TechRadar: Audio visual reviews

Review: HP Pavilion TouchSmart Sleekbook 15

Dan Grabham — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Mainstream laptops are really starting to impress these days - not only are you generally paying a decent price, but you're also getting something truly excellent for the money.

The HP Pavilion Touchsmart Sleekbook 15 is just over 2cm thick, but don't be fooled into thinking it's an ultraportable; it's definitely a little too heavy for that at 2.1Kg - not the best for carrying around every day. Mind you, for moving from room to room at home it really wouldn't pose you a problem - it's hardly a brick.

It does, however, seem a trifle heavy when you consider you do not get an optical DVD/Blu-ray drive. As a result it does have something in common with the plethora of more expensive ultraportables on the market. If the lack of that specification disappoints you, then perhaps consider getting an external optical drive - internal ones are becoming something of a rarity and you may be unduly restricting your choice.

In addition to the slick, glossy design, there are two other key specifications to talk about. The first is the bright 15.6-inch 10-point touchscreen. We really liked the vibrancy of the display, while the touch was of good quality with plenty of responsiveness.

We really wish we'd had more laptops like this around the time that Windows 8 launched. It's only now that people are able to walk into stores and have a decent choice of Windows 8 touchscreen laptops.

The second key specification is the dual-core AMD A4-4355M 1.9GHz processor which not only boasts the usual CPU part, but it also features Radeon HD graphics cores on the same chip. It's an entry-level processor in terms of raw performance, though thanks to the graphics on board it can play a reasonable number of mainstream games.

But if that's of interest then be warned - it's not powerful enough for serious 3D gaming and therefore some users might to rule it out because of that. However, the processor is perfectly fine for most mainstream tasks. We wouldn't want to do any serious video editing on it, though.

Tons of features

In terms of other specifications, you won't be disappointed. There's a huge 8GB of memory, so you can handle plenty of concurrent tasks, while you also get an equally huge 1TB of storage - that's far more than you'll probably ever need and is plenty for music, videos, photos and your apps. And for entertainment, the powerful Altec Lansing speakers are enhanced with Dolby Advanced Audio to maximise the power of music and movie soundtracks.

We thought the keyboard was of terrific quality and you won't be disappointed when typing assignments or letters. The trackpad and mouse buttons were also decent although you will find yourself increasingly using the touchscreen. You might not think so, but you will; it just makes sense.

As for battery life, up to eight hours is promised. You won't get that. Instead, you'll almost certainly be in the range of five to seven hours depending on what you're doing. That's still pretty impressive for a laptop of this nature and while we very much expect you'll use it near a power source, anyway, it will perform admirably for a decent length of time on battery power.

Connectivity is plentiful, with an SD card reader, Ethernet connection for wired internet, Wi-Fi for wireless and a webcam. There's also a USB 2.0 port plus two USB 3.0-capable ports, as well as HDMI for connecting to an external display. All pretty much what you'd expect, although some may bemoan the lack of Bluetooth for tethering to a phone's internet connection.

One thing that did disappoint us was the amount of extra software on the device. It was just a little too much and we're disappointed that vendors still think littering the Start screen, desktop and desktop taskbar with apps is a good idea. We know it earns them money and we know they think it makes them look different to other PCs in the shop. But all it does is give the impression that somebody has already been on your PC when you take it out of the box. We found that most of this software was useless so we chose to uninstall most of it.

Verdict

The specification list we saw for this laptop said it wasn't a desktop replacement. But, the lack of DVD/Blu-ray drive aside, it's hard to see what this lacks that you would want from a machine you were replacing a desktop PC with. Yep, so the processor is a little slow, but that's about it.

The bottom line is that, if you buy this laptop, people will be amazed you didn't spend more on it. It looks good, has stacks of memory, runs well and has that all-important touchscreen. We think you'll be impressed with it, too.

Review: Canon IXUS 140

Ben Andrews — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 10:25:00 GMT

Introduction

Budget point-and-shoot cameras are facing tough times from the ever increasing abilities of smartphone cameras, but if there's any compact camera that can still cut it in this cut-throat sector, it's likely to be from the successful Canon IXUS range.

The Canon IXUS 140 - known as the Canon PowerShot ELPH 130 in the US - is positioned as an entry-level camera, pairing a 16 megapixel CCD sensor with a fast Digic 4 processor.

Out front there's an 8x optical zoom lens sporting a useful 28-224mm equivalent range in 35mm terms, along with Canon's accomplished Intelligent IS optical image stabilisation system.

Although blessed with plenty of megapixels, the sensor isn't classed as an 'HS' - or high sensitivity - design in the IXUS range. Consequently, maximum sensitivity tops out at a relatively disappointing ISO 1600, making image stabilisation vital for taking steady shots in low light.

Smart Auto boasts 32 scene modes for shooting still images, and 21 modes that can be applied to movie recording.

At this price point there's no touchscreen on offer, but instead you do get Wi-Fi connectivity to make it as easy as possible to share those precious memories. Hook the Canon IXUS 140 up to your smartphone and the camera can also piggy back off your phone's GPS to geotag your shots.

Naturally HD video capture is catered for, albeit at 720p resolution rather than Full HD 1080p.

You'll want to ration video usage though, since battery life is restricted to around 190 shots per charge. Fortunately Canon's Eco mode can preserve enough power to eek this out to 260 shots.

Priced at £159/US$199 (around AU$231), the Canon IXUS 140/PowerShot ELPH 130 is very affordable, and sits in the same price bracket as the Nikon Coolpix S6400 and Pentax Optio RZ18.

Build and handling

Design wise we're talking classic Canon IXUS. The Canon IXUS 140 is petite, minimalist and beautifully put together in a svelte metal shell.

Despite the metal body, it still weighs in at a modest 133g/4.69oz when loaded and ready to shoot and measures 95.4 x 56 x 20.6mm (3.76 x 2.2 x 8.11 inches). This makes it smaller than an iPhone 4S - albeit thicker - so it'll easily nestle in a shirt pocket or clutch bag.

Plus it's available in black, silver, red or pink, so there should even be a colour option to match your outfit.

Downsides? Well the Canon IXUS 140's sleek matt finish and the lack of a rear thumb grip means this is a worryingly easy camera to drop, especially because you'll probably be struggling to prod the small, recessed rear buttons at the time.

These include dedicated video record and playback buttons, the usual menu, display, flash and macro controls and a single switch to toggle between Smart Auto capture or programmable mode.

The rest of the rear panel is dominated by a 3-inch PureColor II G LCD display with 460,000-dot resolution. Menus are clear and simple even if the monitor isn't always bright enough to accurately assess exposure in sunny conditions. At least the screen's viewing angles are top notch, though.

Performance

The Canon IXUS 140/PowerShot ELPH 130 bursts into life in around two seconds, and thanks to a fast autofocus system it wastes no time in capturing the moment.

Stick it in Smart Auto mode and the compact camera takes most shooting conditions in its stride, reliably detecting a moving subject, automatically switching to macro mode for close-up shots or raising the sensitivity to avoid camera shake when zoomed in.

There are 32 scene settings available, with effects including Fish-Eye Effect, Miniature Effect, Toy Camera Effect, Monochrome, Super Vivid, Poster Effect, Color Accent and Color Swap.

There are also modes for Portrait, Low Light, Smart Shutter (Smile, Wink Self-Timer, Face Self-Timer), Snow and Fireworks.

Canon's i-Contrast feature gives dynamic range a boost too, though on a bright day you'll have to trust this, since the LCD monitor doesn't do a great job of displaying highlight or shadow detail.

In good lighting, exposure metering is generally bang on, however when the going gets dim and you'd rather not ruin the mood with flash, the Canon IXUS 140 is prone to underexpose. Part of the problem is an unwavering resistance to using maximum ISO 1600 sensitivity when set to auto ISO.

Manually select the highest sensitivity and it becomes clear why Canon would far rather the flash took over in low light. Both grain noise and colour speckling are easily noticeable and smear fine detail in their wake.

The problem isn't terrible, but plenty of comparable cameras perform better at the same settings.

The Canon IXUS 140's Wi-Fi connectivity is more appealing, though. Sure, it's nowhere near as streamlined or feature-packed as say the Samsung Galaxy Camera's system, but then the Canon IXUS 140 is much cheaper.

What you do get is reasonably simple and effective photo sharing to computers or mobile devices, or direct to your photo printer.

Verdict

These days, run of the mill compact cameras have to either perform very well indeed or at least offer some special features to earn their keep.

While the Canon IXUS 140/PowerShot ELPH 130 makes a case for itself with its wireless connectivity and fairly versatile 8x zoom lens, it left us underwhelmed in the image quality department.

Topping out at ISO 1600 would be just about acceptable if images were fairly clean at this sensitivity, but the level of image noise produced by the Canon IXUS 140 at ISO 800 and above can be distracting.

Granted, in good light the camera takes a decent enough shot and can be a pleasure to use, but so too is the similarly priced and just as attractive-looking Canon IXUS 125 HS. Yet this camera won't do a wobbly when the sun goes down, thanks to a high sensitivity 16MP sensor that produces noticeably cleaner shots right up to ISO 3200.

If you can make do with a 5x optical zoom range and forgo wireless connectivity, then the Canon IXUS 125 HS gives you all the IXUS design flair with far fewer image quality shortcomings.

We liked

The Canon IXUS 140 benefits from the legendary IXUS build quality and sleek design, and it puts in a snappy and satisfying performance in decent light.

We disliked

However, its low light performance is disappointing. The sleek, matt compact camera is also easy to drop if you use it without the wrist strap.

Final verdict

Although the Canon IXUS 140 is a perfectly adequate camera in most situations, the same can said of many high-end smartphone cameras.

If you're going to allocate precious pocket or bag space for a dedicated camera, then it must take much cleaner shots after dark, even at this price point.

Unfortunately for the Canon IXUS 140, other similarly-specced cameras - including its own sibling the Canon IXUS 125 HS - just work better in a greater range of scenarios.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing for the Canon IXUS 140, we've shot our resolution chart.

If you view our crops of the resolution chart's central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 100 the Canon IXUS 140 is capable of resolving up to around 24 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files.

For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them, check out our full explanation of our camera testing resolution charts.

Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:

JPEG

Full ISO 100 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

ISO 100, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600, score: 18 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Noise and dynamic range

We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using DXO Analyzer software to generate the data to produce the graphs below.

A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.

For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.

Here we compare the Canon IXUS 140 with the Nikon S5200, Pentax RZ18 and Sony HX10V.

JPEG signal to noise ratio

As we can see from this graph, the Canon IXUS 140's JPEG files contain a greater signal to noise ratios than those from the Pentax RZ18 at ISO 100-400, but are slightly weaker at ISO 800 and 1600. The Canon's JPEGs show weaker signal to noise ratios than the Nikon S5200's at every sensitivity setting except ISO 1600, and they're weaker than the Sony HX10V's at every sensitivity.

JPEG dynamic range

The Canon IXUS 140's JPEGs show comparatively better results for dynamic range, beating JPEGs from the Pentax RZ18 at every sensitivity setting, and those from the Sony HX10V at every sensitivity except ISO 100, where the scores are almost identical. The Canon's JPEGs show a greater dynamic range than JPEGs from the Nikon S5200 at ISO 200 and 400, but are weaker at ISO 800 and score the same at ISO 1600.

Sample images

Click here to see the full resolution image

With macro focus down to 1cm, you can easily get up close and personal with a subject.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Macro focus working well again, this time backed up by good colour saturation and exposure metering.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Colours are nice and vibrant again.

Click here to see the full resolution image

In the field (literally) this shot looked washed out, but the Canon IXUS 140 has actually retained good highlight and shadow detail from this high-contrast scene.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is quite well controlled here, and there's a good amount of fine detail resolved too, albeit at ISO 200 sensitivity.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Again detail is in abundance, though a little softer towards the corners of frame.

Click here to see the full resolution image

This scene had horrible lighting conditions and looked like a complete silhouette at the time, but the camera has managed to preserve some foreground shadow detail.

Click here to see the full resolution image

There's plenty of detail in this shot, but chromatic aberration is an issue if you feel like pixel peeping in the high-contrast areas.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Despite the tiny sensor, zoom in this tight and there's even some attractive background bokeh blur to be had.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Lens set to its widest 28mm equivalent focal length...

Click here to see the full resolution image

...and zoomed in to maximum reach (224mm equivalent).

Click here to see the full resolution image

This shot taken at ISO 1600 sensitivity shows the level of grain across the shot and colour speckling creeping in to the shadow areas. Consequently fine detail has been smeared.

Sensitivity and noise images

JPEG

Full ISO 100 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

Click here to see the full resolution image

ISO 100

Click here to see the full resolution image

ISO 200

Click here to see the full resolution image

ISO 400

Click here to see the full resolution image

ISO 800

Click here to see the full resolution image

ISO 1600

Hands-on review: E3 2013: PS4

Michael Rougeau and Alex Roth — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:48:00 GMT

This generation's console war is still in the arms race phase, but the PlayStation 4 has found its big guns. At Sony's press conference on Monday, the crowd roared with approval when SCEA President Jack Tretton announced that the new console would allow used games, disc sharing and not require any sort of online check-in.

It's all excellent counter-programming to Microsoft's Xbox One, which has presented a confusing message as to its daily internet check-ins, used games policy and loaning out of discs. The PlayStation 4 also launched one more potentially devastating strike: a $399/£349 price tag that makes it $100 cheaper than the Xbox One, thanks to selling its non-integral PlayStation Eye separately.

On the show floor at E3 2013, we had the chance to scope out the PlayStation 4's angular design, put our hands on the redesigned DualShock 4 controller and play some of the titles for Sony's new system.

We'll continue to update this hands-on PS 4 review as we spend more time playing games and learning about the new console's features.

PlayStation 4 design

Since its initial announcement event, Sony has taken its sweet time showing the PlayStation 4. It took some ribbing when the event turned out to be more of a proof of concept than an actual unveiling of the system.

Now that we've finally laid eyes on the final product, the design smacks of the good old PlayStation 2, and, surprisingly, of its chief rival the Xbox One. Both systems are matte black and composed of hard angles. It's an interesting contrast to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which both had sloped designs.

The PS4 looks sharp, and we mean that both in the sense that it's attractive, and that it seems as though you could cut yourself on one of its corners. It looks a bit like two separate slabs of plastic fused together asymmetrically.

The system's USB ports, as well as its power and eject switch, are both well disguised. It gives the system a sleek, modernist look.

PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 controller

Personally, we've always considered the Xbox 360's controller to be as close to perfect as we've experienced, and we think Sony would agree. It seems to have taken some cues from Microsoft's in revamping the classic DualShock design.

Like a 360 controller, the new DualShock has handles that are ergonomically curved. It also has a grippy, contoured pattern that makes it easy to hold onto.

Also like a 360 controller, the thumbsticks are dimpled, and feel good under your thumbs. They're responsive, as always, but now even more comfortable. The PS3's DualShock didn't have these depressed thumbsticks, and we imagine these new sticks will be easier to keep a grip on.

Its biggest and most original change has been integrating a touchpad into the design. It's a lot like the one you'd find on your laptop; it even clicks when you press it.

During our play time, we didn't see any games integrating it in truly meaningful ways. Shooters like Warframe and Blacklight: Retribution basically turned it into a D-pad - swiping upwards did one move, swiping down did another, etc. Killzone: Shadow Fall uses the touchpad to deploy various gadgets, like a portable zipline. It feels like Sony put the pad there so it could make use of it down the road, which is not a bad strategy at all.

The console will ship with one controller, and extra controllers will likely cost $59.99, according to Sony spokespeople on the show floor at E3.

PlayStation 4 games

On the E3 show floor, we tried out several of the PlayStation 4's upcoming titles. The first was Blacklight: Retribution, a "free-to-play" first-person shooter with a futuristic cyberpunk look.

Blacklight featured rather run-of-the-mill FPS action, and while its graphics were sharp and clean, they weren't mind-blowingly next gen. That's not surprising, since it's essentially a port of a PC title that's been around since April of last year.

However, the game's frame rate was strikingly smooth. We couldn't confirm that it was 60 frames per second - the ideal promoted by the Call of Duty crowd - but we'd be shocked to hear that it was any less than that.

The next game we tried was Warframe, a third-person action title that felt like Mass Effect 3 with some sci-fi swordplay thrown in. Like Blacklight, it's another free-to-play title being ported from PC.

All these PC ports of "free" titles were surprising, and speak to the different business models being embraced by this console generation. Now even Microsoft, which previously never allowed free titles on its console, is bringing free phenomenon World of Tanks to the 360.

But it's the titles being built specifically for the new console that really impress.

At the top of many players' lists is Killzone: Shadow Fall, the PS4's killer app if it's got one at all. It continues the story of Killzone 3, and in the mission we played at E3 we were dropped behind enemy lines and given a number of objectives to complete in any order we liked. In that way it's different from past Killzone games, and the increased freedom felt good.

The gameplay still has the weight that past entries in the series had, but it's faster-paced as well. The weapons are intriguing; a touch on the DualShock 4's d-pad transformed a midrange assault rifle into a long-range sniper right before our eyes.

On top of that, Killzone: Shadow Fall looks gorgeous, as anyone who's seen it can attest. It's truly a showcase of what the PS4 is capable of at this early stage, and we're glad the drab aesthetic typical of last-gen shooters has been colored in with oranges, greens and blues in Shadow Fall.

The merits of Driveclub, another game Sony showed off at E3, weren't as immediately apparent. Yes, it's gorgeous, but so are Microsoft's Xbox One exclusive Forza Motorsport 5 and even Sony's other big racer Gran Turismo 6. But the developers of Driveclub are stressing accessibility and social play most of all, and the game will take full advantage of the PS4's connected nature.

Before our demo started, we posed for a picture with the new PlayStation Camera, creating an avatar that other racers can see in-game. The game's technical art director, Alex Perkins, said that you'll be able to set challenges for your friends, and that you'll be rewarded no matter how you play; you get points for winning, of course, but spinning out spectacularly pays off as well. It makes the game feel very friendly, despite its sometimes unforgiving driving mechanics.

Slightly less impressive was Knack, a platformer and action game that resembles Ratchet and Clank with a touch of Katamari Damacy. Players take control of Knack, a magical creature who grows larger as he destroys enemies and objects with punches and body slams. In one urban section, Knack eventually grew as big as a house. In a stealthier level he could shed his armor and become camouflaged to infiltrate a secure facility. It looks like a Pixar movie, and it's fun enough, but it doesn't seem to do anything that wouldn't have been possible on the PlayStation 3.

The last PlayStation 4 game we played at E3 was Hohokum, an abstract title that felt as directionless as it was charming. It's like a combination of the PSP's LocoRoco with the classic mobile game Snake. Its visuals and audio drew us in, but without instructions we were left guiding the colorful, serpentine protagonist around aimlessly, followed by fish and stranger creatures.

It was relaxing, to be sure, and it seemed like the kind of unique, artsy game that we've enjoyed before on Sony's PlayStation Network. There's nothing wrong with that, and we look forward to spending more time with it and seeing what it really has to offer. It did nothing to demonstrate the hardware's strengths, though.

Early verdict

With its cheaper price point and less restrictive DRM policies, the PS4 already seems to have the Xbox One on the run. We still think it would be naive to consider Microsoft's system down for the count, though.

Exclusive titles, and maybe even some backpedaling on its internet connectivity demands, could right the Xbox One's ship. A new Halo and the Call of Duty-with-mechs titled Titanfall have already piqued a lot of interest.

Also, Sony's supposed DRM-free policy is not quite as black and white as it seemed during Sony's Tuesday press conference. Yes, it supports used games - theoretically. In reality, third-party publishers can still impose whatever restrictions they want, just like they've always been able to, Sony's spokespeople at E3 revealed. EA's online pass is a good example of what that might entail. Sony has promised that its first-party games will feature no such restrictions at least.

Sony still hasn't given gamers a precise release date or a firm list of launch titles. It's still saying "holiday 2013" and has only confirmed a handful of day one titles, like Warframe, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Knack and Drive Club. Sony did confirm this week that the PlayStation 4 has 30 announced exclusives, 20 of which will launch within the first year. Twelve of those are completely new IPs. Sony spokespeople at E3 said that there are 140 PS4 titles in development total, 100 of which will be released in the first year.

At this point we only know of one launch bundle, which will include the console with a 500GB hard drive (it may be an SSD, but Sony wouldn't say either way this week), one controller, an HDMI cable, and an earbud headset for voice chat. There may also be other SKUs, but Sony hasn't detailed them yet. The PlayStation Camera (don't call it the PlayStation Eye!) will be available at launch for $59.99, spokespeople confirmed.

If the Xbox One and PS4 do end up going toe-to-toe in November, this holiday season will be a battlefield fit for a video game.

Review: Updated: Google Nexus 10

James Rogerson — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 13:23:00 GMT

Introduction

The Google Nexus 10 was an entirely expected model late last year, taking on the iPad in the 10-inch segment and joining the Google Nexus 7 on the virtual Play Store shelves. With a stunning screen, fun rubber body and a lower price, is this the tablet you should be craving?

It wasn't going to be an easy fight for Google; the iPad has always been in a league of its own and had a serious head start, but Google wasn't entering the fray unprepared.

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knQlOkN8uXE

At £319 for the 16GB model the Google Nexus 10 is £80 cheaper than the equivalent iPad 4. In fact even the 32GB model, with its price tag of £389 comes in at slightly under a 16GB iPad 4 and a whole £90 cheaper than a 32GB one.

Don't think that just because it's relatively cheap it's not a premium, powerhouse device though. With a retina-searing 10.05-inch 2560 x 1600 Super PLS display, it's even higher resolution than the latest iPad, with 300 pixels per inch against the iPad 4's 264ppi.

That makes it the highest resolution tablet in existence. With a display that beautiful it's reassuring to know that it uses Corning Gorilla Glass 2 to keep it in pristine condition.

It's no slouch under the hood either. With a dual-core 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos processor and 2GB of RAM, it should just about be able to keep up with the latest Android devices, though it's starting to look a bit long in the tooth compared to the likes of the quad-core Sony Xperia Tablet Z.

It comes with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, and being a pure Google tablet it will be one of the first devices to get the next version of Android too, keeping it up to date and future-proofed for as long as possible. In fact it's already seen a minor update to Android 4.2.2, which doesn't do a whole lot visibly, since it's mostly just bug fixes and stability enhancements.

It's a similar tactic to the one used for the Google Nexus 7 - produce top-end hardware at the lowest price possible to get people buying. It's even learned a few lessons from the Nexus 7, since this time Google isn't bothering with a cripplingly small 8GB model and is making a 32GB version available from day one.

But opting for a dual-core processor rather than a quad-core one was a little surprising, and while it's a lot less money than the latest iPad, the Google Nexus 10 could hardly be called cheap. So perhaps in this case it's high-end hardware at a not unreasonable price, which somehow doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

Early sales of the Google Nexus 10 were extremely promising. Despite the slightly higher price tag compared to some other Android tablets on the market, the Nexus 10 has sold out on Google's Play Store on multiple occasions, with buyers clearly entranced by the super high resolution screen and larger dimensions.

It remained a top seller over the Christmas period, and stock started to slowly creep back online at the beginning of the year. Both the 16GB and 32GB versions now seem to be in stock most of the time as demand has slowed down, but it's remained a solid seller.

Right now the Google Nexus 10 is Wi-Fi only. We had expected a 3G (or even 4G) version to turn up, since a 3G version of the Nexus 7 was made available a while after launch, but we're still waiting.

So we're beginning to think that any 3G or 4G will have to wait for the next Nexus (the Nexus 11? the Nexus 10 2?). That's a shame and quite a big omission, though it probably won't be too long until its successor arrives.

Features

The Google Nexus 10 feels quite weighty, particularly if your last tablet experience was the Google Nexus 7, but at 603g it's pretty average for a tablet of this size, and comes in lighter than the iPad 4.

With dimensions of 203.9 x 177.6 x 8.9mm it's slightly longer and thinner than the latest iPad, giving it more of a wide screen experience for watching movies.

The slightly curved edges make it comfortable to hold in two hands for long periods (one handed holding is pretty much a non-starter), though if you're planning to watch movies on it you might find that your hands start to ache before the credits roll, so it would be worth getting a stand of some kind for it or just finding something to rest it on.

There are rumours of a pogo stand coming soon which would allow magnetic charging on the dock, but we're still awaiting official confirmation of that.

It's also not quite as comfortable to hold as the Nexus 7, not just because of their relative weights, but also because the back of the Nexus 7 is slightly soft and warm, while the Nexus 10 is cold, hard plastic through and through. Though on the plus side it's rubbery, which provides grip.

The Google Nexus 10's 2GB of RAM is double that of the iPad 4, Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 or the Nexus 7. While it's only a dual core device, each core is clocked at 1.7GHz, which is just about the fastest we've come across on a tablet, trampling all over the poor Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 with its mere 1GHz dual core processor.

However the new Sony Xperia Tablet Z also has 2GB of RAM (not to mention a quad-core processor) and with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S4 rocking a 1.9GHz quad-core processor we don't expect it will be long before tablets start upping their game too, at which point the poor old Google Nexus 10 probably won't look quite so impressive.

The Google Nexus 10 also comes with Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC support, although the former spec isn't the low-power sensor technology we expect to come on most devices these days.

It comes with an enormous 9,000mAh Lithium polymer battery, promising 9 hours of video, 7 hours of web browsing or 90 hours of music.

In theory that gives it slightly more juice than a Nexus 7 but possibly slightly less than the iPad 4 with its monstrous 11,666 mAh battery.

Unfortunately, much like the iPad 4, the battery in the Google Nexus 10 can't be removed. So you don't have the option to swap in a spare when it runs down, while if it ever wears out you're out of luck.

Following suit from the Nexus 7, the front of the device is a single sheet of glass, with no buttons to spoil the lines. We've already mentioned how jaw dropping the display resolution is, but it's worth noting that it has superb viewing angles too.

We tried looking at it in every conceivable position and from different distances and the display was always clear and sharp.

It even fares well in bright sunlight. It became harder to see but never became totally washed out. Plus you can turn the brightness up pretty high, which helps burn through the glare.

It's not a total victory though, because while the resolution is unparalleled for a tablet, the contrast between colours is a bit muted - they're never as bright or deep as they could be - especially if you've seen the amazing Super AMOLED HD screen on the Samsung Galaxy S4.

There's a black border around the display that you can rest your thumbs on and a narrow speaker running the length of each of the shorter sides.

The 1.9 megapixel front camera lens can be found in the middle of one of the longer sides, which suggests that unlike its little brother, the Google Nexus 10 is intended to be used primarily as a landscape device. Next to it you'll notice an ambient light sensor, which will automatically dim the screen in low light.

At the opposite side there's a little indicator light that flashes whenever you get a notification, be it an email, a reminder or whatever else. When it's not flashing it's all but invisible.

The top edge of the Google Nexus 10 houses the power button, which is also used to sleep and wake the device. Just to the right of that there's a volume rocker. It's a great position as it's easy to reach whether you hold the tablet in portrait or landscape orientation. Our only minor complaint is that the volume rocker is only slightly bigger than the power button, making it easy to mistake one for the other.

On the left edge there's a micro USB port, used for charging the tablet or to connect it to a PC or other USB device. Next to that there's a 3.5mm headphone port.

On the right edge there's a micro HDMI port, which was sorely lacking from the Google Nexus 7.

On the bottom edge there's a magnetic pogo pin charging port, which is used to connect it to a dock.

Turn the Google Nexus 10 over and you'll find a big speaker at the top, along with the main 5 megapixel camera lens, which is also capable of shooting 1080p video at 30fps. Below that the casing is a hard, rubbery plastic shell with the words 'Nexus' and 'Samsung' stencilled into it.

The Google Nexus 10 feels sturdy and well made and it doesn't look cheap, but it also doesn't look particularly premium. That's a bit of a problem, particularly when it's been positioned as an iPad 4 competitor.

It's not just the plastic shell that lets it down, as the rounded shape makes it look a bit childish - like a 'my first tablet'. And while we're on the subject of the plastic shell, the Nexus 7 was plasticky as well, but the mottled, slightly soft back on that was far more aesthetically pleasing and felt nicer to hold as well.

That's not the Google Nexus 10's only problem either, as with no micro SD card slot there's no option for expandable storage. Sure the iPad 4 doesn't have that either, but micro SD support has always been one of the key differentiators between Android and iOS - although Google has always been against it on the Nexus brand, so we weren't hopeful it would pop up here.

It's arguably a bigger problem here than on a phone too, because tablets are all about media consumption, so it's expected that you'll be loading it up with films, music and games.

32GB will still probably be enough for most people, but the 16GB version may quickly start to feel limiting. In any case, it's a not unexpected omission, but with a price tag that's not as crippling as the likes of the iPad 4 or the Sony Xperia Tablet Z it's far from a deal-breaker.

Interface and performance

When you turn the Google Nexus 10 on you're greeted with the standard Android Jelly Bean lock screen. It displays wallpaper, which can be changed to anything of your choosing.

At the top the time is written in big white writing. Below that there's the day and date in smaller writing and lower still a padlock icon, which you can slide left to launch the camera, right to unlock the tablet or up to launch Google Now.

We've seen Google Now before on the first version of Android Jelly Bean 4.1; it shows 'cards' with useful information determined based on the time, day and your location, along with any custom parameters you've put in place. So for example it might display a card with the local weather every morning, along with one showing traffic details for the route you take to work.

Throughout the day it will update with upcoming calendar events and interesting nearby places. It's a great idea, a sort of visual virtual assistant, but it felt a bit too limited as it only had a handful of cards on offer.

Android 4.2 has seen it get a bit of an overhaul with loads more cards added. These include things like flight information, event, hotel and restaurant booking confirmations, movie times at local cinemas, interesting photo spots in the local area and more besides.

All in all it makes Google Now a lot more full featured and a lot closer to fulfilling its potential.

Since then it's seen even more updates, with new cards showing real-time public transport information, along with recommendations for upcoming albums and movies that you might be interested in.

You can also now use your voice to tell it to set reminders, which you can set to go off on a specific time and date or even at a specific location. For example you could ask it to remind you to buy eggs next time you're in Tesco.

As before, Google Now can be launched from any screen by dragging the home button upwards, and for anything that isn't covered by your cards you can initiate a voice search, which will either give a spoken answer like Siri or perform a web search and display relevant results.

It can also be used to perform simple actions such as launching apps and it does a pretty good job of understanding what you're asking.

Google Now is a great feature and it's now even more useful; however, it's better suited to phones than tablets, as you're more likely to have your phone on and with you throughout the day. Not to mention the fact that it requires a data connection and right now the Nexus 10 is Wi-Fi only, so you won't be able to use Google Now all that much when out and about.

Once on the homescreen it's standard, familiar Android through and through. There's a search bar at the top which can be used to search both Google and the tablet's contents through text or voice.

The voice search is the same as the one used in Google Now, so you can get spoken answers and launch apps with it.

At the bottom of the screen you'll find the standard Android dock, which initially has icons for the app drawer, the Chrome browser, Gmail, Play Books, Play Movies, Play Music, YouTube, and Google Play in it, along with a folder full of other Google apps such as Google Plus, Maps, People and Currents. Of course other than the app drawer these can all be removed from the dock or swapped for other apps and shortcuts.

There are five home screens available for you to fill with whatever apps, folders and widgets you want and you just swipe across the screen to flip between them. The screen is incredibly smooth and responsive as you'd expect from a high end tablet.

There's no sign of judder or slow down, just silky smooth transitions, which is impressive as even the quad core Google Nexus 7 has the occasional hiccup but in our time with the Nexus 10 it performed almost flawlessly.

A black bar at the bottom of the screen contains the back button, which cycles back to the previous screen you were on. To the right of it there's the menu button which takes you back to your homescreens; alternatively if you swipe upwards from it Google Now will open.

Finally, to the right of that there's the multi-task button. Tapping that brings up thumbnails of all your open apps and windows; tapping on one will switch to it while swiping across it will close it. It's worth re-iterating that none of these are physical buttons, they're software ones.

At the very top of each screen there's another thin black bar showing the time, the battery level and any active connections, such as Wi-Fi. Swiping down across the black bar brings down the notifications bar and this is a bit different to what we're used to. Previously there was just one notifications bar, but with Android 4.2 you get two.

Slide down across the left side of the screen and you get the familiar one with the time and date at the top and any un-cleared notifications listed. These include things like emails, calendar events and social network updates. It shows you the sender (where applicable) along with the first couple of lines of text to give you a preview of the contents, while tapping on it will open the full message or details. An icon at the top right of the notifications screen will let you clear it.

So far, so familiar, but if you slide down from the top right of the tablet screen you'll get a different notifications bar altogether, or rather, a settings bar. It's a thin black strip that takes up roughly half the width of the screen and is overlaid on top of whatever screen you were on, much like the standard notifications screen.

However rather than notifications it has options to adjust the brightness, turn aeroplane mode on or off, turn Wi-Fi on or off and more. You can also get to the main settings screen from here.

Despite the fact that they would both fit on the screen (in landscape orientation at any rate), you can't bring both of these bars down at once, as trying to bring a second one down will close the first.

Tapping on the app drawer at the bottom of your home screen brings up a list of all your apps. You can swipe between pages, much like you swipe between homescreens. Tapping on an app will open it while long pressing it will let you add it to one of your homescreens, delete it or view information on it (such as the size).

There's also a widgets tab in the app drawer, which lets you see a preview of how any widgets would look, while long pressing one lets you place it on the homescreen. When placing a widget or app, anything else on the homescreen will move around to accommodate it. You can also create folders to keep things organised.

One major addition that was made to the Google Nexus 10 with the update to Android 4.2 is the Multiple Users feature. This enables you to create multiple user accounts, each with their own name, apps, accounts, widgets and Google Play logins.

It's a brilliant way of making the tablet more sociable, since you can share it with family and friends without your privacy being threatened and without constantly having to sign in and out of accounts.

You can create new user areas quickly and easily from the settings screen, and once done they'll each have their own circular icon on the lock screen, which you tap on to switch between them.

Messaging and browser

Messaging

The keyboard on the Google Nexus 10 is very accurate and responsive, there's never any delay when typing and unlike the Nexus 7 it features haptic feedback to provide more of a tactile sensation. Another new feature of the keyboard is 'gesture typing'.

This works a lot like 'Swype' - an app which has been available on certain handsets for a while now. Specifically it lets you slide your finger across letters to create words rather than typing them. It's surprisingly fast and intuitive and for our money it works at least as well as Swype. There's also a fairly accurate voice option, which lets you speak what you want to type - although it's not accurate enough for us to have full confidence in it.

However you choose to enter text, the keyboard also does a good job of predicting what word you're trying to enter and auto-correcting any mistakes.

It's a big keyboard too, meaning that it's easy to hit the right key and as a result mistakes are rare to begin with. Despite the size there's still plenty of screen visible with it open, both in portrait and landscape. As always with Android if you don't get on with the keyboard there are plenty of alternative options available from Google Play.

The settings screen can be accessed either from a button on the notifications screen or from its own dedicated icon and as the name suggests this lets you tweak all the various options on the Google Nexus 10. For the most part it's identical to the settings screen on any other Android device, with options for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, display, storage, privacy and more.

However there is a new addition in the form of 'Daydreams'. This lets you set up a custom screen saver whenever the tablet is docked or charging.

There are options for a clock, photos from your gallery, moving colours or, perhaps most interestingly, stories from sources you're subscribed to on Google Currents. It's a minor feature and you may prefer for the screen to just turn off when plugged in (which is still an option), but it's a nice addition if you want it.

All in all the Google Nexus 10 is slick, fast and powerful. The current version of Android combined with top flight specs make it almost as smooth to operate as an iOS device.

It's almost as intuitive as well, but with an added layer of customisation available if you want it, making it suitable for both those new to tablets and the more tech savvy. It boots up in around 17 seconds and shuts down in around 14, times which are fast enough to make it a convenient device to use even just for a few minutes at a time.

Browser

The only way to connect to the web on the Google Nexus 10 is via Wi-Fi. We had originally expected and hoped that a 3G version might turn up, but unfortunately it's MIA.

On the Wi-Fi front what you get specifically is dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n. It also supports Wi-Fi direct.

Browsing on the device is lightning fast, with text and image heavy full desktop sites loading in around 5 seconds. With the screen's 2560 x 1600 resolution pages look crystal clear and rarely need zooming at all. If you do decide to zoom in you can do so with a pinch or a double tap, and none of the shine is lost, with everything just as crisp and clear as when it's zoomed out.

Scrolling on the browser is generally fast and smooth, letting you glide around pages with ease and making it very fast to navigate. We say generally because surprisingly there were a few occasions where it seemed a bit jerky (namely content-heavy sites), but never enough to spoil the browsing experience.

The Google Nexus 10 comes with the Chrome browser, which is one of the best mobile browsers around and not a million miles away from the desktop version.

The top of the screen contains the address bar, which you can tap on to type an address or search query. There's also a microphone icon at the right hand side of it, which lets you use voice search.

To the left of the address bar there are forwards and backwards arrows, allowing you to move backwards and forwards through pages that you've visited. There's also a refresh button to reload the current page.

A star in the address bar lets you quickly bookmark pages while an icon at the far right lets you open new tabs, view your bookmarks, share the current page or access the browser settings screen.

The settings screen in turn has most of the options you'd expect, from auto filling in forms, to which search engine it should use, as well as options to save passwords, block pop ups and more. There's no Flash support, but in practice we didn't really miss it - although you will currently butt up against the lack of support until HTML5 video becomes more prevalent across the web.

If you have more than one tab open these will all be visible at the very top of the screen and you can switch between them with a tap. You can also open or close tabs from here, so there's no need to delve into the menu.

Bookmarks are shown as thumbnails and from the bookmarks menu you can see your most visited sites. If you enable syncing between devices you can also view and access tabs that are open in Chrome on other devices.

It's all very straightforward and intuitive but there are plenty of other browsers available for download if you don't get on with Chrome.

Whichever browser you use, the Nexus 10 is one of the best tablets on offer for web browsing. Pages are crisp and clear, they can be displayed in their full screen glory without the need to zoom in and sites load very quickly.

Movies, music and books

Media is the lifeblood of any tablet so we'll say it straight off - the Google Nexus 10 does not disappoint in that regard. Google Play will always be the first stop for media consumption. You can rent and buy movies and there's a respectable selection on offer. There are also thousands of books available to download.

Movies and books each have their own dedicated apps too, in the form of Play Movies and Play Books. These are primarily players, but there are also links in them to the relevant parts of Google Play for all your purchasing needs, and they work really well.

The Play Movies app displays images of all your side-loaded videos, along with information, such as the run time and a synopsis. It also displays suggestions for things to buy or rent - that may or may not be a good thing depending on your outlook, but it's not very intrusive.

The Google Nexus 10 can also support a wide range of codecs, with anything from MP4 to H.264 to DivX playing happily on the device. We even got some AVIs chugging away on here, so you'll be fully stocked in a way Apple can't / won't manage on the new iPad 4.

Once you actually play a video you get a progress bar along the bottom which you can drag or tap to move to different points in the video; tapping the video itself will pause it and an icon at the top right allows you to share it to supported services, such as YouTube.

It's a basic set of options but it covers the important stuff. More importantly HD videos look stunning on the Nexus 10 and they sound pretty good too, as even the internal speakers can reach a respectable volume, and being forward-facing mean the tablet can be happily used without headphones (as long as nobody else is around to annoy).

You're not limited to the stock player either, as there are dozens more available from Google Play, many of which are a lot more fully featured.

Movie Studio and YouTube

A 'Movie Studio' app also comes pre-installed and this lets you create video projects by filming or importing videos, then splicing them together, cutting bits and adding images and music or other sounds. It doesn't allow much depth, but again there are other video editors available to download, some of which are free.

There's also a dedicated YouTube app included with the Nexus 10, putting the entire YouTube library at your fingertips. This is nothing unusual as most phones and tablets come with a YouTube app, but it's quick, easy to navigate and gives you yet another way to consume media.

There are so many other video apps available to download though. For example there's a Netflix app on Google Play, which gives you full access to the streaming service on your tablet - assuming you have an account.

Play Books and Currents

Play Books is pretty similar to Play Movies in terms of its features. There's an attractive display of all your books when you open it. Tapping on any of them will take you to the point you last read up to and let you continue reading.

Once again the high resolution screen makes this a joy, as text is crisp and clear. You can read in portrait or landscape and reading in landscape gives a great impression of a real book, with two pages visible at once. You swipe to turn the page and an attractive page-turn transition accompanies it.

You can have books read aloud, change the typeface and font size, add bookmarks and notes and more. As with most other things on Android you're not limited to the stock reader either, there are all sorts of others available from Google Play, including Kobo and Kindle, which have their own bookstores attached.

The Nexus 10 size, however, is not the most conducive to reading, as it's rather large and the screen expansive.

In addition to Play Books, the Nexus 10 also comes with 'Currents', which lets you set up feeds for websites that you like and then it presents up to date content from them in a layout that looks a lot like a magazine. It's a very attractive app and a great way of consuming web media.

Finding both books and videos on Google Play is easy to do, with an image focussed layout, categories and the ability to search for specific titles or authors.

Play Music and more

Finally we come to music, and Play Music really is an impressive beast. The basic options are fairly standard, enabling you to sort music by artist, album, song or genre and create playlists, as well as giving you an equaliser to play with.

But a recent update has made things a bit more interesting, since not only has it redesigned the whole look of the app, it has also added Instant Mixes. This enables you to pick any song in your library and have Play Music then instantly create a playlist of similar music, which is great if you don't want to listen to a whole album or any of your existing playlists, since it saves you the effort of having to make a new one.

Once you've got some music going you can pause it, play it or skip track from the notifications bar and the lock screen, so you don't lose control if you leave the player.

It's a decent selection of settings and an attractive player, with a focus on album artwork, but it's nothing amazing. So why are we so impressed? Because you can upload up to 20,000 songs to the cloud for free and stream or download them to any PC or Android device.

We'd wager that 20,000 songs is more music than many people even have, and not only does it provide a handy back up, but it gives you access to them anywhere with an internet connection. Plus none of the music that you download from the Play Store is counted towards your limit, so aside from being a great ploy from Google to ensure future customers it also means that your entire future music collection can be stored online for free if you stick with it.

This is the future of the cloud right here, or at least we hope it is, and it goes a long way towards overcoming any internal storage limitations.

The implementation isn't perfect, you can unsurprisingly only stream your music using the Play Music app (though there's nothing to stop you downloading it and then listening to it on other players). We also had some issues getting our music uploaded, first off it's incredibly slow - uploading 20,000 tracks will likely take days or even weeks.

Secondly, thousands of our tracks encountered errors during upload and were skipped over as a result. It seems that uninstalling the PC client and then re-installing it sort of helped, causing some of the missing tracks to upload, but we still encountered errors on a large number.

But if and when you get your music online it really is fantastic having free access to your entire library on the move - and it's much, much cheaper than the same service on iTunes Match or from Amazon, which only allow a limited amount of uploading (or none at all) before having to spend £21.99 to achieve the same thing.

For any music downloaded to the tablet you also have plenty of other players to choose from, so you're not totally tied to Play Music, and the internal speakers are decently loud.

Most of the media players (both Google's own and those available for download) have widgets too, which lets you access and control them from your homescreen.

In terms of supported file types for music and video you're looking at MP4, H.264, DivX, WMV, MP3, WAV, eAAC+, WMA and Flac, so a pretty impressive selection, but there are plug-ins and players available from Google Play that cover just about every unsupported file type, for example MKV's. So whatever format your media is in you should be able to get it to play one way or another.

Aside from downloading or streaming you can also get media onto the Google Nexus 10 by plugging it into a PC through the micro USB port. Once done you can access the tablet through Windows Explorer and easily copy and paste or drag and drop videos, music and books to and from it.

A micro HDMI port lets you hook the Nexus 10 up to a monitor or screen and view media on that, while Wi-Fi direct allows you to stream content to supported devices.

The only real failing on the media front is the lack of a micro SD card slot, and even with cloud storage for music that really is a big deal, as Google's free cloud service doesn't help for videos or games or for when there's no internet connection.

Its absence is no surprise, since Google seem to have shunned micro SD support for its whole Nexus range, but it's still disappointing. If you plan to use the Nexus 10 for media you should think very carefully about what size to buy, since that internal storage is all you get and it's very easy to fill 16GB.

It's a tough call as to which of the iPad 4 or Nexus 10 is the better media device. The Google Nexus 10 is far more versatile, with support for just about every file type under the sun, numerous players to choose from, widgets and free cloud storage.

The iPad conversely is a lot more locked down. It supports far fewer file types, everything has to be synced through iTunes and you're pretty much stuck with Apple's iPod player. But it's also got simplicity on its side - things either work or they don't and there's not much to get to grips with.

Then there's iTunes too, which has the edge over Google Play in terms of media content.
Where Apple once had an advantage with its Retina display Google have not only closed the gap but actually topped it in resolution terms at any rate.

That said the Nexus 10 isn't quite so impressive with its handling of colours, as they're never as deep or rich as some of its competitors - the iPad included.

If you're moderately tech-savvy and not already entrenched in iTunes, then we'd give the Nexus 10 the edge, but if you want to keep things simple or already have your whole library in iTunes, then the iPad wins.

Apps and games

Google Play is your one stop shop for apps and games on the Google Nexus 10. Android recently matched Apple for number of available apps, hitting 700,000. It continues to grow faster than Apple's app store too, so it will likely be the first to hit the big 1 million.

Of course it also doesn't have the quality control and approval process of Apple's store, so a large number of those apps will be totally useless, but that still leaves hundreds of thousands of genuinely worthwhile ones.

Navigating the store is easy, with everything split into categories and you can also just search by name if you know roughly what you're looking for. Purchasing apps is easy too, as you simply register your bank details with Google and then you can buy and download anything in a couple of taps.

If you've already got an Android device you can also ask the Nexus 10 to sync with your account and automatically download any apps that you've previously purchased.

In terms of apps, as opposed to games, Android fares pretty well against Apple. Thanks to being such an open system there are many types of apps that you won't find at all on iDevices, such as new launchers, plug-ins that let you customise the lockscreen or notifications bar, new keyboards and more.

As a general rule if there's something you don't like on the software side, or something you wish you could do, there'll be an app to fix it. It can be very liberating and lets you set up your Nexus 10 exactly how you want it.

You're not even limited to using Google Play to find apps as there are several other stores around as well. There's a lot of overlap in apps between the stores of course, but they're not identical.

There aren't all that many apps on the Google Nexus 10 out of the box though. Other than the various media apps, it comes with a Calendar, which of course can be synced with your Google calendar and supports reminders.

There's also a calculator, a clock with a stop watch and timer, and a gallery (which syncs to your Google account - so any pictures you take on your phone can be viewed on your tablet and vice versa). Then there's the standard selection of Google apps - Maps, Navigation, People, Earth and Google Plus.

Plus of course you get the Gmail and Email apps that come with most Android devices. These are quick and easy to set up - in fact Gmail sets itself up, you can get push notifications for new emails and reading and composing emails in either of them is a breeze.

Where Android doesn't fare so well is games. Don't get us wrong, there's a huge selection available, but it's dwarfed by what's available on Apple devices and thanks to the huge number of different Android devices with different specs, many game developers are reluctant to develop for the platform.

Unfortunately it's a situation that's not likely to change for the foreseeable future, so if you plan on playing a lot of games on your tablet, an iPad should always be your number one choice.

That said, playing games on the Google Nexus 10 is a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Once again the stunning screen really helps, allowing Android games to dazzle like never before. With its 1.7GHz dual core processor and 2GB of RAM it doesn't miss a beat in terms of performance either, effortlessly tackling HD games with no noticeable drops in frame rate.

Camera

The Google Nexus 10 has a 5 megapixel camera, along with a secondary 1.9 megapixel front facing snapper. As ever we're really not sure how useful having a camera on a tablet is.

The front facing camera makes some sense as it could be used for Skype and other webcam things, but we have trouble envisaging anyone taking their tablet out to snap pictures on. If anything the front camera should maybe get a boost in quality, even if it meant dropping the megapixel count on the rear camera.

Using the Nexus 10 has done nothing to change our minds about the usefulness of a camera on a tablet. It managed to capture some reasonable quality snaps but nothing particularly eye catching.

In fact it can't even match the camera performance of most high end smartphones, which really makes it a bit pointless, since a smartphone is both more portable and by extension more likely to be with you when you're out and about. Plus taking pictures on a tablet inevitably leaves you looking ridiculous.

Still, if you do decide to use your Nexus 10 as a camera there are at least a few different settings to play with. You can turn flash on or off and pick between a handful of scene modes, such as 'action' and 'night'. There's also a panorama mode and the big new feature - 'Photo Sphere'.

Photo Sphere extends the panorama idea by letting you take full 360 degree photo's, which can then be viewed in a similar way to Google's 'Street View' service- letting you look up, down and around. In practice- like panorama shots, it's a series of connected photos.

Unlike panorama it doesn't always look particularly seamless with odd distortions often appearing in the image where someone has moved or photos have overlapped. Still it's a neat concept and a decent way of bringing a scene to life for those times when video is just too 2011.

Click here for the full resolution image

We're not sure whether Photo Sphere is much more than a novelty, but we reckon there will be occasions where it's of some use. Taking a Photo Sphere image takes a lot longer than a single photo or even a panorama- so if time is of the essence then you're best off resisting.

Video

The Google Nexus 10 can shoot video in Full HD 1080p, but as with the camera we struggle to muster much enthusiasm for it, as we can't think of many occasions when we'd find ourselves reaching for our tablet to film on rather than our phone.

Again, the one real exception is the front facing camera, as we could see that getting some use for Skype and the like, but the main video camera, not so much. Still, with just about every other tablet on the planet packing photo and video capabilities Google and Samsung would be foolish to omit it from this.

The video camera's performance roughly matches photos when used indoors. It captures solid quality footage and doesn't take long to refocus when panning.

The video camera manages a reasonable amount of detail in outdoor scenes, though some of that is lost on objects in the background. Fast moving vehicles appear slightly blurred but don't come out too bad.

Battery life

The Google Nexus 10 comes with a pretty hefty 9,000 mAh lithium polymer battery. But although it's a big battery it's also got a big screen to power- slightly bigger even than an iPad's. Google and Samsung are claiming that it will offer 9 hours of video, 7 hours of web browsing or 90 hours of music. They're all pretty solid figures and in general the day to day performance matched them.

For general mixed use the battery performed admirably, easily seeing out a day or more with a mix of web browsing, reading, listening to music and taking a fair few photos and videos. That's with it on all day and emails and Facebook updates being pushed to it.

But when watching videos it didn't fare quite so well, with the battery dropping by 1% every five minutes or so. We ran our standard battery test on the tablet- turning the screen to full brightness, putting emails and social networks to push notifications and running a ninety minute video from full battery.

At the end the Nexus 10 had dropped to 71%. That's a slightly faster drop than we seemed to experience anecdotally during general use.

The only difference was the screen brightness, so it seems clear that the screen is by far the biggest drain- particularly when turned to full capacity.

Thankfully you shouldn't need it on full brightness most of the time. Plus you can set it to automatically adjust the brightness based on your environment, which is probably your best bet if you want to make sure you're always getting the best experience while maximising the Nexus 10's battery life.

Indeed with the screen off, even with music playing, it can go around 40 minutes without a noticeable drop, so the 90 hours of music claim doesn't seem too unrealistic.

The gist of all this is that battery life will depend on what you use it for, but since most tasks require having the screen on and that's such a big drain it's ultimately pretty average. Not bad enough to let the side down, but not particularly impressive either.

Hands on gallery

Official gallery

Verdict

The Google Nexus 10 is an incredibly important product for Google. The brand entered the tablet market with the Nexus 7, but was only really competing with other Android tablets - it was friendly competition and it was against devices that by and large had struggled to achieve much market share anyway - at least until the iPad Mini arrived.

The Google Nexus 10 had more to live up to, because it was inevitably compared to the iPad 4, which is one of Apple's most successful products. In short Google couldn't afford to get this wrong, so it needed to hit the ground running in the larger tablet market. And even then it was going to be an uphill struggle to make much of a dent in the iPad's sales.

Google clearly realised this, because it delivered a then top-end device with a world-beating screen (at least in resolution terms) and a comparatively modest price tag. But was it enough to topple the iPad and take its place at the top of the heap?

We liked

The display is one of the biggest talking points on the Google Nexus 10. At 300 pixels per inch it was the highest resolution tablet display on the planet when the Nexus 10 launched, and it still is now. This is a huge coup for Google and Samsung, since the Retina display on the iPad had always been one of its big selling points, though in recent months a number of iPhone-beating resolutions have turned up on Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One, so it's no longer quite as impressive a feat as it once seemed. But it's still enough to make it stand out from the tablet crowd.

Thanks to having such a great screen it's also superb for watching movies, web browsing and playing games on, delivering a hard to match performance for all three. Since media is such a big part of the tablet experience that's a really big deal.

It's a great performer too. Other than taking a while to process panoramic photos we never felt like it was struggling to keep up. It's fast and smooth whatever you throw at it.

Android 4.2 isn't a huge change from Android 4.1, but it brings with it a few nice additions such as Photo Sphere, Multiple Users and gesture typing. Being a pure Google device it will also be among the first devices to get subsequent versions of Android. In fact it's already seen a minor update to the functionally similar Android 4.2.2, and you can bet that it will receive Android 4.3 on day one, whenever that is, so it's moderately future-proofed in that sense.

Then there's the price tag, it might not be quite as rock bottom as the Google Nexus 7, but it's still a good £80 cheaper than the cheapest iPad 4, which makes it substantially friendlier on the wallet.

We disliked

Let's not beat around the bush - the Google Nexus 10 isn't the most attractive device out. It's shown up by the Nexus 7 and blown away by the iPad in the appearance stakes. It doesn't look cheap as such, but it doesn't look great either.

The biggest problem though is arguably its lack of storage. There's no micro SD card slot and the biggest version you can buy is only 32GB.

If you want to load it up with movies, music and games then even with that you'll find that you quickly run out of space. Free cloud storage for music helps a little, but doesn't eradicate the problem.

Ultimately unless most of your media is streamed you're likely to run out of space and the cheaper 16GB version will feel even more limited.

The lack of a 3G or 4G version of the Nexus 10 is also disappointing. If Google wants to be able to compete with the iPad, it needs to be able to match what Apple's iPad can offer, and in this case the Nexus 10 is found lacking. For a while we'd held out hope that Google and Samsung might release an updated version with 3G and possibly also 4G, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen, unfortunately.

Verdict

The Google Nexus 10 is clearly a brilliant tablet. It has high-end specs at a mid-range price, and that alone makes it deserving of attention. Add to that a generally stunning screen and near faultless performance and it really does start to look like an iPad beater.

But after spending some time with it we can't quite be as enthusiastic as we'd like. The lack of expandable storage combined with the fairly limited internal storage really hampers its media capabilities. Since tablets are for most people a media-centric device that's a real issue and the single biggest problem with the Google Nexus 10, along with the screen offering slightly muted colours and contrast ratios.

We don't want to end on a negative note though, since most of the other problems are little more than nitpicking, and it really is an impressive device. If you want a 10.1-inch Android tablet this is still easily one of the best there is, and in this price range it's absolutely the best. The Sony Xperia Tablet Z beats it and the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity arguably does too, but they both also cost a fair bit more.

Looking away from Android we come to the biggest question - how does it fare against the iPad? The reality is that there's not that much in it.

The iPad no longer boasts the highest resolution screen around and is left looking overpriced, while iOS 6 is starting to seem a bit old hat compared to Android 4.2. But it still tops the Nexus 10's display for depth of colour; it's got a much more premium build and is available with more storage and 3G connectivity.

Ultimately, other than the price, there's little reason for Apple fans to jump ship to the Nexus 10, equally the Nexus 10 puts up enough of a defence to keep the Android faithful happy.

If Google and Samsung were to retool it with a micro SD card slot and 3G and 4G connectivity then we might have a new king on our hands. But for now if we have to pick a winner we'd say that the iPad edges the victory - just.

Hands-on review: E3 2013: Mad Catz Mojo Android console

Alex Roth — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:08:00 GMT

There's more than one console war brewing at E3 2013. In the shadow of the PS4 and Xbox One, affordable Android-based systems are all the rage. With the Mojo, peripheral maker Mad Catz is throwing its hat into the ring.

It's calling the Mojo a "micro-console" and says it runs a stock version of Android. Better yet, the Mojo will bring any and all Google Play, Amazon and Nvidia Tegra Zone purchases users have previously made into their living rooms. That means music, movies and, most importantly, games.

Everyone likes a free game with their new console, just look at Wii Sports. Google Play access could be the Mojo's biggest selling point.

Media, streaming services, apps, even word processors; anything you've bought on your smartphone or tablet the Mojo will bring to your television. That sets it apart from the biggest name Android console gaming, the kickstarting wonder Ouya, which will have its own ecosystem.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that Ouya is choosing to create its own storefront. In fact, if they run it well, it good be a real advantage. It's just the fact that purchases people have already made on Android won't be recognized.

As for release date and price, Mad Catz wouldn't get too specific. It's just saying "holiday 2013," and that the system will be "more than $100." While a lot of the details are being withheld, Mad Catz gave us plenty of play time with its new system.

The little black box by Mad Catz

The Ouya and the Mojo have more in common than odd names and an Android brain. When we sampled the Ouya at GDC 2013, we were struck by its small size. The Mojo is similarly demure, little enough to fit in your hand.

On the outside it's plastic and asymmetrically curved. Internally, it remains a mystery. Mad Catz wasn't ready to reveal the chip that will power the system, but has said that it will features "no less than 16GB of internal storage," and confirmed that it will support microSD expansion.

The Mojo will also be able to output in full 1080p, thanks to an HDMI connection. Of course, not every title in Google Play actually runs at a full HD resolution, but plenty of movies do. That and Netflix access will make the Mojo a nice competitor for set-top boxes like Apple TV and the Roku.

It also sports two full size USB ports and one micro USB. Our demonstration of the system used those connections to hookup a Mad Catz keyboard and mouse. However, Mad Catz made sure to point out that users will be able to connect any brand's USB accessories. Again, the Mojo's biggest strength seems to be bringing media and peripherals you already own into the living room.

The CTRLR: no vowels, plenty of Bluetooth

Mad Catz has a full catalog of headsets, controllers and fight sticks. Therefore it's no surprise that it plans to package its Mojo system with its CTRLR, the Bluetooth 4.0 gamepad of its own design.

The CTRLR gamepad reminded us of the controller S for the original Xbox. It felt a bit small in our hands, but otherwise very solidly constructed.

It was certainly a sturdier than the Ouya controller, which has a pleasant brushed metal exterior, but feels hollow and has mushy trigger pulls. Also, since the Mojo will work with any USB or Bluetooth gamepad, it'll be easy to toss the CTRLR to the side if you don't like it.

The CTRLR will also be sold separately, and has one more feature that shouldn't be overlooked: it packs a hinge that will let you attach a smartphone to it, just like a Moga Pro. However, unlike a Moga, it can't remain level while holding onto a Samsung Galaxy phone.

Still, the fact that Mad Catz has added this feature to the CTRLR like it's no big deal could raise eyebrows. The CTRLR does seem to be the more versatile device; if the price is right it could spell trouble for the Moga.

Even if its not your gaming preference, dedicated media buttons and a mouse mode - letting you drive the cursor with a thumbstick - will make it good to have around. We do wish that it had a built in rechargeable battery pack instead of two AAAs, but if it gets anywhere near the 40 hours of battery life Mad Catz is claiming, that will be a somewhat moot point.

Hitting the logo button in the middle of the gamepad returns you to a familiar Android home screen. Here you'll find Google Play access, as well as the Amazon and Tegra Zone market place. That gives the Mojo access to a variety of apps, even word processors. In a lot of ways, the Mojo is like a little living room computer.

While Mad Catz wasn't willing to reveal specs, the Mojo played a selection of Android titles admirably. Dead Trigger and Riptide GP, two more graphically intensive, both played flawlessly. The only game that didn't seem to be perfectly optimized was GTA III, which had a less than ideal framerate. We'd chalk that one up to the device's prototype status, though.

Early Verdict

Ever since the Ouya struck gold on Kickstarter, companies have been tripping over themselves to launch Android consoles and controllers. You've got PowerA's Moga, the upcoming Project Shield by Nvidia, and now the Mojo by Mad Catz.

Each one is sort of its own beast, most especially Shield, with its ability to stream PC games over WiFi, so it's almost too much of an apples and oranges comparison to name a winner. We will say that if Mad Catz has one killer feature with the Mojo, it's the way the system connects users to content and peripherals they already own.

Having all your Android games and movies as soon as you plug in a Mojo is even better than getting Wii Sports in the box. However, since Mad Catz won't be opening its own store and taking a cut of app purchases, that means it has to make money on the hardware, and price it for profit.

As we mentioned, Mad Catz wasn't ready to name a price, but said the Mojo would be "more than $100." We'll have to wait and see about a firm cost, and get a system in for a full review, but we remain cautiously optimistic about the Mojo and the Android console rush in general.

Hands-on review: E3 2013: Xbox One

Matt Swider — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:12:00 GMT

There's more to the Xbox One than meets the eye. Sure, Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference revealed a price that was higher than the PS4, and then Sony's media briefing brought down the house by making fun of its rival's insistence on daily check-ins and used games-crippling DRM.

The good news for Microsoft is that while all of the E3 theatrics were an unwanted distraction, the Xbox One console and its games provide serious next-generation innovations that no one else is doing right now.

The result is a number of "Why hasn't anyone thought of that before?" Xbox One features. From the so-far-superior Kinect camera to the live TV integration, Microsoft's system feels as if it isn't beholden to the past.

It's a forward-thinking system, and sometimes that's a bit jarring.

Xbox One design

Okay, Xbox One is forward-thinking everywhere but its chassis' boxy design. Compared to the Xbox 360, the new system typifies "It's what's on the inside that counts." Yes, Xbox One is a walking cliche.

The polished front of the console contains only a slot-loading disc drive that replaces the flimsy disc tray that current generation gamers have had to deal with on the Xbox 360. It also plays Blu-ray discs now. On both counts, Microsoft is catching up with PS3.

Where Xbox One surpasses even Sony's new machine is on the backside. While the minimalist front of the console contains exactly zero ports, the rear is filled with eight.

The most exciting of those eight connections is the HDMI In. This is where Microsoft makes the Xbox One truly an "all-in-one" device. When combined with the HDMI Out, this input port allows for pass-through technology that can take over a cable box signal. And we're talking real live TV, not some hokey app with a smattering of day-old TV shows.

Gone are the days of having to constantly switch inputs to flip between video games and TV. Now, with the Xbox One's triple-layered operating system, flipping back and forth is as easy as saying "Xbox, TV" and "Xbox, game."

This instant switching functionality is built into the new Kinect, which is finally a camera sensor that Microsoft's legion of core gamers are going to enjoy using. Furthermore, while the Xbox One is more expensive, it comes with this 1080p Kinect out of the box.

Sony has finally admitted that its similar PlayStation 4 Eye is being sold separately. That means more people are going to have a Kinect plugged into the console at all times. Only a fraction of PS4 gamers are likely to pony up for the PS4 Eye.

If 100 percent of Xbox One owners have a Kinect, more developers are going to take advantage of its next-generation functionality and make their games compatible with the sensor. Contrast that with the bound-to-be lower install base of Sony's camera add-on. It would naturally be less appealing in the eyes of developers if only a fraction of PS4 owners opt to buy the PS4 Eye.

Microsoft was also willing to share what the new Kinect can do, while the PS4's dual camera sensor remains somewhat of a mystery.

The smarter, more sophisticated sensor can process a whopping 2GB of data per second and track up to six skeletons at once. Microsoft's much-hyped Time-of-Flight technology also measures the time it takes photons to rebound off of a person or object.

This translates into a sensor that looks and feels much less like a toy when compared to the Xbox 360 Kinect controller.

Xbox One controller

Microsoft's real controller improves upon its eight-year-old predecessor thanks to subtle changes - changes that could maintain its status as console gamers' standard-bearing gamepad.

Of the more than 40 innovations that Microsoft literally puts in the hands of its Xbox faithful, its refined dual analog sticks are the most important. Not only are these two joysticks sleeker and smaller than the ones on the Xbox 360 controller, both contain a grippy micro-texture.

Sony may have been able to copy Xbox 360's dimpled thumbstick approach having seen its effectiveness in the last eight years. However, it didn't know to make the edges of its DualShock 4 texturized until May 21.

Another area in which Microsoft stands alone is in its unique idea to add impulse triggers to the Xbox One controller's left and right analog shoulder buttons. Not all Xbox One game demos have implemented this new technology, but the system's tech demos prove that it's a worthy refinement to the rumble concept that hasn't changed since its debut in 1997.

Our hands-on time with the DualShock 4 proves that Sony's gamepad is extremely enjoyable as well, and even leaps-and-bounds better than its DualShock 3 controller. Microsoft's changes are more subtle. The Xbox One's face buttons are slightly closer together for faster button-pressing and its trigger and bumper buttons are larger to the point in which they touch each other.

The Xbox One controller's changes aren't as revolutionary, but that's because Microsoft had tweaked its gamepad to near-perfection in the last generation. It's even more comfortable now, and with new contoured handles that fit a wider variety of hand sizes, more gamers' should be able to enjoy it.

Xbox One games

Games for Xbox One were finally shown off at E3, proving that the console is more than just an all-in-one multimedia hub. Ryse: Son of Rome gives Microsoft its long-overdue answer to Sony's epic God of War series thanks to its brutal, Crytek-engine powered graphics.

Another high-fidelity in-house game is Forza Motorsport 5. Demoed by developer Turn 10 Studios, it laps Sony's PS4 racer DriveClub in terms of visuals. The game also has a unique feature in which it can learn and mimic your friends' tactics with "Drivatars" that aim to make single-player a thing of the past.

Xbox Live Arcade games are also continuing in the next-generation, even though Xbox 360 titles remain locked to the old console. At E3, old favorites like a Killer Instinct reboot from Rare are joined by whacky, new ideas like LocoCycle from Twisted Pixel Games.

Microsoft is also publishing Dead Rising 3 as an exclusive title, hoping that a horde of zombie-loving gamers will wander over to its side of the Xbox One vs PS4 console war. The game's open-world environment is enticing, after all. Combine Dead Rising and Dead Rising 2 and then double the size, and you've pretty much have an idea of how vast the worlds is in Dead Rising 3.

Early verdict

Microsoft is touting the size and scalability of its next-generation games as proof that cloud and internet connected gaming isn't just a requirement, it's a necessary evolution. Offloading the system's processing power to Microsoft's server gives developers the ability to create better, more complex games.

Xbox One doesn't have that Halo 5 launch title as a killer app, but what it does boast is horsepower to make its game and entertainment experiences that much better. Even the company's first-party titles look as if they're able to compete with Sony's in-house software without having to be named Halo of Gears of War.

With Microsoft having already sold out of pre-orders on Amazon, early adopters of technology and its Xbox Live-loving diehards are already going to pony up the $499 (£429) on day one. The question remains whether or not the company can convince everyone else that these benefits outweigh some of the negative spin that's been thrown its way.

Review: Updated: Panasonic Lumix GF6

Amy Davies — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:45:00 GMT

Introduction

Panasonic is known for quickly refreshing its cameras lineup, especially those at the budget end of the range. The GF series, which is the company's beginner option, was last upgraded roughly 12 months ago, so it's no surprise to see the replacement Panasonic GF6 making an appearance now.

However, Panasonic says that although the GF1 was incredibly popular, the GF series hasn't seen the same level of popularity with the GF3 and GF5. Perhaps this is due to increased competition both within the company - from the likes of the Panasonic GX1 - and outside it, with more companies now entering the compact system camera (CSC) market.

On the other hand, perhaps it's because the GF line never really found its audience, being a little too simple for the more advanced photographer, and too complicated for those stepping up from a compact camera.

Panasonic has therefore given the new Lumix GF6 a more complete overhaul than it has given to other cameras on previous upgrades.

It now includes a 16 million pixel sensor, which is the same device that we found in the Panasonic GX1. The GX1 is scheduled to carry on for the foreseeable future, which may be a disappointment to those who had expected to see a replacement by now.

Along with the sensor is a brand new Venus engine, and most noticeably a new tilting 180-degree touchscreen and a mode dial on the top of the camera.

The Panasonic GF6 includes inbuilt Wi-Fi technology, something that only the high-end GH series had featured previously. Furthermore, it is the first Panasonic interchangeable lens camera to include Near Field Communications (NFC) - a technology that looks set to be making an appearance on more devices in the next few months.

This is the same technology that you currently find in contactless payment systems and in several smartphones and tablets (Apple is conspicuous by its absence). It enables you to touch two devices together to instantly share images/videos, without the need to add in passwords or other laborious means.

Keen to appeal to the beginner audience, the camera includes even more digital filters than before. These are likely to find favour with the Instagram crowd, boosting the GF6's offering up to 19 different effects.

Interestingly, these filters are now also available on Creative Panorama shooting mode - a feature that first made its appearance on Panasonic's latest set of compacts, and now finds its way onto its compact system cameras.

A new retouch function enables you to do some editing-in camera, with the ability to remove distracting elements such as branches or strangers in the background.

Like other cameras in Panasonic's lineup, the GF6 boasts "Light Speed AF". Both Panasonic and Olympus, its Micro Four Thirds cohort, have claimed the quickest AF speeds in the past, but it's likely to be microseconds of difference. Either way, the contrast detect system that the GF6 uses claims to provide near-instant autofocusing speeds.

Although the Panasonic GF5 also had a capacitive touchscreen, that was a fixed device, unlike the Panasonic GF6's 180-degree tilting option. Although not fully articulated, it's been designed to help with shooting from awkward angles, while Self Shot mode comes into play with the screen tipped to the full 180 degrees to face forwards.

All of these improvements don't come at a price premium, launching at £494.99 / US$599.99 (around AU$630) with the new 14-42mm kit lens. This is significantly cheaper than the £579 / US$749 / AU$849 asking price that the Panasonic GF5 launched with, although it's worth pointing out that the standard kit lens included here is not a power zoom, but instead a new manual zoom option.

Build quality and handling

The first thing you notice about the Panasonic GF6, when compared with its predecessor, is its chunkier exterior. This enables it to fit in the mode dial at the top of the camera and the flip screen at the back of the camera.

Some may appreciate these added benefits, but it does mean you'll need extra space in your pocket. Because it comes with a standard 14-42mm zoom, rather than last year's ultra slim power zoom, this camera looks more similar to the Panasonic GX1 than the Panasonic GF5.

However, the addition of this extra dial on the top of the camera makes it much easier to access the different modes of the Panasonic GF6. Previously you needed to venture into the menu in order to gain access to different shooting parameters.

To activate fully automatic mode, there's a dedicated button just next to the shutter release. This makes it quick to switch from the more complicated modes to fully automatic, and has the added bonus of activating a blue LED light around the button to make sure you're aware that you're in the correct mode.

The mode dial features fully automatic mode, semi-automatic modes (such as aperture priority and shutter priority), scene modes and digital filters mode. There's also space for up to two groups of custom settings, which is useful if you often find yourself shooting with one particular setting, such as high sensitivity or monochrome.

Panasonic has expanded the range of digital filters available on the GF6. Unfortunately, however, these can only be accessed via the dedicated filter mode, meaning you lose control over other shooting elements such as aperture or shutter speed. Olympus cameras enable you to use art filters with P/A/S/M modes, which is a more flexible option.

On the plus side, however, digital filters can be used while shooting in raw format, meaning you can keep a 'clean' version of the file if you change your mind down the line.

Like the Panasonic GF5, the Panasonic GF6 features a touchscreen, and this can be used for a variety of functions including navigating through the various settings and handily changing the autofocus point and firing off the shutter release if you want it to.

As with the other G series of compact system cameras, most of the commonly used settings can be accessed via a Quick Menu. Here you have the choice to use either the touchscreen to navigate through the different settings, or, for those who prefer it, the arrow keys on the back of the camera.

Panasonic has also found room to add an additional function button at the back of the camera, which you can assign a number of different parameters to.

Much of the rest of the navigation of the camera remains the same as previous GF series cameras, with a sensibly laid out menu that's easy to scroll through to find the options you need.

The front of the camera has a grip attached to it, which is moulded to the shape of a finger gripping it. This makes it feel very comfortable and secure in the hand, especially when shooting one-handed.

At the time of launch, the Panasonic GF6 is the only interchangeable lens camera to feature NFCconnectivity. This means that you can touch the camera to an NFC-compatible device - such as some smartphones or tablets - to have images and videos instantly transfer across. You can also use a smartphone or tablet as a remote control in this way.

As it stands, Apple doesn't have any products equipped with NFC, but the Samsung Galaxy S3 - the world's best-selling smartphone - does.

One of the most appealing features of the Panasonic GF6 is its new flip screen. Although it doesn't offer the same flexibility as a fully articulating device (such as the one on the Panasonic G5), it does keep the overall size down. When the screen is flipped 180 degrees to face the front, it is useful for self-portraits, and by doing this to the screen, the camera will automatically activate self-portrait mode.

Self portrait mode basically activates the self-timer, and enables the Soft Skin function, although you can turn this off if you'd prefer. Another option for switching on the touch shutter appears on the screen too while in Self Portrait mode.

The Panasonic GF6 will come bundled with a new 14-42mm optic, which is smaller than the old manual 14-42mm lens that used to come packaged with G series cameras. It keeps the overall size of the camera down, but if you've got extra money to spare, we'd suggest you think about investing in the X power zoom lens, to make this closer to being a pocketable device.

One of the new features of the Panasonic GF6 is the introduction of Wi-Fi functionality. This gives you a number of useful options including the ability to remote control the camera via your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, and upload images to various web services, such as Facebook.

Setting up the Wi-Fi to use with your smartphone or tablet is relatively pain-free, while the free app that is downloadable for iOS and Android devices is easy to use. However, if you want to upload images straight to web services from the camera itself, you might find yourself quickly becoming frustrated with the device.

In order to upload directly to Facebook, Twitter and the rest from the Panasonic GF6, you need a Lumix Club account, which you can sign up for from the camera itself. However, you then need to access the Lumix Club website separately to activate various social media accounts.

Once you have done this, there's very limited functionality for uploading - for instance, you can't include a caption and there is a tendency for portrait orientation images to be uploaded in horizontal format.

Performance

Since the Panasonic GF6 features the same sensor as found on the Panasonic GX1, we had pretty high hopes for Panasonic's entry-level CSC. It's good to see the company using technology from higher up its range to boost the appeal of its beginner cameras.

Considering that the sensor is matched with an improved Venus engine, performance from the Panasonic GF6 should be better than from the Panasonic GX1. The fact that it has 16 million pixels also makes it more competitive with the likes of the Sony NEX-3N.

Happily, we've been very impressed by the image output of the Panasonic GF6. Images are full of detail, while colours are bright and punchy without being overly vibrant.

Automatic white balance does a very good job of accurately judging the scene to provide spot-on colours, even when shooting in mixed or under artificial lighting. Similarly, all-purpose metering is a good performer, helping to produce balanced exposures in the majority of conditions - even when confronted with a high contrast situation.

One of the most appealing things about both Olympus and Panasonic cameras is the speed at which they are able to focus. Luckily, the Panasonic GF6 is no different, very quickly and accurately locking onto the relevant subject with ease. The fact that the screen is touch-sensitive is also a huge bonus, since it means you can speedily change the point you want to use.

Speaking of the touchscreen, it is very responsive to use, being a capacitive device, and soon becomes an integral part of how you use the camera. That said, if you prefer physical buttons, the Panasonic GF6 has enough of those to keep you satisfied too.

Because the camera has a new Venus engine, one of the key improvements we were looking for was in low light performance. Although noise does begin to appear at mid-range sensitivities, such as ISO 800, it is very fine noise and not too intrusive on pictures, unless you're viewing them at 100%.

As the sensitivity range increases, naturally, more noise starts to creep in, but again images remain useable up to around ISO 3200. After this point, image quality does start to reduce significantly, but it's certainly better than not being able to get the shot at all, and if you're keeping images to very small printing or web sizes, then you can still use them pretty adequately.

The Panasonic GF6 is bundled with Panasonic's SilkyPix software, which enables you to get more out of raw format images, should you need to. Although this program is not as flexible or useful as others, including Canon's Digital Photo Professional, it is useful to use if you want to apply your own noise reduction, for instance if you're shooting something with a fine texture.

As standard, a 14-42mm manual zoom lens is bundled with the Panasonic GF6, as opposed to the Power Zoom X kit lens that came with the Panasonic GF5. This does increase the overall size of the camera somewhat, but also helps to keep the cost down.

The 14-42mm lens is a new version of the old kit lens, which is smaller than the previous version. With an equivalent focal length of 28-84mm, there's plenty of flexibility here for shooting a wide variety of subjects.

By shooting at mid-range apertures, such as f/8, we can assess the sharpness of the lens and how it performs with the Panasonic GF6's sensor. One of the claims that Panasonic makes about its Micro Four Thirds range of cameras is that edge-to-edge sharpness is better than from APS-C equivalents.

Happily, those claims seem to be well-founded, since our images show a good level of sharpness right the way across the frame, even in the far corners. This is evident even when shooting with the standard kit lens.

For the Panasonic GF6, and Panasonic G6, the manufacturer has introduced some new digital filters that will likely further appeal to the likes of the Instagram generation. New filters include Bleach Bypass and Sunlight mode.

While some of the filters are of course better than others - mostly down to personal preference - we think that Panasonic now has the best range of filters currently available on the market. If only you could shoot these filters while in manual or semi-automatic modes, we'd be extremely pleased.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing for the Panasonic GF6, we've shot our resolution chart.

If you view our crops of the resolution chart's central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 100 the Panasonic GF6 is capable of resolving up to around 24 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files.

For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them, check out our full explanation of our camera testing resolution charts.

Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:

JPEG

Full ISO 160 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

ISO 160, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 6400, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 12800, score: 12 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 25600, score: n/a (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Raw

ISO 160, score: 26 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 26 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 6400, score: 18 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 12800, score: 16 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 25600, score: n/a (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Noise and dynamic range

We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using DXO Analyzer software to generate the data to produce the graphs below.

A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.

For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.

Here we compare the Panasonic GF6 with the Panasonic GX1, Sony NEX-3N and Olympus E-PM2. The GF6 has the widest sensitivity range of all the cameras here.

JPEG signal to noise ratio

These results show that the Panasonic GF6's JPEG files contain the strongest signal to noise ratios of the group at ISO 160-400. The GF6's JPEGs are overtaken by those from the Sony NEX-3N at ISO 800, though, which show greater signal to noise ratios for the rest of the sensitivity range, except ISO 6400, when the GF6 is slightly stronger. JPEGs from the GF6 show stronger signal to noise ratios than JPEGs from the Olympus E-PM2 at ISO 200-800 and at ISO 3200, but at ISO 1600, 6400, 12800 and 25600 the Olympus's JPEGs are better. The GF6's JPEGs are stronger in their ratios than the Panasonic GX1's at every sensitivity setting but ISO 1600.

Raw signal to noise ratio

The Panasonic GF6's TIFF images (after conversion from raw) contain weaker signal to noise ratios than TIFFs from the Panasonic GX1, Sony NEX-3N and Olympus E-PM2 at every sensitivity setting, with the GX1 producing the most similar results.

JPEG dynamic range

JPEGs from the Panasonic GF6 contain greater dynamic range than those from the Panasonic GX1 at every sensitivity but ISO 1600, when the two cameras' images score similarly. The GF6's JPEGs show weaker dynamic range than the Olympus E-PM2's at every sensitivity setting, though. The GF6's JPEGs have greater dynamic range than the Sony NEX-3N's JPEGs at ISO 200, 400, 6400 and 12800, but at ISO 800-3200 the Sony's JPEGs have the more impressive dynamic range.

Raw dynamic range

This chart indicates that TIFF images (after conversion from raw) from the Panasonic GF6 contain a smaller dynamic range than TIFFs from the Sony NEX-3N and Olympus E-PM2 at every sensitivity setting. The GF6's TIFFs have slightly greater dynamic range than the Panasonic GX1's at ISO 160 and 12800, but the GX1's images are stronger at the other sensitivities.

Sample images

Click here to see the full resolution image

Here we can see the Panasonic GF6 has coped well in a situation that has high contrast, all-purpose metering working well to produce a balanced exposure.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Images straight from the camera are bright and punchy without being overly vibrant.

Click here to see the full resolution image

There's plenty of detail captured by the Panasonic GF6, with images also displaying a pleasing drop-off in focus when using wider apertures.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The bundled 14-42mm kit lens is capable of producing sharp and detailed images, with plenty of detail right up to the corners of the frame.

Click here to see the full resolution image

At its widest point, the standard 14-42mm kit lens offers an equivalent focal length of 28mm.

Click here to see the full resolution image

This rises to 84mm at the telephoto end of the optic, making it a flexible option to start with.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The Panasonic GF6's tilting touchscreen is extremely useful when you want to compose images from various different angles.

Click here to see the full resolution image

There are a few new digital filters to experiment with on the Panasonic GF6. These can be used while shooting in raw format, leaving you with a 'clean' version of the image to work with if you prefer. This is an example of the Sunshine mode, which adds a burst of sunlight to the image. This can be moved around the scene, pre-capture, for maximum impact.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Another one of the new digital filters is Old Days, which adds a sepia-style toning to images.

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Bleach Bypass is another of the new filters, creating a muted palette in shots.

Sensitivity and noise images

JPEG

Full ISO 160 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

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Raw

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Verdict

We were initially very impressed by the concept of the Panasonic GF6 when we first saw a pre-production sample, and we hoped that the real deal would live up to our own hype.

Happily, it has done that - and then some. Although the overall size of the Panasonic GF6 has increased fairly dramatically from the Panasonic GF5, it comes with improvements that make the bulk up worthwhile - most notably the tilting touchscreen.

Because there's no viewfinder - and no way to attach one - having a highly flexible and responsive screen is extremely useful and solves the problem of awkward angles preventing you from capturing the shot you want to get. It's also very handy if you want to take self-portraits or film videos of yourself, since you can see exactly what you're doing.

We'd expected image quality to be good, because we've previously been impressed by the sensor onboard the Panasonic GX1, and again we weren't disappointed by the performance the Panasonic GF6 put in. Images are very pleasing, and if you're shooting in good light the majority of time then you'll probably never have any cause for concern with this camera.

In lower light conditions, where you're forced to shoot at higher sensitivities, such as ISO 3200, you might find that images are of a lower quality, but if you're using them at smaller printing sizes then they're still more than useable.

With the largest proprietary lens range available for the Micro Four Thirds system, investing in a camera from Panasonic or Olympus is a more flexible option than their counterparts from Sony, Nikon or Canon. With added flexibility coming from the fact that Olympus and Panasonic both use the same lens mount, anybody who has previously used a camera from either brand before will be able to bring across any optics already acquired.

One of the biggest let downs of the camera is the Wi-Fi functionality. While it should be a nice addition, the operability of sharing images and videos to sites such as Facebook is far fiddlier than it should be. Using your smartphone as a remote control is much easier, but Panasonic should take a look at some of Samsung's products, such as the NX300, to get a better idea of how to successfully incorporate Wi-Fi sharing tools.

We liked

Image quality is excellent, while the flexibility of the screen is useful for capturing images from awkward angles. The fact that there's no viewfinder is almost made up for by this screen, which could only have been improved by being fully articulating. It's a bonus though that it flips up 180-degrees to face forwards for self-portraits.

We disliked

Fortunately there's not too much to dislike about the Panasonic GF6, but the Wi-Fi functionality could seriously be improved to make it much more useful. It would also be nice to be able to use the digital filters while shooting in manual and semi-automatic modes.

Initial verdict

The Panasonic GF6 is one of the best compact system cameras currently on the market, especially for the beginner user.

Although it is the next in line after the Panasonic GF5, it's perhaps elevated slightly above that, being a little more comparable to the Panasonic GX1, with which it shares its sensor.

Image quality is fantastic, while usability, thanks in part to the touchscreen and sensible menu system, makes it one of the more pleasurable cameras to shoot with.

Unfortunately, at the moment its higher price is its only letdown. For a good chunk less than the price of the Panasonic GF6, you can pick up a Sony NEX-3N, so it seems that Panasonic will have a tough job convincing consumers to snap up this camera in bulk.

If however in the next few months, as is prone to happen with cameras, we think this be our top recommendation for those looking for an entry-level compact system camera.

Hands-on review: Pentax Q7

Angela Nicholson — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:03:00 GMT

While other manufacturers tend to put higher pixel count sensors in their new cameras, Pentax has made an unusual move and put a larger sensor in the latest addition to its Q series of compact system cameras (CSCs). Whereas the Pentax Q10 has a 12-million-pixel, 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor, the new Pentax Q7 has a 12-million-pixel, 1/1.7-inch CMOS sensor.

A 1/2.3-inch sensor typically measures 7.66 × 6.17mm, but a 1/1.7-inch sensor is usually around 9.5 × 7.6mm. Increasing the size of the sensor while keeping the pixel count the same should ensure improved image quality, at least at the centre of the frame, because larger photo sites gather more light, generate less noise and have a greater dynamic range.

However, the Pentax Q7 has exactly the same mount as the Pentax Q10 and accepts the same lenses, so it is possible that the corners and edges of images captured by the Pentax Q7 are softer and have more chromatic aberration and darkening.

According to Pentax UK's Stephen Sanderson, the original Pentax Q design and its compatible lenses were built with this change in mind, so image quality should be improved across the frame. We will only know for sure once we have tested a full production sample.

Features

Another consequence of having a larger sensor is that when lenses are mounted on the Pentax Q7 the angle of view is slightly wider than when they are mounted on the Pentax Q10. The Pentax Q10 has a focal length magnification factor of 5.5x, while the Pentax Q7 magnifies the focal length by 4.6x.

The widest lens currently available for the Q series is the 3.2mm f/5.6 fisheye lens. On the Pentax Q10 this produces images comparable with a 17.5mm lens on a 35mm camera, and on the Pentax Q7 it's 16.5mm.

Meanwhile, the 5-15mm standard zoom lens, which on the Pentax Q10 is equivalent to a 27.5-83mm lens, becomes the equivalent of a 23-69mm optic on the Pentax Q7.

In addition to changing the size of the sensor in the Q7, Pentax has changed the filter over it and, following the current vogue, there is no anti-aliasing filter. This should enable the camera to produce sharper images, with more detail - albeit with the increased risk of moiré patterning.

There's still a dust reduction mechanism that makes the infrared filter vibrate to reduce the need to clone out dust marks from images captured by the Pentax Q7.

Like the Pentax Q10, the Pentax Q7 is designed for use by novices as well as enthusiast photographers, and consequently it has the usual program, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual exposure modes, in addition to an automatic option and 21 scene modes.

The combination of the new sensor and the Q Engine has enabled Pentax to give the Q7 a maximum sensitivity setting of ISO 12,800. The start-up time has also been improved, and it now takes approximately one second to boot up.

Pentax also claims to have improved the focusing accuracy in low light situations, which is something we look forward to testing in more detail once we get a full production sample in for testing.

As before with the Pentax Q10, the Pentax Q7 as a Shake Reduction (SR) system, but this has now been upgraded to enable you to shoot handheld images at up to three stops slower shutter speed than normal.

The Pentax Q7 is capable of recording raw and JPEG files, and there are 11 Custom Image options - namely Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, Radiant, Muted, Bleach Bypass, Reversal Film, Monochrome and Cross Processing - to give JPEG files a particular look.

There's also a number of digital filter effects, including Toy Camera, High Contrast, Shading, Slim, HDR, Invert Colour, Extract Colour, Watercolour, Posterization and Fisheye.

Having a slightly larger sensor than the Pentax Q10 should mean that it is easier to control depth of field with the Pentax Q7, but it still has the Bokeh control first introduced with the original Q. When this mode is selected the camera applies additional blur to out of focus areas to simulate the effect of having a wide aperture and a large sensor.

Other headline features of the Pentax Q7 include a maximum continuous shooting speed of 5fps, Eye-Fi SD card compatibility, a three-image HDR mode, a multiple-exposure mode, remote control receptors on the front and back panels and a digital level that indicates when the horizon is correctly aligned.

Build quality and handling

The Pentax Q7 is small and neat, and feels nicely made - although as before, there's no sealing against dust or moisture. It is constructed from engineering plastic, but still feels pretty durable, and the narrow finger-grip provides good purchase.

The pop-up flash, however, still seems a little flimsy.

There's no getting away from the fact that those with large hands will find the Pentax Q7 a little on the fiddly side, but the controls are sensibly arranged on the whole, and the dials enable you to make quick adjustments.

A dial on the top of the camera gives you access to the exposure modes, Bokeh control and video mode, enabling you to make rapid changes. Those who want to shoot snippets of video here and there, however, may find it frustrating that recording can't just be started from any exposure mode with a press of a button.

A dial on the front of the camera provides access to one of five functions, including the focus method, Focus Peaking and the ND filter. We look forward to experimenting with the Focus Peaking option to see if this makes manual focusing easier in stills and video mode.

Like the Pentax K-50 introduced at the same time, the Pentax Q7 is available by special order in one of 20 different body colours, with a further choice of different grip colours. So if you want a pink and blue, orange and lime, green and lilac or blue and brown camera, you're in luck.

The standard colours in the UK, however, are black, silver and yellow, with matching kit lenses. The standard prime lens is also available in the same 20 colours as the Pentax Q7 body. The price of the Pentax Q7 and the new Q lens is yet to be confirmed.

Performance

As yet we've only seen a pre-production sample of the Pentax Q7, so we can't comment extensively on this new camera's performance. However, we found with the Pentax Q10 that the metering and autofocus systems were much improved upon those of the original Pentax Q.

We also found that the automatic white balance system worked well and managed to retain the atmosphere of many scenes so that images were rendered "too neutral".

We expect these three systems to be at least as good as the Pentax Q10's. When we looked at a pre-production sample of the Pentax Q7 we found the autofocusing system was reasonably fast and efficient but not in the same league as the systems in some other CSCs, such as Panasonic G6 and Sony NEX-6.

That said, we were only able to test the Pentax Q7 in the confines of an office and in relatively low light, so this is something we'll be testing extensively when we get a full production sample in for review.

While the Pentax Q10 produced high quality images for a camera with it sensor size, images taken at the higher sensitivity settings had quite severe softening, with some smudging of detail. Hopefully the increase in the size of the sensor and the removal of the anti-aliasing filter will enable the Pentax Q7 to record better quality images.

We also hope that Pentax has employed a more sympathetic approach to noise reduction, so that high sensitivity images have more detail and less softening to conceal the noise.

Initial verdict

Although the Pentax Q7 is nicely made and has the advantage of being smaller than some compact cameras while being able to accept interchangeable lenses, it still has a relatively small sensor.

The Pentax Q10 produced good quality images for a camera with a 1/2.3-inch sensor, and we can reasonably expect the Pentax Q7 to produce good images for a model with a 1/1.7-inch sensor.

However, many photographers quibble about the smaller size of the Micro Four-Thirds sensor in comparison with an APS-C device, so it seems unlikely that many will be willing to accept a camera system built around such a small sensor.

If our testing of a full-production sample reveals that the Pentax Q7's sensor and processing engine enable it to compete with Micro Four-Thirds models such as the Panasonic GF6 and Olympus E-PM2, then perhaps the Pentax Q7 will be hit with photographers looking for a small alternative to a DSLR. But we think this is unlikely.

The real market for the Pentax Q7, however, may not be with those who currently call themselves photographers. According to Pentax UK, the introduction of the colour ways for the Pentax Q10 has seen sales increase hugely in the shops where a wide selection is displayed.

So perhaps the Pentax Q7 will draw a new group of people into photography, those who might have opted for a compact camera, but don't mind paying a bit more for something that looks striking and takes better quality images.

We look forward to testing the Pentax Q7 in the near future.

Hands-on review: Pentax K-500

Angela Nicholson — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:02:00 GMT

Pentax has announced two new DSLRs, but in a disappointment for many Pentax rumour followers, neither has a full-frame sensor. Furthermore, the two cameras are remarkably similar and both use the same APS-C format, 16.2 million pixel CMOS sensor as the existing Pentax K-30.

The Pentax K-500 is the entry-level model, but it only differs from the Pentax K-50 in that it's not weather-proofed and the AF point isn't displayed in the viewfinder.

The Pentax K-50 will sit above the Pentax K-30, but below the Pentax K-5 II in the brand's DSLR lineup.

According to Pentax UK's Stephen Sanderson, the Pentax K-500 and Pentax K-50 have the same processing engine as the Pentax K-30, but it has been 'improved' and this enables it to produce better quality images. It also enables the sensitivity to be set at up to ISO 51,200, which is one-stop higher than the Pentax K-30.

Features

In addition to the usual aperture priority, shutter priority and manual exposure modes, the Pentax K-50 and Pentax K-500 offer Pentax's shutter and Aperture priority mode (TAv) in which you set the aperture and shutter speed and the camera sets the sensitivity value.

There's also a collection of scene modes and an auto picture mode, in which the camera detects the type of subject and sets the scene mode accordingly.

Unlike many entry-level and mid-level DSLRs, the Pentax K-500 and Pentax K-50 have glass pentaprism viewfinders that provide 100% field of view. This enables accurate composition so there's no need to crop out unexpected items around the edge of the frame post-capture.

Also like the Pentax K-30, the Pentax K-500 and Pentax K-50 have the SAFOX IXi+ AF module, which has 11 individually selectable AF points, and the cameras can shoot continuously at speeds of up to 6fps in JPEG format.

Both cameras are supplied with a rechargeable lithium ion battery, but they are also compatible with Pentax's AA-sized battery insert, which may be of use to travelling photographers who don't have the opportunity to recharge the battery on a regular basis.

As usual Pentax has given the K-50 and K-500 its sensor-shifting Shake Reduction (SR) system that automatically compensates for camera shake. This system is also used by the cameras' Dust Removal (DR) system to shake dust from the filter over the sensor.

Both the Pentax K-50 and Pentax K-500 have 11 Custom Image options, namely Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, Radiant, Muted, Bleach Bypass, Reversal Film, Monochrome and Cross Process. There are also 19 digital filter effects that can be applied to images at the shooting stage.

In addition, it is possible to shoot high dynamic range (HDR) images in the HDR mode that sets the camera to take three shots at different exposures and then composites them into one image with more detail in the shadows and highlights.

Naturally, it's also possible to record Full HD movie clips at 1920 × 1080 pixel resolutions. The cameras use the H.264 recording format with a choice of 30, 25 or 24 frames per second.

Build and handling

Although they are based on the Pentax K-30, the Pentax K-500 and Pentax K-50 have a slightly more rounded form. We are told that they have an identical shape, but we were only able to handle a pre-production sample of the Pentax K-500. This has a deep, textured finger-grip and pronounced thumb-ridge on the back so that it feels feels very comfortable and safe in your grasp.

As we mentioned earlier, the Pentax K-500 doesn't have the weather sealing of the Pentax K-30 or the Pentax K-50, but it still has the same stainless steel shell and engineered plastic outer shell. It has a solid, durable feel even if it can't be used in such poor weather conditions as the cameras above it in Pentax's lineup.

Naturally then, the Pentax K-500 is sold with the non-weather sealed version of Pentax's 18-55mm kit lens. In contrast the Pentax K-50 is available with the new weather sealed 18-55mm lens, which has a plastic mount (and no lens hood) to make it more affordable.

Despite the changes in design, the Pentax K-500's control arrangement and menu systems will be very familiar to any Pentax K-30 users. Although the menu system is logically arranged and easy to follow, it's a little disappointing that Pentax has used the same rather dated-looking design.

Happily, Pentax doesn't seem to have cut too many corners with the K-500's LCD screen, which is a 3-inch display with 921,000 dots. We were only able to use a pre-production sample of the Pentax K-500 indoors, so we can't comment extensively on its ability to control reflections, but it is capable of displaying plenty of sharp detail and provides a nice clear view when used out of direct sunlight. We will investigate its performance outdoors and in direct sunlight when we get a full production sample in for testing.

We assume that the decision to make the active AF point invisible in the viewfinder of the Pentax K-500 was made to reduce costs, but we think it's a bad choice.

If you leave the camera to choose the AF point automatically then it's not such a major issue, but as you learn and want to take more control over the camera you will find it frustrating that you have to look at the screen on the back of the camera to check which is the active AF point. You also need to guess where that point appears in the viewfinder when focusing on the subject.

It seems rather odd that Pentax is making the more advanced camera, the Pentax K-50, available in a selection of colours - black, white and red in the UK, with 20 other body colour variants available with six different grip colours (giving 120 different combinations in total) available by special order.

The Pentax K-500, however, is only available in black. We suspect that the colour variations are more likely to attract relatively novice photographers who are upgrading from a colourful compact camera or camera phone. However, this is probably explained by the predicted production numbers for each camera and colour combination.

Performance

Although we have only seen a pre-production sample of the Pentax K-500, we have seen its sensor in the Pentax K-30 before and we know that it performs well. However, we need to bear in mind that there is a tweaked version of the processing engine, and this may produce slightly different results.

The sample images that we saw suggest that the camera is capable of recording slightly more detail than the Pentax K-30, but we have only seen relatively poor quality prints and will need to verify this when we get a full production sample in for testing.

When we tested the Pentax K-30 we found that it was best to avoid the top two sensitivity settings, ISO 12,800 and 25,600 because of the high levels of chroma noise. Because the manufacturer has given the Pentax K-500 and Pentax K-50 a higher maximum sensitivity setting, ISO 51,200, we can assume that it has tackled the noise issue to some extent, but we hope that this isn't at the expense of detail.

We found that the Pentax K-30's automatic white balance system was impressive, coping well with artificial lighting indoors, as well as a range of natural lighting conditions. Obviously we will test this fully when we get a full production sample of the Pentax K-500 in for testing, but we expect to find it delivers good colours in a range of conditions.

We were also happy with the Pentax K-30's 77-segment multi-pattern metering system, and we are hoping that it will deliver a similar performance in the Pentax K-50 and Pentax K-500, not under-exposing images under bright skies as dramatically as some earlier Pentax digital SLRs were prone to doing.

The Pentax K-500 and Pentax K-50 have the same digital filters as the Pentax K-30, and we have found in the past that they produce great results. However it's frustrating that they can't be employed when shooting raw and JPEG files simultaneously to produce one image that has the effect applied, along with a clean raw file for normal processing.

Pentax has often drawn criticism for its autofocusing system, and AF performance varies enormously depending on whether the lens has an AF motor onboard or not. We were only able to use the pre-production sample Pentax K-500 with a non-SDM lens and in the low contrast light of our meeting room the focusing was slow and loud.

We will test the Pentax K-500 and Pentax K-50 with a range of lenses when we get full production samples in for testing. But because they have the same AF module as the Pentax K-30 we expect to find that their AF systems perform fairly poorly with the standard kit lens and very well with optics that have an AF motor built-in, such as the Pentax 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL IF DC WR lens.

Initial verdict

Until now Pentax's DSLR range has looked rather limited, with just the Pentax K-30 and Pentax K-5 II (and Pentax K-5 IIs) being available and aimed at enthusiast photographers. Naturally Pentax is keen to expand its range and offer something a little more appealing to novice photographers.

However, the Pentax K-500 doesn't appear to be sympathetically simplified, and the differences between it and the Pentax K-30 and Pentax K-50 just seem like cost savings.

At £449.99 (around US$705 / AU$740) for the kit with the SMC Pentax-DA L 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL, the Pentax K-500 may not be an especially enticing option when the Pentax K-30 is available body only for £440 / US$500 / AU$600 and for £500 / US$700 / AU$800 with the weather-proofed 18-55mm lens.

The Pentax K-30, which has the same sensor and processing engine as the Pentax K-500 (albeit untweaked) has the benefit of weatherproof sealing and the ability to see the active AF point in the viewfinder.

Meanwhile the Pentax K-50 is set to retail for £529.99 (around US$830 / AU$870) body only and £599.99 (around US$940 / AU$985) with the SMC Pentax-DA L 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 8 AL WR lens - the waterproofed kit lens.

The Pentax K-50 is also only a very minor upgrade on the Pentax K-30, so minor in fact that it would have been more appropriate to have called it the Pentax K-30 II. Minor changes in the body shape aside, you have to wonder whether the Pentax K-50 could have been created from a firmware upgrade to the Pentax K-30.

Given the similarities between the two new cameras and the Pentax K-30, we anticipate very similar, or slightly better, performance from the Pentax K-50 and Pentax K-500 provided that Pentax hasn't broken with its normal protocol of preserving detail and allowing a bit of noise to be seen. We'll have to wait until we get production samples in for testing to see.

Hands-on review: 2013 MacBook Air

Dan Grabham — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:21:00 GMT

It's been just under a year since Apple last updated its MacBook Air lineup, but Intel's launch of its latest generation Haswell Core processors has resulted in this, the 2013 MacBook Air announced this week at WWDC 2013.

We picked up this 11-inch version from Apple this morning, so here are our initial thoughts on the smaller version of what the company loves to call the "ultimate everyday laptop".

It's extremely similar to the 2012 version in look and feel, with virtually all the changes under the hood and centered on those Turbo Boosted Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMuQALHVjqg&feature=youtu.be

In fact, we can't help but think that Apple has missed a little trick in redesigning the air to make it even more desirable, as it did to the MacBook Pro line with the more expensive retina. The bezel around the screen - especially on the 11-inch - still seems rather large and we were hoping that we'd see more than a spec bump this time.

MacBook Pro 13-inch with Retina display review

But then it is a pretty special spec bump. As with Intel's marketing of Haswell, Apple is also talking up the battery life improvements to this version of the MacBook Air – Apple is talking about 12 hours for the 13-inch version and nine hours for this 11-inch with eight hours of video playback.

Obviously we haven't had chance to test the battery life out as yet, but we'll be giving it a full analysis in our forthcoming review.

The displays are the same with 1,366 x 768 and 1,440 x 900 resolutions for each of the two sizes. Again, we're a tiny bit disappointed these aren't higher resolutions, given that Full HD displays are now making it into some high-end Ultrabooks.

One of the key differences for the 11-inch is that it contains double the storage of the older model – so 128GB and 256GB variants are available while you can also upgrade to 512GB of flash if you have money to burn. It's the same with the 13-inch, though Apple has dropped the price of the base 13-inch model to GBP £949, USD $1,099, AUD $1,249.

The graphics have been improved significantly, but only in so much as it's the Intel HD 5000 graphics used by the refreshed Haswell chips – there are no dedicated graphics available with the Air, while the processor variants used don't have Intel's new top-of-the-range Iris graphics. Apple cites a 40 per cent improvement in graphical prowess.

The Flash storage is also speedier than the previous generation, which was already impressive. We've noted blistering performance from this model already. Last year's model would wake up quickly, but ours had a habit of hanging for a couple of seconds once this was done. There's no sign of that here.

Another enhancement is 802.11ac Wi-Fi. We're looking forward to seeing this launch on more and more devices, but Apple is one of the first to the punch and has launched an updated AirPort Extreme and AirPort Time Capsule base stations featuring 802.11ac Wi-Fi to go alongside the Air.

As before you get a FaceTime HD 720p camera, a Thunderbolt port, two USB 3.0 ports and video mirroring. As OS X Mavericks won't be with us until Autumn/the Fall, these MacBook Airs ship with OS X Mountain Lion though naturally they will be upgradeable to the forthcoming OS for a fee. There's 4GB of RAM and the same, excellent, keyboard and trackpad.

Another thing that has been changed is that the MacBook Air now ships with dual microphones for clearer dictation and video calls.

We'll have a full 2013 MacBook Air review on TechRadar next week after we've put the battery life and graphics through its paces.

Early verdict

The 2013 MacBook Air has got cheaper (for the 13-inch), faster and will last longer. It's an improvement on an already terrific laptop and, though we always love to see a new design, the only thing we'd like to see dramatically different is the screen resolution. The specification is stunning and we're really looking forward to seeing how it copes in our battery life and performance tests.

While you're here, check out 25 top laptops for every budget

Hands-on review: Asus MeMo Pad HD 7 review

Hugh Langley — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:15:00 GMT

It's only been a few weeks since Asus launched the MeMo Pad ME172V, but that clearly isn't stopping the Taiwanese company from embarking on the next step of its budget tablet crusade - the MeMo Pad HD 7.

Wading through the plethora of Asus devices released at Computex, TechRadar got to have a play with the Nexus 7 evolution that's at least been getting the attention of people's wallets.

Asus announced that the MeMo Pad HD 7 will be released for $129 and $149 for the 8GB and 16GB models respectively. We also know that the 8GB won't be coming to the UK, with the 16GB to be priced at £149 when it arrives in August.

Design

With a few different colours to choose from - light green, hot pink, black and white - the MeMo Pad HD 7 has a little more character than its contemporaries from the off.

The design of the tablet overall is very reminiscent of the Nexus 7 (but around 40g lighter) though we reckon some people will be less keen on the MeMo Pad's glossy plastic body, despite the fact it feels pretty sturdy.

The tablet also packs dual stereo speakers that sit at the bottom and face downwards. We weren't able to do any proper quality tests, but it seemed pretty loud despite the incessant buzz of the Computex show floor.

Specs

The MeMo Pad comes powered by a 1.2GHz MT8125 quad-core CPU with 1GB of RAM and running Android 4.2.

In the US, the tablet comes with with either 8GB or 16GB storage, but Asus also is offering users 16GB of its Webstorage for one year on top of that. However, the MicroSD slot is the big win over the Nexus 7 here, letting you add up to 64GB of additional storage.

Asus promises that you'll get ten hours from its 15Wh battery, though we weren't able to put this to the test in the time we had.

Display and camera

The 7-inch 1280 x 800 IPS display is capable of 720p HD playback. Perhaps our only complaint is the incredibly glossy display, which meant fingerprints and strong lights shone right back at us during our play.

The 5-megapixel rear camera certainly isn't bad for a such a budget tablet - the pictures we took on the show floor certainly came out crisp enough at least on the device's screen - while there's a 1.2MP HD lens on the front.

However the lack of a flash is likely to frustrate those who like to get snap-happy with their tablets.

It would also be nice to see Asus do something like Acer's new multitasking Float UI on the Liquid S1, which feels ripe for a slate of this size.

Early verdict

The MeMo Pad HD 7 takes a fairly decent swipe at the Nexus 7 - and yes, the iPad mini - and considering it's offering comparable specs at a lower price, it has a good chance of getting a KO when it touches down.

Hands-on review: E3 2013: DualShock 4 controller

Michelle Fitzsimmons — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:51:00 GMT

Sony's PS4 is inching ever closer to release, as the company finally showed the console's hardware during its E3 2013 press conference.

Up until June 10, the only part we really laid eyes on was the DualShock 4, but even then it was in the hands of others, or encased behind glass.

But leave it to E3 to give us our first chance to grip the controls for the next-gen console ourselves. After the long wait, which started with the PS4's February reveal, we were very pleased with what we held.

The DualShock 4 is appealing not just to the eye but, more importantly, to the hands. We caught ourselves grinning from the mere feel of the thing, which, at once is slight yet fills out the hands with its nubbed ends.

This is the final version of the DualShock 4, and though we played DC Universe Online on a dev version of the console, it operated just we'd want a premiere controller to as we knuckled up to the evil doers.

Response time was excellent, and the buttons had a buttery quality - no need to mash down to get your character (in our case, Bizarro) to smash and bash. We liked the textured, roughed-up feel of the trigger buttons, all the while finding a seamless qulaity in the controller's design.

Track pad

The most noticeable addition to this DualShock edition is the track pad. It lacked functionality on the first game we tooled around with, DC Universe Online, but we did discover that it acts like a button itself. It reminded us a little of a diving board in that regard, as there's a space between the end of the button and the body of the controller.

However, we later played around on a different game that did have functionality set up, and found the track pad had difficulty differentiating between directions. Various moves were defined by various directional swipes, and it proved too much for the DualShock 4's pad. Perhaps time will lend itself to further refinement (the console isn't out until the holidays, anyway) but for now, it wasn't up to par.

As for the rest of the controller, the share button is also a too far away from the central commands, and a stretch of the thumb is needed to reach it. Same goes for the option buttons. Our hands were so spread out on the sides of the controller, it's hard to naturally jump either up or down. Those with larger paws may not have the same issue, but it felt like our mitts had to overcome a small chasm.

By comparison, the PS3's DualShock 3 share and option buttons are right there, ready at your beck and call. Speaking of the older controller, the DualShock 4 is definitely an upgrade in style.

The tether on the controller we played won't be there during final launch (it served a security function, we were informed).

The analog sticks are responsive and smooth, so much so that we stopped thinking about using them as we flew around an underground lab as Superman's doppelgänger. The tops are notched down so your fingers sit in them as opposed to on top of them like the DualShock 3.

Early verdict

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed holding and playing with the DualShock 4. It felt lovely, had a nice balance and worked like a charm.

There were a few times we caught ourselves thinking it was a little too light, but it was an afterthought once we were kicking bad guys' butts.

There was a fair amount of clicky-clack to the buttons, which may or may not bother you.

You'll notice the DualShock 4 is a mix of matte and gloss, emulating the design of the main console itself. It has a modern look that will make it an attractive paperweight when not being played.

As mentioned, the track pad had issues as we tried to use it in our game play, but that may be solved by release. Share and option peggers were too far as well, but it looks like there's no turning back on that now.

With a controller like this and $399 (£349, €399) price tag, the PS4 is going to be mighty attractive to legions of gamers. We can't wait to give it a go again.

Review: Dell XPS 18

Matthew Bolton — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 16:51:00 GMT

Introduction

The Dell XPS 18 is a bit of an odd one to categorise. It's essentially an 18-inch Windows 8 tablet, as if someone has stuffed one of the 'Eat me' sweets from Alice in Wonderland into the Surface Pro's USB port.

But at that size, surely it's not really a tablet, and is more like a massive Ultrabook - the Dell XPS 13's body-building brother? But, it also sits on an angled stand as a perfectly normal, super-thin all-in-one PC, like a touch-enabled Windows-touting iMac.

Actually, the Dell XPS 18 isn't alone in this world, and it's even one of the most portable of its kind. The Sony Vaio Tap 20 is a similar beast with a larger screen, and the HP Envy Rove 20 is much like the Sony. 'Portable all-in-one' seems to be the chosen name from the companies for this new class of hybrid, so that's what we'll go with.

So yes, the Dell XPS 18 is a portable all-in-one, meaning that you can use it in a charging stand with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard like a traditional desktop computer, or anywhere else thanks to its internal battery and two little legs that flick out of the back. It's touchscreen, so the traditional controls are optional when taking it around the house.

Sadly, and perhaps surprisingly, it doesn't come with a pen to make use of its vast canvas for drawing, nor is there a digitizer for turning it into a big drawing tablet by adding your own stylus.

The Dell XPS 18 unit itself pretty impressively svelte, packing that 18-inch 1080p display, an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive with 32GB SSD for speedy boot times into a chassis that's just 18mm (0.7 inches) at its thickest point.

At 2.3kg (5lbs), it certainly isn't light compared to most Ultrabooks, and something we'd want to carry in our (presumably massive) backpack, but it's fine for carrying from room to room in the house.

The front is glossy glass, with a plastic edge around it that's a little like the chamfered design used in the iPad mini and iPhone 5, but it's all plastic on the back - no aluminium here.

It's really smart-looking from the front, we have to say, and the dock is similarly simple but pleasant, It's made from die-cast zinc and it holds the XPS 18 solidly. It's easy to fit the main unit's little power dock onto the contact on the stand, which immediately starts giving it juice, since it's the stand you plug into the wall (you can plug the mains charger into the XPS 18 instead of its stand, but that's only really for travelling).

The keyboard and mouse are both standard Dell fare - idols to the gods of black plastic. We'll go into more detail on how well they work in the Performance section.

The version of the Dell XPS 18 we've got here costs £999 / US$1,349.99, but there's also an £899 / US$999.99 version available with an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and no SSD at all, which seems like a much worse deal to us. There's also a version that's identical to the one we've got here but with a Core i7 processor for £1,099 / US$1,449.99.

Specifications

The Dell XPS 18 is pretty much an Ultrabook in disguise, offering modest specs to keep it a thin, sharp machine. The Intel Core i5-3337U processor in our review unit is a very recent chip, running at 1.8GHz normally, but is capable of hitting 2.7GHz in Turbo mode.

It's a dual-core chip, but features Hyper-Threading, meaning that it can appear as four virtual cores. It's designed to be a fairly capable chip, but it's not exactly designed for professionals.

This is a weaker chip than the one supplied in the high-end Sony Vaio Tap 20, which comes with an Intel Core i7-3517U, though we doubt the difference would be particularly noticeable. The Vaio Tap 20 also comes with 8GB of RAM, just like the Dell XPS 18, but offers a much larger 1TB hard drive (albeit with no SSD). So where's the extra money going in the Dell?

When it comes to graphics, it's integrated all the way, so there's no difference there. Intel's HD 4000 graphics are fairly capable, and we were able to play the latest SimCity game at full 1080p resolution smoothly on the Dell XPS 18, provided we turned down all the graphical wizardry.

It's not for serious gamers, but then that's inevitable with integrated graphics. Still, Intel's GPU is good enough most casual games. That said, the HP Envy Rove 20 will have much improved graphics over either the Sony Vaio Tap 20 or the Dell XPS 18 when it's released, because it will use Intel's forthcoming Haswell processors, which offer significantly improved gaming performance (and much better battery life).

The screen is where the difference between the Sony Vaio Tap 20 and the Dell XPS 18 comes into play. The Dell's smaller 18-inch screen is actually a Full HD, 1920 x 1080 resolution panel, while Sony offers a mere 1600 x 900 in a larger panel. The Dell's is therefore much crisper and sharper, and should make for a more pleasant experience.

As we mentioned, the Dell XPS 18 offers 8GB of RAM, which should be more than enough for any home use. Those who like to do a bit of photo or video editing will no doubt be grateful for the extra headroom, but for most people 8GB is overkill, if anything - but certainly nice to have.

The 500GB hard drive is of the slower, smaller laptop kind, but is paired with a fast 32GB solid-state drive that contains Windows, which should help to keep speeds down when booting the computer or waking it from sleep.

When it comes to ports, you're rather limited, with just two USB 3.0 ports and an SD card slot, along with an audio jack. There's also the power port here, along with a power dock on the bottom, for where it connects to the charging base. We were hoping that the base would offer a wider range of ports, so that you could leave things connected there and just dock into the base to have the Dell XPS 18 access them, but that's not the case - it's just for power.

This strikes us as a massive missed trick. On its stand, the Dell XPS 18 is actually a really smart all-in-one PC, but having just two USB ports and no video-out ports really holds it back compared to the connectivity in something like the Apple iMac.

There's no optical drive, either, but we understand why not. It means that watching Blu-rays on that lovely screen is a bit awkward, but there are options. We don't blame Dell for omitting it at all.

Performance

Benchmarks
Cinebench R10: 8830
3D Mark 11: Ice - 33371, Cloud - 3745, Fire - 544
Battery Eater Pro: 124 minutes

Judging the capabilities of the Dell XPS 18 is just as awkward as deciding what kind of machine it is. In terms of raw power, it's well off the mark for a pure all in one, with the slightly more expensive iMac battering it for CPU and GPU power.

But this isn't just an all-in-one. It's portable too, so perhaps it's fairer to pit it against Ultrabooks. Actually, it proves to be middle of the road there, coming in behind the likes of the similarly priced Gigabyte U2442F for processing power. And yes, it's slightly less powerful than the Sony Vaio Tap 20, which is its only direct competitor, but because the Sony lacks an SSD, we wouldn't count the Dell out for speed.

For graphics power, it's pretty much on a par with what we'd expect from the integrated GPU. As we said, we could play SimCity smoothly at full resolution provided we had the effects turned down, which was fine. For older games, or fairly mainstream stuff, it'll do the job.

The Sony Vaio Tap 20 may perform slightly better thanks to having a lower-resolution screen, but that's a trade-off. The HP Envy Rove 20 will offer much improved graphical performance with Intel's next-generation Haswell GPU tech, but we'll have to see exactly how much when it's released.

So, Dell's XPS 18 isn't a powerhouse, but the more important part is that it still feels very nippy - it certainly feels as fluid as an Ultrabook. Boot-up times are short, and it's fairly quick to come on from standby, though it's annoying that it doesn't turn on by pressing the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse - you have to press the button on the side of the screen.

The keyboard and mouse are a bit of an irritation, with the keyboard being just ugly and cheap, and the mouse having to be manually activated by pressing the power button on its underside whenever you want to use it, instead of just clicking its top buttons, as any sane person would expect to be able to do.

They keyboard is perfectly comfortable, though, if a little soft, and the mouse is similarly acceptable, though the wheel is horribly wobbly, due to the ability to click it left and right as well as roll it forward and back.

More than that, though, Windows 8 just often feels hostile to the mouse user. It's nicer to trackpad owners, but getting your head around using hot corners and scrolling sideways in the apps screen is an unintuitive process. You'll often just think it's easier to use the touchscreen.

Handy, then, that the touchscreen is as responsive as you'd hope, and it's easy to navigate the parts of Windows that have been optimised for it. That said, it would be good if the on-screen keyboard made better (and more ergonomic) use of the vast space of the display.

Most importantly, the display itself is excellent. Being Full HD 1920 x 1080 helps, making it brilliantly detailed, but colours are brilliant, and it's perfect from basically any viewing angle. HD movies look absolutely flawless on it, and it's great for photo editing. The only small concern about the display itself is that it doesn't go quite as bright as we'd like - though it's fine for most situations.

The brightness ties into what turns out to be a big visibility flaw, though: it's massively, distractingly reflecting. In a closed office setup, this is almost never a problem. But the Dell XPS 18 isn't designed to be purely used in dark, pokey offices. You're supposed to carry it to the living room or kitchen. Where there's sunlight.

Sunlight is not good. We basically couldn't see anything while trying to watch a movie on it while cooking on a sunny day. We could hear it well enough, because the stereo speakers are damn loud (and nicely clear - they're very good), but we could barely see anything. It picks up fingerprints a lot, too, but they aren't too visible when you're using it in a dimmer environment.

When picking it up and taking it around, we really started to see the appeal of the portable all-in-one. On a duller day, when we could actually see what was happening on-screen, it was brilliant for popping in the kitchen and watching a movie while cooking or washing up. On a lazy Sunday evening, climb into bed and prop it up on some cushions and watch a film, and you're utterly transported in a way you just aren't with 10-inch tablet.

Note that we said about propping it up, though. Frustratingly, the little flick-out legs on the Dell XPS 18 are only good for solid surfaces - on your lap or elsewhere, you'll have to find your own solution to getting it to the angle you want.

Of course, there's one more consideration for using it as portable device: the battery. So Dell says five hours of use, but our fairly intense battery benchmarks give it just over two hours. Inevitably, use cases will vary here - we were able to watch a whole 1080p movie on it and still have a decent amount of battery left, so it's fine as a portable movie screen.

But still, we were hoping for more than even Dell's claimed five hours - it's massive, so we figured there might be a massive battery life. We know the big, high-res screen will be the biggest drain, but still.

Verdict

We get it. We thought the Dell XPS 18 would be a big silly chunk of 'because we can' hubris, but when we were watching a Full HD film in bed, on a big screen rivalling our living room TV, it really clicked into place. As an entertainment option, this really works.

So let's have this again, with Haswell for better performance and battery life. And just a bigger battery, actually. And a more sensible design overall. Right now, this is on the cusp of just crazy enough to work, but a bit of refinement can definitely take it over the line.

We liked

The screen is really the star of the show here, and by packing in such a beautiful display, Dell has given a real sense of purpose to the portable all-in-one. The Dell XPS 18 is a slightly portable entertainment machine, capable of delivering gorgeous video anywhere in your house. Which is great.

It's nice and nippy, thanks to being an Ultrabook, really, but there's enough power for most users. And it really is quite a smart thing - it almost looks more premium than it is, but that's fine. It's a really attractive and practical 18-inch all-in-one. Well, except for the lack of ports.

We disliked

You can get far more powerful all-in-one machines, with many, many more ports. They aren't portable, we'll grant you, but it's still a big drop in power, and a significant drop in usefulness - we wish the stand was more of a dock.

The super-reflective screen is a big shame, and we'd like better battery life for such a big machine. The price also becomes a major sticking point, when you consider its relative lack of power. We don't think £999 / US$1,349.99 is an unreasonable amount of money for a premium portable all-in-one, but we'd expect a little more than this for the price tag.

Give us a more premium mouse and keyboard, and since Logitech supplies the mouse here anyway, make it one of its trackpads instead, so it plays nice with Windows 8. And a flick-out stand that works on something other than desks. We really can't stress this enough.

Final verdict

There is the seed of something very good indeed in the Dell XPS 18. It's a weird one, and it's easy to question why you would want a portable desktop PC, but once you've used one, the question feels more like, 'why not have this option?'.

Right now, the main reasons why not are the connectivity and price relative to power. But they can change. Dell has got the basics right in making it nicely thin and giving it a stunning screen, so if what you want is a flexible entertainment centre PC, the Dell XPS 18 is well worth checking out.

Hands-on review: Leica X Vario

Angela Nicholson — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:02:00 GMT

Introduction

There's been much rumour and speculation that Leica might be about to produce a compact system camera, a smaller version of the full-frame Leica M with a 1.3x crop factor sensor like the Leica M8, or maybe an APS-C format sensor, but that is still compatible with M-mount lenses. The company's recent teaser campaign prior to the announcement of the Leica X Vario that referred to the "Mini M" sent many Leica lovers into overdrive.

However, the Leica X Vario is a compact camera, and it has a permanently attached lens. Significantly, this is an 18-46mm f/3.5-6.4 zoom lens, which produces images on a par with a 28-70mm lens on a full-frame camera.

In comparison, the Leica X2 has the equivalent of a 24mm f/2.8 lens, and some may be disappointed by the comparatively slow lens on the Leica X Vario.

The Leica X Vario also uses the same 16 million pixel APS-C format sensor as the Leica X2. It's available now, priced at £2,150 (around AU$3,540 / US$3,340).

Features

If you want to keep things simple and concentrate on getting the composition, shutter speed and aperture right, the Leica X Vario's sensitivity and white balance can be set to automatic. Helpfully, you can also specify the uppermost sensitivity value to use, as well as the lowest shutter speed.

If you prefer to take control over the sensitivity, it may be set in the range ISO 100-12,500. There's also the usual array of preset white balance options, in addition to two manually set values and a colour temperature mode.

Further control over colour is afforded by the Film modes. In addition to the Standard option, the Leica X Vario enables you to shoot images in Vivid, Natural, Black and White Natural and Black and White High Contrast modes.

Images may be saved to the SD/SDHC/SDXC card in DNG raw file format or as JPEG files, or as both simultaneously. The Film modes are available with both image file formats, so if you use the high contrast black and white option and shoot raw and JPEG files simultaneously you will have a monochrome JPEG and a DNG file with all the colour data for post-capture processing.

Metering can be set to the general purpose Smart multi-segment option, as well as centreweighted or spot metering - which is helpful in tricky lighting conditions, such as when the subject is backlit.

Automatic focusing is possible as well as manual focusing, and there are four AF options, 1-point, 11-point, spot and Face Detection. As in 1-point mode, spot AF mode enables you as the photographer to set the AF point, but the size of the AF area is smaller.

In continuous shooting mode, images may be shot at up to 5fps for a maximum of eight exposures when raw and JPEG files are recorded.

Although the Leica X Vario has a hotshoe to accept a flashgun such as the Leica SF 24 D (£270/US$350), there's also a pop-up flash. This flash unit may be set to fire automatically, or on-demand for fill-in purposes. There's also a red-eye correction option, as well as slow-sync mode and first or second curtain synchronisation.

Unlike the Leica X2, the Leica X Vario is capable of shooting Full HD (1080p) video at 30fps in MP4 format for easy sharing.

Build quality and handling

Leica has used a similar design to the Leica M for the Leica X Vario, and it feels beautifully crafted and solid, without being too heavy. It is, however, quite large overall for a compact camera. The body is only a little bigger than the Leica X2's, but the lens is significantly larger. This makes it less likely to be slipped into a bag, and it's doubtful it will find a home in a coat pocket unless it's the type that's designed to carry a pheasant home from a shoot.

Like the Leica M's the Leica X Vario's top-plate has been machined from solid aluminium and it has the familiar stepped form. This plate also houses a shutter speed dial like the Leica M's, and this enables you to set shutter speed in the range of 1-1/2000 sec. When set to the 1 sec position the rear dial enables the shutter speed to be set to longer times, extending up to 30 secs.

Unlike the Leica M, which accepts lenses with an aperture ring, the Leica X Vario has an aperture dial on the top-plate with settings running from f/3.5 (the wideangle maximum) in 1/3 stops to f/16.

As the shutter speed and aperture dials have an A setting, you can set the camera to shoot in Program mode (with both set to A), aperture priority (with the shutter speed dial set to A) or shutter priority (with the aperture dial set to A). Alternatively, you can take manual control and set the shutter speed and aperture yourself.

When the camera is in an automatic or semi-automatic exposure modes, you can set exposure compensation by pressing the up control of the navigation pad on the back of the camera and turning the dial just above the thumb rest.

A second press of the up control enables you to set the automatic exposure bracketing values, while a third gives you access to the flash exposure compensation control.

In a confusing change from the Leica X2, but like the Leica M, the button at the centre of the Leica X Vario's navigation control is labelled 'Info' and the 'Menu/Set' button is to the left of the screen. It doesn't take long to get used to it, but anyone switching from a Leica X2 may find they press the wrong button a few times.

On the subject of pressing the wrong button, while we were handling the Leica X Vario we accidentally pressed the navigation control and thumb-wheel a few times. We didn't change any settings when doing so, but this is something we'll have to look at when we get a chance to spend a bit more time with the camera.

We also found that it's easy to flick the power switch too far when turning the camera on, so that instead of shooting in single shot mode the camera is set to continuous shooting mode.

One of the criticisms levelled at Leica for the X2 was the use of a low-resolution screen in a premium compact camera. Leica hasn't made the same mistake with the Leica X Vario, and it has a 3-inch 920,000-dot LCD that provides a nice clear view.

As we got to use the Leica X Vario prior to its announcement, we weren't able to take it outside or shoot with it extensively, but the screen doesn't appear to suffer excessively from reflections.

The menu is very clear and seems sensibly arranged. It has all the options you'd expect, without being too extensive, which means it's fairly easy to find what you need.

Leica has given the Leica X Vario's lens two rings. The front one, furthest from the camera body, is the zoom ring. This is fairly stiff, but not excessively so, and you're unlikely to change focal length accidentally.

The ring nearest the camera body is the focus ring. When this ring is set to the AF point, the camera will focus automatically, but when it's rotated away from this setting the focus is set manually. A helpful focus assist mode enlarges the centre of the screen to enable precise focusing, and this is when you appreciate the high-resolution LCD screen.

Performance

Although the Leica X Vario that we were able to shoot with was a full-production model, we weren't able to take it outside of Leica UK's Mayfair offices. Naturally this means that we were very restricted with the subjects that were available to photograph. You can see the results of our shooting on the next page.

However, our first impressions are that the Leica X Vario is capable of capturing a high level of detail, and noise is generally well controlled.

Shots taken at ISO 6400 have a fine-grained texture that is visible when sized to make A3 sized (16.5 x 11.7-inch) prints. At the default settings there isn't much in the way of coloured speckling visible in either the raw or JPEG files, and there's no banding or clumping of noise.

As usual noise becomes more visible in shadow areas, but it isn't especially offensive, and our limited experience with the Leica X Vario indicates that ISO 6400 is a safe upper limit.

Even at ISO 12,500 the Leica X Vario produces decent results, although naturally chroma noise is more evident in the shadow area. The JPEGs are slightly softer at 100% than the simultaneously captured raw files, but the colour noise is also slightly less visible.

We'll need to shoot more images in a range of conditions to be sure, but it seems that Leica has gone down the road of preserving detail at high sensitivity settings and enabling some noise to be visible - an approach we applaud. There's no sign of smudging or smearing that is sometimes seen when an image is softened to hide noise and then sharpened in-camera to bring out edge detail.

Direct from the Leica X Vario, images are nice and vibrant in the Standard Film mode while the results from the Black and White Natural mode look good, though most users are likely to use them as a guide and will adjust their raw files using the supplied Adobe Lightroom 5 software.

Distortion also appears to be well controlled, with just slight barrelling being noticeable with close-to linear subjects at the 28mm end of the lens.

Scrutinising images with high contrast edges reveals that chromatic aberrations are well controlled, with just a suggestion being visible here and there. It doesn't look like we will be finding any major issues with it when we test the camera more thoroughly.

One area of potential disappointment with the Leica X Vario is its automatic focusing system. Being a mirrorless camera, this is contrast detection-based, and compared with the systems inside the likes of the Panasonic G6 and Sony NEX-6 it is slow. It also struggled to latch onto a couple of targets that wouldn't have troubled some other cameras.

On a more positive note, it's very quick and easy to switch into manual focus mode, and this is likely to suit many of the Leica faithful more than automatic focusing anyway.

Initial verdict

Having only had a very brief period in which to shoot a few images from within an office, we don't want to jump to conclusions about the Leica X Vario. However, early indications for image quality are very positive.

The Leica X2's image quality is generally highly regarded, and the fact that the Leica X Vario uses the same sensor - albeit with tweaked processing - bodes well. Our few sample images indicate that the new camera captures lots of detail and noise is sympathetically handled.

We liked

Leica knows how to make cameras that feel good in the hand, and the Leica X Vario is no exception. It feels superbly made and built to last.

We also appreciate the way that Leica processes images in-camera. It enables some noise to be visible so that the detail is also there.

We disliked

We'll need to shoot with the Leica X Vario a little more to see how much of an issue the positioning of the controls in relation to the thumb rest is - if it is an issue, it may just be one of those things that is irrelevant once you get used to the camera. The same may be true of the power switch that seems to slip too easily towards the continuous shooting point.

When the Leica X2 was launched it was billed as the smallest APS-C format camera available. This crown may have been stolen by the Ricoh GR, but it is still a very compact model. The body of the Leica X Vario is only a little bigger than the X2's, but the lens is much bigger. This makes the camera fairly bulky.

We are also a little concerned about the speed of the autofocusing system, which lags behind that of some (more affordable) compact system cameras such as the Panasonic G6, Sony NEX-6 and Olympus E-PL5.

Initial verdict

There's no getting away from the fact that the Leica X Vario is a very expensive camera. But in the same way the Bugatti doesn't set out to compete with popular cars such as the VW Golf, Leica doesn't make cameras to compete with mainstream models. Leica is an exclusive brand.

It will be interesting to see how the Leica faithful respond to the Leica X Vario, especially given its Mini M billing and 18-46mm f/3.5-6.4 zoom lens.

You don't expect lots of mod cons with a Leica camera, you expect a high standard of design and construction and superb image quality. On the face of it the Leica X Vario seems to deliver it, but we need to test it further to be certain.

Sample images

Click here to see the full resolution image

Taken at the 28mm end of the zoom lens.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Taken at the 70mm end of the lens.

Click here to see the full resolution image

There's lots of detail visible in this JPEG image captured at ISO 400.

Click here to see the full resolution image

This raw file was shot at ISO 12,500, the highest sensitivity setting available on the Leica X Vario. There's some discolouration and a granular texture visible in the darker parts of the image, but the level of detail retained is still pretty impressive - despite the fact that it was shot through a window.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The shadow areas of this JPEG shot are more neutral, but at 100% on screen the detail looks slightly softer than in the simultaneously captured raw file.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Taken at ISO 6400 this image has fine textured noise. The Smart multi-segment metering system has coped well with this lighter than average subject.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The results from the Black and White Natural Film Mode look pretty good straight from the camera, although with Lightroom 5 being supplied as part of the package most users are likely to use this mode as a guide only, and edit raw files.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Chromatic aberration appears to be very well controlled, with only a few signs of it here and there.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Straight from the camera, raw file skin tones look a little too vibrant, but this would only take a moment to adjust to taste using the supplied Lightroom 5 software.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The simultaneously captured JPEG files look flatter and less saturated.

Review: Updated: Microsoft Surface Pro

Mary Branscombe — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Introduction

The Surface Pro is now on sale in two versions, a somewhat lean 64GB version and a more usable 128GB variant.

After being on sale for a while in the US and Canada, this month sees the Surface Pro launch in the UK, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

We've been waiting quite a while for a tablet like this - and not just since it was announced last year. If you ever saw a Windows tablet PC and wanted one that was done properly, you've been waiting years for Surface Pro with full Windows 8.

But is it worth the wait? Is it a flying car, a toaster fridge, a compromise too far? Or is it the best of both worlds? What exactly is Surface Pro?

Surface RT with Windows RT is easy to understand; it's Microsoft's ARM tablet for everyone who likes or wants an iPad but needs to use Office and a keyboard. If that's just not enough for you, if you want the full version of Windows 8, Surface Pro promises that in almost the same form factor.

It has the same distinctive look, the same sleek black VaporMg case and the same full-size USB port - but it tweaks the iconic kickstand and the clever magnetic connectors for power and the two tear-off keyboards (Type Cover and Touch Cover both work interchangeably with Surface Pro and RT).

It improves on the 10.6-inch touchscreen of the Surface RT with higher resolution and a digital pen you can use to scribble notes on the screen (and snap into the power port for carrying around), but it still has some of the darkest blacks you'll find on any screen. It's a PC, but it's still a tablet. Do you want it? Depends on what you really want.

If you've seen the Surface RT in the flesh, the Surface Pro looks utterly familiar. The same VaporMg coating over the same sturdy but sleek metal body, the same gently curved corners and wide black bezel, the same subtle Windows logo on the front.

But pick it up and you'll notice the difference straight away. The Surface Pro is thicker - although 13.5mm (0.53 inches) rather than 9.3mm (0.37 inches) isn't exactly bulky - and it's heavier, at 907g (2lbs) rather than 680g (1.5lbs). But the weight is evenly distributed and well balanced so it doesn't feel a lot heavier unless you pick them up side by side.

Features

And inside the case of the Surface Pro, everything is different from the Surface RT, starting with the Intel Core i5-3317U CPU and integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000, which make it a real, powerful PC. Then it adds 4GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage.

Windows 8 takes up space on the SSD, cutting the available storage down to just 29GB and 89GB, respectively. You can get more space by archiving the recovery partition onto a USB stick and adding a 64GB microSD card (the largest on the market today).

But to put things in proportion, with Windows 8, the default Windows Store apps and Office 365 Home and Business downloaded and installed, and before archiving the recovery partition, we had 28.6GB of space free on our Surface Pro's SSD.

There are only a handful of ports and sockets on the Surface Pro, but again they're different fro Surface RT; on the left is a full-size USB 3 port, the volume switch and the headphone jack.

On the right are the microSD card slot (more convenient than hiding it under the kickstand), the magnetic power port (which we'll come back to later) and the mini DisplayPort connector. That's there because Microsoft expects business users to want to connect to monitors and projectors, but you can get cables that connect to your HDMI TV as well.

The other big difference is the screen. Turn it off and it's so black that it's almost impossible to tell where the bezel ends and the screen starts; it's even blacker than the Surface RT screen.

That's important, because the screen is never going to be blacker than when it's off - and most LCDs are more of a dark grey than a true black when they're off. Because there is no air gap between the layers of the screen - even with both touch and pen layers in there - the Surface Pro screen has true blacks. And very little glare.

Turn it on and you get rich, vivid, accurate and not over-saturated colours, and crisp, bright white. Other screens look slightly grey, yellow or pink next to the Surface Pro's gorgeous screen. The 1920 x 1080 resolution is higher than the Surface RT and shines when you're watching videos or looking at photos.

It also makes Windows applications and web pages look utterly tiny, so the default settings crank the DPI up to 150% (oddly, setting the Surface Pro to UK settings knocked that down to 125%).

This makes documents and web pages readable but makes window titles and scrollbars look a little oversized by comparison, so you may want to experiment with tweaking this to a custom DPI setting. Normally we'd say "that's a Windows problem" but given that Microsoft developed Windows 8 and Surface Pro side by side, it would be nice to have seen this look less strange on the showcase Windows 8 device.

It's the only drawback on one of the most beautiful screens we've seen on a PC this year, though.

The top of the case has nothing but the power button. The design here is slightly different from the Surface RT and may account for the fact that Surface Pro doesn't have the same phenomenal Wi-Fi detection. It found only 10 of the 13 wireless access points the Surface RT found in exactly the same position in the office.

There's no 3G or LTE option, but you can use your phone, a mini hotspot such as a MiFi or plug in a USB broadband dongle to get online if you need to. After all (we're going to keep saying this), it's a PC.

Even though this is an Intel Core i5 PC with vents and fans, it's not hot or noisy thanks to the efficient cooling. After running all day the case is barely warm to the touch and we could seldom hear the fan over other office noise, even with demanding games running.

The line of vents runs around the edge of the top half of the tablet, lining up beautifully with the kickstand (the vents stop where the kickstand starts). The line of the vent also makes it easier to feel where the kickstand is so you can open it without looking (there's still a small groove on the left to use if you have no fingernails, and the kickstand still opens and snaps shut with a satisfying expensive-car-door sound).

As on the Surface RT, the Surface Pro's kickstand puts the screen at a great angle for watching movies when you put it down on a table, or for typing or doing a video chat - the angle puts the camera at eye level with your face in view so you don't have to keep looking up.

What about for using Surface Pro as a laptop? Because the Surface Pro is thicker than the original Surface RT, the sides are bevelled at a different angle and the kickstand sits at a slightly different angle as well. It also has two tiny projecting feet at the bottom of the kickstand (each 2 inches wide) and we found the combination made the Surface Pro a little more stable when perched on a knee or lap.

How stable it is depends on how you sit and how long your legs are; if you can get your legs flat and they're long enough for the kickstand to perch on your knee, the Surface Pro is perfectly stable and you can type and tap the screen firmly without it over-balancing. If you prop your feet up, or you're tall, there's no problem.

If you're short and the keyboard and kickstand don't fit on your lap or the chair is the wrong height so your knees aren't at the correct ergonomic angle that keeps them level, you have to sit at an odd angle or risk the Surface Pro tipping backwards or forwards from time to time.

The extra weight of the Surface Pro may also help here; it's very well balanced and doesn't tip as easily as the Surface RT (in particular it's less prone to tipping forward when you move your legs).

A normal notebook wouldn't have that problem - but then you wouldn't be able to rip the keyboard off a normal notebook to turn it into a tablet.

The thicker, sturdier keyboard on a convertible such as the Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro or the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix means these balance on your knee like a laptop - but they're also thicker and heavier than a Type or Touch Cover.

Pen, touch controls and interface

Pen and touchscreen

Being able to tear off the cover and use the Surface Pro as a true tablet (albeit a slightly heavier one than most) is what makes it a Surface. This is where the way the weight of the Surface Pro is distributed matters; the battery isn't off to one side like the original Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which swung over to one side in your hands.

You can hold the Surface Pro in one hand or two and have it stay at the angle you want, so you can grip it in both hands and type on the on-screen split keyboard with both thumbs or hold it in one hand for web browsing - or taking notes.

Although Microsoft originally told us that the Surface Pro would have a pen that didn't come from either Wacom or Ntrig, what you get with Surface Pro is indeed a Wacom pen, and a top-notch one at that. Unlike the tiny pen hidden in the back of the Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro, this is the size of a normal ink pen, with an eraser button on one end and a large button placed comfortably on the side. Click it and you have a right-mouse button with a beautifully positive action.

Some Wacom pens have shallow, flimsy buttons that make it hard to tell when you've pressed them, but there are no such problems here. Turn it over and you can wipe out what you just wrote or drew.

Writing with the pen in an app such as OneNote for Windows 8, in the Office programs such as Word or in the handwriting recognition panel of the on-screen keyboard is smooth and accurate.

And while the handwriting recognition isn't perfect, it's accurate enough to make notes searchable or to let you write in a URL. The pressure sensitivity makes the pen a joy for working in Photoshop or in natural media painting tools such as ArtRage or Fresh Paint.

If you're using a watercolour brush or a pastel crayon on a textured surface, drawing with your finger gives you a single, solid weight - more like a felt-tip pen or a bucket fill. With the Surface Pro pen, you can stroke lightly to get a thin light, light wash or gentle crayon stroke, or scribble fast and hard to get thicker, heavier lines.

The pen is also very accurate for selecting small icons in a complex interface such as Photoshop (much easier than the small trackpad on the Touch and Type Covers, or your finger on the screen), or for drawing a selection on an image.

The combination of pen and touch makes Surface Pro extraordinarily versatile for drawing, sketching, painting, image editing and note taking.

When you're not using the pen, the side button snaps into the magnetic power port. This holds the pen firmly; we tried carrying it in a backpack (without a slipcase) and running it through an airport scanner (twice, thanks to a cancelled flight) as well as carrying it around throughout the day, and the pen didn't get knocked off.

In an ideal world, we'd prefer to have a permanent place to keep the pen, such as a well in the back of the screen where it would lock in place, because it's too easy to put the pen down when you have to disconnect it to charge the Surface Pro (although the magnet on the keyboard connector is strong enough to grab onto the pen if you don't have a keyboard attached).

It's certainly heavier than an iPad or Surface RT, but the Pro is lighter, better balanced and more comfortable to hold than other Core i5 tablets such as the Ativ Smart PC Pro and the Samsung Series 7. If you've ever wanted a lightweight tablet PC for taking handwritten notes and sketching on, the Surface Pro is what you've been looking for.

Interface

Windows 8, like Surface Pro, is something of a hybrid, with the the desktop and the Windows Store apps, touch and keyboard, the control panel and the finger-friendly PC Settings app.

On the Surface Pro, as long as you're comfortable with gestures such as swiping to open the charms bar, switching apps and closing an app you don't want, the two fit together almost seamlessly.

You can swipe across the Start screen fluidly, pinch for semantic zoom, swipe up to get rid of tiles you don't want, snap two apps (including the desktop) side by side - that's great for chatting on Facebook or Skype while you work in two or three desktop apps.

All of this works on any Windows 8 PC with high enough screen resolution, but it works very smoothly on Surface Pro - as you'd expect.

Browser and media

Internet browser

The Surface Pro runs Windows 8 Pro, so you get the full version of Internet Explorer 10, which is a true modern browser with excellent hardware acceleration (for JavaScript as well as images) and all the usual IE plugins and add-ons, such as Flash and Silverlight.

Plus you get the touch-optimised full-screen Windows 8 version of IE 10, which runs only Flash and then only for white-listed sites.

Both share searchable browser history and bookmarks that are automatically synced to any other Windows 8 or Windows RT system where you log in with the same Microsoft account, and you can pin sites to the Start menu or the desktop task bar.

In short, this is Windows 8, and that means you can run Chrome or Firefox or Opera as your browser if you prefer.

You can have multiple browsers installed; the only limitation is that you can only use one full-screen Windows 8 style browser at once; if you make Chrome or Firefox your default browser, you can't run the full-screen version of IE 10.

The Core i5, speedy SSD and fast Wi-Fi mean IE 10 performs well; in fact the browser benchmarks we ran were faster than on the similar Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro.

The 1920 x 1080 screen means you'll want to view most websites at the default 150% to keep the text from being too tiny to read, but the vibrant, accurate colours, dark black and bright white make every web page a pleasure to read.

Turn the screen sideways to see websites in portrait - like a magazine - and swipe with your fingers to get smooth, responsive scrolling.

Music

Multimedia on Windows 8 means the Xbox music and video stores and the Xbox music and video apps.

Or Spotify, Last.fm, Windows Media Player, iTunes, Vimeo, YouTube, BBC iPlayer, 4OD or whatever Windows Store app or favourite entertainment is, because again, this is Windows 8. If you want Windows Media Center, you can buy it online for US$9.99/£6.99/AU$9.99.

Xbox music includes free streaming for a year when you're online (eventually this will include ads) and it has a good catalogue of music, even compared to services such as Spotify.

Pay for the Xbox Music Pass and you can download music, sync it to a Windows Phone (and, in time, iOS and Android phones) or get your own music matched on other PCs you use.

The Xbox Music app remains a little primitive, but the Smart DJ feature is a great way of getting the kind of music you like - and possibly new music in your favourite style.

If you do use Xbox music, the volume buttons on the side of the Surface Pro don't just turn the sound up or down; as soon as you press them a mini player pops up where you can pause or change tracks without going back to the app. These are about a third of the way down the side of the case, and are easy to find with your fingers but don't get in the way when you're holding the Surface Pro in both hands.

Whatever music you listen to, the sound from the speakers on the side is far better than you'd expect from something this thin.

There's not much bass, full volume on unusually quiet tracks can still be a little low and you'll notice a little distortion on louder tracks at full blast. But you can hear your music from across the room or enjoy a movie soundtrack at decent quality.

Video

Xbox video is similarly convenient; you can subscribe to a TV series or rent a movie for 24 hours. And if you have an Xbox, you can send video straight to the Xbox screen to watch.

Alternatively, stump up for a DisplayPort adaptor.

Video is where the 1080p Surface Pro screen really shines.

The truly black blacks and vivid colours give it excellent contrast, even in the darkest areas of a picture, and HD video plays back smoothly and fluidly with superb, crisp detail.

Books

Want to read e-books? Use the Kindle app, or the Nook app, or Kobo or Freda or Blio or any of the other e-reader apps in the Windows Store, where you can also find several good comic readers as well as Audible and other audio book players.

Avoid the books in the Windows Store though; they're mostly either expensive copes of books you could get free from Gutenberg or badly OCRed pirated copies of books we're surprised Microsoft allows in the store at all.

Apps and games

In terms of apps, again, since this is Windows 8, you can install and run any desktop software or game that runs on Windows - or Windows RT.

The Windows Store and the Xbox Games app enable you to explore the categories of apps and games that run on the Surface Pro.

The Games app also enables you to see Xbox Live achievements and friends, or start a game you already have on your Xbox. This uses the SmartGlass app, which turns your Surface Pro into a way to control your Xbox. This is great for browsing the web on a screen everyone can see without struggling to use an Xbox controller to run the browser.

Virtually every app that's available on the for the Surface RT is available on Surface Pro, and they all run faster too.

The CPU is fast enough for decent gaming - and of course you can connect your favourite gaming keyboard or controller - but the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 Mobile is the limiting factor.

Even so, you can play Portal 2, Diablo III, League of Legends, Civilization V, World of Warcraft and other current PC games at high quality, full 1920 x 1080 resolution and close to maximum detail settings; at worst you'll see the occasional dropped frame.

And casual gaming - including the more demanding games in the Windows Store that can struggle on Windows RT systems - are smooth and fluid.

Camera

Taking a photo with a tablet is an act of desperation; it says 'I forgot to bring a real camera but I want this shot so badly, I don't mind how silly I look'.

In keeping with that principle, both the front and rear-facing cameras on the Surface Pro are 1.2MP cameras with poor low light performance.

They take the kind of disposable snaps we expected of camera phones five years ago, rather than the acceptable images you can get by looking silly and using the iPad 4 as a camera.

If you want decent snaps, use a compact camera or a good camera phone such as the Nokia 808 PureView.

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQHTu6RjfOk

However they're much better as webcams than for still images, recording at 720p. The extra wide angle of the front-facing camera is great for video chat in Skype, and the colour balance from the Microsoft True Color system and autofocus do better than all but the very best built-in webcams in other notebooks.

The rear camera is good enough to show the person you're chatting with a quick video view from your window.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Battery life and performance

Battery life

Compared to an ARM processor, the battery life of a PC with a Core i5 in is always going to be disappointing. Initially Microsoft said its Surface Pro would have half the battery life of the Surface RT, around five hours instead of 10.

As usual, whether that's accurate depends what you're doing. On our rundown tests, which keep the screen on and the CPU and GPU running continually, with Wi-Fi and background tasks running, we could run the battery down in a little less than three hours.

But our test is designed to hammer battery life, and you're rarely going to run anything that demanding in real life for as long as it takes to run out of battery.

With the screen at a comfortable brightness for working next to a large window, running multiple desktop programs and Windows Store apps at the same time, with Wi-Fi on and the USB port in use, browsing the web and receiving and sending email, we were routinely able to work for over eight hours.

Adding in the times when we walked away to get a cup of tea or made a phone call and allowed the Surface Pro to go to sleep, on one occasion it was almost 10 hours from unplugging the power to seeing the warning that the battery was so low the system was about to hibernate.

Depending on what you do, this is going to vary the way it does on any other notebook; play movies or browse web pages that use the GPU more, and you'll get shorter battery life. Turn off Wi-Fi and turn the brightness down and unplug USB devices and you'll get longer battery life.

And as you do different things, the predicted battery life will go up and down, just as on any other Windows systems.

So 10 minutes of running demanding browser rendering benchmarks with 55% charge left Windows predicting under an hour of battery life if we kept on running the test. Closing the browser test put predicted battery life back up over two hours, and we were able to carry on working for longer than that in the end.

Think of the Surface Pro as an Ultrabook that just happens to look like a tablet (rather than a heavy iPad that runs desktop applications, say) and it has better than usual battery life.

When you do need to plug it in, the charger for the Surface Pro is a bit bigger than the Surface RT charger, although it's the same neat shape, just with a short, flat power cable.

The extra size is needed to pump out more power, and means that even though Surface Pro needs about 44W instead of the 24W that charges Surface RT, it still charges completely, from flat, in under two hours. In just an hour's charging we were back up to 85% battery life.

Handily, there's also a USB port on the charger, so you can plug your phone, camera and other USB-powered gadgets in to the same charger, which saves space when you're travelling.

If you already have a Surface RT, you can use its charger for the Surface Pro in a pinch. It doesn't charge as fast, but it still charges, which is handy for topping up at home if you keep your Pro charger at work, for instance, or if you don't want to go all the way downstairs to get the charger. The Surface Pro charger will charge the Surface RT as well, getting a full charge in well under two hours this way.

Trying this out shows the difference in the magnetic power port more clearly; the power connector that fits snugly and seamlessly into the Pro power port is just a fraction deeper than the port on the side of the Surface RT.

The combination of the longer connector and stronger magnets in the power port and the slightly different angle at the edge of the case make it easier to get the power connected every time - something that's just too fiddly on the Surface RT.

The magnet is also stronger on the keyboard connector - strong enough that you can attach the pen here, although not as neatly as in the power port. This doesn't just make it easier to snap the keyboard into place, it also means that new accessories using the extra power lines in the connector will attach firmly. We're hoping for a keyboard with an extra battery in, or a docking station.

Performance

As you'd expect from a Core i5 Ultrabook that just happens not to have a permanent keyboard, the Surface Pro is fast. It boots in about six seconds, and takes the same time to resume from hibernation once you add that to the power menu.

When running Photoshop and applying complex filters, editing 15GB raw images in Lightroom, rendering HD videos in Premiere Pro, watching 450 fish swimming at 60fps in the FishIE benchmark, the Core i5-3317U in the Surface Pro shows its speed and power.

You'll have no problem transcoding audio and video, running Visual Studio or using modelling and CAD software.

If you've used one of the very latest Core i5 processors, you know what sort of performance to expect from the Surface Pro. If you've used one of last year's Core i5 notebooks, the Surface Pro is definitely faster.

Hands on gallery

Official gallery

Verdict

Making your mind up about the Surface Pro is less about what it is and what it does and more about what you want out of a tablet. As a hybrid PC it's an undeniable compromise - but that's no bad thing.

We liked

This isn't the thinnest, lightest, longest lasting tablet you can get. It's thicker and heavier than an iPad or Surface RT, and it doesn't compete with either for battery life.

But it's a real PC that can run any applications you throw at it, from Flash to Firefox to Photoshop to first-person shooters. You can have all the browsers you want, play video with any codec you want, plug in all your peripherals - and you can do all that on a tablet that's thinner and lighter than just about any Ultrabook.

Plus you can write notes and draw with the precise, pressure-sensitive pen, you can hold the tablet in both hands and type with your thumbs, you can stream free music from Xbox Music and use all the designed-for-touch Windows Store apps.

That adds up to more than you can do on any other tablet - or most PCs - all wrapped up in a stylish package.

We disliked

To fit a PC in this form factor, compromises are made, and opinions vary on how much they matter.

The kickstand divides people neatly, and it depends on how long your legs are. If they're long enough for the Surface Pro to fit on your lap with the keyboard on and the kickstand out then you'll like using it on your lap. If you're short, you may have to sit in an odd position to keep it balanced, or you may find it tips over when you have it on your knees.

It's thicker and heavier than anything except another Core i5 tablet such as the Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro, and you wouldn't want to hold it in one hand for an hour while you read an e-book or browse the web.

More than one USB port would be nice too, and there's no permanent home for the pen - you have to take it out of the power port to charge.

And after the long battery life of the Surface RT, eight plus hours battery life - doing real work, with Wi-Fi on - is disappointing. Of course that's excellent battery life for an ultra-thin notebook, so it's all a question of expectations.

Final verdict

Expectations are the real issue with the Microsoft Surface Pro. If you were hoping for something with the power of a Core i5 laptop but the weight and battery life of Surface RT then you need to take another look at the laws of physics and the current capabilities of Intel processors.

It's a lightweight Windows 8 PC that runs all your applications and any browser you want, that you can use as a tablet with touchscreen controls and a fantastic pen, or as a notebook, by snapping on a keyboard.

You're getting a great machine at a reasonable price with the Surface Pro, and if you like the sound of it you'll be cursing the limited stock and the fact it's only on sale in North America at first.

Hands-on review: Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker

William O'Neal — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 17:48:00 GMT

Following on the success of last year's SoundLink Bluetooth Mobile Speaker II, Bose did the next logical thing. Go small. At a recent event in the Vanderbilt Hall of New York's Grand Central Station, the Boston-based audio giant announced two groundbreaking products: one of which was the SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker.

Coming in at a svelte 1.5 pounds, the SoundLink Mini, while small, manages to belt out some of the best sounding audio we've ever heard. And not just for a product this diminutive. Bose built a tiny room in the middle of Grand Central Station to show off the SoundLink Mini's prowess and we were truly impressed.

While the music Bose chose to show off what this tiny speaker is capable of highlighted its abilities, they were nice enough to give us some hands-on time with it so that we could test it out with our tunes. We easily paired the SoundLink Mini to two devices: an HTC One running on AT&T's network and a Samsung Ativ S running on T-Mobile. The SoundLink Mini is designed to remember connections to up to six devices, so once you pair a device, you should be good to go for the duration.

According to Bose, the speaker boasts a range of about 30 feet as well an auxiliary port that lets you connect non-Bluetooth devices. We played a variety of music and everything from R&B and hip hop, replete with all of the deep bass that you'd expect, to acoustic music from the likes of Ray LaMontagne and Damien Rice. All sounded amazing.

While the lows in the more bass-heavy music were perfectly deep and solid, the highs in the acoustic selections were very crisp. And this device can get plenty loud without losing any clarity.

The SoundLink Mini sports a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and, according to Bose, users can expect up to seven of hours of continuous play.

Bose offers two charging methods with the SoundLink Mini. There's a stylish charging cradle that's great for when you're at home. If you're on the go, a wall charger that plugs into the charging cradle can also plug into the speaker itself. Add to that, Bose claims the speaker can be fully charged in three hours.

With the SoundLink Mini Bose created a very stylish piece of gear. The guts are encased in a single piece of aluminum and while this looks and feels great, we worry about scratches. To that end, Bose is offering a plethora of protection options for the SoundLink Mini including a variety of soft covers that come in several covers as well as a nifty carrying case. Expect to pay around $25 for the soft covers and $45 for the carrying case.

Speakers

Bose designed the tiny speakers in the SoundLink Mini from the ground up.

The insides of the SoundLink Mini were specifically designed to move as much air as possible, resulting in bass that was shockingly good for a device so small.

The SoundLink Mini easily connects to any Bluetooth-enabled device.

Early verdict

If there's one thing Bose is known for it's quality audio products. And to that end the SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker upholds that tradition.

Sure the Bluetooth portable speaker scene is crowded with the likes of Jambox, Monster and Beats, but anyone who's interested in portable audio would be remiss to not give the SoundLink Mini Bluetooth speaker a listen.

Review: Wacom Cintiq 13HD

Alex Thomas — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 13:00:00 GMT

The newest member of Wacom's high-end graphics tablet family is an upgrade to the previous 12WX model, and fills the gap between the high-end and high-priced Cintiq 22HD at £1,899 (AU$2,365, US$1,999) and the Intuos 5 at £430 (AU$550, US$425) for the L model).

The Cintiq's unique selling point has always been the ability to draw onto the screen, and with its 13.3- inch screen and 1,080 x 1,920 resolution it's bright and responsive, making the user experience as intuitive as ever.

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The screen has a matt coating that makes drawing tactile, and unlike its bigger brothers, it doesn't have the problem of overheating, so you can safely use it on your lap.

It comes bundled with a new "Pro Pen", which features the same high level of pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition that we have seen in the previous generations, but with a new tapered and lighter design. Even when close to the edge of the screen, minimal detail was lost and the lines were accurate in our tests.

If you look closely, there's some discrepancy between the tip of the pen nib and the contact area due to the gap between the glass and the screen itself. However, it's less than in previous models thanks to the Cintiq's new slimline design, and once you're using it regularly it's barely noticeable.

Included in the package is a plastic stand that allows you to position your Cintiq at three varying angles, which is ideal since all artists have different preferences about the optimum drawing position. However the stand is made from a flimsy plastic and didn't always feel completely stable on our desk.

One key feature that was missing is multi-touch, which after using the Intuos for many months is now second nature. With its four programmable keys and rocker ring, additional functionality can be added to the tablet, but it lacks that hands-on feel.

The other main problem we encountered was connectivity. The Cintiq 13HD comes with a three-in-one cable that handles USB, HDMI and power; when connecting to certain Macs (our 2012 MacBook Pro, for example) it needed an additional HDMI-to-Display Port/Thunderbolt adaptor to work, which is a further cost on top of the already hefty price tag. Wacom can't be expected to supply a cable for every eventuality, but this felt like a glaring omission.

Verdict

Strong on its main function, but lacking when it comes to the details, the Wacom Cintiq 13HD is a slightly frustrating product that could have much better (and for the price, it really should be). A great screen and excellent sensitivity – if only it came with multitouch, a better stand and more cable options.

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Review: Ricoh GR

Angela Nicholson — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 12:04:00 GMT

Introduction

Ricoh had a reputation for producing superb 35mm film compact cameras such as the GR I and GR21 that found favour with enthusiast photographers. However, despite producing high quality images, the company's digital compact cameras such as the Ricoh GR II and Ricoh GR Digital IV haven't really attracted the same attention.

The Ricoh GXR, a compact system camera (CSC) that couples the lens and sensor into a single interchangeable module that slots into the back, which houses the controls and the LCD screen, confused the company's fans and consequently also failed to sell in high numbers.

The new Ricoh GR, however, could be about to put the company back on the map for photography enthusiasts because it is a compact camera but its 16.2 million pixel sensor is an APS-C format device rather than a 1/1.7-inch unit as is found in the Ricoh GR IV.

It also affords full control over exposure (as well as automatic and semi-automatic control) and images may be saved as raw or JPEG files - or both simultaneously.

At around £599/US$796 (approximately AU$882) the Pentax Ricoh GR's price is also much more attractive than that of the Nikon Coolpix A and the overly complicated Ricoh GXR.

Furthermore, despite the 9x increase in the size of the sensor, the GR isn't a great deal bigger than the GR IV and it fits neatly into the average coat or jacket pocket. It's a similar size to the Nikon Coolpix A and Sigma DP1, and a little smaller than the Fuji X100S.

Features

Like the Nikon Coolpix A, the Ricoh GR's APS-C format 16.2MP CMOS sensor has no anti-aliasing filter, which should enable it to capture sharper details than a comparable sensor with the filter.

Omitting the filter brings the risk of moiré patterning in images with fine repeating patterns of detail, but it hasn't been an issue for the Nikon Coolpix A, Nikon D7100 or Nikon D800E. Even if it is a problem, moiré patterning can be dealt with using image editing software, but the Ricoh GR also has in-camera post-capture moiré reduction available.

Because it's a compact camera the Ricoh GR has a fixed lens, and, like the optics on the other APS-C format compact cameras, it has a fixed focal length. In this case it's a 18.3mm lens, which is equivalent to around 28mm in 35mm terms.

This and its small size makes the GR ideal as a 'walk-around' camera and well suited to shooting street and documentary photographs as well as landscape images when you're out on a hike and want to travel light.

There's also an optional adaptor available to transform the lens into a wider, 21mm optic. At the other end of the scale, an in-camera 35mm crop mode is available.

Since the lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8, there's plenty of opportunity to control depth of field, and relatively fast shutter speeds can be used when the light level falls.

One of the trade offs that Ricoh has made as a result of the larger sensor is that the lens can't focus quite as close as its predecessor. However, there is a macro mode that enables you to get as close as 10cm to the subject.

One of the problems with previous Ricoh digital compact cameras was their relatively slow responses. Ricoh is hoping that the new processing engine in the GR will address this, and it has a claimed start-up time of approximately one second, a maximum continuous shooting rate of 4fps, shutter release lag of 0.03 seconds and 0.2 second autofocusing.

Unlike several new cameras such as the Panasonic G6, Canon IXUS 255 HS and Nikon Coolpix S9500, the Ricoh GR doesn't feature Wi-Fi communication built-in. But it is compatible with Eye-Fi cards if you want to be able to transfer images wirelessly.

Build and handling

Built from a sturdy magnesium alloy, the Ricoh GR is billed as the world's smallest and lightest APS-C format camera. It's surprisingly close in size to the Ricoh GR IV and has a similarly understated design.

The front of the camera has a pronounced grip, which has a rubberised texture and gives good purchase, enabling the camera to be held one-handed. The layout of the buttons on the back of the camera also makes changing settings with a thumb quick and easy.

On the top of the Ricoh GR is a mode dial for speedily changing between automatic, semi-automatic and fully manual exposure modes. In a nod to Pentax, which is now owned by Ricoh, there's a TAv (Aperture and Time priority) option in which you set the shutter speed and aperture while the camera selects the sensitivity.

There are also three customisable groups of settings, labelled My1, My2 and My3, available via the mode dial. All you have to do is set up the camera to your preferences and then save that arrangement as a custom setting.

We found it especially useful for enabling a quick change in the Effect applied to the JPEG file. My1, for example, could set the camera to aperture priority mode with the High Contrast B&W Effect applied, while My2 might switch to Program mode with Bleach-Bypass mode activated. You can even save a name for the custom mode that will be displayed on the screen when it's selected.

These Effects modes are made all the more attractive because they can be used when shooting raw and JPEG files, with the JPEG file having the effect while the raw file stays clean.

Helpfully, Ricoh Pentax has opted for the DNG raw file format, which is compatible with a wide range of conversion software including Adobe Camera Raw that comes with Photoshop CS6, Photoshop Elements and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom without the need to update.

Just to the side of the mode dial is a lock button, which stops the dial from being knocked out of place. We found this relatively easy to depress with the finger of the right hand while rotating the dial.

A small dial on the front of the camera at the top of the grip is used for altering aperture or shutter speed, depending on the mode you're shooting in. When shooting in fully manual mode, this dial is used for aperture, while the rocker dial on the back of the camera controls shutter speed.

Exposure compensation is changed quickly using the plus and minus control, which doubles up as the zooming buttons during playback.

Meanwhile there's a lever just above the thumb rest that gives another means of navigating through some settings and provides a quick route to the sensitivity, image quality, aspect ratio, focusing and metering options by default. This list can be customised via the menu to give access to your most commonly used features.

Ricoh is aiming the GR at enthusiast photographers, and these users will appreciate that several of the buttons on the back and side of the camera are customisable, giving you quick access to key features.

Changing autofocus point is done by default by tapping the F1 Function button and using the arrow keys to scroll around the scene to the point you want to use. After pressing this button, you can use the zoom control to check critical focus.

There's also an option to enlarge a section of screen around the active AF point to check focus as it is achieved.

On the back of the camera is a high resolution, 1.2 million-dot 3-inch LCD screen. It's not articulating, or touch-sensitive, but it appears to cope reasonably well with direct light, not suffering too badly from glare or reflections. The menu layout is simple and uncomplicated.

Performance

On the whole images look very good straight from the Ricoh GR. In the most part they are well exposed, have natural colours and plenty of detail. The amount of detail captured by the Ricoh GR's raw files is especially remarkable, and few experienced photographers will fail to be impressed when they see the results at 100% on the screen. It's on a par with a DSLR with a good lens mounted.

JPEGs from the Ricoh GR are also good, but they are a little bit softer at 100% than the simultaneously captured raw files. As usual, the images become softer as the sensitivity climbs towards the ISO 25,600 maximum.

Noise is well controlled and only really becomes visible at 100% on the screen in images taken at ISO 1600 and above. There's not much in the way of chroma noise in raw and JPEG files, and the luminance noise in raw images has a fine, granular texture. It's the removal of this texture that causes the softening and slight smudging of detail in high-sensitivity JPEG files.

Where possible we would shoot raw files, or raw and JPEG files simultaneously, for the greater detail and bespoke control over noise in post-processing. Images taken at ISO 25,600 have a granular texture visible at A3 (16.5 x 11.7 inches) size, colour saturation is reduced and the shadows have a magenta cast. Better lit areas look good, but a very high sensitivity setting is unnecessary if the scene is well-lit. That said, the ISO 25,600 raw files make great monochrome images.

As a general rule, however, whether shooting raw or JPEG files, we recommend keeping the sensitivity below ISO 12,800 where possible and reserving the top value (ISO 25,600) for emergencies only.

Helpfully, there's an Auto-Hi sensitivity option in which the maximum sensitivity setting can be specified via the set-up menu. This makes it possible to leave the camera to select the ISO speed without the risk of the top options being used if you want. There's also an Auto option in which the camera will set the sensitivity in the range ISO 100-800.

In the past, some of Ricoh's digital cameras have suffered with long writing times, and after a brief experience with a pre-production sample of the GR we were worried that this would be the case with the new model.

Happily, we found that there's very little waiting around for the Ricoh GR to clear the buffer and write to the memory card, even when shooting raw and JPEG files simultaneously. When a relatively slow card is installed you might see the 'busy' indicator flash up very briefly, but with a Class 10 SD SanDisk Extreme SDHC card installed it's not an issue.

Throughout the majority of this test we shot with the Ricoh GR set to its Multi metering option. This is the default option and the camera draws information from 848 areas within the frame. We found that this performs very well in a wide range of situations, although naturally it isn't 100% foolproof and there are occasions when the exposure compensation facility is required.

There were also a few occasions when the Ricoh GR's metering delivered a correctly exposed image when we might reasonably have expected it to underexpose. When shooting a landscape with a light, chalky field under a bright, overcast sky, for example, we might have expected the camera to produce a dark image, but it coped remarkably well.

Because it's a compact camera, the Ricoh GR uses a contrast detection autofocus system, and it performs very well even in quite low light. The only times we experienced any difficulty in achieving focus was when shooting a subject behind glass in gloomy conditions, and when the subject was approaching the closest focusing point and the macro option needed to be engaged. It's a shame that the macro focusing facility can't be activated automatically.

We found Pinpoint AF mode was the best option for most situations as this allows you to pick a precise spot on which to focus. However, Snap focus, in which the lens is set to a specific focus distance was useful on occasion - for example when shooting very low down when the AF point was tricky to see on the screen.

In most situations the Ricoh GR's automatic white balance system delivers natural-looking results, but in late afternoon light the Outdoor option produces slightly warmer images that match the scene more closely. But there's not a huge amount in it, and if you shoot raw files they are very easily tweaked.

We used the standard image setting during much of this test, and it produces images with pleasant colours that match the original scene well. If you want to give colours a boost the Vivid option is available, or you can specify the Vividness (saturation), Contrast, Sharpness and Vignetting control to your preferred values and save them for use whenever you want.

There are also a number of Effects (Black and White, Toned Black and White, High Contrast Black and White, Cross Process, Positive Film, Bleach Bypass, Retro, Miniaturize and High Key) that can be applied to JPEG images as they are shot. These produce some interesting results, and if you shoot raw and JPEG files simultaneously you have a clean version of the image without the effect as well as the one with the effect.

Ricoh has a reputation for building high quality optics, and it prides itself in matching them to the sensors in its cameras to get the best performance possible. This was the justification for the GXR's off-the-wall design that saw the camera body accept interchangeable lens and sensor units, with some having APS-C format sensors and others smaller compact camera-sized sensors.

The same care and attention appears to have been continued into the 18.3mm f/2.8 lens on the Ricoh GR, since there's little sign of distortion of straight lines, vignetting is very well controlled even at f/2.8 and detail reproduction extends into the corners of the frame. You'll also only find chromatic aberration if you really go looking for it.

We are also pleased to report that the Ricoh GR's battery life is good. We found we were able to take over 500 shots in raw and JPEG format (giving over 1,000 images in total) with plenty of reviewing and experimentation with settings before the battery died.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing for the Ricoh GR, we've shot our resolution chart.

If you view our crops of the resolution chart's central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 100 the Ricoh GR is capable of resolving up to around 24 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files.

For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them, check out our full explanation of our camera testing resolution charts.

Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:

JPEG

Full ISO 100 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

ISO 100, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 6400, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 12800, score: 16 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 25600, score: 10 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Raw

ISO 100, score: 26 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 26 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800, score: 24 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 6400, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 12800, score: 18 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 25600, score: 12 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Noise and dynamic range

We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using DXO Analyzer software to generate the data to produce the graphs below.

A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.

For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.

Here we compare the Ricoh GR with the Sony RX100, Nikon Coolpix A, Canon G1 X, Fuji X100S and Sigma DP1.

JPEG signal to noise ratio

These results show that JPEG images from the Ricoh GR have similar signal to noise ratios to those from the Sony RX100, Nikon Coolpix A, Canon G1 X and Fuji X100S throughout the sensitivity range. The Ricoh's images come out slightly ahead of all the others at ISO 100 and 200, slightly behind the Fuji but ahead of the others at ISO 400 and 800, slightly behind the Fuji, Sony and Canon at ISO 1600-6400 and slightly behind the Fuji but ahead of the others at the top ISOs. The Ricoh GR and other camera's JPEGs have significantly stronger signal to noise ratios than the Sigma DP1's, at every sensitivity setting.

Raw signal to noise ratio

The signal to noise ratios of the TIFF images (after conversion from raw) from the Ricoh GR are less changeable than those from its JPEGs, with the Ricoh's TIFFs containing stronger ratios than those from the Sigma DP1 at every sensitivity setting, and from the Sony RX100 at ISO 100-800, though after that the Sony's TIFFs are stronger. The Fuji X100S's TIFFs have similar signal to noise ratios to the Ricoh GR's, but are slightly stronger, while the Nikon Coolpix A and Canon G1 X's TIFFs have greater signal to noise ratios than the Ricoh GR's.

It seems that Ricoh has opted to produce slightly noisier images to allow more detail to be visible.

JPEG dynamic range

JPEG results for dynamic range compare better than those for signal to noise ratio, with the Ricoh GR's JPEGs having a greater dynamic range than all the other cameras' at ISO 100-800, and once again outperforming those from the Sigma DP1 at every sensitivity. The Ricoh GR's JPEGs have greater dynamic range than the Canon G1 X's at ISO 100-800, but at ISO 1600 and above the Canon's images are stronger. Similarly, the Ricoh's JPEGs have greater dynamic range than the Sony RX100's at ISO 100-1600, but fall behind at ISO 3200 and 6400, which is as far as the Sony's range extends. It's the same story with the Nikon Coolpix A's images, except that the Nikon's JPEGs continue to beat the Ricoh's from ISO 3200 to 25600. The Ricoh's JPEGs beat the Fuji X100S's at every sensitivity but ISO 6400 and 12800.

This indicates that the GR's JPEGs can reproduce a greater range of tones than the competing cameras at the lower to mid sensitivity range.

Raw dynamic range

This chart indicates that the Ricoh GR's TIFF images (after conversion from raw) have a lower dynamic range then those from the Sony RX100, Nikon Coolpix A, Fuji X100S and Sigma DP1 at every sensitivity setting, although the Sigma's are very similar to the Ricoh's at ISO 100. The Ricoh GR's TIFFs contain greater dynamic range than the Canon G1 X's at ISO 100 and 200, but fall behind at ISO 400 and above.

Sample images

Click here to see the full resolution image

The stormy conditions confused the Multi-zone metering system a little here, so this image is a little under-exposed, but there's detail in the brightest parts of the sky.

Click here to see the full resolution image

This is the raw version of the previous JPEG image and it's been brightened by 1EV in Adobe Camera Raw. The amount of detail in the grass is very impressive. It looks more natural at 100% than the JPEG version.

Click here to see the full resolution image

This was shot in low light and through glass (hence the occasional reflection), which gave the AF system a few issues. However, noise is well controlled (the sensitivity was set to ISO 1600) and the automatic white balance system has coped well with the artificial light. The exposure was set to 1/20sec at f/7.1.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Another example of the superb colour and detail delivered by the Ricoh GR.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The Ricoh GR produces some nice monochrome results using the Black and White Effect, but as it's also possible to use the Effects modes when shooting raw files, you can save a full-colour image at the same time.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Shooting with the aperture wide open (f/2.8) enables the background to be thrown out of focus, especially when shooting close-up like this.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The automatic white balance system has retained the warmth in this early evening shot.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Although this scene is quite bright, the camera's Multi-zone metering system hasn't underexposed the image.

Sensitivity and noise images

JPEG

Full ISO 100 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

ISO 100 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 6400 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 12800 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 25600 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Raw

ISO 100 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 6400 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 12800 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 25600 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Verdict

As with the Nikon Coolpix A, when you first pick up the Ricoh GR you have to remind yourself that it has an APS-C format sensor like many DSLRs and compact system cameras. It is delightfully small and neat for a camera with such a large sensor, and is only a little bigger than the Ricoh GRD IV (aka GR Digital IV) which, like many compact cameras, has a 1/1.7-inch sensor.

The camera also has plenty to attract enthusiast photographers, including the usual array of advanced exposure modes such as shutter priority, aperture priority and manual, along with Aperture and Time priority as well Program. There isn't a host of scene modes.

Crucially for many serious photographers, the Ricoh GR enables you to record images in raw format as well as JPEG format, and its write times make shooting both formats simultaneously a practical solution.

There's a collection of Effects modes that can be applied to JPEG images to produce, for example, high-contrast black and white images straight from the camera, and helpfully these Effects can be used when shooting raw and JPEG files so you have one image with the effect and the raw file without.

Some may consider a fixed focal length lens limiting, but in some ways it is also liberating because instead of wasting time zooming in and out you walk towards and around the subject, discovering new angles and better shots. And with a battery life that extends beyond 500 captures (raw and JPEG) there's no reason to limit yourself.

A focal length equivalent to 28mm is great for street, documentary and landscape photography, which makes the GR an ideal 'walk-around' camera. It's also small enough to be slipped into a jacket pocket or handbag.

The large maximum aperture (f/2.8) ensures that there's plenty of control over depth of field, and shutter speeds can be kept high as light levels fall.

We liked

Ricoh has given the GR the features that a serious photographer wants without going over the top with extras, so the camera is quick and easy to use. The control arrangement doesn't take long to get used to and there's plenty of opportunity to customise the camera to your preferences.

The best part, however, is that the camera produces very high quality images that are full with sharp detail at the lower sensitivity settings and have manageable, fine-textured noise at the higher settings.

We disliked

One of the few issues we have with the GR is the need to activate the Macro focusing facility on a regular basis. It would be nice if this could be done automatically.

The LCD screen provides a pretty clear view in many situations, but it would be nice to have a viewfinder in very bright light. Ricoh Pentax has addressed this by making an optical viewfinder available (GV-1) as an optional extra.

This slots into the hotshoe and will naturally suffer from some degree of parallax error because it can't see exactly the same view as the camera sensor. It retails for around £199/$219 and has bright lines indicating the 21mm frame (for when using the wide-angle adaptor) and the 28mm frame.

Although it has a wide viewing angle as it's a fixed screen, the Ricoh GR's LCD display can be hard to see when shooting at very high or low angles.

A touch-sensitive screen would make it quicker and easier to set the AF point.

Final verdict

Ricoh has created a superb pocketable alternative to a DSLR. It has all the control over exposure that you need and it is responsive, with fast write times.

The Ricoh GR produces very high quality images, that are generally well exposed, have natural colours and a very impressive level of detail. Noise is well controlled - especially in raw files, which at high sensitivity settings have a fine texture with no banding or clumping.

Ricoh isn't a widely recognised camera brand in the way that Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Olympus are, but its compact cameras have found favour with enthusiasts and professionals in the past. The new Ricoh GR is an excellent addition to the Ricoh Pentax camera lineup, and given its considerably lower price than the Nikon Coolpix A and Fuji X100S, we think it could be a hit - it deserves to be.

Hands-on review: Computex: Asus Zenbook Infinity

Hugh Langley — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:53:00 GMT

Asus made good at its promise to officially reveal the Zenbook Infinity, its super thin but power-intensive touchscreen ultrabook, at Computex this week.

Just several hours later, TechRadar and the Infinity were getting up close and personal, and while Asus is yet to confirm a few final specifics, we had more than enough time with it to form some initial impressions.

Design

If Tony Stark was an Asus guy then the Infinity is Iron Man's ultrabook. It's the world's first laptop to have a lid made from Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which might make it the most robust computer around right now.

Think you can scratch it? Asus laughs in your face. As our demonstrator told us, the Native Damage Resistance means it should be able to withstand some decent sized drops.

Obviously he wasn't too keen on the idea of us throwing the notebook around ourselves, so we'll have to wait until the full review to know for sure. But the exterior felt pretty steely when we took a coin and tried to scratch it.

And the reassurance is welcome. At just 15.5mm at its thickest point - 14 per cent thinner than the previous generation Zenbooks - we could see this slipping out of clumsy hands.

Speaking of which, we unfortunately found that the Infinity enjoys a good fingerprint or two. Luckily it isn't quite so magnetic to prints on the touchscreen display, but chances are you'll find that gorgeous exterior getting smudged a fair bit.

We did wonder if the Infinity might be affording its slim design by going heavy on the weight, but our fears were put to rest the moment we picked it up. It's incredibly light even in one hand, feeling barely heavier than an iPad.

The backlit keyboard and all-in-one trackpad are similar to other Zenbooks, and very reminiscent of the Macbook Air in both look and quality feel. Surrounding the keyboard and covering the trackpad is also Gorilla Glass 3 but with a matt finish.

Turn it around and on either side of the notebook is a USB 3.0 port, while a Micro HDMI, Mini Display port and SD card slot are also squeezed into the side of the body.

Display

The display has a built-in touchscreen, which we found very responsive when jumping around the Windows 8 home screen and using the web browser.

Our demonstrator was unable to confirm the exact resolution but it certainly looked sharp enough to be the 2,560 x 1,440 we'd heard it would be - matching Acer's new S7 refresh.

Specs

The Infinity's slightness doesn't mean it's skimped on the specs. An Intel 28W Haswell dual-core Core i7 processor with Iris 5100 graphics power the way, which makes it the only fourth-gen ultrabook processor to use Iris.

The Asus rep showed us a demonstration of the performance of Intel Iris in a purpose-built racing game, and there's no doubting that this tiny machine is ready for some serious gaming.

Asus is yet to confirm RAM or storage sizes. Price and release date are also unknown at current, but we understand the Infinity is expected to land in Q3 of this year, and you'll have a choice of either Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 when it does.

Early verdict

Fast, indestructible and almost painfully sleek, the Zenbook Infinity discreetly slips into the Haswell era with a lot going for it.

It might be our favourite thing unveiled at this year's Computex, and while we're still waiting for Asus to firm some of the details, things could not look more promising. If this is the new standard for ultrabooks to aspire to, we've got nothing to complain about.

Hands-on review: Hands on: Sony Vaio Pro 13

Mark Say — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 08:16:00 GMT

Sony is staking the ground for its Vaio Pro 11 and 13 Ultrabooks as the world's lightest touch capable models.

While it's flagging up the claim, which it says was verified on June 5, as the major selling point, it's likely to be equally significant that Sony has joined the race to quickly release models with Intel's new Haswell Core processor.

The manufacturer is hoping that the muscle from Haswell will combine with the light weights of the two Ultrabooks to lure buyers to go along with the £1,000 plus price tag. It may be ambitious, but on first look the Vaio Pro 11 and 13 stand a realistic chance of encouraging more users to pick up a machine running on Windows 8.

Design

Vaio Pro 11 weighs in at 870 grams while the Vaio Pro 13 is 1.06 kg. With a uni-direction carbon fibre case, both feel have a sleek but solid hexa-shell design that feels as if it could take the knocking provided by the average business user.

The keyboard is smooth to the extent the keys may do with a little more depth, but there is generous key spacing to help reduce errors, and keyboard backlighting that can help when typing in dark areas.

Battery life is sufficient for the average working day, with up to eight hours on the Vaio Pro 13 and 11 on the Vaio Pro 11. An optional sheet battery can boost these figures to 18 hours and 25 hours respectively.

Display

The 11.6-inch and 13.3-inch screens have a full HD display, and Sony has drawn on its Bravia technology to include a Triluminous Display, along with X-Reality for mobile, which analyses each image and reproduces lacking pixels to optimise video quality. It is supported by Intel HD Graphics 4400.

Both models also come with near field communications.

Memory on the Vaio Pro 13 goes up to 8GB and storage up to 512GB SSD.

Other specs include WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth version 4.0 + H, two USB 3.0 and an HDMI port, An SD memory card slot, a front facing web camera powered by Exmore R for PC. AC powered Ethernet to WiFi router, HDMI to VGA adapter.

Hands-on review: LG Optimus F5

Nick Broughall — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 03:45:00 GMT

While smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One are pushing 4G into the hands of more and more people, there's a segment of the market that simply can't afford these premium 4G handsets.

LG is doing its best to cater to this market, launching its Optimus F5 handset to provide the prepaid market an affordable 4G-enabled device. At AUD$299 outright (roughly $US285, £185), the handset certainly ticks the affordable check box.

A quick perusal of the spec sheet also promises plenty of features you'd expect from a higher-class of phone. A 4.3-inch IPS display, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and 8GB of internal storage expandable via MicroSD would all be appropriate for devices costing significantly more.

While it only comes with the 4.1 version of Jelly Bean running the show, the benefit of affordability over most up to date software should be enough to keep the budget-conscious happy.

Design

Can you say iClone? Of course you can. But that's almost exactly what the handset looks like front on. The screen proportions, the bezel, and even the front camera and earpiece look like they were magically transported directly from Jonny Ive's brain.

Of course, there are differences too. There's no hard home button, for a start. Instead, the standard Android trio of touch sensitive soft buttons line up below the F5's screen.

The IPS display is vibrant and colourful, with great viewing angles and a decent resolution at 960 x 550 pixels at 256ppi.

The bottom of the device houses a MicroUSB port, while the left of the phone is home to the volume rocker and the power button lives on the right hand side.

The removable plastic back is a glossy white with a fancy diamond pattern, which surrounds the phone's 5-megapixel camera. Take it off, and you can see the removable 2150mAh battery, SIM card slot and MicroSD port.

The plastic backing the phone is a little bit slippery. That diamond pattern isn't actually textured onto the case, unfortunately, and the slippery plastic feel does make its way onto the sides of the phones as well.

The overall feeling is that the phone could slip from your grip at any second. Mind you, phones like the Galaxy S4 and iPhone 5 have the same sort of feel, so it's hardly a deal-breaker.

The F5 is also much chunkier than you'd expect. At 9.3mm thick, it's hardly what we'd call fat, but it does feel significantly wider than the premium phones of today.

It's also feels heavier than it looks, coming in at 134 grams.

Power and the passion

While power users will hate the lack of the most recent version of Jelly Bean, there's no denying that the 4.1 version, coupled with the dual-core Snapdragon processor, actually makes the F5 sing.

Animations are smooth, transitions are fast and the integrated features are nice too.

LG has stuffed its QSlide functionality, previously seen on the Optimus G, into the F5. It lets you multitask, adding different apps on top of your current screen and adjusting the transparency so you can keep doing what your doing.

There are QSlide apps for video, memos, internet, calendar and calculator, and two can be used at a time.

The QSlide apps work pretty well. We saw a video of the Family Guy playing back in a transparent window while the main phone switched between apps and took notes.

LG has also bundled in its Quick Memo function, which lets you take a note on F5's and can stay on the screen until you're ready to clear it away. Useful for taking down a phone number then calling that number.

One other nifty feature is the ability to customise pretty much any botton on the home page, making icons bigger or smaller for convenience, as well as changing the icon image.

This includes the ability to take photos and use the subsequent image as an app icon. Which is kind of neat, really, when you think about it.

Early Verdict

This handset isn't meant to compete with the likes of the Galaxy S4 or Xperia Z. It's a mid-range handset aimed at converting prepaid customers to 4G.

But given its snappy performance and bargain price point, there's a lot to like about the F5, in a way that sees it competing with phones double its price.

The handset itself seems well-made, and while it's not going to win any beauty pageants, it certainly doesn't look ugly.

There are question marks over the 5MP camera, and we haven't tested to see how well the processor performs under duress, but overall, this looks like a really promising handset for affordable 4G access.

Review: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook

Christopher Phin — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 15:20:00 GMT

Introduction

Try to sell most of us a laptop that can't run normal programs, never mind traditional operating systems such as Windows 8 or OS X, and instead only runs a web browser - forcing you to do everything online - and we'd hesitate.

ut that's precisely what a Chromebook like the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook is; a laptop that boots into the lightweight operating system Chrome OS, where all you can do is launch Google's Chrome web browser.

It might sound like a product that nobody in their right mind would buy, but there are two reasons why it's not as clear cut as that. The first is that we've actually come to quite like Chromebooks here at TechRadar, and not just because they're cheap - we'll come to why shortly.

The other reason, though, is that what started as a tiny dribble of models and manufacturers has turned if not into a torrent then into a steady trickle. Of course just because we're seeing an increasing number of Chromebooks hit the market it doesn't mean they must be successful, but PC manufacturers wouldn't bother making and marketing Chromebooks if they didn't think there was at least a potential market.

Now HP's Pavilion 14 Chromebook joins the slightly cheaper, slim, light and ARM-powered Samsung Chromebook, the cheaper still Acer C7 Chromebook with its 320GB hard disk, and the hugely more expensive, beautifully designed Google Chromebook Pixel with its high-res 3:2 screen.

Four Chromebooks compared to the many hundreds of Windows laptops or even the nearly dozen basic Apple MacBooks doesn't sound like much, but it still feels like a sector that's getting to be cautiously optimistic.

If you decide you want to buy a Chromebook or you just want a reliable, genuinely usable laptop with a price tag of just £249 / AU$399 / US$329.99, the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook distinguishes itself from the other models with a bigger, 14-inch screen.

Chrome OS won't suit everyone. It may not even suit most people yet, but it's true that it's constantly evolving, and so are our computing habits and needs. So while you can't currently do video editing, professional photography editing or coding on a Chromebook - although online services are springing up that at least begin to address these demands - many of us would cope fine with just a web browser.

Think about what you do on a traditional PC, for example, and there's a good chance either that you do essentially everything through a browser anyway - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, webmail - or that those things that you currently do with regular apps such as Word and Excel could be replaced with web services such as Google Docs.

You might think, that's all very well, but if these are all web apps, I have to be online to use them, and since the Pavilion 14 doesn't have a SIM card slot for 3G mobile browsing, it's just a useless door-stop when I can't get Wi-Fi access. But as we'll see, that's not quite the case.

Specifications

Let's start, though, with the specs. Now, specs with a Chromebook mean a little less than they do with normal laptops, so we can't just put a Chromebook next to a laptop from Lenovo, Asus, Dell or even HP and say that because it has a weaker processor, less storage, a lower-res screen and fewer, lower-specced ports that it's worse.

That's because, since Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system whose only job is to run a browser - albeit a fast, capable browser with support for complex HTML 5 and Flash - the hardware needs comparatively little oomph to do its job well.

The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook has an Intel Celeron 847 processor running at 1.1GHz at its heart, and the 14-c002sa model we tested had 4GB of RAM.

Storage is courtesy of a 16GB SSD, which we think is the right choice; the 320GB hard disk in the Acer C7 is a bit redundant in a computer that's designed to be a thin client to web services, and because hard disks are slower than solid-state drives, all it did was slow the overall responsiveness of the machine down.

Put together, nothing about these core specs suggest anything other than pedestrian performance, but in fact they're more than sufficient for a Chromebook. The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook feels slick and fast and responsive, and it coped well with everything we threw at it.

There are three USB 2.0 ports - no, no USB 3.0, but that's totally fine, since a Chromebook would have no real use for a faster connection, at least in its current incarnation - and an HDMI port, which is extra useful now that Chrome OS supports extended desktop view as well as mirroring on an external monitor.

There's also a combined mic/headphone jack, a full-depth SD card slot and, as well as 802.11a/b/g/n, a very welcome Ethernet port.

The built-in webcam is, as you'd expect, HD resolution. But as you'd expect, 'HD' does not necessarily equate to 'high quality'.

Although the 14-inch screen is low-res by today's standards at 1366 x 786, and is a little washed out with poor viewing angles, we have seen worse, and we have to remember that this is in a £250 / AU$400 / US$330 laptop.

Weighing 1.8kg (4lbs), it's not ultrabook-light, but it's not going to break your back when slung in a laptop bag.

One thing that's flat-out bad on the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook, though, is the battery. The battery takes up just a sliver of this 14-inch laptop's spacious body.

When battery life is so poor as it is here - giving somewhere between three and four hours of solid use, or perhaps a little more if you're lucky - and space in the chassis isn't at a premium as it would be with an ultrabook or a netbook, we can't help but feel cheated when HP has stuck a meagre 4-cell Li-Ion battery in.

Performance

The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook's lacklustre battery life is in part because of the large 14-inch screen that needs to be backlit, and in part because of the Intel processor. It might seem silly to harp on about battery life, but if you're constantly worried about running out of juice, never mind not able to do a full work day on a single charge, owning a laptop won't be a particular pleasure.

But on the other hand, the Intel processor does mean that the Pavilion 14 is fast and capable, and although its fan is very noisy, it only kicks in if you're really hammering it. Unlike with the ARM-powered Samsung Series 3 (which we still like a great deal), it happily plays iPlayer HD streams, even if the mediocre display doesn't showcase them particularly well. The trade-off, though, is that the Samsung Chromebook lasts for about twice as long on a charge.

It's not just the screen that lets it down as a movie machine, though; despite the Altec Lansing logo - a brand we've come to respect for mid-range speaker docks - the speakers are thin. In their favour, they're plenty loud, and don't really break up much unless you're right at 100%, but at no point along the volume slider would you think of listening to your music or watching movies by choice.

They're fine for the odd YouTube clip or if you don't have some decent headphones or speakers to hand, but they're no more than sufficient.

The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook is based on the same shell as the HP Pavilion Sleekbook series, and while we can't say we love the slightly glittery shiny black plastic, it does at least feel well put together. The hinge is solid and the screen stays at the angle you put it in, and there's very little flex in the whole thing.

It's a shame then that the keyboard is disappointing. The keys feel dead, and writing this review on the Chromebook made us long for the crisp responsiveness of an Apple keyboard.

The layout isn't quite to our taste either. It's nice that the generous chassis gives us space for another vertical row of keys for page up, down, delete (as well as backspace) and more, but any keyboard that doesn't put your backspace key at the top-right is likely to play merry hell with your muscle memory.

What's more, we're not fond of the arrow keys, with full size left and right, but two half-height keys sandwiched between them for up and down.

Still, we like the dedicated Chrome OS keys for navigation and window management, and unlike on some Chromebooks, there's a caps lock key as well as two system-wide search buttons. Plus, although the trackpad keys were a bit clunky (you can enable tap-to-click as well), we were quite fond of the textured trackpad surface.

Despite its limitations, Chrome OS is actually perfectly usable, so long as what you want to do can be done through a browser and web apps - and the list of things you need desktop apps for is shrinking day by day.

Spotify can work through a browser now, and streaming services such as Netflix obviously make a lot of sense for entertainment here. Traditional desktop tasks such as word processing are served by a plethora of online services such as Office 365 and Google Docs, and although, yes, you do everything through a browser, you don't have to always be online.

Online services can choose to enable an offline mode, syncing changes depending on whether you have a live connection or not.

One of the best for this is Google Docs - try as we might, we can't get it to lose work, even in challenging network environments such as when tethered to a mobile phone on a cross-country train. You can search for these offline-capable apps on the Chrome Web Store.

A Chrome OS computer such as the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook makes particular sense if you're already a heavy user of Google's services, since things are kept in sync across multiple machines, tied to your Google identity.

But if you're not comfortable doing all your computing inside Google's systems, concerned perhaps about how much personal information you're giving the search giant, a Chromebook is definitely not for you.

Verdict

We're cautiously positive about the whole Chromebook schtick, and it's nice that with the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook and others joining in we now have a choice of models. And even if you're skeptical, it's worth at least considering one, even perhaps as a second computer.

Chrome OS continuously keeps itself up to date, requires no maintenance - in this, it feels much closer to an iPad than a normal laptop that requires frequent tending to - and is guarded against viruses. It's a nice machine to reach for if you just want to do a bit of writing, check in with Facebook or play some Angry Birds.

And we do, on balance, like the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook. Yes, you can buy much nicer laptops and you could make an argument that you get the advantages of Chrome OS in an iPad if you add a Bluetooth keyboard, but there's something undeniably comfortable about the basic laptop design, and because Chrome OS doesn't need constant ministering to, it's something you can rely on to be always ready to go. No, it's not for everyone, but it's definitely appropriate for some.

We liked

Overall, the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook feels like a well-made, solid laptop - witness especially that nicely stiff screen hinge - and while the screen and speakers are of course out-classed by laptops costing twice as much or more, they're eminently reasonable.

Deciding whether you want something more compact with a smaller screen or if you'd prefer to trade a little bit of that portability for the bigger canvas of this model is up to you, but we can definitely say that the compromise isn't a terrible one. It's a bit necessarily bulky, but its weight and heft aren't onerous.

A bundled 100GB space on Google Drive free for two years may mean that the 16GB SSD feels less pokey, too.

With the dishonourable mention of that battery life, the specs are pretty much perfect for a Chromebook, at least as far as that definition goes today, and it copes well with even demanding HD video streams. Plus, even from cold, Chrome OS boots up in seconds.

We disliked

The keyboard feels dead and its layout is a little peculiar in places - though at least it's nice and big, and it's good to have dedicated home/end, page up/down and delete keys.

If we exclude the Chromebook Pixel (which is fair; you wouldn't compare three family hatchbacks and an Aston Martin DB9), it's also the most expensive of the new crop of Chromebooks. And while the difference isn't much (at £199 / US$199.99 for the Acer C7 Chromebook and £229 / US$330 / AU$319 for the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook), and is probably accounted for by its bigger size, at £249 / AU$399 / US$329.99 it's beginning to creep out of the price range where it feels like a bargain, or the kind of thing where you'd splurge a little on a laptop even though you don't strictly need one.

We'll shut up about the battery life shortly, but it needs another mention here. You had the space for a bigger one, HP, to enable the Pavilion 14 Chromebook to last a working day away from the mains.

Final verdict

So if you think a Chromebook is right for you, which should you buy? We still think the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook (which, perhaps tellingly, is the one Google itself promotes through TV advertising), is the best balance. Yes, it struggles with some more computationally complex tasks and the screen is very washed out, but the long battery life and lightness make it feel like a pure Chrome OS thing.

We're not fans of the Acer C7 Chromebook, since it's too much like a normal netbook that Acer has crowbarred Chrome OS onto, although that does make it a nice little Linux machine if that's what you're after.

This HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook is a good if unexceptional laptop, though. It's a generous size and that 14-inch screen is acceptably good, it performs very well, and though the keyboard isn't a delight, the whole thing feels like it would be a decent sidekick for a good few years. If it wasn't for that dreadful battery life, we'd be recommending it much more strongly.

Review: Chillblast Fusion Carbine

Dave James — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 08:30:00 GMT

Chillblast has taken the bold step of knocking together a £1,100 machine with just a pair of lower-end GPUs running in SLI. Have the minds at Chillblast lost the proverbial plot? Surely dropping a top single GPU card in there for the same price is a much better way to go for top-end performance, and without the troubles you tend to associate with multi-GPU gaming?

Well, considering a pair of GTX 650 Ti Boost cards cost roughly £300 - the same as a single GTX 670 - that received wisdom doesn't really scan. Nvidia has closed the book on its last-gen graphics cards with one of the best budget cards around. We'll have to wait a good long while for Nvidia to release a GTX 700 card within the same price bracket, but until then we've got a quality little GPU that scales fantastically.

In single card trim it shows some impressive budget chops - as evidenced by the Aria Gladiator FX Predator - and in SLI it hoses the GTX 680 in our Core i7 PCF test bench. Because each GPU in the SLI setup has a healthy boost clock, 768 CUDA cores, 2GB of speedy GDDR5 and a pair of 192-bit memory buses running in parallel, the Fusion Carbine has some serious graphical power under the unassuming Corsair 300R chassis.

A single, more expensive GTX 680 has a slower clock speed, the same total core count and the same memory configuration, and is trying to squeeze data down the same 256-bit bus. The SLI pairing was always going to have the edge. But as we've seen from the GTX Titan vs GTX 690 debate, smooth running is often preferable to outright performance.

The debate about single card/multi-GPU products though is slightly different to standard dual-card SLI support. A single multi-GPU card has different problems to a dual-card array, and Nvidia's recent SLI support has been impressive - especially on day one of big game releases.

More is more

And what of the rest of the rig? Well, Chillblast is always good value on the balance front, and the only strange component choice is the doubling up of optical drives. It's not obvious that you need one at all these days, let alone both a Blu-ray and DVD drive.

Elsewhere you'll be rocking some basic 1,600MHz RAM (16GB of it), a seriously overclocked i5-3570K running at 4.6GHz, and a decent SSD/HDD combo. Chillblast has also jammed in one of Corsair's lower-end liquid chillers to keep that CPU cool, and the whole machine is pretty quiet.

Technical analysis

We've benched the Chillblast machine against the Aria rig with a single GTX 650 Ti Boost inside, and our PC Format test bench with a stock-clocked i7 and a GTX 680. There's an impressive improvement in performance over the Aria machine, and it does well against the test bench, too.

Benchmarks

CPU rendering performance
Cinebench R11.5: Index score: Higher is better
CHILLBLAST FUSION CARBINE: 7.6
ARIA GLADIATOR FX PREDATOR: 4.5
PCF TEST BENCH: 7.9

DirectX 11 tessellation performance
Heaven 4.0: Frames per second: Higher is better
CHILLBLAST FUSION CARBINE: 47.5
ARIA GLADIATOR FX PREDATOR: 24.1
PCF TEST BENCH: 39.7

DirectX 11 gaming performance
BioShock Infinite: Frames per second: Higher is better
CHILLBLAST FUSION CARBINE: 83
ARIA GLADIATOR: 47
PCF TEST BENCH: 76

Verdict

In terms of full machines, you'd struggle to find another one at the same price with the same graphics grunt. Certainly not one with the same level of supporting componentry inside, such as the mass of DRAM and the operating system's SSD.

We'll see a lot of Haswell machines in the coming months, and ones with the latest Nvidia graphics cards in them too, but we're confident that they'll struggle to match the balance of the Fusion Carbine.

Review: Updated: LG Optimus G Pro

JR Bookwalter — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:30:00 GMT

Introduction and design

As Android smartphones go, the LG Optimus G is a pretty capable, if nondescript, handset. Apparently, the folks at LG thought they could do one better, and the result is the 800-pound gorilla known as the Optimus G Pro.

Increasing the already expansive 4.7-inch display on the Optimus G, the G Pro features a stunning 5.5-inch, True HD IPS LCD. While it's only packing a pixel density of 400ppi, it's a bright, in-your-face display that consumes nearly the entire front of the device and can be viewed from just about any angle you can imagine.

For comparison's sake, that's bigger than either of the current Android darlings, the Samsung Galaxy S4and HTC One, and only slightly smaller than the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, its spiritual cousin. As plastic handsets go, we prefer the Optimus G Pro's look and feel to that of current Galaxy models, although you'll want to keep a tight grip on it, since the back cover tends to be somewhat slippery at times.

Externally, the Optimus G Pro is a welcome departure from its predecessor. In place of the square-ish frame of the earlier model, LG has rounded off the corners and edges here to keep the 5.91 x 3.0 x 0.37-inch device as thin and unobtrusive as humanly possible.

At 6.14 ounces, the end result weighs nearly a full ounce over the original G, but the difference is negligible without holding them at the same time. Although AT&T markets the Pro as "indigo" in color, the fishnet-style dark blue back cover comes off as sheer black in all but the brightest lighting.

Aside from the 1920 x 1080 Full HD screen, the front of the G Pro features a physical home button that echoes the Galaxy S4, but this one is more slender and ringed with a cool LED light that pulsates in different colors to get the user's attention when notifications arrive (or crimson red while charging). Capacitive buttons for back and menu flank the home button, but they're invisible until you actually use them.

A thin metal frame surrounds the Optimus G Pro, almost thin enough to be imperceptible on the sides, but definitely noticeable at top and bottom, which feature a 3.5mm headphone jack and micro-USB port respectively, along with a pair of noise-cancelling microphones.

On the right edge is a power/lock button, while the left features a volume rocker along with a customizable "QuickButton," which can be set up to launch anything you'd like. The removable back cover features a 13MP camera lens with the familiar AT&T globe beneath it; at left is a small speaker, with LED flash at right.

All this goodness is powered by a quad-core, 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB RAM, and this combo does a rather spectacular job while scrolling, swiping between screens and pretty much anything else. We benchmarked the G Pro at 19,791 using AnTuTu 3.3, which smokes most anything else Android with the exception of a Galaxy S4 or HTC One.

At this writing, the LG Optimus G Pro is an exclusive to AT&T that will set you back $199.99 with two-year agreement or $549.99 for those who prefer to go month-to-month. (The unlocked international model, which even includes a spare battery, will set you back $750 by comparison.)

Interface

As a general rule, we tend to recoil at the very sight of Android wearing a skin of any kind. While manufacturer customizations and carrier bloatware have improved in recent years, Android 4.1: Jelly Bean tends to be so good at what it does, we hate to see it littered with these unwelcome "improvements."

We were pleasantly surprised with the LG Optimus G Pro's user interface, although it rivala Samsung's TouchWiz for sheer number of features. That said, we definitely prefer what LG has done here to Samsung's skin or even the latest version of HTC Sense.

Touch and drag anywhere on the home screen to unlock, which by default makes a water droplet effect. If "Dewdrop" doesn't strike your fancy, five others are available via the Screen Effect setting. Unfortunately, while Google Now is included as part of Android 4.1.2, it can't be accessed by swiping up from the bottom as it can on other handsets.

LG has divvied up Settings into four tabs: Networks, Sound, Display and General. While it's a departure from the Jelly Bean way, we found it easier to get around with a minimum of scrolling this way. These improvements also make their way into the notifications area, which adds one-tap buttons for Sound, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS; a second group with NFC, Airplane, Rotation and QuickRemote can be found by swiping left. If you don't like those choices, the Edit button makes it a snap to add or rearrange quick settings.

LG's QuickMemo takes up the first spot, and it's also the default feature launched by the left-hand QuickButton. For those who prefer to scribble out a quick note by hand, QuickMemo does just that, in a variety of colors and pen sizes. Unlike Samsung's phablets, there's no actual physical stylus included, but the screen size makes it plenty easy to write with just your index finger.

And if finger scribbling doesn't appeal to you, the QuickButton can be programmed via settings to launch any app, third-party or stock. This mean a one-touch camera launch, email access or Google Now. It's a great customization option.

Sandwiched between Quick Settings and Brightness control are QSlide apps, essentially resizable widgets for Video, Note Pad, Calendar or Calculator that can be placed anywhere on the screen with adjustable size and opacity. The gear icon jumps straight to settings, which includes such dubious wonders as "Smart Screen" for keeping the display active anytime the front-facing camera detects the user is looking at the device.

Finally, we have to offer up props to the LG Optimus G Pro keyboard. Prior to using this handset, stock Jelly Bean tied with third-party SwiftKey as our personal favorite, but LG actually improved on Google's own by adding a row of number keys across the top. Users also have the option of drawing a path across letters, LG's version of the popular Swype.

Contacts and calling

As you might imagine, a 5.5-inch display makes for one serious dialer, and the G Pro's Phone app is among the biggest and best we've seen. Light gray buttons are easy to hit with accuracy, and if you hold the device just right, this can almost be done comfortably with one hand.

Start punching in a number, and the dialer automatically presents the first contact with matching data. A number appears at right when multiple matches are found; tap the downward-facing triangle to display them all. Tapping a contact places that number in the dialer, but you'll need to hit the big green Call button to actually connect.

Across the top are shortcuts for Dial, Call Logs, Contacts, Favorites and Groups – all pretty straightforward stuff, but a tap of the Menu button pulls up additional options including Speed Dial, Send Message, Add 2-Second Pause, Add Wait or the ability to switch to One-Handed Operation, which collapses the dialer by adding space to the left or right of the screen to make it easier to dial with one hand. We found this unnecessary for those with larger hands, however.

On the Contacts tab, users can also select entries to call, which can include other G Pro users via VuTalk, which allows voice callers to share handwritten QuickMemo notes between devices. Sadly, none of our contacts own an Optimus G Pro, so we were unable to try out this feature, which seems like it could be handy for business users to collaborate.

Otherwise, we have little to complain about: The LG Optimus G Pro produced clear, noise-free voice calls on AT&T's network, and the rear speaker volume was exceptionally loud and clear even while driving, which is a good thing since the handset's girth is quite large for longer conversations.

Internet and messaging

LG hasn't done much with the stock Android browser here, aside from making AT&T's Yahoo! portal the default homepage. We've always found its anemic feature set no match for Google Chrome, which can thankfully be installed via Google Play.

However, we discovered one surprising exception on the Optimus G Pro: In what's a first, at least from our personal experience, the stock browser was actually faster than Chrome by a wide enough margin to make us run the tests twice to be sure it wasn't a mistake.

With the latest version of Chrome for Android, the SunSpider 0.9.1 JavaScript benchmark produced a respectable 1091.9ms compared to the stock browser's 1224.3ms. However, the opposite was true with Peacekeeper, where Chrome ranked just behind the Galaxy S3 with a score of 615. Curiously, the stock browser scored slightly ahead of Samsung's handset with a score of 691, placing it narrowly behind the iPhone 5.

That's not quite enough of a lead to make us switch from Chrome, but regardless of which browser you choose, the G Pro offers desktop-class speed from a mobile device.

For those who decide to stick with the default Browser app, the pop-up Browser Bar at the bottom of the screen is ready to assist with your social networking needs. In addition to Facebook and Twitter buttons, users can jump between three panes with hotlinks to AT&T Yahoo! sections for Popular, News, Sports, Entertainment and Offers or even customize it with your own selections.

The built-in Messaging app is a fairly straightforward affair for sending text or multimedia missives. LG has included six different "conversation skins" for changing the look and feel of your chats, with the ability to schedule a future time for messages to be sent.

Rather than head to the notifications window to read incoming messages, a nifty pop-up balloon appears at the top of the screen, easily dismissed by tapping the X. This came in quite handy for entering verification codes sent from apps like Facebook, since the balloon remains onscreen until dismissed.

If you're the type who prefers to live in AT&T's world, the carrier has also preinstalled (as in, you can't remove) its own cloud-based Messages app, which saves texts, voice calls and voicemail messages in a central location on their servers. The app is free and handy if you have more than one Android device, but we still prefer Google Voice for this kind of thing.

Camera

Most smartphone users today rely on such devices to take and share photos or video, especially in an era where point-and-shoot cameras and digital camcorders are an afterthought. By and large, the LG Optimus G Pro's camera features do not disappoint.

Ready to tackle images with a resolution of up to 4160 x 3120 as well as full 1080p HD video at 30fps, the G Pro features a 13MP rear-facing camera with autofocus. While it struggles a bit with grain and noise on indoor photos taken without LED flash, outdoor images rivaled those of our current mobile favorite, Apple's iPhone 5.

The G Pro creates photos with accurate color saturation and sharp detail. Unlike many AMOLED-based Android smartphones we've tested, rich colors don't bleed when viewed on the beautiful display, and look virtually identical after importing the JPEG files to our MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

LG also brings the G Pro's penchant for customization to the Camera app menus, where often-used features can be added for quick access, while the large display features big, finger-friendly buttons. The device also quickly switches between camera and camcorder modes.

Should you choose to configure QuickButton to launch the Camera app, this same button can then be used to trigger the shutter – a nice touch we'd be happy to see other manufacturers adopt. Sadly, the button is only a single-stage affair, so you'll want to wait for the software to lock onto focus, exposure and white balance before snapping.

LG has come up with a number of clever tricks here – some work quite ingeniously, while others fall short of perfection. Intelligent Auto is supposed to use the characteristics of a scene to get the best aperture and shutter speed, but its use seems to override autofocus, resulting in images that were nowhere near as smart as advertised.

The corny-sounding "Cheese Shutter" uses voice commands like "Cheese" or "Smile" to snap a photo without ever touching the display or QuickButton. (Other possibilities include "Whisky," "Kimchi" or "LG.") It worked great in our tests, but we'd also like the option to record our own trigger word.

In addition to usual HDR and Panorama shot modes, the G Pro includes Burst (for taking up to 20 shots at once), Beauty (for smoothing skin imperfections) and a number of scene or color modes. Time Catch grabs a few pictures before you actually press the shutter button to aid in selecting the best pose.

While LG includes a few live effects while in camcorder mode (gimmicky Silly Faces and Backgrounds), those who prefer artistic expression added to their still images before sharing will want to keep Instagram or other third-party options around.

The G Pro camcorder also includes Dual Recording, which composites video from the 2.1MP front-facing camera (also touted as "Full HD") into a square on the rear-facing camera that can be positioned anywhere you'd like. It's not quite as customizable as Samsung's implementation on the Galaxy S4, but handy for putting yourself in the same space as your subject.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Media

With such an expansive display, the Optimus G Pro practically screams out to be your new BFF when it comes to playback of multimedia content. Some of the built-in options fall a bit short, but thankfully there are plenty of others to choose from via Google Play.

Almost small enough to overlook, a small infrared sensor sits on the top of the handset, next to the headphone jack. Coupled with the included QuickRemote app, this sensor allows the G Pro to take control of living room devices – assuming it can find them, that is.

QuickRemote mimics a traditional remote with an attractive user interface that adapts to whatever device you're controlling. We had no problem adding a seven-year-old, 50-inch Samsung HDTV as well as a recent LG Blu-ray player, but the software failed to discover settings for our Sony receiver.

While QuickRemote does provide categories for TV, cable box, audio, DVD, Blu-ray, projectors and even air conditioners, we were surprised to discover absolutely nothing for modern set-top boxes, such as Roku or Apple TV. This is a shame, especially when QuickRemote can has the ability to control different gadgets in up to five different rooms.

LG also continues to push Miracast for Apple AirPlay-style content sharing to a larger display. Unfortunately, this feature requires a 2012 or later LG HDTV or the purchase of a separate dongle, and we had neither on hand, but our initial hands-on with the G Pro showed "a decent amount of lag," ultimately limiting this dual display trick right out of the gate.

Of course, we also tested plenty of third-party entertainment apps from Google Play which worked great on the G Pro, including Hulu Plus, Plex, Netflix and Dish Anywhere. (The only notable exception we found was VUDU, which only runs on select Android tablets as of this writing.) For an extra $9.99 per month, AT&T bundles Mobile TV, but with limited programming choices, users are better off downloading official (and free) apps.

LG includes stock Video and Music Player apps, which are serviceable methods of viewing supported formats including MP4, WMV and DivX for video files, or AAC, MP3, WAV and WMA audio files. Given the wide range of better third-party options, we'd rather see such apps consolidated into a single general media player.

If you prefer to create your own home movies, LG also preinstalls Video Wiz, a simplistic video editor for adding a few clips, selecting an optional theme, tossing in some music and creating a slick movie with minimal effort. It's not quite as full-featured as something like iMovie on the iPhone, but it gets the job done nicely.

You'll have plenty of space, too: The LG Optimus G Pro ships with an ample 32GB of internal storage, with 23.3GB available out of the box. If that's not enough, up to 64GB can be added via micro-SD slot, which can be found under the back cover near the SIM card slot.

Battery life and connectivity

It takes a good deal of power to keep a bright 5.5-inch display running, so a removable 3140mAh battery powers the G Pro. Slip a fingernail into the notch at the lower right edge and the entire back of the handset pops off, easily snapping right back on with a well-placed push on each edge.

Although LG rates the G Pro for 15 hours and 30 minutes of talk time or 24 days standby, those estimates vary wildly depending upon what you actually do with the device. For example, we left both Skype and third-party Google Voice VoIP app GrooVe IP running in the background and barely made it through a full day, even with the handset idle most of the time.

Of course, there's a lot going on inside this beast, not the least of which is accessing AT&T 4G LTE's network on Band 4 and 17. Though not yet as prevalent as competitor Verizon Wireless, we've found AT&T to run faster in our neck of the woods, and the LG Optimus G Pro continued that tradition.

On the high end, we peaked at 17.43mbps down and as much as 12.60mbps up when using the SpeedTest app, although something closer to half those figures would be considered a more reasonable real-world result. Unless you're spoiled by blazing-fast Google Fiber speeds, the G Pro delivers.

Those not in an AT&T LTE area will still have access to HSPA+ 21Mbps (with backward compatibility to EDGE or GPRS) with coverage on UMTS 850/1900/2100MHz and GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz. Cast aside those dreams of roaming free with any old micro-SIM card like the international model, because this G Pro is locked up tight to AT&T's network.

While imprisoned on AT&T's network, you'll have a Mobile Hotspot app to share the data connection with up to eight other devices as well as Smart Wi-Fi, whose goal is to save battery life by automatically switching to known hotspots. We gave it a spin, but found that it wasn't much of a time-saver in practical use.

Speaking of Wi-Fi, the Optimus G Pro deftly handles 802.11a/b/g/n wireless connectivity as well as Bluetooth 4.0 LE, and is also capable of streaming media via DLNA-enabled devices.

Maps and apps

The LG Optimus G Pro is a carrier-branded device, so a certain amount of preinstalled bloatware is to be expected. AT&T's selection of 10 apps may be more useful than not, but it still makes us sad to see Android apps we can't uninstall in the year 2013.

On the throwaway end of the spectrum is AT&T Navigator, the carrier's $9.99 per month subscription-based service with 30-day free trial. However, Google's excellent – and free – Maps and Navigation apps are also on hand, so it's hard to imagine who would want to pay this monthly fee when the free service is so far superior.

AT&T DriveMode is a more useful addition, limiting what the user can do with the phone when driving faster than 25MPH. This is something Google and other device makers should start including at the OS level, especially when AT&T's app features some chunky, low-resolution graphics clearly not designed for the G Pro's luscious display.

When the G Pro first launches, users are given the option to use AT&T Ready2Go, which rolls back the clock at least a year or two by attempting to make it easier to set up your smartphone using… a computer. We couldn't hit the Cancel button fast enough, folks.

In addition to the usual variety of Google apps, the G Pro also bundles Polaris Office 4 for viewing or editing Microsoft Office documents, AT&T-owned YP Mobile for finding nearby businesses and File Manager for managing local or online storage, although the latter is limited to Dropbox only for now.

While the LG Optimus G Pro includes a near-field communication (NFC) chip, popular apps such as Google Wallet can't yet be installed on it. AT&T's Isis Mobile Wallet is a suitable substitute, but you'll need a special SIM card only available in test markets like Austin, Texas or Salt Lake City, Utah.

The G Pro does support Android Beam file transfer, and can use NFC tags to change various aspects of the device with just a tap. The included LG Tag+ app allows users to create and write such customized tags, which can be used for convenience features like turning on Bluetooth hands-free when you get in the car. It's a neat trick, but this kind of technology hasn't found much practical use in the U.S. as yet.

LG also complements the QuickMemo feature with a Notebook app. We're happy to see LG hasn't followed Samsung down the stylus rabbit hole, and the ability to scribble a quick handwritten note right on the display actually came in handy on more than one occasion. Notebook is also a great way to entertain impatient toddlers during a road trip, assuming you put the handset into airplane mode before handing it over.

Hands-on pictures

Verdict

Love 'em or hate 'em, "phablets" are here to stay as long as folks keep buying them. It's certainly taken LG long enough to launch a proper response to Samsung's big-screen devices, but overall we found the Optimus G Pro a worthy contender to the Galaxy Note.

We liked

If you're going to put a massive 5.5-inch display on a smartphone, make it a good one – and that's exactly what LG has done here. Paired with photos taken using its effective rear camera image sensor, this is a screen you won't mind spending hours looking at.

It also helps that LG's custom Android skin isn't completely heinous, and we rather preferred it to all but stock Jelly Bean. The customizable QuickButton was also a nice surprise, particularly when used with the built-in Camera app.

We disliked

Although we like the look, feel and placement of the home button, in day-to-day use we found our finger fumbling a bit to press it. We also found ourselves frequently worrying about the device slipping out of our hand(s), a legitimate concern for many users since there's not much to grip on the back cover.

Despite the gorgeous display, the Optimus G Pro is ultimately a tad too large for a smartphone. Despite LG adding custom one-handed features, there's just no getting around the sheer size, so users will need to get used to using it with both hands.

Verdict

It's a shame Samsung has deeper pockets and a larger marketing budget, because the LG Optimus G Pro is nearly every bit Sammy's equal – not just when pitted against the equally phablet-sized Galaxy Note 2, but also the largely overhyped Galaxy S4.

Unfortunately, LG and AT&T have their work cut out for them in selling the Optimus G Pro, which arrives during a mid-cycle lull between the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the latest model expected to launch in the near future. We've always been the type to root for the underdog anyway, so we say the G Pro is well worth a look.

Hands-on review: Computex: Acer Iconia W3

Hugh Langley — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:30:00 GMT

Despite what Microsoft says, Windows 8 devices aren't flying off the shelves right now, with the tablet market proving to be a particularly tough nut to crack.

Enter Acer and its newly-unveiled 8.1-inch Windows 8 microslab. Yes, this is the smallest tablet to squeeze in the full Windows 8 experience, and it doesn't do a bad job of it either considering that it's a fair bit more power-intensive than its direct rivals - the iPad mini and Nexus 7 - and yet just about as portable.

Design

To pack in that full PC experience, the slate comes bundled with an easily-integrated Bluetooth keyboard. All you do is simply slot the tablet into the dock's rubber hold and you're away. No awkwardly missing dock connectors around here.

Turn the dock over and the tablet can slot securely into the back, face down, turning the keyboard into a convenient cover when carrying it around. Protection sorted.

As for the tablet itself, the smooth metallic back feels nice on the hands, although we're not overly keen on the white border around the front bezel.

There's obviously a lot more being packed in the Iconia W3 and the tablet is a fair bit heavier than both the iPad Mini and Nexus 7. It's still usable in one hand, but you'll soon start to notice that extra bulk which feels a little heavier than it perhaps needs to be.

Specs and performance

The W3's Intel Atom Clover Trail 72760 chip has a dual-core processor with 2GB of RAM and a clock speed of 1.8GHz, meaning the tablet is zippy enough to handle Windows 8 operations.

Only a couple of times did we find things slowing down when switching between Office programs, but we can see that the tablet might buckle a tiny bit more had we been able to spend more time on running tasks.

32GB or 64GB storage variants of the Iconia W3 will be available, both of which offer an extra 32GB via microSD. Meanwhile, a micro HDMI output can be found on the bottom of the tablet along with a pair of stereo speakers.

Display

The touchscreen display isn't as vivid as you might expect - it only packs a 1,200 x 800 resolution. When jumping around the screen, we noticed that the colours often looked a bit on the dull side.

Front and rear cameras are, as expected, present, though at 2MP each they feel like a missed opportunity on a device that's veering into the acceptable-camera-use territory.

We found that using the small touchscreen on Office applications, especially Excel, a tad on the fiddly side, but were still impressed by having full-fat Windows in the palm of our hands.

And that's another thing - Iconia W3 buyers will also get a copy of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 for free as a nice added extra.

However - and it is a big however - there are still two questions being begged here. First, do people want the desktop experience in a tablet? Or is throwing the whole thing in missing the point entiely?

And second, if Microsoft is in fact about to push out a 7-inch Windows 8 tablet of its own, will Acer's matter?

We won't really know the answer to the first question until people start picking up (or not picking up) the slate, but having played with the W3, it feels like 8 inches is about a low as you'd want to go when using full Windows. Therefore, Microsoft's offering might actually be one inch cut too many.

So what about the price? The 32GB and 64GB will be tagged €329 (about £280, $427, AUS $445) and €379 (about £325, $492, AUS $512) respectively. For that price, we have to say that we expected a little bit more, but we'll hold out on making a judgement call until our full review.

Early Verdict

The Iconia W3 was always going to impress on being a record-breaker alone, and having played with it, we can see a lot of great benefits in having Windows 8 in the palm.

But while this could give the OS the big kick it's been waiting for, it currently feels like the price and ambition should have resulted in something more, though we'd have to spend a lot more time with the tablet to see if it could actually replace both desktop and tablet OS at the same time.

Still, at least there isn't long to wait - the Iconia W3 will be launching this month, with pre-orders live now.