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Anker 335 Charger (67W) review: a great-value tri-port wall charger with no frills
Anker 335 Charger (67W) review
The Anker 335 Charger (67W) is a triple port wall plug that offers speedy charging for your phones, tablets, laptops and more.
Something that I loved about this charger, right off the bat, is that it comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable included. That’s actually quite rare for a lot of these wall chargers but adds a lot of value points for an already cheap product – this charger is $35.99 / £36.99 (about AU$55) but regularly available for less. For those of you who only have USB-A to USB-C/lightning cables, this will undoubtedly be a welcome inclusion, so if you want to get great bang for your buck, the Anker 335 Charger (67W) is a strong option.
But this plug isn’t only good in terms of value, it delivers very decent charging performance too. I tried charging the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE and a DualSense Wireless Controller via USB-C, while also charging the Soundcore Space One Pro via USB-A. And despite using all three ports, the Samsung phone charged from 0% - 100% in the expected timeframe of approximately 80 minutes – that’s in-line with the sort of speeds the best iPhone chargers and best Android phone chargers offer.
It’s also worth noting that each USB-C port can provide up to 67W when single-port charging – this is 22.5W for the USB-A alternative. However, if you’re juicing up two or more devices, USB-C port 1 will deliver a higher power output than port 2 – specifically, port 1 delivers 42W, whereas port 2 and the USB-A slot provide 12W each if you’re triple-charging. If you’re trying to charge multiple power-hungry devices, this might not be enough firepower for you, though. It may, instead, be worth considering an option with a higher total power output, like the Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger (3-Ports).
So performance is solid here, but is it designed for greatness? Well, I’d say it has a simple and decently effective build. Unlike Anker’s Prime products, this isn’t a GaN charger, so it’s not going to be the most hi-tech, compact option, but for its price it’s still pretty well-sized. The charger’s prongs are foldable too, which is ideal if you want to slip it into your pocket without it annoyingly poking your leg. Looks-wise, it’s not a particularly interesting charger. The casing has a matte black finish and the Anker logo with the three charging ports on the top – each of which are well spaced-out. There are no color options, which could’ve been a nice touch, especially given the Black colorway is a little bland.
But overall, this is a very solid wall charger. Sure, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it doesn’t have a flashy design and it doesn’t offer a sky-high maximum power output. But what you do get is reliable tri-port charging, a foldable design and a solid USB-C to USB-C cable all for a very reasonable price. So, if you’re looking for a cheap multi-device plug, this is a worthy pick.
(Image credit: Future) Anker 335 Charger (67W) review: Price & specs (Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Anker 335 Charger (67W)? Buy it if…You need to charge multiple devices simultaneously
Thanks to its three charging ports, you’ll easily be able to juice multiple devices up at once. There are two USB-C slots and one USB-A port, all of which can offer a total power output of 67W.
You’re looking for a solid low-priced plug
If you don’t want to splash too much cash on a new wall charger, this is a strong option. For $35.99 / £36.99 you get a tri-port plug as well as a USB-C to USB-C cable – not bad value at all.
You want top-level power output
If you’re hoping to charge a lot of power-hungry devices at once, this may be a little underpowered for you. When you’re charging three devices at once, Port 1 can deliver a strong 42W, but Port 2 and the USB-A slot can only offer 12W each – that might not be enough if you want super-fast charging for your modern handset or tablet.
You’re looking for a charger with personality
Design-wise, this isn’t a particularly exciting charger. It’s a little plain looking and there are no color options available – and despite having foldable prongs, this isn’t the most compact 67W charger around.
UGreen Uno Charger 100W
Want a little more power, an extra charging slot and a more funky design? Then the UGreen Uno Charger 100W is the perfect pick. This wall plug has a charming robot-like design and even has a screen that displays different emotions depending on charging progress. It’s also great value, with a list price of $59.99 / £55.99 (about AU$80), though there’s no USB-C to USB-C cable included in the box. Read our full UGreen Uno Charger 100W review.View Deal
Categories: Reviews
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: a thick wireless gaming keyboard with exceptional performance – and a price to match
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%: Two-minute review
The Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is the brand’s new top-of-the-line wireless gaming keyboard, featuring hot-swappable mechanical switches and multiple connectivity options.
It cuts a rather formidable figure, with its angular, slab-like body conveying its gaming intentions. The RGB lighting also helps in this regard, and the bars around the bottom edges are a particularly nice touch, boasting just the right amount of opulence. Despite this, it isn’t as heavy or as unwieldy as you might think, and its compact layout makes it easy to get along with.
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% also comes with a leatherette wrist rest that puts those on even the best gaming keyboards to shame, thanks to its ornate design and plush cushioning for maximum comfort. It might seem too thick at first, but you’ll likely adapt quickly as you sink into it.
A small OLED display is positioned in the top right corner of the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%, controlled via a button on the side of the keyboard and a scroll wheel, which can be set to perform various functions, such as adjusting the volume and switching app windows to name a few (further functions are available via Synapse, Razer’s peripheral software). Other keyboard settings are available via this display, although the selection is quite limited. But overall, it’s easy to use and works quite well.
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is compatible with Synapse 4. During my time with it, I did experience a few technical hitches, including erroneous battery readouts and failed firmware updates. However, these issues eventually went away with updates and restarts, and I had little trouble thereafter.
When working as it should, Synapse 4 offers some useful customizations, with a plentiful selection of binds and shortcuts for both the keys and the scroll wheel. Everything is well presented and easy to navigate.
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% really shines, though, when it comes to the business of gaming. The Gen-3 Tactile mechanical switches are snappy yet damped just enough to make them satisfying to use. The compact layout and indented doubleshot PBT keycaps are secure and easy to press too. However, if you’re not happy with the stock setup, the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is hot-swappable, allowing you to choose your own switches and keycaps to suit your preferences.
Typing is also a pleasant experience on the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%, and the plush wrist pad offers plenty of support. My only minor complaint is the rather shallow six degree angle provided by the feet, but this still didn’t compromise comfort levels for me.
Connectivity between Bluetooth and 2.4GHz modes is easy, although I didn’t notice much improvement when using the included HyperPolling Wireless Dongle, which elevates the polling rate maximum to 4K. Handy keyboard shortcuts also allow you to switch effortlessly between three Bluetooth connected devices, which makes the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% very versatile if you have lots of systems to move between.
Battery life on the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is good, but nothing spectacular. I found it could last a couple of days of varied use, switching between the various wireless modes. Charging from empty to full takes over two hours in my estimation, which is an average performance.
There’s no denying that the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is a very well-made and extremely worthy gaming keyboard. But whether it’s worth that sizable asking price is debatable, especially when you consider others, such as the Razer Huntsman V2 Analog and Steelseries Apex Pro, offer stunning analog performance for less. However, for the mechanical purists, it’s certainly the cream of the crop.
(Image credit: Future) Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: price and availability- $299 / £299 / AU$499
- Available now in Black
- Top-end of the market
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% costs $299 / £299 / AU$499 and is available now in one color: black. In the box you get a USB-C-to-A cable, the HyperPolling Wireless Dongle, a key cap puller, and three spare switches.
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% sits atop Razer’s gaming keyboard lineup in terms of price. It’s more expensive than the excellent Huntsman V2 Analog, the best gaming keyboard right now in our view. Unlike the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%, the analog capability means that you can set the actuation point just so. However, it isn’t hot-swappable like the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%, so you’re stuck with the optical switches, and it’s wired only.
Other high-profile rivals in the premium sector are also cheaper. The Steelseries Apex Pro TKL Wireless Gen 3, for instance, is a standout board that also features analog switches, and costs $269 / £259 (about AU$456).
Value: 2 / 5
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%: specs (Image credit: Future) Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%: design and features- Thick body
- Supremely engineered
- Synapse 4 compatible
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is a fairly unremarkable looking gaming keyboard from the front, but a three-dimensional view reveals just what a monolithic slab this keyboard really is. The layout is compact, although the keys are still spaced well enough apart to make them easy to use, even if you’re as clumsy as me.
There’s some RGB lighting for the keys and strips running along the bottom edges, which does help to make its appearance more elaborate.
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% comes with a wrist rest, which is much more plush and padded than many of those offered by its rivals. In fact, I thought it was too thick at first, as it raises your hands higher than usual. However, you do sink into it, and after a short while I acclimatized. The two-stage feet help to get a more comfortable position, although neither setting raises the board that high compared to other keyboard feet.
It’s also more stylish than many other rests too, thanks to its premium leatherette material with a subtle herringbone pattern. It connects to the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% magnetically with just the right amount of force, making it easy to remove yet strong enough to remain secure.
The doubleshot PBT keycaps are lightly textured and feel premium to the touch. The same goes for the stock Gen-3 Tactile mechanical switches, although since this is a hot-swappable keyboard, you can change them if they aren’t to your liking.
(Image credit: Future)Nestled in the top right corner of the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is a small OLED display. This can be used to show GIFs and make certain adjustments, which can be accessed by holding a button on the side of the board. There are only a few settings available, though, including those for the RGB effects and the polling rate (with a 4K maximum when using the included HyperPolling Wireless Dongle).
Tapping the side button cycles through up to six presets for the scroll wheel functionality; it can be used to adjust the volume, switch between apps, and zoom in and out, with inward clicks of the wheel having related functions too.
The BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is compatible with Synapse 4. During my time with this software, I did experience a few glitches, such as the battery indicator giving false readings and the tab for the keyboard itself disappearing from the window. Also, firmware updates failed numerous times, but after a few updates and restarts, it worked more smoothly.
Synapse offers the usual customizations, including key rebinds, but the scope for these is large. You can map mouse buttons, as well as numerous Windows and media shortcuts (more than many other peripheral software offer) to the keys and even to the scroll wheel. There’s also the Hypershift feature, which allows you to add a second layer of binds by pressing the Hypershift button, designated to a key of your choosing.
Design & features: 4 / 5
Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% review: performance- Fantastic stock switches
- Great for gaming and typing
- Average battery life
Gaming with the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% is a joyful experience. Razer’s Tactile mechanical switches are snappy with low travel and damped just enough to allow for light yet satisfying and controlled presses, typical of the best mechanical keyboards. The keys are mildly indented, again offering the right balance between security and ease of use.
When it comes to typing, that snappy yet damped feel is a real boon, providing plenty of feedback and bounce for flitting around the keys with ease. However, the aforementioned thickness of the wrist pad created a somewhat unfamiliar typing position for me, but again I quickly adapted and found it very comfortable thereafter.
The various connectivity modes all work pretty seamlessly too, although I can’t say I noticed much improvement when using the 4K polling rate offered by the HyperPolling Wireless Dongle. Switching between the 2.4GHz/ HyperPolling and Bluetooth modes is fairly quick, although I did find that there was a slight delay, and a key press was required to activate the board after switching to a new device.
There are also three Bluetooth profiles available, which are conveniently accessible via the fn key and number keys 1-3. Again, switching this way to control numerous devices works quickly and consistently.
The battery depleted after a couple of days of varied use, as I switched between the various wireless modes (Bluetooth, 2.4GHz and the HyperPolling Wireless Dongle). This isn’t a particularly impressive performance, and neither is the two-plus hour charging time from empty. However, neither figure is cause for complaint, either.
Performance: 4 / 5
(Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%? Buy it if…You want to connect to multiple devices
Wireless and three Bluetooth profiles make it easy to switch the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% between numerous devices. Wired connectivity is also an option.
You want that mechanical magic
The tactile profile of the stock mechanical switches, combined with the premium keycaps, make for superb gaming and typing. Plus, if you don’t like them, you can swap them out.
You’re on a budget
There’s no getting around it: this is one of Razer’s most expensive gaming keyboards, so you’ll have to part with some serious cash to get your hands on it.
You want plenty of adjustments
Yes, you can swap out the switches for those better suited to your playstyle, but since this isn’t an analog board, you can’t fine-tune the actuation points or toggle rapid trigger.
Razer Huntsman V2 Analog
For less than the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%, you could get the equally capable Huntsman V2 Analog. This board has analog switches as well, allowing for that fine actuation point tuning and rapid trigger activation. It also has a comfortable wrist rest, but it is wired only.
Read our Razer Huntsman V2 Analog review.
SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless Gen 3
If you’re after supreme gaming performance, it’s hard to overlook the Apex Pro. Its analog keys feature programmable actuation points and rapid trigger functionality, letting you tailor their responsiveness to your exact preferences. It too is very expensive, but it's still less than the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%.
Read our full SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless Gen 3 review
How I tested the Razer BlackWidow V4 Pro 75%- Tested for over week
- Used for gaming, productivity, browsing
- PC gaming for over a decade
I tested the BlackWidow V4 Pro 75% for over a week, during which time I used it for gaming, working, and general browsing.
I played games including Counter-Strike 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, FPS titles that test the responsiveness, accuracy and ergonomics of keyboards well. I made sure to use all the different connectivity methods, from wired and Bluetooth modes to the HyperPolling Wireless Dongle.
I have been PC gaming for over 10 years, and have sampled many keyboards over that period. I have also reviewed numerous gaming keyboards of varying sizes, switch types, and price tags.
- First reviewed December 2024
- Read more about how we test
Categories: Reviews
UGreen Uno Charger 100W review: meet your charming charging companion
UGreen Uno Charger 100W review
Have you ever wished your charger could express its deepest, most heartfelt emotions? Perhaps you wondered how it really feels while it juices up your devices? OK, maybe you haven’t. But even so, the UGreen Uno Charger 100W is sure to put a smile on your face with its charming expressions and super-fast charging, which make it a standout product in a competitive market.
Something that’s amazing about the UGreen Uno Charger 100W is that you get four charging ports, three of which are USB-C with the other being USB-A. This means that even if your phone, laptop, wireless headphones and tablet (just for example) need juicing up, you can get all of them back to life simultaneously. It’s worth mentioning, however, that the UGreen Uno Charger 100W doesn’t come with any charging cables, so you’ll need to acquire these separately.
So how does it fare charging-wise? Very well indeed. I attempted to charge the Samsung Galaxy A35 via a USB-C port while charging three other devices in the remaining slots. And luckily, it got back to full power in the expected timeframe of one hour and 30 minutes – that’s in-line with some of the best iPhone chargers and best Android phone chargers. However, if you’re not using all of the ports, power output can scale to fit your device’s requirements. For instance, the top two USB-C ports can deliver up to 100W each (if only one is being used at a time), making this a great choice if you want to charge more demanding devices.
But I’ll be honest, reader, I know why you’re here…you want to hear about the Uno Charger’s emotive display. And it works very nicely. The charger is bursting with emotions – from joyful, through surprised, to flushed. And there are a few more too, for instance, the Uno Charger sometimes assumes an eating animation when in-use or displays a ‘cool’ emoji when a device is fully charged. Am I easily amused? Perhaps so, but given this is nothing but a charger, I appreciated the personality UGreen injected into this product.
Other design choices are strong too. The placement of USB ports on top of the robot is practical and it’s a decently compact charger overall given the amount of power it can supply. And although prongs aren’t foldable, you can insert them into something of a sheath – or should I say the robot’s lower half. That’s right: when you remove the charger from the lower half you’re actually taking away his legs and feet. A bit mean really.
So, I actually have very little in the way of complaints. I would argue that the display isn’t super-bright, so at more awkward angles it might be slightly harder to ascertain the robot’s emotion. It could be fun too, if there was a button to manually change emojis, or perhaps even see power usage between the different ports – but these are very nitpicky complaints/suggestions.
Finally, I know this may not be the cheapest charger on the market, but when it comes to value it performs nicely. For instance, the Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger (3 Ports) has one less port, the same maximum power output, but lacks any kind of display – not to mention it has a considerably higher list price. So overall, you’re getting a stellar product with the UGreen Uno Charger 100W – great performance, versatile charging options, strong value, and a fun, original design. It really doesn’t get much better.
(Image credit: Future) UGreen Uno Charger 100W review: Price & specs (Image credit: Future) Should I buy the UGreen Uno Charger 100W? Buy it if…You want super-fast, multi-port charging
The UGreen Uno Charger 100W boasts four charging ports, one of which is USB-A, the rest USB-C. On top of that, it has a very solid maximum power output of 100W, meaning you’ll be easily able to bring multiple devices back to life in no time.
You’d like a splash of personality
It’s quite rare that a wall charger exudes any kind of personality and I love the originality from UGreen here. There’s a fun selection of emojis available here, including eating, smiling and blushing and I can’t lie, I got a lot of joy out of watching these play out.
You only need to charge your phone
If you only need to revitalize your handset after a long day of scrolling, there’s no need to spend this much money. There are a bunch of high-quality chargers out there for less than half the price of this robotic guy – one of my personal picks would be the excellent Anker Nano USB-C Wall Charger (30W). If you really want emojis though, it may still be worth splashing the cash on the Uno Charger 100W.
You’re on a very tight budget
This charger has a list price of $59.99, and even if that’s solid value-wise, it’s still a fair amount to shell out for a charger. There are some decent, cheap multi-port options out there too, for example, the UGreen USB-C 40W.
Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger (3 Ports)
In terms of basic functionality, this is very similar to the UGreen Uno Charger 100W. Anker’s alternative only has three ports and costs a bit more too, but it does have excellent build quality with sturdy outer casing. So, if you’re not a fan of the quirky robo-display, this could be a more appropriate choice for you. Read our full Anker Prime 100W GaN Wall Charger (3 Ports) review.View Deal
Categories: Reviews
Honor Magic 7 Pro review: the Android endurance king
Honor Magic 7 Pro review: Two-minute review
Honor's Magic 6 Pro made a splash last year, debuting at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) expo in February with a massive battery, a unique camera system, and some novel software features. Now, the brand is back with its flagship offering for 2025, and it's hoping to one-up itself in every department.
The Honor Magic 7 Pro has adopted a more boxy design for 2025, as is the trend, and it now has flat side rails and subtle symmetrical ‘micro curves’ at the edge of its display. The camera bump is less outlandish, too, and the ‘squircle’ bezel has been toned down to make less of a statement. Overall, I think it's an improvement.
The camera hardware is mostly the same, but the telephoto has a few more megapixels and can now get you even closer to distant subjects. These cameras can take fantastic photos, but the image processing is a little inconsistent, and I got more blurry images than usual. Hopefully, this will be tweaked in future firmware updates. The Studio Harcourt portrait mode, developed in collaboration with the legendary Paris photography studio, never failed to impress, at least.
(Image credit: Future)The battery on this model is even larger than the one in the Magic 6 Pro, and this is easily one of the longest-lasting flagship phones I’ve tested. You can get two days on a full charge without trying particularly hard, and when it's time to charge you can get topped up in a flash, with the Magic 7 Pro supporting up to 100W charging with a cable and 80W with the right wireless charger.
Performance is exceptional. You get the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, plus a suite of software enhancements and an NPU (neural processing unit) co-processor to keep games running smoothly. Honor's Magic OS 9 adds some useful features like Magic Portal, as well as relatively new AI features that have already become familiar favorites, like Circle to Search and Google Gemini.
Overall, this is a superb phone, with a great balance of specs and features that make it a pleasure to use. The software won't be to everyone's taste, and the camera could use some tweaking, but otherwise, this is easily one of the finest flagship phones available today.
Honor Magic 7 Pro review: Price and availability (Image credit: Future)- Costs £1,099.99
- Available in the UK and Europe, but not the US or Australia
The Honor Magic 7 Pro is available to order now in most regions. As usual, though, the list excludes the US and Australia, so our stateside readers will need to import if they want to get in on the action.
The Magic 7 Pro costs £1,099 in the UK, the exact same price as its predecessor. This means it's more expensive than the Oppo Find X8 Pro and Apple iPhone 16 Pro, but a little cheaper than the Pro Max or Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. That said, the latter phone can currently be purchased for the same price, as it’s been on the market for a while.
Given such premium pricing, Honor will need to impress on all fronts if it’s to remain competitive, and thanks to a pretty stacked spec sheet it could well justify that lofty sum. Plus, Honor always has bundle offers on its devices, so nabbing a few freebies could make the price more palatable.
- Value score: 3 / 5
Here's a look at the Honor Magic 7 Pro's key specs:
Honor Magic 7 Pro review: Design Image 1 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 5(Image credit: Future)Image 5 of 5(Image credit: Future)- Velvety-feeling matte glass back
- Breeze Blue, Black, and Lunar Shadow Grey options
- IP68/IP69 dust- and water-resistant
The Honor Magic 7 Pro follows the recent design trend that we've seen with devices like the Vivo X200 Pro and Oppo Find X8 Pro. It ditches the lateral curves of its predecessor in favor of a boxier design. The side rails are completely flat, with beveled edges, while the front and back are mostly flat, with symmetrical ‘micro curves’ on all sides.
The result is a phone that feels a little thicker than Magic 6 Pro, but at the same time it feels premium and confidence-inspiring. It's a similar size to its predecessor, just less curvy, and if you've used any other recent Android flagship, you'll feel right at home.
The global version is available in three colorways: Breeze Blue, Black and Lunar Shadow Grey. There are no vegan leather variants this time around, with all options featuring a velvety-feeling matte glass rear. The Lunar Shadow Grey option is the most striking in my opinion, with a marble-like texture running across the back panel that becomes more visible as the light catches it.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future)There's still a large circular and centrally-placed camera island, and it's still surrounded by a ‘squircle’-shaped bezel. However, this time the bezel is decidedly more circular, and it looks a little less outlandish than the Magic 6 Pro did.
The Honor Magic 7 Pro is rated IP68/IP69 for dust and water resistance, which means that as well as being able to handle submersion in freshwater, it can also withstand jets of hot water up to 176F / 80C. I'm not sure when that would ever come in useful, but hey, if you want to scroll Instagram in the shower, your phone should survive it.
- Design score: 4 / 5
- 6.8-inch quad-curved 120Hz OLED display
- 4320Hz PWM dimming
- 5000 nits peak brightness
The Honor Magic 7 Pro has a 6.8-inch display with a dynamic refresh rate that can shift from 1Hz to 120Hz as needed. It's a mostly flat panel, and the curves only start around the bezels of the display. The result is a screen that resembles an over-filled glass of water.
I’ve never been a huge fan of curved screens – they can invite accidental touches, and cause odd reflections and color shifts at the edges. There's no denying that they feel nice under your fingertips when using gesture controls, though. These new ‘micro curve’ displays offer the best of both worlds, as you get the smooth feel of a curved display without the usual drawbacks. I'm a convert.
The display is covered with Honor's NanoCrystal Shield glass, and after spending months with the Honor Magic 6 RSR (that’s the Porsche Design version of the Magic 6 Pro) last year, I'm confident in saying it's one of the most scratch-resistant coatings in the business. It's also supposedly 10 times more drop-resistant than traditional glass screens, and while I haven't tested that, it's good to know, especially as there's no case included in the box.
A new addition to this model is a layer of circular polarization, which makes the screen slightly less reflective and is easier on the eyes. In theory, according to Honor, it can reduce eye fatigue by up to 16%.
When it comes to brightness, the Honor Magic 7 Pro has lumens to spare. It can peak at a whopping 5000 nits in certain conditions, which means HDR content looks exceptional, and you'll never have trouble seeing it.
As usual, the brand has put plenty of effort into eye-care features. The PWM (pulse-width modulation) dimming rate is one of the highest I've ever seen, topping out at 4320Hz. You'll never have to worry about flicker on this panel, and if that's not enough you can activate eye comfort and low-blue-light modes to keep your peepers feeling fresh.
There's a 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor under the display, and a pill-shaped camera cutout housing a 3D face unlock camera. Apparently, this is the first phone to come with both, and it's very convenient. I especially like being able to log into banking apps using my face, and for me that's worth the slightly larger camera cutout.
- Display score: 5 / 5
- 50MP main (f/1.4-2.0)
- 200MP 3x telephoto (f/2.6)
- 50MP ultra-wide (f/2.0)
Most of the cameras on the Magic 7 Pro share their specifications with its predecessors’. The main camera still has a 50MP 1/1.3-inch sensor, and a mechanically adjustable aperture that shifts between f/1.4 and f/2. The ultra-wide and selfie cameras seem to be unchanged, too. Both have a 50MP resolution and a f/2 lens.
The telephoto, however, has changed more significantly. The Magic 6 Pro had a 180MP 2.5x optical zoom telephoto snapper, while the Magic 7 Pro upgrades that to a 200MP unit with a 3x lens. It's one of the largest telephoto sensors on the market at 1/1.4-inch, and it's also one of the fastest telephoto cameras, with an f/2.6 aperture.
These days I find myself using the telephoto camera on my smartphone as often, if not more, than the main camera, so I'm pleased to see telephoto specs that come close to matching those of the primary snapper.
I'm still not fully convinced that we need so many megapixels, though. The idea is that you can digitally zoom further with less of a drop in quality, as the high pixel count makes up the difference. In reality, though, it doesn't seem to work so well.
I said the same thing about the Honor Magic 6 Pro, and while this model is an improvement (due to the longer optical focal length) zooming past 10x or so delivers middling and inconsistent results.
Honor's solution to this is something called AI SuperZoom, and it kicks in beyond 30x zoom to clean up your images. At times the results can be quite impressive, but the downsides are plain to see. Images tend to have that watercolor-like effect to them, and sometimes details that don't exist in reality are added in.
I've recently been shooting with the Oppo Find X8 Pro, which has an almost identical feature, but it seems to work a little better than Honor's attempt. In fairness, Honor says this feature is in its infancy, and it will mature and improve over time. It's also worth noting that it requires an internet connection to function, while Oppo's equivalent is processed on-device.
Another new feature in the camera department is the addition of the Studio Harcourt portrait styles that we first saw on the Honor 200 Pro. If you like taking portraits, this is a serious upgrade. The color tuning and blur effects are just as stunning here, and they're only enhanced further by the higher-fidelity optics. The only downside is that, as on the 200 Pro, the feature is restricted to the main and telephoto cameras, so you can't use these effects on your selfies.
All in all, this is a very capable camera system, and it can deliver outstanding shots in all lighting conditions. When it hits, it's among the best camera systems on the market, but it's not the most consistent.
Maybe it's just the pre-release software on the phone I’ve been testing, but I got a lot more blurry shots than I'm used to, and the image processing often pushed the sharpening too far, while blues and greens became over-exaggerated, even when using the Natural picture style.
These problems are all fixable, and I hope we see them addressed in future firmware updates. As it stands, the hardware is impeccable, but the inconsistent processing sometimes leaves you guessing as to how your photos will turn out.
- Cameras score: 4 / 5
- Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset
- 12GB RAM and 512GB storage
- Magic OS 9, based on Android 15
The Honor Magic 7 Pro is powered by Qualcomm's most powerful chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, so you would expect impressive performance. There's only one configuration available on the global market, which comes with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which should be more than enough to satisfy most users.
Honor has taken things a step further with this phone by utilizing the power of its onboard NPU to further improve performance. The phone has something called an AI Predictive Scheduling Engine, and exactly what that does is a little above my comprehension level, but I think it's a bit like DLSS on a gaming PC.
All you need to know is that, with the aid of some new features in the game overlay, you can achieve better image fidelity and higher framerates without adding additional load to the GPU. This means that you can game at higher settings, with less battery drain and lower temperatures.
In practice, it seems to work exactly as advertised. I played Genshin Impact at maximum settings for a couple of hours, and the phone had no trouble maintaining a solid 60fps. It remained shockingly cool under the pressure – cooler to the touch than even the gaming-specific ROG Phone 9 Pro, in fact.
The gaming experience is also enhanced by a very capable set of speakers. They might be the most bassy speakers ever to grace a smartphone, thanks to an integrated subwoofer and ultra-large sound cavity design, and they really add some oomph to in-game sound effects.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Future)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Future)The Magic 7 Pro runs Magic OS 9, a highly customized version of Android 15, and it's a bit divisive. Personally, I've become quite fond of Magic OS, but it's a very different experience from stock Android. The notifications shade and quick settings menu are split, like they are on iOS, and navigating the system can be a little challenging if you're coming from a phone that offers a more traditional Android experience, like a Google Pixel.
Aside from the layout changes, Honor has heaped on plenty of extra functionality. My personal favorite is Magic Portal, which allows you to select text or an image on your screen and drag it into another app for quick sharing or searching. This feature is now even easier to access, as you can circle things with your knuckle to quickly select them.
You also get plenty of AI-powered features, of course. There's nothing too novel here, but it's all pretty useful. There's an AI translator, the ability to format and transcribe notes with AI, and an array of AI-powered image-editing tools. At some point soon the phone will also use AI to automatically protect you from deepfake video chats – I can't say I've ever received one, but the extra peace of mind is always nice.
Also new this year is the inclusion of Circle to Search and Google Gemini as the default voice assistant. It's getting to the point where most Android phones come with these features, but they’re still worth mentioning because they're great, and I very much miss them when they're not there.
- Performance score: 5 / 5
- Software score: 3 / 5
- 5,850mAh silicon-carbon battery
- 100W wired charging
- 80W wireless charging
There's a lot to love about the Honor Magic 7 Pro, but for me, the best thing might be the battery life. I tested this phone after spending lots of time with the Vivo X200 Pro, which has a mammoth 6,000mAh battery, so I wasn't expecting to be amazed by this slightly smaller 5,850mAh unit – but I was.
Honor has clearly optimized its software very well, and I was able to manage two days on a full charge without even trying. And I managed that more than once, and that's with lots of screen time, navigating maps, shooting lots of photos, and streaming content. It’s just brilliant.
We’ve seen some Chinese manufacturers dial back their charging speeds for this generation, but not Honor. Here you get an impressive 100W wired charging rate, and a staggering 80W with Honor's Wireless SuperCharger.
Unfortunately, there's no charger in the box, but I happened to have the right kit to charge at max speed, and it makes living with this phone extremely convenient. If you have the requisite charger, a wired charge from flat to full takes less than 35 minutes, while a wireless charge can be achieved in less than 45 minutes.
- Battery score: 5 / 5
You want flagship power and long battery life
With most phones, you have to decide between long battery life and raw power, but not with the Magic 7 Pro. It's supremely powerful and can still last two days between charges.
You love taking portrait shots
The Studio Harcourt portrait mode is among the most impressive that I've tried. I loved it when it first debuted with the Honor 200 Pro, and it's just as good here.
You love a nice display
The Honor Magic 7 Pro has easily one of the nicest screens in the business. It's bright, vibrant, extremely scratch-resistant, and has more eye-care features than most.
You love generative AI
Honor has been steadily adding more AI features to its operating system, but they're a little basic compared to some of the competition.
You're looking for the classic Android experience
Magic OS makes so many tweaks and adjustments to Android 15 that it almost feels like a completely different operating system. I quite like it, but fans of stock Android might have a hard time adjusting.
The Honor Magic 7 Pro is an excellent all-rounder with a brilliant camera, but the competition is fierce. If you're not sure this is the handset for you, it's worth checking out these competitors.
Oppo Find X8 Pro
The Oppo Find X8 Pro is a similarly feature-stacked Android flagship with a heavy focus on cameras. It offers an extra telephoto lens, a dedicated camera button and has better consistency with its photos. It has an even bigger battery, but in my experience, the Honor still lasts longer.
Read our Oppo Find X8 Pro review
Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
Android flagships may have Apple beat when it comes to camera specifications, but for video shooting, the iPhone 16 Pro Max reigns supreme. It has amazing stabilization, ProRes recording, and can shoot 4K slow motion at 120fps. The new Camera Control button is fun to play around with, too.
Read our iPhone 16 Pro Max review
How I tested the Honor Magic 7 Pro- Review test period: two weeks
- Testing included: everyday use including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback
- Tools used: Geekbench 6, 3DMark, GFXBench, native Android stats, Honor 100W charger, and wireless SuperCharge stand
I put my SIM card into the Honor Magic 7 Pro and lived with it as my main phone for around two weeks before reaching any conclusions. I used it exactly as I would any other phone, taking lots of photos, gaming, messaging, working, streaming video, and navigating with Google Maps and Waze.
I also compared the experience of playing graphically challenging games like Zenless Zone Zero, Genshin Impact, and PUBG Mobile to my experience with other Android flagships like the Oppo Find X8 Pro, Vivo X200 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. I also ran multiple benchmarks on the handset using 3DMark, GFXbench, and Geekbench.
I assessed the battery performance based on my real-world usage and charging times were measured using an official Honor 100W wall adapter and cable. I also tested the wireless charging capabilities with Honor’s Wireless 100W SuperCharge stand.
First tested January 2024
Categories: Reviews
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra review: a Great Dane tablet that thinks it's a lap dog
Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra review: One-minute review
Maybe a giant tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra seems wild to some, but to me it makes a lot of sense. I love a huge screen; the bigger the better. I want a tablet that can be a work surface, a drawing space, a tabloid newspaper, and a television stand-in when I’m moving to a new house and my TV is packed. Like all of Samsung’s ‘Ultra’ devices, the Tab S10 Ultra is all I need and much more.
How much more? There’s the S Pen, of course, which clings loosely to the back of the Tab S10 Ultra, so you’ll definitely want to buy Samsung’s Smart Book Cover case, at least.
Also, the Tab S10 Ultra is water resistant enough to take a dunk, which may seem superfluous for a tablet that would never possibly fit in a toilet, but it speaks to the Tab's durability. You can use it in the bath tub, or the pool, or in a wet environment, then wash it in the sink. That’s pretty amazing for a tablet this size.
There’s also… um, actually that’s kind of all there is? Okay, there’s Galaxy AI, of course, but nobody should buy a premium Android tablet for features like Sketch to Image or Circle to Search. Maybe someday AI will be a ‘system seller,’ as the gamers say, but for now it’s barely a bonus feature.
Otherwise, this is almost exactly the same as last year's Tab S9 Ultra, which is both good news and bad. The good news is that last year’s tablet was great! I reviewed the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra and I thought it was a powerhouse for productivity, and you actually get a lot of technology, even though the price is high.
You can easily see two full windows side-by-side on the Tab S10 Ultra (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is so close to last year’s model that all of the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra accessories work with this tablet. But a warning: if you want a keyboard, don’t buy Samsung’s offering. I wouldn’t usually knock accessories so hard, but this is an important component of a laptop replacement tablet. Samsung needs a much better keyboard for the Tab S series. Samsung’s keyboard is flimsy and unpleasant.
The Tab S10 Ultra version has an AI key... awesome. For the same price (even less!), Apple owners get a Magic Keyboard that's rigid and premium. You can lift the iPad by the lip of the keyboard, but don’t try that with Samsung’s QWERTY.
The good news is that all the third-party cases and covers for the Tab S9 Ultra fit the S10 Ultra. Cool, there are some good options on Amazon, at least. But that means this tablet is basically unchanged from last year, on the outside at least.
Usually, when a product doesn’t change much year-over-year, there's either a big upgrade under the hood, or there is a price drop for new buyers. Unfortunately, neither of those things happened.
The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is the same price as the Tab S9 Ultra in the US and UK, and it’s $50 more in Australia. Inside, you get a… hold on, [checks notes] MediaTek Dimensity 9300. Wait, seriously?! Samsung is using a MediaTek processor? Instead of Qualcomm? Instead of Samsung Semiconductor!?
Not much has changed from this Tab S9 Ultra to the Tab S10 Ultra (Image credit: Future / Philip Berne)Oooooookay. Well, the results are what you’d expect. It’s a good brain for a tablet, but it isn’t a Snapdragon. Last year’s Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra came with the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset found in the Galaxy S23 family. This year’s Galaxy S24 uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. The MediaTek 9300 can mostly keep up with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and once in a while beat it, but not always.
Why is there a MediaTek chip in this flagship Samsung tablet? MediaTek makes a respectable, less expensive chip that focuses more on graphics performance than overall raw power. The Tab S10 Ultra does have slightly better graphics capabilities than a Galaxy S24 phone, but this is supposed to be Samsung’s best tablet. Why is it only slightly better?
Apple is loading its comparably priced iPad Pro with an Apple M4 chip, which is more powerful than most Windows laptops. Samsung gives you a lot more display on the Tab S10 Ultra, but at the cost of so much performance that it knocks the Ultra back into a lower category. This is a gigantic mid-range tablet, not a premium flagship.
If you want to run pro-level software, you should buy Apple’s tablet. If you want the biggest, best display to run all of your Android apps and games and watch your favorite content, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is a great choice, with a screen that will knock your socks off. But we all know it should be a few hundred bucks cheaper.
Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra review: price and availability (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)- Starts at $1,1199 / £1,199 / AU$2,049 for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage
- A 5G version is available, but not in the US
The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is Samsung’s biggest and most expensive tablet, and it costs a bit less than the iPad Pro 13-inch, which is a point in its favor, considering Samsung gives you a humongous 14.6-inch display. That’s not a small difference: the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra display offers 65% more screen area than the iPad Pro 11-inch.
Besides the big screen, does the Tab S10 Ultra justify its price tag? Let’s consider features that you won’t find anywhere else. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is water resistant, like all of Samsung’s recent Galaxy Tab S tablets (including the Galaxy Tab S9 FE, if you need a cheaper, water-resistant tablet). If you’re going to use your tablet in the rain, or in the pool, or if you just want to doomscroll in the bathtub, the Galaxy Tab S is your only choice.
Otherwise, Samsung’s key advantage is, surprisingly, software. Samsung does a much better job with tablet software than Apple. It’s easier to multi-task, open multiple windows, and use your tablet with an external monitor and keyboard. Samsung even does a great job integrating its tablet with your Samsung phone and Galaxy Book laptop, if you have recent Samsung devices.
Image 1 of 3Drawing a truck with Sketch to Image (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)Image 2 of 3Here is Galaxy AI's watercolor version of my truck (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)Image 3 of 3The robust Galaxy AI settings menu (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)All of Samsung’s tablets are good at multitasking, you don’t need to spend $1,1199.99 / £1,199 / AU$2,049 to get this software experience. Even the Tab Ultra’s display isn’t the advantage it was in the past. Apple’s latest iPad Pro tablets pack the most advanced OLED I’ve ever seen on a tablet. It’s thinner, brighter, and sharper looking than Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, even if it’s smaller.
Samsung gives you an S Pen with the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, while Apple makes you pay $129 / £129 / AU$219 for an Apple Pencil. That’s a nice bonus, but it doesn’t justify Samsung’s high price.
Apple gives you a desktop-class chip, while Samsung includes a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ chipset that is… not bad? It’s good at gaming, but not as powerful as Apple’s M4 in the iPad Pro, and it doesn’t even top the Apple M2 in the iPad Air, except in a few graphics benchmarks.
Apple gives you a better, more advanced display, a thinner tablet, and incredible power. Unless you need a water-resistant tablet, or if your games are only available on Android, it’s hard to justify the price tag for the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. The Tab S9 FE is a much better buy for those benefits.
- Value: 3/5
It was a shocking move for Samsung to include a MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ chipset in its Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. The last Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra used the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which was the same processor used in the Galaxy S23 Ultra phone, launched the same year. This year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra phone uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, and that’s what I expected on the premiere tablet.
the MediaTek Dimensity 9300... falls short on processing performance compared to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon
Why use MediaTek instead of Qualcomm or a Samsung Exynos chip? My guess is that Samsung wants to diversify its chip supply, and the Tab S10 Ultra is a safe place to stick the first processor from a new partnership. [Full disclosure: I worked on Samsung’s PR team from 2011 to 2017 and was never involved in chip decisions, I only know what other technology journalists know.]
Samsung will tell you that the MediaTek Dimensity 9300 is exceptional at gaming, and it wanted this tablet to appeal to gamers. While MediaTek does win some benchmark races on the graphics side of Future Labs testing, it falls short on processing performance compared to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, and it’s generations behind Apple’s M4 chipset when it comes to processing power.
I’ll talk about whether the MediaTek 9300 delivered on that gaming promise below in the Performance section (spoiler: it did, but it’s still a mobile chipset).
Otherwise, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has an impressive list of specs. It comes with plenty of RAM to start, 12GB, and you can boost that to 16GB if you buy an upgraded storage model.
The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra also uses Wi-Fi 7, which the iPad Pro still lacks. If you have the latest networking equipment installed and you want to take advantage, the Galaxy Tab is ready.
Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra review: display (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)- Massive 14.6-inch screen is a new level of tablet bigness
- Samsung thankfully sticks with Wacom tech for the S Pen
You can’t find a bigger, better display on a tablet than the huge 14.6-inch OLED screen on the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. If you are considering a tablet as a laptop replacement, the Tab S10 Ultra gives you more screen space than a 14-inch Macbook Pro, though finding the right keyboard could be tricky.
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab gives you much more screen real-estate than a similarly-priced iPad, but is it still a better display? The latest iPad Pro uses an OLED screen that is more sharp, with 264 pixel-per-inch density, compared to 239 ppi on Samsung’s display. Is that enough to notice? Not really, but bragging rights are important at this price.
Apple’s latest iPad Pro is also much brighter than the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, which makes a difference if you work outside, though the iPad Pro can’t handle a rain storm like the Galaxy Tab.
Samsung still refuses to support Dolby Vision on its displays, and you can spot the difference side-by-side if you compare, say, Netflix movies on an iPad Pro and the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. There is HDR10+ support, but not the Dolby HDR video standard.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)I’m happy to see Samsung keeps using Wacom’s electromagnetic resonance (EMR) technology for its S Pen. I’ve seen a few mobile manufacturers switch to their own technology recently. That usually means a battery and an added expense. Samsung’s S Pen has a battery, but it’s for additional features like Bluetooth and the motion sensor; the pen still works without a charge if you just want to draw.
- Display: 5/5
- Water resistant design is unique among premium tablets
- Same size and shape as Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra
With a tablet this big, the design should get out of the way of the screen and the viewing experience, so I’m not expecting much. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra has some design highlights but nothing special. I like the cool, tech-y antenna lines on the back that give it a futuristic sheen, but otherwise it’s just a big slab.
There are four speakers hidden around the edges of the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, so things get loud when you hold the tablet in landscape mode for movie watching. The camera is also centered for landscape viewing, as it should be.
The only buttons on the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra are the power and volume buttons, and Samsung has managed to screw up the volume keys. You’ll need to remember which side is up, because the Galaxy Tab won’t help.
Here’s what I mean: an Apple iPad is smart enough to know that however you are holding the tablet, pressing the volume rocker button on top should turn up the volume. If you hold the iPad upside down, it flips the orientation of the volume keys.
The Galaxy Tab has fixed Up and Down volume keys, and if you hold the tablet upside down, you need to press down to turn the volume Up. If this seems hard to explain, it’s even worse to use in real life.
(Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)If you plan on using the S Pen and not losing the S Pen, I highly recommend buying Samsung’s back cover. It has a nice garage that holds the S Pen in the right spot to charge wirelessly against the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. I wish there was a proper silo like there is on the Galaxy S24 Ultra phone, but that would mean a much smaller S Pen, so I’ll accept the trade off.
I don’t recommend Samsung’s keyboard case, and I’m not sure there is a great option to turn the Galaxy S10 Ultra into a proper laptop replacement, which is a huge miss on Samsung’s part. Apple’s Magic Keyboard, which costs less than Samsung’s Keyboard Cover with a trackpad, is a much more premium accessory. You can lift the iPad Pro by grasping the front of the Magic Keyboard, while Samsung’s expensive keyboard cover feels cheap and flimsy, with keys that are too shallow.
- Design: 4/5
- Still the best tablet software for multitasking
- No significant enhancements for gaming
Samsung’s One UI software, running on top of Android 14, is packed with features, and maybe overstuffed for a smaller smartphone screen, but on a big tablet Samsung lets you cut loose. You can run up to four windows on screen at once, and it’s easy to tile and arrange windows by dragging them where you want them. You can open apps or conversations in pop-up bubbles, and we haven’t even got to the pop-up note taking and screen writing with the S Pen.
While Apple pays lip service to multitasking on the iPad Pro, Samsung really makes it easy to do two or more things at once. I could research on the web while taking notes in Google Docs, or chat on a webcam meeting on one side, play a game on the other, and doomscroll in a floating window.
Taking notes (left) while surfing the web (right) while watching Skeleton Crew (bottom left) all at once (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)While Samsung’s operating system is great, I’m worried that a big, expensive tablet like this is let down by the Android ecosystem. What are the premium apps that require so much screen size and power? Well, maybe not power, since the MediaTek processor isn’t exactly a powerhouse. But it's pretty good at gaming, and Samsung has said this tablet is aimed at gaming enthusiasts.
So, where is the gaming software? When you buy an Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, our best gaming phone, you don’t just get top performance. You get a suite of software tools to help you control your game, tweak your system settings, and stream your sessions over your favorite social network. That’s what it takes to call your device a gaming device. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra was great for playing games, but it’s not an excellent gaming device.
- Software: 4/5
- Good enough for Android, but not competitive with the iPad Pro
- There better be a Snapdragon 8 Elite in the next Tab Ultra
It’s a very weird time for Samsung to release a Galaxy Tab Ultra with a relatively underpowered MediaTek chipset. Apple offers the iPad Pro tablet with an Apple M4 chip that's more powerful than most Windows laptop computers. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra doesn’t come close to that level of performance.
Then we have Qualcomm, which followed up one of its best chips in memory, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with a chipset that could truly be a revolutionary step forward, the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Elite. The latter wasn’t available in time for the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra launch, but the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has been the most powerful chip in smartphones over the past year. Samsung should know, that’s the chip inside the Galaxy S24.
For the same price, you can have an Apple M4-powered iPad Pro. Heck, you could buy a Samsung Galaxy Book 4 360 laptop with a Snapdragon X processor inside and you’d get more in just about every way for the same price. Why pay for a big, mid-range Android tablet when you can have a premium convertible laptop or professional-strength iPad?
Multi-window is as easy as dragging an app to where you want it (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)If the answer is Android games, then the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra will satisfy hardcore gamers with its performance, but I wonder if a gigantic tablet is what the mobile gaming world wants.
Many games won’t work with a joystick. Genshin Impact, for instance, works with a joystick on the iPad, but not on Android tablets. That means I need to hold the huge tablet and manipulate the controls that were meant for a mobile phone.
There are quite a few games like this, and while I enjoyed playing games with my Xbox controller connected, I had a hard time manipulating onscreen controls while holding the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra. Don’t get me wrong, I love the huge size of this tablet, but for some tasks it simply might be too big.
- Performance: 3/5
- Less battery life than last generation
- Much less battery time than an iPad Pro
Battery life on the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra was, frankly, unacceptable. While the tablet lasted through most of a work day, I usually kept it plugged in or charging when I was working at a desk because the big display can chug through battery time.
Our Future Labs tests report the same. The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra performed worse on our battery tests than the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra. Both tablets came in behind Apple’s iPad Pro, but the Tab S9 Ultra lasted around 9.5 hours and the Tab S10 lasted just over 9 hours. A small difference, but battery life should never, ever go down year over year.
Four days?! Not likely (Image credit: Philip Berne / Future)In comparison, an iPad Pro 13-inch will give you almost 15 hours in the same test. That’s a huge loss for Samsung, and battery life needs to be a priority on the next generation of Galaxy Tab S devices.
I have to imagine that a Tab S10 Ultra with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 would have offered better battery life, based on tests I’ve seen comparing the Gen 2 and Gen 3 platforms. Too bad Samsung didn’t use that chipset here.
- Battery: 2/5
You play a lot of Android games
If you’re playing a lot of games on your Android tablet, the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra offers impressive gaming performance and the best big screen for gaming.View Deal
You want a big office tablet that’s easy to use
An Android tablet is much simpler than a Windows tablet, and you have your work accounts loaded, just like with your phone. Go ahead, work on the Tab.View Deal
You want to draw and play and have fun
The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra is a big tablet for fun, indoors and outdoors, for doodling and gaming and playing with AI. Don’t take it too seriously.View Deal
You need a serious productivity tool
If you need real power and performance, and real desktop apps, you might need an iPad Pro or iPad Air.View Deal
You can get a deal on the Tab S9 Ultra
This is almost the same tablet as last year, so if you find the Tab S9 Ultra for much cheaper, just buy it instead.View Deal
You want a laptop replacement
The Tab S10 Ultra doesn’t have any great keyboard options to help you replace a laptop, though you can use any desktop keyboard and mouse instead of Samsung’s accessories.View Deal
Not convinced by the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra? Here are a few other options to consider:
Apple iPad Pro 13-inch
It costs a bit more, but Apple’s iPad Pro 13-inch is more powerful, much thinner and lighter, and even brighter than Samsung’s Tab S10 Ultra.
Read our full iPad Pro 13-inch review
Apple iPad Air 13-inch
The Air is Apple’s mid-range iPad, but it is still more powerful than Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, and it lasts longer on a charge.
Read our full Apple iPad Air 13-inch review
Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus
If you really just want a big Samsung display that’s water resistant and packed with OneUI features, the Tab S9 FE might be enough, and it’s battery life can’t be beat.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE Plus review
How I tested the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 PlusI have been using and reviewing tablets since the very first Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch tablet and the original Apple iPad, and I use tablets every day in my personal life and work environment. I carry two or more tablets when I travel for work and personal business, and I travel every month, often every few weeks.
I used the Galaxy Tab 10 Ultra for two months as my primary work tablet, using it when I traveled for business and as a second screen at my office when I was working. I loaded it with my work accounts and apps, including Slack, Google Meet, Airtable, and Vampire Survivors.
I tested the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra’s durability by dunking it in my sink filled with water and rinsing it repeatedly. I used the Tab S10 Ultra with Samsung’s keyboard with trackpad cover, as well as with my own SteelSeries USB-C keyboard, and a Bluetooth mouse. I also connected the Tab Ultra to my Dell monitor.
I played many games on the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra, mostly using an Xbox controller with Bluetooth. I played Genshin Impact, Call of Duty Mobile, Vampire Survivors, and games from my Xbox Series X console over Wi-Fi.
The Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra was also tested and benchmarked in Future Labs independently. Future Labs uses benchmark software like Geekbench and Crossmark, as well as proprietary tests for color gamut and battery rundown times. Future Labs runs the same tests on every tablet to compare them equally.
Why you can trust TechRadar☑️ 100s of smartphones reviewed
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First reviewed January 2025
Categories: Reviews
Polar Vantage M3 review: Feature-packed but flawed
Polar Vantage M3: One minute review
Polar has long been a trusted name in the fitness world, known for its accurate heart rate monitors, its best running watches and fitness tracking gear aimed at athletes and fitness enthusiasts. The Vantage M3 aims to deliver on that reputation, combining a stunningly bright and vibrant AMOLED display, accurate dual-band GPS and advanced health metrics like wrist-based ECG and skin temperature tracking. It’s packed with tools to help you train smarter and recover better — all for a mid-range price. Along with the Vantage V3 and the Polar Grit X2 Pro, Polar is fully embracing the transition from duller memory-in-pixel displays towards AMOLED screens.
While the Vantage M3 gets a lot right, it’s not without its faults. The setup process was painfully slow and glitchy during my testing, and the companion app, Polar Flow, feels like it’s stuck in the past despite offering lots of detailed metrics. Add to that the lack of third-party app support, and the M3 starts to feel a bit limited compared to more versatile competitors.
That said, for fitness-first users who don’t mind skipping smartwatch extras, the Vantage M3 performs generally well. The clear and sharp AMOLED display makes stats easy to read even during sunny outdoor runs. And features like Recovery Pro and Training Load Pro add meaningful insights, while dual-band GPS ensures accurate route tracking in most conditions.
While the Polar Vantage M3 is a good option for those who prioritize health and fitness tracking, it’s not the most versatile wearable out there. Its smartwatch functionality is rather lacking, as there’s no app store, voice assistant or NFC for payments. Garmin, which also offers a stripped-back training experience, at least as the Connect IQ store. In 2025, this limited functionality feels outdated, especially compared to other smartwatch options on the market right now.
Nevertheless, it’s dependable for serious fitness fans, especially for outdoor workouts which require GPS, and is packed with useful tools for training and recovery. Just don’t expect it to deliver the kind of all-in-one experience you’d get from more feature-rich alternatives like the Apple Watch or Garmin’s top-end models. If you can overlook these shortcomings and focus purely on its fitness chops, the Vantage M3 still has plenty to offer.
Polar Vantage M3: Price and availability (Image credit: Future / Lee Bell)- Price: £349 / $399 / $599AU
- Release date: October 2024
- Colors: Night Black and Greige Sand
The Polar Vantage M3 hit shelves in October 2024, priced at $399 / £349 / AU$599, placing it in the mid-range fitness watch category. It’s available in two understated colors, Night Black and Greige Sand, which should appeal to those who prefer a minimal look.
While it’s not the cheapest option on the market, it does offer solid value when compared to Polar’s higher-end models like the Vantage V3 (£519 / $599.95 / $899AU) and Grit X2 Pro ($749.95 / £649.99 / AU$1,099.99). For its price, you get premium features like dual-band GPS, offline maps and advanced health tracking — all without stretching into the luxury price tier.
- Value score: 3.5 / 5
- Lightweight and comfortable for all-day wear
- Stunning AMOLED display with crisp resolution
- Silicone strap is a little stiff and thus tricky to readjust
When it comes to design, the Polar Vantage M3 balances both style and practicality rather well. At just 53g including the strap, the 44mm case is lightweight enough that you’ll barely notice it’s there, whether you’re hitting the gym or dashing out to run errands. Its slim casing size means it sits snugly on your wrist, staying put even during more intense movements, so you don’t have to worry about it shifting around or coming loose mid-workout.
The stainless-steel bezel is a nice touch that gives it a more sophisticated and hard-wearing edge, and the subtle studs act as a helpful guide when you’re swiping through the touchscreen. However, the plastic body does slightly detract from the premium feel, especially compared to rivals that use more robust materials, like Garmin’s more premium models. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it does leave you wishing for a little extra polish.
Next, let’s talk about the watch’s display, which comes in a 1.28-inch AMOLED variety — easily one of the Vantage M3’s standout features. With its crisp 416x416 resolution and a peak brightness of 1,500 nits, it’s vibrant and sharp — which will be why I found it made your stats easy to read in just about any lighting conditions. That said, it is slightly smaller in size compared to some of Polar’s pricier models, which can make some data screens feel a little cramped, especially when you’re mid-workout and glancing at metrics on the go.
The display’s Gorilla Glass 3 coating also offers scratch protection, which held up well during my testing. The five physical buttons are a welcome addition alongside the touchscreen, offering an easy way to navigate menus during sweaty or gloved activities. However, they could be more tactile; Garmin’s chunkier controls, for example, feel more satisfying to use.
Nevertheless, the silicone strap is soft and comfortable overall. Its buckle-and-loop system can be fiddly at times, often needing more patience than it should to fasten securely. But on the bright side, the 22mm standard size means you can easily swap it for an alternative that better suits your needs.
- Design score: 4 / 5
- Packed with fitness and recovery tools
- Limited smartwatch functionality leaves you wanting more
The Polar Vantage M3 is built for fitness enthusiasts, and its suite of features backs this up. From wrist-based ECG and SpO2 tracking to detailed recovery metrics like SleepWise and Training Load Pro, it’s clear to see that health and performance tracking are this watch’s primary focus. It boasts tools for just about every aspect of your fitness journey — features that work really together and delivering insights that can genuinely help you train smarter and recover better.
While the watch’s fitness features deliver, its smartwatch functionality falls short. Sure, you can read notifications and control your music, but that’s about it. There’s no app store for adding third-party tools, no voice assistant to help you navigate tasks hands-free and no NFC for payments support.
It’s surprising, especially in 2025, where even budget wearables offer more comprehensive options. And so, for anyone hoping for a more versatile device that blends fitness and day-to-day convenience, the Vantage M3 feels like it’s missing the mark somewhat.
However, the essentials are solid. Syncing the watch to the Polar Flow app allows you to view all your training metrics in one place. While the app itself isn’t the most intuitive or visually pleasing, it does get the job done — albeit with a bit of patience.
- Features score: 3 / 5
- Dual-band GPS is accurate but not flawless
- Metrics not quite as precise as expected
- Around five days battery life with mixed use
The Vantage M3’s dual-band GPS is a solid performer most of the time. It connects quickly and provides accurate data during runs, bike rides and hikes. However, it’s not flawless. In dense urban areas surrounded by tall buildings, the GPS can wobble slightly, deviating from your true route. It’s not a disaster by any means, but when you’re comparing it to premium models like the Garmin Fenix 8 series, for instance, the difference is quite noticeable.
Heart rate monitoring is another area where the M3 performs well, though it’s not perfect. The optical sensor offers consistent readings during steady-state workouts, but it struggles to keep up during sudden bursts of activity, such as sprints or high-intensity intervals. If you’re someone who relies heavily on accurate heart rate data for training, this might be a minor frustration. Step tracking, meanwhile, was less impressive. It often overcounted my steps by a few hundred compared to other devices I tested, which could annoy anyone who considers precise metrics as paramount.
As for battery life, it’s decent but not groundbreaking. With moderate use, Polar says you’ll get five to six days out of it, or about 24 hours in GPS mode. I found that with mixed use - tracking a workout once a day with GPS, general step counting and sleep tracking - it was just short of that, at about five days. It’s enough for most casual users, but endurance athletes might find themselves charging more often than they’d like. On the plus side, charging is relatively quick and painless, thanks to the USB-A proprietary cable included in the box.
Essentially, the Polar Vantage M3 excels as a training tool. Its recovery features, like Training Load Pro, are genuinely useful for improving your workouts, and the clear and sharp AMOLED display makes interacting with the watch nothing but a pleasure. Whether you’re mid-run in the sun or checking your progress under some intense floodlights, I found the screen performs brilliantly overall. But when you consider the price tag, it’s hard to ignore the areas where it falls short. For £349 / $399 / $599AU, you’d expect a more high-end experience, particularly when it comes to its smartwatch features. Still, if you’re looking for a fitness-first device, it’s a trustworthy option, but it’s not the standout it could have been.
- Performance score: 3.5 / 5
You want detailed training insights
Polar’s tools like Recovery Pro and Training Load Pro offer genuinely useful, detailed feedback.View Deal
You love vibrant displays
The AMOLED screen is sharp, colorful and easy to read in most lighting.View Deal
You’re after a lightweight, comfortable design
It’s great for all-day wear, even during intense workouts.View Deal
Don't buy it if...You need robust smartwatch features
There’s no app store, voice assistant or payment support.View Deal
You hate clunky apps
Polar Flow isn’t the most user-friendly companion app.View Deal
You’re a sucker for tracking accuracy
Step counts can be overly generous, which might bother data purists.View Deal
Also considerGarmin Forerunner 255 (£299)
This cheaper option from Garmin is known for its excellent GPS and training tools, plus there’s a stronger focus on smartwatch features like NFC payments as well as app support.
Check out our full Garmin Forerunner 255 reviewView Deal
COROS Pace 3 (£199)
An affordable alternative with great battery life, reliable tracking and a focus on performance. While it lacks an AMOLED screen, it excels in durability and value for money.
Check out our full COROS Pace 3 reviewView Deal
Apple Watch SE 2 (£269)
For those iPhone users who want a better balance between fitness tracking and smartwatch functionality. While it doesn’t have advanced recovery tools, its sleek design and app ecosystem make it a top choice that won’t break the bank.
Check out our full Apple Watch SE 2 reviewView Deal
How I testedI wore the Polar Vantage M3 daily for over two weeks, testing its features during various activities, including running, cycling and yoga. I used its dual-band GPS for outdoor workouts and tracked recovery metrics with Polar’s app tools. I also evaluated its smartwatch functionality by syncing it to a smartphone, using it for notifications and assessing app integration. To test durability, I wore it during both high-intensity workouts and casual everyday use, paying attention to comfort and battery performance.
First reviewed: January 2025
Categories: Reviews
Intel Arc B570 review: great value, but overshadowed by the far superior Arc B580
Intel Arc B570: Two-minute review
The Intel Arc B570 is the kind of graphics card I desperately want to love, but my tech-addled PC gaming heart belongs to another.
I'm not talking about the recently-announced Nvidia RTX 50 series GPUs (though we'll see about those in due time). No, I've fallen for the Intel Arc B580, easily one of the best graphics cards on the market thanks to its fantastic 1440p and 1080p gaming performance. And, unfortunately, its price is so good that it's hard to really recommend the Arc B570 in good conscience.
To be fair, the Intel Arc B570's $219 / £219 (around AU$350) MSRP arguably makes it the best cheap graphics card going right now simply by default. The next cheapest current-gen GPU (as of January 2025) from AMD (the Radeon RX 7600) and Nvidia (the GeForce RTX 4060) are roughly 20% to 25% more expensive, and it's still $30 / £30 (about AU$90) cheaper than the Arc B580.
But the problem is that despite some impressive specs for a card this cheap, and solid 1080p performance, for just a little bit more you can get a far more future-proofed GPU that will let you game without compromise at a higher 1440p resolution if you go for the Arc B580. Of course, that's assuming you can get that card at its normal retail price and not the jacked-up prices being charged online by profiteering retailers and third-party sellers.
(Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)But looking at the Arc B570 strictly on its merits, ignoring any external factors that are subject to change, and it's undeniable that the Arc B570 is one of the best 1080p graphics cards you can buy, especially considering its price.
At this price price point, you really have to compare the Arc B570 against cards that are several years old, like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 1060 to really put things in perspective. For example, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 had a launch price $30 higher than the Arc B570, and even though I no longer have that card to compare Intel's latest against in a head-to-head matchup like I'd like, it really wasn't that good of a card to justify its price. Say what you will about the Arc B570, but in no universe can you say that you're not getting your money's worth with this GPU.
The heartbreak, then, is just that this card is simply overshadowed by its slightly more expensive sibling. If the Intel Arc B570 was priced at $199, it would be walking away with a definitive budget win. Hell, it still is, but with so little separating the B570 and the B580, pretty much every potential buyer is better off borrowing that extra bit of cash from a friend, sibling, parent, or even a stranger, and picking up the more powerful B580.
Intel Arc B570: Price & availability (Image credit: Future / John Loeffler)- How much is it? Starting at $219 / £219 (around AU$350)
- When can you get it? You can get it from January 16, 2025
- Where is it available? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia
The Intel Arc B570 goes on sale in the US, UK, and Australia on January 16, 2025, for $219 / £219 (around AU$350).
This puts it at just $30 / £30 (about AU$90) cheaper than the Intel Arc B580 released in December 2024. That said, it is a good deal cheaper than the competing AMD Radeon RX 7600 and Nvidia RTX 4060, both of which run at least 20% more expensive for roughly the same performance.
I'll dig into the performance-per-dollar of this card in a bit, but I can tell you now that it's one of the best you find on a modern GPU, but it still comes in a distant second to the Intel Arc B580, making it hard card to recommend unless you are seriously strapped for cash or the B580 is being scalped at too high a price.
- Value: 4.5 / 5
- 10GB VRAM is a nice-to-have feature
- Decently-sized memory bus
- Specs: 4 / 5
- Great 1080p performance
- Doable 1440p (within reason)
- Arc B580 is way better for not a whole lot more money
Ultimately, what matters is performance, and the top-line numbers for the Intel Arc B570 are impressive for a card at its price point, but it is almost exclusively a 1080p graphics card unless you make a lot of compromises for 1440p resolution that frankly aren't going to be worth it in the end.
In terms of creative workloads or AI, this isn't the card for you. I'd simply go for the RTX 4060 if you're really strapped for cash but need something more than a basic cheap gaming GPU.
It also has to be noted that its 1080p gaming performance isn't going to match its more expensive competition on a lot of games, so if you're looking for a graphics card that consistently gets you 60fps at 1080p on max settings without question, you might be better off with some of this card's more expensive competitors.
That said, on average across the several games in my testing suite, including titles like Cyberpunk 2077, F1 2024, Total War: Warhammer III, and others, this card did manage an average 1080p fps of 60. with an average minimum fps of 34.
Of course, it played better on some games more than others, and some games you won't be able to play at max settings for a playable frame rate (like Black Myth Wukong), but over the course of all the titles I played, it's more than passable for 1080p, with the occasionally playable 1440p experience.
For its price, it's genuinely excellent, especially for getting you a card capable of ray-traced gameplay, but for just a little bit more, you can get a lot better with the B580.
- Performance: 3.5 / 5
You are on a very tight budget
There aren't a lot of current-gen GPUs available at this price point, and even then, this is the cheapest so far.View Deal
You only care about basic 1080p gaming
If you are only looking for a cheap 1080p GPU with some modern extras like ray tracing, this card could be a compelling value at MSRP. View Deal
You want to game at 1440p
Despite its extra VRAM and decent memory bus, it just doesn't have the specs for consistent 1440p gaming without some serious compromises.View Deal
You have some wiggle room in your budget
If you are even slightly flexible in your budget, the Arc B580 is a much, much better option for not a whole lot more money.View Deal
Intel Arc B580
OK, so I'm going to be honest, the only other card you should be considering is the Arc B580. If you have any room in your budget, get this card instead. It's so much better for just a little more of an investment.
Read the full Intel Arc B580 review
How I tested the Intel Arc B570- I spent about a week with the Intel Arc B570
- I used it primarily as a gaming GPU with some light creative work
- I ran the Arc B570 thgouh my revamped testing suite
I tested the Intel Arc B570 using my newly revamped testing suite, including the latest 3DMark tests like Steel Nomad and Solar Bay, as well as the newest gaming benchmarks like Black Myth Wukong and F1 2024.
I used the Arc B570 as my primary GPU on my work PC, using it for basic productivity, creative, and moderate gaming in the office.
I've been testing GPUs for TechRadar for more than two years now, and have extensively benchmarked all of the latest GPUs several times over, so I am well aware of where this card's performance sits amongst its competition as well as how good of a value it is at its price point.
- Originally reviewed January 2025
Categories: Reviews
Insta360 Flow 2 Pro review: the best small iPhone gimbal gets an update
Insta360 Flow 2 Pro: Two-Minute Review
Not even a year since Insta360’s original Flow Pro smartphone stabilizer arrived on the market, and it already has a successor in the shape of the Flow 2 Pro. The new gimbal (perhaps unsurprisingly given the timeframe) doesn’t represent a huge leap forward, however – merely a logical progression in a few key areas.
This is another compact handheld gimbal for keeping an attached smartphone level and its movements smooth, enabling the user to capture more stable and professional-looking video footage while on foot or, with the gimbal perched on a flat surface thanks to its integrated tripod, use their phone like an automated camera operator, moving around while the gimbal uses its software to track and follow their movements, keeping them in the frame.
All the key advantages of the original model either remain untouched or improved upon, thankfully. The lightweight folding design, for instance, makes the Flow 2 Pro one of the most portable smartphone stabilizers around, just like the Flow Pro. And, like the Flow Pro, it features a magnetic clamping system that makes mounting your phone and deploying the gimbal and a refreshingly quick and painless process. The clamp grips securely to the sides of your phone, accommodating devices between 64mm and 84mm wide, and then simply sticks to the gimbal arm via its strong magnet, fixing into place with a satisfying ‘thunk’.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)I think the design is even better this time around, though, because the Flow 2 Pro’s construction is tougher and more durable than that of its predecessor, even down to the built-in tripod legs being less awkward to pull out and providing a more stable platform for hands-free stabilization.
In its folded state the Flow 2 Pro is impressively small. I was even able to lug it around in my coat pocket, which isn’t something I could say for many of the other best smartphone gimbals. The basic bundle comes with a soft cloth drawstring bag for storage in such situations, but Insta360 also sells an optional hard-sided carry case with snug cut-outs for the gimbal, magnetic clamp and (also optional) fill light. This case, which comes with a removable shoulder strap and netted compartment space inside the lid for storing cables and other small accessories, is the ideal way to store the Flow 2 Pro when not in use, and I’d have liked it included in the basic package – but I suppose keeping it as an optional upgrade does hold the overall cost down for those who want to get in at the lowest price point.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)As for the smartphone stabilization itself, I have no significant complaints at all – it all works brilliantly, and the Flow 2 Pro feels much more comfortable in my hand than the original Flow Pro. The three-axis gimbal can support handsets up to 300g in weight, stabilizing them using one of three modes: Follow (which follows both the pan and tilt movements of the user but keeps the roll axis fixed); Pan Follow (similar, but keeps both the tilt and roll axes fixed); and FPV (which follows the user’s movement on all three axes).
There’s also an Auto mode, which follows tilt and pan movements and adapts its sensitivity automatically in real-time, plus the option to fix all axes in place at any time by holding down the trigger on the handle. The sixth and final mode is Active Plus, which adds extra sensitivity and responsiveness to the above modes and is engaged by tapping, then holding down the trigger.
You can also manually move the gimbal using the on-handle controls, with the thumb stick supporting tilt and pan motion and, in FPV mode, the jog wheel controlling roll axis movement. Single tapping the trigger turns subject tracking on and off, double tapping resets the phone to a level central position and triple tapping spins the phone through 180º so that it faces the opposite direction to its current facing.
The minimalist circular control setup is similar to the Flow Pro’s, albeit with a few tweaks to aid ergonomics. It’s now slightly more tactile and the four mode lights for Auto, Follow, Pan Follow and FPV are situated at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock on the circle rather than in a row at the top. The green indicator light, which pops on to tell you that tracking is in progress, is retained from the Flow Pro, as is the NFC tap point above it, which can be used for first-time one-tap pairing for both Android and Apple phones.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen)The 21cm extension stick, which expands out from the handle to create extra distance between the user and the phone, is retained from the previous model but a new Free Tilt option expands the Flow 2 Pro’s repertoire of motion. It moves the arm out of the way, which allowed me to capture upwards and downwards tilting shots I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to get.
On the software side of things, the Flow 2 Pro retains its Apple DockKit support, which means it can track subjects in over 200 iPhone camera apps, including the likes of BlackMagic Camera, TikTok and the iPhone’s own native camera app. Obviously this leaves Android users feeling a little short-changed in comparison, as the only way they can track on the Flow 2 Pro is via the Insta360 app.
However, the app is great – and I think delivers by far a smoother, smarter and more responsive tracking experience than any apps that use the DockKit integration. New tracking features added for the Flow 2 Pro include the ability to track groups of people, track while zoomed up to 15x and the Pro Framing Grid, which can modify tracking to keep the subject off-center in the frame for a more pleasing ‘golden ratio’ composition.
The app also includes support for Dolby Vision and Apple ProRes video recording, a new teleprompter option to help content creators stick to the script and support for remote control of the gimbal via a second smartphone or an Apple Watch. I like the idea of a remote control but having to pull out a second smartphone isn’t really ideal – so hopefully Insta360 will take inspiration from the Hohem iSteady M7’s integrated remote control for future stabilizers.
I did get the opportunity to try out a couple of the optional accessories such as the MagSafe mount, which is a much more elegant and slick mounting option than the spring-loaded magnetic grip and the LED fill light, which slots directly onto the gimbal arm’s USB-C output (which can also be used to top up your phone’s battery) and provides either warm, neutral or cool light in one of three intensities. It’s not as flexible as the LED that comes included on the Hohem M7, but it’s powerful enough to enable night-time vlogging, and can face both forwards and backwards.
With up to 10 hours of battery life, the Flow 2 Pro delivers roughly the same amount of use on a full charge as the original model. By the standards of small stabilizers, it’s good – and significantly longer than the 6.5 hours offered by the DJI Osmo 6 Mobile, its closest rival.
Insta360 Flow 2 Pro: Price and AvailabilityThe Insta360 Flow 2 Pro is available to order from its launch day, 16 January 2025, in two bundles and two color finishes: Stone Grey and Summit White.
The Standard Bundle costs $159.99 / £144.99 / AU$239.99, and includes the Flow 2 Pro itself plus a magnetic clamp, USB-A to USB-C charging cable and soft storage back. The Creator Bundle costs $189.99 / £169.99 / AU$289.99, and includes all of the above plus a USB-C to USB-C charging cable, a magnetic phone mount for MagSafe iPhones and the Spotlight, a small fill light that clips directly to the gimbal arm.
This launch price is slightly higher than the launch price of original Flow Pro (which arrived in July 2024); taking into account inflation, however, I’d consider it roughly the same – although I would expect the original Flow Pro to fall in price now that its successor has arrived – the Flow 2 Pro’s most established rival, the DJI Osmo 6 Mobile, has already.
Insta360 Flow 2 Pro: specs Insta360 Flow 2 Pro: Also ConsiderDJI Osmo Mobile 6
We think DJI’s small folding gimbal feels nicer in the hand than the Flow 2 Pro, but in other areas the Insta360 has it beat thanks to longer battery life and, for Apple users at least, that all-important ability to track using third-party camera apps. We’d expect the upcoming Osmo Mobile 7 (or equivalent) to up its game sharply, however.
Read our DJI Osmo Mobile 6 review
Hohem iSteady M7
While significantly pricier and bulkier than the Flow 2 Pro, the M7’s impeccable stabilization can balance phones up to 500g in weight. Even better, it comes with app-agnostic tracking via an AI camera module that doubles as a fully customizable fill light, plus a touchscreen module that works as a remote control.
*Our Hohem iSteady M7 review is in progress
Should I buy the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro? (Image credit: Future | Sam Kieldsen) Buy it if...You want the best small gimbal for iPhone
The Flow 2 Pro’s Apple DockKit support grants it far more utility for iPhone users than its folding, compact competitors, allowing human subject tracking for over 200 iOS camera apps.
You travel light
With its folding, lightweight build, which also manages to be reassuringly sturdy, the Flow 2 Pro is the perfect stabilizer with which to document your day trips and weekend breaks. It works as a power bank, selfie stick and tripod too!
You want the best all-round tracking gimbal
Larger, pricier stabilizers like the Hohem iSteady M7 and Zhiyun Smooth 5A AI feature AI tracking modules that allow them to track human subjects with any app for both Android and iPhone.
You already own the original Flow Pro
The improvements here are notable, but not so valuable that it’s worth ditching your nearly new Flow Pro for the upgrade. If you own the original, our advice would be to wait until the Flow 3 Pro (or equivalent) comes along.
- One week of use
- Tested with iPhone 13 and various iOS apps
- Used inside and outdoors both on tripod and in hand
I used the Insta360 Flow 2 Pro in and around my home for a week, using it to record footage both on the move and with it fixed it place via its built-in tripod. I tested it with my Apple iPhone 13 and a variety of camera apps – including the Insta360 app, BlackMagic Camera and the iPhone’s own native camera – to record b-roll and vlog-style videos.
First reviewed January 2025
Categories: Reviews
FeatherSnap Scout bird feeder camera review: superb design and performance, somewhat modest camera experience
FeatherSnap Scout bird feeder camera: one-minute review
If you're new to bird feeder cameras and want an easy and affordable starting point, the FeatherSnap Scout is just the ticket. It's easy to set up, and offers a robust design, reliable Wi-Fi connectivity, durable battery performance with solar charging, plus a straightforward app through which you can enjoy watching your garden visitors. These attributes combine to great effect, and made this review both easy to write and highly enjoyable, while assuring me that the FeatherSnap Scout is one of the best bird feeder cameras available.
I live in the countryside in the UK, and we get plenty of feathered visitors in the garden. I already have regular bird feeders set up in various spots, so why not swap one out for a feeder with a camera? Doing so enabled me to get a closer look at the birds I otherwise only see from a distance, from the comfort of my home, and has been a wonderful experience.
In fact, while writing this review at TechRadar's offices, many miles from home, I've been able to keep the FeatherSnap Scout's live feed active on my phone to see (and hear) which birds are stopping by – a welcome distraction that puts a smile on my face.
Setting up the FeatherSnap Scout is simple. Having pinpointed the best spots to position the bird feeder, it took me a matter of minutes to unbox the camera, head into the garden and fix it to my chosen tree using the supplied strap. I've tried placing it in a couple of spots, and once I've established the best position I'll screw it in place more securely.
(Image credit: Tim Coleman)With the FeatherSnap Scout in place and filled with feed, I connected it to my home Wi-Fi network via FeatherSnap's free app (available for iOS and Android) – I was able to get connected promptly, despite there being a large distance between the camera and my home router.
The app is easy to navigate, though you'll want the paid-for subscription to get the very best features – for me the video downloads proved the real highlight. Still, without the subscription you can still receive pictures that the camera takes when it detects movement, plus enjoy the live feed, complete with audio.
Image quality is what I'd expect from a basic camera with ultra-wide angle lens; color depth and resolution are limited. However, the same can be said of all bird feeder cameras, and the detail here is pretty sharp. Over the weeks using the FeatherSnap Scout I've learnt that it's a breeze to get started, reliable, offers decent battery life, and comes in at a highly competitive price point. Top stuff.
FeatherSnap Scout bird feeder camera: price and availability- $179.99 / £159.99 / AU$TBC
- App subscription plan $59.99 / £49.99 per year or $6.99 / £5.99 per month
Compared to a premium option such as the 5 star-rated Birdfy Feeder 2 Duo, the FeatherSnap Scout is a snip at just $179.99 / £159.99 (availability and pricing for Australia is TBC), especially when you consider that it features two built-in solar panels. That said, to get the most out of the camera features, you'll want the paid-for Unlimited Plan, which costs $59.99 / £49.99 per year, or $6.99 / £5.99 per month. Without it you can't access some of the best features, which for me means video downloads, although personally I can take or leave the bird identification features, which didn't always prove to be accurate. At the time of writing, the best price can be found on the FeatherSnap website and Amazon – for the latter make sure to select FeatherSnap as the seller to get the prices above.
(Image credit: Tim Coleman) FeatherSnap Scout bird feeder camera: specs FeatherSnap Scout bird feeder camera: design- Motion detection camera with ultra-wide lens and stable 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi connection
- Strap or screw-in mount
- Potentially unlimited battery life thanks to twin solar panels
The FeatherSnap Scout arrives fully assembled, with no construction needed, complete with twin solar panels built into its roof. The camera unit is packaged separately and snaps securely into place, attached through its USB-C port which connects it to the solar panels for continuous power.
The fiddliest part of setting the feeder up was strapping it to a tree. For a tree with thinner trunk I wrapped the strap around twice, and it feeds through a lock that's completely secure and stable. For another, larger tree, I wrapped the strap once and the setup was equally secure. I wouldn't be against attaching the camera to a tree using screws, once I know I'm fully happy with its position for year-round coverage, and if I can do that without damaging the tree.
My review period took place over the winter months in the UK, which means cold weather, short days and limited sunlight. The rugged device has withstood inclement weather, including a category 2 storm, and countless visitors (although I'm lucky that the squirrels haven't discovered it yet), and all remains well.
Image 1 of 7(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 7(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 7(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 4 of 7(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 5 of 7(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 6 of 7(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 7 of 7(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Initial pairing to my home Wi-Fi network took no time at all through FeatherSnap's app, and I was impressed with the stability of the connection considering the distance between my router and the device. In one position the app showed a strong connection with a distance of around 50ft / 15m, while from another side of the house, as much as 82ft / 25m, the connection was weaker but still worked.
A large battery unit is supplied, and this has a USB-C port built into it for direct wired charging. In one of the locations where I set the feeder up it was almost entirely in the shade and daylight hours were few, with the weather hovering around 32F / 0C, plus the camera was regularly active snapping visitors, and the battery was losing about 15% of its charge each day, so that's good for about a week of use.
I repositioned the camera where it would get more sunlight on sunny days, and the battery life increased. By my reckoning, provided the camera has reasonable exposure to daylight, it'll maintain its charge thanks to the twin solar panels, and most people will seldom if ever need to charge the battery.
Image 1 of 4(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 4(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 4(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 4 of 4(Image credit: Tim Coleman)FeatherSnap says the bird feeder camera has a -20F to 130°F / -29C to 54.4C operating temperature. Such extremes have never been recorded where I live, but the device has worked flawlessly in freezing temperatures. It's also proved durable, in the wind and rain, and I have little doubt that it'll be up and running in my garden for a long time to come.
I will caveat any notes about durability by saying the feeder has only had feathered visitors during my review period, the largest of which was a curious magpie. Squirrels could be a different matter – they have tormented other bird feeder camera reviewers for TechRadar, damaging the likes of the otherwise-stylish Netvue Birdfy Bamboo. The FeatherSnap Scout's open trays mean that squirrels aren't likely to root around too much and damage it, and from what I can tell the extendable perch is the most likely weak point.
Something the FeatherSnap Scout lacks, which can be found in some other premium bird feeder cameras from the likes of Bird Buddy, is a speaker to project sounds, which is typically used to deter and scare away unwanted visitors. That's not been an issue in my case, but it could be for you if you get a lot of squirrels.
FeatherSnap Scout bird feeder camera: performance- 4MP photos are sharp enough, though color depth and dynamic range is limited
- Full HD videos of up to 15 seconds in length taken from photo gallery in app
- Excellent Wi-Fi performance and stable connection for a live feed, complete with sound
The FeatherSnap Scout relies on a single camera with an ultra-wide field of view. It's motion sensitive, and it snaps into action when visitors come, capturing 15-second video clips distilled into a set of three photos in the 'Snaps' gallery. Should you like any of those photos, which you can view in a chronological feed in the app, you can download them at an image size of 4MB.
That image size is pretty modest, but so far as bird feeder cameras go, it's respectable. As someone who's spoilt by using the best professional cameras, however, I've been underwhelmed by the image quality of the FeatherSnap Scout. Color depth and dynamic range is very limited, with little latitude for bringing back highlight details during sunny days or adding punch on cloudy days, to the JPEG-only files.
I'll qualify those disappointments by saying that the same is true from all bird feeder cameras that I've seen – don't get your hopes up regarding image quality. In its defense, the FeatherSnap Scout's images look pretty sharp, especially if you're mainly viewing them on a smartphone.
Image 1 of 10One of my more exotic visitors – a great spotted woodpecker (Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 2 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 3 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 4 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 5 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 6 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 7 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 8 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 9 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)Image 10 of 10(Image credit: Tim Coleman)In addition to photo downloads, you can request the video captured by the camera. These Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel sequences are 15 seconds in length, and can be viewed at 1x or 5x slow motion, but you can't download the latter. Video downloads are only available with the paid-for subscription. The camera's live feed is another way to enjoy feeder's visitors in real time.
During my review, I've accumulated hundreds of videos / image sequences, and these are stored / viewed in the app. You can request a download of those images, and they'll remain in the app for up to 72 hours (with the free plan) or 10 days (with the paid-for subscription) before being wiped from the gallery.
I'd love an easier way to manage all of those files, especially considering that 95% of the content in my gallery is of the same five bird species. There are bird identification functions in the app – which by the way incorrectly identified a rare visit of a great spotted woodpecker to be that of a great tit – so I'd assume there's potential for AI to play its part in managing files.
It would be nice to get a highlights of the day reel, or have a method of selecting which birds are snapped and which ones are ignored – say based on your own Bird Book (which is used to log your sitings in the app). Perhaps that's too complicated an ask, and in fairness the present setup of wiping the gallery after 72 hours / 10 days is a sensible and simple approach.
Should you buy the FeatherSnap Scout bird feeder camera? Buy it if...You want a close-up view of your feathered visitors
Bird feeder cameras remain one of the more affordable bits of gear for getting a close-up view of the wildlife around you, and for me the live feed provided welcome entertainment / distraction.
You're after a gift that keeps on giving
The FeatherSnap Scout is relatively affordable, and could make a great gift for a nature-loving family member.
You're looking for your first bird feeder camera
The FeatherSnap Scout is super-easy to get started with, and performs flawlessly thanks to a stable wireless connection and stellar battery life. View Deal
You're expecting award-winning garden wildlife images
Bird feeder cameras in general are better seen as viewing and documenting devices – their basic cameras can't match the quality of even your smartphone's.
You don't want to be tied down to a paid-for subscription
The FeatherSnap Scout can be used completely for free through the app, but to get its best features – namely video downloads – you'll need the premium package.
You'll likely need to deter unwanted visitors
Unlike the best bird feeder cameras from the likes of Bird Buddy, FeatherSnap Scout lacks features designed to deter squirrels.
How I tested the FeatherSnap Scout bird feeder camera- Mounted to a couple of different trees and connected to my home Wi-Fi
- Operated through cold winter months, with little daylight / sunlight
- I monitored the visiting birds daily using the FeatherSnap app, with the paid-for subscription unlocking premium features
I set up the FeatherSnap Scout by strapping it to two different trees over the course of several weeks. Screwing the feeder into place is another option, provided you take the necessary steps to avoid damaging the tree.
My test was conducted in the UK over cold winter months, when days were short and sunlight limited. I was able to connect the FeatherSnap Bird Feeder camera to my home Wi-Fi and monitor any visitors the camera detected via the live feed, and the pictures stored in the gallery.
I used the paid version of the app to unlock all the premium features, including video downloads and bird identification.
- First reviewed January 2025
Categories: Reviews
Onyx Boox Go 6 review: bugs and performance woes undermine a promising entry-level ereader
Onyx Boox Go 6: Two-minute review
The Go series is Onyx’s latest Boox range of ereaders and e-paper writing tablets, with the Boox Go 6 being the newest – and smallest – member. It was released a couple of months after the first two Go series devices, giving Onyx time to fix the software issues I had highlighted in my Boox Go Color 7 review. And given how much I like the Boox Go 10.3 as a writing tablet, I had high expectations from this 6-inch entry-level ereader.
Its design doesn’t disappoint at all, with a slim, compact and lightweight body that makes it very portable indeed. Despite this light build, it still manages to feel quite robust. It also uses the latest E Ink Carta 1300 screen that makes reading a far superior experience over the Amazon Kindle (2024), and can easily hold its own against the Kobo Clara BW and the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024), both of which use the same display. Plus, having a microSD card tray to expand the 32GB internal storage if you need more space is a bonus. And that’s where the positives end for me.
While it’s adequate as an ereader, Onyx hasn’t quite taken full advantage of that fabulous display because ghosting is still a problem on Boox devices, even though Amazon has seemingly found a way to completely eliminate this issue in its 2024 Kindles.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Then there are the software and performance woes. To be fair to Onyx, my issue with the unlinked Fonts folder has been rectified – you no longer need to manually create a separate folder within the Storage tab to make third-party fonts work – but I ran into other issues instead.
For starters, while I can connect to my Google Drive account, during my testing, files couldn’t be transferred wirelessly as it wouldn't give me access to anything other than the existing Onyx folder from previous Boox devices. As a Mac user, I couldn’t even use a wired connection to move ebooks onto the Go 6 as only Windows machines register the Boox tablets as external devices and, despite OTG (USB on-the-go) support and the device reading my external hard drive, I still couldn’t move my files. Thank goodness for BooxDrop!
I will admit that the Boox Go 6 powers on or wakes up much quicker than any Kindle or Kobo I have tested (even the latest ones), but page turns are rather slow. I found that pages with images on them can take over a second to flip over. While most users won’t necessarily be reading graphic novels, comics or history books with image plates, it’s still sluggish compared to the competition. Even battery life is disappointing here.
I’m also quite miffed that Onyx has chosen to use Android 11 as the Go 6’s operating system when the other devices in this series run on Android 12. And while not really a deal breaker, there’s no waterproofing here either.
As much as I admire Onyx for churning out ereaders and writing tablets every few months, I think the company ought to slow down to perfect the performance of its ereaders. It seems to be able to do that for its writing tablets, so why not its basic reading devices too?
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Onyx Boox Go 6 review: price & availability- Announced August 2024
- List price: $149.99 / €169.99 / AU$279
- Available now directly from the Boox Shop and select third-party retailers
Compared to Kindle or Kobo, Boox devices have always been a little on the expensive side. The Boox Go 6 is no exception, listed for $149.99 / €169.99 (about £143) / AU$279 at the time of writing. That’s significantly more than the equivalent Kindle or Kobo.
The Amazon Kindle (2024) costs $129.99 / £104.99 / AU$199 sans ads on the lock screen, although you only get 16GB of storage (half that of the Boox Go 6) and it uses the older E Ink Carta 1200 screen. On the other hand, the Kobo Clara BW – which also only comes with 16GB of storage – will set you back $129.99 / £119.99 / AU$239.95 at full price, but it boasts the E Ink Carta 1300 display and is IPX8-certified waterproof, which the Go 6 isn't. It also happens to be repairable.
In fact, the Boox Go 6 is only marginally cheaper than the 7-inch Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024), which costs $179.99 / £159.99 / AU$299 for the version without ads and 16GB of storage, but you get waterproofing and a larger Carta 1300 screen that has no performance issues.
• Value score: 3 / 5
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Onyx Boox Go 6 review: specs Onyx Boox Go 6 review: Design & display- Very sharp and clear 6-inch E Ink Carta 1300 display
- Robust build quality with microSD card tray
- Lacks waterproofing
The one thing I’ve always been impressed by is the design of the Boox devices – they all look premium, and the Boox Go 6 is no exception. Despite being made from plastic, the black chassis appears metallic on the front – something Amazon and Kobo ought to learn to do – and, despite being the same thickness as the 2024 base Kindle, it feels a lot more solid in the hand… and much more secure too. That doesn’t imply the rear panel is textured – it’s a matte finish compared to the shiny front, but it attracts every single fingerprint, far more than any other ereader I've had the joy of using. Thankfully Onyx makes an optional sleepcover (identical to the one used with the Onyx Boox Poke 5) to keep the body smudge-free.
The only embellishment on the Go 6 is the Boox branding on the front and rear. The former is in grey printed on the large lower bezel, while the latter is embossed black on black. The power button is on the right corner of the top edge, and you’ll find the USB-C port, microphone and microSD card tray on the bottom edge. There are no speakers here, like you’ll find on some other Boox devices and that’s a good thing – I’ve never found the sound to be nice enough to use anyway.
While it looks very much like the Boox Poke 5, it’s lighter at 146g compared to 160g, which also makes it a touch lighter than the latest edition of the base Kindle (158g) and the Kobo Clara BW (174g).
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)This lightweight body houses what is arguably the best e-paper screen that E Ink (the company that supplies the displays to ereader makers) has made. And it makes reading a lovely experience. Everything is displayed sharp and clear, with very good contrast. However, compared to the Kindles released in 2024, ghosting remains a major problem on Boox devices, which tells me optimization isn't...well, optimal.
Like all current Boox devices, the frontlight is adjustable for both brightness and temperature. This makes the display comfortable to use in any environment, whether indoors or out, and even at night when yellow light can reduce eye strain.
Also like the Boox Poke 5, the Go 6 also misses out on any kind of waterproofing, which is a shame as it’s more expensive than the Kobo Clara BW, which does get you some security from accidental dunks in the kitchen sink, bath or pool. That said, waterproofing doesn’t seem to be too important to Onyx as even the Go Color 7 is listed as being just “splashproof” (with no rating provided).
• Design & display score: 4 / 5
The rear panel looks good but it's a smudge magnet (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Onyx Boox Go 6 review: Software- Runs Android 11 – other Go series devices run on Android 12
- Slightly more streamlined UI than older Boox devices
- AI Assistant app is superfluous
I have to hand it to Onyx for trying to simplify the user interface on the Boox Go 6. There are fewer customization options in Settings as compared to older Boox ereaders, which makes it a little easier to use. Despite that, if you’ve never used a Boox device before, you’ll likely still need a little time to wrap your head around some of the settings. Other important ones, though, like for the library, are still hidden away.
The initial setup is also annoyingly complicated when it really doesn’t need to be. While you just have to follow the on-screen instructions, there are too many pop-ups, and being asked to set up Gestures even before you log in is unnecessary. You’ll also need to accept Onyx’s user agreement and privacy policy twice before you can connect to your Wi-Fi network – surely once would do. I was even presented with the keyboard audio recording pop-up before the full setup was complete, not when I needed to use the keyboard for the first time. These little bits and bobs are useful, I understand, but can be set up later rather than at the startup process.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)One thing I’m really pleased about is Onyx fixing one of the software issues that has plagued Boox devices from the start – having to create a new fonts folder within Storage to make third-party sideloaded fonts work. The existing Fonts folder has now been linked correctly and that extra step is no longer needed.
However, I’m surprised the company chose to use Android 11 as the OS, rather than the newer Android 12 that’s running on the other two Go series devices. Admittedly it’s a perfectly acceptable choice for an ereader's operating system, but disappointing nonetheless.
As with all Onyx devices, you can choose any of the five tabs as your home screen via System Display in the Settings tab: Library, Store, Storage, Apps or Settings. These are accessible at the bottom of the screen. Personally, I prefer Apps or Settings as my home screen as I find the library can tend to look a little messy, but that’s just me.
Apps is where you will find all the native applications, including a browser, the Google Play Store and the AI Assistant. While I find most of the apps useful, the last one is rather superfluous. You can use the built-in AI to write a short story or start a simple conversation, but I really found no need to use it on a basic ereader. In fact, I thought it was gimmicky on the Boox Go Color 7 too and I didn't take any advantage of it on the Go 10.3 either.
Image 1 of 2Onyx has fixed the issue with the fonts folder in Storage... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2..which is now correctly linked for third-party fonts (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)The bookstore isn’t going to be much use to most readers as all you can find are classics and titles available in the public domain. However, you can purchase content via the browser or by installing the Kindle or Kobo apps, but then you will need to use the respective apps to read or listen to the content you purchase. These will not be added to the device’s library.
You will need to sideload titles if you want to use the native library application. Transferring files to the Go 6, in theory, can be done both wirelessly and via a USB-C cable plugged into your computer, although I ran into trouble in both cases. I’ve previously linked my Google Drive account to transfer files to the other Boox devices I've tested but, this time, although I could access Drive, it only presented me with my existing Onyx folder that had notes and files from older devices, nothing else. Even after moving my ebooks folder to within my existing Onyx subfolder within Drive, I was still unable to see it. Multiple restarts of the device didn't help, neither did a full factory reset. Which meant I couldn’t download any ebooks I had stored on the cloud. As a MacBook user, I’ve found that no Boox ereader gets registered, so there’s no way for me to use a wired connection either.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)There is OTG support here, which allows you to plug an external storage device directly into the Go 6 to access files. In my case, I tried both the Samsung T5 portable SSD and the T7 – while they registered as USB-C connected devices on the Go 6 and I can view the files, I was unable to transfer any of them, as has been the case previously on all other Boox tablets I've used.
I had to rely on Onyx’s own BooxDrop application, which allows me to use a web-based platform to ‘push’ files onto the ereaders for a wireless transfer. It’s not a bad way to do things, but when there are easier options, I’m saddened that bugs and software glitches don’t allow them to work as expected.
• Software score: 3 / 5
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Onyx Boox Go 6 review: User experience- Easier to use but unnecessarily complicated setup process
- Screen could be better optimized
- Can have issues with wired and cloud transfers
With software bugs still plaguing Boox ereaders, the user experience, for me personally, is far from smooth, even though reading on it is wonderful. As I’ve already mentioned, the lackluster user experience begins right at the start, thanks to an unnecessarily complicated setup process that could throw off first-time users. Both Amazon and Kobo do a much smoother job of getting users set up on their new devices, so I don’t know why Onyx can’t adopt a similar approach.
File transfers also shouldn’t be as difficult as I found them to be. Sure, BooxDrop works a charm, but using a wired connection can be quick. And with no Windows machine at my disposal to use a cable to transfer files, or with OTG never having worked for me on any Boox device with support, I was hoping to use Google Drive. While that has worked for me previously, I'm not sure what happened this time round. It could be an isolated issue, but a full factory reset didn't help, so I can't be so sure.
Image 1 of 3(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 3(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 3 of 3(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Fixing the fonts folder problem was fabulous, but then I had to restart the Go 6 three times to get the sideloaded Bookerly font to work. These are little things, but they do clock up for a user.
That said, I can't emphasize how good the display is for reading. I think it's better than the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024), which uses the same screen. I compared them both side by side, with the same Bookerly font for the same page on the same page – the smaller screen with a tighter pixel density definitely works in the Go 6's favor. I even compared it right beside the Amazon Kindle (2024 release), with both books covers and text looking darker and sharper. However, it doesn't offer as much joy reading as the overall user experience isn't as good.
While the user interface isn’t as complicated as it used to be on older Boox devices, a learning curve is still required if you’ve never used one of Onyx’s ereaders before. More so because many important settings, like those for the library (NeoReader) app, are hidden away. They’ll require a tap or two more on the top of the screen when the app is in use to bring them up, and it’s not particularly intuitive. What I really like about the Boox library app is the Floating Toolbar that can be customized for functions you use the most.
Image 1 of 2The Boox Go 6 (left) has a better, higher contrast display than the 2024 Amazon Kindle (right) (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2The Boox Go 6 (left) displays the same page of the same ebook just as well as the 2024 Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (right) (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Onyx really has the makings of a good ereader in the Boox Go 6, but until its user experience is refined and simplified, plus the software issues ironed out, it will be hard to recommend over a Kindle or a Kobo ereader.
• User experience score: 3 / 5
Onyx Boox Go 6 review: Performance- Ghosting is still a problem
- Sluggish page turns
- Middling battery life
When it comes to overall performance, the other two Go series devices are better devices than the Boox Go 6. I was critical about the Go Color 7 and loved the Go 10.3, but sadly the Go 6 disappoints in comparison and I’m struggling to find anything positive to say here.
Some important library settings are hidden away behind 2 taps on the screen (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Where the other two Go series tablets use the 2.4GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 processor, the Go 6 has an older 2GHz octa-core CPU. That shouldn’t have been an issue on an ereader, as it really doesn’t need too much processing power, but is seems to have had an effect here.
Page turns are sluggish even when only a single title is open in the library app (the library can have several tabs open). During my testing, I found that ebooks with images are particularly slow, sometimes taking up to a second to load the next page. Those with only text, though, are quicker, although at an average of 500ms per turn, they are a touch slower than what I’ve experienced on the 2024 Kindles and Kobos.
Image 1 of 2Images on the Boox Go 6 invariably have a ghosting problem... (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Image 2 of 2..with a light overlay of the previous page still visible (Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Pages with images also suffer from significant ghosting, where a dim overlay of the previous page is visible. In fact, I encountered ghosting even when trying to sign into Google Drive when setting up the device. In comparison, the Go Color 7 was more impressive with a lot less ghosting, although this has been a major issue with other Boox devices I’ve tried.
In use, I’ve found third-party apps can crash often. Both the Kindle and the Kobo apps, while quick to open, can crash immediately after, or while in the middle of loading a title. That said, other apps like CPU X, which I have used on all three Go series tablets to determine certain specs, have worked just fine.
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar)Another disappointment is the battery life. While it uses the same 1,500mAh capacity as the Boox Poke 5, the drain on the Go 6 is a lot more than the former. I found that the battery level drops 1% every couple of minutes when the display is on, but not being used (meaning, no titles are being read or any apps in use), which does seem excessive. And this is with the screen light set at low levels. When in use, the drain on the battery increases slightly, with about 3% to 4% dropping every couple of minutes.
That means I got no more than 2 weeks of use, reading for about 30 minutes per day with the brightness set to a low level and the system’s refresh rate set to per 5 taps. Wi-Fi, though, was always on, as was Bluetooth. Switching them off didn’t make too much of a difference during my testing. As a point of comparison, the Kobo Clara BW also uses a 1,500mAh battery and gave me about 4 weeks of use on a single charge, as did the Boox Poke 5.
Top-up time for the battery, however, is quick. Connected to a 67W wall charger via a good quality USB-C to C cable raised battery levels from 4% to 56% in 45 minutes. It was fully topped up in 1 hour and 30 minutes. Of course, charging time will be much longer if you use your computer or one of the best power banks to top up the Go 6, but if that isn’t much of an issue, I’d say the battery charging times of this ereader is the best I've encountered.
• Performance score: 3 / 5
(Image credit: Sharmishta Sarkar / TechRadar) Should I buy the Onyx Boox Go 6? Buy it if...You want a very portable ereader indeed
As one of the lightest ereaders I’ve tested, the 6-inch Boox Go 6 will pop into a jacket pocket easily enough or slip into any bag.
You want plenty of storage
If you’re an avid reader, the 32GB onboard storage will serve you well. And if even that is too little, you can always use a microSD card to expand it further. While Onyx hasn’t specified the maximum storage capacity for the card tray, previous Boox devices have been able to manage up to 1TB.
You have an existing library of ebooks and audiobooks
Given the built-in bookstore isn’t ideal, the best use case for Boox ereaders would be to sideload your own existing library you’ve purchased from elsewhere. Or you use the Kindle or Kobo apps on the device. And given the amount of storage you can get, you can carry around thousands of titles with you everywhere.
You want an easy-to-use basic ereader
It’s not bad, but given the user interface isn’t the most intuitive there is, first-time users might have a hard time getting to grips with the Go 6, or any other Boox ereader. If it’s a simple reading device you want, consider a 6-inch Kindle or Kobo and they’ll be cheaper too.
You need top performance
There are too many little software issues and performance problems with the Go 6. If you want a smoother reading experience, you’d be better off looking at Amazon's ereaders or a Kobo.
You’re already part of the Amazon or Kobo ecosystems
If you’ve used either a Kindle or Kobo ereader before and are looking for an upgrade, you might be better off sticking to your already-chosen brand, particularly if you’ve got subscriptions to Kindle Unlimited or Kobo Plus.
I’d be very surprised if you’d consider opting for the Boox Go 6 after reading my review, but if you are keen on a new ereader, the three options listed below would serve you better. I’ve also included another Boox device that I think is worth considering if you want don't want to get caught up within either Amazon's or Kobo's ecosystems.
Kobo Clara BW
Arguably the best 6-inch entry-level ereader on the market, the Kobo Clara BW not only takes full advantage of the E Ink Carta 1300 display, but has no performance issues at all. And, unlike other entry-level ereaders, it’s actually got IPX8 waterproofing.
Read my full Kobo Clara BW review to learn more
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024)
For a little extra cash, you'll get a much smoother user experience, the same screen but larger at 7 inches, and a bookstore that will keep you reading lifelong and still not let you finish scratching the surface.
Read my in-depth Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2024) review
Onyx Boox Page
It might still have a relatively complicated user interface, but if you want a Boox ereader specifically, I'd recommend the Page. With physical page-turn buttons, it's ergonomic. It's also got far fewer software issues – at least it did when I tested it – than the Go 6. It's the older Carta 1200 screen but it's 7 inches, but these advantages will cost you more.
Learn more in my full Onyx Boox Page review
- Used as a daily ereader for about 6 weeks
- Sideloaded books, music, image files and more via BooxDrop
- Changed settings to test battery life for different scenarios
- Downloaded different third-party apps via the Play Store
While I usually sign into my existing Onyx account to sync files across devices, I took a different tack with the Boox Go 6. I set it up as a new device first, then signed into my Google account to access Drive and the Play Store. While I could use both, the former only gave me access to my Onyx folder that had notes and PDF files from other Boox writing tablets, but wouldn’t allow me access to any other folder I had (like my ebooks), and that’s despite moving my book collection into the Onyx folder. Instead, I used BooxDrop to transfer ebooks, music files and some photos to the Go 6.
As for third-party apps, I downloaded CPU X to determine what hardware was under the hood of the Go 6, as well as the Kindle and Kobo apps to access my existing library on the respective platforms.
I used NeoLibrary to read the sideloaded ebooks, used the native music player to listen to the audio files and, out of curiosity, opened the photos I had transferred in the Gallery application to see what they looked like.
I read on the Go 6 for about 30 minutes to an hour each day during the trial period, although there were a few days when I exceeded 2 hours of reading. I kept an eye on the battery life as I use it, and also altered brightness settings to see how it affected battery drain.
While I didn’t use the AI Assistant app on the Go 6, my previous experience on the Go Color 7 wasn’t particularly good enough for me to want to try it again. Moreover, I found no need to use an AI for anything while I was reading, especially since the Go 6 is more an entry-level ereader rather than an advanced one like the Boox Note series.
Read more about how we test
[First reviewed January 2025]
Categories: Reviews
XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro review: a strong contender for the portable projector crown
XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro review: Two-minute review
Chinese electronics brand XGIMI is on a continued mission to be the brand of choice when searching for a projector, hoping to lure you away from the likes of Samsung, BenQ or LG in the process. The MoGo 3 Pro, released alongside the much higher-end Aura 2 4K UST projector towards the end of 2024, certainly has a resumé to suggest it’s in with a fair shot of becoming one of the best portable projectors: full HD resolution, 450 ISO lumens brightness, Google TV and Netflix onboard and, of course, a portable design. And yes, I recognize XGIMI has diverted away from the design of the previous two MoGo projectors and has instead adopted something akin to Samsung’s The Freestyle projector.
Admittedly, the new XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro’s new look does make it a lot more portable and it has added practical benefits. The cylindrical design allows the projector lens to remain covered up when it’s not in use and it can be tilted through a 130º angle. XGIMI claims this allows the projector to beam onto the ceiling but, in my use, I wasn’t able to do so without physically angling the whole projector unit itself. A full 180º of tilt would allow it to perform better in this regard, if that’s what you’re looking for in a projector.
Images projected onto a wall using the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro are of excellent quality, although you will want to dive into the picture settings to make some adjustments for the best results. Out of the box, images could look washed out and overexposed, but after diving into the albeit limited picture settings and making a few adjustments, I found that the projected images were able to deliver good color and contrast. I was impressed with its ability to combat some bright ambient light filtering into my testing room, too. Naturally, when the lights went down, the images projected onto my wall became much clearer.
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)Because the MoGo 3 Pro is a portable projector it needs to rely on its built-in speakers for sound, which is where things get less positive. The XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro has 2 x 5W Harman Kardon speakers built in which, sadly, fail to deliver anywhere near a cinematic experience, despite XGIMI's claims. Dolby Audio and Dolby Digital Plus are both supported formats, but it adds little to what is an overall unengaging sound. For casual viewing with friends, family or even by yourself, it can pass, but if you’re planning on movie nights when you’re away camping or on holiday, for example, then you’ll likely be disappointed. You can connect a Bluetooth speaker to help boost things on the audio front, and a Mini HDMI connection is onboard with ARC support, meaning you can connect a soundbar, for example, using a Mini HDMI-to-HDMI cable. But if you’ve taken the MoGo 3 Pro away on a camping trip, you’re unlikely to have access to a full-fat external audio system.
The XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro also doesn’t have a built-in battery, which naturally can also affect its portability. If you know you’re going to want to take it somewhere where a power outlet won’t be accessible, then you can connect a USB-C power bank with a minimum power output of 65W, or you can buy the optional PowerBase stand, which not only raises the projector off the ground or a small table, but has its own built-in battery to keep it powered. XGIMI says the stand allows you to “continuously play a full-length movie without interruption,” although I found that would be the case only if said movie is 2.5 hours or less.
The other disappointing aspect I found when using the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro was that it could be slow in use. Volume adjustments using the remote control took a few seconds to register; navigating around the main home page regularly suffered from lag and I even found when trying to watch a particularly fast moving scene from The Incredibles on Disney+ that the projector just completely crashed. I should stress that this was an isolated incident that I couldn’t repeat with other fast-motion content such as sports.
The XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro projector is, ultimately, a good option for anyone who wants big-screen thrills when on the go or perhaps as an option for a second bedroom at home in place of installing a TV. Keep in mind when comparing projectors, the 450 ISO lumens from the MoGo 3 Pro is about equivalent to 500 ANSI lumens. It does well against its main competition, Samsung’s The Freestyle projector, particularly when it comes to brightness. But, if your budget can stretch, you’ll find greater performance from the likes of the 4K RGB Laser equipped LG CineBeam Q.
XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro review: Price & availability- Launched on September 6, 2024
- List price of $449 / £429 / AU$1,099
- Optional accessories cost extra
The XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro was announced and officially launched at IFA Berlin on September 6, 2024, alongside the Aura 2 4K UST projector. It’s available to buy now for $449 / £429 / AU$1,099 for the standalone projector. You can buy it bundled with the PowerBase stand for $499 / £499 / AU$1,199
You can also pick up an optional carry case for the MoGo 3 Pro projector, which is only available in green, for $69 / £59 / AU$99.
The XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro portable projector’s list price is significantly less than the Samsung The Freestyle projector in the US, UK and Australia. However, Samsung’s projector does have greater HDR support, with HDR10+ available. The MoGo 3 Pro maxes out at ‘standard’ HDR10, although as we said in our Samsung The Freestyle projector review, “I didn’t see much of a picture quality difference when viewing in HDR from standard HD format”, so the MoGo 3 Pro’s lack of extended support isn’t necessarily a mark against it.
XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro review: Specs XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro review: Design & features (Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)- Compact and lightweight
- Google TV interface
- Can double up as a Bluetooth speaker
The XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro sports a cylindrical form factor and is finished in an anodized silver aluminum color. It’s lightweight at just over one kilogram, making it a breeze to not only move around your home, but to throw into a bag to take on the road with you. The main projector unit itself features an integrated stand, which also houses the built-in speaker system.
When connected to power, the MoGo 3 Pro turns on as soon as you lift it up to separate it from its stand. You can then tilt it through 130º to project an image onto a wall or screen. Alternatively, when you lift the projector from its integrated stand to power it on, you can leave it in this position, where it will light up in one of three selectable colors. In this mode, you can use it as a nightlight or you can stream music to it via Bluetooth, and you can select an option that will see the light pulse – this is more of a flickering of the light rather than it moving in time with the music.
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)A remote control comes supplied with the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro and two AAA batteries to power it. The remote feels good to hold, although I wasn’t enamored with the layout of the buttons. I found it required a bit of a learning process: the home button is in the bottom right for example and I’m used to it being more central on the majority of other remote controls I’ve used. I also occasionally pressed the Google Assistant button when I actually wanted to select ‘settings’. The remote control isn’t backlit, which can make things even trickier. Fortunately, the volume button is in an obvious and hard-to-miss place at the bottom, although I found the projector took a short while to register whenever I wanted to turn the volume up. Alternatively, because the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro uses the Google TV operating system, you’re able to use your phone as a remote control via the Google Home app.
The single-chip DLP projector uses an LED light source, which XGIMI says is good for 25,000 hours of use. The company’s ISA 2.0 technology is onboard, which gives access to a number of especially useful setup tools, including automatic keystone correction, autofocus, obstacle avoidance, screen alignment and eye protection. Automatic screen adjustments are just a click away via a button on the remote control and you’re free to manually adjust settings further if you wish. I found autofocus to be the most successful of all the settings, while auto keystone correction delivered mixed results. The idea of this setting is that it will automatically realign the screen if you move the projector around. In most instances it worked fine, but I was occasionally forced to dive into the manual settings to get the screen aligned properly.
Image 1 of 2(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)Image 2 of 2(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)A small selection of accessories is available for the MoGo 3 Pro, including a PowerBase stand which has a built-in 20,000mAh battery for keeping the projector running when a power outlet isn’t accessible. XGIMI says it’s good for 2.5 hours of playback time when the projector’s brightness setting is set to Eco mode, which is just enough for movies such as Deadpool vs Wolverine, but too short for recent releases such as Wicked. When using the MoGo 3 Pro with just the PowerBase stand, the projector defaults to Eco mode. It can be changed, but it will impact battery life significantly.
A carry case is also available to keep it better protected during transport and a Creative Optical Filter can be placed over the MoGo 3 Pro’s lens to project a much larger image onto a wall. It’s intended to be used with the XGIMI Wall app to project underwater seascapes or immersive starry night sky images.
While the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro features a Mini HDMI input for connecting to either an external sound system or a media streaming device, for the most part, you’ll likely be using the built-in apps to access content. In this regard, it’s good news as the MoGo 3 Pro uses Google TV, which provides access to a huge selection of apps and services. Perhaps most crucially, Netflix is supported. The ubiquitous streaming service doesn’t always play nicely with projector systems – a third-party app is required to access it on XGIMI's own Aura 2 for example, which uses the Android TV OS instead – so it’s great to see it front and center here. In a similar vein to the Samsung Freestyle projector, the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro uses the older Wi-Fi 5 standard, which is more than capable enough to handle streaming, and didn’t cause any issues during my use.
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)As a predominantly streaming-focused projector, connections on the MoGo 3 Pro are limited to micro HDMI. It would have been great to have received a cable or adaptor in the box, but alas, you’ll need to buy one if you want to connect an external gaming console, Blu-ray player, or other HDMI source. The micro HDMI connection does support HDMI-ARC, which allows you to connect it to a soundbar or other audio system, but there isn’t a 3.5mm audio output. You can also stream music to the projector via Bluetooth, or from the projector to a Bluetooth speaker thanks to dual Bluetooth support. I connected the projector to a Beats Pill to test this feature and experienced no obvious signs of audio delay. Android users can stream wirelessly via Google Cast, and AirPlay is supported too. XGIMI says in the support menus that you need to download the MagiCast app from the Google Play Store, but I searched for it and had no luck. I eventually found another app called AirMirror that allowed me to mirror the screen of my iPhone and stream music via AirPlay.
- Design & features score: 4 / 5
- Decent brightness even in ambient light conditions
- Impressive picture quality after some adjustments
- Sound is poor unless you turn it up to maximum
I went into my review of the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro with limited expectations about the picture quality it would be able to produce, given its size and limited specs. I’d previously reviewed the XGIMI Aura 2 which produced a gorgeous and bright image, but this was expected since it has a 2300 ISO lumens rating. The MoGo 3 Pro’s 450 ISO lumens rating, therefore, suggested to me it would only really function at its best in the dark.
The XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro supports the HDR10 HDR format, which did provide some benefit to contrast in movie scenes with dark and bright elements. The company claims the projector supports 90% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. With Game mode activated, XGIMI says the MoGo 3 Pro has input lag of ≈ 27ms with auto keystone correction turned off and ≈ 60ms with it turned on.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that it held up well in a brighter room, with ambient sunlight coming in through a small opening. With the overhead lights turned on, it was totally unusable, but with just some sunlight creeping in, I was able to watch the projected image without too much fuss. You are able to project an image up to 200 inches in size, but XGIMI says that for best results you’ll want to stay within a boundary of 60 to 120 inches. For reference, the size of the image I was able to project onto my wall was around 80 inches, with the projector positioned around 200cm (80 inches) from the wall. XGIMI says the throw ratio of the MoGo 3 Pro is 1.2:1.
There are slightly different picture presets depending on whether you’re watching HDR or SDR content. The majority of my testing used HDR content, which presented Standard, Sport and Game presets. I left it on Standard most of the time as I felt this offered the best overall picture. I was surprised to not find a ‘Movie’ picture preset, especially given the fact this will likely be the projector’s main use.
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)There are also three different brightness settings hidden within the menus: Standard, Eco and Performance. Again, I left the standard option selected the majority of the time. Eco mode limits brightness to 40% to help prolong battery life, and in darker rooms is perfectly fine to watch. If you’re watching in a brighter room, however, it doesn’t do as good a job.
Performance mode, meanwhile, introduces a blue tint to the image, which was a little peculiar... I was expecting this mode to ramp up the brightness further, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. When this mode is selected, the built-in cooling fan also gets turned up to 11 to the point where it’s clearly audible. It’s also worth noting that the performance brightness mode can only be enabled when the official power adapter is plugged directly into the projector unit. It won’t work with other power adapters or when connected to a power bank or the PowerBase stand.
Enabling Performance brightness mode introduced a blue/green tint to the image. (Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)A stream of Alien: Romulus provided a good test of darker content for the MoGo 3 Pro and, considering its size, specs and price, I was pleased with the results when watching in a dimly lit room. It was able to unearth details in shadowy areas of a scene, while brighter areas such as lights had a satisfying pop.
I switched over to Toy Story on Disney Plus for its color-rich palette and generally bright scenes. The various reds, yellows, greens and blues were prominent, although not quite as vibrant as I’ve seen on TVs and higher-specced projectors. Nevertheless, it was still an enjoyable watch.
Seeing as though the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro is designed to be taken out of the home with you, I set it up in my courtyard to see how it fared when being used outside. I will preface by saying I was projecting onto a dark grey wall, but it was also at night and so, despite the color of the wall coming through, I was still able to watch without trouble. I have no doubts that if you project onto a white wall, a sheet or even a portable projection screen, you will have no issues when watching movies on the road.
(Image credit: Future / Max Langridge)I also watched my favorite clip from The Incredibles and came across an issue with a fast-moving scene about two-thirds into the movie. When Dash is running through the forest away from Syndrome’s goons, the projector seemed to just crash and stopped playing the movie. Pressing the home button returned me to the main home page, but the same thing happened again when I attempted to watch the scene again. I wasn’t able to replicate this again with any other content, so it could be a one-off, isolated incident or due to a bug that can be fixed via a future firmware update.
The projector’s built-in speaker system is more difficult to be excited about. At full volume it does produce a spacious sound that will ultimately pass for whatever you’re watching. At lesser volumes however, it’s too quiet to do any real service and it lacks any real impact. Connecting a Bluetooth speaker is a fuss-free experience and can work wonders to boost the overall sound output, especially as I didn’t experience any signs of audio lag.
- Picture & sound quality score: 4 / 5
- Cheaper than its closest competitor
- Great features and performance
- Portable power options cost extra
With a list price of $499 / £449 / AU$1,099, the MoGo 3 Pro offers enough to make it worth recommending. Its most obvious competitor, the Samsung The Freestyle, costs more in most markets yet has a similar specs list. Samsung’s offering doesn’t go quite as bright, but it does use the excellent Tizen operating system and it supports cloud gaming. Like the MoGo 3 Pro, there’s no built-in battery, but an optional base is available to make it truly portable.
To this end, I think the XGIMI's optional battery-powered base is the better choice as it’s also a tripod. Samsung’s option only raises the projector a few extra inches, so you may still need a table to put it on for optimal results. XGIMI's MoGo 3 Pro also has the added benefit of keeping the lens protected when it’s not in use. You will need to consider spending extra on the PowerBase stand (which is more cost effective to buy as a bundle with the projector) or a power bank that meets the required criteria.
If you can spend more and your only need for a portable projector is to use it in your garden, then almost any projector will do the job when plugged into an extension cord.
- Value score: 4 / 5
You want a well-specced portable projector
The MoGo 3 Pro is especially portable thanks to a compact design and lightweight build. A lightweight battery-powered tripod base, or power from an external power bank, allows it to be used practically anywhere.
You plan to watch in dark conditions
The MoGo 3 Pro does well to combat ambient lighting in rooms, but when the sun goes down, it really comes into its own.
You want 4K picture
The MoGo 3 Pro only supports up to full HD 1080p, which does mean picture quality can diminish if you supersize your projected image
You like to game at odd angles
27ms of input lag with auto keystone turned off is pretty decent, but this does mean you have to have the projector set up to directly face your projection surface.
Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen
It’s been mentioned throughout this review for good reason, Samsung’s portable projector looks incredibly similar and has a similar spec sheet. It fares better in the gaming arena, but its picture isn’t quite as bright. But it costs quite a bit more than the XGIMI, and rarely receives discounts.
Read our in-depth Samsung The Freestyle 2nd Gen review.
LG CineBeam Q
LG’s portable projector rocks a funky retro design and supports 4K content with HDR. Color performance is excellent and brightness levels are good for a portable model. It does cost a lot more, but you also get a lot more in return compared to the MoGo 3 Pro.
Read our full LG CineBeam Q review.
- I used the projector in a range of light conditions
- Set it up inside and outside to test portability
- Watched a variety of dark and bright content
I tested the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro at home over a period of about a month so I could experience it during various daytime living conditions. This meant multiple light sources, be it natural daylight or overhead lightbulbs, came into my testing room, at which point I rated the picture to see how well it performed.
The projector was tested against a white wall for the duration of my review, but also on a dark grey wall outside to assess its portable credentials. Both performed well and I could see noticeable differences before and after calibration.
I used a variety of content, including HDR and SDR content from a variety of streaming services.
My testing evaluates the projector's performance against other reviews my colleagues at TechRadar have conducted. I have been writing about and reviewing displays for five years.
Read more about how we test
[First published January 2025]
Categories: Reviews
Optoma UHZ66 review: a bright but basic 4K laser projector
Optoma UHZ66 4K laser projector: one-minute review
The Optoma UHZ66 is a rather staid update to the company’s projector lineup. It offers a bright 4K picture with solid contrast and the useful ability to drop down to 1080p and run at 240Hz for smooth gaming, but it’s not breaking the mold in any particular way. It may have good color, but it does not match competitors like the JMGO N1S Ultra.
HDR viewing on the Optoma UHZ66 leaves plenty to be desired, and its bland design isn’t offset by helpful utilitarian features you find on the best 4K projectors like vertical lens shift — something the BenQ X3100i includes. Factor in the lack of an onboard smart TV system for streaming, the bottom-of-the-barrel remote control, and the weak built-in speaker, and you get a system that’s not offering much value on top of the picture quality.
The Optoma UHZ66 really needed to do more to win our hearts. It’s got a good picture, but the picture is just about all it has, and even at its recent price of about $2,000, a good picture simply isn’t enough.
Optoma UHZ66 4K laser projector review: price and release date- Release date: October 2023
- Price: $1,999 (around £1,637 / AU$3,230)
The Optoma UHZ66 has been on the market for a little while now, launching in late 2023. When it arrived, it had a retail price of $2,999 (about £2,935, AU$4,460), but street pricing has come down considerably since then. It’s readily available for $1,999 (around £1,637 / AU$3,230) at the time of writing and has wavered between about $1,800 and $2,300 for much of the past year. At $2,999, it would be an immediate pass for us, but at $1,999, it offers a slightly more competitive value.
The UHZ66 control buttons are located on the projector's top (Image credit: Future) Optoma UHZ66 4K laser projector review: Specs Connections include 2 HDMI 2.0 ports (1 with eARC) (Image credit: Future) Optoma UHZ66 4K laser projector review: design and features- Bland design next to recent competitors
- Limited optical adjustments
- Requires additional home theater equipment
The Optoma UHZ66 is not one of those projectors that's gotten a recent glow-up, like the JMGO N1S Ultimate or any from Xgimi. Instead, it's your classic white plastic brick that would look just as at home in an office as it would in a home theater. The front of the projector is a flat piece of white plastic with a large lens protruding out of it. The sides are fully vented with grilles and the rear has an additional grille for even more airflow.
On the top of the Optoma UHZ66, you can find a handful of buttons that allow you to navigate the controls in case you misplace the remote control, which will be easy to do given how tiny it is. The top also includes a little slot with access to the zoom dial. That dial gives the UHZ66 an adjustable throw ratio, though no matter what you’re not getting a fairly long throw. The minimum is a 1.4:1 ratio. While optical zoom is useful, the Optoma UHZ66 unfortunately lacks vertical lens shift. I found placing it on a mantle at the back of a room too high to use it at all and also too low to use flipped upside-down. The most ideal setup is likely mounted to the ceiling with a long throw.
The Optoma UHZ66 sits on three small rubber feet allowing for some angle and tilt adjustments to help you align the projection with your wall. There are also mounting holes to set the UHZ66 up with a ceiling mount.
On the back of the projector, you’ll find a small selection of ports. You get two HDMI 2.0 inputs, including one with eARC, a USB port, a 3.5mm audio output, and RJ-45 and RS-232 ports. Given the projector only has a single speaker, an optical audio output would have also been good to see for more options and compatibility with different home theater setups given that HDMI eARC has a length limit and a 3.5mm port won’t carry a surround signal.
The remote included with the UHZ66 is not meant for much. It's a flat little thing about the size of a few stacked credit cards. It has three columns of buttons with no way to physically discern between them, which makes navigating it a pain. It also lacks backlighting, so it's hard to see in the dark conditions of a home theater. It does the job, but it has a long way to go to be user-friendly. It at least provides quick access to a few of the more important settings, such as input selection, picture mode, and keystone controls.
- Design and features score: 2.5/5
- Bright, high-contrast 4K picture
- Low latency, especially in 240Hz mode
- System stutters during setting adjustments and signal switches
Let’s start with the good. The Optoma UHZ66 offers a respectably bright image and is easy to get exceptionally sharp with the focus dial. The 4K picture goes a long way at the sizes the projector is ready to display at. The contrast achieved by the projector is also commendable. Many projectors struggle with elevated black levels, but the UHZ66 can dim down quite low for blacks.
As bright as the UHZ66 may get, it doesn't appear to want to get as bright as it's rated for. Instead of hitting its rated 4,000 lumens, it comes closer to 2200 lumens, and even that requires a cooler color temperature setting to achieve. With the default warmer color, it falls toward 2100 lumens. I fiddled with a bunch of settings to see if I couldn’t figure out which might achieve Optoma’s lofty 4,000-lumen mark, but none quite got there.
Running the projector at its brightest settings requires opting for a cooler color temperature which makes the fans kick in. They can be fairly noisy if you're close to them, though they're not shrill or very loud in a larger room. Different settings also don't require the fans to run as hard, such as the dimmer Reference mode.
The color output of the UHZ66 is impressive. ALPD laser projectors haven’t always had the most impressive color gamut coverage in my experience testing, but the UHZ66 blasts out impactful color for something like the opening credits of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. One catch, though: it doesn’t seem to want to display its full color gamut when HDR is enabled. Everything turns rather mellow when HDR comes on. This is pretty much the opposite of what you’d expect from HDR content, so if you prefer a vibrant look, you’re better off setting your source devices to SDR output. Now, movies and TV don’t look bad in this condition, but they just lack some of the pop that they could have.
Trying to find ideal settings on the Optoma UHZ66 can be a real headache. The projector offers plenty of settings for tweaking the image, but navigating the menus is tedious thanks to the remote. And even just changing the volume on the Optoma UHZ66 is enough demand for the processor to actually cause the image to stutter. Switching picture modes or major settings can see blips where the projector goes out and comes back after a couple of seconds. And this happens not only when you’re changing settings yourself but also when you’re watching content and then back out to a menu.
A boon for gamers is the Optoma UHZ66’s ability to switch between 4K 60Hz and 1080p 240Hz modes. In its gaming mode, latency is minimal. It’s hard to detect input lag at 60Hz on the UHZ66 and it's practically imperceptible at the 240Hz mode. DLP projection systems are rather fast as well, providing quick pixel response times to avoid ghosting.
The UHZ66’s single speaker sounds boxed in and rather awful. It's nowhere near loud enough to match the kind of picture you can get from the UHZ66, and really shouldn't be relied on for anything.
- Picture quality score: 3.5/5
- Limited utility for the price
- Calls for streaming devices and external speakers
The Optoma UHZ66 is just one piece of a home theater setup. While it does include a speaker, it’s poorly matched for the theater capabilities of the projector. The lack of an onboard smart TV system also means you’ll need a source device no matter what setup you go for. While there are certainly some nice extras, like the 240Hz mode, it’s still largely filling just one role. If it came with more flexibility, such as an adjustable lens offset or hardware keystone, it would offer more value. But as it is, it’s fairly expensive to leave so much out, especially when competing projectors don’t make such omissions.
- Value score: 2.5/5
You’ve got a good ceiling mount already: Between its longer throw and vertical offset, the Optoma UHZ66 will serve well mounted to a ceiling at the back of a room and wired into an existing home theater setup.
You’re looking for responsive gaming: The gaming mode on the UHZ66 offers minimal input lag, and that lag drops to imperceptible levels in the 1080p 240Hz mode.
Don’t buy it if…You want the best picture: The Optoma UHZ66 is good, but not amazing. The color from the JMGO N1S Ultra is more impressive and less finicky with HDR content.
You want an all-in-one package: Though the UHZ66 includes a speaker, it’s not up to the task for home theater audio. And the lack of a smart TV interface means you’ll need at least a streaming stick to get going.
You have aesthetic concerns: Not many projectors have what I’d call stunning aesthetics, but the UHZ66 makes little attempt at being pretty or subtle. The bland white hunk of plastic isn’t going to lend much to your decor.
Also consider...BenQ X3100i
The BenQ X3100i offers several upgrades over the UHZ66. It may not be as bright, but it’s geared up for gaming, is flexible, and offers an Android TV streaming stick for the money.
Here's our full BenQ X3100i review
BenQ X300G
The BenQ X300G is cheaper, but still reasonably bright and ready to shine a 4K 60Hz picture or 1080p 240Hz picture. It’s competent competition and a little better looking, too.
Here's our full BenQ X300G review
JMGO N1S Ultra
The JMGO N1S Ultra is an all-in-one package with stunning visuals, excellent color, Google TV built-in, impactful speakers, and easy projection adjustments (even if many of them are digital).
Here's our full JMGO N1S Ultra review.
How I tested the Optoma UHZ66 4K laser projector- Tested at home in multiple, real-world viewing conditions
- Presented the display with a variety of media and formats
- I have tested numerous projectors and displays over the last half-decade
I tested the Optoma UHZ66 at home, in real-world conditions. This saw it faced with ambient light coming in from numerous windows, in-room lighting, as well as ambient noise that both the projector and speaker systems had to overcome. The projector was tested both against a bare, white wall and an Akia Screens CineWhite screen. It was presented with streamed content, HDR and non-HDR, and PC gameplay.
My testing evaluates the projector’s performance with respect to its price and competition from other models I and colleagues at TechRadar have tested.
I have been testing projectors since 2021 and displays for even longer.
First reviewed: January, 2024
Categories: Reviews
Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2 mobile workstation review
Lenovo's ThinkPad lineup has always been a significant grouping of offerings for business professionals. The Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2 is no different. It targets professionals who need workstation-grade performance on the go.
The ThinkPad P16 is one of the best Lenovo ThinkPad laptops around - ideal for heavy computational and graphical work. Compared to the P16, I view the P16v Gen 2 as a ThinkPad P16 lite. But that's not any official branding; it's just my viewpoint. It's a slightly less powerful P16, but still very much enterprise-focused and workstation-esque.
Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2: Price and AvailabilityThe Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2 starts at $1,791.92 (pre-tax) and quickly scales up to well over $3,500 before any pre-installed software options if you want to max out the hardware offerings.
These and custom builds are available on Lenovo's website, and pre-built models are available in places like Amazon or other computer retailers.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2: Unboxing and First ImpressionsThe ThinkPad P16v Gen 2 laptop comes in the Lenovo packaging, a beefy yellow-tipped Lenovo charger (though you can also charge via USB-C, albeit slower), and other essential documentation. I was immediately reminded of the P16, though the P16v is a bit slimmer and lighter (4.89 lb vs. 6.5 lb).
Another thing that I noticed right away was the port offering and location. I'll discuss this more later, but right off the bat, I was surprised to see a full ethernet port and ports on the back; then again, though thin, this is a workstation. Lastly, I genuinely like the matte black finish on this laptop. It feels professional, and I like it for the same reasons. Though I love some sweet backpack colors, I will always choose black. I love some splashes of color from Apple these days, but I always prefer simple colors. It's clean, goes with everything, and it looks professional.
Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2: Design and Build Quality SpecsCPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 165H to Ultra 9 185H options
GPU: NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Gen or RTX 3000 Ada Gen
Display: 16” WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS, 100% sRGB to 16" WQUXGA (3840 x 2400), IPS, 100%DCI-P3, 60Hz
Storage: 2x 2TB SSD M.2 drives
RAM: 8GB DDR5, upgradable to 96GB .
Unsurprisingly, the Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2 is very similar to the ThinkPad P16 in design, much like the name. The P16v Gen 2 is slimmer and more portable than a ThinkPad P16. However, it still feels relatively robust and like any of the best mobile workstations I've tried, with actual portability in mind. Thanks to the real estate left behind due to the 16" screen, Lenovo could add a full numpad to the right of the entire keyboard, and better yet, it's comfortable to type on.
The port offering on this computer is excellent for the modern employee needing workstation-grade power. There is an SD Card Reader, an optional Smart Card reader, a full-size HDMI port, a USB-A Port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a full RJ45 Ethernet port. What's fascinating and pretty brilliant is that one of the Thunderbolt ports and the Ethernet port are on the back of the ThinkPad P16v Gen 2. This makes it super easy to plug into a Thunderbolt Docking station and/or that ethernet port, both of which you'd want running away from your desk or workspace exactly how they will when plugged into the back of your laptop.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2: In useI've had this laptop in my rotation for the last couple of weeks, and it has been a pretty good computer. It can easily handle my productivity suite of tasks, content creation and video editing, and photo editing. It can handle the 3D modeling software for my 3D printer and all of it at once. I really appreciate the ethernet port and Thunderbolt 4 port on the back, as I could have the not-so-flexible ethernet port run away from my computer when I needed to hardline into the internet at one of my job sites. Whenever I am at my desk, I can easily plug into the docking station I have set up running to my monitors and peripherals.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)Another thing worth mentioning is the reliability and usability of the ThinkPad keyboards. While I never want to use the famous TouchPoint embedded within the keyboard, it's handy when I think about using it. On top of that, the typing experience is quite comfortable, even for all-day typing, as I do.
Lenovo has also chosen to utilize the space granted by the 16-inch screen to fit in a numpad. Some laptops, even with 16-inch screens, will just fit the exact size keyboard in the center of the allotted space. Lenovo chose to utilize that space fitting in a full-numberpad. For those who work with spreadsheets, phone numbers, or numbers in general, having a dedicated numpad makes data entry exponentially faster, and that's easy to do with the ThinkPad P16v Gen 2, adding to the allure for the business professional.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Lenovo ThinkPad P16v Gen 2: Final verdictThe ThinkPad P16v Gen 2 delivers an exceptional balance of power, portability, and professional features. While it doesn’t quite match the raw performance of the P16, its lighter build and price point make it an excellent choice for professionals on the move who need a reliable machine.
For more workplace computing, we've tested the best business laptops.
Categories: Reviews
Plugable USB-C Dual 4K Display HDMI or DisplayPort Horizontal Docking Station review
In an age of hybrid work environments, having a reliable docking station can significantly enhance productivity. The Plugable USB-C Dual 4K Display HDMI or DisplayPort Docking Station is designed for professionals who need multi-monitor support, excellent connectivity, and powerful charging options, all with DisplayLink baked in. That's what this Plugable dock has to offer.
It may be tailored to Mac, but with the design language and the use of DisplayLink, it can be used with any operating system. Having reviewed many of the best laptop docking stations, I have tried it with Windows, iPadOS, and MacOS. While the latter two have limitations on-screen usage, it's good to know that you are set to go with multiple displays in one way or another.
Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI or DisplayPort Dock: Price and AvailabilityThe Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI or DisplayPort Dock is available for $200 directly from Plugable's website or Amazon and is backed by a two-year warranty with lifetime support from the Plugable team.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI or DisplayPort Dock: Unboxing and First ImpressionsThe Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI or DisplayPort Dock is a very simple-looking dock overall. The packaging is simple, the labels are clear, and the inclusion of DisplayLink is prominent. What’s great, though, is that while this dock is relatively wide, it has clean lines, flat sides (not rounded or protruding), and is pretty thin. This makes it a perfect candidate to be mounted, in my opinion, and that’s precisely what I did.
The only thing that sets this apart from a simple plug-and-play is if you will use the DisplayLink feature. If you are not using this with a MacBook or only plan on using one monitor, you can run this dock as a plug-and-play solution. I run my desk this way about 70% of the time. The other 30% of the time, I add another monitor or swap out monitors to test at this desk. When I do that, I need to run the DisplayLink driver and software on my MacBook Pro, which is super easy to download and relatively lightweight.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI or DisplayPort Dock: Design and Build Quality SpecsVideo Output: Dual 4K @ 60Hz via 2x HDMI or 2x DisplayPort.
Ports: 2x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 2x USB-C, 4x USB 3.0, SD/microSD readers, Ethernet, 3.5mm jack.
Power Delivery: 100W charging for laptops.
Compatibility: macOS, Windows, ChromeOS (driver installation required for macOS).
The port arrangement on this dock is laid out with desk organization in mind. The front-facing quick-access ports are easily accessible, and the backports are nicely arranged and easy to work with, even when facing away from the desk. All the monitor connections and devices that generally stay connected (rather than get unplugged and plugged in frequently) are also neatly organized.
The USB-C on the side runs to the laptop cable tucked away so I can route it around my desk shelf or directly to my laptop. In my case, I used one of my new favorite accessories, the right-angle 40Gbps USB-C adapter, to help keep everything tucked away and tidy.
I could see this dock used at home and in traditional office workspaces. However, I would not want this to be a portable dock to take with me from place to place, as it is designed to stay on a desk or workstation.
Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI or DisplayPort Dock: In useSo far, my experience with this dock has been smooth sailing. It easily handles my monitor usage, and since it has both HDMI and DisplayPort, it has made running my vast array of monitors quite effortless -- no adapters necessary. The USB-A ports are great, and for some setups, that might be all you need; however, if you are working with large files or a lot of newer generation tech that is USB-C or even Thunderbolt, you may want to check out a different model of Plugable docks.
The best part of this dock is that it has built-in DisplayLink, allowing me to run multiple monitors on my otherwise limited MacBook Pro. It's annoying, but I'm thankful for companies like Plugable that put DisplayLink in their docks so that I can circumvent this limitation on my setup.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) (Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Plugable USB-C Dual 4K HDMI or DisplayPort Dock: Final verdictThe Plugable USB-C Docking Station offers exceptional functionality for power users who demand high-resolution multi-monitor setups and robust connectivity. While its reliance on drivers and lack of USB-C/Thunderbolt may deter some, its performance and built-in DisplayLink make it a worthwhile investment for many.
Categories: Reviews
COSORI Smart Nutrition Scale review: The future of nutrition?
COSORI Smart Nutrition Scale: Two-minute review
(Image credit: Future)
New for 2025 in the world of health and fitness technology is the enticing COSORI Smart Nutrition Scale. I actually first encountered it on TikTok where I've seen a couple of viral posts about it, and now COSORI has officially launched the Smart Kitchen Scale in the UK. See the Price and Availability section for full details.
As a fitness enthusiast with an interest in food and nutrition, but as someone who often struggles to track food and count calories, the COSORI seemed right up my street, and after my initial go at using the scale I have to say I'm really impressed. It's not perfect, and the methodology has a couple of obvious flaws I'll get to, but this is a nifty little kitchen gadget that will catch the eye of guests and make a great sub-£50/$50 gift for the gym enthusiast in your life.
Out of the box, 6he COSORI feels premium and well-built, which you'd hope for a scale that costs nearly 50 bucks. The plastic base houses three AAA batteries, while the platform is made up of food-grade 304 stainless steel that's designed to be easy to clean. The sizing is pretty generous, it's a lot larger than my bog-standard kitchen scale and feels more useful as a result, without being unwieldy.
(Image credit: Future)The COSORI Smart Kitchen Scale is designed to provide you with accurate information about the food you eat, revealing the exact amount of calories, protein, fat, carbs, and micronutrients like fiber based on weight. Naturally, it requires a companion app where you'll access the database of food, scanning barcodes (or searching for food) as you go.
The scale arrives ready to use, with a QR code included for the VeSync app, I'd say installation, registration, and pairing all took less than a minute. The process to set up the scale was extremely easy and straightforward, with zero hiccups. So far, so good.
(Image credit: Future)The COSORI Smart Kitchen Scale is so easy to use that there's very little to explain when it comes to its functionality. The VeSync app, which syncs with Apple Health and Fitbit, includes a daily food-tracking platform. You enter your target calories and your desired breakdown of protein, carbs, and fat, the big three 'macronutrients' essential to balancing a diet, shedding weight, or building muscle.
Once your numbers are locked in, you log food just as you would in apps like MyFitnessPal. The most convenient way to do this is by scanning barcodes. The process is super snappy, but has an obvious flaw. The food data comes from Nutritionix, which boasts nearly one million food items. However, if your food isn't listed, you'll need to enter the details manually or pick a substitute.
I did a quick go-around of my fridge and was surprised to find eggs and Greek yogurt from one household UK supermarket didn't show up. However, eggs from another large supermarket showed up just fine, as did some frozen berries from my freezer, and a body-building mainstay: Pringles potato crisps. Your mileage will definitely vary when it comes to what foods are supported, and might even depend on where you live and shop.
Manually entering the information isn't the end of the world, but it's certainly frustrating when the barcode scanner doesn't throw up results.
(Image credit: Future)Once you've successfully identified your food, you simply pop it on the scale and the COSORI will automatically weigh it and provide you with a breakdown of all the nutrients in the food. Once you're happy with your amount, you simply tap 'Save and Add More', and you're done. Congrats, you've successfully logged the exact weight and calorific breakdown of the food you're about to eat.
In principle, you can use the COSORI Smart Kitchen Scale to track an entire day's worth of eating, with calorie tracking accuracy down to the nearest gram.
So who would benefit? While the COSORI can be used to simply weigh something, this is a lot of money to spend on a scale that you use purely for weight. The COSORI really needs to be used to its full potential to justify the outlay. I'd say that gym-goers, bodybuilders, and anyone trying to build a food regime to complement their fitness plan would absolutely love the COSORI.
It would especially lend itself to people who like to try new foods, mix up recipes, and experiment. By contrast, if you meal prep seven days of boiled chicken, rice, and broccoli every Sunday afternoon, you might be better off with a regular scale.
(Image credit: Future)The COSORI is particularly helpful for giving you insight into calories and ingredients which don't have an obvious calorie makeup, like a spoonful of peanut butter. I distinctly recall one TikToker being mortified at just how many calories were to be found in a fairly meager serving of peanut butter, for instance. If you take an interest in your diet, calories, and portions, the COSORI could take you from a portion enthusiast to a culinary Rain Man.
While you could in theory use the COSORI alongside something like MyFitnessPal to track your food, you'd lose out on the snappy, automatic tracking and instant results that make the COSORI an attractive package. Therefore, anyone who's already heavily invested in a different food or fitness app might not want to make the switch. The COSORI app even features recipes, including recipes you can use with the best air fryers (some of which, coincidentally, are also made by COSORI).
COSORI Smart Nutrition Scale: Price and availability (Image credit: Future)- $39.99 / £47.42
- No AUS availability
- Different brand name in the US
The COSORI Smart Kitchen Scale is available now in the UK from Amazon at the cost of £47.42. In the U.S, you can buy one under the brand name Etekcity, also from Amazon, at the cost of $39.99. Both COSORI and Etekcity are subsidiaries of the VeSync brand, and these are the same product. Unfortunately, the product is not currently available in Australia.
COSORI Smart Nutrition Scale: Specifications COSORI Smart Nutrition Scale: Scorecard COSORI Smart Nutrition Scale: Should I buy? (Image credit: Future) Buy if it...You care deeply about food and nutrition
This scale is the perfect companion for anyone tracking calories or trying to hit a fitness goal.
You want an easy way to track your calories
It doesn't get easier than scanning your food and then weighing it.
You tend to eat lots of different foods and create new recipes
This scale is particularly useful for tracking a varied diet and for people who like to mix it up a bit. View Deal
Don't buy it if...You just want a scale to weigh food
If you don't care about the app or the tracking insights, this is too expensive as a normal scale.
There's not a lot of variation in your diet
While still useful, the COSORI will be less valuable to people who tend to eat the same foods over and over again.
Also consider (Image credit: Future)The Renpho Kitchen Scales are an obvious alternative to the COSORI, and a lot cheaper. However, you won't get that epic LCD display the nutritional information, and it's a bit smaller too.
How I testedI paired the COSORI Smart Kitchen Scale with my iPhone, exploring all of the features of the app. I used the scale to weigh a number of household foods to determine accuracy, as well as the barcode scanner to test the food library function.
Categories: Reviews
Plugable 15.6in USB-C Portable Monitor review
The world of portable monitors is incredibly vast and diverse, and it has only been going on more these last few years with people working from home, coffee shops, and their couches. I'm writing this paragraph from my home office away from my home office -- my dining room table, my couch, or my chair in my bedroom. Yes, there are plenty of times that I work strictly from my laptop, but sometimes, there are tasks that I could benefit from having a second display. When it's time to complete those tasks, and I am unable to grab my monitor, I opt for a portable monitor instead.
Over the years, I have tried many portable monitors; I always used my 11in iPad Pro as a portable monitor (until I swapped it for an iPad Mini 7). Though all of those portable monitors are fantastic for one reason or another, there is something incredible about the Plugable 15.6-inch Portable USB-C Monitor. It's not the most brilliant-looking display, at only 1920 x 1080, it's not the largest display at 15.6 inches, and it's not the fanciest display, but it is the one I have been grabbing most frequently over the last few months of working from home a ton with sick family I am taking care of.
Plugable has somehow found a way to give me what I need in this regard, without any fluff. One of the best portable monitors I've used, this one is incredibly lightweight, easy to use, and even upgradable (but more on that later).
Plugable 15.6" Portable USB-C Monitor: Price and AvailabilityThe Plugable 15.6" USB-C Display is sold through the official Plugable website (click here) and online retailers such as Amazon for $199.95 and is backed by lifetime support. This purchase gets you the monitor, a magnetic folio, and a USB-C Cable to connect to your device.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Plugable 15.6" Portable USB-C Monitor: Unboxing and First ImpressionsAs I previously said, I have tried a lot of portable monitors and monitors in general. The one thing that immediately stood out about this monitor was its light. I was blown away taking it out of the box and thought something was wrong. Then, once I added the folio case, it was barely any heavier. I quickly got acquainted with the ports and a couple of buttons on the monitor, grabbed the USB-C cable, and plugged it into my laptop. It sprung to life immediately, showcasing how easy this monitor is to use.
Right off the bat, I thought the monitor looked great and wanted to use it. The folio base is excellent for stability on a couch, bed, chair, table, desk, café, and everywhere I have tried. The folio adds protection to the screen without needing another pouch or sleeve that will go unused, helping this setup stay incredibly minimal, and this portable monitor is super easy to slide into a bag, backpack, or purse to bring with you anywhere and everywhere.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Plugable 15.6" Portable USB-C Monitor: Design and Build Quality SpecsScreen Size: 15.6 inches.
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz.
Panel Type: IPS with LED backlight.
Brightness: 300 nits.
Ports: 1x USB-C for host connection, 2x USB-C 10Gbps hub ports with pass-through charging
Weight: 840g (1.85lbs) with folio.
Viewing Angles: 178° vertical and horizontal.
The Plugable 15.6" portable USB-C Display is incredibly slim, portable, minimalist, and durable. I've taken this monitor with me on numerous trips, putting it in my backpack for some and in a suitcase for others, and it just keeps working. Something about it being so slim and light makes me think it won't hold up, but I'm surprised every single time that it's durable, too.
In addition to being durable, it's packed with the valuable features you need and none that you don't. This portable monitor has three high-speed USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports with up to 10Gbps data transfer and up to 100W PD (85W charging) for your laptop or another connected device through TAA-compliant ports that will work with most USB-C, USB4, and Thunderbolt, and USB-C cables. It also has a glare-resistant screen, a sharp 300-nit IPS LED display, universal compatibility, and even playback-protected content (HDCP) from streaming services, which some displays block.
Lastly, the folio with this display works as the stand, meaning it's incredibly minimal and does not need additional accessories to hold the display up.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Plugable 15.6" Portable USB-C Monitor: In useThe Plugable 15.6-inch portable USB-C display has been a game changer for me for the last few weeks. It is not the best in every area, but it's phenomenal in most places that count, which makes it just right for almost everyone. To quickly list a few things this doesn't have, there is no VESA mount option or any Magsafe or stand options even though the folio snaps into place, nor is this a high-resolution or high-brightness screen. Instead, it's a 1920 x 1080 display with 300 nits of brightness, a few ports, and a folio stand.
But, what this has been able to do for me is extend my work to another screen pretty much anywhere I am. It's helped me get so much more done when another screen is helpful, whether I have my fancy home office, another monitor to plug into, or a proper workspace. This monitor offers 85W charging, which is plenty for even my 13" M2 MacBook Pro, or most of my laptops. Plus, I can do that with the third port if I ever need to charge another device (such as my laptop light bar modification (more on this later) or transfer data with a drive, all with whatever computer I am using as long as it has USB-C, which is all even semi-recent computers.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)There are a few things that I have added to this monitor that have taken it to another level. Since I have used it heavily for the past few months, especially on trips or working at night away from my home office, I have worked a lot in the dark, either late at night or early in the morning. I don't know about you, but the glaring difference between a screen and a dark room can sometimes be very straining on my eyes, or if there are other things I am referencing or other things around my workspace, even a drink, I like seeing my workspace a bit, if nothing else to help me stay awake on those very long nights.
So, what I did was I added the BenQ Laptop Light Bar to my portable monitor; this way, it can stay as a single desk setup, and I can unplug my laptop, go wherever else I may need to go and come right back to a complete setup. I did this by adding a MagSafe adhesive on the back of the monitor (specifically, it was an extra one from a Rolling Square attachment I have on my laptop). Then, the laptop light bar magnetically sticks to that. Now, anywhere I am working, I can have a replica of my full desk setup in a tear-down that can easily fit in a backpack. I also added a right-angle adapter to the end of the USB-C cable to pull my laptop close to the monitor and have the cable out of the way, but this is just a personal preference.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Plugable 15.6" Portable USB-C Monitor: Final verdictThe Plugable USB-C Portable Monitor stands out as an excellent tool for professionals seeking an extra screen. Its premium build, IPS display, and seamless connectivity make it a valuable asset for productivity and entertainment on the go. While its brightness limits outdoor use and the resolution may not be the best for graphic designers or video editors, it remains a solid choice for anyone in need of a versatile portable monitor.
For more display options, we've reviewed the best business monitors.
Categories: Reviews
Acer Predator controller review: a few years out of date
Acer Predator controller: one-minute review
The Acer Predator controller is more than a little disappointing given the brand’s track record of producing high-quality gaming hardware. It’s apparent that this is one of Acer’s first forays into the realm of gaming controllers, as the Predator is pretty bare-bones for what it offers in terms of features. That, and its overall build quality, leaves something to be desired.
Much of this could be forgiven if it wasn’t for the Predator’s retail price. It comes similarly priced to some of the best PC controllers and best Nintendo Switch controllers, including the GameSir Tarantula Pro and the 8BitDo Ultimate. But unlike those, the Acer Predator hardly does anything to stand out from the crowd.
Don’t expect remappable buttons, trigger locks, or even basics like a good overall build quality here; the Predator’s closest analog is probably the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. And even there, Nintendo’s official pad has the Predator beat on both build and battery life.
This isn’t to say the Acer Predator isn’t at least worth a look. It still gets plenty of things right. Hall effect sticks allow for a controller that could last you years, and it does support Switch-friendly features like gyro aiming for games like Splatoon 3. It is a bit lamentable that the Predator requires AA batteries to be used wirelessly, but both Bluetooth and 2.4GHz connectivity are supported here and overall battery life is pretty decent at around 20 hours on average.
In summary, if you’re after a simple, no-frills controller similar to the official Nintendo Switch option, the Acer Predator might just be for you. However, when its peers are handily one-upping it in terms of design, features, and performance - often at the same price or less - it probably shouldn’t be at the top of your list.
(Image credit: Future) Acer Predator controller: Price and availability- £69.99 (around $87.99 / AU$139.99)
- Purchasable from Acer’s website in certain regions
- Limited overall availability, with the controller seemingly not available in the US
While the Acer Predator controller seems to be unavailable (at time of writing) in the US, it is available for £69.99 in the UK and can be purchased from Acer’s own website. Unlike most other third-party controllers, availability (at the time of writing) appears to be extremely limited. The controller isn’t listed at retailers like Amazon, Argos, or John Lewis in the UK. Moreover, Acer itself doesn’t have a store page for the controller in the US or Australia.
In terms of price, the Acer Predator is fairly competitive when you consider that many other top controllers fall within that £60-£70 price bracket. As mentioned, though, it’s not the most complete feeling controller out there when compared to other pads in this range. It would have been a more attractive purchasing option, I feel if it came in at £10 or even £15 cheaper than its current retail price.
Acer Predator controller: specs (Image credit: Future) Acer Predator controller: design and features- Simple, but nonetheless eye-catching sci-fi-esque livery
- Lacking in build quality in comparison to its competitors
- D-pad and triggers feel noticeably spongy
Starting off with the positives, I really like the aesthetic touches on the Acer Predator controller. It’s emblazoned with cool sci-fi-looking patterns that definitely lend it some unique identity, but it’s understated enough to not stand out in a garish way. The bumpers up top also offer a soft, tactile clicky feel. Thumbsticks also feel great here with a comfortable amount of concavity for your thumbs to firmly rest on.
Other aspects of the controller don’t fare as well. The d-pad and face buttons have an overly mushy feel. It doesn’t help that the former is extremely basic and rather flat in design which did make for an occasional mispress during gameplay. Triggers, meanwhile, did grow on me after some time, but these are fairly wide and offer an unsatisfyingly spongy feel. A pretty mixed bag overall, then, in terms of buttons and modules.
It’s also worth noting that the Acer Predator’s 2.4GHz dongle is not separate in the box. Rather, it’s housed within the controller’s onboard battery compartment. So make sure you’re taking that out first before inserting any AA batteries if you’re planning to use it wirelessly on PC.
It’s a slightly strange choice for a controller, and it does take a little bit of wrestling to release it from the controller’s slot. But it does at least offer a safe way to store the dongle to prevent you from losing it when not in use.
(Image credit: Future) Acer Predator controller: performance- Hall effect thumbsticks make for a long-lasting controller
- Well-developed rumble that offers a robust and impactful play experience
- Battery life is decent but may vary depending on your battery brand of choice
Design issues aside, the Acer Predator does perform admirably as a controller, with few notable faults. Despite the pad feeling outdated in some aspects, I’m grateful for the inclusion of Hall effect sticks first and foremost. This will make for a long-lasting gamepad that’s resistant to stick drift issues. On that front alone, the Predator is worth considering if you’re tired of cycling through controllers on a semi-regular basis.
What surprised me most here is the Predator’s incredibly effective rumble tech. It’s not exactly haptic feedback a la the PS5’s DualSense wireless controller, but it feels significantly less flat than many other controllers in this regard.
Playing action-heavy titles like Wuthering Waves, Zenless Zone Zero, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, I was really impressed with the impactful register of sword swipes and other special abilities. It’s a well-rounded vibration that successfully adds a good layer of immersion to whichever game you’re playing. However, you still may wish to switch off vibrations for competitive play as I do feel such a strong rumble could disrupt things like aim or other desired inputs.
The Acer Predator controller also matches many of its peers on compatibility and connection types. It works with Nintendo Switch, PC, and mobile devices (both Android and iOS) and supports 2.4GHz and Bluetooth for wireless connectivity, as well as USB-C for wired connections. Switch compatibility is an especially big plus here, as I feel the Acer Predator makes for a decent alternative to the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller.
Battery life is also pretty decent overall. Acer’s own website states you’ll get around 25 hours here, but this will of course vary based on the AA battery brand used. The controller comes with a pair of Energizer AA batteries included in the box. With these, I managed to get around 20 hours of playtime before needing to swap them out. Again this will vary based on brand and the types of games you play, but this is an overall decent number that means you shouldn't have to swap out batteries too often.
(Image credit: Future) Should I buy the Acer Predator controller? Buy it if...You want a good Switch Pro Controller alternative
While many of the best Nintendo Switch controllers do outshine Nintendo’s official pad in terms of design and features, the Acer Predator still puts up a decent show and is a good pick if you’re looking for a reliable Hall effect controller.
You like rumble
This is arguably the Acer Predator controller’s standout feature and really comes alive in action-heavy games. While not quite haptic feedback or Nintendo’s own HD Rumble, it’s nonetheless very robust and impactful here.
You want better, sturdier build quality
There is an overtly cheap feel to the Acer Predator controller, from its chassis to its individual buttons and modules. While not the absolute worst we’ve ever tested in this regard, it still leaves much to be desired.
You want a more reliable wireless solution
It’s quite rare for contemporary controllers to run on AA batteries, and if you don’t like the idea of having to purchase these to keep playing wirelessly, you should consider a controller that offers a more modern charging solution.View Deal
If the Acer Predator is proving to be a hard sell, refer to the table below in which we compare its specs to two other great controllers.
8BitDo Ultimate
The 8BitDo Ultimate still finds itself at the top of our best Nintendo Switch controllers guide for good reason. Superb build quality, lovely additional features, and an included charging dock all at a very reasonable price.
Read our full 8BitDo Ultimate review
Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Despite lacking modernities like Hall effect sticks, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is still a real workhorse of a gamepad, with excellent build quality and best-in-class battery life for the console.
Read our full Nintendo Switch Pro Controller review
How I tested the Acer Predator controller- Tested for one week
- Platforms tested: Nintendo Switch, PC
- Compared to the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and 8BitDo Ultimate
I tested the Acer Predator controller over the course of a week, hopping between PC and Nintendo Switch. By doing this, I was able to test multiple connection types from 2.4GHz to Bluetooth and wired, while also sampling a wide range of excellent games including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Astral Chain, Zenless Zone Zero, and Wuthering Waves.
While certainly far from the best controller I’ve ever tested, it did eventually somewhat win me over thanks to its broad compatibility, strong rumble tech, and impressive battery life - even if I’m not personally a fan of having to rely on AA batteries for wireless play.
First reviewed January 2025
Categories: Reviews
Eureka Aion ergonomic office chair review
The Eureka Aion Ergonomic Office Chair is produced by the company that released the futuristic-looking Eureka Serene and the Bond-Villan-esque Eureka Arc Standing Desk. The Aion looks relatively tame compared to those. However, the Aion has a few tricks up its metaphorical sleeve.
While the aforementioned pieces of furniture were more for the stereotypical executive professional, the Aion is a chair that could work for an executive office vibe, or it could fit in a conference room, home office, front desk, or closet desk hidden away.
Like so many of the best office chairs I've tested, the Aion is designed to cater to just about everyone, whether they are professionals, students, admin, or the CEO of a hedge fund. The focus here is not on design but on function and comfort with its high-back design, integrated headrest, breathable mesh, multiple adjustment features, and ergonomic support.
Eureka Aion Ergonomic Office Chair: Price and AvailabilityThe Eureka Aion is available directly from Eureka Ergonomic's official website and other select retailers, though I'd suggest purchasing directly from Eureka. This chair can sometimes be under $400, though it's generally around $500. Eureka does offer regular deals and pay plans through Shop Pay if needed.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Eureka Aion Ergonomic Office Chair: Unboxing and First ImpressionsUnboxing the Eureka Aion was pretty straightforward, though there were some steps that I wish I had a third hand for. The pieces themselves were well-packaged and arrived un-damaged -- which is always a great start -- and from the unboxing experience alone, I knew this would be a hefty chair.
Within the packaging comes the assembly kit of tools, spare parts, instructions, bolts, and such needed for the proper assembly. If you want to speed up assembly, I suggest using something like the Hoto Electric Screwdriver or even a simple drill (one that can adjust and not be on "drill" mode) with a bit set to help assemble quickly without damage. If not, the appropriate tools are included.
Assembling the seat took me about 20 minutes. Once I finished attaching the headrest as the final step, I could appreciate its sleek design and sturdy construction. It comfortably accommodates larger individuals while also being suitable for smaller people.
Eureka Aion Ergonomic Office Chair: Design and Build Quality SpecsMaterial: Mesh backrest, padded seat
Adjustability: High backrest, tilt, lumbar support, and armrest
Weight capacity: Up to 300 lbs
Weight: 55 lbs
Features: Breathable design, ergonomic focus
Dimensions: 29.33”D x 28.74”W x 44.09” - 51.97”H
Recommended Height: 5'1" - 6'1"
The Eureka Aion has a minimalist aesthetic that fits well in professional and home-office environments alike. However, the adjustability within this chair is nothing short of maximalist. The high-back design offers complete spine support, while the mesh material promotes airflow to help prevent sweat during work sessions. The armrests are adjustable in three dimensions and can be raised for added comfort in various working positions. Additionally, the headrest is movable in two directions, allowing for further customization. The chair can recline up to 115 degrees, and the lumbar support can be adjusted to fit the natural curve of your back perfectly.
The Aion is constructed with durable components, ensuring long-term use without compromising comfort -- which is appreciated once you remember that this chair costs around $500.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Eureka Aion Ergonomic Office Chair: In useThis chair has been in my team's rotation of ergonomic offerings for a month now. So far, it has held up wonderfully, even for extended working sessions. It has been adjusted for multiple people, ranging in build, height, weight, and use. Some have found this chair to be great for long sessions at a desk working on their computer, while others have found it uniquely excellent for using a laptop on their lap. Yet still, some have noticed that if they prop the armrests up, it's incredibly comfortable for some phone time, reading a book, holding a controller, or taking notes on a tablet. Regardless of the use case, we all have agreed that this chair is great for lumbar support and adjustability.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)I appreciate that Eureka chose highly breathable mesh. I have been a massive fan of this mesh backing and often opt for chairs with it since I usually run relatively warm. This mesh allows airflow to my back and lower half, ensuring I don't sweat (too much) during those high-intensity meetings, stressful deadlines, or intense gaming sessions.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)Another element worth mentioning is that the tilt and height-adjustment mechanisms work smoothly, and the leavers make sense. Some chairs try to combine all of these into the smallest number of levers, which results in me spending more time adjusting my chair than actually enjoying my chair (dramatic, but you get the point). With the Eureka Aion, I could quickly gander at the levers, learn what adjustments each made, and then dial in from there.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Eureka Aion Ergonomic Office Chair: Final verdictThe Eureka Aion Ergonomic Office Chair is an excellent choice for users looking for a chameleon ergonomic solution that fits almost any working space. Eureka's focus on adjustability, durability, and back support with the Aion ergonomic chair makes it a standout product, though its price may limit its appeal to budget-conscious buyers. This chair delivers exceptional value and adjustability for those willing to invest in comfort and health.
For more workplace essentials, we've reviewed the best standing desks and the best office desks, too.
Categories: Reviews
Dell Optiplex Micro Plus 7020 mini PC review
The Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020 is designed for businesses that require a compact yet efficient workstation. Featuring 13th Gen Intel processors and DDR5 memory, it caters to multitasking professionals.
As with almost all the best mini PC devices we've reviewed, the micro form factor ensures seamless integration into tight workspaces without compromising performance or reliability. The Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus is impressive because you can specify it to fit your business needs. It can have an i5 or an i7 processor, it can have 16GB or 32GB DDR5 RAM, it can have 256GB or 512GB NVMe SSD Storage, you can opt for a wireless card adding Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth, or you can keep it wired, you can opt for a vPro Enterprise system management or not, and you can choose to include peripherals or not. That's a lot of options for a desktop I can hold in one hand.
I previously mentioned the business because this desktop is designed in every way for a "business" use case. This is not the computer you want for anything graphics-based. Nor is it anything you want for crazy heavy loads or processing. What this is great for, though, are workstations, admins, doctors' offices, front desks, simple desktop solutions that need to be clean, a solution mounted under a desk or behind a monitor, or something that needs to be portable on a cart. That's the kind of professional business this computer excels at, but it was designed from the internals to the case. Something that can be tucked away but relied on to perform crucial tasks for a business to operate.
Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020: Price and AvailabilityThe Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020 starts in the base configuration without accessories at around $1,000. If you fully spec this model out, you can reach $1,530.01, according to Dell.com, without peripherals. Due to the customizability of this unit, I suggest ordering your OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020 from Dell. However, B&H Photo, as well as several other retailers, have pre-configured units available as well.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020: Unboxing and First ImpressionsThough the desktop is tiny, my OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020 came in a box that could fit a standard keyboard had I ordered it with my computer. Within that box was some packing that kept the laptop secure and safe, along with the power supply and some essential documentation.
Right away, it's clear that this is a simple, professional, very Dell-looking desktop, and it looks good. It's simple, it's minimal, it's easy to use, and it has excellent port layout. It's compact, lightweight, sturdy, and ready to go to work right out of the gate.
Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020: Design and Build Quality SpecsProcessor Options: Intel Core i5 to i7 (13th Gen).
Memory: Up to 32GB DDR5, 5600 MT/s .
Storage: M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs up to 512GB.
Ports: 4x USB-A, 1x USB-C, 1x RJ45, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic, 3x DisplayPort, 1x Barrel Power,
Dimensions: 7.17 x 1.42 x 7.01 inches
The Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020 is an ultra-compact, ultra-lightweight (under 2.5 lbs), easy-to-mount or hide desktop solution for professional use cases. This desktop can fit behind most monitors, under a desk, behind a plant, on a bookshelf, in a drawer, on a shelf, in a cabinet, or just about anywhere (even on a VESA mount). And, with the ability to output to three displays, this can run a pretty impressive setup for the size and price.
The build quality is robust and lightweight, making it something I'd be willing to have out where it could get bumped, knocked into, or used by people who are not as careful with technology as I am.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020: In useThe OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020 handles multitasking and business applications like a dream. It's fantastic at running multiple spreadsheets and multiple windows (or even monitors) of browser tabs; it can have charts pulled up, graphs, email, imaging, and so on. It's a great little machine for this kind of work, and even more so paired with being able to tuck that case just about anywhere.
This computer is not one you'll want to run high-intensity graphics on, no video editing, no pushing an entire LED wall worth of display, nor would I use this as a server for a security room to view a bunch of footage. I would have this be used for a front desk, an admin, a meeting room, a check-in, or the like. It's great for those classic office needs with limited demand for high-processing power.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future)One major downfall in my book is the lack of HDMI and too few USB-C ports. Thankfully, there is one USB-C port, but with how commonplace that port is, I'm shocked not to see more. Then again, the average business workspace may not be up-to-date with technologies, but that will surely be a miss if they are. Secondly, if you want to push to a monitor via HMDI, you'll need an adapter from DisplayPort to HDMI since this computer has no native HDMI ports. This isn't the end of the world, but it's good to know if you are replacing a computer and keeping peripherals or buying a new one.
(Image credit: Collin Probst // Future) Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020: Final verdictThe Dell OptiPlex Micro Plus 7020 excels in providing business-grade performance in a compact design. Its robust build, security features, and extensive connectivity options make it a great choice for professional use. However, the lack of HDMI and minimal USB-C may limit some users.
For more performance-driven computing, we've tested out the best business computers and the best workstations.
Categories: Reviews
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD review: definitive but derivative
Rareware’s trilogy of Donkey Kong Country platformers was a huge statement back on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). Not only was Donkey Kong back, but he could stand up to Mario himself when it came to the 2D platforming crown with three excellently designed games released back to back from 1994 to 1996.
After a fourteen-year absence, Donkey Kong Country finally returned in 2010 with Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios taking over the mantle from Rare with the aptly named Donkey Kong Country Returns. And now fourteen years on we’re getting the game again, but this time without the forced waggles of the Wii version or the hindered framerate of the later 3DS port, meaning Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is finally the definitive version of the game - but it’s not much else.
Review infoPlatform reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Available on: Nintendo Switch
Release date: January 16, 2025
Admittedly, I was disappointed at the announcement of this port. It’s been just over 10 years since the last game in the series – the phenomenal Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – with the big ape since being relegated to spinoffs. However, over the past few years, it has felt like Nintendo has been building up to something with Donkey Kong between his prominent role in the Super Mario Bros. Movie and the new theme park area in Japan. So for the grand return to be a 14-year-old Wii game ported over, there wasn’t too much to get hyped about.
Much like the 2018 Nintendo Switch port of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, there really isn’t anything new to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD aside from a brand new easy mode – which is nice, but it’s not something I’m interested in playing. Although Tropical Freeze at least dressed up the easy mode with a playable Funky Kong, something absent from Returns HD. This could be excused if it was released for a lower price perhaps, like the substantially visually overhauled Metroid Prime Remastered, but Donkey Kong Country Returns HD follows last year’s Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD as a full-priced game that, on the whole, brings nothing new to the table and is a middling Nintendo Switch game in 2025.
Ooh, banana (Image credit: Nintendo)Donkey Kong’s banana hoard has been stolen once more – which is tantamount to killing a family member as far as the tie-wearing ape is concerned. Retro Studios abandoned the iconic Kremling army from the SNES trilogy in favor of the Tiki Tak Tribe, who are a band of sentient Tiki masks. While the Tikis themselves are pretty boring, their power of hypnotism allows the boss fights to get a bit more ‘out there’ as DK gets to scrap with various jungle creatures under their control. Each boss ends with a satisfying battering after every fight that evokes the feeling of GameCube classic Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
Compared to Mario, Donkey Kong Country is a more hardcore platformer series. Donkey Kong himself is extremely heavy (as you would probably expect from a gorilla), and that weightiness transfers to the platforming perfectly. Where Mario can breeze through stages with massive jumps and power-ups, Donkey Kong is more momentum-focused with strategically placed jumps and rolls required to really breeze through levels, but a lot of the time it’s best to take things a bit slower. Later levels get extremely tough, requiring you to be top banana to get through, but that just makes it all the more satisfying to clear.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD also brings Diddy Kong back into the fold as a pseudo powerup. Getting him works like in the SNES games where you find a DK barrel and smash it to get your pal. But unlike on the SNES, you can’t switch to Diddy Kong; he mainly acts as a jetpack hover to DK’s jump and allows you to infinitely roll. This was disappointing back in 2010, and it’s still a disappointing aspect of the game now, especially considering a second player can take full control of Diddy Kong in the game’s co-op mode. This would’ve made a nice addition to the new port, but alas, it’s not here.
Jungle Japes (Image credit: Nintendo)Developer Retro Studios had big shoes to fill, and like most nostalgic platformer returns, a lot of the early game of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD feels very much like a cover band playing the hits of that original trilogy. While the levels are good, it feels a lot like trying to recapture the magic of the originals. However, as the game progresses, Retro introduces unique biomes like the Factory and Volcano worlds, which not only up the difficulty but are far more interesting to play through than the opening hours.
Best Bit(Image credit: Nintendo)Donkey Kong Country Returns really starts to shine as the adventure comes to an end, with World 7’s factory setting standing up with the best the series has to offer. This is where the difficulty really starts to ramp up with a barrage of levels that are satisfying to plow your way through.
One of the big things associated with the series is collectibles; each level contains hidden 'KONG' letters to collect, as well as puzzle pieces. These are key to unlocking all manner of things like concept art, music, and even bonus levels that will really test your platforming skills (including the previously 3DS-exclusive levels). The letters are mercifully pretty easy to find on a first go, but some of those puzzle pieces will test your eyes as well as your platforming.
Another iconic Donkey Kong staple is the unique level gimmicks. Animal friends return from the SNES trilogy, although this is sadly limited to just Rambi the Rhino here. Meanwhile, the dreaded minecart stages that would test your reactions with their brutal difficulty also make a return this time around, and this is one area where Retro really outdid Rare. The weight of DK in this game, alongside the Returns physics, makes the jumps in these even more satisfying, and there’s always a wealth of extra pathways to add to the risk/reward factor.
Finally, there are the Rocket Barrel stages, which are a flight mode akin to Flappy Bird (yes, it was released four years prior, but everyone knows Flappy Bird). Hold A to rise, and let go to dip as you avoid all manner of obstacles. Truthfully, I’ve never loved these stages, as the slower on-rails nature of them feel like a less interesting version of the minecart stages, leading them to drag on a bit.
Here he comes banana slamma, congo bongo’s hero (Image credit: Nintendo)Donkey Kong Country Returns HD’s entire purpose seems to just be making a version of the original game that brings the extra content and a good control scheme from the 3DS to a console that looks good and runs at 60 frames per second (fps) like the Wii original. And to that end, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD nails it; it sure is that. But while other ports have had even the bare minimum of extras like Captain Toad Treasure Tracker’s Odyssey levels or Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition’s Breath of the Wild costumes added, Donkey Kong is just the same game from before.
And don’t expect a Metroid Prime Remastered-level visual upgrade either; while it is a definite bump in quality in the jump to HD, it isn’t an impressive leap. While Returns HD does upgrade DK to have more fur compared to his flat Wii model, the fur in Returns doesn’t look on par with its Tropical Freeze counterpart. One area where the visuals feel like a downgrade however is the lighting in the volcano level, which is more of a dull magma color rather than the bright orange of the Wii edition.
You’re still getting a good game here (albeit, a game that’s a reskin of probably the weakest Donkey Kong Country title), but it’s really hard to recommend this to anyone who has played the game before; you’d be better off picking up the far better (and probably cheaper) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. If anything, this just recontextualized how good the sequel was to me; the jump in quality from Returns to Tropical Freeze is nothing short of incredible.
Should you play Donkey Kong Country Returns HD? Play it if...You’ve never played Donkey Kong Country Returns before
Donkey Kong Country Returns is a great platformer at the end of the day, and this is the perfect way to experience it for the first time without the issues of prior editions.View Deal
You really like Donkey Kong Country Returns and want a definitive edition
This port answers many fans' requests to finally have a definitive, modern way to play DKC Returns officially, and it does that job perfectly.View Deal
You’ve played the original and want something new
Outside of the new easy mode DKC Returns HD doesn’t bring anything new to the table that wasn’t already in 2013’s 3DS release.View Deal
You can’t stand hard platforming
Donkey Kong Country has always been a hard series, but the later areas of Returns give the series’ roughest levels a run for their money. View Deal
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD features a brand new ‘Modern Mode’ that offers up an easier experience for players less attuned to DKC’s more hardcore platforming. You’ll get an extra hitpoint for both DK and Diddy, as well as the ability to bring nine of the helper items as opposed to just one in original mode (including some items that are exclusive to modern mode like Diddy Kong barrels and the Green Balloon).
Outside of that, the game doesn’t have many accessibility options. You have the option to swap the Roll/Pound/Blow button (X/Y) with the Grab button (ZR/ZL), but other than that, you’ll need to remap your controls from the console settings.
(Image credit: Nintendo) How I reviewed Donkey Kong Country Returns HDI played roughly 13 hours of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, and in that time I completed the main game, including collecting all of the KONG letters and completing optional levels. I also completed the extra levels that were introduced in the 3DS version of the game. I played the game in the ‘Original’ setting outside of trying out a few levels on ‘Modern’ after rolling credits.
I played the game primarily in handheld mode on a Nintendo Switch OLED using the Joy-Con controllers, with a bit of playtime in docked mode on my Samsung Q60D TV and Samsung HW-T450 soundbar with the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and CKRD Neo S controller.
First reviewed December 2024 / January 2025
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