres
logic here, since Fire OS is based
on Android which uses friendly
codenames as well as numbers.
Bellini is based on Android
Lollipop, and it shows much more
than in the past. You get an almost
standard Android notification/quick
settings panel when you swipe down
from the top of the screen and can
swipe away notifications, adjust
028_029 Amazon Fire 248.indd 29
18/12/2015 10:18
Reviews
SMARTPHONE
449
inc VAT
Contact
n
microsoft.com/en-gb
Specifications
Windows 10; 5.2in AMOLED

ClearBlack display
(1440x2560, 564ppi);
Qualcomm Snapdragon
808, six-core (dual-core
ARM Cortex A57 and
quad-core A53 with 64-bit
support; Adreno 418 GPU;
3GB RAM; 32GB internal
storage; microSD card slot
(up to 200GB); 20Mp rear
camera with OIS, f/1.9 and
triple LED-flash; 5Mp front
camera; 11ac Wi-Fi;
Bluetooth 4.1; NFC; 4G
LTE; 3000mAh
removable battery;
72x145x8.2mm; 150g
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Microsoft Lumia 950

Its farewell to Windows Phone going
forward as we say hello to the one
operating system to rule them all.
Its simply Windows 10 now, and the
Lumia 950 is one of the first phones
to come with the new OS.
Price
Microsoft has decided to undercut
rivals with the price. A new phone
from a big name normally costs at
least 500, but the Lumia 950 is
yours for 449 from Microsofts
store, though you can get it for
419 from the likes of Amazon
and Carphone Warehouse.
This is partly down to the
fact that theres a larger version
called the 950 XL, which costs
529, still a good price considering
you get a free Display Dock.
While the Lumia 950 is cheaper
than an iPhone and there are few
devices at this price, the HTC One
A9 springs to mind, there is an
issue. Launch prices of big name
phones might have been higher
than this, but launching late in the
year mean the Lumia 950s rivals
have dropped in price.
It can often be a wise move to
simply buy an older phone that is
still offering the latest tech. For
example, the Samsung Galaxy S6
can be purchased new for under
350 thats a hefty drop compared
to the initial list price of 599.
Design
You might think that a design
refresh is in order for the first
Windows 10 phones, but thats not
the case at all. In fact, its far from
it with a design that by and large
follows on from previous Lumia
devices. The 950 can be summed up
in a word, and that word is plain. The
front is almost entirely featureless,
with a Microsoft logo the main
element. There are no navigation
buttons below the display, with a
move to onscreen alternatives.
That move is fine, but were
disappointed to find a lower build
quality compared to the Lumia 930,
which has a metal frame running
round the edge and glass, which is
subtly rounded at the edges and
sits perfectly flush with the metal.
What the Lumia 950 provides is
a plastic removable rear cover and
completely flat glass. Microsoft has
stopped producing brightly-coloured

models, and the Lumia 950s overall
feel is distinctly mid-range and
very much unexciting. A weight of
150g and 8.2mm profile dont do
much to help things leaving the one
stand out feature as the metal ring
around the camera.
Not only does it feel low-grade
compared to its predecessor, it
doesnt match up to its competitors.
Hardware and performance

The best Windows Phone devices
could offer was Full HD in the
such as the LG G4. With 3GB of RAM,

we found performance was generally
smooth in our tests.
Screen transitions are silky
smooth and the camera loads
quickly. However, occasional actions
take a while to complete, such
as loading elements of the Store
and the settings menu. Weve also
found numerous bugs in Windows
10, which well talk about in the
software section opposite.
As standard there is 32GB of
storage, which is double a lot of
rivals. Thats the only option for
Microsoft has stopped producing brightlycoloured models, and the Lumia 950s overall
feel is distinctly mid-range and unexciting
screen department, but Microsoft
has stepped things up a notch
and the Lumia 950 has Quad
HD. A resolution of 2560x1440
on a 5.2in display means a pixel
density of 564ppi. Thats slightly
lower than the Galaxy S6, not
that youll be able to notice the
difference. As with previous
Lumias, the screen is high quality,
with great colour reproduction
and excellent contrast thanks to
the AMOLED ClearBlack panel.
Inside the 950 is a Qualcomm
Snapdragon 808 processor, which is
hexa-core and found in other phones
the Lumia 950, but there is a

microSD card slot, which means
you can add up to 200GB more.
Windows 10 takes up about 5GB
of the internal storage.
The removable cover not only
gives access to the card slot but also
the battery, which a lot of users will
be pleased to hear is removable. Its
3000mAh in capacity and the Lumia
950 supports both Fast Charging
and Qi wireless charging. Microsoft
has opted for a Type-C USB port,
which is reversible and the phone
charged from completely dead to
30 percent in 30 minutes.
030_032 Microsoft Lumia 248.indd 30
15/12/2015 17:17
Reviews
Microsoft quotes 10 hours of

video playback and weve found
battery life to be good. It depends
on how you use the phone, of
course, and we cant compare with
our usual figures since Geekbench
3 isnt available on the platform.
Lighter users may get a couple of
days from the Lumia 950, while
most will have to charge every
night. The combination of charging
features means its easy to keep the
phone topped up and you can carry
a spare battery around if you wish.
On the connectivity front, the
950 has a lot of modern features. It
offers 11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC,
GPS and 4G LTE support (Cat 6).
In the past, Lumia phones have
had some insane cameras such as
the 41Mp shooter on the Lumia 1020.
The 950 has a more modest 20Mp
camera, which is more what were
used to seeing and doesnt require
a huge lump on the back to fit it in,
just a small one (see above).
Were pleased that Microsoft has
kept the physical camera button on
the side, with only Sony also offering
this extremely handy feature. The
camera has a 1/2.4in sensor, f/1.9
aperture and a triple-LED flash.
Theres also six-lens optics and
optical image stabilisation, so theres
a lot going for it on the spec sheet.
Unfortunately, the camera can
take a second or two focus, though
theres zero shutter lag. You can
shoot with Rich Capture on auto,
which now uses HDR, and we like

the way shots arent processed
straightaway, meaning you can keep
snapping. There are also optional
controls over settings such as white
balance, ISO, brightness and even
shutter speed if you fancy it.
The shots are taken in 16Mp, 16:9
by default and photos generally look
good. Were not blown away with the
results though, with rivals such as
the Samsung Galaxy S6 model and
Google Nexus 6P providing better
quality across the board. The 5Mp
front-facing camera provides decent
images, but nothing special.
Video is crisp and clear in terms
of detail, and the optical image
stabilisation means things keep
nice a smooth too. The focus, as
with stills, can struggle which can
ruin a video. You can shoot in up
to 4K with 30fps, but the default
setting is 1080p. An odd problem
we encountered with our review
unit was a weird line across the
middle of video during playback
on the device, which isnt there
when viewed on PC.
and recent apps view (hold back).

What Windows 10 is all about is
Continuum, Windows Hello and
Universal Apps. Continuum is one
of the main features here and it
sounds odd, but is basically the way
that Windows 10 makes the most
of the display it is on. Microsoft is
pushing the ability of the Lumia
950 to be used with a full-size
desktop monitor.
This can be done wirelessly,
though the Microsoft Display Dock
is an easier and more reliable
method. The little box plugs into the
phone with a USB-C cable and has
various ports, including three USB
ports, HDMI and DisplayPort. This
means you can easily hook up the
device to a display with a keyboard
and mouse, and carry on using the
phone while its plugged in.
Universal Apps are essential to
the system. The idea is that these
are the same no matter whether
youre using a laptop, PC, tablet or
phone. What you see depends on the
screen size, but using Outlook with
the Lumia 950 plugged into a screen
Software
Although this isnt Windows Phone,
the interface will be familiar to
existing users. In essence, its the
same as it was before, so youve
still got the Start Screen with
its rearrangeable tiles, dropdown notification bar with quick
settings, the vertical app menu
The 950 has a more modest 20Mp camera, which

is more what were used to seeing and doesnt
require a huge lump on the back to fit it in
18/12/2015 12:47
Reviews
looks exactly the same as it does on

the Surface Pro 4. You get a proper
desktop background, the Start menu
and even a PC-like taskbar across
the bottom. A completely different
experience to simply mirroring your
phone on a larger screen.
Other Universal Apps include
Maps, Messaging, Word, Excel, and
Calendar, and there are more on
the way. Unfortunately, these are
the only apps that will work in this
but on the Lumia 950 the feature is

still in beta and we found it a little
buggy. Its not a killer feature, but it
is really nice when it works.
In a similar way to Apples
reachability feature, you can hold
the Windows key at any point to
bring the screen down to the bottom
half. This one-handed mode is useful
if you find yourself unable to stretch
far enough to reach something
at the top. We used it mostly for
There is a lot to like about Windows 10 on the

Lumia 950, especially if youre a loyal desktop
Windows user or are looking to upgrade
mode. Try and open something else
and it simply wont happen.
This isnt a problem for Windows
users who are looking to boost
their productivity and dont mind
the extra cost of things such as the
Display Dock. And if you want to use
the device for entertainment, you
can play videos stored on the phone
on a larger display and were told
Netflix runs well, too.
Windows Hello is simply the
ability to log into the device with
your face, or more specifically your
eyes. While most rivals are going for
fingerprint scanners, Microsoft has
decided to go down this route. We
love using it on the Surface Pro 4,
bringing down the notification bar,

although the navigation buttons
disappear when you do this, and
you must wait for it to time out and
return to normal.
A similar feature is being able to
move the keyboard for one-handed
use by long pressing the space key.
Windows 10 also features Cortana
and things like Glance Screen to get
info without unlocking the device.
There is a lot to like about
Windows 10 on the Lumia 950,
especially if youre a loyal desktop
Windows user or are looking to
upgrade from an older generation
Lumia. At the moment, it is still
buggy in places with random exits
out of apps and typing lag, so we

hope Microsoft can sort it out.
Then theres the app situation.
Microsofts own work great but
the fact is developers are still
prioritising iOS and Android above
Windows. If you just want to use
whats already there, then youll
have no problems, but there are still
key omissions from the Store here.
Of course, it depends on what
apps you use, but big names that are
missing include Snapchat, Amazon
Prime Video and plenty of games.
Whether the app gap is a problem
is a personal thing. For example,
if you have a Sonos system, then
you wont be able to control it from
the Lumia 950. What we can say
generally is that the quality of apps
is lower than iOS and Android.
Verdict
Windows 10 has arrived on
smartphones and were not exactly
blown away. Loyal Windows and
Windows Phone users will appreciate
features such as Universal Apps,
and while Continuum appears to
be a real wow feature, it requires
a lot of extra equipment. The
operating system is buggy, too.
The Lumia 950 itself offers some
decent hardware, namely the screen,
inside an uninspiring design. Unless
youre set on the OS, there is a lot
better on the market and for less
money. J Chris Martin
15/12/2015 17:17
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031 Digital mag 241.indd 138
01/06/2015 16:08
Reviews
SMARTPHONE
449
inc VAT
Contact
n
motorola.co.uk
Specifications
5.4in (2560x1440, 540ppi)

AMOLED display, Quad HD;
Android 5.1.1 Lollipop; 2GHz
octa-core Qualcomm
Snapdragon 810 processor
(MSM8994); Adreno 430
GPU ;3GB LPDDR4 RAM 32or 64GB built-in storage;
up to 2TB microSD card
slot; 3760mAh battery with
TurboPower (PMA and Qi
wireless charging); water
repellant nano coating; 4G
LTE; 802.11ac dual-band
Wi-Fi; 21Mp rear camera
with Dual-LED flash; 5Mp
front-facing camera with
LED flash; Bluetooth 4.1 LE;
front-facing mono speaker;
NFC; GPS; 149.8x78x7.69.2mm; 169g
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Motorola Moto X Force

Not content with launching two new
Moto X phones in 2015, Motorola
has surprised everyone by quietly
releasing a third: the Moto X Force.
And its not just a revamped Moto X
Style or Moto X Play with a shatterproof screen: the Force has its own
identity and specs and is the new
Motorola flagship.
It starts with a 5.4in Quad HD
screen, has 3GB of RAM and a
Snapdragon Processor (clocked
higher than the Moto X Styles) and
a battery thats claimed to last a
full two days. There are high-spec
cameras and TurboPower, which
claims to provide 13 hours of use
from just 15 minutes charging.
And unlike its siblings, it supports
wireless charging out of the box.
Design
While similar to other Motorola
phones, the X Force is subtly
different in design. Instead of a
constant radius at the back the
bulk is quite flat, with more sharply
angled edges. The aluminium frame
is thicker, too, extending a few
millimetres in at the sides before
you get to the textured back cover.
Our review unit was the base
black ballistic nylon version, but
you can use Motorolas Moto Maker
to choose pebbled leather in
natural, cognac or black. Theres
also a soft grip option in more
colours, but all are quite muted
compared to the more vivid options
you get with the Moto X Play.
Youve also got the option of a
white front with Light Silver frame,
or black and Dark Grey. Then you
can choose an accent colour which
affects the camera surround on the
rear and the top grille at the front. .
The only option you can select
which will change the 499 price
is to go for 64- instead of 32GB of
storage: thats an extra 35.
The bezels at the front are
reasonably small, although theres
quite a bit of space below the
screen with nothing going on: its
a shame Motorola didnt go for
physical touch-sensitive buttons
rather than on-screen buttons.
Unusually there are three grilles
at the front. Only the bottom-right
is a loud speaker. The top one is
for phone calls, and the left-hand
bottom grille appears to be only for
show, since nothing comes out of

it, although it could be an oversized
microphone grille for symmetry.
There are five mics in total, with
two on the rear for directional pickup when recording videos.
Whats missing is a fingerprint
scanner: the current trend on the
latest high-end Android devices. This
isnt just annoying because it means
you cant easily unlock your phone,
but also because you wont be able
to use it to authenticate purchases
via Google Pay when it eventually
arrives over here. You can use the
in-built NFC with the Tap and Pay
feature with certain apps, though.
If youre after a dual-SIM phone,
its frustrating that the combined
SIM and microSD tray is marked
as SIM1/microSD or SIM2, but the
software lacks any SIM management
options. Unlike some phones, this
one sticks with Micro-USB. For
some people that will be a relief
as its universally compatible, but
the reversible USB-C connector is
undoubtedly the future.
Display
The highlight feature is the screen.
Youd be forgiven for assuming
that Force meant that its a screen
which responds to pressure, like the
new iPhones 3D Touch screens. It

doesnt. Instead, its a special fivelayer screen that is intended to be
unbreakable, and wont let you down
even if you drop it.
Motorola calls is ShatterShield
and it involves five components.
At the base is an aluminium frame
for strength. On top is a P-OLED
screen thats flexible and can take
an impact (the P stands for plastic).
On top of that is a dual touch layer,
dual because there are two touchsensitive layers, so the lower-most
will take over should the upper-most
fail because of a drop.
Covering that is the traditional
glass youd usually expect to see
on any smartphone Motorola calls
this the interior lens. On the very
top is a glass screen protector, the
exterior protective lens which
is becoming a more common
accessory for popular smartphones.
It works in the same way, in that its
a sacrificial screen protector thats
also user replaceable.
Unlike sticking a glass protector
on any other phone, the Moto
X Forces exterior lens is itself
protected by a plastic surround. In
the box you get a dual-purpose SIM
tray and screen protector removal
tool. If you damage the protector,
034_035 Motorola X Force 248.indd 34
15/12/2015 17:11
Reviews
you can remove it by prying it up

with the plastic tool. The plastic also
helps you to align a new protector
its impossible to stick it on squint.
With so many layers you might
imagine that image quality or touch
sensitivity is impaired, but it really
isnt. Yes, if you look closely you
can see that the screen protectors
openings are marginally larger than
the glass below around the grilles,
but those who dont know its there
are unlikely to spot it.
The screen itself is a 5.4in Quad
HD AMOLED panel, a return to
the technology used in the first
two Moto X phones, but not in the
second two the Style and Play
which use IPS screens. Quad HD
means a resolution of 2560x1440
and at this size, its a pixel density
of 540ppi. Its bright enough at
578cm/m2 measured with our
Spyder4 but while some will love
the oversaturated AMOLED colours
(we do) others will think them
overblown and inaccurate.
Performance
While the X Force is a great
performer. It has basically the same
setup as the Google Nexus 6P:
Snapdragon 810 (at 2GHz), Adreno
430 and 3GB RAM and performed
similarly in our tests, managing
40fps in the T-Rex game test and
4455 in Geekbench 3.
In general use it also feels fast,
and there are some neat Motorola
additions including two hardware
co-processors, which enable the
phone to respond very quickly
to motion and voice commands.
These tweaks make the phone
more usable, such as the doubletwist to launch the camera app
when the phone is asleep.
Motorola has also put a big
battery inside (non-removable), and
claims it will last a full two days.
The actual amount of time it will
last between charges will depend
on what youre using it for, but we
comfortably got over a days use in
our subjective testing.
In our battery rundown test,
the result was lower than expected
at just over five-and-a-half hours.
The Nexus 6P lasted well over six
hours in the test, and the 5X just
over seven hours.
As well as wireless charging
you get a TurboPower charger
in the box which really saves time
over using a generic USB charger.
For example, we connected it with

the battery at 25 percent and 20
minutes later it was charged to
over 60 percent.
Geekbench 3
Cameras
Theres no change to the cameras
compared to the Moto X Style and
Play. That means 21Mp at the back
and 5Mp at the front.
The range of shooting modes is
subtly different, as it doesnt shoot
1080p at 60fps like the X Style,
but it records slo-mo in 720p, which
is better than the 540p mode of the
X Play. It can also record 4K video
at 30fps, and supports HDR video
in 1080p and 4K.
There are both front- and rear
flashes, with the rear being a dualtone colour correcting unit thats
become common on many phones.
Photos are generally good, as
are videos, but theyre not quite on
a par with the Nexus 6P or 5X. One
of the main disappointments is the
smearing of certain textures which
appears to be the fault of the noise
reduction system.
Software
Motorola keeps the stock Android
interface, which we love, and
adds useful extras throughout.
As well as the Moto app theres
Attentive Display, which keeps the
display on when youre looking
at it, overriding the timeout if
necessary. Thats handy when
youre reading something.
Moto Display is configurable to
show notifications from only certain
apps and thanks to the AMOLED
display, it uses very little power as it
only lights up the necessary pixels.
Actions include the double-twist
for camera, but you can also double
karate chop to turn on the torch.
Merely moving your hand over the
screen displays notifications when
its asleep, and picking up the phone
does the same thing.
The fact you get Lollipop out of
the box is bad timing, but Motorola
has confirmed an update to
Marshmallow will soon be available.
GFXBench Manhattan
GFXBench T-Rex
SunSpider*
Verdict
Theres a clear reason to buy the
Moto X Force: the shatter-proof
screen. Its a great phone in its
own right, too. Powerful and with
a top-quality screen and decent
cameras, you cant ask for much
more at this price. J Jim Martin
* lower is better
034_035 Motorola X Force 248.indd 35
15/12/2015 17:11
Reviews
SMARTPHONE
199
inc VAT
Contact
n
wileyfox.com
Specifications
5.5in (1920x1080, 400ppi)

1080p Full HD; Cyanogen
OS (based on Android 5.1
Lollipop); Qualcomm
Snapdragon 615 (MSM8939)
processor with up to
1.5GHz octa-core CPU;
Adreno 405 GPU; 3GB RAM;
32GB internal storage;
microSD up to 128GB; 20Mp
rear camera, LED flash,
auto-focus; 8Mp front
camera with LED flash;
Micro-SIM; Micro-USB;
3.5mm headset jack;
Bluetooth version 4.0 LE;
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz);
A-GPS; 4G LTE; 2500mAh
removable battery;
77x156x9.2mm; 155g
Wileyfox Storm
We were impressed by the Swift
(currently number four in our best
budget phones charts on page 130),
so had high hopes for Wileyfoxs
Storm. Its slightly more expensive
at 199, compared to the Swifts
129, but its still very affordable
In terms of competition,
Wileyfox isnt the only company
trying to offer an attractive phone
at under 200. A key rival is the
Motorola Moto G (3rd generation),
which is one of the best cheap
phones of 2015 at 159. Vodafones
own-brand Smart Ultra 6 (number
one in our budget phone charts)
is also a spanner in the works,
and offers similar specifications
for just 125. Then theres the
gorgeous OnePlus X which is the
same price as the Storm, 199. The
problem with this handset, though,
is that you need to apply for an
invite from the manufacturer to
buy one Wileyfox has no such
restrictions with its phones.
Design
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
The Storm looks and feels similar

to the Swift, so the main difference
is that this model is bigger. Its a
similar thickness at 9.2mm, so its
the additional weight that is more
apparent 155g. Thats not too bad
for a phone with a 5.5in screen, so
the extra bulk is a fair sacrifice if
thats what youre looking for.
Its design is plain from the front
but impressively stylish at the back,
with the embossed fox head logo
and orange highlights. This time,
the camera and flash are brought
together in a long strip.
We like the smart-looking
Sandstone Black rear cover, though
its not removable, so youll need to
use the tray on the side for cards.
You also cant access the battery.
Despite this we were easily able to
get under the cover at one corner,
which isnt ideal.
Overall, the build quality is not
bad, and certainly better than
that of the Vodafone Smart Ultra
6, but the OnePlus X eclipses it in
this area for the same price, with
its premium combination of metal
and dark bevelled glass.
Performance
As weve touched on, a key
difference when compared with the
Swift is the bigger screen. Its not

only half an inch larger at 5.5in,
but also has a Full HD resolution. Its
an IPS panel, which provides good
viewing angles and also has nice
colours. The brightness is average
and the contrast isnt anything to
write home about, though.
The larger and higher resolution
screen is one of the main reasons
to opt for the Storm over the Swift.
However, the Vodafone Smart Ultra
6 offers the same screen specs for
just 125, so its something of a
spanner in Wileyfoxs works.
The Smart Ultra 6 is a key rival
then, and both phones are powered
by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
processor: a mid-range octa-core
chip. However, the Storm offers
twice the amount of storage at
32GB and an extra 50 percent of
memory with 3GB of RAM.
Its unsurprising to see that
the Storms benchmark results
are similar to those of Vodafones
handset. We found the Storm to be
mostly smooth in day-to-day use,
with even the camera app barely
hesitating to open up.
Furthermore, it has a microSD
card slot able to take up to 128GB.
The Storm is a dual-SIM phone, but
not if you want to use a memory

card because it takes up one of
the two available SIM slots.
You dont get much in the way
of hardware beyond the mentioned
core specs. Theres single-band
11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE,
A-GPS and a radio. This means no
NFC, though thats not something
you get on the OnePlus X or Smart
Ultra 6 either. The Storm does
support 4G LTE networks though,
which, these days, is essential.
A larger phone means more room
for a bigger battery, but the Storm
has the same capacity battery as
its little brother. Just 2500mAh
inside isnt ideal and we recorded
a result of just four hours and one
minute in our Geekbench 3 test, with
a score of 1663 one of the lowest
results we recorded in 2015.
You do get cameras, of course,
starting with a decent 8Mp
shooter at the front, which also
has an LED flash to help it out in
the dark. Results arent as good
as its specifications imply, and it
doesnt cope well with lights in the
background of shots, but its not bad.
The main attraction here is
the 20Mp Sony BSI sensor at the
back. Thats a lot of pixels for your
The Wileyfox Storms design is plain from the

front but impressively stylish at the back, with
the embossed fox head logo and orange highlights
036_037 Wileyfox Storm 248.indd 36
15/12/2015 16:56
Reviews
Geekbench 3
GFXBench Manhattan
money and there are features

such as an LED flash, touch focus,
face detection and HDR. This all
sounds great, but it didnt live up
to our expectations. It can take a
while to focus, for example, and we
experienced shutter lag. There is
good detail on offer when things do
go right, but thats not very often.
Strangely, we found that photos
looked awful when viewed via the
camera app, but fine via the gallery.
Software
Sometimes theres little to say
about a phones software, with
many Android phones offering a
stock, or close to stock, version of
the operating system. Wileyfox, like
OnePlus, has opted for Cyanogen
OS 12.1. Its based on Android 5.1.1
Lollipop, so its not like a completely
different experience the biggest
change is a vertically scrolling app
menu. The OS is, in fact, very similar
to the normal Android operating
system, with the same layout and
stock components, such as the
notification bar and recent apps.
Although the lockscreen also
looks like a stock version of Android,
Cyanogen offers a large amount of
customisation. You can, for example,
choose which lockscreen shortcuts
you want, instead of being stuck with
the default. There are also different
themes on offer, with the ability to
choose specific parts such as icons.
Quick Settings can be rearranged in
the notification bar, you can switch
of elements like the brightness
slider and you can manipulate parts
of the status bar, such as the clock
and battery percentage.
Furthermore, theres control over
the LED notification light and even a
left-handed mode, which moves the
navigation bar to the left when in

landscape mode. Its an impressive
amount of control.
The privacy settings include a
blocked caller list, while the Privacy
Guard lets you control permissions
for every app on the phone.
There are almost no preloaded
apps, which is great to see. Other
than the usual set of Google apps
is Audio FX, which provides various
EQ settings such as folk and dance,
plus an individual bass control.
GFXBench T-Rex
Verdict
Overall, the Wileyfox Storm is a
decent phone for under 200
and has upgraded specifications
compared to the cheaper Swift.
However, poor battery life and a
disappointing camera mean we
prefer the Swift. If you want a bigger
phone, its hard to recommend
buying this over the excellent and
similarly specified Vodafone Smart
Ultra 6. If you dont specifically
want a 5.5in device, then we prefer
the OnePlus X at the same price or
the Moto G (3rd generation) as a
cheaper alternative. J Chris Martin
SunSpider*
* lower is better
036_037 Wileyfox Storm 248.indd 37
15/12/2015 16:56
Reviews
SMARTPHONE
289
inc VAT
ZTE Axon Elite
Contact
n
ztedevices.co.uk
Specifications
5.5in full-HD (1920x1080,

401ppi) IPS display with
2.5D curved glass; Android
5.0.2 Lollipop; Qualcomm
Snapdragon 810 64-bit
octa-core processor;
Adreno 430 GPU; 3GB
LPDDR4 RAM; 32GB storage
(plus microSD support up
to 128GB); 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi;
Bluetooth 4.0; NFC; GPS;
dual-SIM dual-standby (2x
nano-SIM); supports
800/1800/2600MHz 4G LTE;
13Mp, f/1.8 Sony IMX214 +
2Mp rear cameras with
dual-LED flash, 4K video
recording; 8Mp front
camera; Hi-Fi Audio chipset
AKM 4961; fingerprint
scanner; EyePrint ID eye
recognition; 3000mAh
non-removable battery
with Quick Charge;
154x75x9.3mm
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
ZTE has taken security to the next

level with the Axon Elite, a 4G
phablet you can unlock with your
eyes, voice or finger.
Design
The design is going to appeal to
some people, though others will
dislike it. In our opinion, its certainly
fancy-looking but ZTE seems to be
trying a little too hard to impress
the extra detail stretches even to
the volume rocker. If you like to be
the centre of attention, then this
is definitely the phone for you.
Its made with sturdy-feeling and
premium-looking aluminium, but
has fake leather stitched portions
at the top and bottom on the rear.
These serve a practical purpose its
here that the antennas are housed,
and remove the need for those lines
were used to seeing on the side of
metal phones to improve signal
but detract from the phones overall
design and premium feel.
Its a bit on the chunky side, at
9.3mm, and a large 5.5in screen
and front-facing speaker grilles
on the top and bottom add to the
height. The ZTE feels good in one
hand, but at times you will likely
find yourself needing to use two.
Mi-Pop is a software feature
that places a little widget on the
screen that can make controlling

the phone in a single hand much
easier. You get quick access to a
back button, wherever you like
on the screen, or you can tap and
hold to access home, recents and
options shortcuts.
The screen is a standout feature,
a 5.5in full-HD (1920x1080 pixels)
panel with 401ppi pixel density.
Its very bright, clear, with punchy
colours. Viewing angles are good,
too, we just wish the glass sat
flush with the metal frame top
and bottom. At least the curved
display is less likely to chip).
Our review sample came in
a muted colour, which ZTE calls
Ion Gold. What you think of this is
down to your personal preferences,
but it follows in the steps of several
recent flagship smartphones that
now offer a gold colour option.
The rear cover isnt removable,
and nor is the battery. It has some
interesting features, though, with a
rear-mounted fingerprint scanner
(this is in addition to the eye-unlock
feature) and two cameras, plus

two LED flashes well talk more
about these later.
You insert your SIM using the
tray on the left side. The Axon Elite
can accept two nano-SIM cards the
first supports all three UK 4G LTE
bands, but the second wont support
a data connection.
Below this SIM tray sits a volume
rocker, which is located under your
finger when used in the right hand.
Over on the right edge is a power
button, while on the top is a 3.5mm
headphone jack and at the bottom
a Micro-USB charging slot.
The back and recents software
buttons sit on either side of the
Home button below the screen,
and usefully you can switch around
their function in the settings.
Security
One of the Axon Elites most
interesting features is its security
and unlocking options, of which
there are several. You can choose
to use a passcode, the eye- or
Its made with sturdy-feeling and premiumlooking aluminium, but has fake leather stitched
portions at the top and bottom on the rear
038_039 ZTE Axon Elite 248.indd 38
17/12/2015 14:58
Reviews
fingerprint scanner on the rear, or

alternatively unlock the device with
your phone. Its a bit much, but it
can come in handy, since you can
say open sesame to unlock the
phone with your voice.
This isnt the first time weve
seen a ZTE device with eyeunlocking technology, but its
the first time weve seen three
biometric security features in
one ZTE smartphone, though.
Our main issue is that its still
only as secure as your passcode
you can bypass both the eyeand the fingerprint scanner. In
our tests, however, they worked
first time every time.
Cameras
The Elite has two rear cameras 2and 13Mp both of which are paired
with a dual LED flash. This means
you can capture images that can be
refocused later, making for some
brilliant results. We also like the
ability to capture multiple exposures
in one image for a dreamy effect.
The camera on the front is an
impressive 8Mp. Youll also be able
to capture 4K videos using the
rear-facing camera.
Our final test is SunSpider, in

which the ZTE managed a very
good 704ms. Once again, it beat
the OnePlus 2 by some distance.
The Axon Elite has 32GB
of internal storage, which is
expandable up to 128GB with a
microSD card, and offers 4G LTE,
Bluetooth and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
Theres a generous 3000mAh
battery inside, but as we mentioned
earlier its not removable.
Hardware and performance
Software
Were so used to seeing MediaTek

processors inside Chinese phones
that the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810
paired with 3GB of RAM came as a
pleasant surprise. The Axon Elite is
a fast, high-performance handset.
Even downloading the apps we
use for benchmarking seemed less
of a chore than usual.
We ran the Axon Elite through
our usual benchmarks and recorded
3990 points in the multi-core
component of Geekbench 3 (1257
single-core), making it a touch
slower than the OnePlus 2, but
faster than phones such as the
HTC One M9 and Google Nexus 5X.
In AnTuTu, which also measures
overall performance, the ZTE
recorded a very good 49,547,
which is again less than the OnePlus
2 but still a decent score.
We use GFXBench to test
graphics performance, and here
the Axon Elite scored a very high
19fps in Manhattan and 53fps in
T-Rex. Thats an excellent result for
an Android phone, tying it with the
Sony Xperia Z5 and beaten only by
the current-generation iPhones and
the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium.
ZTE runs Android 5.0 Lollipop on

the Axon Elite, with the companys
own MiFlavor interface, which
ditches the app drawer in favour
of home screen icons and folders.
Wed have preferred to see a more
vanilla Android and dont like the
design of ZTEs icons. It is, however,
simple to use, and we found it
smooth and responsive during our
brief time with the phone.
The most notable difference

we found is in the Settings menu,
whereby you are first shown a
screen of quick-access Settings and
must swipe right to see the standard
Android Lollipop settings menu.
The handset also supports
smart gestures for closing and
switching apps, taking screenshots,
or muting calls. And theres the
Mi-Pop feature, which may help
you control the large screen more
easily with one hand.
Verdict
The ZTE Axon Elite has great
specifications and some interesting
technology at an excellent price.
While we appreciate that some will
love the design we arent taken by it
especially the fake-leather parts on
the rear. If you cant get your hands
on the OnePlus 2, this is a close
second best and its much easier to
get hold of. J Ashleigh Allsopp
038_039 ZTE Axon Elite 248.indd 39
17/12/2015 14:57
Reviews
SMARTWATCH
From 229
inc VAT
Motorola Moto 360 2
Contact
n
motorola.co.uk
Specifications
Android Wear (Android 4.3

or later) and (iPhone 5
onwards, with iOS 8.2 or
later); 1.37in, 360x325,
263ppi (42mm) or 1.56in,
360x330, 233ppi (46mm);
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/haptics engine;
optical heart-rate monitor
(PPG); dual digital mics;
wireless charging with
included dock; IP67 dust
and water resistant;
300mAh (42mm);
400mAh (46mm)
Build:
Features:
Motorola has launched a new

version of its Moto 360 smartwatch.
Our expectations were high as the
original model is third in our best
smartwatches chart (page 134).
Performance:
Price
Value:
Prices start at 229 and the most

expensive option will set you back
349 this is the mens 46mm
model, with gold case, micro knurl
bezel and metal strap.
For comparison, prices for the
Apple Watch starts at 299, while
the entry-level LG Urbane is 219
(seventh and fifth in our charts).
Design
We loved the original Moto 360
when it launched early in 2014. It
was one of the first Android Wear
smartwatches and had a circular
display, which helped it look more
like a traditional watch rather than a
lump of tech strapped to your wrist.
Our biggest complaint was that
a portion of that circular display
was dedicated to the ambient light
sensor and therefore didnt have
pixels. This resulted in an irritating
flat tyre effect. Thats why were
so disappointed to see that its still
there. If you want to use a circular
design as your clock face, youll find
that the bottom is cut off in an ugly
and frustrating fashion. It might

seem like a small criticism, but it
makes a big difference.
Motorola has put a great deal
of time and thought into the rest
of the design, and designs for both
men and women are available.
The colour options in the mens
collection are black, silver or gold
option, and there are two wrist size
sizes: 42- and 46mm. The womens
line-up offers only a 42mm wrist
size, along with silver, gold and rose
gold colour options.
The Moto 360 2 has a stainless
steel body, and is significantly
slimmer than it older brother,
helping it look sleek and in some
cases elegant with the leather
straps. The physical button on the
side of the watch has been moved
up slightly to the two oclock
position, making it easier to use.
As we briefly touched upon at
the beginning of this review, you can
customise the Moto 360 through
Moto Maker. The previous Moto 360
had limited options, whereas the
latest model offers more choice. You

can even choose to have a different
colour bezel around the watch face,
for example, and Motorola doesnt
charge extra for that.
You do have to pay extra for
micro etch for women and micro
knurl for Men though, which is an
additional 20. Tiny lines are cut
into the metal to add these effects.
In terms of durability, the Gorilla
Glass display combined with IP67
dust and water resistance should
keep it safe in most conditions,
though you wont want to wear it
swimming or in the bath.
Hardware
Weve talked about how the Moto
360 looks, but what can it actually
do? Each model comes with a
Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chip,
with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor.
This brings the Moto 360 into line
with premium smartwatches such as
LGs Watch Urbane and the Huawei
Watch (placed fifth and second in
our top smartwatch charts).
Motorola has put a great deal of time and

thought into the rest of the design, and designs
for both men and women are available
040_041 Moto 360 248.indd 40
17/12/2015 15:00
Reviews
Software
Performance is generally
very good, though in our tests it
occasionally froze, mostly when
dismissing a notification or card.
This is a shame since its not
something weve experienced on
rival devices. It also takes a couple
of seconds to load some apps.
That Snapdragon chip is paired
with Adreno 350 graphics, and
theres 512MB of RAM and 4GB of
onboard storage should you want to
download songs and listen to them
while youre out and about without
your smartphone.
This brings us on to our next
point, which is that the Moto 360
can connect to Wi-Fi, which means
you can use lots of its internetrequiring features without your
smartphone as long as youre able
to connect to Wi-Fi.
Weve talked a bit about the
screen size, but taking a closer look
at the resolution youll find that the
42mm model is 360x325 pixels at
a pixel density of 263ppi, while the
46mm watch offers 360x330 pixels
at 233ppi. Both are clear, crisp and
an improvement on the original in
this respect. However, as mentioned,
that flat tyre is a real sticking point.
Like the original watch, it has a
heart-rate monitor located on the
rear. It works better than most weve
seen and gives a reading without
requiring you to push the watch into
your skin. Were not convinced its
always accurate though, providing
a reading of 100bpm while sitting a
desk writing this review.
Theres no GPS, so it isnt a
great choice for those looking for
great fitness features. Youll want
to hold out for the Moto 360 Sport
when that arrives.
Depending on which model you

buy, the Moto 360 2 either has
a smaller or larger battery than
the original the 42mm watchs is
300mAh battery, while the 46mm
is 400mAh. Our review sample had
the larger and we found that with
default screen settings (always on),
it lasted a couple of days with light
usage heavier users will likely
need to charge every night.
Charging can be a faff with
smartwatches, but Motorola makes
things much easier with the wireless
charging dock (pictured). This
means you can simply take your
watch off at night, leave it on the
dock while you sleep and it will be
topped up when you put it back on,
no matter how much youve used it.
The problem comes when you find
yourself away from the dock for
whatever reason since you cant just
plug in your smartphone charger.
The new Moto 360 runs Googles

Android Wear OS for smartwatches,
which means its fully compatible
with most Android devices, and
interestingly also with the iPhone
now that Google has released an
Android War app for iOS. iPhone
users wont get the full range of
features, though.
Moto Body is Motorolas fitness
app, which uses the Moto 360s
sensors in the to track steps,
calories burnt and heart rate, and
can also be used to track specific
workout activities.
In addition to this, Motorola
has also added Live Dials for the
Moto 360, which means you can
see information such as weather
forecasts and your step count at a
glance right from the home screen.
Tapping on these takes you to the
related app on the watch itself.
There arent as many faces to
choose from compared with some
recent rivals, though you can, of
course, download more.
Verdict
The new second-generation Moto
360 is a decent smartwatch that
offers excellent build quality and
hardware. The battery life and
performance are also good. All
of this would have lead us to a
whole-hearted recommendation,
if only Motorola had made the
one change we wanted removing
that flat tyre from the display. As
much as we like the Moto 360, its
hard to look past this, as small as it
may seem. J Chris Martin
040_041 Moto 360 248.indd 41
17/12/2015 15:00
Reviews
ACTIVITY TRACKER
199
inc VAT
Contact
n
microsoft.com/en-gb
Specifications
Corning Gorilla Glass 3,

AMOLED screen,
32x12.8mm, 320x128
resolution, 255ppi;
Li-polymer battery;
claimed battery life:
48 hours; optical
heart-rate sensor, 3-axis
accelerometer, gyrometer,
GPS, Ambient light sensor,
Skin temperature sensor,
UV sensor, Capacitative
sensor, Galvanic skin
response, Microphone,
Barometer; Haptic
vibration motor; Bluetooth
4.0 LE; USB charge cable;
Compatible with iPhone,
Android Windows Phone
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Microsoft Band 2
The Band 2 is the second generation
wearable from Microsoft. A
wristband/smartwatch hybrid
that aims to make you both more
productive, and more healthy. It is
an important product for Microsoft,
because it is intended to promote
the Band platform to OEMs, in
the hope that partners will come
onboard and build other Microsoft
wearables. But it is important for
wearables in general.
Thats because Microsoft has
taken the long view on wearables,
not rushing in with over-specified
expensive products such as the
Apple Watch or Google Glass,
nor jumping on the wear-em-forthree-months-then-bin pedometer
wrist bandwagon. The Microsoft
Band 2 builds on the ideas behind
the - frankly, prototype - Microsoft
Band, offering a similar feature set
in a more complete and consumer
friendly device.
It is not a smartwatch on your
wrist, nor is it a dumb activity
tracker. Rather, the Band 2 is a
device that enhances smartphone
use while allowing you to be more
present in your environment.
And it is a GPS-enabled fitness
tracker that helps you to improve
athletic performance, and quantify
and enhance all the factors that
influence your overall health. Finally,
it allows you to check and respond
to messages from your wrist.
Design
The biggest knock on the original
Band was its design and build.
And the criticism was justified. It
was clunky and uncomfortable to
wear. This has been mostly, but not
entirely, addressed in the Band 2.
It remains big and chunky for a
dumb wristband, but is relatively
discreet. In place of the uniform
black of the original we find a silver
metallic finish on the edges. The
main unit is bigger, hosting more
sensors and a bigger display, but
where in the past there was a rigid
band the new Microsoft Band is
made of soft, smooth rubber.
It feels a lot more comfortable to
wear, but isnt entirely comfortable.
I find myself taking it off when I am
at my desk, as the bottom of the
Band rubs on the top of my wrist.
Its not disastrous, but it does mean
I occasionally leave it at my desk

when I go for a stroll, missing out on
valuable steps. And remember that
this a gadget that is supposed to
stay on your wrist as you sleep.
The Band 2 feels well put
together and built to last. Which
is, again, an improvement on the
original. I give my wearables a Hell
of a time, being both clumsy and
obsessed with exercise. And after
the best part of a week there is nary
a scratch on the Band 2, which has
been off my wrist only for a brief
charm through walking, running and
golfing come rain or shine.
The clasp is secure and easy to
use (further improvement on the
original). It is also silver against the
black rubber band, which is stylish
and understated. And in a clever
design twist the all-new UV sensor
is housed in the clasp, as is the
charging port. This is very space
saving, although a metal chunk on
the underside of my wrist is another
reason not to wear the Band 2
during deskbound hours.
Microsoft says its designed to be
worn either like a watch on the top
of your wrist or as a wristband with
the display on the inside of your
arm. Both make sense. The latter
is more discreet, and in some ways
more intuitive. As with the first band
it can be difficult to read a letterbox
screen that runs across your wrist.
You are always reading upside
down unless you wear the Band 2
upside down, so to speak.
There are two buttons: Home and
Action. These live at the bottom of
the touchscreen. These match the
brushed silver finish of the trim, are
easy to fine and have a satisfying
level of travel and feedback.
There are three variables in
terms of size of Band 2: we found
that we could make both Medium
and Large fit and feel comfortable,
so there is something for every wrist

here. And overall we are impressed
with the build quality and design.
We do wish it was waterproof,
though. Microsoft says it is splash
proof, but for now if you like to swim
(or shower) that is your time to
charge the Band 2.
Display
Key to the success of the Band 2 is
its curved display. This is a bright
and sharp Corning Gorilla Glass
3, AMOLED screen. Measuring
32x12.8mm, with a 320x128
resolution, it boasts a snazzy pixel
density of 255ppi. That combined
with the rich colours of AMOLED
makes for a rich display experience,
albeit on a tiny screen.
You wouldnt compare the display
to that of a smartphone. Or, at least,
you wouldnt compare it favourably.
At this size that would be daft, and
anyway it exists to show off data:
words and numbers, not images. As
such it is perfectly fit for purpose,
without being battery draining. Even
when tramping the mean streets
of Surrey, sweat in our eyes, we
could always see distance, heart
rate and speed data at a glance. The
touchscreen is responsive and there
is no obvious pixellation, either.
Good job Microsoft.
Features
The Band 2 is an fitness aid that
tracks heart rate, calorie burn and
sleep quality. Out of the box it can
work as a pedometer, and to track
and record running, cycling, gym
workouts and golf. But Microsoft is
also keen that other providers jump
in and add other activities.
The Microsoft Band 2 provides
notifications of incoming email,
tests and calender alerts. You can
get it to add other notifications
such as WhatsApp messages, too.
042_043 Microsoft Band 248.indd 42
17/12/2015 15:04
Reviews
Each aspect of the Band 2s feature

set is accessed via a tile from the
simple interface. You can rearrange
these tiles, and add third-party
notifications such as Facebook.
There are multiple sensors in
the Band 2, including GPS, and
always on optical heart rate sensor,
a barometer to measure your
elevation and - new to this device
- a UV sensor to nudge you when
your skin is getting burnt. It isnt a
big deal right now, you might think,
but often the most damage is done
when you think it isnt sunny.
It connects to your phone via
Bluetooth 4.0 LE, and is compatible
with Android, iPhone and Windows
Phone. You install the Microsoft
Health app to access insights into
your activity and lifestyle based on
the data gathered by your Band.
Battery life
Microsoft claims around 48 hours
of in-use battery life for the Band
2, which has a lithium polymer
battery. We cant benchmark it in the
same way as we can a smartphone,
so I can only speak to my own
experiences of using the Band 2.
In short: 48 hours is about right.
I tend to charge it for half an hour
or so when I am in the shower and
getting ready every other morning.
It charges quick: Microsoft claims a
full charge in one and a half hours,
but I found that a half an hour burn
gets it up to around 80 percent
charged. And that will do for a day
or two, in which I walk to the station
and then to the office, receive emails
all day long, and almost always go
for a run or a bike ride.
So although a wearable feels like
it should last for a week or more,
we cant quibble with the Band 2s
battery life. It is fit for purpose. And
as it synchs with your smartphone
via Bluetooth, I guarantee the phone
will run out before the Band does.
Which is in itself an issue.
As a productivity tool
This is weird. But I have to be
honest. I love the feature set of the
Band and the Band 2. I find that
wearing a device which puts on my
body notifications about incoming
email and texts actually makes
me more present in the real world
Perhaps this is exclusive to me, but
I receive so much (boring and workrelated) information every day that
I find it impossible not to constantly
take out my phone and stare into

its brightly-lit abyss.
When I am wearing the Band
2 life gets simpler. I can dismiss
with a swipe any email, text or call
which doesnt require immediate
response. Furthermore, the haptic
feedback that tells me a calender
event is 10 minutes away lets me
concentrate in the office, safe in the
knowledge that I am not about to
miss a meeting. I dont want to be
able to respond on my wristwatch:
I have a smartphone from which to
compose and send emails. But being
able to triage messages on the hoof
is actually relaxing to me.
I am aware that praising the lack
of a feature as a positive makes
me sound like a glassy eyed true
believer who is blind to the Band 2s
faults. Perhaps that is the case. The
fact is that if you want a smartwatch
that replicates all of the functions of
your smartphone, the Band 2 is not
it. Not at all. You need an Android or
an Apple Watch. But for me the Band
2 is a good productivity tool. It does
what it does extremely well.
As an activity tracker
It is a great activity tracker. The
Microsoft Band 2 has everything
that my TomTom GPS-enabled
runners watch gives me, and more.
As well as everything I can get from
my Fitbit or Jawbone. And in a
better shell, with a better app.
Of course the Band 2 tracks your
steps. And the built-in GPS is a must
if you are serious about measuring
performance. In my experience it
locks on quickly and accurately.
I love the way I can clearly
see heart rate, distance, time and
average pace on a single screen.
Every GPS runners watch I have
tried has shown only one of those
things in a format that I can
reasonably see. This is even more
important when out on the bike.
We havent managed to get out
on the golf course with the Band
2, but we did take it to the driving
range. All three of the courses
closest to my house are in the
app, and so next time I hack my
way around I can log on and it will
measure from where I take each
shot. Which reduces the chances of
cheating somewhat, but does give
you accurate yardage into the green.
On the range, it worked as
advertised. The Band 2 ignored
practice swings but recorded when I
actually managed to make contact.

All of this data is parlayed into
real-world tips and information on
the app, which may or may not be
useful to you. Personally, I dont feel
that I need the Health app to tell
me how long I should rest between
exercise, but I do like to see my splits
and how my heart rate reacted to
effort. Indeed, heart-rate data is
critical to pushing yourself harder
and getting fitter.
You may be able to tell, but I love
the Band 2 as a fitness device. My
only quibble, and it is a significant
one, is that the battery life runs
out without enough warning. Which
is wildly irritating if you are in the
middle of a barnstorming run.
As a sleep aide
With an eight-month old child at
home, I am not the right person to
track my sleep. I dont need to Band
2 to tell me how bad I am at it right
now. But because of its combination
of accurate location, movement and
heart-rate tracking, the Band 2 is an
excellent sleep recorder. It records
all of that data, and uses it to
accurately measure your light sleep,
deep sleep and wakefulness. You
simply tell it when you are going to
bed, and when you wake up. And
it wont alert you to any messages
you receive during this time.
Verdict
The Band 2, is definitely good value,
as the combination of sensors and
features is much greater than any
comparable product at this price. For
me its a winner. J Matt Egan
042_043 Microsoft Band 248.indd 43
17/12/2015 15:04
Reviews
MEDIA STREAMER
30
inc VAT
Google Chromecast 2
Contact
n
google.co.uk
Specifications
Android 4.1 and higher; iOS

7.0 and higher; Windows 7
and higher; Mac OS 10.7
and higher; Chrome OS (on
a Chromebook running
Chrome 28 and higher);
HDMI output 1080p; MicroUSB for power; 802.11
b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi (2.4-/5GHz);
52x52x13.49mm; 39g
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Google has updated its media

streaming device, with the
introduction of the Chromecast 2.
With improved Wi-Fi and costing just
30, we look at what the updated
model offers and ask whether there
is a compelling reason to upgrade.
Price
V,
es
Google has kept the price at 30,

which is good value for a media
streamer, with most fully-fledged
boxes costing 50 and upwards.
Newly launched rivals such as the
Apple TV cost 130, so going with
Google represents a huge saving.
The Chromecast 2 is a bit of a
bargain, but there is competition
around this price point. The Amazon
Fire TV Stick is 34, while the Roku
Streaming Stick is 39, so price
alone doesnt make it a winner.
At the time of writing a tempting
reason to opt for the Chromecast 2
is that purchasing it from the Google
Play Store means you get 20 of
credit to spend on content. Google
also has an ongoing Chromecast
Offers scheme whereby customers
get extras such as free film rentals.
Design
As you can see from our images, the
Chromecast looks different to its
predecessor, with Google opting for

a hockey puck style body. This may
be partly to differentiate it from the
original, but it also lends itself to its
new Wi-Fi antenna.
The device is built from plastic,
with the Chromecast logo on the
front. Its available in different
colours to the original model: black,
red (Coral) or yellow (Lemonade).
The new design makes more sense
with a flexible cable attached. With
the original USB stick style shape,
the Chromecast couldnt plug into
a great deal of TVs without the use
of an extension cable. Now things
are simpler and theres even a
magnet to hold the main body on
to the HDMI plug.
Hardware
The original Chromecast was limited
to 11b/g/n single-band, while its
successor features the up-to-date
11ac standard should you have a
router with matching specs and
supports dual-band (2.4- and 5GHz).
We initially had an issue with

the streamer, which took a long
time to register on the devices
we were trying to cast. We soon
solved this problem, though, and
it hasnt returned since.
4K
If youve just bought a shiny new
Ultra HD TV, then you may be
disappointed to read that the
Chromecast 2 supports only 1080p
output through the HDMI port. We,
like you, would have obviously liked
4K resolution, but we can hardly
knock the device too much for this.
Few devices support this and the
does cost only 30. Plus, there is
currently a relatively small amount
of Ultra HD content out there and
by the time its far more prevalent,
Google may have launched a new
model that supports this.
In terms of hardware, improved
Wi-Fi is the main upgrade on the
Chromecast 2. It still requires power
via Micro-USB and works with a
Despite costing just 30, a lot of content is on

offer, including BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Sky Now TV,
BT Sport, and YouTube and Google Play Movies
044_045 Google Chromecast 248.indd 44
15/12/2015 16:58
Reviews
widerangeofdevices.Featuressuch
asscreenmirroringworkwithmost
Androiddevices.
Fast Play
Thisoptionpredictswhatyoure
goingtodonextandgetsitreadyto
avoidyouhavingtowaitforthings
toload.Forexample,itmightget
Netflixreadywhileyouredeciding
whattowatch,orstartpreloading
thenextepisodeofaseries.
Casting
Googlehasntchangedthe
Chromecastformula,soyoustill
dontgetaphysicalremotecontrol.
Insteadyoullneedtouseyour
phoneortablettochoosewhat
thestreamerisgoingtodo.
Thisremainsadownsideofthe
Chromecastaseverytimeweve
reviewedarivalwithatraditional
remoteanduserinterface,things
aremuchsimplerandeasier.You
noticethedifferencewhenyou,
forexample,wanttobrowsecontent
asagrouporwanttojustquickly
pausewhateverisplaying.
Googlehas,however,designeda
newChromecastapp,whichhelps
thingsalittle.Itallowsyoutosee
yourdevices(handyifyouhave
morethanoneChromecast),but
moreimportantlyhelpsyoudiscover
whatappssupportcasting.
Itdoesthisviatwosections.
Thefirstofthese,WhatsOn,shows
youwhichinstalledapps(splitinto
visualandaudio)willworkwith
theChromecast,whileGetApps
highlightsappsyoudonthave.
Content
Despitecostingjust30,alotof
contentisonoffer.Thisincludes
BBCiPlayer,Netflix,SkyNowTV,BT
Sport,and,ofcourse,Google-owned
YouTubeandGooglePlayMovies.
All4(formally4oD)hasjustbeen
added,thoughtherearestillsome
gapsthatneedfillingintheportfolio.
IfyouenjoywatchingshowsonITV
PlayerandAmazonPrimeInstant
Video,youllbefrustratedatnot
beingabletocastthesetoyourTV
viatheChromecast.
Thebestselectionof
programmesbelongstoRoku,which
offersarangeofdevicesincluding
aChromecast-likeStreamingStick.
Itsmoreexpensiveat49,butthe
extracontentandremotecontrol
currentlymakeitworththeextra.
Verdict
OwnersoftheoriginalChromecast
havelittlereasontoupgrade,
eventhoughGooglehasimproved
thedesignandWi-Fi.Wealsolike
thenewappandthedeviceisa
bargainat30.However,theRoku
StreamingStickoutclassesitfor20
extra,withmorecontentavailable,
aremotecontrolandexcellentuser
interface.JChris Martin
044_045 Google Chromecast 248.indd 45
15/12/2015 16:58
Reviews
IN-EAR HEADPHONES
29
inc VAT
Contact
n
brainwavzaudio.com
Specifications
9mm dynamic drivers; 16

Ohms rated impedance;
18Hz to 18kHz frequency
range; 100dB at 1mW
sensitivity; 10mW rated
input power; 3.5mm goldplated jack; 1.2m cable
Brainwavz S0
The Brainwavz S0 is an in-ear
monitor headphone that fits in
toward the bottom of the scale in
terms of cost, but delivers superior
performance, build and comfort.
It comes with three different sizes
of silicon ear tips, and a canvas
carry case. You get additional
bi-flange and tri-flange tips,
too. And with a microphone and
remote control on the cable, the
Brainwavz S0 is certified compatible
with iOS devices such as iPads and
iPhones, but works with pretty
much any smartphone.
Price
Build:
Features:
Performance:
As with many decent quality but

inexpensive headphones, the
Brainwavz S0 isnt the most widely
available. In the UK, we found we
could buy it from eBay for around
45. But you dont need to worry
about that, as Brainwavz will sell
you them direct via Amazon for a
much more interesting 29.50.
All of these prices put the
Brainwavz S0 toward the bottom
of the pile when it comes to cost
of third-party headphones. For this
specifications and feature set, the
Brainwavzs are decent value. So
lets take a look at how they perform
in the real world.
Value:
Design
At this price we were not expecting
space-shuttle levels of build quality,
but the Brainwavz S0 stacks up well.
The bud itself is housed in blackcoated aluminium. Our review model
had red-plastic trim with opaque
black silicon tips, and a thick black
cable. The overall effect is one
of bold but simple style. It feels
marginally dated, but to our mind
in a good way.
The cable is around 1.2m long,
and is thick, flat and square-edged
in a way that should make it more

robust than your average spindly
round chord. The remote control is a
good way up the cable, but we found
it relatively simple to use (there are
just three buttons, and only one of
them is annoying enough to shut
off your audio device. The controls
are pretty straightforward for both
iOS and Android devices. And the
3.5mm jack is gold-plated, although
it does run straight from the edge of
the cable which makes it a potential
victim of a stray jerk or drop.
Most important is in-ear
comfort, and here we cant fault the
Brainwavz S0. Out of the box we
tried the smaller silicon tips, and
although these were comfortable,
the earbuds tended to jerk out
when we were running. But the
mid-sized pair solved this problem
(and there were three other levels
to which we could go, tip wise). We
expect everyone who can stand
in-ear earbuds will be able to find a
comfortable fit with these.
Audio quality
At this price we dont expect much.
But in this case we were pleasantly
surprised. The Brainwavz S0 is a
very well balanced earphone. Bass
is prominent, but clear. We could
detect no muddiness when playing
all types of music, as well as spoken

word podcasts and audiobooks.
Things are a little less impressive
when we consider the mid-range.
This is very much present, which
removes some of the texture of
overall sound. Obviously produced
pop music sounds even blander
than it deserves to down these
headphones. It isnt terrible, just a
little bit flat. Occasionally, the vocal
disappears into the backing track
when playing less produced indie
or rock music, too.
The top end is clean. Impressively
so. But combined with the other
factors outlined above this can make
it seem a little warbly and lacking in
punch. Overall to our untrained ears,
the effect is of a smooth sound, with
decent volume. But if we were being
picky we would suggest it can be a
little too smooth. To us, anyway.
The important thing is that the
Brainwavz S0 will feel like a big
upgrade on your bundled free
earbuds, and is on a par with more
expensive alternatives.
Verdict
Well made, decent-sounding and
very good value. We are big fans of
the Brainwavz S0. If you want an
in-ear monitor for 30 or less, you
can do a lot worse. J Matt Egan
046_047 Brainwavz/KEF 248.indd 46
17/12/2015 14:44
Reviews
ON-EAR HEADPHONES
199
inc VAT
Kef M400
Contact
n
kef.com
Specifications
40mm driver; 20Hz to

20kHz frequency response;
4dB sensitivity; 32 Ohm
impedance; 30mW
maximum input power;
1.3m cable; 3.5/3.5mm
connector; 175g
Following on from its impressive

M500 headphones, Kef has launched
the cheaper and more colourful
M400 on-ear set.
Price
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
A pair of Kef M400s will cost you

199 and while thats still a fair
chunk of money, its 50 cheaper
than the M500. An issue here is that
Amazon has the flagship model at a
cheaper price, just 194, unless you
want the newly released all-black
or all-white colours. Until the price
of the M400 model drops there is
a value for money issue here. A key
rival to the M400s are Bowers &
Wilkins P3s, which are similar and
retail for 169 you can get them
on Amazon from 96 if you opt for
the red model.
Design
Kef has stuck with a similar design
when it comes to the M400
headphones. They clearly look like
the recognisable M500s, but have
been slimmed down. Everything is a
bit smaller, thinner and lighter (just
175g), which may suit your needs
better than the flagship model.
The M400s are a bit more
fun and lively than the M500.
You can choose from Deep Black
and Champagne White, but also
Racing Blue and Sunset Orange. We
especially like the blue option and
the fact that the headphone jack
comes in a matching colour.
As we found with the M500, the
cushions on the headphones are
extremely comfortable and made
from memory foam covered in sweat
resistant protein leather. Theres a
light amount of pressure on your

ears and the ball-joint on the back
of the ear pod means in essence, it
self-positions. The headband is stiff
to adjust but this is actually a good
thing once youve found the right
position for your head.
Build quality is still excellent,
with a combination of aluminium
The 40mm neodymium driver

and copper clad aluminium wire
voice coil result in some impressive
waves. As weve found with all of
Kefs headphones, the experience
is well-balanced, crisp and well
defined. They lend themselves
well to a wide range of music
genres and long listening periods.
The cushions on the M400s are extremely

comfortable and made from memory foam
covered in sweat resistant protein leather
and leather. The headphones fold in
on themselves and a carry case is
included in the box.
Audio quality
As well as the carry case, a flight
adaptor and a 1.3m detachable
cable with in-line controls and mic
are included in the box. The in-line
control is primarily for use with
iOS devices, but you can still pause,
play and skip on Android using the
middle button (tap or double-tap).
Underneath the shiny aluminium
exterior is a 40mm full-range
driver; the same size as the
one found in the M500s. This is
good work considering the more
compact design. They also use a
very similar acoustic tuning plate,
but theres no sealing ring, so
they leak a fair amount of sound.
This is probably the main issue
we have with these headphones
and even then, with the kind of
ambient noise you get in an office
its not that noticeable.
Tuning-wise, weve found the

M400s to be geared towards the
mid-range, while the top-end is still
bright and nicely clear. If they are
lacking at all, it has to be in the
low-end, with less of a punch for
bass lovers compared to the M500s
and rivals. Again, its not a problem
as such, just one of the few minor
things we could find with these
cans those into the likes of drum
and bass might benefit from a pair
more focused on big bass.
Verdict
Once again, Kef has made a stylish
and well-built pair of headphones
in the M400. They are lightweight,
portable and the optional splash
of colour is nice. Sound quality is
once again very good, although
these arent the best choice for bass
lovers. Our main issue is that you
can currently buy the flagship M500
headphones for less making these
hard to recommend until the price
drops. J Chris Martin
046_047 Brainwavz/KEF 248.indd 47
17/12/2015 14:44
Reviews
BONE CONDUCTION HEADPHONES
39
inc VAT
Contact
n
amazon.co.uk
Specifications
Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR; bone

conduction speaker; sixhour battery life; two-hour
charge time; built-in
microphone for phone
calls; 135x125x50mm; 159g
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Marsboy Bone Conduction Bluetooth Headphones

The Marsboy Bone Conduction
Bluetooth Headphones are an
interesting specimen, mainly due
to the way audio is produced.
Sound waves are transmitted
directly to the cochlea (the organ
that translates sound into nerve
impulses to be sent to the brain)
by vibration, allowing the user
to listen to their favourite tunes,
while still being aware of whats
going on in their surroundings.
They look similar to other
sports headphones and have a
similar neckband design, though
the earbuds have been replaced by
vibrating pads that sit just in front
of your ears, on your cheekbone.
These pads are soft to the touch to
avoid any skin irritation, and have a
diamond design on the outside, as
well as an adjustable silicon strap at
the back to help get the perfect fit.
We found the task of putting
them on correctly a little confusing
at first, and had to refer to the
images on its Amazon listing.
However, once wed done so they
were simple to put on and didnt fall
out of place or off our head. This is
due to its design which, according
to the manufacturer, should stay in
place when performing a number
of activities including (but not
limited to) running, driving, skating,
camping, fishing and cycling. The
headphones are also sweat proof.
Features
The headphones come with
Bluetooth 3.0 technology, and
have a claimed range of up to 33
feet. During our tests, we didnt
experience any dropped connections
when we had our phone on our
desk/in our pocket. Theres also a

built-in microphone to take calls, and
a button at the tip of the left arm
makes it easy to answer if anyone
rings. Press it again to hang up.
Sadly, it doesnt double as a button
Audio quality
Bone conduction isnt anything new;
indeed its said that Beethoven had
a special rod attached to his pianos
soundboard, which he would bite
to hear the sound the instrument
Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea

(the organ that translates sound into nerve
impulses to be sent to the brain) by vibration
to activate Siri on iOS devices, as
many other headphones do.
A button at the tip of the right
arm lets you pause and play music,
while buttons on the headband allow
you to control the volume and skip
and replay songs. The only issue is
that the buttons are located on the
rear of the headband, meaning they
are awkward to access when worn.
Indeed, we opted to use our phones
to adjust the volume and track
controls most of the time. In terms
of battery life, the Marsboys last six
hours, and take two hours to charge.
produced after hed lost his hearing.

We havent seen too many bone
conduction headphones, though.
Unfortunately, the results were
disappointing. During our tests,
we found the audio was flat and
muffled, which we imagine is due to
the way it is produced. On the plus
side, they allow you to hear whats
going on around you, as long as you
dont have the volume up too loud.
Weve talked to colleagues while
wearing these headphones and
listening to music, and didnt have
any trouble hearing them. Its an
experience thats hard to explain
without wearing the headset, which
is what makes them interesting. It
also makes them ideal for those
that need to be aware of their
surroundings, such as cyclists.
Verdict
The Marsboy headphones are great
if youre looking for a set that allow
you to hear whats going on around
you, but thats about it. Theyll
stay on your head when exercising,
but it cant make up for the audio
quality. If youre looking for high
fidelity sound, you should look
elsewhere. J Lewis Painter
048_049 Marsboy/Cowin 248.indd 48
17/12/2015 14:48
Reviews
BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS
149
inc VAT
Contact
n
cowinmusic.com
Specifications
Two-part Bluetooth
speaker system; NFC
compatibility; Magnatec
technology; wireless
charging; aux-in; 35W
output; 2x speaker drivers,
2x passive radiators and
5in ported subwoofer;
300x145x230mm
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Cowin Ark
The Ark is a two-piece Bluetooth
speaker system, designed and
manufactured by Cowin. Unlike
many other Bluetooth speakers,
its formed of two parts; a portable
Bluetooth speaker/soundbar
that sits on top Cruze and
the wired base Ark.
Design
Design wise, the speaker system
looks like a premium product,
despite costing under 150. The
mixture of brushed metal sides and
a mirror finish on top means that
the Cowin Ark demands attention
if youre looking for a Bluetooth
speaker thatll be invisible in its
surroundings, then this isnt your
best option. Despite being large
(Ark: 300x145x170mm and Cruze:
200x65x60mm), the Cowin is
pretty sleek, thanks to the curved
design of the system.
Though this is a two-piece
Bluetooth speaker system, the
Cruze can be taken outside and
used by itself, thanks to its built-in
rechargeable battery. The Ark uses
Magnatec technology, which syncs
the two parts of your system ready
for playback, while also keeping the
Cruze securely attached to the Ark
whenever its placed on top but
thats not its only function. The
Magnatec technology also provides
wireless charging for the soundbar,
which means the Cruze is fully
powered and ready to go whenever
you are. Oh, and the Ark can also be
used to charge up your smartphone
too, if it supports wireless charging.
Features
Even though this is a two-piece
speaker system, the two dont need
to be in contact during playback
to be in sync. Once youve turned
on the base and soundbar, theyre
automatically linked, which makes
the system adaptable. Watching a
movie on your laptop or playing
a game on your tablet? Place the
soundbar in front of the display and
the Ark on the floor for an enhanced
audio experience.
We found the freedom to move
the system around appealing,
especially as we didnt have to
worry about the battery life of
the soundbar if it ran out, wed
just place it on the Ark and carry
on listening. Although with this

being said, thats a situation that
weve rarely experienced due to
the eight-hour battery life of the
Cruze, and the fact that the Ark
keeps it constantly topped up
when attached.
The speaker system uses
Bluetooth to connect to your
devices. It also includes NFC for
easy, one-tap pairing and has an
auxiliary input for those that want to
play music from devices that dont
have Bluetooth connectivity.
The only downside of the Cowin
Ark is its built-in voice prompts.
Dont get us wrong, we like voice
prompts on Bluetooth speakers
any device that doesnt have a
display benefits from audio cues,
but the Cowin Arks are strange.
Youll hear audio prompts when
the Bluetooth speaker is ready for
connecting, once its connected
and if it disconnects, but the accent
makes these prompts almost
inaudible. At one point, we thought
it was speaking a different language
and wed been sent the wrong
speaker, but after a few attempts
we were able to pick out words. Its
by no means a huge deal, but be
prepared for friends mimicking the
way it says, connecting.
Audio quality
Even though the Cowin Ark has
peculiar audio prompts, this doesnt
reflect its overall quality. We were
impressed by this, especially with
regards to its bass output. The
levels of bass are nothing short
of phenomenal and when paired
with a 35W soundbar that can

produce room-filling audio, the
result is a well-rounded sound thats
perfect for a variety of tasks, from
background audio when youre
relaxing to playing tunes full blast in
your living room with your friends.
The Cowin Ark has two speaker
drivers, two passive radiators and
a 5in ported subwoofer. Cowin
opted for a ported subwoofer as
its cones have better freedom of
motion, which redirects the sound
from the rear of the cone to the
front, providing more prominent
levels of bass. Even without the Ark
connected, Cruze still provides a
great audio experience, just without
the Arks prominent bass.
The audio isnt just loud and
bassy, though. It produces great
highs, vocals are crisp and most
importantly, there is no distortion at
high volume something that bassy
speakers usually suffer from.
Verdict
Were impressed by the Cowin Ark,
especially with the levels of bass
it offers. We love the Magnatec
technology that wirelessly charges
both the soundbar and any wireless
charging-enabled smartphone,
providing you with a portable
Bluetooth speaker. The audio quality
is good, providing crisp vocals, clear
highs and deep bass. The fact that
the two are wirelessly synced means
you dont have to keep the soundbar
and subwoofer in the same place,
making it ideal for use as a mini
soundbar for your laptop when
watching a movie. J Lewis Painter
048_049 Marsboy/Cowin 248.indd 49
17/12/2015 14:48
Reviews
ACTIVITY TRACKER
22
inc VAT
Xiaomi Mi Band 1S Pulse
Contact
n
mi.com/en
Specifications
Fitness band with

aluminium magnesium
alloy tracker and
polycarbonate band;
supports Android 4.4+ or
iOS 7.0+ devices; IP67
waterproof; optical heartrate sensor; sleep tracking;
activity tracking with daily
stats notifications;
incoming call reminder
and app notifications;
alarm; phone-unlock
feature for Xiaomi phones
or Android 5.0+ phones;
45mAh lithium-polymer
battery, lasts up to 30
days; 37x13.6x9.9mm; 5.5g
(tracker), (9g (band)
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
When we reviewed the original

Xiaomi Mi Band we gave the
following verdict: At 28.99, the
Xiaomi Mi Band is an excellentvalue, lightweight fitness band with
outstanding battery life. Its as
accurate as any other fitness band,
and we particularly like its sleep
monitoring, vibration alarm and
phone call notifications. The Mi Band
companion app is very easy to use,
but falls down only in its integration
with other fitness and social apps.
The new Mi Band Pulse is still all of
those things, plus more.
There are two key changes for
the new Mi Band Pulse, with the
addition of an optical heart-rate
scanner that can be used ondemand, while running or to better
monitor your sleep patterns, and
an improved polycarbonate band.
Xiaomi has achieved this and added
just 0.5g to the overall weight,
meaning the Mi Band Pulse is an
extraordinarily light 14.5g. Plus
there are new options to share
achievements on Twitter, and the
ability to turn on daily notifications
for sleep and activity performance.
Several months after we
reviewed the original Mi Band, the
soft-touch silicone band that held
the tracker to our arm failed. At first
we found the tracker had started
to become loose in its band, and
on several occasions it slipped out
and we were lucky not to have lost
it. Eventually the band tore and
we needed to buy a replacement
(you may choose to do so anyway,
swapping the standard black band
for a more colourful option).
The fact that the new Mi Band
Pulses band is tougher is instantly
obvious whereas the original
began to show signs of wear and
tear within the first few days of use
the 1S does not. And we found it
rather difficult to insert the tracker
the first time we tried, which should

mean youre far less likely to lose it.
The good news is the Mi Band
Pulse has the same class-leading
up to 30-day battery life, although
it will prove a little quicker to run
down if you make great use of the
heart-rate sensor.
When it is time to recharge the
Mi Band the cable has also been
improved. Unfortunately it is still a
proprietary USB cable, so be sure
not to lose it, but it now adopts a flat
design with a smaller charging dock
that should make it easier to fold up
and tuck away until its required.
As before the band is waterproof
rated IP67, so you dont have to
take it off when you jump in the
shower. And it still features the
same ability to provide a gentle
vibration alarm, notify you of
incoming calls and app notifications,
and a phone-unlock feature that
now extends to all Android 5.0+
phones rather than being restricted
to Xiaomi handsets when the app is
running in the background.
That said, we found it impossible
to set this up with our Samsung
Galaxy S6 the phone reported
that the Mi Band Pulse could keep
the phone unlocked only once it
had been unlocked by us, but as
soon as the screen timed out the
S6 requested our password, despite
the Mi Band Pulse being added as a
Trusted Smart Wake device.
Set up the device

We had a few headaches in setting
up the Mi Band Pulse, and we arent
entirely sure whether its because
we are UK-based or because we

had the original Mi Band paired to
our Mi Fit account.
As we noted with the original, the
instructions that come with the Mi
Band Pulse are written in Chinese
and therefore difficult for the
majority of UK users to follow.
The first thing to do is download
the Mi Fit app from the Google Play
store (or App Store, since the Mi
Band is also compatible with iPhones
running iOS 7.0 or later). You can
then pair the Mi Band Pulse to the
app over Bluetooth, and register for
a Mi Fit account if you dont already
have one. (The Mi Band Pulse will
also sync with Google Fit.)
This is where we ran into
problems, though. The version of
the app (1.7.521) we downloaded
from Google Play was the same
version we used with the original,
and featured no function to
measure your heart rate.
We got around this by going to
Settings, Security and allowing our
phone to install apps from unknown
sources, then downloading and
installing the Xiaomi Mi Fit 1.7.611
.apk file from APKMirror.
An alternative workaround is
to download the Xiaomi App Store
from app.xiaomi.com and install
the Mi Fit app from there.
Once wed got the correct
version of the app on our device
using the Mi Band was simple. It
will automatically connect and
sync data as soon as you open
the app, and the rest of the time
goes about recording your activity
without draining your phones
There are two key changes for the new Mi Band

Pulse, with the addition of an optical heart-rate
scanner and an improved polycarbonate band
050_051 Xiaomi Mi Band 1S 248.indd 50
15/12/2015 16:47
Reviews
battery (you dont need to leave the

Bluetooth switched on).
Software
As with the original Mi Band, the
Mi Fit app will work with the Mi
Band Pulse to do its thing with zero
interaction from you. On launching
the app, youll still see the daily step
counter (with number of calories
burned), and can access daily
data on a bar chart from the past
month. These are plotted against
your daily target, which can be set
as high or low as you like.
A swipe to the left brings up the
sleep data, and you should find its
now more easily able to distinguish
between light- and heavy sleep
cycles thanks to the heart-rate
sensor (if you want to extend battery
life further you can turn off the
to the right of the main screen, but

of course requires you to manually
input this information.
The ability to record your heart
rate on-demand is found in the
Settings menu, along with options
to share achievements with your
friends (merely a screenshot of
your progress the Mi Band Pulse
still lacks true social integration in
the way Fitbit trackers and the like
do), set up a gentle vibration alarm
to wake you in the morning, or set
the Mi Band Pulse to alert you to
incoming calls and notifications
from apps of your choice.
Design
Weve already partially covered the
Mi Band Pulses build and design
in this review. Almost identical
to the original its still extremely
The ability to record your heart rate on-demand

is found in the Settings menu, along with options
to share achievements with your friends
Sleep assistant in Mi Fits settings,
which periodically measures your
heart rate during the night.
New to the app is a section to
monitor your weight and BMI, which
will be useful if you want the Mi
Band Pulse to help you monitor
your activity in an effort to slim
down. This screen is found a swipe
lightweight, but with a tougher

hypoallergenic band with eight
adjustment holes that fit any wrist
from 157- to 205mm. Plus theres
the new optical heart-rate sensor,
which you can see working as a
pulsating green light.
The Mi Band Pulse still interacts
with you using vibrations, but one
thing we havent mentioned is the

three LEDs on top of the tracker.
These work in the same way as
before when lifted in a checkingthe-time movement flash to show
how close you are to your daily
activity goal. The gesture is tricky
to get the hang of, although the Mi
Band will also vibrate and flash like
crazy when youve hit your goal.
Verdict
With a tougher band addressing
our issues with the original, and a
new heart-rate sensor bringing it
into line with rival activity trackers,
you simply wont find a better-value
fitness band than the Xiaomi Mi
Band 1S Pulse. It still falls down on
social interaction, apps and its use
of a proprietary charging cable, but
given the price we can accept these
shortcomings. J Marie Brewis
050_051 Xiaomi Mi Band 1S 248.indd 51
15/12/2015 16:47
Reviews
SET-TOP BOX
49
inc VAT
Contact
n
home.bt.com
Specifications
2x Freeview HD tuners; 1TB

hard drive, record up to
600 hours SD; Pause and
rewind live TV; record up 2
channels at once; HDMI;
2160p/1080P/1080i/720p/57
6p/576i; HDMI, optical
S/PDIF; 1x ethernet, 1x
USB 2.0; 0.5W low
power standby mode;
273x152x43mm; 760g
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
BT Ultra HD YouView Box

Its taking some time, but 4K is
gradually becoming the norm for
home entertainment, and BTs
new YouView box and Ultra HD
channel is helping the cause.
Price and requirements

As with any TV, broadband and
landline package, the price is a
little complicated. It depends on
what level of package you want
and whether youre an existing
BT customer. However, the Total
Entertainment package youll need
to get the Ultra HD channel costs
15 per month. The Ultra HD box
is included with this package, and
youll also need BT Infinity fibre
optic broadband since the channel
is streamed over the internet.
Existing BT customer
If you are already a BT customer,
then you can add the Total
Entertainment package to gain
access to the Ultra HD channel the
cost will be added on to what you
already pay. The box itself will cost
you 49 as a one-off payment, which
is pretty good for what is likely to
be worth over 200. Theres also a
44 installation charge, but you can
avoid this if you do it yourself.
New BT customer
Those joining BT will get a box
for free, which is great, but the
activation fee for Infinity broadband
is 39, so things balance out a
bit. The cheapest package, which
includes Total Entertainment and
Infinity 1, is 23 per month (on
offer) and youll need to pay the
17.99 per month line rental, too,
and a 6.95 delivery charge for
the Home Hub 5 route. A total cost
of just over 40pm isnt bad.
Hardware
If youve been using BTs previous
YouView box (DTR-T2100), then
things will be familiar. Not only does
the box look the same, apart from
an Ultra HD logo, a glossy black
front panel instead of silver and a
single light on the front. However,
the remote control is identical, and
you can even carry on using your
existing one if you prefer.
Setup is simple plug in the
power, aerial cable and HDMI cable
to get going. You will need a 4K TV,
of course, and you may have to be

selective about which port you use
as your model may not support
Ultra HD on every port. The wrong
one means youll be watching in
downscaled quality.
Youll also need an internet
connection, and although the
Ultra HD YouView box has Wi-Fi,
we recommend using the ethernet
port. This will mean trailing a long
cable to your router, but it will be
worth it for the performance when
streaming the 4K channel.
YouView has many advantages,
including plenty of catch-up and
on-demand services, and the clever
way that internet channels are
shown alongside broadcast ones in
the electronic program guide (EPG),
and you can record them, too.
This Ultra HD YouView box
has twice the amount of storage
compared to its predecessor. A total
of 1TB will, according to BT, allow
you to record up to 600 hours of
content. That sounds like plenty, but
thats standard definition when
you record 4K television, youll be
limited to 60 hours of footage.
Performance
This may be the only Freeview
box on the market with 4K, but is
the Ultra HD YouView boxs main
selling point any good?
In a word, yes. We tested it on
an LG 55UF950 and the Ultra HD
channel looked stunning in its
3840x2160 resolution remember
double the resolution means four
times the amount of pixels when
moving from Full HD. The result (8
million pixels) is a superbly crisp
image that feels extremely lifelike,
theres a real wow factor here. Of
course, your TV will have an impact
on what things look like.
The 4K channel on offer here
is BT Sport Ultra HD, so this may
be the best thing ever or might
make you stop reading this review.

The content is entirely sport, so
its not a channel for all kinds of
4K content. The sport on offer
benefits from a framerate of 50fps,
so seeing a ball ghosting across the
screen is a thing of the past.
While the 4K programming on
offer via BT Sport Ultra HD looks
incredible, its disappointing to
find it often playing a demo reel
of Ultra HD footage. Sports being
shown on the channel include
Premiership football, Champions
League, FA Cup, Premiership Rugby,
UFC and MotoGP. However, this isnt
enough to fill the schedule.
There will be, we assume, more
channels in the future with 4K
content, but at the moment it is
sparse. Upgrading for a single
channel that doesnt always
broadcast something seems a little
over the top, so hopefully BT will
offer more channels soon.
If you do go for it now, then at
least youll be future-proofing, but
youll be signing up to BT, which
might not be the best move with
Sky Q coming early in 2016. .
The selection of 4K content is
made worse by the lack of a Netflix
app on the Ultra HD YouView box.
Streaming services such as Netflix
and Amazon are pushing more and
more 4K content, so this is a shame,
even more so when your 4K TV
doesnt have a built-in Netflix app.
We hope Netflix will certify the box
soon and get the app rolled out.
Verdict
The BT Ultra HD YouView is a
decent upgrade for new or existing
customers, but only if youre a
big sports fan. While the box has
1TB of storage and the quality of
the Ultra HD content is superb, a
single sports channel that often
shows demo footage is a bit of
a let down. J Chris Martin
052 BT 248.indd 52
15/12/2015 16:32
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053 IPU103 AD.indd 53
15/12/2015 11:32
Reviews
NETWORK SURVEILLANCE CAMERA
99
inc VAT
Contact
n
home.bt.com
Specifications
Network surveillance
camera; Android 2.3 or
later, Apple iOS 5.1 or later;
built-in microphone; H.264
Video Modes: 720p
(1280x720, 9fps); 4 infrared
LEDs; 3Mp CMOS 1/3in
sensor; 3mm lens focal
length; F/2.0 lens iris;
78-degree horizontal field
of view; 45-degree vertical
field of view; Wi-Fi:
802.11b,g,n; 1-year warranty
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
BT Home Cam 100

Alongside routers, set-top boxes
(see page 52) powerline adaptors,
and home phones, BT also makes a
security camera the BT Home Cam
100. It connects via Wi-Fi to your
router and lets you keep an eye on
whats happening when youre not
there. You can watch the live feed
from your phone, and get alerts
when the camera detects motion.
Design
Priced 99, its no surprise that the
Home Cam 100 is a 720p camera:
1280x720 pixels. There are four
infrared LEDs for night vision.
The glossy black finish looks
good, but it doesnt help the camera
blend in. White cameras are less
conspicuous, but you may not mind
the camera being seen. The plastic
stand really needs to be mounted
to a horizontal or vertical surface
plugs and screws are included but
it will sit on a shelf without tipping
over. The ball joint lets you point
it in a variety of directions, but
once fixed in place you cant alter
it remotely. Its an indoor camera,
so you cant install it outside.
Its easy to set up the camera
using only your phone. You dont
need to hook up a network cable
as with many cameras, as theres
no ethernet port. Instead, you flip
a switch on the back to Setup,
then search on your phone for
the cameras own Wi-Fi network.
Then its just a case of choosing
your routers Wi-Fi network,
entering the password and then
reconnecting your phone to that
same network. Youll need to
create an account via the app, just
an email address and password,
and name the camera. With that
done, you return the switch to
the Camera position and the app
will show the live feed so you can
adjust the angle to your liking.
The app appears to have been
designed for iOS 5 as it lacks the
look and feel of the latest versions.
The Android app isnt much better,
but does at least let you schedule
when to receive notifications.
Design, however, isnt really a
problem compared to the lack of
options and features available in
both Android and iOS apps.
Motion detection is supported
as youd expect. You can set the
sensitivity but not the area(s) in

which to watch for movement. That
means you cant exclude any areas
as you can with most cameras.
At least you can set the
sensitivity. And instead of a slider
that runs from more sensitive to
less sensitive you choose from a
list of sizes such as dog, person
or car. This works well and it
prevents needless alerts when your
cat walks across the room.
Theres a microphone so you
get sound along with the video, but
theres no option for alerts when
theres a loud sound. And unlike
cameras such as the Nest Cam,
theres no speaker and therefore
no two-way audio.
Another similarity to the Nest
is the lack of options if you dont
subscribe to the cloud storage
service. This costs 6.99 per month
and automatically records video
clips when motion is detected.
Theyre stored for 14 days and
deleted after that, but you can
download and save any you like
for safekeeping via the web portal
(not your phone).
Theres a free 14-day trial
before you have to start paying.
Its frustrating that BT broadband
customers dont get discounted
or free cloud storage. And theres
no way to record to local storage.
Its the cloud or nothing.
The minimum clip length is
eight seconds and begins when
motion is detected. Unlike the Nest,
your subscription does not include
continuous recording. Its more
like Y-cams system where only the
motion is recorded. But this means
the clip may end before you would
have liked, and some motion may
be missed entirely. With continuous
recording, like CCTV, you can go
back to any point in time (limited
only by your subscription usually
a maximum of 30 days) and watch
events in real-time.
There is one other option: you
can hit the record button when
watching the live stream and take
photos within the app. These are

saved to your phones camera roll.
Unfortunately, the quality defaults to
standard definition, which offers far
less detail than the 720p HD mode.
Even if you toggle to HD mode, it
switches back to SD when you hit
record. You can watch clips recorded
to the cloud in the Events tab in the
app or online. In the app its hard to
jump to a particular day or time, but
much easier online.
Image quality is on a par with
other 720p cameras, which means
its pretty good during the day.
You should be able to identify
anyone walking within 10m of the
camera, but we found that there
wasnt enough detail to read car
registrations at that distance. At
night, quality is naturally worse and
its not a patch on the Nest Cam.
Verdict
The Home Cam 100 is relatively
cheap, but without the subscription
its little more than a webcam.
The app is also dated and needs a
redesign. J Jim Martin
Its easy to set up the camera using only your

phone. You dont need to hook up a network cable
as with many cameras, as theres no ethernet port
054_055 BT/HP 248.indd 54
15/12/2015 16:35
Reviews
COLOUR INKJET PRINTER
39
inc VAT
HP DeskJet 3630
Contact
n
hp.com/uk
Specifications
Four-colour A4 inkjet
printer; 1200x1200dpi front
resolution; 1200dpi
scanner resolution; Wi-Fi,
USB, Apple AirPrint;
60-sheet A4 paper tray;
manual two-side printing;
158x438x310mm; 4.2kg
In many ways, HPs DeskJet 3630 is

an absolute bargain. This compact
multifunction device offers a printer,
scanner and copier, complete with
Wi-Fi connectivity and even support
for Apples AirPrint for iOS devices.
Design
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
The plastic casing is rather flimsy

and rattles a little while printing, but
HPs Printer Assistant software does
offer a Quiet Mode that slows the
print mechanism down a little and
noticeably reduces the noise level.
The Printer Assistant also helps
to make up for the tiny LCD display,
which is just one inch wide and does
little more than display the number
of pages that have been printed.
Fortunately, the DeskJet 3630
has a straightforward graphical
interface that provides easy access
to diagnostic features, Wi-Fi set up,
and the scanner controls.
Performance
Text quality is reasonable for such
an inexpensive printer, but leaves
room for improvement. The speed
of 8.5 pages per minute (ppm) is
perfectly respectable, although text
output is a little heavy. It will be fine
for printing routine letters or an
essay for the childrens homework,
but it lacks the smooth text outlines
that you can get from some of the
best inkjet printers. If you work from
home, then you might prefer a more
expensive printer for your business
documents and letters.
Text printing is expensive, too.
The standard size black ink cartridge
(HP 302) lasts for a mere 190 pages,

and at 10.99 from Amazon that
works out at almost 6p per page.
The XL cartridge (22 from HP)
is only slightly better, bringing
the price down to 4.5p per page,
which is still well above average for
an inkjet printer.
Fortunately, colour printing is
a more attractive option all round.
The DeskJets colour graphics
work well for graphs and charts for
school reports and presentations,
although they do slow the printer
down to around 4ppm. Our postcard
photo prints turned out to be a
pleasant surprise, too. The contrast
on our glossy postcard test prints
could, perhaps, have been a little
crisper, but thats nit-picking at
this price and the DeskJet 3630
can certainly handle the occasional
selfie print for your friends.
6.5p, which is competitive for inkjet

printing. The only disadvantage
with the tri-colour cartridge is
that you have to replace the entire
cartridge even if just one of the
three inks runs out.
The 3630 can also be used with
HPs Instant Ink subscription service,
which can save you a bit more
money. However, a low-cost printer
such as this is clearly only intended
for occasional use at home, so a
monthly subscription that assumes
a certain level of regular use might
not be the best way of keeping down
your printing costs.
Verdict
The upfront cost of the DeskJet
3630 is genuinely good value for
money. The colour ink cartridges
arent too expensive either, so
you can certainly use the printer
Colour graphics work well for graphs and charts

for school reports and presentations, although
they do slow the printer down to around 4ppm
And, oddly, colour printing
turns out to be more affordable
too. The standard size tri-colour
cartridge which holds all three
cyan, magenta and yellow inks
costs 13 and lasts for about 165
pages. Thats a little under 8p
per page, which isnt bad at all,
and if you opt for the HP 302 XL
tri-colour cartridge (18.15 from
Amazon) that price drops to about
for the occasional photo print, or

for school reports or presentations
that use colour graphics. However,
the high cost of the black ink
cartridges is disappointing, and
means that the HP isnt ideal
for people who simply need an
affordable printer for letters and
other text documents unless
youre prepared to sign up to
Instant Ink. J Cliff Joseph
054_055 BT/HP 248.indd 55
15/12/2015 16:35
Reviews
COLOUR INKJET PRINTER
103
inc VAT
Brother DCP-J562DW
Contact
n
brother.co.uk
Specifications
Four-colour A4 inkjet
printer; 1200x1200dpi print
resolution; 1200x2400dpi
scanner resolution; Wi-Fi,
USB, Apple AirPrint,
Google; 100-sheet A4
paper tray, 20-sheet
photo paper tray;
400x341x150mm; 7.2kg
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Brothers new DCP-J562DW is a

compact inkjet printer that is well
suited for use at home, but its high
running costs may make you think
twice before buying.
The design of the DCP-J562DW
is attractive, measuring just
40x15x3.5cm deep, so itll fit easily
on to a desk or a nearby shelf if
youre a bit tight for space at home.
Even so, it still manages to fit in a
scanner and copier, along with two
separate trays that will hold 100
sheets of A4 paper and 20 sheets of
photo paper. Theres also a manual
feed at the back of the printer for
envelopes or other types of paper.
The DCP-J562DW provides both USB
and Wi-Fi connectivity, along with
two-sided (duplex) printing, and also
supports Apples AirPrint for iOS
devices, and Google Cloud Print for
remote printing over the Internet.
Performance
Print quality is a bit of a mixed
bag, though. Plain text printing
is very good, with smooth, finely
detailed characters, and the
DCP-J562DW managed a speed
of 9.5 pages per minute (ppm) in
our mono printing tests, which
isnt at all bad for a printer
costing just over 100.
Colour printing is a bit slower, at
around 3.5ppm, but the quality is
perfectly adequate for presentations
and other types of graphics
documents. However, photo printing
was a little disappointing, even when
using high-quality glossy photo
paper. The DCP-J562DW turned out

a 4x6in postcard print in a speedy
25 seconds, but our prints lacked
contrast and the colours looked
a little lifeless. Weve seen better
photo output from many rival
printers in this price range.
Running costs
Our biggest concern, though, is
with the printers running costs. The
first thing we noticed when setting
up the DCP-J562DW was that the
manual points out that the starter
cartridges provided with the printer
have only 80 percent of the capacity
of the standard size replacement
cartridges, which means that it
wont be too long before you have to
stump up for some new cartridges.
The standard black ink cartridges
cost a hefty 16.79 and only last
for 260 pages, which comes to
more than 6p per page. The XL size
black cartridges double the yield
to around 550 pages, but at 22.19
per cartridge that still works out
at about 4p per page, which is well
above average for an inkjet printer.
Colour printing is pricey, too.
The standard cyan, magenta, and
yellow cartridges cost 9.59 each
28.77 for all three together and
with the same 260-page yield as the
black cartridges that comes to 11p

per page. Thankfully, the XL colour
cartridges are a bit more affordable
at 14.39 each and a capacity of 550
pages. That brings the price down
to about 7.5p per page for colour,
which is closer to the average for
inkjet printers, but Brothers claim
that the DCP-J562DW provides
our lowest ever ink prices doesnt
inspire confidence. Incidentally,
we also noticed that a multi-pack
containing all four standard ink
cartridges costs 3p more than
buying the cartridges individually,
so Brother needs to have a bit of a
think about those ink prices.
Verdict
We like the compact design of
the Brother DCP-J562DW, and its
print quality for text and graphics
is good for a printer in this price
range. However, photo output could
be better and the expensive ink
cartridges will sting you in the long
run. Rivals such as Epson and HP
have done a lot recently to reduce
the running costs for their printers,
so Brother needs to do more to keep
up with innovations such as Epsons
high-capacity Ecotank printers
or HPs Instant Ink subscription
scheme. J Cliff Joseph
It manages to fit in a scanner and copier, along

with two separate trays that will hold 100 sheets
of A4 paper and 20 sheets of photo paper
056_057 Brother/Netgear 248.indd 56
15/12/2015 16:37
Reviews
POWERLINE ADAPTOR
69
inc VAT
Contact
n
netgear.co.uk
Specifications
1200Mb/s Powerline
adapters x 2; one gigabit
ethernet port per adaptor;
PLP1200 also features
PassThrough sockets.
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Netgear Powerline 1200

If your home has a smart TV, digital
video recorder (Sky+ and Tivo),
and games consoles, or if you just
need another PC away from your
modem/router, then its likely that
a Powerline network will solve
most of your download woes.
Powerline is a home-based
technology thats easy to set up,
and creates a wired home network
in a matter of minutes. It uses
your existing home electrical
wiring to transmit data from your
modem/router to the room where
all your home entertainment and
digital devices live.
The latest, fastest variant
of Powerline is labelled Gigabit
1200Mb/s, replacing older 200and 500Mb/s versions. The
Netgear Powerline 1200 is one of
this new breed of adaptors.
You should, however, forget
about the claimed speeds on any
Powerline, from any manufacturer.
These 500- or 1200Mb/s speeds are
theoretical maximums, and youll
be lucky to reach over 120Mb/s in
most real-world scenarios. Dont
worry though, as even an average
500Mb/s Powerline (offering
60- to 70Mb/s) will greatly speed
up your catch-up TV or internet
download times. The 1200Mb/s
adaptors fly in comparison.
Design
Netgear offers two versions of
the Powerline 1200. The PL1200
(pictured) is a basic system, with
one gigabit ethernet port per
adaptor (you get two in the pack,
along with two ethernet cables).
Your other option is the PLP1200,
which offers the dame features but a
PassThrough socket on the front of
each adaptor. This means you wont
lose a valuable wall power socket
in each room where you deploy the
Powerlines. This adds about 10 on
to the price, and makes the adaptors
taller too. For the extra money wed
recommend this adaptor.
But both models lack features
that you may desire. For example,
that solitary gigabit ethernet port. If
you have multiple devices (smart TV,
Sky+, games console), the solitary
gigabit ethernet port is not going to
connect everything to your network.
You can, of course, swap out
the ethernet cable to the particular
device you need at the time, but

this can be a pain. Or you can invest
an extra 20 or so on an extra
multiport Ethernet Switch.
Other Powerline adapters can
boast two or even three Ethernet
ports on that second-room adapter,
which you may want to consider
instead. If you just need the one,
then this is not a limitation that
will bother you.
Set up is easy: just plug one
adaptor into a wall power socket
near your modem/router, and
connect with the supplied ethernet
cable. Next, plug the second adaptor
in to a socket near the TV or
whatever device you want to hook
up to your network, and connect via
ethernet. Thats it.
Some other Powerline adaptors
have a wireless function that creates
a new Wi-Fi hotspot in that second
(or third or fourth) room. This is
especially useful if you suffer a
faded wireless signal in different
parts of your house. Neither of the
two Netgear Powerline 1200 models
has a wireless capacity.
adaptors and just about level with

the other 1200Mb/s Powerlines.
Our average real-world speed
score for these latest adaptors was
105Mb/s miles below the claimed
1200Mb/s but enough to greatly
improve on your home network
if you rely on standard Wi-Fi. The
Netgear adaptors reached 102Mb/s.
You may well get even faster
speeds. It all depends on your
home set up, electrical wiring,
and whatever else you have
plugged in to the circuit. Battery
chargers and microwaves, for
example, will ruin your Powerline
speeds when switched on.
Netgear admits that top speeds
will be well below the stated
Megabits Per Second rating, as the
adaptors have a traffic light LEDs
that tell you about link rate. The
lowest is Red, which Netgear calls
Good at under 50Mb/s. Amber
(Better) scores between 50and 80Mb/s. And Green (Best)
has a link rate above 80Mb/s.
Our test results of over 100Mb/s
arent bad, then.
Performance
Verdict
We always test in the same manner

and same environment, and with
the same test procedures to achieve
as close to consistent results as we
can manage. But out experience
will likely be very different to yours.
What we can be pretty sure about is
comparative speeds, and Netgears
Powerline 1200 adaptors performed
well, racing past the 500Mb/s-rated
Powerline adaptors are brilliant

for making fast and simple home
networks, and the Netgear Powerline
1200 models passed our speed and
set up tests with ease. Of the two
models we think paying extra for
the PLP1200 with PassThrough
sockets is worth the additional
expense compared to the cheaper
PL1200. J Simon Jary
056_057 Brother/Netgear 248.indd 57
15/12/2015 16:38
Reviews
GADGET
99
inc VAT
Sphero SPRK
Contact
n
sphero.com
Specifications
Robot ball controlled by

OVAL programming
language
Build:
Features:
Performance:
Value:
Sphero SPRK is a robot ball that

helps teach children (and adults)
how to program, from the basics
to complex text-based coding. Its
incredibly fun, and a real innovation
in the education, er, sphere.
Sphero has been around for a
while as a toy, with a bunch of fun
apps that let you control the ball via
your smartphone or tablet. Now that
toy has grown up to teach coding,
without losing any of its fun side.
Learn to code
Coding is now part of the UK
national primary curriculum, and
thats scary to most parents and
teachers, whose knowledge of
coding is pretty much nonexistent.

There are many great ways for
children to learn how to code. The
simple event-driven programming
language Scratch has many free
online resources, and is the usual
introduction to coding children start
with at school and home nowadays.
The basic and inexpensive
Raspberry Pi is a great first
computer, with starter kits
starting around 25. It plugs into
a television or computer display,
and runs a range of basic operating
systems for programming.
As fun as Scratch is, and as
affordable as the Raspberry Pi is,
neither is going to get you rolling
around on the floor like SPRK,
unless you trip over the Pi left
casually in front of the TV.
The SPRK adds a rolling, jumping,
colliding, colourful literal spin on
learning how to code. It looks like
a game changer both for Sphero
and teaching kids how to code.
SPRK which stands for Schools/
Parents/Robots/Kids turns all
that robotic energy potential
into a tool to teach coding skills to
kids/parents/teachers. The userfriendly app is approachable for
beginners, with its Scratch-like
visual building blocks of code.
With the tap of an icon SPRK can
reveal the underlying text-based
code using its own C-based OVAL
programming language for more

advanced programmers.
You set simple commands to roll,
flip, spin and change colour to create
increasingly complex instructions for
your Sphero robot to follow. Children
soon forget they are learning to
code, and just see programming
for exactly what it is: a series of
commands that make things happen.
And because its such fun all the fear
of coding quickly vanishes.
Sphero robot ball

The Sphero robot itself is about
the size of a tennis ball, and, unlike
previous Sphero toys, is now in a
mesmerizingly translucent shell
that shows all the robots inner
mechanism. Its like seeing C-3PO
in the nude. You can see what
happens when one of your coded
commands acts out its moves in
the ball, not just in the actions but
within the actual ball itself.
It comes with a charger, and
luckily was semi-charged out of
the box because this reviewers
nine-year-old daughter couldnt
wait to start playing/coding with
it. A full charge should give you
around an hours play.
We love that it also comes
with a very old-school cardboard
protractor, notebook and pencil,
too. This toy isnt all about screenbased learning. You need to get
058_059 Sphero 248.indd 58
15/12/2015 16:40
Reviews
on your hands and knees and plan

Spheros route, and catch it when
it spins across your floor it has a
maximum speed of 4.5mph. That
might sound slow, but you wait to
the ball speeds under your sofa.
Thats when you realise that two
metres per second is maybe quicker
than you from a standing start. You
give it a couple of hard taps to wake
it up and send it to sleep. It connects
via Bluetooth (setup is simple) and
has a range of around 100 feet.
The Sphero ball is pretty hardy. It
has to be, as kids are encouraged to
drop it six inches on to the floor and
make it collide with things.
SPRK coding
The block-based coding language
requires no previous experience
of programming, but children who
know a little Scratch will start faster
than complete novices.
You drag-and-drop actions
(colour, spin, move, change angle
of direction, speed, and so on)
in simple blocks from the apps
menu, and these commands lock
together in whatever order you
decide. Changing that order is as
easy as moving the blocks around
the screen. Even more fun is to
set actions and reactions around
events such as On Freefall, On
Collision and On Land.
Sensors give feedback regarding
heading, speed, and vertical
acceleration, and you can use these
to determine other actions, such as
If Speed is greater than 50, set LED

light to blue.
Dont worry, there are 12 sample
programs to get you started, and
you can change these to quickly
get the hang of things. When
youre more experienced you
can share your code with others
in the SPRK community.
This SPRK edition of Sphero is
compatible with the dozen or so
other fun Sphero apps, and older
Spheros can use the SPRK app, too.
We prefer the new transparent shell,
though, which is very cool.
The ball is a classic toy. Were
used to them for catching, throwing
and kicking. The sphere shape itself
is reassuring and is therefore not
intimidating unless you live on
the planet Alderaan.
Verdict
Sphero SPRK is a fantastic tool to
teach kids (and yourself) the basics
of programming. Children arent
sat at a desk staring at a screen.
Theyre running around the room,
controlling a hyper-active robot
to the extent of showing the raw

text-based code for experienced
programmers. This SPRK will light
The Sphero ball is pretty hardy. It has to be, as

kids are encouraged to drop it six inches on
to the floor and make it collide with things
using commands in an entertaining
way of learning how to code. And
SPRK grows with the user, even
a fire under kids imaginations,

creativity and coding know how.
J Simon Jary
058_059 Sphero 248.indd 59
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Reviews
GAME
30
inc VAT
Mad Max
Contact
n
madmaxgame.com
System requirements
PC; Sony PlayStation 4;

Microsoft Xbox 360
Avalanche Studios is incredibly

busy at the moment, developing
not only the third instalment of
the Just Cause series but also Mad
Max, a game reminiscent of the
film Mad Max: Fury Road. When we
say reminiscent, were not talking
about characters and storylines, but
more of an inspiration for the game.
Yes, Max is in essence the same
character, and the environment is
similar in both the game and the
film, but apart from that no other
parallels can be drawn.
Open world
Its set in a desolate postapocalyptic
world, with huge sand dunes and
vicious gangbased warfare. The
game is open world, with two main
pillars focused on exploration
and combat, both on foot and in a
vehicle. Although unknown by the
games inhabitants, players soon
discover that it is set in what would
be San Francisco, with whats left of
the Golden Gate bridge visible.
Visually, Mad Max is stunning,
especially when played on a PC
where it can really flex its graphical
muscles. You can see fine details
such as sand blowing in the wind
over dunes and the sunlight seeping
through the cracks of an abandoned,
desolate stronghold. Many open
world games fall flat with texturing,
as there is such a huge area to
cover, but Mad Max captures detail
perfectly, and buildings look as good
up close as they do from afar. It
adds a level of realism, and makes

you want to explore every nook
and cranny of the world.
Mad Max also has a dynamic
weather system, complete with
day and nighttime for a more
realistic experience. Being the
sandy wasteland it is, youll often
find yourself in the middle of a
sandstorm, which sounds like a
nightmare but has its advantages.
It reduces your visibility, giving
you the perfect opportunity to
sneak past or attack enemies.
Youll also encounter what at
first glance looks like a regular
thunder storm. If you get caught
in one, youll have to find cover
quickly, as lightning constantly
strikes the ground, devastating
everything in its path.
Cars and upgrades

So, how can you traverse such an
uninhabitable environment? With
the help of Chumbucket, your
disfigured carcrazed mechanic,
and the Magnum Opus, Maxs car.
When you start out, this is a weak
and basic vehicle thats just about
able to handle the rough terrain and
lowlevel War Boys; the enemies
youll face throughout the game.
Scavenging scrap is a huge part
of Mad Max, and is the only way
youre able to upgrade your vehicle,
and install new and deadly features.
These improvements are installed
by your mechanic, and as hes with
you throughout the game, upgrades
can be instantly applied anywhere

via the pause menu. It also means
Chumbucket is always on hand to
repair the car after every skirmish.
Scavenging scrap is a major part
of the game, mainly because you
need it to do pretty much anything.
Players can come across it in many
different ways; from destroying
scarecrows (pillars with bodies
hanging from them) to raiding and
destroying War Boy strongholds.
The only issue we have is that we
only got six or seven pieces from
a car that had taken us almost
five minutes to destroy, and when
you consider even the cheapest
upgrades costs 150 to 250 pieces of
scrap, collecting this can become a
longwinded and laborious process.
Being able to access the Garage
from the pause menu allows players
the freedom to customise their
vehicles onthefly, depending
on what they need to achieve,
as players wont be able to fully
upgrade every area of the car.
Instead, they must decide on the
characteristics of their Magnum
Opus do they want speed, armour,
destruction, offroad abilities or a
combination of everything? These
decisions, along with various Arch
Angels (preset car designs), mean
that theres a perfect setup for
every style of gameplay.
Its not just the Magnum Opus
that needs improving either. Max
can be upgraded too, from the
clothing he wears to the damage
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Reviews
he does with his fists. The good

news is that these upgrades are
usually a lot cheaper than those to
the car, and can offer advantages in
various situations. One example is
in combat, as Max can learn a series
of additional moves as he levels up
throughout the game, making him
more deadly as time goes by.
Factions
The games post-apocalyptic
environment is split between
various factions, each with a
stronghold that Max can access at
any time. Establishing a friendly
relationship with these factions by
eliminating hostile enemies and
bases yields great results, including
additional side quests and unique
upgrades for your car.
As well as eliminating the
competition, Max can scavenge
parts for stronghold utilities
that will give the player access
to ammunition, fuel and water.
Other benefits include having
faction members pick up scrap
from destroyed cars automatically,
which saves you from doing it.
Improving utilities also improves
the stronghold visually, and over
time youll be able to restore each
stronghold to its former glory.
Combat systems
Since youre going to be spending
a lot of time driving around, youll
be glad to hear that Mad Max
has one of the best in-car control
systems weve ever used, even if it
took a little bit of getting used to
at first. Its extremely satisfying to
crash into a War Boy vehicle at top
speed and see it explode in a ball of
flames and debris, and it gets even
better when they fight back. In-car
combat is dirty, gritty and can be
tackled in a number of ways using
weapons at Maxs disposal.
You could, for example, stop
the car in its tracks by firing a
harpoon at the driver and pulling
him out, an ideal move when trying
locking horns with a huge convoy.
Plus, whenever you take aim,
time slows right down and allows
you to perfectly place each shot
for maximum effect and unlike
in many other games, theres no
time limit on the slow-mo mode.
The combination of weapons and
a slow-motion aim can bring huge
chains of destruction, which is
always satisfying to see. Whenever
a car is destroyed, loot is dropped,

which is where having a clean-up
team comes in handy.
On-foot combat has a similar
free-flowing combat system to
the one we all know and love from
Warner Bros Batman game series,
which allows gamers to take on
large groups of War Boys and
still make it out the other side.
Although theres only a single
button for punching and one
for blocking/parrying, it doesnt
hinder your experience at all.
Thats mainly thanks to your
equipment a shotgun and a knife.
These can be used during combat to
help stack the odds in your favour,
with gamers able to use Maxs
shotgun to instantly execute an
enemy and intimidate those around
him. Its not just a case of button
bashing either, as different enemies
have different abilities, which keeps
the combat system fresh.
Another integral element of the
on-foot combat system is Fury mode,
which unleashes Maxs inner-beast
and takes his already dirty fighting
style to the next level. The Fury
meter will fill up when in combat,
and once full boosts Maxs attacks
much more powerful, while also
gaining access to a variety of brutal
finishers. One of these finishes
involves lifting a War Boy over
your head before slamming him
down on to your knee, breaking his

back. Weve taken on huge crowds
of over 20 War Boys and won with
a combination of hand-to-hand
combat, weapons and fury mode,
which is satisfying for us and bodes
well for the combat system overall.
Storyline
But what about the storyline, one
of the most integral parts of any
successful game? Sadly, this is one
area that is lacking. Main missions
feel like side ones collect X from
here, destroy base Y, race at location
Z, and so on and without a solid
narrative, the game falls flat on its
face. The storyline is usually our
main motivation for completing a
game, but here it feels as though
its developers have concentrated
too much on the customisation and
destruction of its post-apocalyptic
wasteland and forgotten about the
story. Dont get us wrong, we had
a great time exploring the open
world and blowing things up, but
wed like a good narrative to sink
our teeth into, too.
Verdict
Even with its weak storyline, Mad
Max is a pleasure to play. The
combat system is fantastic and
the sheer amount of violence and
explosions is enough to make
anyone happy. J Lewis Painter
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Reviews
GAME
39
inc VAT
Until Dawn
Contact
n
supermassivegames.com
System requirements
Sony PlayStation 4
PlayStation 4 exclusive Until

Dawn is, in essence, an interactive
horror film that uses a variety of
techniques to scare players more
than any other decision-based
horror game weve come across.
Its been created by UK-based
developers Supermassive Games,
which worked with Hollywood talent
to create a mature game that builds
suspense, plays on the fear of the
unknown, and utilises a blend of
common fears and anxiety triggers
for a unique experience.
The game is set atop a snowy
mountain thats only reachable
by a rickety cable car. It sees a
group of friends wanting to mark
the one-year anniversary of their
friends disappearance on the
mountain, after a prank they had
played went horribly wrong.
The game is largely based on a
choice-and-consequence system
thats a lot more impressive than
other story-based games. Players
will learn about the butterfly effect
early on in the game, and see how
every decision they make affects
the outcome. These interactions
arent just split-second hightension decisions that you have to
make, but extend to the way you
converse with the other characters
in the game. Had an argument with
someone? Dont expect them to be
there to help when you need them
most. Broken a pipe or plank of
wood? Dont plan on using it when
youre being chased or attacked.
Interestingly, a butterfly flashes

in the top-left corner whenever you
make a decision that changes the
storyline completely. This made us
question every decision we made
and their possible repercussions.
The number of potential storylines
is fascinating, and the idea that two
people could play the same game
and experience two completely
different stories based on decisions
theyve made is fantastic.
Doctor Hill
Its not just the butterfly effect
that makes this game interesting,
though. Early on youre introduced
to a shady psychiatrist named
Doctor Hill, who some gamers will
recognise as Prison Breaks Peter
Storemare. Doctor Hill breaks the
fourth wall and addresses you
directly to establish your fears and
anxiety triggers by showing you a
number of images, and making you
choose which one makes you feel
the most uneasy.
These choices include needles,
rats and clowns, and your choices
will reflect what you come across
during the game. In essence, the
game finds out your worst fears
and anxiety triggers, and uses
them to scare you even more than
a standard horror game would.
Scared of clowns or cockroaches?
You bet theyll make an appearance
at some point during the game.
However, as interesting as Doctor
Hills character was initially, he
quickly became irrelevant and by

the halfway point, we were bored
of his occasional appearances.
Interactions with him generally
reduced our fear and anxiety
levels, which in a normal situation
would be great, but not when
were playing a game designed to
scare the life out of us.
So, who are the stars of Until
Dawn? There are eight main
characters, mainly based on typical
horror film stereotypes, with a
Jock, popular girl, lovable rogue,
and so on. The developers used
state-of-the-art motion capture
technology to add a level of realism
(especially with body language) that
youd expect in a Hollywood horror
film. This is due to the inclusion of
popular actors and actresses, with
Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere
playing the role of Sam. Her
character is amazingly detailed, both
with regards to body mapping and
facial expressions, more so than any
other character in the game.
Its not just the characters that
have a high level of detail. Every
element of this game, from the
environment to the lighting, has
been meticulously designed. Even
the Hollywood-style camera angles
make you feel uneasy and feel as
though youre being watched. The
use of camera misdirection is a great
addition to the game too, and gave
us some serious scares.
The cabin (which is more like a
mansion) is a standard horror film
062_063 Until Dawn 248.indd 62
15/12/2015 16:22
Reviews
location, and its design is typical

for the genre, with a cold and
unwelcoming interior, creaky floors,
light seeping through cracks in
wooden panels, and is, of course, lit
using only candles. Its accompanied
by a number of other locations,
including a sanatorium and a fire
tower, as well as the sprawling
and ever-dangerous woods that
separate each location. In some
ways, its a shame that this is a
closed, linear game, as open world
exploration would be interesting
for a horror-based game.
Lighting plays an important
role in Until Dawn, as many of the
locations you explore are dark,
dingy and desolate. There are
usually candles or some other kind
of light source dotted around each
level, so youre not walking around
a pitch black environment. These
provide just enough light for you
to make out where youre going
without being able to clearly see
what youre walking toward. It makes
you feel on edge because youre
always aware that anything could
jump out at you at any point, and
thats absolutely fantastic.
Shadows are also used to scare
the player at various points in the
game in a very horror-esque way,
with one example being a lone
torch on the floor capturing a figure
quickly running past in an area
youre about to walk into.
The audio in Until Dawn helps
to complete the horror experience,
with regards to both the soundtrack
and in-game audio. As with many
horror films, the music is mainly
string instrument based, and will
gradually increase both in volume
and intensity as you approach the
games frightening moments. The
music also helps to increase the
pressure and panic when you have
to make split-second decisions that
often affect the outcome of the
game. In fact, it had such an affect
on us during these crucial points
that we often panicked and made
ill-thought decisions that left us
feeling frustrated about how we
acted under pressure.
However, as horror fans will
tell you, its when the music stops
that it becomes terrifying. Scenes
of complete silence are daunting,
especially when interrupted by a
loud scream or bang, which scared
us half to death on more than one
occasion. Ambient sounds from
scratching and whispering to bangs

and footsteps really plays on the
fear of the unknown, as players
become increasingly paranoid about
what could be behind any door they
open and around any corner.
The sheer attention to detail
helps the player forget that this is a
game and makes you feel like youre
watching a horror film. In fact, we
would regularly have friends over to
watch us play Until Dawn because
its just as terrifying to watch as it
is to play. Were not embarrassed
to admit we screamed and jumped
on more than one occasion.
However, it took a turn for the
worse at the halfway point and
became something slightly weird
and less scary it reminded us of
Cabin in the Woods because of
how random and disjointed the two
parts of the film became. Although
with this being said, the butterfly
effect means that the storyline we
experienced could be completely

different to the one you experience.
Verdict
Overall, we enjoyed playing Until
Dawn. Itll take around 10- to 11
hours for a complete playthrough,
which to some may be relatively
short, but with the sheer amount
of possible storylines, it deserves
multiple playthroughs as youll
experience something different
every time. The use of the choiceand-consequence system makes
playing the game more interesting,
as youll find yourself questioning
each decision you make, and the
possible outcome of your choice.
Every element of this game has
been well thought out, from the
design of the environment to the
varying camera angles used, and
the finished product is one of our
favourite decision-based horror
games ever. J Lewis Painter
062_063 Until Dawn 248.indd 63
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Reviews
GAME
49
inc VAT
Assassins Creed: Syndicate
Contact
n
assassinscreed.ubi.com
System requirements
PC; Sony PlayStation 4;

Microsoft Xbox 360
Another year, another 30-odd hours

of our life and another Assassins
Creed. Its tempting to call Syndicate
a return to form because, well, it
is. Its the best offering since Black
Flag, which was in turn the best
since Brotherhood, and on we go
back to 2007 when this whole series
started and the idea seemed fresh
and intriguing. We miss those days.
The truth is that even a great
Assassins Creed game has that
weve been there before feeling.
Syndicate keeps the dialogue light
and snappy, ditches the companion
app, pares back (a bit) the amount
of pointless filler missions,
and shows off a breathtaking
rendition of Victorian London.
However, its still Assassins
Creed. You climb buildings, leap into
haystacks, stab people with your
hidden blade, someone finds yet
another Piece of Eden, the Templar
get angry and the assassins kill
them. Its been eight years since the
first in the series and weve played
this game nine times now.
If Syndicate is saved from
mediocrity, its because of the
quality of its lead characters: the
brother/sister assassin duo of Jacob
and Evie Frye. Jacob plays the now
familiar role of Ezio in a different
period of time, wisecracking his way
through situations and generally
not giving a damn about the Creed
part of Assassins Creed, while Evie
is more level-headed and focused
on the brotherhoods teachings.
Their sibling rivalry leads to

Syndicates best moments, the pair
levelling barbs at each other and
adding some much-needed levity
to the proceedings something
Assassins Creed Unity was sorely
missing. Even Evie, the more
practical of the two, is full of witty
one-liners, and always equipped with
a sigh and a snide jab when Jacob
screws up, as he inevitably does.
Its not the most unique dynamic,
but it keeps Syndicate moving.
The rest of the cast is less
successful, though, with cameos that
often go nowhere and feel largely
interchangeable. Alexander Graham
Bell, for example, shows up and then
disappears from the story after you
complete some menial tasks for
him. Charles Dickens stays around
for slightly longer, so you can hunt
Londons ghosts. Unfortunately,
his side missions suffer at the
hands of some poor pacing and
Assassins Creeds limited, stale
set of missions: follow this guy,
kill this one, chase another, steal
something. Syndicate even feels like
a step backward from Unity in this
regard, where at least the French
Revolutions murder mysteries
broke up the proceedings a little.
Worst of all are the various
complete this task to liberate a
district missions which, again, fall
into the kill this guy(s) category,
but without even a thin guise of a
story to make you care. And with
around 40 districts to liberate, youll
have your fill of all these activities

long before youve scrubbed the
Templars off Londons map.
The song remains the same

Assassins Creed has started to feel
almost like a semi-interactive art
showcase, a massive tech demo for
photorealistic recreations of various
periods in history. We dont say this
with any malice. On the contrary,
Syndicate is a stunning achievement
of historical tourism. The sprawling
green lawns of Westminster, the
crowded and crooked apartments
of Whitechapel, the muddy banks of
the Thames. All are rendered with
an incredible level of detail.
There is nothing to do, though.
Syndicate is an exquisite model
railway, running around its toy track
to the hum of whirring gears and
clockwork. Whats disappointing is
that at one point Assassins Creed
truly was novel. We still remember
the excitement around the first
game in the series, way back in
2007. Despite the lacklustre and
repetitive mission structure, there
was much to be admired the
(impressive at the time) parkour,
the grim story, the reactive crowds,
the size of the world and the way it
blended historic fact and legend. But
the longer Assassins Creed series
goes without a major overhaul
of its core design principles, the
more it feels like a weird holdover
from another era 2010 when
Brotherhood was released.
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Reviews
Even after Unitys tweaks the

parkour feels stilted, and the
introduction of a grappling hook
that lets you bound to the top of a
building with the press of a button
renders your characters climbing
skills virtually redundant.
The stories are predictable, and
the modern-day aspect now resides
in a hellish limbo still present
enough to annoy those who dont
care, but minimised to the point it
feels inconsequential. Syndicate
takes this to an extreme, forcing all
of its present-day exposition into
tedious cut scenes.
And the crowds, which Ubisoft
pushed hard in Unity, are a victim
of that games bug-ridden delivery.
Syndicates London feels stagnant
and empty by comparison, with not
a single crowd that can match what
we saw in Unity in 2014. At one point
in the story, characters in Syndicate
tell you that all of London is rioting.
If it was, it was a very quiet riot the
type where nothing gets broken and
people say Good day to each other
in the streets. Contrast that with
Unitys depiction of Paris burning.
The world keeps getting bigger
and more detailed, though. Its
the one consistent improvement
every year, and Ubisoft boasts that
Syndicates London is the largest of
any of the Assassins Creed cities.
Congratulations to the art team
and to those who researched the
period. It would, however, be more
impressive if there were anything
to fill up that space besides halfhearted stabs at side content and
a bunch of collectibles.
A note on bugs
Verdict
Its worth officially codifying the

games bugs, too. Although its
better than its predecessor
Unity thats nothing to boast about,
and we still have issues with it.
For starters, we experienced
a few crashes to the desktop,
while the load screens seemed to
get exponentially lengthier the
further we got into the game, and
AI companions would occasionally
get locked in place and force us to
restart from a checkpoint. Other
problems include the world turning
completely white, plus a main story
mission that froze and then crashed
every time a conversation ended.
That last one is a known issue, and
the only solution at the moment is
to race to your destination before
the conversation ends to force the
next stage of the quest to load.
For all weve said about Assassins

Creed as a whole, Syndicate is at
least one of the better entries in
the series. And there is admittedly
a certain charm to familiarity a
ritualistic quality, as every year we
load up the latest entry and proceed
through its reskinned content.
Assassins Creed has, however,
long since been surpassed by its
imitators, from Mad Max (page 62)
to Batman Arkham City and Tomb
Raider. What they lack in recreating
a period of history, they make up
for by offering something different.
Can Assassins Creed change?
If anything, Ubisoft has gone in the
opposite direction lately, with lots
of talk about bringing the series
back to its roots as if it had ever
strayed very far in the first place.
J Hayden Dingman
064_065 Assassins Creed 248.indd 65
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GROUP TEST
Gaming
Laptops
Andrew Harrison puts five of the best laptops for gaming through their paces
hen it comes to high-end Windows

gaming, its a doddle to find a
powerful PC system that will play
the most arduous of action titles, all-day long
and at the highest detail on high-resolution
displays. Todays challenge is to squeeze that
kind of performance into something quiet
and portable, a gaming laptop that can be
carried as easily as any other laptop.
Weve come close with workstation-class
gaming behemoths, but they weighed well
in excess of 3kg, required a mains brick
that brought that mass closer to 5kg, and
sounded (and felt) like a salon hair dryer
once the onboard cooling kicked in.
Thankfully the two heavyweights in
computing silicon, Intel and nVidia, have
come to understand that the demand is
now for power efficiency to make central
and graphics processors that carefully
sip precious power rather than guzzle it,
066_075 Gaming Laptops GT 248.indd 66
making their chips run cooler in confined

spaces and without the need for huge fans
or liquid cooling systems. And, of course,
lower power means longer battery life.
How to choose a gaming laptop

If youre looking for a laptop that can take
on modern games, the graphics processor is
the most influential component, the part that
controls whether your game runs at five- or
50 frames per second (fps). But it does need
back up. This means a capable main system
processor, enough system RAM to keep
applications stored in memory, sizeable and
fast drives to store games and other files,
a great screen to view the action on, and a
good chassis to bear all these components.
Currently Intel and nVidia are favoured
for both listed processor duties, with AMDs
mobile CPUs and graphics processors lagging
behind in performance and efficiency.
From Intel, the new sixth-generation

Core series processors (codename:
Skylake) are well suited to the CPU task,
being even more power efficient while
getting the same amount of work done.
One laptop maker Schenker has even
managed to shoehorn in a desktop Skylake
processor into its XMG U506.
For graphics processors, nVidias 800
and 900 Series have made breakthroughs in
power efficiency, allowing performance that
compares with recent desktop cards, but cool
enough to slip into the confines of a laptop.
Laptop screens have also improved,
with screen resolutions now settling at
full-HD, 1920x1080 pixels, and using better
technology than the basic TN type found
on cheap portables. Look out for IPS
panels which offer wide and consistent
viewing from all angles, better contrast
ratio and wider colour gamuts. Dont be
TEST CENTRE
17/12/2015 15:36
GROUP TEST
Photography by Dominik Tomaszewski
misled by boasts about screen brightness

contrast ratio, especially at lower brightness
settings, is far more important than
dazzling your eyes with 300cd/m2 figures.
Its also easier to find screens now with
more practical anti-glare finishes, reversing
the trend of high-gloss reflective panels
that were once unavoidable from most
brands. And you can usually ignore the
trend for greater-than-HD resolution, since
graphics processors struggle with UHD (4K)
resolutions. For most gamers, 1920x1080
is a happy compromise between glorious
onscreen detail and playable framerates.
For storage, a solid-state drive will greatly

improve the user experience when it comes
to booting a PC, launching programs and
opening and saving files. It wont make your
games run faster, although it may reduce any
short pauses between levels. Nevertheless
an SSD is always recommended, with the
option of a second, traditional capacious
hard disk inside to keep your games stored.
Some gamers like to use headphones or
headsets, especially in multi-player settings,
but if you dont anticipate spending your
time donning ear defenders you should
still find that modern gaming laptops run
Laptop screens have also improved, with screen resolutions

now settling at full-HD, 1920x1080 pixels, and using better
technology than the basic TN type found on cheap portables
TEST CENTRE
quieter today. Which means you may get to

appreciate the built-in stereo speakers.
Some sport brand badges to suggest
bespoke audio systems weve seen B&O,
Dynaudio, Harman, Klipsch and Onkyo
put their names to tinny laptop speakers,
although in our experience, to date these are
more window dressing, with some of the best
sounding laptops bearing no fancy badges.
Battery life is less a concern for gaming
laptops, although thats more a historical
resignation caused by the difficulty in
combining fast graphics with svelte and
mains-dodging laptops. Most model let you
switch between the fast nVidia graphics and
the less powerful and more power-efficient
Intel chip to extend battery life.
Finally, dont overlook warranty. If
youre spending the best part of a thousand
pounds or more youll want good
protection should anything go wrong.
17/12/2015 15:36
Group test: Gaming laptops
ASUS G501JW-F1201H
1,299 inc VAT asus.co.uk

If you like the style of Apples 15in MacBook Pro but need a laptop
for Windows gaming, then the G501JW could be the machine youre
looking for. It comes with an nVidia GTX 960M for smooth gaming,
and an ultra-high resolution 4K display for sharper graphics.
Thats not to say you can combine the two, though the latest
notebook graphic processors are fast but not capable of playing
action games at UHD resolution without struggling.
In our tests, the G501JW could average 32fps in Batman:
Arkham City at 3840x2160 with middling Normal detail albeit
with dips to 20fps that may prove troubling. Tomb Raider at the
same settings averaged 27fps, also too close for comfort.
Halve the resolution up and down to 1920x1080 though, and
youre smoking with 55fps of Batman at maximum Extreme detail;
and 51fps in Tomb Raiders Ultra settings. The latters top Ultimate
detail was less assured at 34fps average and 25fps minimum.
The G501JW is all-black, and its construction is a plastic sandwich
with metal lid back and bottom. But the size and weight 21mm thick
and 2kg the curve across lid and bottom, corner radii and hinge
design look similar to Apples MacBook Air.
The 15.6in Samsung 4K IPS display is matt-finished (so theres
minimal glare) and fractionally smaller overall than Apples 15.4in
due to the 16:9 ratio. Asus sets scaling to 200 percent to replicate OS
Xs Retina look, with the UHD panel rendering so Windows appears as
it would on a screen with a full HD resolution of 1920x1080. Windows
8.1 is supplied, but you can upgrade for free to Windows 10. It may
prove too high a resolution for gaming, but it can be put to great use
for viewing and editing photos and video.
Around the edges youll find three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and
Thunderbolt, plus an SDXC slot and headset jack. Trim details are in
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
red, including screen piping and monochomatic keyboard backlight.
The keys feels reassuringly well-damped, although the trackpad
lacks the precision we prefer from a 1,300 laptop.
For storage Asus includes another Samsung strength, the SM951
SSD in generous 512GB form. This fast PCIe x4 drive is a great match
for a fast machine. Its the same model but twice the size as the
firms 17in G751GT has. The fourth-generation Intel Core i7-4720HQ
remains a popular part for gaming laptops, more than fast enough
to accompany the GPU. With the single 8GB stick of 1600MHz RAM it
allowed decent Geekbench scores of 3494 and 12,801 points, singleand multi-core modes. Leveraging the meaty graphics, PCMark
8 Home complete with 3018 points. The IPS display was vibrant
covering 97 percent sRGB, with good if not great contrast up to
530:1. Accuracy could be bettered too with Delta E average of 3.43.
Switching to Intel graphics, the G501JW lasts for four hours 30
minutes in our streaming video test. Thats not bad for a gaming
laptop, but half the runtime of the non-gaming competition.
VERDICT: Asus has assembled a fast and lightweight gaming laptop,
with good results. The 4K-UHD screen is perhaps more about pose
than performance but at full-HD resolution this machine takes
Windows games in its stride at high detail.
If you like the style of Apples MacBook Pro

but need a laptop for Windows gaming, then
the G501JW could be the machine for you
TEST CENTRE
17/12/2015 15:36
DELL INSPIRON 15 7559
999 inc VAT dell.com/uk

The line that divides business and consumer laptops can be blurred
today, and never more so than the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Series. It has
the no-nonsense square build of a business machine, sober black and
conformist, yet Dell positions the new Inspiron for work or home.
You can buy the 7559 from Dells website. The range is called the
Inspiron 15 7000, and the base model costs 749. For that you get
only a 1080p screen rather than the 4K panel on the 999 model
reviewed here. You dont get an SSD in addition to the 1TB hard drive,
either, and only half of the 16GB of RAM. A middle-ground version has
the 4K screen, but no SSD and only 8GB of RAM for 849.
Underscoring its business credentials, its a sturdy lump of a
laptop, weighing nearly 2.8kg, betraying almost no flex on its stiff
noir chassis. Lifting it open is a physical effort, courtesy of stiff
hinges and a chunky lid holding a 4K UHD display with thick glass
touch-panel frontispiece. All that mass doesnt prevent lid wobble
should you touch the screen, and an absence of an anti-reflective
coating turns the screen into a 15.6in mirror outside darkened rooms.
The main processor is the latest quad-core Intel Core i7-6700HQ
running at 2.6GHz, albeit with last-gen DDR3L memory from two
8GB sticks. More important to system responsiveness, the C:
drive is a 128GB SSD. Its budget Hynix SATA flash storage thats
complemented by a more sedate one-terabyte D: disk.
Some pro users demand powerful graphics if theyre running
creative or scientific software that can reap the rewards of GPU
acceleration. But we suspect the larger audience for Dells choice
of nVidia GTX 960M will be gamers who understand this discrete
processors potential.
Overall build quality is very satisfactory, although the rubbery
finish on lid and top deck easily picks up unsightly fingerprints. We
TEST CENTRE
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
found the keyboard particularly classy, precise and quiet, although
the US layout on our sample meant a half-height Return key. The
UK version should have the standard double-height key.
Less attractive was the noisy trackpad, reasonably accurate but
with an annoying dull clunk evinced from every single finger tap. If
you use the 7559 in a reference library, expect scathing looks.
Two internal fans is not unusual for quad-core 15in laptops
but Dell fits three large air vents to secure ventilation. Following
good business practice, the bottom panel can be removed to allow
exchange of storage, memory, wireless card and battery service.
The new Skylake quad-core chip here beats an older chip at
same frequency, a Haswell (fourth-generation) Core i7-4720HQ.
Okay, so it beats it by only 2 percent or less in Geekbench (3577
and 12878 points compared to 3494 and 12801 from the Asus
G501). PCMark 8 Home returned a great result of 3018 points
using OpenCL acceleration; 2621 points without.
The nVidia graphics propelled the Dell in gaming to 55fps for
Batman: Arkham City at full-HD with all the stops out. Likewise,
Tomb Raider at Ultimate detail was possible, if now averaging
only 34fps. You could even experiment with UHD resolution we
recorded 27fps with Normal detail.
The touchscreen is an IPS panel for decent image quality. We
measured contrast ratio at 500:1 and theres 97 percent coverage of
the sRGB standard. Battery life was a usable five hours 27 minutes
streaming video wirelessly, if short for the large 74Wh battery.
VERDICT: The Inspirons powerful discrete graphics will please gamers,
although the reflective screen and a trying trackpad knock points off
usability. If you can live with these foibles, its good value.
17/12/2015 15:36
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HP OMEN 15-5001na
1,299 inc VAT hp.com/uk

The HP Omen is a 15in gaming portable among company like
Alienware, a lifestyle games machine with performance to match.
It includes an nVidia GTX 860 with 4GB memory not cutting-edge
but certainly fast for recent games. Its processor is the heavyhitting 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4710HQ, while storage is solid-state and
PCIe-attached just like the best.
What sets the Omen 15 apart is its unique shape. It continues
the angular theme set by others, only builds the main chassis as an
inverted and truncated pyramid; sides are bevelled at a sharp rake,
right up to and into the lid frame. Viewed on the desk, it appears
to be levitating. Other idiosyncratic touches: red lights pulsating
through perforated patches left and right on the deck. And a screen
hinge that resembles a nickel-plated gun barrel, complete with steel
temper colours decorating each end.
That incendiary theme continues in the coal-red glow from rear
exhaust grilles, safely lit by cool red LEDs. Like other circa-20mm
gaming laptops, the HP Omen 15 does run a little warmer and noisier
than regular machines, but not unduly so.
Angled sides pushes all I/O ports to the back handy for a cleaner
desk but tedious for plugging routines. Choose from four USB 3.0,
Mini DisplayPort and HDMI, plus headset jack. Missing in action is
ethernet; and of course the HP Omen 15 has no optical drive.
At 104mm, the trackpad is the widest yet. The backlit keyboard
is remarkable too - keys are low set with reduced travel but what
took time to acquaint was dead-central chassis placement. Most 15in
Windows laptops add a numberpad to fill the wider deck, awkwardly
offsetting keyboard far too left. Here HP has added a row of macro
buttons, P1-6, down the left, pushing keyboard unusually rightward.
Our fingers frequently misaligned by one key.
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
Storage is a 256GB M.2 SSD, four-lane PCIe but v2.0 so just
behind the curve. Wi-Fi is throttled to pre-2007 standards by
single-band 11n. Fast quad-core and PCIe SSD make the HP Omen
15 a quick laptop, scoring 3096 points in PCMark 8 Home, rising
to 3494 points with GPGPU assistance. Geekbench scored it 3446
points, or 12,936 all cores.
The IPS display has potential, but is marred by an untreated
mirror finish and gimmicky touch control, particularly redundant
on a gaming laptop. The HP Omen 15 almost covered full sRGB
gamut (97 percent), and had 580:1 contrast ratio. Colour accuracy
was so-so, averaged at 4.0 Delta E. But the backlight is cheap
PWM, meaning flicker. Like most touchscreen laptops, the panel
wobbles disconcertingly whenever its tapped.
Gaming is the key metric here, and as portended the Omen
15 coped well, averaging 53fps even in Metro: Last Light (full-HD,
High). Extreme detail in Batman: Arkham City at native res allowed
59fps; Ultimate settings in Tomb Raider gave a more controvertible
32fps. Battery life was just three hours 58 minutes.
VERDICT: The shiny touchscreen is a pointless ostentation raising the
price and weight besides sapping power, and network connectivity is
limited. Otherwise its a well built, stylish and speedy gaming laptop.
The HP Omen 15 continues the angular

theme set by others, only builds the main
chassis as an inverted and truncated pyramid
TEST CENTRE
17/12/2015 15:36
SCHENKER XMG U506
1585 inc VAT hp.com/uk

Looking for the very latest sixthgeneration Intel Skylake
processor in your next PC? Silicon stocks for mobile may be limited
but Schenker UK has managed to cram one into a laptop.
The U506 is powered by a desktopclass Intel Core i5 quadcore
CPU, on this model the 6600K variant, although options include
6600, 6700 and 6700K. The allimportant graphics for gaming are
either nVidia GTX 980M or as here 970M. You can load up to 32GB
system memory, and this new generation ushers in DDR4 for the
first time. Our sample had 8GB of 2400MHz on two sticks.
Storage options abound. There are four bays available, two each
for 2.5in SATA and M.2 2280. And its M.2 spec goes all the way
to PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe. Schenker is currently fitting up to Samsung
SM951 (AHCI), but 950 PRO (NVMe) will soon follow.
Thanks to the desktopclass CPU and X170 chipset, this machine
also packs Thunderbolt 3.0 and USB 3.1 on a combined USBC port,
beating even Apple to market with 40Gb/s Thunderbolt.
Ordinarily, fitting desktop CPUs to notebooks is a complete
nono for reasons of heat and battery demand, yet this chips TDP
of only 91W using latest Skylake power management really works
here. The generous 38mm chassis, two fans and plentiful heat
pipes assist thermal management. In use, fans were no louder
than other gaming laptops; and with its 82Wh removable battery
The Schenker XMG U506s display is another

crowning achievement, a matt IPS panel with
superb image quality and little glare
TEST CENTRE
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
the U506 survived two hours 23 minutes of streaming video
wirelessly through its 2x2 802.11ac WiFi.
Build quality is outhouseclass, chunky and utilitarian, but
eminently serviceable, with two slideoff underside plates for
component access. Its an enthusiast machine through and through.
The display is another crowning achievement, a matt IPS panel
with superb image quality and little glare. The fullHD panel had up
to 630:1 contrast ratio and 90 percent sRGB gamut. NVidia 970M
graphics are central to gameplay, allowing maxedout settings for
one display in typical games. With 6GB of memory, two DisplayPort
1.2 and HDMI 2.0 you can also connect external displays.
With GSync disengaged, the U506 averaged 113fps in Highdetail
Tomb Raider, and 58fps set to Ultimate. Batman: Arkham City started
at 115fps and was still playing 86fps in top Extreme mode. Averaging
27fps, Metro: Last Light in Very High with all effects could be
upgraded to 88fps by reducing effects and setting to High instead.
Beyond gaming, it averaged 12784 points in Geekbench 3 from
this nonHyper Threading 3.5GHz CPU; or a recordbeating 4182
points singlecore. PCMark 8 Home returned a round 4000 points,
very much a superior desktop result.
VERDICT: Slipping a performance desktop PC processor into a laptop
may seem lunacy, but Schenker gets away with it, aided by the 14nm
Skylake architecture. How much it actually helps gaming is moot,
since weve seen nVidia GTX 970M run as fast, or faster, in laptops
with mobileclass chips. Besides benchmarkbusing results, Skylake
also means stateoftheart connectivity such as Thunderbolt 3. As
a workstation gaming or CAD the chassis and top components
make a powerhouse with real performance to spare.
17/12/2015 15:36
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TOSHIBA SATELLITE P50T-C-109
799 inc VAT toshiba.co.uk

Toshibas P50T bears the Satellite name of its cheapest consumer
laptops, but this model has price and components that place it
toward the top of the mid-range category.
Its a 15in model with a UHD 4K touchscreen display, built around
a partly metal-clad chassis to improve its looks and resilience. The
back and top of the lid have a veneer of brushed aluminium with a
champagne finish, above a textured black plastic underside. While
the battery is not readily removable, it can be released with two
screws. A legacy of the screens touch sensitivity and high resolution
is lousy battery life, just three hours 20 minutes in our tests.
The screen has visibility issues; not from the matrix, which is a
UHD IGZO offering from Sharp, but from the absence of reflectionreducing treatment and consequent high-gloss reflectivity. Also
apparent was a sparkling grain structure visible in light areas. It
measured well, though, covering 97 percent sRGB gamut, 74 percent
Adobe RGB, and with an excellent contrast ratio up to 770:1. Colour
accuracy was outstanding too at 0.78 average Delta E.
Powering the P50T-C-109 is a dual-core Intel Core i5 at 2.2GHz,
backed with 12GB memory and 1TB hybrid disk drive including a sliver
of flash memory. Graphics are courtesy of nVidia GeForce GTX 950M,
a GPU that allows Windows gaming up to full-HD resolution at least.
Batman: Arkham City averaged 48fps at this resolution and High
detail, falling to 36fps at maximum Extreme. Even Metro: Last Light
could play at High detail (35fps) while Tomb Raider was still usable
at Ultra detail (33fps) if not Ultimate (23fps). Forget about gaming
at native UHD resolution though.
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
The Satellite P50T also features a Blu-ray drive able to write and
read BDs besides DVD media. Its tray kept popping out whenever
the laptop was picked up, though.
Connectors are typical for a mid-range model, with three USB 3.0
ports, ethernet and an SD card slot, though only one video output,
HDMI 1.4, limited to 1600p/60. Its unlikely youd want to connect
a second 4K display, but if you do, this is going to be a problem. A
2560x1440 screen will be fine, though.
While the laptop lands with Windows 8.1, our sample had been
changed to 10, and a Cortana button can be found on the F1 key. The
keyboard is a high-quality design, with a reassuringly firm frame
and professional slick action. Toshibas chosen Synaptics trackpad is
better than budget too, a large and buttonless design.
The use of a hybrid disk drive and up-to-date Intel processor
means the P50T feels reasonably fluent in use. Geekbench 3 scored
the system with 5460 points using all processor cores, and 2766
points single-core. The PCMark 8 Home results were less convincing,
just 1797 points, lifted marginally to 2128 points with the help of
graphics acceleration.
VERDICT: The Satellite P50T has high-end touches on a mid-range
model, such as UHD IGZO screen and nVidia gaming graphics, plus
some metal machining to suggest premium build. Its let down by
a reflective screen and lousy battery life. Despite underwhelming
benchmark results, it should be speedy enough for general duties.
TEST CENTRE
17/12/2015 15:36
The Asus has a decent 4K panel with a matt-finish screen.

There are a few annoyances though, such as the lack of
an ethernet port and relatively limited storage
Conclusion
Its hard to pick a winner from the selection
here. Each model offers a compelling reason
to buy it, but also at least one reason not to.
The cheapest model here the Toshiba
has a decent 4K screen and good power for
the money, but some will be put off by the
reflective touchscreen and poor battery life.
If youre looking for more power, the
Schenker delivers in spades thanks to its
desktop processor. But it doesnt really
improve gaming performance and its hardly
the last word in portability or style. We do
like its matt screen finish, though.
A cheaper option is the Asus, which
also has a matt-finish screen. Here its a
4K panel and a good one. There are a few
annoyances, though, such as the lack of
an ethernet port (an adaptor is supplied)
and relatively limited storage.
The HP Omens styling might appeal
to you, but the relatively high price would
appear to be due to the unnecessary
TEST CENTRE
touchscreen as there are odd corners cut

elsewhere such as the single-band 802.11n
Wi-Fi. The 256GB PCIe 2.0 SSD is stingy, too.
This means the brand new Dell Inspiron
15 7559 is left. It hits the sweet spot by
costing less than a grand, coming
with the latest Skylake Core
i7, a powerful-enough GTX
960M GPU, decent storage
and a great 4K screen. The
only disadvantages are
the screens glossy finish,
a noisy trackpad and
some people will miss
an optical drive.
Weve chosen 15.6in
laptops here, but if
youre looking for
something larger,
then consider Asus
larger G751JT. The
shiny touchscreen is
a pointless ostentation raising price and

weight besides sapping power, and network
connectivity is limited. Otherwise the
HP Omen 15 is a nicely built, stylish and
speedy gaming laptop. J
17/12/2015 16:15
BES
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PERFORM
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Speed tests
PCMark 8 & Home
Batman: Arkham Asylum (1080p Extreme)
ASUS
DELL
Model
G501JW-F1201H
Inspiron 15 7599
OS
Windows 8.1 Pro
Windows 10 Home
Display size
15.6in (3840x2160, 282ppi)
15.6in (3840x2160, 282ppi)
Display type
IPS matt anti-glare
IPS gloss
Processor
2.6GHz Intel Core i7-4720HQ (3.6GHz Turbo) 4C, 8T
2.6GHz Intel Core i7-6700 (3.6GHz Turbo) 4C, 8T
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 5100 +

nVidia GeForce GTX 960M (4GB GDDR5)

Memory
8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
16GB (2x 8GB) 1600MHz DDR3L
Storage
512GB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD

(Samsung SM951)
1TB 5400rpm HDD + 128GB M.2 SATA SSD

(Hynix SC300)
Ethernet
10/100 USB adaptor supplied
Gigabit ethernet
Wi-Fi
802.11ac 2X2 MIMO
802.11ac 1x1 MIMO
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Cellular
N/A
N/A
Optical drive
None
None
USB
3x USB 3.0
3x USB 3.0
Video ports
HDMI 1.2
HDMI 1.4
Card slot
SDXC
SDXC
Speakers
Stereo
Stereo
Webcam
0.9Mp
0.9Mp
Microphone
Single mic
Dual array mic
Audio IO
3.5mm headset jack
3.5mm headset jack
Keyboard
UK tiled with numberpad, two-level red backlight
UK tiled with numberpad and white backlight
Trackpad
Buttonless multitouch, 104x73mm
Buttonless multitouch, 105x90mm
Battery
96Wh lithium-ion , non removable
74Wh lithium-ion, non-removable
Power charger
120W wall charger
130W mains charger with IEC C6 inlet
Dimensions
381x255x20.6mm
383x265x26.1mm
Weight
2122g
2766g
1,299 inc VAT (1,082 ex VAT)
999 inc VAT (832 ex VAT)
TEST CENTRE
17/12/2015 15:37
Tomb Raider (1080p Ultra)
Battery life
HP
SCHENKER
TOSHIBA
Omen 15-5001na
XMG U506
Satellite P50T-C-109
Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1 Pro
Windows 8.1 with Bing
15.6in (1920x1080, 141ppi) touchscreen
15.6in (1920x1080, 141ppi)
15.6in (3840x2160, 282ppi) touchscreen
IPS gloss
IPS matt anti-glare
IPS gloss
2.5GHz Intel Core i7-4710MQ (3.5GHz Turbo) 4C, 8T
3.5GHz Intel Core i5-6600K (3.6GHz Turbo) 4C, 4T
2.2GHz Intel Core i5-5200U (2.7GHz Turbo) 2C, 4T

nVidia GeForce GTX 860 (4GB GDDR5)


nVidia GeForce GTX 950M (4GB DDR3)
8GB 1600MHz DDR3
8GB (2x 4GB) 2400MHz DDR4
12GB (1x 8GB, 1x 4GB) 1600MHz DDR3
256GB M.2 PCIe 2.0 x4 SSD

(Samsung XP941)
1TB 7200rpm HDD + 256GB M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD

(Samsung SM951)
1TB 5400rpm SSHD
USB ethernet adaptor
Gigabit ethernet
Gigabit ethernet
802.11n 2X2 MIMO
802.11ac 2X2 MIMO
802.11ac 1x1 MIMO
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
N/A
Optional in spare M.2 slot
N/A
None
None
BDRE/DVDRW, trayload
4x USB 3.0
1x USB-C (Thunderbolt 3.0 and USB 3.1),

3x USB 3.0, 1x eSATA/USB 3.0
3x USB 3.0
Mini DisplayPort, HDMI
2x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x HDMI 2.0
HDMI
SDXC
SDXC
SDXC
Stereo
Stereo
Stereo
2.1Mp
2Mp
0.9Mp
Single mic
Dual array mic
Single mic
3.5mm headset jack
3.5mm headset jack
3.5 mm headset jack
UK tiled with adjustable colour backlight
UK tiled with numberpad, multicolour backlight
UK tiled with numberpad
Buttonless, 140x65mm
Two-button with fingerprint sensor 108x62mm
Buttonless, 106x66mm
82Wh lithium-ion, removable
90W mains adaptor with IEC C5 inlet
382x249x20.8mm
387x266x37.5mm
380x257x23.7mm
2150g
3350g
2333g
1,299 inc VAT (1,08284 ex VAT)
TEST CENTRE
1,585 inc VAT (1,320 ex VAT)
17/12/2015 15:37
GROUP TEST
If the worst happens and youre involved in an accident, dash cams are a great
way of proving responsibility. Jim Martin looks at five of the latest models
ash cams, also known as car DVRs

or dashboard cameras, record
while youre driving, so you have
evidence of what happened in the event
of an accident. Footage is now generally
accepted by insurers as evidence of fault in
an accident, and its also admissible in court.
Using a dash cam to record your
driving can reduce your insurance policy
by around 10- or 15 percent. For example,
Adrian Flux offers a 15 percent discount if
you have one of the cameras listed on its
website (tinyurl.com/pgzwfah). AXA and
Swiftcover also offer discounts.
Watch out for a clause in your policy
which says that an insurer can demand
footage from your journey in the event of
a claim, as it may show you are at fault.
Certain cameras record the speed at which
youre travelling, embedding it in the video,
and will show if you were speeding. Prices
range from around 20 to 200, so theres
a model thats affordable for everyone.
However, cheap models tend to lack features
and wont record great-quality footage.
Features
GPS: This allows the camera to record your
route as well as your speed. The GPS data is
synched up with the video clips when played
back in special software, so you can watch
076_085 Dashcams GT 248**.indd 76
the footage and see your location on a map.

Some GPS receivers are external and have
a long wire so they can be mounted out of
sight. Others are part of the suction mount,
while yet others are inside the camera itself.
G-sensor: This detects impacts and usually
automatically begins a recording, which is
then locked to prevent it being deleted.
Parking mode: This may use the G-sensor,
but is specifically for recording moments
when your car is bumped or hit while parked.
It doesnt guarantee you will see what
happened, of course, as the camera points in
only one direction. Also, most manufacturers
dont recommend leaving the camera turned
on when parked as it can drain the battery.
Plus, many cars cut power to the accessory
socket when you turn off the ignition, so you
may need to get the camera hard-wired by a
professional to use this feature.
Resolution: Most cameras record at
1920x1080 (1080p), though some offer
higher resolutions, such as 2K typically
2560x1440 and even 4K, which is
3840x2160. A higher resolution is generally
better as it means more detail. Sometimes
that detail such as a car registration will
be crucial. This is why cheap dash cams
arent always the bargain they appear. If

they record at only 720p (or lower) you may
not be able to see the details you need in
the video. However, they will show how you
were driving and what happened in front
before and during an incident.
Along with resolution is frame rate. For
smooth video you need at least 30 frames
per second, but many cameras offer double
this speed. Frame rate usually increases as
resolution decreases, and this is why, for
example, the SJCAM SJ5000 can record 4K
at only 24fps (and it isnt even true 4K).
microSD card: Storage isnt usually an issue
because all dash cams record on a loop. This
means they record for a couple of minutes,
then automatically start a new file without
a break. Once the memory card is full, it
begins overwriting the oldest file. Unless you
need a complete record of your journey you
shouldnt need a huge memory card.
Bear in mind that only some cameras
come with microSD cards. For those that
dont, look for a Class 10 card (or better) as
HD video recording requires a card with a
fast write speed. Slower cards may cause
problems and may not work at all.
Wi-Fi: Cameras with Wi-Fi usually allow
you to install an app and view recordings
TEST CENTRE
22/12/2015 09:34
GROUP TEST
Photography by Dominik Tomaszewski
from your phone or tablet. This can be

useful, especially if it lets you download
recordings as this is a much easier way
to save them than removing the SD card
(or even the dash cam from the car) and
transferring the files to a laptop. It also
means you can see more detail than on
the small, often low-resolution screens
on the dash cams themselves.
Safety features: Some cameras have
extra features which warn you when you
veer out of your lane, or you get too close
to the car in front. These are useful if
they only operate over a certain speed.
Otherwise they tend to beep all the time
in town driving, and so will be quickly
disabled. If a dash cam has a GPS, it may
provide safety camera alerts.
Other features such as time-lapse
recording, or slow-motion modes, can be
fun, but arent essential. More expensive
cameras may have two lenses, one that
faces forward and one rearward. This
means you can record what happens
behind you and can be useful if someone
drives into the back of you. Its generally
better to go for a model with a second
camera on a long wire as those with two
lenses in one unit wont necessarily get a
good view out of the rear window.
TEST CENTRE
Accessories: These vary between dash

cams, but you can expect a long power
cable, which is designed to be routed
around your windscreen and down
to your 12V socket. Its a shame that
manufacturers dont provide a long USB
cable instead, as youd then be able to
use a 12V USB adaptor with multiple USB
outputs. If you use the included cable, you
wont be able to use your 12V socket for
anything else, such as charging your phone.
may have to be sent abroad for repair, so its

worth checking if this is your top priority.
Use your phone as a dash cam

With the right app, your smartphone can be
used as a dash cam. It wont suit everyone,
but if you buy a universal smartphone
suction mount and you can power your
phone from your cars USB or 12V socket,
youve got a cheap dash cam. Since most
phones have GPS and record video in full
Some cameras have extra features that warn you when you
veer out of your lane, or you get too close to the car in front.
These are useful if they only operate over a certain speed
Insurance: Since some insurers have a
limited list of cameras, its important to get
one they recognise. However, if you change
insurers regularly, it isnt worth paying more
for a camera on one insurers list.
Warranty: Warranty, as always, differs
from model to model. Expect at least one
year, but for cameras ordered from China,
getting a warranty repair may be costly
and take a long time. In fact, even if you
purchase a camera from a UK supplier, it still
HD, it can be a cost-effective alternative to a

dedicated unit, and is a great use for an old
phone sitting in a drawer. Android phones
are good candidates, especially if they have
a microSD slot. Otherwise youll quickly fill
up the internal storage, and may not have
much spare storage anyway.
Apps to try include DailyRoads Voyager
(which supports 4K recording on compatible
phones) and RoadAR. For iPhone, we cant
recommend any free apps, but Car Camera
DVR isnt bad and costs 2.99.
22/12/2015 09:36
Group test: Dash cams
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
ASUS RECO CLASSIC
99 inc VAT asus.co.uk

Asus is better known for its laptops, motherboards and
graphics cards, but is branching out into dash cams.
The Reco Classic is a small unit that is pretty easy
to install and has all the features you probably
want, plus some extra safety features youll no
doubt appreciate.
It doesnt come with a microSD card, but
you do get a GPS receiver that is built into the
suction mount. This plugs into the camera via a
slightly-too-short mini USB cable and you get a long
power cable that can be routed unobtrusively around
your windscreen. Asus also provides adhesive clips for
holding the wire neatly in place.
Theres no parking mode, but a G-sensor will
automatically record a clip to the emergency
folder if theres an impact while driving. You
can set the sensitivity, so it doesnt do this if
you hit a pothole, but its advisable to set it to
the most sensitive setting and then turn it down
until you stop getting false positives. Like the
Transcend DrivePro 200, theres also a button
to start an emergency recording, but wed
prefer it if Asus had used a different colour to
make it more obvious.
Theres also a monitor mode that enables
a power-saving mode if theres no change in
the scene for 60 seconds. It will record at 1fps
until the scene changes again. You can also
enable motion detection. This is an alternative to
the automatic start/stop recording function, which
works when the camera powers on and turns off.
Asus also packs in three safety features. One is warnings of
safety cameras, so youre reminded to drive at a safe speed. This
works using the GPS, and only in certain countries. Currently Asus is
sourcing a database in the UK, so we couldnt test how well it works.
It isnt meant to be used to avoid speeding fines, and it isnt going to
know about temporary or mobile cameras.
The other two are features you get in some modern cars:
lane-departure warnings and forward collision warnings. Both work
only when youre travelling at 40mph or faster. This is better than
the Dome dash cam, which works at any speed; though, the system
still gave us false warnings as it didnt know that we intended to
change lanes; we werent falling asleep at the wheel. Plus, both have
the same alert sound, so its hard to tell what the warning is for.
In terms of resolution, the Reco Classic tops out at 1080p at

30fps, but there are two modes: HDR and standard. Audio
is recorded if you want it to be and a timestamp can
be recorded with the video.
By default, the screen is always on, but
you can set it to turn off after 30 seconds,
three- or five minutes.
When you first insert a microSD
card, youll need to format it. This will
copy the media player on to it. You
can then use a card reader to install
the application on your computer. You
can also attach the camera directly and
review recordings via the media player,
which also shows a map, your location on
it, and your speed.
Performance
Proving that you cant look at a cameras
specifications on paper and decide how good its
video quality will be, the Asus outperformed cameras
with higher resolutions. It may not be the best quality video,
but whats important is that you can see details such as
registration plates when you pause the video.
The HDR mode isnt noticeably different to the standard
mode: both appear to expose the scene well. At night, it
clearly offers a better exposure than its rivals, with much
more shadow detail, and colours arent washed out.
In the menu, you can disable the ultra-wide angle mode,
but the difference in the field of view is minimal. Both options
are wide (140- and 160 degrees), with noticeable distortion, just as
youd expect from such a wide field of view.
Audio is good, with the bass frequencies removed to cut out
rumble and drone, and theres plenty of treble.
The problem was that the GPS receiver struggled to pick up a signal
quickly during our tests, taking several minutes, even if it had had a
signal when we parked up five minutes ago. By contrast, the Dome
and Cobra had no such problems. The software may be in English,
but it crashed from time to time, and refused to load the map, telling
us the page cannot be displayed. Asus is working on a fix.
VERDICT: Despite problems with the GPS and software, the Asus Reco
Classic is a great dash cam, which records useful video. Its not the
cheapest model out there, but its still pretty good value.
Detail
Day
Night
TEST CENTRE
22/12/2015 09:34
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
COBRA CDR 840E
129 inc VAT cobraelectronics.co.uk

Cobra is a well-known dash cam manufacturer, recognised by
Adrian Flux, among other insurance companies which will
give you a discount for using a dash cam.
It has a long, half round design with a silver
metal front. Its well built and looks good. On
the left are mini-HDMI and mini-USB ports. On
the opposite end is a microSD slot (an 8GB card
is included) and a proprietary power connector,
rather than the usual USB. You cant charge the
840E via its USB port: its just for data.
The rear panel includes a tiny 1.5in screen, the power
button, an emergency record button (obvious thanks to
its orange colour) and a D-pad. This isnt as easy to use
as wed hoped, as the tiny markings are hard to see and the
left and right buttons arent for navigation. Instead they
are menu and mode buttons, with only the up and down
buttons being for moving through menus, some of which
are confusingly laid out left-to-right.
The Cobras on-screen text is tiny and fuzzy,
designed for a larger screen, it seems. GPS information
is red when theres no signal lock, and green when
there is, so its easy to know when youre recording
location and speed.
Video settings are separate from the main settings,
although the video menu also includes the autopower-off time setting and
microphone settings. You
can adjust the quality (from
1080p at 30fps through
720p at 60fps, down to
a bizarre VGA mode at
30fps). Clips can be set
to one-, three-, five- or
10 minutes long.
Youll also find sensitivity
settings for the G-sensor, plus
the option to enable recording
when motion is detected. A GPS is built in, and its much neater than
having an external unit with extra wiring. The only design flaw is that
the suction mount isnt quick release, so if you want to remove the
camera to put it out of sight while your car is parked, youll have to
remove the suction cup as well.
Theres no Wi-Fi, which is a slight surprise at this price. The
small screen makes it hard to see any detail when reviewing
footage, so youll have to connect it to a PC or a TV to read

registration plates, for example.
As the lens has only a 118-degree field of
view, you miss out on some details, which can
be seen at the edges on other dash cams.
Its not bad, but you can see a noticeable
difference in the scene captured.
Although its only at 1080p camera,
footage is detailed. Its not the best looking,
with somewhat washed out colours, but you can
identify number plates during daylight. Theres
the usual grain and noise in night time footage unless
youre driving somewhere with excellent street lighting, but
even then, youll struggle to read any registrations just
as with most of the CDR 840Es competitors. Audio
quality is good without unnecessary rumble from the
engine or road.
The location and date and time are imprinted onto
the video, but not your speed. There are no options to
change this. Interestingly, the Cobra records in AVI and
not MP4. This means files are larger than they need to
be, using up about 100MB per minute despite
the relatively low 14Mb/s bitrate.
We were impressed with the GPS receiver.
Not only did it pick up a signal within seconds,
but also locked on even indoors.
Cobra supplies the DriveHD
software with the camera,
and the latest version is
available to download from
its website. This displays the
video, GPS location on a map
and G-sensor data as the
video plays, and is by far the
best player weve seen as it
actually works. It even groups
files from the same time after
scanning the memory card and plays them in sequence rather
than you having to load each individually.
VERDICT: The screen is too small, the mount isnt quick release and the
lens has a narrow field of view, but footage is good and the software
is decent. The main problem is the price, although if you hunt around
you can buy it for just over 100, making it pretty good value.
Detail
Day
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TEST CENTRE
22/12/2015 09:34
BES
ANCE
PERFORM
NT
EFFICIE
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
DOME D201-1
81 inc VAT szdome.com

Dome is a Chinese dash cam manufacturer, based in Shenzhen.
Banggood provided us with a D201-1 for testing, which is one
of Domes latest models.
Its a good-looking camera with a 2.7in screen
on the back larger than most and a
big, centrally-mounted lens at the front.
Strange grilles on the front appear to mimic a
cars grilles, but it feels like a well-made unit.
For only 81, its packed with handy
features. For starters it records at 2K
(2560x1440) or 1080p at 60fps. These are true
figures: theres no interpolation going on here.
You also get GPS, an external unit on a wire that
can be mounted separately. It has an adhesive
pad, so it can be stuck to your windscreen,
dashboard or somewhere else suitable.
Theres no on-board Wi-Fi, but few people
will miss this. What you do get is a G-sensor
and motion detection. Theres also an internal
battery, but this didnt last at all long in our tests,
so its not a substitute for powering the camera while driving.
There are buttons on either side, with helpful labels
on the rear. Their placement isnt
intuitive though, as the OK
button should really be between
the up and down buttons. As
it is, its tricky to navigate the
menus. Fortunately, youll
only have to use them when
setting the time and date
and your preferences.
On the left are mode, menu
and an emergency record button.
On top is a mini-HDMI output,
mini-USB connector for power and
data, and the 2.5mm minijack for the
GPS. Theres also a power button which doubles as a shutter button
for taking photos.
Dome has added some safety features, including a lane-departure
warning and another when you get too close to the car in front.
The bad news is that theyre not intelligent, not configurable and,
ultimately, useless. The frontal vehicle warning, for example,
goes off all the time, and doesnt distinguish between cars or
anything else in front of the lens.
Lane departure, similarly, warns you whenever you change

lanes, including when weaving around cars parks on a narrow
street. They become instantly annoying and youll
definitely turn them off.
Other irritations are the poorly translated
Chinese manual, and the software that youll
find when you first hook up the camera to
your PC. The install wizard is in Chinese and
when you blindly click through and get it
running, youll find it will play only MOV files.
The camera records in MP4, making it another
useless feature. Had it worked, it would have
played back the video along with your speed, G-force
measurements and your location on a map.
Video quality is good, especially the HDR mode. It
isnt quite as good as youd expect from such a large
lens. Detail isnt exactly stunning at 2K resolution.
Crucially, though, its good when you pause the video,
and its usually possible to identify number plates.
Colours are a bit over saturated in HDR mode, but its
a minor quibble. Audio is very boomy, with too much bass,
but aside from this is good enough. At
night, image quality is reasonably
good, if a little dark, but as
with the vast majority of dash
cams you wont be able to
identify number plates even
when theyre close up and
youre not driving too fast.
One slight niggle is that
your location isnt stamped
on to the video as some
GPS-equipped dash cams
do, but your speed is. You
cant disable this, and you cant
change it from kilometres per hour to miles
per hour. Strangely, despite setting up three-minute loop recording,
the bitrate changed from 16- to 18Mb/s at random. That meant some
files were 420MB and others 360MB.
VERDICT: Its hard to complain at this price, especially as you get a
GPS receiver, but the Dome D201-1 is far from perfect. Image quality
is generally good, but the supplied software doesnt work with the
camera and the safety features are poor.
Detail
Day
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TEST CENTRE
22/12/2015 09:34
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
SJCAM SJ5000X ELITE
101 inc VAT sjcamhd.com

This action cam isnt a dash cam in the strictest sense, but weve
included it here for several reasons. Not everyone wants to pay
a lot of money for a camera that has only one function: the
SJ5000X Elite is an action cam that doubles as a dash cam.
In essence, its a GoPro clone, and comes with a similar
package of accessories: a waterproof housing, adhesive mounts,
a bike mount, plus an open mount thats suitable for car use. Its
marketed as a camera for aerial photography on a drone, and
offers a micro-HDMI output for first-person view, so long as you
have compatible video sending equipment on your drone. Theres
built-in Wi-Fi and you can get an Android or iOS app for viewing
live video, and reviewing recorded clips.
What you need for dash cam use is a USB cigarette lighter
adaptor to power it, and a microSD card as no storage is included.
If you dont want to use one of the adhesive mounts, youll also
need a suction cup thats compatible with GoPro, or has a standard
tripod thread as a tripod mount is included in the box.
The 5000X has a car mode, which makes it record when power is
connected, just like most dash cams. You can also choose between
three-, five- or 10-minute clips when cyclic recording is enabled.
Theres no GPS, no safety features and no emergency recording
(with automatic file protection). But you can enable motion
detection for automatic recording when someone or something
moves in front of the lens.
There are some fun modes, including photo lapse and video
lapse, which can be used to take photos at intervals you set. The
video mode automatically creates a time-lapse video (intervals
from one second to one minute) or a series of photos taken at
three-, five-, 10- or 20 second intervals.
The 2in display and menus are a cut above other action and
dash cams. Theyre easy to use and mostly understandable without
resorting to the manual or searching online. Theres an HDR mode,
called WDR, and also a built-in gryo, which is used to help stabilise
footage. You can change the field of view from 70 to 170 degrees
allowing you to capture very wide angle (with associated distortion)
or a much more lifelike view with hardly any distortion. For dash
cam use, youll want to select 140 or 170 degrees to capture more
of whats going on in front of the car.
Footage is impressive for the price, primarily thanks to the 12Mp
Sony sensor. Its a good step up from most dash cams around 100.
Images are nice and sharp during the day, and smooth thanks to
60fps capture if you choose 1080p. Annoyingly, number plates
arent always easy to read when you pause the video: theyre
clearer when its playing.
Theres not much extra quality to be gained by switching to 2K

recording and, disappointingly, the 4K mode isnt actually 4K. It
records at 2880x2160, and SJCAM says this is just upscaled 2K
footage. Which begs the question, why is it sold as a 4K camera?
When the camera is still, images are very sharp. But since this is
designed to film while moving, its largely irrelevant and completely
irrelevant when used as a dash cam. At night, quality obviously
suffers and theres a distinct lack of detail, even in the 2K mode.
The microphone isnt great quality, either, picking up rather
muffled sound, despite being in the open-frame case. This appears
to be a firmware issue, and being a brand new model on version 1.0,
we expect updates to fix this and other bugs and issues.
VERDICT: Its not for everyone, but if you dont need or want GPS
and youd prefer a camera that can be used for more than recording
car journeys, then the SJ5000X Elite is very good value. Its
disappointing that it doesnt record true 4K, but youd have to
spend considerably more to get that.
The SJ5000X Elites mages are nice and

sharp during the day, and smooth thanks
to 60fps capture if you choose 1080p
Detail
Day
Night
TEST CENTRE
22/12/2015 09:34
BES
ANCE
PERFORM
NT
EFFICIE
Build
Features
Performance
Value
Overall
TRANSCEND DRIVEPRO 200
89 inc VAT uk.transcend-info.com

The DrivePro 200 is a square dash cam thats a little bigger
than you expect and is designed to record all your
journeys in full HD. Its most similar to the Asus Reco
Classic. It lacks GPS but has Wi-Fi, so you can view
the live feed on your phone, browse and watch
recordings and download clips directly to your
phone.
For some people that will be useful, but wed
rather ditch Wi-Fi and have a GPS receiver. The
unit like the Asus needs to be powered by the
car at all times as theres no battery. This isnt a big
problem, as theres a tiny battery that stores the time
and date. You get a 16GB microSD card in the box, so
you have everything you need.
Installing the DrivePro 200 is easy. You
attach the mini suction cup (included if you
buy the TS16GDP200M version) and route the
long 4m power cable around your windscreen to
your 12V socket. Transcend recommends checking if
your socket provides power with the ignition turned
off: if so, you should disconnect the camera to avoid
it draining your battery. Theres no parking mode
for recording scrapes while in the
supermarket car park.
As it has a big chrome-effect
ring around the over-size lens
bezel, the camera is noticeable
from outside the car, so its a
good idea to remove it when you
park up. The quick-release clip is
helpful here, and its easy to use
once you get the knack.
As soon as you turn the
Transcend on, it will start recording,
and create a new video file every
minute (about 110MB). You can
change this to three- or five minutes
in the menu. By default, the time
stamp will be included on your
video, but you can disable this along
with audio recording. The screen
turns off after a minute so as not to
distract you while youre driving, but
you can configure this in the menu.
Theres a G-sensor, which has low-, medium- or high

sensitivity settings. If an impact is detected such
as a crash the camera will automatically enable
emergency recording mode and lock the file,
so it isnt overwritten. Theres a red button on
the side of the camera for manually activating
the emergency mode, too.
As theres no GPS, you wont be able to
pinpoint where a video was recorded, exactly
where you were or how fast you were going
when an incident occurred.
You can review recordings on the 2.4in screen,
and theres a speaker too, although you cant adjust its
volume. The display has a fairly low resolution, but
its designed to be viewed from below, so although
viewing angles arent great, it should look okay when
mounted near your rear-view mirror.
The 1080p footage isnt all that sharp, but you can
usually see number plates when the video is paused, as
long as its daytime. Audio is low quality, with a narrow
range of frequencies, especially lacking in treble.
At night, theres the expected lack of detail
compared to daytime, and its hard to
read most registration plates. Theres
no HDR mode, but the DrivePro 200
over-exposes the footage more than
other dash cams to provide a slightly
better image.
We tested out the app on an iPhone.
Its easy to use and set up. The Wi-Fi
login details are provided on a sticker
which protects the LCD screen in
the box, so its just a case of finding
the cameras Wi-Fi network in your
phones settings. You can browse the
videos stored on the memory card,
although downloading one onto the
phone does take a while.
VERDICT: It may lack GPS, but this the
DrivePro 200 is a dependable dash
cam that should provide the evidence
you need if youre ever involved in an
incident while driving.
Detail
Day
Night
TEST CENTRE
22/12/2015 09:34
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MW Digital filler.indd 75
01/06/2015 15:47
The Transcend would be a good buy if you can find it cheaper

as the video and audio quality arent quite as good as wed like
for 90. For only 10 more, the Asus offers HDR video thats
better quality and it also has a better microphone and GPS
ASUS
COBRA
Model
Reco Classic
CDR 840E
Website
Asus.co.uk
Cobraelectronics.co.uk
Video resolution (max)
1080p, 30fps (HDR); 1080p, 30fps; 720p, 60fps
1080p, 30fps (1440x1080)
Field of view (horizontal degrees)
140
118
Video format
MOV
H.264 AVI
Screen size
2in
1.5in
Wi-Fi
GPS
G-sensor
Speaker
Battery life (claimed)
N/A
Not stated
Memory card
Not included
8GB (supports up to 32GB)
Accessories
Suction mount with GPS, adhesive mount

and cable clips, car charger (4m cable)
Suction mount, car power supply, mini USB cable
Connectors
Mini-USB, mini-HDMI, mini-USB (for GPS), microSD
Mini-USB, mini-HDMI, microSD, power
Dimensions (without mount)
82x52x48mm
99x61x38mm
App
N/A
N/A
Actual resolution is 2880x2160
TEST CENTRE
22/12/2015 09:35
Conclusion
All of the dash cams here do a decent job of
recording your journey. You dont necessarily
have to pay more to get one with GPS, and
this is a useful feature if you need to prove
the speed at which you were driving if youre
involved in an accident.
Wi-Fi is generally an unnecessary luxury
as the only real advantage is being able to
download clips to your smartphone. This is
a slow process and in most cases its better
to simply use a card reader (or the camera
itself) and copy or watch the footage on
your computer. You can also use their video
outputs to review clips on a TV.
Initially, we thought the lack of an

internal battery would be a big problem, but
it isnt. The Transcend and Asus like the
other models turn on when you start your
car and turn off when you remove the key.
While some support recording while parked,
youll want to get professional installation
for this to avoid draining your cars battery.
Safety features can be more trouble than
theyre worth, and arent as sophisticated or
reliable as similar features built into modern
cars. The Domes are particularly useless,
although for the price its still a good-value
option if you want a GPS.
The SJCAM is a good option. It offers

great video quality but lacks some of the
features youll find in a dedicated dash cam.
The Cobras integrated GPS is neat,
but the screen is tiny and its the most
expensive here. Its not bad if you can find
it for under 100, though.
The Transcend would be a good buy if
you can find it cheaper as the video and
audio quality arent as good as wed like
for 90. For only 10 more, the Asus offers
HDR video thats better quality and it also
has a better microphone and GPS. For most
people, its the best choice. J
DOME
SJCAM
TRANSCEND
D201-1
SJ5000X Elite
DrivePro 200
Szdome.com
Sjcamhd.com
Uk.transcend-info.com
2K HDR, 30fps; 1080p, 60fps; 720p, 60fps
4K*, 24fps; 2K, 30fps; 1080p, 60fps; 720p, 120fps
1080p, 30fps
170
170, 140, 110, 70
160
MP4
MP4
MOV
2.7in
2in
2.4in
Not stated
80 minutes at 1080p
N/A
Not included (supports up to 512GB)
Not included (supports up to 128GB)
16GB
Suction mount, GPS, car

power supply, Mini-USB cable
Waterproof housing, open housing, adhesive

mounts, bike mount, head mount, belt clip,
Suction mount, car power

supply, composite video cable
Mini-USB, mini-HDMI, microSD slot, GPS connector
Micro-USB, Micro-HDMI, microSD slot
Mini-USB, minijack video out, microSD slot
96x49x45mm
61x42x25mm
67x70x35mm
N/A
iOS, Android
iOS, Android
TEST CENTRE
22/12/2015 09:35
FEATURE
IMPROVE SMARTPHONE
BATTERY LIFE
Fed up with charging your phone every night? Jim Martins tips will make your battery last longer
ven in 2016, its going to be tough

to go much longer than 24 hours
without charging your smartphone.
Better battery technology hasnt arrived
yet, which means its down to software
and settings to eke out the limited power
for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, youre never going to get
a weeks use out of a smartphone because
of those big, bright screens along with
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and 3G. However,
by following our advice and making a few
simple changes to your phones settings
(and maybe even changing the way you use
your phone) you should be able to extend
its battery life by a good chunk.
These days theres a huge choice of
portable USB power banks, which you can
use to charge your phone on the go (see our
favourites on page 145). Plus, if you have
a popular handset, you may find there are
specific cases that incorporate batteries to
give you extra power at the expense of only
a little more bulk and weight.
What were not going to suggest here is
to use your phone less. Our aim is to show
you how to reduce your handsets power
consumption without making it unusable.
So, here are 10 ways you can boost your
smartphones battery life.
Dim the screen brightness
You love your smartphones large,

colourful display, but its the batterys mortal
enemy. More than any other component
of your phone, the display consumes battery
life at a devastating pace. Most phones
include an auto-brightness feature that
automatically adjusts the screens brightness

to suit ambient lighting levels.
This mode uses less power than constantly
running your screen at full brightness would,
of course, but youll get even better results
by turning your screens brightness down
to the lowest setting that you can tolerate
and leaving it there. Even if you do nothing
else we suggest, following this one tip will
extend the life of your battery dramatically.
Turn off Bluetooth
No matter now much you love using

Bluetooth with your hands-free headset,
your wireless speaker or activity tracker, the
Keep the screen
2 timeout short
Under your phones display settings menu,

you should find an option labelled Screen
Timeout or something similar. (On an
iPhone, look for Auto-Lock in the General
settings menu.) This setting controls how
long your phones screen stays lit after
receiving input, such as a tap.
Every second counts here, so set your
timeout to the shortest available time. On
most Android phones, the minimum is 15
seconds. If your screen timeout is currently
set to two minutes, consider reducing that
figure to 30 seconds or less. On an iPhone,
the minimum you can set is one minute.
86 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features March 2016
086_087 Make Phone Last Longer 248.indd 86
17/12/2015 10:10
FEATURE
extra radio is constantly listening for signals

from the outside world. When you arent in
your car, or when you arent playing music
wirelessly, turn off the Bluetooth radio. This
way, you can add an hour or more to your
phones battery life.
Turn off Wi-Fi
As with Bluetooth, your phones Wi-Fi

radio is a serious drain on the battery. While
you will need to use your home or office
Wi-Fi connection rather than 3G or 4G for
internet access and other data services,
theres little point in leaving the Wi-Fi radio
on when youre out and about. Toggle it off
when you go out the door, and turn it back
on only when you plan to use data services
within range of your Wi-Fi network. Android
users can add the Wi-Fi toggle widget to their
home screen to make this a one-tap process,
or swipe down from the top of the screen
(twice if you have Lollipop.)
In iOS, its easier than ever to toggle
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on and off. Simply
swipe up from the bottom of the screen to
display the Control Centre.
Go easy on location
5 services, and GPS
Another major drain on the battery are

apps using GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile data for
monitoring your location. As a user, you can
revoke apps access to location services,

or set levels (in Android) to determine how
much power they use. In Settings > Location,
you can choose High accuracy when you
need it, or Battery saving when you dont.
By killing apps that you arent actually

using, you can reduce your CPUs workload
and cut down on its power consumption.
In Android, tap the multi-tasking button
usually the right-most of the three icons
at the bottom of the screen and you can
swipe away apps to close them.
In iOS, double-tap the Home button
so the multitasking screen appears, then
swipe upwards to close the app.
Both iOS and Android have battery
monitors, so you can check how much each
app is using and easily spot those which are
using too much power. Then you can either
uninstall them or simply make sure you quit
them when youre not actually using them.
Dont use vibrate
Prefer to have your phone alert you

to incoming calls by vibrating rather than
playing a ringtone? We understand the
inclination; unfortunately, vibrating uses
much more power than playing a ringtone
does. After all, a ringtone only has to make
a tiny membrane in your phones speaker
vibrate enough to produce sound.
In contrast, the vibration motor rotates
a small weight to make your whole phone
shake. That process takes a lot more power.
If you dont want to be disturbed audibly,
consider turning off all notifications and
leave the phone in view so you can see
when a new call is coming in.
Turn off non-essential
8 notifications
It seems as though almost every app now

polls the internet in search of updates, news,
messages, and other information. When it
finds something, the app may chime, light
up your screen and display a message, make
your LED blink, or do all of the above. All of
these things consume energy.
You probably dont want to turn off
notifications about new text messages or
missed calls, but turning off superfluous
notifications will help your battery last a
little longer, and it will eliminate pointless

distractions throughout your day.
Push email
Having your phone constantly check if

theres new email is a waste of power. Instead
of allowing email to be pushed to your phone
at any time, why not change the setting to
fetch mail every so often maybe 15- or
30 minutes if you dont need to respond
immediately to anyone?
10
Power-saving modes
Depending on your phone, you may

find the manufacturer has provided powersaving features that go beyond anything
available in Android by default. Apple added
a battery saving mode in iOS 9.
Enabling a battery-saving mode manages
the phones various power-sapping features
for you. It might, for example, prevent apps
from updating in the background. By default,
this mode usually turns on when your battery
level drops to 20 percent, but you can set
it to kick in at 30 percent instead. And the
sooner the phone switches to this powersaving mode, the longer its battery will last.
A few phones, notably from HTC and
Samsung, have so-called extreme (or ultra)
power saving modes. These turn everything
off except those for making phone calls and
sending texts (even turning the screen to
black and white) and can add anything up
to 24 hours of emergency use, even if your
battery is down to 15- or 20 percent.
Other tips for saving battery power

Hidden away in settings menus are usually
plenty of options for disabling things such
as sensors or features that you never use,
and more. Most of these will make a minimal
impact on battery life, but combined, they
can become significant. Finally, its worth
rebooting your phone from time to time,
rather than leaving it in sleep mode all the
time. This can sometimes cure otherwise
inexplicable battery draining problems. J
Dont leave apps running
6 in the background
Multitasking the ability to run more than

one app at a time is a powerful smartphone
feature. It also burns a lot of energy,
because every app you run uses a share of
your phones processor cycles.
Some apps themselves are particularly
heavy on battery life. Facebook, for example,
has confirmed it is investigating reports that
its iOS app could be to blame for significant
battery drain, and is working on a fix.
March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/features 87
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FEATURE
How RAM works

We chopped up a RAM stick to show you how it worked. Thomas Ryan reports
f youve been building PCs for

any length of time, theres a good
chance youve got a least a few
spare memory modules lying around. These
RAM sticks allow us to keep a thousand
Chrome tabs open. They are the workhorses
that help your favourite PC game, video
capture software, chat client, and music
player coexist peacefully at the same time.
But what happens when your trusty
RAM starts throwing errors and fails a
MemTest x86 run? What happens when
theres a sale on electric metal grinders?
What happens when you have a camera
and some spare coloured paper?
RAMming speed
Well, this. This is what happens.
Utter memory module carnage.
Since weve already gone this
far, lets tear this bad boy apart
to see what makes modern
RAM modules tick.
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FEATURE
Small parts make a larger whole

Most of the small structures on modern
memory modules are resistors and
capacitors that surround the actual
memory chips themselves and ensure
consistent power delivery.
Copper interconnection layers

In the bisected images, you can see
all of the copper layers that are in the
printed circuit board (PCB) of a memory
module. These copper interconnection
layers are deposited on to and then
etched away from the PCB using a
complex chemical process.
Social circles
Each of the copper lines running through
the PCB is a single electrical connection.
The small circles you can see in the
copper pathways are the point where
the connections traverse between the
many layers in the PCB.
15/12/2015 09:41
Feature: How RAM works
Layered like a conducting onion

From top to bottom, here are what the
copper layers do on this PCB: first signal
layer; ground/power plane; second signal
layer; ground/power plane; third signal
layer; fourth signal layer; ground/power
plane; and finally the bottom signal layer.
A chip off the old silicon

The memory chips themselves are rather nondescript
black chips that are about the size of your thumbnail.
Bumpy ride
The silicon-based memory chips are connected to the PCB
using the many small metal bumps on their underside.
Bumpy ride, part 2

The bumps allow the PCB to provide power
to the memory chips, so they can transfer
and store data using electrical impulses.
15/12/2015 09:42
Feature: How RAM works
The money shot

Using a drill press, we sanded away
the packaging of one of the memory
dies. (Editors note: please dont try
this at home most computer chips
contain dangerous elements that you
wouldnt to inhale.) You can see the
actual silicon in this image. Admittedly
the die is cracked and scarred from
the sanding, but its still fun to see how
much of the package is actual silicon.
Theres gold in them there connections

The small gold connector pads at the base of
the DIMM, where it slots into the motherboard,
are what allow all of the electrical signals to
travel from the memory chips, through the
many copper layers in the PCB, and out to the
memory controller on the CPU.
A modern marvel
The truly amazing thing to acknowledge
is the complexity of a RAM DIMM. From
the copper traces to the supporting
hardware to the packaging, RAM is
a modern marvel. Whats even more
amazing is that all of this complexity can
be yours for one click and about 30. J
15/12/2015 11:38
FEATURE
16 GAMES
BEST FREE PC
If youre feeling a little short of cash after splashing out on a new PC or

laptop, Hayden Dingmans 16 free games will help keep you entertained
here was a time when free-to-play was a dirty term in the

games industry, and there are still terrible, exploitative
free-to-play games on the market. But very occasionally we
get something miraculous a game that doesnt try to con players
out of money or make the design intentionally boring in order to
make those purchasable unlocks more exciting. Over the following
pages, youll find a list of fantastic offerings. Indeed, they arent just
good because they are free, theyre good full stop.
Dota 2
We might as well start with Dota 2, considering it still maintains
the biggest e-sports prize on the planet: the International 5
featured a prize pool of $18 million this year. Its huge. Dota 2
is a successor to the WarCraft III mod DOTA, or Defense of the
Ancients, the godfather of the now-booming Multiplayer online
battle arena (MOBA) genre. Players pick a hero and battle it out
against the other team, competing to bring down the enemy base
by outmanoeuvring foes with skilful tactics. Or, if youre like us, you
pick a hero and mess something up five minutes in and your entire
team gets angry because they know you just lost them the game.
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FEATURE
League of Legends
We cant mention Dota 2 without

mentioning its counterpart, League of
Legends. It is yet another MOBA, again
inspired by the original DOTA mod.
So why choose League of Legends
over Dota 2? Now were getting
into dangerous Mac versus PC or
Schwarzenegger versus Stallone
arguments the type where nobody
wins. The truth is that you should just
pick whichever your friends are playing
or whichever looks best to you and jump
in. The differences when youre starting
are minimal you probably wont even
notice most until youve reached an
advance skill level in one or the other.
Heroes of the Storm

Rounding out the MOBA trio is Blizzards
take on the genre, Heroes of the Storm.
Its a bit more approachable than either
Dota 2 or League, though that friendliness
comes at the cost of a lower skill ceiling.
On the other hand, Blizzard seems more
willing to experiment, too; for example,
adding a two-headed ogre controlled
by two different players at the same time.
Call it gimmicky, call it innovative, its at
least different.
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is the first non-MMO,
big-budget game we remember.
Whatever deal with the devil Valve
made to turn Team Fortress 2 into a
free-to-play shooter, it clearly worked.
Eight years after its release, its still one
of the top-five most-played games on
Steam on any given day.
15/12/2015 11:27
Feature: 16 best free PC games
Path of Exile
Path of Exile is an action role-playing
game (RPG) in the Diablo II vein you
explore randomly-generated maps,
click things until they die, collect loot,
and repeat. There are seven classes
(six to start) and the skill trees are so
complicated you might have an aneurysm.
This summers Awakening expansion
added an entire new chapter to the
story, plus made the levelling even more
modular than before. Simply put, this is
the best action-RPG of the past few years.
If you were disappointed by Diablo III, try
Path of Exile. If you werent disappointed,
try it anyway. The games free, after all.
Marvel Heroes
If you prefer your action-RPGs with a bit
more spandex, Marvel Heroes is where its
at. The game is similar to a free-to-play
version of the fantastic Marvel: Ultimate
Alliance series, with a wide roster of classic
characters available to unlock (if you have
the time) with in-game currency.
Hearthstone
Hearthstone is a collectible card game
(CCG), developed by Blizzard and based
on the WarCraft universe. Like Magic: The
Gathering, Pokmon, and other physical
CCGs of old, your task is to create the
most advantageous deck and battle it
against your opponents.
Blizzards been adding new content
to the game at a prodigious pace, and at
the time of writing was in the process of
releasing the new League of Explorers
adventure, with all new cards and
mechanics. The downside? Its becoming
harder to get into Hearthstone, as each
new expansion makes the game a bit less
accessible to newcomers.
15/12/2015 11:27
War Thunder
If you prefer your combat in the air, try
War Thunder. Its a World War II flight
simulator that throws dozens of players
onto the same map in massive battles.
Gaijin (the developers) has made
some horrible decisions with this game.
It tries to get you to spend money at
every turn, its made some questionable
balance decisions, and so on. So why is
it on this list? Because its also a much
better simulator than World of Tanks
or World of Warplanes. And it has the
potential to be great again. If it continues
its rather prodigious decline, well stop
recommending it, though.
World of Tanks
Wargaming has built up quite a catalogue
of games in the past few years, but its
still World of Tanks that gets most of the
attention. Sick of War Thunders asinine
updates, or simply tired of all those
planes buzzing around with their dumb
propellers? World of Tanks is all-tanks-allthe-time. A veritable planet full of tanks.
But its just one slice of Wargamings
ever-expanding combat empire. If you
start to miss those dumb propellers you
can always check out World of Warplanes,
and old salts can sail to their hearts
content in World of Warships.
Lord of the Rings Online

Lord of the Rings Online was once a
premium, subscription-based game,
but is now almost entirely free outside
of a few item restrictions and the like,
although youll still end up paying for the
expansions. Only the base game is free.
Nothing else comes close to capturing
the true scope of Tolkiens world and lore.
We definitely recommend it to fans of the
books and films, and even to fans of solid
fantasy MMOs, though theres a lot more
competition in the latter category.
15/12/2015 11:27
Star Trek Online

Youre captain of the USS WhatsItsName. Your
mission? Well, thats up to you. While Star Trek
Online has a lot of content even if you stick
to developer-created missions, its actually
far more interesting due to The Foundry a
mission-building tool for players to create
their own missions. Some players in Star Trek
Online have recreated entire arcs from the TV
shows using The Foundry, while others have
crafted new stories for the Trek universe that
rival the complexity of a plot youd see on TV.
Its an impressive effort and testament to
the benefits of user-generated content its
kept Star Trek Online alive long after the
gaming community-at-large wrote it off.
Tribes: Ascend
A few months ago we would have cut
Tribes: Ascend from this list. Developer
Hi-Rez had basically abandoned the game
to work on Smite, the community was
dead, and all hope seemed lost though
the core shooting experience has always
been fast-paced, high-flying (literally) fun.
But in September Hi-Rez released a
patch, appropriately named Out of the
Blue, and suddenly we find ourselves
hoping Tribes: Ascend can resurrect itself
and become great again. The world needs
a shooter that makes you hate yourself
even more than Counter-Strike.
Wildstar
For an MMO thats friendly to its freeto-play users try Wildstar. Its the classic
case of: Game launches with subscription,
game dies on the vine, developers go freeto-play, game doesnt suck, game starts to
revive. Sort of.
An action-heavy, ultra-hardcore MMO,
Wildstar was supposed to be the next big
MMO. Now that its free-to-play, maybe
those dreams are a bit more realistic.
15/12/2015 11:27
Tera
Another action-heavy MMO, Tera came
highly recommended by a number of
people when we originally made this list.
We gave it a shot, and can definitely see
the appeal: fantastic graphics, excellent
combat (for an MMO), and a solid free-toplay model. The writing and quest design
arent great, but Tera definitely deserves
a nod if youre looking for a modern
fantasy MMO that breaks out of the
World of Warcraft mould.
StarCraft Arcade
WarCraft III was a fine real-time-strategy
(RTS) game in its own right, but it was
the custom games that really set it apart
Defense of the Ancients, for instance,
which led directly to Dota 2/Heroes of
the Storm/League of Legends.
Perhaps hoping to replicate that
success, Blizzard has made it free for
you to play any custom StarCraft II
maps. Download the free StarCraft II
Starter Edition and you can jump in. And
if youre curious about the new Legacy
of the Void expansion, Blizzards also
made a free three-mission prologue
titled Whispers of Oblivion available.
Warframe
Warframe should be one of the bad freeto-play games. It gets repetitive. It is a
grind. There are major balance issues.
Theres a lot of waiting around, which can
be solved by dumping money into the
game. It is, in other words, a predatory
free-to-play game. But you get to play
as a space ninja, teaming up with other
space ninjas to kick butt and take names
across the galaxy. The core concept kept
us coming back long past the point where
we were annoyed with the game. J
15/12/2015 11:27
FEATURE
5 COOL
GOOGLE
DRIVE
FEATURES
Power up your productivity with drag-and-drop uploads, quick creation links, and more.
By Michael Ansaldo
oogle Drives austere interface can

trick you into thinking what you
see is all you get. But its actually
packed with powerful productivity features
that arent immediately apparent. Here are
five you probably arent using, but should be.
1. Drag-and-drop files
Normally when you want to upload a file to
Google Drive, you hit the New button, select
File upload, and then navigate the folders on
your computer to grab the file you need.
Heres a simpler way: just drag the file(s)
from Windows Explorer or the Mac OS Finder
into your Google Drive file list. Googles dragand-drop icon will appear and youll see a
progress bar showing you the upload status.
links. Drag the following links to your browser

toolbar, and click the appropriate one
whenever you want to start a new project:
Document:
docs.google.com/document/create
Spreadsheet:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/create
Presentation:
docs.google.com/presentation/create
3. Search by sender
Googles collaboration capabilities probably
have you working on a number of shared
documents at any given time. It can, however,
be hard to keep tabs on who sent you what,
and what spreadsheet youre working on

with whom. Scrolling through hundreds of
documents in the Shared with me folder
isnt an option when youre in a hurry. At
those times, type the collaborators name or
email address in Drives search bar, and within
seconds youll have a list of every document
youre collaborating on with that person.
4. Convert PDFs
and images into text
While youre probably taking advantage
of Drive to store all kinds of files, you may
not be aware you can use its built-in OCR
technology to convert non-text documents
like images and PDFs into editable text.
2. Bookmark quick creation links

If you want to create a new word document,
spreadsheet or slideshow, you can do so from
any browser window by using quick creation
To quickly upload
files to Drive, drag
them into the file list
098_099 Google Drive 248.indd 98
15/12/2015 10:04
FEATURE
Google Translate web tool. But a better way

is to upload it to Google Drive where you can
translate and save it as a new document in
your preferred language.
Once the document is uploaded, rightclick it and select Open with > Google Docs.
Once its open, go to the Tools menu and click
Translate document. Choose a language from
the dozens of options in the drop-down menu,
click the translate button, and Voila. J
You can convert a

PDF into editable
text just by opening
it as a Google Doc
Right-click on the file you want to
convert and select Open with > Google Docs.
A new browser tab will open with the image
or PDF within a document surrounded by
a blue border with the raw text beneath it.
Resize the blue border to capture only the

text you want, then use any of Docs tools to
edit and format it. When youre done, delete
the original image/PDF from the tab and save
the new text document.
5. Translate documents
Given the global nature of business today,
you may find yourself occasionally working
with documents written in another language.
You could cut and past the text into the
Drive can translate a document

into dozens of languages
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15/12/2015 10:04
HOW TO
Downgrade from Windows 10 after 30 days

Gone over the one-month time limit? Jim Martin explains how to go back to your old OS
A clean install
Once 30 days have elapsed since
you upgraded to Windows 10, it will
automatically delete your old Windows files
(kept in a folder called Windows.old) along
with the files in two other important hidden
folders: $Windows.~BT and $Windows.~WS.
You can check for these folders by
enabling Hidden items in the View tab in
File Explorer. But even if those folders are
present after 30 days, its likely the files
within them have been removed to prevent
them using up a lot of unnecessary disk
space. This means you cant roll back.
One obvious way to get around this
is to use your Windows 7 (or 8) disc and
activation key. Its not exactly a simple
process since youll need to back up
everything and then wipe your hard disk
and start from scratch. After installing
Windows, youd need to install drivers for
your hardware, then all your software, and finally your documents
and all the other files and settings you backed up. And, of course,
hundreds of Windows updates.
If you have a disc but lost your activation key, you can extract
it from Windows 10 by pressing the Windows key and R to bring up
the Run box. Then type cmd and press Enter. Then copy and paste
this code at the command prompt which will have popped up: wmic
path softwarelicensingservice get OA3xOriginalProductKey.
Hit Enter and your original product key for the previous
version of Windows will be displayed.
100 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to March 2016
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10/12/2015 12:25
HOW TO
Factory restore
Many laptops and PCs have a hidden
partition on the hard drive which contains
a copy of the original Windows, programs,
drivers and settings which were on your
computer when it arrived. Upgrading to
Windows 10 shouldnt have affected this,
so it should still be intact.
Whether or not you can access it is
another matter. Typically you can look
out for a message while your computer
is starting up, such as Press F11 for
recovery options. When you press the
appropriate key, you should be presented
with a menu that will include the option to
restore factory settings.
On some computers, youll still have a
Windows application which allows you to
perform a restore by using the manufacturers own method. On
an Acer Aspire laptop, for example, we found the Acer Recovery
Management app which made it simple to go back to the original
version of Windows which came in the box.
Performing a restore will wipe the C: drive, so you will lose all
your personal files and settings. So youll still have to back these
up, and youll still have plenty of Windows updates and programs
to install after the restore is complete. You shouldnt have to worry
about anything not working, since the drivers will be reinstalled.
But any hardware youve added will need their drivers reinstalled.
Third-party backup software

If youre thinking of upgrading to Windows
10 (or have just done so) and dont want the
30-day limit, there are two different options.
Before upgrading:
Hard drive imaging software is nothing new:
Acronis, Norton Ghost and similar programs
have allowed you to make a complete copy
of your hard disk so you can quickly go
back in the event of a hard drive failure, or
some other disaster. You can use these, or
something specific such as EaseUs System
GoBack (tinyurl.com/qane84c), which is
designed to let you roll back to a previous
version of Windows.
Naturally, youll need to install and use
this type of software before you upgrade.
After upgrading:
If you have already upgraded but are within the 30-day rollback
window, you can enable hidden items (as described above) and
rename the three folders which Windows will try to delete. If it
cant find the folders - because youve changed their names it
cant delete them. We cant verify this works, but some users have
reported that renaming the folders back to their original names
after 30 days brings back the rollback option, which youll find in
Start > Settings > Update and Security > Recovery. J
March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to 101
100_101 HT Downgrade Win 10 248.indd 101
10/12/2015 12:26
How to: Sign into Windows 10 with a local account
Sign into Windows 10 with a local account

Martyn Casserly explains how to log into Microsofts latest operating system with a local account
When you first upgrade to Windows 10 youre encouraged to sign
in with a Microsoft account. There are some benefits with this,
as it allows any Windows 10 device you have to sync data and
preferences for various Microsoft services such as OneDrive and
the Windows Store. This sharing feature also means that you
surrender quite a bit of personal information to Microsoft, which
isnt something everybody is comfortable doing. Fear not though,
as youre free to create a local account instead.
There are a couple of ways to log in with a local account. You

can either create a separate user, meaning you can swap between
the two, or you can replace your existing Microsoft user account
with a local one. This isnt a permanent or destructive path, as
you can reinstate the Microsoft user account by reversing the
process, but its worth noting that our test machine encountered
problems after using this technique, so be sure to perform a full
system backup before you begin.
Replacing your Microsoft account with a local one

First, well explore replacing the account. To do this youll need to
ensure that you are logged in as an Administrator. If you only have
one account on your machine then that will be the one. Now open
the Start Menu and go to Settings > Accounts > Your email and
accounts. In the main pane you should see your current Microsoft
account details, below which will be two lines of blue text reading
Manage my Microsoft account and Sign in with a local account
instead. Click on the latter to create a new local user account.
The first screen youll encounter will ask you to confirm your
current password. Once youve done this youll be asked to enter
the details for the local account you want to create (see above
screen). Complete the various fields and click Next. Now just click
through the confirmations and your account will be delinked from
the automatic sync features that a Microsoft account uses. This
doesnt mean that OneDrive and Outlook will stop working, as the
login details are retained for the individual apps that need them,
but now your system will behave in a similar way to the kind of
accounts that we used to have on Windows 7 machines.
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10/12/2015 12:19
How to: Sign into Windows 10 with a local account
Creating a new user account

The other method for using a local account is to simply create
one as an alternative. To do this open the Start Menu and
navigate to Settings > Accounts > Your Account > Family and
other users. In the Other Users section, youll see the option to
Add someone else to this PC.
Click, this then when prompted for an email address, select the
I dont have this persons sign-in information option, and on the
next page click Add a user without a Microsoft account.
Now just enter the username and password you want for the
account and it will be created.
The new account will be a standard user, but if you want to upgrade
it to an Administrator then when youre in the Family & other users
section click on the account and select Change account type, and
select Administrator. Thats it, now you can login to your machine
without a Microsoft account. J
102_103 HT Sign Into Win 10 248.indd 103
17/12/2015 15:22
How to: Customise the appearance of Windows 10
Customise the appearance of Windows 10

Martyn Casserly reveals how to get Microsofts operating system look just the way you like it
If youve bought a new PC and want to really make it your own, or
have just grown bored with the look of your existing Windows 10
machine, then there are plenty of things you can do to redecorate
its aesthetics. From new themes to vivid wallpaper, well show

you how to make these refinements and have your PC looking
resplendent in its new livery.
Changing the background in Windows 10

All of the appearance settings in Windows 10 are helpfully grouped
together in one place, which makes life easy. To find them first open
the Windows Start Menu, then click on Settings > Personalisation
and youll be presented with a list of options on the left side of the
windows that appears. Top of the list is Background, and you can
see the current defaults displayed in the righthand pane under
Preview. Beneath the preview there is a drop-down menu for the
Background, which allows you to choose between a picture, solid
colour or slideshow. If you select Picture, then youll be able to
browse to a folder on your PC and choose a single image by either
clicking on the Browse option or selecting one of the existing
images that Windows has installed. There is also an option titled
Choose a fit, which can be used if the picture you have is either
too big or too small for your screen. Feel free to experiment with
each one, as they dont alter the original image in any way.
Slideshow is similar to Picture but allows for a range of images
instead, which again are selected from a folder on your PC. Once
youve pointed at the folder you wish to use, you can adjust the
setting for the frequency at which the images will rotate and
whether their order is shuffled or not.
Solid colour does what you would expect, bringing up a number
of preset tones that you can use for the wallpaper.
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10/12/2015 12:21
How to: How to: Customise the appearance of Windows 10
Changing the accent colour

The next option in the lefthand column is Colour, which is different
from the background colour as it instead affects the accent colour.
This is the one that fills the Windows tile backgrounds, appears
when a menu option is highlighted, and on the outer frames of
windows. Under the blocks of colours are a couple of options that
give you the opportunity to let the accent colour be used on the
Start Menu, Taskbar, Title bar and Action Centre. This will be a
subtle change, as the colour defaults to transparent, but if you
prefer the solid Windows 8 style then you can select that, too.
Changing the Lock Screen display

The Lock Screen is the first visage you usually encounter when you
turn on your PC or wake it from sleep. Usually Windows 10 sets it to
use a default range of images sourced by Windows Spotlight. You
can change this in much the same way as the background by using
a Picture or Slideshow. There is a helpful added feature here where
you can set the information you see displayed on the Lock Screen.
In the Choose an app to show detailed status section, click on
whatever app is currently there and youll see a list appear. Now, if
you prefer the Weather to Calendar entries, just click on that. Below
youll also find the Choose apps to show quick status, which works
in the same way, but this time click on the boxes with plus signs
inside to add new apps from the pop-up menu. In this lower part of
the pane you can also adjust the Screensaver settings, as well as
ones for when you would like the screen to timeout and go to sleep.
Changing Themes on Windows 10

Themes are in essence defaults that use all of the settings listed
above in certain combinations. In fact if youve been altering your
settings while reading this how to, and are happy with the results,
then when youre in the Theme section, click on Theme settings.
In the windows that appears, go over to the right and click Save
theme. Youll now be able to select it whenever you want. On
this page youll also see the other default themes available, plus
theres an option to Get more themes online, which takes you to
the Microsoft Themes web page where you can download various
themes for free. Once on your machine they should appear as
options in the Windows Default Themes panel, and clicking on it
will automatically make the changes to your machine.
If you want to go deeper, then you can also use the settings for
changing the system icons, mouse pointers and sound settings, all
of which can be found back in the Personalisation window.
Changing the Start Menu

The final section covers the Start Menu, giving you control over
the amount of tiles you want to appear, and whether to include
recently added or most used apps. The various options are all
on/off switches and while they dont offer much in the way of
granular control, they can at least help you tune the appearance
closer to your preferences. Thats it, now you can tailor your PC
to just how you like it, and if you get tired of the same old thing,
then a new look is only a few clicks away. J
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10/12/2015 12:21
How to: Add or delete an email account to Windows 10
Add or delete an email account to Windows 10

Windows Mail client has plenty of features hidden underneath the surface. Martyn Casserly reports
The new Mail client in Windows 10 is an elegant and easy to use
app. Its clean lines and spacious layout fit nicely with Microsofts
overall approach to design, but theres also plenty of capability
lurking underneath the friendly veneer. One of the prerequisites
of any modern email program is the ability to have multiple

accounts, and Mail is happy to accommodate this feature. In this
short guide well show you how simple it is to add new accounts
to Mail, so you can have all your conversations in one place.
Adding an account for the first time

To launch Mail, go to the Start Menu and then either click on
the Mail live tile or click All apps > Mail. If you havent set up
the app yet, youll see a welcome screen and Mail will search
for any linked account that you have stored on the PC.
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11/12/2015 10:38
How to: Add or delete an email account to Windows 10
If it discovers, for example, a Gmail account it will then

present you with a white box entitled Heres what we found,
and then display the account details below. To accept this, click
Done. As youve most likely used a Microsoft account to log into
Windows, that will automatically be set up, too.
Now youll see a blue box named Accounts, listing the ones
already found by Mail, and offering the option to add an
account. Click on this and youll be given a list of popular services
(Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, Exchange), plus Other account the latter
will enable you to add whichever service you prefer.
Setting up the account is a simple case of selecting the relevant
option, then entering your email address and password. Mail will
then test the connection and make all the necessary adjustments.
Once this is done youll be brought back to the Accounts windows
where you can click on Ready to go and launch the app.
Adding an account from within the app

If youve already had Mail up and running, but find you now
want to add another account, then the steps are not difficult
at all. First open the app, then click on the three lines in
the top left hand corner. This opens up the menu bar, at the
bottom of which is the gear icon. Click this and the Setting menu
appears on the right. At the top of the list is Accounts. Select this,
and then click Add account. Now the process is exactly the same as
above. Just select the type of account you want to add, then enter
the email address and password. Once youre done click on the
three lines option again to open the Menu bar, and youll see the
newly added account listed alongside your existing ones.
Deleting an account
If you decide you no longer want an account in Mail, click
on the three lines to open the Menu bar, right click on the
account name, select Account settings, and then choose
Delete account and click Delete to confirm. J
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11/12/2015 10:38
How to: Use System Restore in Windows 10
Use System Restore in Windows 10

Martyn Casserly reveals how to use the operating systems safety feature when things go wrong
Although Windows 10 is a very stable system, there could come
an occasion when something goes wrong. Be it an app that does
terrible things to performance or some quirk in the operating
system itself, all you want is to return to a time only a few days
ago when everything was running perfectly. Thankfully, Windows

10 has a built-in safety feature that allows just such a thing.
System Restore is its name, and in this article well show you
how it can come to your rescue.
A warning to temper your hopes
Create a backup before you begin
While System Restore is an excellent feature, there is a very good

chance that you may never have turned it on in the first place.
Obviously this will be bad news if you need it now, as Windows
wont have any saved versions of your system to restore.
To ensure this doesnt happen in the future, go to File
Explorer, right-click on This PC and select Properties > System
protection > Configure and set how much of your hard drive
you want to allocate to System Restore. When youre done click
OK. Now, at least, if you encounter problems going forward
youll know you have a safety net.
The idea behind System Restore is simple. While you use your PC,
Windows is periodically taking a snapshot of your system all the
apps, data, and the operating system itself and saving it on your
hard drive. Then if you hit a point where you develop a problem,
System Restore allows you to go back to a previous instance, before
the problem arose, so you can salvage the situation. The clever
part is that your data documents, images, and such remain
unmolested, whereas any apps youve installed after that point in
time are removed. Even so, we still strongly recommend making a
full backup of any data you need before you begin this process.
108_109 HT System Restore 248.indd 108
10/12/2015 12:07
How to: Use System Restore in Windows 10
System Restore from Settings

The easiest method is through the Settings menu. To
do this, open the Start Menu and type Control Panel,
then select the top option. From Control Panel search
for Recovery, and then navigate to Recovery > Open
System restore > Next. Here youll be presented with a
list of restore points. Choose the one you want, then
select Next > Finish and Windows will restore that saved
version of your system.
System Restore from the Power options

An alternative route is to launch the process by
restarting your PC. This way youll need to open the
Start Menu, then while holding down the Shift key click
on Power > Restart. Nothing will look different, but
rather than the normal bootup sequence, you should
instead see a blue screen with the three options, one of
which is Troubleshoot. Click this to begin the process.
In the Troubleshoot menu, youll see two further

options: Reset this PC and Advanced Options. Choose
the latter. Now youll be presented with several other
choices, but the one to choose is System Restore.
Windows will now set up the restore process, and ask
you which account you want to use. Select the relevant
one, then enter your password. Next youll be taken
to a list of all the System Restore points you have on
your machine. Choose the one that you want, click the
Scan for affected programs option if you want to check
with apps will be removed, then click Next > Finish and
confirm that you want to restore this backup. Windows
will now complete the process, reboot, and should be
good to go. J
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10/12/2015 12:08
How to: Automatically sign into a Windows account
Automatically sign into a Windows account

Martyn Casserly explains how to speed up the process of logging into your Windows account
Windows Hello has changed the way those of us with compatible
hardware can log in to their machines. When you look at the
built-in camera your PC will recognise you and grant entry to the
digital firmament. For the rest of us were pretty much stuck with
our passwords, which are now encouraged to be longer and more
confusing that most sane minds can handle. If all of this is too
much, and youre happy with the idea of shedding your password,
then in a few steps you can make Windows 10 remove the need for
a password when you log in. Be sure to think this through though,
as convenience and security do not often make glad bedfellows.
To begin this short walk to freedom hold down the Windows

key and press R. This will open up a dialog box, into which you
need to type netplwiz.
Youll be taken to the Advanced User Accounts windows

where youll see a list of the different user accounts you have
on your PC. Make sure your one is selected (on most PCs there
will only be one), then click on the box entitled Users must enter a
username and password to use this computer, so it is now empty.
A new window should appear prompting you to enter your
password and then to confirm it a second time. Do this, click
OK, and from now on when you reboot your machine or wake it
from sleep, you will go straight to the desktop rather than the
cumbersome log in screen. There, thats it, youre now released
from the shackles of passwords, but of course remember, so is
anyone else who has access to your PC. If this risk proves too
stressful, then reverse the process above and your password will
once again protect your precious data. J
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10/12/2015 12:10
How to: Enable or disable the lock screen in Windows
Enable or disable the lock screen in Windows

If youre fed up with Windows 10s lock screen, Martyn Casserly reveals how to turn it off
Lock screens are something weve all grown accustomed to on our
smartphones and tablets, but their presence isnt quite as useful on
a PC. By default, Windows 10 comes with the feature enabled, and
while the photos displayed are often pretty, the function itself only
really serves to slow down your access to the device. Disabling the
lock screen isnt quite as simple as clicking an option in Settings,
but its still something that can be done easily in a couple of
minutes if you follow our guide.
Disabling the Lock Screen

Turning off the lock screen involves creating, or editing, a file in
the Registry. While this might sound a bit intimidating, in reality
its actually a straightforward process. To begin hold down the
Windows key and press R, then in the box that opens up type
regedit and press Enter. Now youll see a file tree appear. Use
this to navigate to the following folder:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\
Look for the folder called Personalization. If it isnt already
there, then youll need to create it. To do this right-click on the
Windows folder you just opened and then select New > Key
and name it Personalization.
Now open the Personalization folder and in the right-hand pane
right-click to open up the contextual menu. In here select New >
DWORD (32 Bit) Value, and call it NoLockScreen. Double-click on
NoLockScreen and a pop-up box will appear with the Value Data box
highlighted. In here change the value from 0 to 1 then click OK.
Now, when you reboot your machine the Lock Screen should be
nothing but a distant memory.
Enabling the Lock Screen

Should you decide that you miss the welcoming sight of luscious
photography when you turn on your PC, then re-enabling the Lock
Screen is joyously simple. Follow the same process as above, but
this time change the Value Data in NoLockScreen to 0 and the
feature will be active once you reboot your device. J
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10/12/2015 12:22
How to: Turn on Windows 10s Find My Device feature
Turn on Windows 10s Find My Device feature

Windows 10s recent OS update introduced Find My Device. Ian Paul reveals how to get started
Find My Device doesnt do a whole lot right now. There isnt,

for example, a way to have your tablet make a sound, lock
itself, erase data, or anything like that. Instead, you can
only find out where its last known general location was.
Nevertheless, if you want to try this feature out heres how to turn
it on. Find My Device is buried under Settings > Update & Security.
To active it, go to Start > Update & Security > Find My Device.
Once youve clicked Change, youll see a pop-up panel that

says Save my devices location periodically. Turn the slider
to On and youre done.
On this screen youll see a big Change button under the

heading Find My Device is off.
You should now see that the Find My Device screen has
changed to Find My Device is on as seen here. To make
sure that everything is working, log in to tinyurl.com/nkL4ury
with your Microsoft account and you should see the name of your
PC listed under Your devices.
If you dont know the name of your device, right-click on the
Start button and select System. In the Control Panel window that
opens youll see it under Computer name. J
112 HT Find My Device 248.indd 112
08/12/2015 15:00
How to: Clear the clutter when you print a web page
Clear the clutter when you print a web page

Ian Paul explains how to save ink by printing only the important parts of a web page
Google started working on a great new print option for Chrome
early in November called simplify page. This feature will strip out
all the superfluous items on a page that you really dont need to
print, such as ads, logos and menu options. The result is not only
easier to read, but also saves on costly printer ink.
Sadly, simplify page isnt ready for general release yet and is
only available in Chrome beta right now. But you dont have to wait
a few months or weeks for the feature to show up in Chrome to
stop wasting printer ink. Heres how to print a simplified page on
Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge.
Chrome
With Chrome cooking up its own print option, the best option is to
use an extension such as Evernote Clearly (tinyurl.com/q8gtu7h).
This creates a simplified reading page, which you can then print
out. The downside is that it requires an Evernote account. If you
dont already use Evernote, you can choose other extensions
such as Print Friendly & PDF.
Firefox and Edge

Both of these browsers have a built-in feature that allows you to
view a simplified web page before printing. Look up at the address
bar of either browser and on the far right youll see a book icon.
Firefox calls this Reader View while Edge calls it Reading View
(see right). Whichever one you use, simply click the book icon, wait
for the page to simplify and then print it out.
Thats all there is to saving on ink while still getting a physical
copy of the information you need. J
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10/12/2015 12:12
How to: Get more from Googles mobile app store
Get more from Googles mobile app store

Nick Mediati shows how to find deals, enable parental controls, learn about app permissions, and more
Google Play packs a whole lot of power into its Android app
youll find everything from parental controls to a wishlist
to automatic update options. You may have been using it to
download apps for months or years without even realising all the
cool stuff it can do. This guide will walk you through the more
advanced features of the Google Play app.
Parental controls
Password preferences
Want to control what your children

can download on to their phones?
Google Plays parental controls are
for you. With these, you can set
download restrictions for just about
everything on the Play store.
Open the Hamburger menu
or swipe in from the left edge of
your screen, scroll down, then tap
Settings. Tap Parental controls
under the User controls subhead,
then slide the toggle switch to
the On position. Set a PIN when
prompted, and youll be able to set
limitations for apps and games,
movies, TV shows, books, and music.
For apps, games, movies, and
TV shows, you can set limitations based on industry-standard
ratings systems: For example, you can prevent your kids from
purchasing movies that carry a rating above 12. For books and
music, you can restrict sexually explicit content.
While youre in Google Play

Settings, take a look at your
password authentication
preferences. By default,
Google Play requires you to
enter your password every
time you purchase an item
from the store, but if you
arent concerned about
others making unauthorised
purchases on your device, you
can change this if you want.
Tap Require authentication for purchases and choose between
three options always require a password for purchases, require a
password after 30 minutes, or never require a password.
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11/12/2015 10:42
How to: Get more from Googles mobile app store
App permissions
Auto-update settings
Each app page on the Play store

provides details on the sort of
permissions that app may request
whether itll ask to access the
camera, your contacts, your
photos, your location, and so
on. Go to any apps page on the
Play store, scroll down, and tap
Permissions details to get a full
readout of what the app may want
to access, before you download it.
By default, Android will

download and install app
updates automatically in
the background. While this
is useful for keeping you up
to date, it could eat up your
data plan. You can change
your preference by opening
the Hamburger menu,
tapping Settings > Auto-update apps. Youll be shown three options
(pictured here). Select the one you want.
Redeem a gift
card or promo code
Manage your wishlist
When you open the

Google Play app, it isnt
immediately obvious how
to redeem a gift card or
enter a promo code. It
isnt hard to do, though.
From the Google Play
home screen, tap the hamburger menu (or swipe in from the left
edge) then tap Redeem. Enter your gift card or promo code in the
box that pops up, then tap the Redeem button.
Google Play offers a wishlist that

makes it easier to track the apps,
movies, books and music that you
want to purchase or download,
but arent ready to do so just yet.
To add something to your wishlist,
go to any item on the store, then
tap the small bookmark icon with
a + in it. The icon will change
colour and a checkmark will
appear in the middle of it.
You can view all the items
on your wishlist from swiping in
from the left-hand edge of the
screen while in the Play app and
selecting My wishlist.
Discover something new
Find some deals
It takes only a little poking around

on Google Play to find a fun new
game or a great new album. Take a
look at the Recommended for You
section on each landing page in the
Play store for suggestions based
on your purchase history.
The Similar Items feature can
also be a good way to discover new
apps or media. Tap on any app,
video, album, book, or Newsstand
item, then tap the Similar button,
and youll get a listing of other
items that are similar to whatever
you happen to be looking at.
A good many apps on Google Play

are free to download, but for those
items you do have to pay for, you
can find some good deals if you
know where to look.
The first place to look is on
the Play Store itself. The stores
landing pages do a pretty good job
at highlighting suggested apps and
media, as well as things on sale, so
start there. Also try a quick Google
search for Google Play deals to
find even more bargains. J
114_115 HT Google Store 248.indd 115
11/12/2015 10:42
How to: Restore WhatsApp messages on a new phone
Restore WhatsApp messages on a new phone

Martyn Casserly reveals how to transfer WhatsApp messages to a new iPhone or Android handset
WhatsApp is a tremendously useful way to keep in touch with
people all over the world, pretty much for free. There is a rather
large problem that users can encounter though, and that is when
moving on to a new phone their conversations dont come with
them. This is due to the way that the app stores content locally
rather than on web servers. If you still have your old phone to
hand, and havent switched from Android to iOS or vice versa,
then its still possible to salvage those old chats and move them
safely to a new home. In this guide, well take you through the
short process of copying and restoring your digital missives.
Restoring messages on an iPhone

There are a few different ways to keep your conversations on your
iPhone, but the easiest is by using iCloud backup. To do this youll
need to take your old handset and go to Settings > WhatsApp
Settings > Chats > Chat Backup and then tap Backup Now.
On your new handset, reinstall WhatsApp, confirm your phone
number (which has to be the same as the one used on your old
phone) and you should be prompted to restore your chat history.
Agree to this and your backup should be installed, replete with
your conversations. Its worth going back to the settings and
enabling the Auto Backup feature now, so youll be good to go
when you upgrade to your next iPhone in a couple of years time.
and calls > Backup Chats. This will now create a backup on your SD
card, which you can then swap into your new handset.
Reinstall WhatsApp on your replacement device (with the
SD card inserted) and the app should spot your backup and
automatically restore the chat history.
Restoring messages on an Android phone using a PC

Those phones without an SD card (and there are increasingly
more of them now) can still move their chat history, but it will
need a PC to make it happen. Attach the USB charging cord to
the phone and then plug the other end into your PC. Windows
should automatically install any drivers you need, and then you
can find the phone in the This PC section of File Explorer. Now
look through the phone storage until you find the WhatsApp
folder, then copy it onto your PC hard drive. Eject the phone, then
connect your new handset and move the WhatsApp folder onto
its internal storage. Eject the phone, reinstall WhatsApp, and
when you confirm your number the backup should be recognised
and you can restore it. With this done you should now have all
your past conversations on your new Android phone. J
Restoring messages on an
Android phone using an SD card
If you have an Android phone with an SD card, then the process
for transferring your chat history is reasonably straightforward.
Open the app, then tap the Menu icon then go to Settings > Chats
116 HT WhatsApp 248.indd 116
10/12/2015 12:14
Reader software downloads zone
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them to be included on the cover disc. So
despite there being a disc taped to the
cover, there would often be little more
than a link to download the software.
For these reasons, weve created a new
Downloads Zone on our website. And to
make things as easy as possible, we have
removed the need for individual codes to
download or register each program.
The only code youll need is
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enter at the following page:
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Once logged in, youll be able to
browse the software on offer or search
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top of each page and browse by category.
The Downloads Zone has hundreds of
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TOP5CHARTS
TEST CENTRE
PC Advisors charts rank and rate the best products every month. If youre 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

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If youre interested in purchasing one of the
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Our recommendations are for guidance only.
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:12
Top 5 charts
Best laptops
Aorus X7 v2
Alienware 13
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 15in HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1
5
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13in
Price
1,720 inc VAT
1,100 inc VAT
1,599 inc VAT
2,116 inc VAT
999 inc VAT
Website
Aorus.com
Alienware.co.uk
Apple.com/uk
Hp.com/uk
Apple.com/uk
Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
Processor
2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4860HQ 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-5500U
2.2GHz Intel Core i7
2.1GHz Intel Core i5-4600U 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
RAM
16GB DDR3
8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3
16GB DDR3L
8GB DDR3L
8GB LPDDR3
Storage
1TB HDD, 3x 128GB SSD
256GB SSD
256GB SSD
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
Screen size
17.3in matt
13.3in matt
15.4in matt
14in matt
13.3in matt
Screen resolution
1920x1080
1920x1080
2880x1800
1920x1080
2560x1600
Graphics
2x nVidia GeForce GTX 860M nVidia GeForce GTX 860M
Intel Iris Pro Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 4400
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
Video memory
8GB
2GB
N/A
N/A
N/A
Wireless
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
802.11ac
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
802.11a/b/g/ac
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Ethernet
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Bluetooth
USB
3x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0
3x USB 3.0
2x USB 3.0
2x 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
HD webcam
2Mp webcam
720p FaceTime
0.9Mp webcam
720p FaceTime
Operating system
Windows 8.1 64-bit
Windows 8.1
OS X Yosemite
Windows 7 Professional
OS X Yosemite
Bundled software
None
None
None
None
None
Gaming scores
189/157fps in Tomb Raider
Not tested
Not tested
Battery
74.7Wh lithium-polymer
52Wh lithium-polymer
74.9Wh lithium-ion
74.9Wh lithium-ion
Battery life
1 hr 48 mins
10 hrs 20 mins
8 hrs 58 mins
5 hrs 41 mins
17 hrs 5 mins
PCMark7 score
6304
5429
Not tested
4783
Not tested
Dimensions
425x303x24.5mm
328x235x26.7mm
358.9x247.1x18mm
338x232x17.3mm
314x219x18mm
Weight
3.2kg
2kg
2kg
1.6kg
1.6kg
Warranty
2-year return-to-base
1-year collect-and-return
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TEST CENTRE
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Top 5 charts
Best
budget laptops
Asus X555LA-XX290H
Toshiba Chromebook 2
Dell Vostro 15
Toshiba Satellite CL10-B-100
Acer Chromebook 13
Price
300 inc VAT
269 inc VAT
442 inc VAT
200 inc VAT
219 inc VAT
Website
Asus.com/uk
Toshiba.co.uk
Dell.co.uk
Toshiba.co.uk
Acer.co.uk
Processor
1.9GHz Intel Core i3-4030U
Intel Celeron
100
2.1GHz nVidia Tegra K1
RAM
4GB DDR3
4GB DDR3
4GB DDR3
2GB DDR3
4GB DDR3
Storage
1TB HDD
16GB SSD
500GB SSD
32GB eMMC
32GB SSD
Screen size
15.6in glossy
13.3in IPS
15.3in matt
11.6in glossy
13.3in
Screen resolution
1366x768
1920x1080
1366x768
1366x768
1920x1080
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics
Intel HD Graphics
nVidia Kepler
Video memory
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Wireless
802.11b/g/n
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
802.11b/g/n/ac
802.11b/g/n
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Ethernet
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Bluetooth
USB
1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0
1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0
1x 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
DVD writer
None
None
None
None
Extras
Kensington lock slot,

webcam
Webcam

webcam

webcam
Webcam
Operating system
Windows 8.1
Google Chrome OS
Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1 with Bing
Google Chrome OS
Bundled software
None
None
None
None
None
Battery
37Wh Lithium-ion
Not specified
40Wh Lithium-polymer
26Wh Lithium-ion
Not specified
Battery life
5 hrs 17 mins
9 hrs
5 hrs 17 mins
6 hrs
9 hrs 20 mins
PCMark 8 Home score
1985
Not tested
2296
Not tested
Not tested
Batman (Low/High)
30fps/Not tested
Not tested
29fps/Not tested
Not tested
Not tested
Dimensions
381x257x26.3mm
320x214x19.3mm
1378x259x24.5mm
315x216x20.3mm
18x327x227.5mm
Weight
2.1kg
1.4kg
2.4kg
1.1kg
1.5kg
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
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Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:12
Top 5 charts
Best
ultraportable
laptops
Apple MacBook Pro Retina 13in HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1
Apple MacBook Air 13in
Dell XPS 13 9343
Microsoft Surface Pro 3
Price
999 inc VAT
2,116 inc VAT
849 inc VAT
1,099 inc VAT
639 inc VAT
Website
Apple.com/uk
Hp.com/uk
Apple.com/uk
Dell.co.uk
Microsoft.com/en-gb
Processor
2.7GHz Intel Core i5
2.1GHz Intel Core i5-4600U 1.6GHz Intel Core i5
Intel Haswell Core i3
RAM
8GB LPDDR3
8GB DDR3L
4GB LPDDR3
8GB DDR3
4GB DDR3
Storage
128GB SSD
256GB SSD
128GB SSD
256GB SSD
64GB SSD
Screen size
13.3in matt
14in matt
13.3in glossy
13.3in IPS
12in ClearType
Screen resolution
2560x1600
1920x1080
1440x900
3200x2000
2160x1440
Graphics
Intel Iris Graphics 6100
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
None
Bluetooth
USB
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 3.0
1x 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
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
5Mp webcam
Operating system
OS X Yosemite
Windows 7 Professional
OS X Yosemite
Windows 8.1 64-bit
Windows 8.1 Pro
Bundled software
None
None
None
Microsoft Office 2013 Trial
None
Gaming scores
Not tested
Not tested
40fps Batman: Arkham City Not tested
Battery
74.9Wh lithium-ion
38Wh lithium-ion
8000mAh lithium-ion
Battery life
17 hrs 5 mins
5 hrs 41 mins
12 hrs 49 mins
6 hrs 12 mins
9 hrs
PCMark 7 score
Not tested
4783
Not tested
Not tested
Not tested
Dimensions
314x219x18mm
338x232x17.3mm
300x192x17mm
304x200x15mm
292x201.3x9.1mm
Weight
1.6kg
1.6kg
1.4kg
1.3kg
0.8kg
Warranty
1-year next business day
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Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
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Top 5 charts
Best
Chromebooks
Toshiba Chromebook 2
Acer Chromebook 13
Dell Chromebook 11
HP Chromebook 14
Acer C720p Chromebook
Price
269 inc VAT
219 inc VAT
239 inc VAT
259 inc VAT
249 inc VAT
Website
Toshiba.co.uk
Acer.co.uk
Dell.co.uk
Hp.com/uk
Uk.asus.com
Processor
Intel Celeron
1.4GHz Intel Celeron 2955U
RAM
4GB DDR3
4GB DDR3
4GB DDR3
4GB DDR3
2GB DDR3
Storage
16GB SSD
32GB SSD
16GB SSD
16GB SSD
16GB SSD
Screen size
13.3in IPS
13.3in
11.6in glossy
14in glossy
11.6in glossy
Screen resolution
1920x1080
1920x1080
1366x768
1366x768
1366x768
Graphics
Intel HD graphics
nVidia Kepler
Intel HD Graphics
Intel HD graphics
Intel HD graphics
Video memory
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Wireless
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
802.11a/b/g/n/ac
802.11a/b/g/n
802.11a/b/g/n
802.11a/b/g/n
Ethernet
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Bluetooth
USB
1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 3.0
2x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
1x USB 3.0, 1x 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
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
9 hrs
9 hrs 20 mins
7 hrs 17 mins
7 hrs 50 mins
6 hrs 7 mins
SunSpider score
Not tested
660ms
465ms
470ms
502ms
Peacekeeper score
Not tested
Not tested
2468
2478
2453
Browsermark score
Not tested
Not tested
3732
3643
3698
Dimensions
320x214x19.3mm
18x327x227.5mm
295x201x24mm
20.5x345x239mm
19.1x288x204mm
Weight
1.4kg
1.5kg
1.3kg
1.7kg
1.4kg
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
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Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
Extras
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:12
Top 5 charts
Best
gaming laptops
Asus G751T-T717H
Schenker XMG U506
Alienware 13
MSI GS60 2QD-470UK
Toshiba Satellite P50T-C-109
Price
1,559 inc VAT
1,585 inc VAT
1,100 inc VAT
1,299 inc VAT
799 inc VAT
Website
Asus.com/uk
Mysn.co.uk
Alienware.co.uk
UK.msi.com
Toshiba.co.uk
Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
Processor
2.3GHz Intel Core i7-4850HQ 3.5GHz Intel Core i5-6600K 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-5500U
2.6GHz Intel Core i7-4720HQ 2.2GHz Intel Core i5-5200U
RAM
24GB (3x 8BG) DDR3
8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3
8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3
16GB (2x 8BG) DDR3
12GB (1x 8GB, 1x 4GB) DDR3
Storage
1TB HDD, 256GB SSD
256GB SSD, 1TB HDD
256GB SSD
1TB HDD, 128GB SSD
1TB SHDD
Screen size
17.3in matt
15.6in matt
13.3in matt
15.6in matt
15.6in matt
Screen resolution
1920x1080
1920x1080
1920x1080
1920x1080
3840x2160
Graphics
nVidia GeForce GTX 970M
Video memory
Not specified
Not specified
2GB
3GB
Not specified
Wireless
802.11ac
802.11ac
802.11ac
802.11ac
802.11ac
Ethernet
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Gigabit
Bluetooth
USB
4x USB 3.0
3x USB 3.0, 1x eSATA/USB 3.0
3x USB 3.0
3x 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
N/A
BD-RE/DVDRW
Extras
Integrated webcam
2Mp webcam
2Mp webcam
2.1Mp webcam
0.9Mp webcam
Operating system
Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1 Pro
Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1
Windows 8.1
Bundled software
None
None
None
None
None
Gaming scores
Battery
90Wh lithium-ion
48Wh lithium-ion
Battery life
3 hrs 9 mins
2 hrs 23 mins
10 hrs 20 mins
2 hrs 49 mins
3 hrs 20 mins
PCMark 7 score
Not tested
4000 (PCMark 8)
5429
6241
1797 (PCMark 8)
Dimensions
389x265x20.3mm
387x266x37.5mm
328x235x26.7mm
389x265x20.3mm
380x257x23.7mm
Weight
416x318x39-82mm
3.4kg
2kg
2kg
2.3kg
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1-year collect-and-return
1 year
FULL REVIEW
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:12
Top 5 charts
Best
gaming PCs
Wired2Fire Diablo Skylake
Chillblast Fusion Krypton
Vibox Spawn X
Mesh Elite Skylake PCA
Eclipse SuperNova i566n970OC
Price
899 inc VAT
869 inc VAT
979 inc VAT
999 inc VAT
899 inc VAT
Website
Wired2fire.co.uk
Chillblast.com
Vibox.co.uk
Meshcomputers.co.uk
Eclipsecomputers.com
Processor
3.5GHz Intel Core i5-6600K

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

(OC 4.2GHz)

(OC 4.5GHz)

(OC 4.4GHz)

(4.2GHz OC)
CPU cooler
Prolimatech Basic 68
Akasa Nero
Coolermaster Seidon 120v
Raijintek Triton 240mm

AIO Water Cooling Solution
Zalman CNPS11X Performa
Memory
16GB DDR4
16GB DDR4
8GB Patriot Viper Xtreme
16GB DDR4
16GB DDR4
Storage
1TB HDD + 250GB SSD
2TB HDD + 128GB SSD
2TB HDD + 240GB SSD
1TB SSHD + 250GB SSD
1TB HDD + 240GB SSD
Power supply
500W FSP
600W Aerocool Integrator
650W Superflower HX65
750W FSP Quiet

Power Supply
500W Corsair VS Series
Motherboard
Asus Z170-P
Asus Z170M-Plus
MSI Z170A Gaming Pro
Gigabyte
GA-Z170X-Gaming 3
Asus Z170-P
Operating system
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Home
Screen
Asus VS247HR
28in AOC U2868Pqu
None supplied
None supplied
26in HKC 2615
Graphics
MSI nVidia GeForce

GTX 970
MSI nVidia GeForce

GTX 970
MSI nVidia
GeForce GTX 970
Palit nVidia
GeForce GTX 970
Palit nVidia
GeForce GTX 970
Sound
Onboard
Onboard
Onboard
Onboard
Onboard
Connectivity
Gigabit ethernet
Gigabit ethernet
Gigabit ethernet
Gigabit ethernet
Gigabit ethernet
Ports
1x USB 3.1 Type-C, 4x USB

3.0, 4x USB 2.0
1x USB 3.1 Type-C, 3x USB 3.0, 4x

USB 2.0, 2x DVI, HDMI, 2x DP
2x USB 3.1 Gen2, 6x USB 3.1

Gen1, 6x USB 2.0
3x USB 3.0 ,2x USB 2.0, USB 3.1 Type-A,

USB 3.1 Type-C, HDMI, DVI-D, D-Sub
1x USB 3.1 Type-C, 3x USB 3.0, 3x

USB 2.0, DVU, HDMI, 2x DP
Optical drive
DVDRW
None
DVDRW
DVDRW
DVDRW
Case
Zalman Z11 Neo
Chillblast Kube
Phanteks Enthoo Pro Mid
Aero Cool DS 200
Corsair Carbide Spec-03
Keyboard & mouse
Cooler Master Devastator

Keyboard and Mouse
Thermaltake E-Sports
Commander Gaming Set
Cooler Master Devastator

Keyboard and Mouse
Roccat Isku Keyboard,

Roccat Lua Mouse
Thermaltake E-Sports
Commander Gaming Set
Other
None
None
None
None
None
PCMark 8
2.0 Home score
5434
5332
5327
5316
4575
Alien vs Predator score

(720p/1080p)
172.6/90.1fps
173.4/90.7fps
169.7/89.8fps
169.6/89.6fps
170.3/88.8fps
Final Fantasy XIV

(Maximum)
133.2fps
134.6fps
132.8fps
130.4fps
128.3fps
Sniper Elite V2
(Low/Medium/Ultra)
461.4/208.5/49fps
459.6/201.8/49.2fps
447.3/205.9/49fps
444.7/203.2/47.6fps
356.4/203.9/47.7fps
Power Consumption
5/295W
55/303W
Not tested
63/251W
51/264W
Warranty
2 years parts, 3 years

labour
5 years: first 2 years C&R +

labour, remaining 3 labour
Vibox Evolution
Lifetime Warranty
Lifetime labour, 2 years

parts, 1-year C&R
3-year RTB (1-year parts

only), 30-day C&R
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Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
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FOR EVERYTHING
ANDROID
DIGITAL
EDITION ON
ANDROID
& iOS
tinyurl.com/nk4osoh
Every issue is packed with the latest

reviews, features, tutorials & more.
Top 5 charts
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
Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
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
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:13
Top 5 charts
Best
smartphones
Samsung Galaxy S6
Google Nexus 6P
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
Samsung Galaxy Note5
LG G4
Price
349 inc VAT
449 inc VAT
619 inc VAT
600 inc VAT
500 inc VAT
Website
Samsung.com/uk
Google.co.uk
Apple.com/uk
Samsung.com/uk
Lg.com/uk
OS (out of box)
Android 5.0 Lollipop
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
iOS 9
Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
Processor
2.1GHz Exynos 7420
Qualcomm Snapdragon 810
A9
2.1GHz Exynos 7420
Snapdragon 808 six-core
RAM
3GB
3GB
2GB
4GB
3GB
Storage
32/64GB
32/64/128GB
16/64/128GB
32/64GB
32GB
MicroSD support
Up to 128GB
Graphics
Mali-T760 GPU
Adreno 430
M9
Mali-T760MP8
Adreno 418
Screen size
5.1in
5.7in
5.5in
5.7in
4.5in
Screen resolution
1440x2560
2560x1440
1920x1080
720x1280
1440x2560
Pixel density
577ppi
518ppi
401ppi
518ppi
538ppi
Screen technology
Super AMOLED
Quad HD capacitive
IPS
Super AMOLED
IPS
Front camera
5Mp
8Mp
5Mp
5Mp
8Mp
Rear camera
16Mp, LED flash
12.3Mp, LED flash
12Mp, LED flash
16Mp, LED flash
16Mp
Video recording
4K
4K
4K
4K
4K
Cellular connectivity
4G
4G
4G
4G
4G
SIM type
Nano-SIM
Nano-SIM
Nano-SIM
Nano-SIM
Micro-SIM
Dual-SIM as standard
Wi-Fi
802.11a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.1
Bluetooth 4.2
Bluetooth 4.2
Bluetooth 4.2
Bluetooth 4.1
GPS
GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
NFC
USB OTG
Extra features
Heart-rate sensor,
fingerprint scanner
Fingerprint scanner
Fingerprint scanner
Heart-rate sensor,
fingerprint scanner
24-bit/192kHz audio,
rear key
Geekbench 3.0 (single)
1347
Not tested
2527
1497
Not tested
Geekbench 3.0 (multi)
4438
3939
4407
Not tested
3513
SunSpider
1048ms
636ms
210ms
718ms
715ms
GFXBench: T-Rex
30fps
34fps
59fps
37fps
25fps
GFXBench: Manhattan
14fps
14fps
38fps
15fps
9fps
Battery
2550mAh, non-removable
Lithium-on
3000mAh removable
Dimensions
143.4x70.5x6.8mm
159.3x77.8x7.3mm
158.2x77.9x7.3mm
153.2x76.1x7.6mm
64.9x127x8.6mm
Weight
138g
178g
192g
171g
155g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
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Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:13
Top 5 charts
Best
budget
smartphones
Vodafone Smart Ultra 6
Motorola Moto E 4G 2015
Vodafone Smart Prime 6
Wileyfox Swift
EE Harrier Mini
Price
125 inc VAT
109 inc VAT
79 inc VAT
129 inc VAT
99 inc VAT
Website
Vodafone.co.uk
Motorola.co.uk
Vodafone.co.uk
Wileyfox.com
EE.co.uk
OS (out of box)
Cyanogen OS
Processor
2.5GHz Snapdragon 615
1.2GHz
RAM
2GB
1GB
1GB
2GB
1GB
Storage
16GB
8GB
8GB
16GB
8GB
MicroSD support
Up to 128GB
Up to 32GB
Up to 64GB
Up to 32GB
Not specified
Graphics
Adreno 405
Adreno 306
Adreno 306
Adreno 306
Not specified
Screen size
5.5in
4.5in
5in
5in
4.7in
Screen resolution
1920x1080
540x960
720x1280
1280x720
720x1280
Pixel density
401ppi
245ppi
294ppi
294ppi
312ppi
Screen technology
IPS
IPS
IPS
IPS
IPS
Front camera
5Mp
0.3Mp
2Mp
5Mp
2Mp
Rear camera
13Mp
5Mp
8Mp
13Mp, LED flash
8Mp, LED flash
Video recording
1080p
720p
1080p
1080p
720p
4G*
4G
4G*
4G
4G
SIM type
Nano-SIM
Micro-SIM
Micro-SIM
Micro-SIM
Micro-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 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS
GPS, A-GPS
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
A-GPS
A-GPS
A-GPS, Glonass
NFC
USB OTG
Extra features
FM radio
Double-twist launches
camera, lockscreen alerts
FM radio
3D G-Sensor,
Wi-Fi calling
649
464
464
Not tested
Not tested
2469
1463
1401
1456
1549
SunSpider
1545ms
1301ms
1301ms
1760ms
1880ms
GFXBench: T-Rex
14fps
13fps
9.4fps
10fps
10fps
GFXBench: Manhattan
5.7fps
6fps
3.8fps
4fps
4fps
Battery
Not specified
2500mAh, removable
Dimensions
154x77x9mm
66.8x5.2-12.3x129.9mm
141.65x71.89x9mm
141x71x9.4mm
138x67.9x9.5mm
Weight
159g
145g
155g
135g
124g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
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Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
* Locked to Vodafone. All other models here are unlocked
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:13
Top 5 charts
Best
phablets
Samsung Galaxy Note5
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
LG G4
LG G3
OnePlus 2
Price
600 inc VAT
599 inc VAT
500 inc VAT
479 inc VAT
239 inc VAT
Website
Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Samsung.com/uk
Lg.com/uk
Lg.com/uk
Oneplus.net
OS (out of box)
Android 4.4 KitKat
Android 4.4 KitKat
OxygenOS 2.0 (Android 5.1)
Processor
2.1GHz Exynos 7420
RAM
4GB
3GB
3GB
2GB/3GB
3/4GB
Storage
32/64GB
32GB
32GB
16GB/32GB
16GB/64GB
MicroSD support
Up to 128GB
Up to 128GB
Graphics
Mali-T760MP8
Adreno 420
Adreno 418
Adreno 330
Adreno 430
Screen size
5.7in
5.7in
5.5in
5.5in
5.5in
Screen resolution
720x1280
1440x2560
1440x2560
1440x2560
1920x1080
Pixel density
518ppi
515ppi
538ppi
534ppi
401ppi
Screen technology
Super AMOLED
Super AMOLED
IPS
IPS
IPS
Front camera
5Mp
3.7Mp
8Mp
2Mp
5Mp
Rear camera
16Mp, LED flash
16Mp, LED flash
16Mp, LED flash
13Mp, LED flash
13Mp, Dual-LED flash
Video recording
4K
4K
4K
4K
4K
4G
4G
4G
4G
4G
SIM type
Nano-SIM
Micro-SIM
Micro-SIM
Micro-SIM
Dual-SIM
Yes
Wi-Fi
802.11ac, dual-band
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.2
Bluetooth 4.1
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0 (aptX)
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS
A-GPS, Glonass
GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
GPS, Glonass
NFC
USB OTG
Extra features
Heart-rate sensor,
fingerprint scanner
Fingerprint, UV, heart-rate

sensors, S Pen stylus
24bit/192kHz audio,
rear key, IR blaster
24bit/192kHz audio,
rear key
None
1497
Not tested
Not tested
Not tested
Not tested
Not tested
3272
3513
2465
4094
SunSpider
718ms
1367ms
715ms
959ms
1471ms
GFXBench: T-Rex
37fps
27fps
25fps
20fps
46fps
GFXBench: Manhattan
15fps
11fps
9fps
Not tested
16fps
Battery
3220mAh, removable
3000mAh, removable, Qi
3000mAh, removable, Qi
Dimensions
153.2x76.1x7.6mm
78.6x153.5x8.5mm
76x149x6.3-9.8mm
75x146x8.9mm
151.8x74.9x9.9mm
Weight
171g
176g
155g
149g
175g
Warranty
1 year
2 years
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
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Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:13
Top 5 charts
Best
7- & 8in tablets
Google Nexus 7
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4
Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact Apple iPad mini 2
5
Google Nexus 9
Price
199 inc VAT
319 inc VAT
299 inc VAT
219 inc VAT
299 inc VAT
Website
Play.google.com
Samsung.com/uk
Sony.co.uk
Apple.com/uk
Google.co.uk
OS (out of box)
Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
Android 4.4 KitKat
Android 4.4 KitKat
iOS 9
Processor
1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro
Exynos 5420, octa-core
Apple A7, Apple M7
RAM
2GB
3GB
3GB
1GB
2GB
Storage
16GB/32GB
16GB/32GB
16GB/32GB
16GB/32GB
16GB/32GB
MicroSD support
Up to 128GB
Up to 128GB
No
Graphics
Adreno 320
ARM Mali-T628 MP6
Adreno 330
Apple A7
192-core Kepler
Screen size
7in
8.4in
8in
7.9in
8.9in
Screen resolution
1920x1200
2560x1440
1920x1200
2048x1536
2048x1536
Pixel density
323ppi
359ppi
283ppi
326ppi
287ppi
Screen technology
IPS
Super AMOLED
IPS
IPS
IPS
Front camera
1.2Mp
2.1Mp
2.2Mp
1.2Mp
1.6Mp
Rear camera
5Mp
8Mp, LED flash
8.1Mp
5Mp
8Mp, LED flash
Video recording
1080p
1080p
1080p
7200p
1080p
4G version available
Wi-Fi
802.11b/g/n, dual-band
802.11a/b/g/n, dual-band
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.1
GPS
GPS, Glonass
GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
GPS, Glonass
NFC
Yes
USB OTG
Yes
Fingerprint scanner
No
Waterproof
No
Extra features
None
Stereo speakers
PS4 Remote Play,

stereo speakers
None
BoomSound speakers
Not tested
Not tested
Not tested
Not tested
1904
Not tested
2765
2708
Not tested
3352
SunSpider
1136ms
1089ms
1017ms
397ms
955ms
GFXBench: T-Rex
Not tested
14fps
28fps
Not tested
48fps
GFXBench: Manhattan
Not tested
3fps
11fps
Not tested
22fps
Battery
3950mAh, non-removable, Qi 4900mAh, non-removable
Dimensions
200x114x8.65mm
126x213x6.6mm
213x124x6.4mm
200x134.7x7.5mm
153.7x228.3x8mm
Weight
299g
294g
270g
331g
425g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
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Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:13
Top 5 charts
Best
9- & 10in
tablets
Apple iPad Air 2
Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5
Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet
Apple iPad Air
Google Nexus 10
Price
399 inc VAT
399 inc VAT
369 inc VAT
319 inc VAT
389 inc VAT
Website
Apple.com/uk
Samsung.com/uk
Sony.co.uk
Apple.com/uk
Play.google.com
OS (out of box)
iOS 8.2
Android 4.4 KitKat
Android 4.4 KitKat
iOS 8.2
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Processor
Apple A8X, Apple M8
Exynos 5420, octa-core
Apple A7, Apple M7
1.7GHz Exynos 5250
RAM
2GB
3GB
3GB
1GB
2GB
Storage
16GB/64GB/128GB
16GB/32GB
16GB
16GB/32GB
16GB/32GB
MicroSD support
No
Up to 128GB
Up to 64GB
No
No
Graphics
Apple A8X
ARM Mali-T628 MP6
Adreno 330
Apple A7
ARM Mali T604
Screen size
9.7in
10.5in
10.1in
9.7in
10.1in
Screen resolution
2048x1536
2560x1600
1920x1200
2048x1536
2560x1600
Pixel density
264ppi
288ppi
224ppi
264ppi
300ppi
Screen technology
IPS
Super AMOLED
IPS
IPS
IPS
Front camera
1.2Mp
2.1Mp
2.2Mp
1.2Mp
1.9Mp
Rear camera
8Mp
8Mp, LED flash
8.1Mp
5Mp
5Mp, LED flash
Video recording
1080p
1080p
1080p
1080p
1080p
No
Wi-Fi
802.11a/b/g/n, dual-band
802.11b/g/n, dual-band
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS
A-GPS, Glonass
GPS, Glonass
GPS, Glonass
A-GPS, Glonass
GPS, Glonass
NFC
Yes (for Apple Pay)
No
Yes
No
Yes
USB OTG
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Fingerprint scanner
Yes
No
No
No
Waterproof
No
Yes
No
No
Extra features
None
Stereo speakers
PlayStation certified
None
None
1816
Not tested
967
1487
Not tested
4523
2769
2719
2703
Not tested
SunSpider
Not tested
1079ms
1099ms
400ms
1329ms
GFXBench: T-Rex
48fps
14fps
27fps
23fps
Not tested
GFXBench: Manhattan
Not tested
3fps
Not tested
Not tested
Not tested
Battery
Dimensions
240x169.5x6.1mm
247x177x6.6mm
266x172x6.4mm
240x169x7.5mm
264x178x8.9mm
Weight
437g
465g
439g
469g
603g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/PLQXWSZ
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Build rating
Features rating
Performance rating
Value rating
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:14
Top 5 charts
Best
smartwatches
LG G Watch R
Huawei Watch
Motorola Moto 360
Sony Smartwatch 3
LG Watch Urbane
Price
195 inc VAT
289 inc VAT
199 inc VAT
189 inc VAT
259 inc VAT
Website
Lg.com/uk
Consumer.huawei.com/en
Motorola.co.uk
Sony.co.uk
Lg.com/uk
Operating system
Android Wear
Android Wear
Android Wear
Android Wear
Android Wear
Compatibility
Android
Android
Android
Android
Android
Display
1.3in 320x320 P-OLED
1.4in 400x400 AMOLED
1.56in 290x320 LCD
1.6in 320x320 LCD
1.3in 320x320 P-OLED
Processor
1.2GHz Snapdrgon 400
Snapdragon 400
TI OMAP 3
1.2GHz ARM V7
RAM
512MB
512MB
512MB
512MB
512MB
Storage
4GB
4GB
4GB
4GB
4GB
Waterproof
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Battery
410mAh
300mAh
320mAh
420mAh
410mAh
Dimensions
46.4x53.6x9.7mm
42x11.3mm
46x11.5mm
36x51x10mm
46x52x10.9mm
Weight
62g
40g
49g (leather band model)
45g
67g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
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Overall rating
Best
smartwatches
10
Asus ZenWatch
Apple Watch
Pebble Steel
LG G Watch
Sony Smartwatch 2
Price
199 inc VAT
299 inc VAT
179 inc VAT
159 inc VAT
125 inc VAT
Website
Uk.asus.com
Apple.com/uk
Getpebble.com
Lg.com/uk
Sony.co.uk
Operating system
Android Wear
watchOS
Proprietary
Android Wear
Proprietary
Compatibility
Android
iOS
iOS, Android
Android
Android
Display
1.6in 320x320 AMOLED
1.32in 340x312 Ion-X Glass
1.26in 144x168 E-Paper
1.65in 280x280 IPS
1.6in 220x176 LCD
Processor
Apple S1
Not specified
Not specified
RAM
512MB
512MB
512MB
512MB
Not specified
Storage
4GB
8GB
Not specified
4GB
Not specified
Waterproof
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Battery
1.4Wh
Not specified
130mAh
400mAh
Not specified
Dimensions
51x39.9x7.9-9.4mm
38.6x33.3x10.5mm
46x34x10.5mm
37.9x46.5x9.95mm
42x41x9mm
Weight
75g
72g
156g
63g
123g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/NN7GA7W
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TINYURL.COM/P4X7AZM
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:14
Top 5 charts
Best
activity
trackers
Fitbit Charge HR
Fitbit Surge
Fitbit One
Microsoft Band
Fitbit Charge
Price
119 inc VAT
199 inc VAT
79 inc VAT
169 inc VAT
99 inc VAT
Website
Fitbit.com/uk
Fitbit.com/uk
Fitbit.com/uk
Microsoft.com/en-gb
Fitbit.com/uk
Compatibility
iOS, Android, Windows
iOS, Android
Display
OLED
Touchscreen
OLED
TFT
OLED
Pedometer
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Heart-rate monitor
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Sleep tracking
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Alarm
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Third-party app synching Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Call notifications
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Waterproof
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Battery life
5+ days
5 days
10-14 days
2 days
7-10 days
Dimensions, weight
21.1mm, 26g
34mm, 51g
35.5x28x9.65mm, 8g
11x33mm, 60g
21.1mm, 24g
FULL REVIEW
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Overall rating
Best
activity
trackers
10
Basis Peak
Xiaomi Mi Band
Jawbone Up 2
Jawbone Up Move
Jawbone Up24
Price
169 inc VAT
29 inc VAT
89 inc VAT
39 inc VAT
99 inc VAT
Website
En-gb.mybasis.com
Mobilefun.co.uk
Jawbone.com
Jawbone.com
Jawbone.com
Compatibility
iOS, Android
iOS, Android
iOS, Android
iOS, Android
iOS, Android
Display
E-Ink
No
No
No
No
Pedometer
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Heart-rate monitor
Yes
No
No
No
No
Sleep tracking
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Alarm
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Third-party app synching No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Call notifications
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Waterproof
Yes
Yes
Splashproof
Splashproof
Splashproof
Battery life
4 days
30 days
7 days
Six months, non-rechargable
7 days
Dimensions, weight
33x43x10mm, 51g
157-205mm, 13g
220x11.5x3-8.5mm, 25g
27.6x27.6x9.8mm, 6.8g
S: 19g, M: 22g, L: 23g
FULL REVIEW
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Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:14
Top 5 charts
Best
budget
printers
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
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Overall rating
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
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Best printers
Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:14
Top 5 charts
Best
wireless
routers
Apple AirPort Extreme
Netgear Nighthawk R7000
AVM Fritz!Box 3490
TP-Link Archer VR900
Asus DSL-AC68U
Price
169 inc VAT
150 inc VAT
135 inc VAT
139 inc VAT
129 inc VAT
Website
Apple.com/uk
Netgear.co.uk
En.avm.de
Tp-link.com
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
Internal
3x external
3x external
Built-in modem
Manufacturers rating
1300/450Mb/s
1300/600Mb/s
1300/450Mb/s
1300/600Mb/s
1300/600Mb/s
WPS
Ports
Gigabit WAN, 3x gigabit LAN, USB
Gigabit WAN, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
ADSL, 4x gigabit LAN, 2x USB 3.0
Gigabit WAN, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
1x USB 3.0, 4 x RJ45, 1x RJ11
Average power use
8W
9W
8W
N/S
N/S
Max speed (11n/11ac)
171/572Mb/s
171/592Mb/s
114/563Mb/s
146/622Mb/s
114/565.3Mb/s
Dimensions, weight
98x168x98mm, 945g
285x186x45mm, 750g
190x120x60mm/Not specified 245x181x90mm, 720g
220x160x83.3mm, 640g
Warranty
1 year
Not specified
Not specified
Not specified
Not specified
FULL REVIEW
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Overall rating
Best
powerline
adaptors
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)
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
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Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:14
Top 5 charts
Best
NAS drives
1
Qnap TS-421
2
Synology DS115j
3
Qnap HS-210
4
WD My Cloud EX2100
5
Synology DS414j
Price
320 inc VAT (diskless)
Website
Qnap.com
Synology.com
Qnap.com
Wd.com
Synology.com
Drive bays
Processor
2GHz Marvell single-core
800MHz Marvell Armada 370
1.6GHz Marvell single-core
1.3 GHz Marvel Armada 385
1.2GHz Mindspeed Concerto
Memory
1GB DDR3
256MB DDR3
512MB DDR3
1GB DDR3
512MB DDR3
Remote access
eSATA
2x
1x
USB port
2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0
2x USB 2.0
2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0
2x USB 3.0
1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
Raid options
0/1/5/6/10/JBOD
None
0/1/JBOD
00/1/JBOD
0/1/5/6/10/JBOD
Software
Backup Station
DSM 5.1
HD Station
My Cloud
DSM 5.0
Dimensions
177x180x235mm
71x161x224mm
302x220x41mm
216x109x148mm
184x168x230mm
Weight
3kg
700g
1.5kg
3.5kg
2.2kg
Warranty
2 years
1 year
2 years
3 years
3 years
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/MCYWUB8
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TINYURL.COM/M643BSG
Overall rating
Best
external
hard drives
Seagate Backup Plus Slim
Transcend StoreJet 25M3
WD My Passport Ultra Metal
Toshiba Canvio Basics
Seagate Seven mm
Price
74 inc VAT
70 inc VAT
90 inc VAT
76 inc VAT
99 inc VAT
Website
Seagate.com/gb/en
Uk.transcend-info.com
Wdc.com/en
Toshiba.co.uk
Seagate.com/gb/en
Capacity tested
2TB
2TB
2TB
2TB
500GB
Capacity range
500GB, 1TB, 2TB
500GB, 1TB, 2TB
1TB, 2TB
500GB, 1TB, 2TB
500GB
Disk size
2.5in
2.5in
2.5in
2.5in
2.5in
Spin speed
N/A
5400rpm
N/A
5400rpm
5400rpm
Transfer speed
142MB/s
135MB/s
114MB/s
117MB/s
49MB/s
Encryption
N/A
256-bit AES
256-bit AES
256-bit AES
N/A
Other interfaces
USB 3.0
USB 3.0
USB 3.0
USB 3.0
USB 3.0
Software
Seagate Dashboard
Transcend Elite
WD Drive Utilities
None
Seagate Dashboard
Dimensions
113.5x76x12.1mm
130x82x19mm
110x80x19mm
111x79x21mm
123x82x7mm
Weight
159g
234g
241g
207g
178g
Warranty
2 years
3 years
3 years
2 years
2 years
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/OABWL4B
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Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:14
Top 5 charts
Best
SSDs
OCZ Arc 100
Samsung 850 Pro
SanDisk Extreme Pro
Crucial MX200
Kingston HyperX Savage
Price
69 inc VAT
365 inc VAT
172 inc VAT
301 inc VAT
185 inc VAT
Website
Ocz.com
Samsung.com/uk
Sandisk.co.uk
Uk.crucial.com
Kingston.com/en
Capacity tested
240GB
1TB
480GB
1TB
480GB
Price per GB
28.8p
36.5p
35.8p
30.1p
38.5p
Memory cache
512MB DDR3
1GB LPDDR2
1GB
1GB DDR3
256MB
Controller
Indilinx Barefoot 3 M10
Samsung MCX
Marvell 88SS9187
Marvell 88SS9189
Phison PS3110 S10
Encryption
AES 256-bit
AES 256-bit
AES 256-bit
AES 256-bit
Unknown
Flash
Toshiba 19nm MLC
Samsung 40nm V-AND MLC
SanDisk 19nm MLC
Micron 16nm MLC
Toshiba 19nm A19 MLC
Firmware updated via
OCZ SSD Guru
Samsung SSD Magician
SandDisk SSD Dashboard
Crucial Storage Executive
None
ATTO peak sequential
489-/447MB/s
564-/534MB/s
556-/525MB/s
533-/514MB/s
564-/543MB/s
CDM peak IOPS
79.2-/90.3MB/s
103.2-/93.7MB/s
102.7/91.4MB/s
26.1/90.1MB/s
91.6-/94.8MB/s
CDM 4kB rnd
27-/127MB/s
36-/89MB/s
32-/88MB/s
29-/131MB/s
26-59MB/s
Warranty
3 years
10 years
10 years
3 years
3 years
FULL REVIEW
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Overall rating
Smart
thermostats
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
Hot water control
Underfloor heating
Warranty
18 months
2 years
2 years
1 year
1 year
Verdict
EvoHome is the best smart

heating system weve tested.
It isnt perfect though, and
its also very expensive,
or can be. But if you value
convenience and comfort
above saving money, its
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 dont 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 its not cheap. Theres
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. Its 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. Theres also
hot water control, but the
thermostat itself isnt the
best looking.
FULL REVIEW
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Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:14
Top 5 charts
Best budget
graphics cards
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 GTX 750
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
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Best
graphics cards
Asus GeForce GTX 980 Ti
Zotac GeForce GTX 980 Ti
MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G
Club3D Radeon R9 390
XFX Radeon R9 390X
Price
639 inc VAT
532 inc VAT
404 inc VAT
288 inc VAT
309 inc VAT
Website
Asus.com/uk
Zotac.com
Uk.msi.com
Club-3d.com
Xfxfore.com/en-gb
Graphics processor
nVidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti
nVidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti
nVidia GeForce GTX 980
AMD Radeon R9 390
AMD Radeon R9 390X
Installed RAM
12GB
12GB
4GB
8GB
8GB
Memory interface
384-bit
512-bit
256-bit
512-bit
512-bit
Core clock/boost
1216/1317MHz
1105/1140MHz
1216/1317MHz
1010MHz
1050MHz
Memory clock
7200MHz
7010MHz
7010MHz
6000MHz
6000MHz
Stream processors
2816
2816
2048
2560
2816
Texture units
172
172
128
160
176
Power connectors
2x 8-pin
1x 8-pin, 1x 6-pin
2x 8-pin
1x 8-pin, 1x 6-pin
1x 8-pin, x 6-pin
DirectX
12
12
12
12
12
Digital interface
DVI, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2
DVI, HDMI, 3x Mini-DisplayPort DVI, HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort 1.2
2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort 1.2
Warranty
3 years
5 years
3 years
2 years
3 years
FULL REVIEW
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Overall rating
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TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:14
Top 5 charts
Best budget
flat-panel
displays
AOC i2369Vm
Philips 234E5QHAW
NEC MultiSync E243WMi
BenQ EW2740L
BenQ GL2450
Price
130 inc VAT
130 inc VAT
194 inc VAT
175 inc VAT
108 inc VAT
Website
Aoc-europe.com/en
Philips.co.uk
Nec-display-solutions.com
Benq.co.uk
Benq.co.uk
Screen size
23in
23in
23.8in
27in
24in
Panel type
IPS matt
IPS matt
IPS matt
VA semi-matt
TN matt
Native resolution
1920x1080
1920x1080
1920x1080
1920x1080
1920x1080
Pixel density
96ppi
96ppi
93ppi
82ppi
92ppi
Brightness
220cd/m2
187cd/m2
250cd/m2
300cd/m2
261cd/m2
Static contrast ratio
630:1
210:1
650:1
280:1
610:1
Response time
6ms
5ms
6ms
4ms
5ms
Ports
HDMI, HDMI/MHL, DP, VGA
2x HDMI (QHAB) or 1x HDMI (QDAB), VGA DP, DVI-D, VGA
2x HDMI, VGA
DVI-D, VGA
Dimensions
531x204x398mm
532x213x414mm
558x214x380-490mm
623x191x451mm
579x179x436mm
Weight
3.75kg
3.5kg
6.3kg
4.2kg
4.1kg
Warranty
3 years
2 years
3 years
2 years
2 years
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/OOEFYPR
TINYURL.COM/KLYLW4V
TINYURL.COM/KNCGVOU
TINYURL.COM/OO6EC5L
TINYURL.COM/OOUPFUE
Overall rating
Best 4K
flat-panel
displays
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
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TINYURL.COM/P934VXT
Overall rating
HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/LNLDBJX FOR OUR DIGITAL HOME BUYING ADVICE

TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:15
Top 5 charts
Best
e-book readers
Amazon Kindle Voyage
Amazon Kindle (7th gen)
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
Nook GlowLight
Kobo Aura H20
Price
169 inc VAT
59 inc VAT
109 inc VAT
89 inc VAT
139 inc VAT
Website
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
Nook.com/gb
Kobo.com
Screen size
6in touchscreen
6in touchscreen
6in touchscreen
6in touchscreen
6.8in touchscreen
Screen technology
E Ink
E Ink
E Ink
E Ink
E Ink
Screen resolution
1440x1080
600x800
768x1024
758x1024
1430x1080
Built-in light
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Storage
4GB
4GB
2GB
4GB
4GB, microSD up to 32GB
Book store
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle
Nook
Kobo
Optional extra
No
Optional extra
No
No
Battery life
Six weeks
Four weeks
Eight weeks
Eight weeks
Two months
Dimensions
162x115x7.6mm
169x119x10.2mm
117x169x9.1mm
127x166x10.7mm
179x129x9.7mm
Weight
180g
191g
206g
175g
233g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/NXAAU3Q
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TINYURL.COM/MJVR4M9
Overall rating
Best
media
streamers
Roku Streaming Stick
Roku 3
Google Chromecast
Amazon Fire TV Stick
Apple TV
Price
49 inc VAT
99 inc VAT
30 inc VAT
35 inc VAT
59 inc VAT
Website
Roku.com
Roku.com
Play.google.com
Apple.com/uk
Apple.com/uk
Type
Dongle
Set-top box
Dongle
Dongle
Set-top box
Ports
HDMI, Micro-USB
HDMI, USB, ethernet
HDMI, Micro-USB
HDMI, Micro-USB
HDMI, ethernet, Micro-USB
Processor
600MHz single-core
900MHzsingle-core
Single-core
Dual-core
Apple A5 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)
8GB (not user-accessible)
Voice search
No
Yes
No
No
No
Remote control
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Dimensions
78.7x27.9x12.7mm
89x89x25mm
72x35x12mm
84.9x25x11.5mm
98x98x23mm
Weight
18g
170g
34g
25g
270g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/OAP9QF9
TINYURL.COM/PT7MGUL
TINYURL.COM/QBGTCS2
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TINYURL.COM/OLCJRC3
Overall rating

TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:15
Top 5 charts
Best
games
consoles
Sony PlayStation 4
Microsoft Xbox One
Nintendo Wii U Premium
Sony PlayStation 3 Super Slim Microsoft Xbox 360
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
Denon Envaya Mini
UE Roll
Lumsing B9
i-box Twist
Inateck MarsBox BP2002
Price
99 inc VAT
99 inc VAT
23 inc VAT
41 inc VAT
46 inc VAT
Website
Denon.com
Ultimateears.com
Lumsing.com
Iboxstyle.com
Inateck.com
Speaker(s)
Not specified
Not specified
Not specified
2x 3W
2x 5W
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR
Bluetooth 2.1
Bluetooth 4.0
Handsfree calls
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
NFC
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Frequency response
Not specified
108Hz to 20kHz
20Hz to 20kHz
Not specified
76Hz to 108MHz
Impedence
Not specified
Not specified
4 ohms
Not specified
Not specified
Extra features
IPX4 splashproof
IPX7 splashproof
MicroSD slot, lanyard
None
None
Claimed battery life
10 hours
9 hours
25 hours
5 hours
10 to 15 hours
Dimensions
209x54x51mmmm
134x39x40mm
177x50x70mm
246x59x56mm
185.4x61.5x61.5mm
Weight
558g
330g
300g
380g
710g
Warranty
1 year
2 years
1 year
5 years
1 year
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/QDRNP3P
TINYURL.COM/O7T7ZUU
TINYURL.COM/P623MK8
TINYURL.COM/LET9RDF
TINYURL.COM/QBCJJG2
Overall rating

TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:15
Top 5 charts
Best
budget
headphones
Rock Jaw Alpha Genus
RHA MA450i
Sennheiser HD 429
AKG K77
SoundPeats A1
Price
41 inc VAT
39 inc VAT
45 inc VAT
25 inc VAT
25 inc VAT
Website
Rockjawaudio.com
Rha-audio.com/uk
En-uk.sennheiser.com
Uk.akg.com
Amazon.co.uk
Type
In-ear
In-ear
Circumaural over-ear
Frequency response
20Hz to 20kHz
16Hz to 22kHz
18Hz to 22kHz
18Hz to 20.5kHz
20Hz to 20kHz
Nominal impedence
16 ohms
16 ohms
32 ohms
32 ohms
Not specified
Sensitivity
108dB
103dB
110dB
112dB
Not specified
In-line remote
No
Yes (3 button)
No
No
No
Mic
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Extra grommets
Yes, and filters
Yes
N/A
N/A
N/A
Carry case
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Cable length
1.2m
1.5m (braided)
3m
2.5m
Not specified
Weight
11g
14g
218g
190g
210g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/NNYUFBF
TINYURL.COM/P7W7RVL
TINYURL.COM/ND8TD8O
TINYURL.COM/PA8FOX4
TINYURL.COM/NKFLHKL
Overall rating
Best
headphones
Denon AH-D600
Audio-Technica ATH-WS99
Bose QuietComfort 20
Denon AH-W150
Bowers & Wilkins P5
Price
229 inc VAT
79 inc VAT
259 inc VAT
59 inc VAT
249 inc VAT
Website
Denon.co.uk
Eu.audio-technica.com/en
Bose.co.uk
Denon.co.uk
Bowers-wilkins.co.uk
Type
Over-ear
In-ear
Over-ear wireless buds
On-ear, foldable
Frequency response
8Hz to 25kHz
8Hz to 25kHz
20-21kHz
5Hz to 25kHz
10Hz to 20kHz
Nominal impedence
37 ohms
37 ohms
32 ohms
16 ohms
22 ohms
Sensitivity
120dB
120dB
105dB
102dB
108dB
In-line remote
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Mic
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Extra grommets
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
N/A
Carry case
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Cable length
3m
0.8m
1.3m
N/A
1.2m
Weight
250g
250g
44g
23g
195g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/NBCFJW6
TINYURL.COM/QDRCCAT
TINYURL.COM/OEAGFOF
TINYURL.COM/O2CJV3R
TINYURL.COM/NNRV6UT
Overall rating
HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/OKZ9TUK FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE

TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:15
Top 5 charts
Best
power banks
Zendure A2 (2nd gen)
Xiaomi 10,000mAh
Maximas XTRON USB-C
iHarbot Power Bank MS024
Anker Astro Mini
Price
25 inc VAT
11 inc VAT
$69 (45)
7.50 inc VAT
13 inc VAT
Website
Zendure.com
Mi.com/en
Indiegogo.com
Amazon.co.uk
Ianker.com
Capacity
6700mAh
10,000mAh
13,400mAh
5000mAh
3200mAh
Input
1x 7.5W Micro-USB
1x 10W Micro-USB
1x 10W Micro-USB
1x 10.5W Micro-USB
1x 4W Micro-USB
Outputs
1x 10.5W USB
1x 10.5W USB
1x 21W USB
1x 10W USB
1x 5W USB
Auto-on/-off
Yes
Yes
No
Auto-on
No
Passthrough charging
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Status indicator
4 LEDs
4 LEDs
4 LEDs
4 LEDs
No
LED flashlight
No
No
No
No
No
Carry case
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
Dimensions
93x48x23mm
91x60.4x22mm
77x21x93mm
118x11.6x63mm
92x23x23mm
Weight
137g
207g
247g
150g
80g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
Not specified
18 months
18 months
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/NGCNO5F
TINYURL.COM/NFQZOCB
TINYURL.COM/PVO2LEC
TINYURL.COM/PVO2LEC
TINYURL.COM/PZHUHJO
Overall rating
Best
desktop
chargers
CHOEtech 6-port Charger
Aukey USB Charging Station
iClever USB Travel Charger
Zendure Turbo Charger
Olixar Smart IC Charger
Price
25 inc VAT
17 inc VAT
20 inc VAT
25 inc VAT
34 inc VAT
Website
Choetech.com
Hisgadget.com
Hisgadget.com
Zendure.com
Mobilefun.co.uk
60W
54W
50W
40W
50W
USB 1 15W USB
9W USB
12W USB
12W USB
12.5W USB
USB 2 15W USB
9W USB
12W USB
12W USB
12.5W USB
USB 3 15W USB
9W USB
12W USB
12W USB
12.5W USB
USB 4 15W USB
9W USB
12W USB
12W USB
12.5W USB
USB 5 12W USB
18W USB
12W USB
12W USB
12.5W USB
USB 6 15W USB
N/A
12W USB
N/A
12.5W USB
Overall rating
Max output
Outputs:
Colours available
Black
Black
Black
Black, white
White
Dimensions
71.5x29x88.4mm
94x60x25mm
100x69x27mm
97x60x27mm
100x69x26mm
Weight
158g
149g
180g
166g
189g
Warranty
1 year
1 year
1 year
1 year
2 years
FULL REVIEW
TINYURL.COM/QG4X5D9
TINYURL.COM/P2CZMCU
TINYURL.COM/MPA4DWC
TINYURL.COM/NKYNJ7P
TINYURL.COM/OCZXK93
HEAD TO TINYURL.COM/QCD8J7Y FOR OUR BUYING ADVICE

TEST CENTRE
07/12/2015 17:15
OUTBOX
NICK MEDIATI
Microsofts predictions for 2016

F
or Back to the Future fans, the real

2015 was a bit of a disappointment.
No hoverboards. No flying cars.
The Cubs didnt win the World Series. And
shockingly enough, wearing two ties somehow
didnt become fashionable. Huh.
Last year may not have fulfilled those 1980s
fantasies either, but the people working in
Microsofts research labs think it may still offer
up some interesting technological advancements.
The company published 16 predictions of what
advancements Microsoft Research employees
expect to see next year, as well as a look ahead to
ten years from now. Their predictions are pretty
far-reaching, from new processor tech to more
ethical big data. Here are some of the highlights.
The internet overtakes TV

Hsiao-Wuen Hon, the corporate vice president
for Microsoft Research Asia, expects online
video distribution to overtake TV broadcast in
2016, and that more people in China will watch
the Olympics through the web than through
TV. In other words, now might be a good time
for TV broadcasters to stop fighting against
cord-cutting and to truly embrace the internetconnected future of entertainment.
The stylus comes of age

Principal Researcher Bill Buxton expects to
see pen-based computing come into its own
in 2016. This prediction seems reasonable
enough, especially considering the fact that

Apple has added stylus support to the iPad line,
with the Apple Pencil and the iPad Pro.
Planned obsolesce is so last year

Buxton also foresees a shift in consumer priorities
when it comes to tech: The age of digital baubles
and planned obsolescence will begin to fade, and
the focus of industry and consumers will shift
from technology, per se, to enhanced human
experience, values, and potential.
Brand new processor types

Chris Bishop of Microsoft Researchs Cambridge
outfit predicts a new class of microprocessors
that are tuned to the intensive workloads of
machine learning, offering a major performance
boost over GPUs. But will they run Crysis?
Ethics in big data becomes a big deal: the
privacy implications of data collection is an
ongoing topic of debate, and according to Principal
Researcher Kate Crawford, 2016 will be an ethical
tipping point of sorts. She expects to see data
science programs adopt data ethics curriculums
in order to better understand the human
implications of large-scale data collection and
experimentation. Its about time.
Last year may

not have fulfilled
those 1980s
fantasies, but the
people working
in Microsofts
research labs
think it may
still offer up
some interesting
technological
advancements
Only time will tell which of these, if any, will

come true, but Microsoft Researchs predictions
(tinyurl.com/q8yffme) make for an interesting read
if youre into these sorts of prognostications. J
146 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/opinion March 2016
146 Outbox 248.indd 146
15/12/2015 09:38
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003 Welcome 248.indd 3

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10 Is Windows getting better?

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004_005 Contents 248.indd 4

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2015 saw massive

will refresh their home PCs at some point,

maintains. Microsoft has set Windows 7s

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

006_008 News 248.indd 6

Toshiba, Vaio and Fujitsu said to

of 2015, shipments dropped to 71

Vaio was spun off from Sony in mid-2014 and will

laptop sales. Other brands are more

Windows 10 Mobiles on a PC-like software update path

updates were in the works. As our partners

006_008 News 248.indd 7

March 2016 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news 7

Windows 10s Redstone update promises

Universal Apps. Richness is a critical

Microsoft will continue to embed Cortana

Security vulnerabilities found in major laptops

means that a restricted user can exploit the

Slipstream also published proof-ofconcept exploits for two other, lower-impact,

8 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news March 2016

006_008 News 248.indd 8

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