TechRadar: Technology reviews

Review: Updated: Pentax K-5 II

Ben Andrews — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Introduction

Two years ago Pentax revamped its top-end APS-C DSLR, the Pentax K-7, with the Pentax K-5, and in doing so produced one of the best cameras in its class.

So given the original Pentax K-5 was such a well-rounded performer, it's perhaps of little surprise that Pentax didn't want to alter the K-5 recipe too much for its replacement.

Externally the Pentax K-5 II is virtually identical to its predecessor, and you'll still struggle to differentiate the two after a tech spec comparison.

Aside from a slightly improved LCD screen and an allegedly revamped sensor, the most notable development is the K-5 II's new SAFOX X autofocus system, which claims to offer a noticeable speed and accuracy boost over the original Pentax K-5.

One other difference that is obvious with the second generation Pentax K-5 is that it comes in two flavours; Pentax K-5 II and Pentax K-5 IIs. The latter is an identical camera, but forgoes an anti-aliasing filter in an attempt to improve image sharpness.

That's great in theory, but it adds a fair bit to the asking price, as well as a much greater risk of moiré interference when shooting densely patterned subjects.

The full price of the Pentax K-5 II is £799.99/AU$1,149/US$1,199.95 for the body only, since you ask. Its rivals from other brands include the Nikon D7000, Canon EOS 60D and Sony Alpha a65.

Whereas the original K-5 contained a considerably improved sensor over the old K-7, the new Pentax K-5 II doesn't move things on to the same degree. Pentax has stuck with a 16.3MP CMOS sensor, and while it does offer marginally improved low-light performance, you'll be hard pressed to notice any real world improvements in image quality.

Sensitivity also remains unchanged, ranging from ISO 100-12,800 and expandable to 80-51,200. You also get the option to pre-select the amount of in-camera noise reduction the K-5 II applies at each sensitivity setting, enabling you to perfectly balance detail retention and noise reduction.

One element that's completely new for the Pentax K-5 II is the SAFOX X autofocus system. Pentax claims this provides much improved speed and accuracy, as well as making the K-5 II the first APS-C camera to focus on lighting conditions as low as -3 EV.

As with the old Pentax K-5, you still get 11 well-spread autofocus points, nine of which are the more accurate cross-type.

Other in-camera image tweaks included automatic chromatic aberration compensation to minimise (but not eliminate) purple fringing in high-contrast areas, and distortion correction to remove wide-angle barrel distortion or telephoto pincushion effects. Although both features produce decent results, they do add a frustrating couple of seconds of processing time per shot.

Pentax's Dynamic range expansion feature is more usable though, and it does a great job of significantly brightening shadow areas while maintaining highlight detail for more balanced exposures.

If this isn't enough, then the camera also has an extensive multi-shot HDR capability, with four preset strengths plus an automatic mode. Results look the part, but are only available when shooting JPEG, and again, processing time is lengthy, this time being a whopping 20 seconds per shot.

Continuous shooting to a maximum speed of 7 fps keeps the Pentax K-5 II on a par with the competition, but it's no faster than the original Pentax K-5. Likewise, the Pentax K-5 II's Full HD movie recording ability is also unchanged, apart from the addition of some extra post-processing effects.

These effects can also be applied to still images, via a dedicated rear button. Options range from subtle contrast and saturation tweaks to enhance portraits or landscapes, through to more blatant effects such as Bleach Bypass, which desaturates the final image.

Each effect is fully customisable, and while such effects are of arguable usefulness in an enthusiasts' camera, they're a quick and easy way to add some basic image customisation.

Build quality and handling

The Pentax K-5 II retains the same high quality magnesium alloy casing and rugged stainless steel chassis as the original Pentax K-5.

Also carried over is the advanced 77-seal weather proofing to prevent dust and moisture intrusion. Cold weather shouldn't pose a problem either, as the Pentax K-5 II is rated to operate in temperatures as low as -10C (14F).

Because the Pentax K-5 II uses the same chassis as the Pentax K-5, naturally both cameras have the exact same control layout. This is no cause for concern, however, because there's little to find fault with in the button placement and control design.

You get the usual front and rear control wheels, with a sizable thumb grip area thanks to the location of the rear control wheel. This wheel also doubles as the playback zoom controls, doing away with the need for additional zoom buttons.

Atop the body sit two well-sited buttons for adjusting ISO sensitivity and exposure compensation, and on the left hand side is the main mode dial.

Apart from the usual automatic, program and manual modes, Pentax also gives you a combined shutter and aperture priority mode, where the camera only adjusts the sensitivity to maintain correct exposure.

In addition to this there's a dedicated bulb exposure mode, and a user programmable setting in which you can store five custom preset modes selectable by the rear control wheel.

One control element that could really have benefited from a redesign is the metering adjustment collar beneath the mode dial. Its stiffness and tiny thumb grip mean it's unlikely to be accidentally moved, but it's also quite a pain to adjust when you need to.

Another annoyance from the original Pentax K-5 design that's present on the new camera is the minuscule screw-in cap for PC flash sync port. It's virtually impossible to remove, and once out is unlikely to be seen again.

The only external change Pentax has made to the Pentax K-5 II is its new LCD monitor.

The 3-inch, 921,000 dot panel is now equipped with an internal resin layer between the outer glass and the LCD screen itself, which Pentax claims improves brightness and reduces unwanted reflections.

Results are generally comparable to most current DSLR monitors, but the Pentax K-5 II screen is indeed vibrant, with excellent viewing angles making it easily viewable in all but the harshest direct sunlight.

Performance

Here the Pentax K-5 II pretty much picks up the baton where its predecessor left off, which is definitely no bad thing considering the original Pentax K-5 was a good performer.

Sure, these days a 16.3MP sensor is never going to steal the thunder from the likes of Nikon's latest megapixel monsters, but look beyond sheer resolution and the sensor in the Pentax K-5 II produces terrific quality images.

Colour depth and dynamic range are still superb, especially when the Dynamic Range Enlargement feature is enabled.

Image noise - or lack thereof - is another area where the Pentax K-5 II excels. There's rarely ever a need to ramp a camera's sensitivity up to ISO 12,800, but even here little if any chroma noise (colour speckling) is evident. And although there is a fair amount of luminance noise (grain) visible, it's by no means distracting.

Of course if you push on up to the Pentax K-5 II's maximum sensitivity of ISO 51,200 things don't look so pretty, but image quality is still good enough for prints up to around 9 x 6 inches.

Pentax is particularly proud of its new SAFOX X autofocus system in the Pentax K-5 II, and with good reason. The system manages to focus almost instantly, even in the darkest of environments, and in many instances it does so without the aid of the AF assist lamp.

Switch to Live View and, unlike many DSLRs, the Pentax K-5 II still delivers pleasantly speedy autofocusing and gives you the option to choose from three autofocus methods depending on your subject.

But whether the autofocus performance is that much of an improvement over the original Pentax K-5 is less obvious, since this camera was still no slouch in this department provided you use the right lens.

The camera's 77-segment exposure metering system is largely unchanged from its predecessor, and in the majority of situations this reliably hits upon correct exposure settings. But - and this is really the only significant issue with the Pentax K-5 II - the system is still prone to overexposure.

It's only really a problem in low light, high contrast situations, where the camera plumps for a more balanced exposure at the expense of highlight detail. Sometimes this does give true-to-life results, but often highlights can be blown by as much as two stops, with mid-tones and shadows looking unrealistically bright.

Switching to spot metering or dialling in some exposure compensation does solve the problem, providing you have time to do so.

Auto white balance is by and large consistently accurate on the Pentax K-5 II, with only a couple of instances in mixed artificial lighting where an unexpected colour cast tainted the final image.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing for the Pentax K-5 II, 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 80 the Pentax K-5 II is capable of resolving up to around 20 (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 80 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

ISO 80, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 100, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

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

ISO 1600, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 20 (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: 14 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 51200, score: n/a (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Raw

ISO 80, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 100, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

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

ISO 1600, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

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

ISO 12800, score: 18 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 25600, score: 14 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 51200, 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 Pentax K-5 II with the Nikon D7100, Canon EOS 7D and Sony Alpha a77. The Pentax K-5 II has the greatest ISO range of all the cameras here.

JPEG signal to noise ratio

These results show that JPEG images from the Pentax K-5 II have a relatively strong signal to noise ratio when compared with the other cameras here. This means that the Pentax's JPEGs are consistently cleaner than those from the Canon EOS 7D throughout the sensitivity range. They beat the Sony Alpha a77 at all but ISO 400, and the Nikon D7100 at all but ISO 100, where results are almost identical.

Raw signal to noise ratio

TIFF images (after conversion from raw) from the Pentax K-5 II have the greatest signal to noise ratios of all the cameras here, beating the Nikon D7100, Canon EOS 7D and Sony Alpha a77 at every sensitivity setting. This means that the images are likely to be cleaner than those from the other cameras. TIFF images from the Sony a77 come closest to matching the scores from the Pentax K-5 II at the lower sensitivities.

JPEG dynamic range

JPEG results for dynamic range are again impressive, with the Pentax K-5 II's images showing a stronger dynamic range than those from the Canon EOS 7D at every sensitivity. They're also stronger than JPEGs from the Sony Alpha a77 at most sensitivities, but the two cameras show almost identical amounts of dynamic range at ISO 800, and the Sony's images beat the Pentax's at ISO 1600, before falling behind again afterwards. JPEGs from the Nikon D7100 have greater dynamic range than those from the Pentax at lower ISOs, but at ISO 1600 and above the Pentax's images overtake.

Raw dynamic range

As we can see from this chart, the Pentax K-5 II's TIFF images (after conversion from raw) show the strongest dynamic range of the group, beating the Canon EOS 7D and Sony Alpha a77 at every sensitivity setting. The Nikon D7100's TIFFs contain very similar levels of dynamic range as the Pentax's at ISO 100, but after that the Pentax takes the lead. A high dynamic range means that the Pentax K-5II is able to capture a wide range of tones in a single frame.

Sample images

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The Pentax K-5 II's low light ability can produce excellent results with minimal image noise.

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The viewfinder's 100% field of view makes it easy to compose shots correctly.

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Taken under relatively harsh sunlight, dynamic range is pretty good...

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...But activate the multi-shot HDR function and dynamic range is boosted even more.

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Good detail here from the 16.3MP sensor.

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Despite the dull lighting, the Pentax K-5 II has kept some colour vibrancy to lift this image.

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This shot required -0.3 EV to keep the highlight details in check.

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Detail and colour reproduction are decent, even at ISO 640.

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Again that accurate viewfinder makes life much easier. Look closely and you'll also spot the photographer making a fool of himself!

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Accurately exposed by matrix metering with highly resolved detail.

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Although the conditions for this shot were fairly undemanding, matrix metering consistently overexposed, necessitating -0.7EV of manual exposure compensation.

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Fabulous detail and colour depth.

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Exposure metering has done a good job here.

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Captured at ISO 1000, there's impressively low image noise, even in the shadow areas.

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Here the exposure metering badly overexposed the highlights in this shot. -1.0EV was needed to bring them back, and they're still slightly blown.

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This time, -2.0EV had to be used to prevent highlight burnout from the automatic matrix metering.

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Shot at ISO 800, there's bags of detail and almost no visible image noise.

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This is one of very few occasions where automatic white balance was confused, since the image shouldn't have such a yellow colour cast.

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Another ISO 800 night shot, and again the sensor produces excellent results.

Sensitivity and noise images

JPEG

Full ISO 80 JPEG image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

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ISO 80

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ISO 100

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ISO 200

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ISO 400

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ISO 800

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ISO 1600

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ISO 3200

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ISO 6400

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ISO 12800

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ISO 25600

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ISO 51200

Raw

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ISO 80

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ISO 100

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ISO 200

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ISO 400

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ISO 800

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ISO 1600

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ISO 3200

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ISO 6400

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ISO 12800

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ISO 25600

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ISO 51200

Verdict

Considering the significant technological advances made by the original Pentax K-5 over the old Pentax K-7, we can't help but feel a little disappointed that the new Pentax K-5 II is a much more subtle, evolutionary step forward.

But that said, it's refreshing to see that Pentax hasn't attempted to set the Pentax K-5 II apart by giving it a needlessly high megapixel count, or festooning it with gimmicky features.

We liked

Although it's no great improvement over its predecessor, the Pentax K-5 II's performance is still good, and a worthy match for the competition in most areas. The robust build quality should ensure it survives sustained abuse, and the in-camera Shake Reduction system works with any compatible lens.

We disliked

As capable as the Pentax K-5 II is, much of what makes it special has just been carried over from the original Pentax K-5. Then there's the elements we wish hadn't been transferred, including the tendency to overexpose and frustrating slowness at processing HDR shots, removing chromatic aberration and correcting lens distortion.

Final verdict

Like its predecessor, the Pentax K-5 II succeeds where it matters most. It produces high image quality (although its resolution scores are a little low), boasts strong autofocus performance, high build quality and is easy to use. It is a pity we can't add the camera's exposure metering to the list of superlatives, because capable though it is, the few occasions where overexposure does occur can frustrate.

However, the biggest problem the Pentax K-5 II faces is the old Pentax K-5. While the specification and performance of the newer model is marginally better, the price difference is far more pronounced.

Hence if you're in the market for a high performing APS-C format DSLR with a great all-round ability, the original Pentax K-5 could well be a more tempting proposition at the right price than the slightly more capable Pentax K-5-II. Likewise, if you already own a Pentax K-5, then the Pentax K-5 II is unlikely to provide much of an upgrade.

Make the leap from the older K-7, however, and you'll be far more likely to appreciate the much improved image quality and autofocus performance. And graduate from entry-level cameras such as the Pentax K-r or Pentax K-x, and you'll be in for a treat.

Easy to use, built to last and based around a decent sensor, the Pentax K-5 II is a great value DSLR. It's just a pity it's so close in spec to its predecessor.

Review: Nikon Coolpix S5200

Sarah Chong — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:03:00 GMT

Introduction

An update to the touchscreen-enabled Nikon Coolpix S4300, the Nikon Coolpix S5200 is a slimline compact camera, available in five colours with a 16 million pixel backlit CMOS sensor, 6x optical zoom lens with a 35mm equivalent of 26-156mm and 3-inch LCD screen.

Nikon has opted not to include a touchscreen on this model, which is priced at £165/US$179.95 (around AU$241), sitting comfortably in the mid range area of the market alongside the likes of the Canon IXUS 140 and the Panasonic SZ9.

With a pleasing weight once the battery is inserted, the Nikon S5200 fits easily into the hand and most of the buttons are easily accessible with a thumb, although some of the lower ones are a little tricky to reach when using the camera one-handed.

All of the controls apart from the shutter release are situated on the back of the S5200, with the majority of the space being taken up by the 3-inch LCD screen. This is not a camera that feels cheap or flimsy - the casing feels sturdy, well built and durable. It's also compact enough to fit easily in a pocket, enabling quick and easy shooting on the go.

Offering four shooting modes - Auto, Scene (with 20 modes available within), Special Effects and Smart Portrait - the Nikon S5200 is limited in its manual controls. Sensitivity, exposure compensation and white balance are adjustable in Auto mode, but there are no options to change shutter speed or aperture.

There are, however, a variety of in-camera editing options available, including Glamour Retouch as well as the Special Effects mode, which has a range of digital filters including two toy camera modes, high contrast and a number of selective colour options.

Video recording gives the choice of capturing footage from Full HD 1080p down to VGA, with single and full time autofocus modes as well as a wind noise reduction feature.

Build quality and handling

On the whole, the options adjusting the shooting parameters are limited - in Smart Portrait, for example, exposure compensation is the only adjustable element from the options on the four-way control pad.

The menu accessed via the button under this pad enables skin softening settings, smile timer and blink proof modes to be activated, but sensitivity and white balance are unadjustable.

Smart Portrait mode works reasonably well, taking several photos and then picking the best shot. It also uses the indicator light on the front of the camera, which flashes when you're smiling enough - a useful addition if you're using it to take self portraits.

One of the charms of the Nikon Coolpix S5200 is the option to charge the battery in-camera, which means not having to worry about losing the charger cradle, as well as being able to charge when the camera is plugged into any computer. This makes it an ideal camera to take travelling, since it requires very little paraphernalia and the lead is compatible with a range of plugs and devices.

Nikon has added five new Glamour Retouch modes to the S5200, bringing the total available up to eight. They range from the useful Whiten Eyes to the slightly disturbing Small Face and Big Eyes.

These effects can't be applied to photos that are taken in Smart Portrait mode, which seems unusual because they're obviously going to be most useful for portraits of people. It's a nice set of options to have but the edits can be a little clumsy and aren't likely to replace even the most basic of editing software available off the camera.

Marketed with easy to use inbuilt Wi-Fi technology, in reality it was a little tricky and time consuming to get the Nikon Coolpix S5200 to connect to our wireless internet, for ultimately little reward. The in-camera help is non existent for this feature, so make sure you have your manual to hand if you try it.

You can connect the camera to a smartphone or tablet (once a free app has been downloaded) and then take photos with the camera via the smartphone, enabling it to act as a remote. The photos are then stored in the app as well as in the camera, so you can upload them straight to social media sites if you wish. If you don't have a smartphone or tablet then you're out of luck, since this feature doesn't work with laptops or computers.

Although remote shooting is an neat function in theory, but it's difficult to think of a situation in reality where you would need to use it regularly enough with a compact camera to deal with the faff to set it up. It'd be great to see an option for emailing/uploading directly from the camera - as you can from the Samsung Galaxy Camera - and the ability to connect to computers as well as smartphones.

Existing users of Nikon cameras will be at home with the menu structure - much of which is easy to navigate and is fairly intuitive. There are some features that are perhaps located in an odd place on the menu structure, such as the info display options, which are buried deep within the settings menu. Overall though the Nikon S5200 is fairly simple to use, and it shouldn't take long to become comfortable with it.

Performance

Basic image quality seems to have improved from the Nikon Coolpix S4300, and for the most part the Nikon Coolpix S5200 performs well in a variety of situations, producing bright, well represented colours and crisp, focused detail shots, particularly when the macro feature is enabled.

The majority of the digital filters are useful and add an interesting look to the photos, although the painting and soft filters don't really seem to do what they're suggesting, looking more washed out than anything else. Of course using filters is a personal preference, making them worthy of experimentation.

We were impressed by the Nikon Coolpix S5200's image stabilisation. It captured moving subjects well, making it a great camera for capturing off the cuff moments as well as posed and set up shots.

The LCD screen coped admirably in sunlight, only becoming difficult to use in the brightest light, and when not using the camera too heavily (perhaps a couple of hours a day) the battery power lasted for a few days of shooting and filming before needing to be recharged - making it a good choice for the casual holiday / family photographer.

Some of the photos taken in bright light suffered slightly from lens flare. In terms of fringing there was very little. When zoomed in at 100% there is a little smudging in some areas, but they're not visible at normal printing and web sizes.

During testing we found that metering sometimes struggled in high contrast scenes. To get the best results, a reading needed to be taken from one part of the scene (by half-pressing the shutter to focus) and recomposing to get the desired scene. Overall, though, it does a good job in providing well-balanced exposures.

The HD video output is impressive, providing sharp, crisp video, although noise from high winds is too much for the wind noise reduction to cope with. You can also shoot video while in the Special Effects modes, which is a nice touch.

The autofocus speed of the Nikon Coolpix S5200 is good and the action slick. The shot-to-shot time when shooting in continuous mode is also relatively brief, making it easy to capture moving objects.

Images taken at the far end of the 6x optical zoom are impressively sharp, and while the digital zoom does lose some definition, it still performs well, with vibration reduction helping to keep photos sharp.

One area in which the Nikon Coolpix S5200 is letdown is its performance in low light on auto mode. Its automatic sensitivity settings in low light shooting conditions tend to err towards higher levels, such as ISO 1600 and ISO 3200. However, using the fixed range auto mode should help to combat this, because it offers a choice between ISO 125-400 and ISO 125-800.

While reasonable when viewed at smaller sizes, shooting at the higher end of the sensitivity range creates very noisy images with flat colours, and is best avoided if possible.

Sensitivity and noise images

Full ISO 125 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

ISO 125, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800, score: 18 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600, score: 16 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 12 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Sample images

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There are a variety of digital filters available on the Nikon Coolpix S5200. Here the Toy Camera effect adds a pleasing tone.

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An example using the High Contrast filter.

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The Nikon Coolpix S5200 is able to pick up a good amount of fine detail using the macro mode, while keeping colours vibrant.

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An example using Panorama mode.

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The backlight scene mode helps to eliminate glare.

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Colours are well represented by the Nikon Coolpix S5200.

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Shooting into the bright sun has unsurprisingly introduced a little flare and underexposure of the foreground.

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The Nikon Coolpix S5200 provides a good wide angle of view.

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This shot had a cross processed filter added post capture, creating a filmic quality while still retaining detail.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing for the Nikon Coolpix S5200, 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 125 the Nikon Coolpix S5200 is capable of resolving up to around 22 (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 125 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

ISO 125, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800, score: 18 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600, score: 16 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 12 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Verdict

The Nikon Coolpix S5200 is a decent update to the Coolpix range and will suit people looking for a camera without too many confusing options.

We liked

You're unlikely to miss many shots, since the shot-to-shot time on the Nikon Coolpix S5200 is good, enabling you to capture a range of images easily and effortlessly. The video footage is some of the best quality we've seen for a camera in this range.

We also liked the quick editing option from the playback menu, giving you the choice of applying the digital filters post-capture.

We disliked

The record button seems unfortunately placed, and it was hit by accident several times without realising, draining the battery considerably.

There are no individual settings to control shot information (such as shots remaining, exposure and so on), so you either have it on while shooting as well as during playback or not on at all. It would be nice to see a setting to tailor this, since seeing the information on the screen during playback becomes a little distracting.

Final verdict

Ideal for travel, because of its durability and easy charge options, the Nikon Coolpix S5200 performs well in a variety of everyday situations. It would be a good camera to consider if you're looking for an all-rounder that isn't going to break the bank, especially if you want to capture good quality video footage.

If you're specifically looking for a Wi-Fi-enabled camera, however, it might be worth spending more money for something offering more flexibility, such as the Samsung Galaxy Camera or Panasonic TZ40.

Review: Nikon Coolpix S9500

Sean Anderson — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Introduction

The Nikon Coolpix S9500 replaces the Nikon Coolpix S9300 at the top of the brand's Style range of digital compact cameras, and is designed for beginners and casual users. As is to be expected from a camera in this range, Nikon is providing a device filled with all the frills and thrills (3D, GPS, Wi-Fi, subject-tracking autofocus) but lacks the kind of controls that advanced users may want.

The 22x optical zoom is a fair bit longer than the 18x zoom of its predecessor, and its range of 25mm to super-telephoto 550mm (35mm equivalent) is both wider and longer than you will find on most compact cameras at this price point and size.

The 18.1 million pixel 1/2.3 inch sensor uses some of the latest CMOS technology, including back-illumination, which promises to enable the camera to reach high ISO values at this resolution without getting too noisy.

With ISO settings going up to 3200, images should be detailed and the camera usable in low light. As a compact sold on style, there is a large range of quite specific scene modes, plus a few extras for the bargain. However, there's no possibility of shooting in a raw file format or having direct control over shutter speed and aperture.

There is a full 1080p video mode, and a high-speed shooting capability of 7.5fps for five consecutive shots. To accompany these capabilities, the Nikon Coolpix S9500 has a 640k-dot OLED screen and comes with a variety of focus modes, including face detection.

The compact camera also features an Expeed C2 processor and inbuilt Wi-Fi, offering instant image sharing options.

In terms of competition, the camera sits alongside the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, Panasonic TZ40, Fujifilm FinePix F900 EXR and Olympus VR-370.

It wouldn't be a Style camera without a range of colours, and the Nikon S9500 is available in one of four colour options, including our test model of 1960s-chic brown metal. They are all priced at £299.99 / AU$374.95 / US$349.95.

If you're after a cheaper option, the Nikon S9500's little brother, the Nikon S9400, costs £249.99 / AU$349 / US$299.95 and comes without built-in GPS or Wi-Fi, with a reduced 18x zoom range.

Build quality and handling

In the hand, the Nikon S9500's all-metal body feels substantial without leaving you in any doubt that it is a camera you're meant to have fun with. Next to the shutter button and zoom lever on top of the camera there is a dial for switching between main camera modes. Increasingly rare on modern compact cameras, this is a welcome tactile feature in a world of menus and sub-menus.

Most of the controls are on the back of the camera, with a metallic rotating dial for scrolling through settings and images that doubles as a four-way pad. All of the buttons on the back are very well positioned in relation to each other, with the play, delete and menu buttons having a slight cutaway at one edge to enable you to run your thumb around the scrolling dial.

The camera is ready to shoot within two seconds of you switching it on. In addition to auto mode, there are four standard scene modes on the mode dial as well as a scene mode auto selector, an effects mode (for in-camera black and white, selective colouring and so on) and a Scene mode that provides access to a further 16 scene modes such as Fireworks Display, Museum and Pet Portrait.

There's a nice variety of scenes, but you might need to consult the manual to figure out what they do. Fireworks Display, for instance, will hold the shutter open for four seconds.

The panorama shooting function works by having you line up the first shot, and then on-screen instructions will tell you to pan the camera around in one sweeping motion to capture the rest of the shots. The Nikon S9500 will then stitch the shots together automatically in-camera - provided of course you are able to hold the camera steady enough for that one sweeping motion.

With no fully manual mode, it's fair to say that the Nikon S9500 is a primarily automatic experience. Though white balance and exposure compensation can be adjusted, there is no way to adjust shutter speed and aperture. ISO sensitivity is adjusted through menu navigation.

It would perhaps have been nice to see a dedicated button for making quick changes to everyday settings, as has been the trend recently in some more advanced compacts.

Although the main mode dial on top of the camera is a welcome escape from menu navigation, there is the slight sense that Nikon has tried to pack quite a lot onto it, confusing its purpose slightly. Once you've cracked the menu system it is a breeze, but perhaps a touchscreen would have made things more intuitive to users new to Coolpix cameras, especially those stepping up from a smartphone.

The traditional four-way pad doubles effectively as a scroll wheel, though unless you are familiar with the camera's way of doing things it can be tricky to know whether to scroll left or click left, requiring some time to get to know the quirks of the interface.

That said, the dedicated one-press-to-record video button is nicely placed, and the way of accessing scene modes and effects via the main dial on the top of the camera is very easy to use once you've sussed it out.

If the camera's built-in GPS and electronic compass is turned on, geolocation metadata will be added onto your images. This can be especially fun for holidays - roam freely, then view your photos on a map when you return. You can also view it along with normal image previews on the back of the camera.

As well as a range of Instagram-style filters to apply to your images in-camera, there is a 3D Photography function, which you use by taking one photograph, moving the camera to one side, then lining the semi-transparent images up on the screen until they match. It's intuitive to shoot, but of course you will need a 3D TV or computer monitor to view the results.

Movie recording is very straightforward. If you pause the recording and then resume, the camera will produce one seamless video file. The side of the camera has an HDMI port that can output 480p, 720p, and 1080i video.

As with its predecessor, the memory card/battery compartment on the bottom and the HDMI/AV port on the top-right side of the camera both feel strong and secure.

The Nikon wireless utility works on Android and iOS devices, enabling remote control of the camera and giving you the ability to browse and import photos over the camera's built-in Wi-Fi. However, you will need a smartphone or tablet to do this, since there appears to be no in-camera direct publishing capabilities.

Once you have installed the Nikon wireless utility app on your smartphone or tablet, simply turn on Wi-Fi through the camera's settings and then connect to the camera. You will then be able to browse photos that reside on the camera, or enable live shooting mode via your smart device's screen .

Though the Wi-Fi tool works well, the Nikon S9500 lacks NFC (near-field communications) technology present in competitors such as the Panasonic TZ40.

Because your phone can't be connected to two Wi-Fi networks at once, if you want to upload photos via Wi-Fi internet (rather than 3G/4G) you will need to first transfer the images from the camera to the smartphone or tablet, then switch back to your regular Wi-Fi network for internet access to put the images on Facebook or Twitter.

There is a ridge on the front and a rubber grip on the back, enough to enable you to shoot comfortably one-handed.

Autofocus points can be set across the field, to the image centre, or manually with the four-way pad. In keeping with the Nikon S9500's promise to be able to track even fast moving subjects at sporting events, there is a motion tracking AF mode and face detection.

Combined with the sports scene mode, which takes up to five pictures at a rate of 7.5fps, the camera is quite capable of getting action shots if you can get the setup just right. Although five shots at 7.5fps is quite a short space of time, you will still have to be quite good at timing your shots.

The retouch menu enables you to to add any of the filters after the image has been shot, though you can apply them before shooting using the Effects mode.

Exposure compensation can be changed by pressing right on the main scroll pad in any scene mode, although it is called 'Brightness' in Auto mode.

The flash charge indicator doubles as a charge LED, because the default way of charging the Nikon S9500's battery is via the camera. If you want a battery charger (in order to charge one battery while using another in the camera) you will need to buy this separately.

Performance

The results of our labs tests for image quality and resolution, and sample images from the Nikon S9500, are all on the following pages.

The Nikon S9500 has a large 3-inch screen of approximately 614k dots, which is significantly lower than its 912k-dot predecessor. However it is an OLED screen instead of an LCD, which helps towards a longer battery life and produces an image viewable even in bright daylight. Reflections are present, but the vibrant OLED does a good job of punching through.

For a pocketable compact camera, the Nikon S9500 crams in an impressive zoom range equivalent to 25-550 mm on a 35mm camera. The image stabilisation is very good, enabling clean shots (combined with high ISO) at the telephoto end of the zoom range. The images were kept blur-free and retained detail too, even in low light.

In single-shot mode, it's possible to take an image (including focusing time) with just a two second interval. Matrix metering was usually spot-on, but during our tests there were a couple of situations where the camera seemed to struggle for no clear reason.

Automatic white balance was generally very good, with the camera judging correctly in a number of difficult scenarios such as street lighting, indoor fluorescent lighting and patches of springtime orange sunlight.

There were no visible signs of fringing, distortion or vignetting, so it seems Nikon has done a good job of keeping the optics under control, given the size of the zoom range and the troubles that often come along with that.

Filters applied in-camera are all quite sensible and contemporary, if you're into that sort of thing. Black and white images look lovely on the high-contrast OLED screen, and the Nikon S9500 has the option to store two copies of each image you shoot: for example one in black and white and one in standard colour.

Macro focusing mode works well, though the camera did have some trouble staying focused on flowers blowing in the wind, as if there is a slight delay between the camera deciding on a point of focus and it actually taking the shot.

Generally speaking, the images are vibrant and sharp and display a decent range of shadows and highlights up to the quality you would expect of a decent CMOS sensor in 2013.

Verdict

A good update to the existing Style range of Coolpix cameras, the Nikon S9500 brings the shooting features we are starting to expect of a digital compact, including HD video, outstanding image stabilisation and Wi-Fi capabilities. The range of feature-rich scene modes makes the system quite versatile.

Priced at £299.99 / AU$374.95 / US$349.95, this compact is cheaper than most cameras that rival it in terms of zoom range and feature set. But if the Nikon S9500 is still too pricey or large for your pocket, this camera has a little brother, the Nikon S9400.

This camera is a good option for someone looking for a pocketable camera with all the bells and whistles that Nikon can muster for this size and price.

We liked

The Nikon S9500 offers great image stabilisation on a long zoom range for a camera of this size. It looks good, feels nice, and is versatile and compact with a bright screen. There are lots of scene modes to get creative with, and most of the features you could hope for in a camera at this price point.

We disliked

Considering this camera's zoom range and sensor capabilities, it's disappointing not to have the option of more manual control - even if the options were buried a little.

Final verdict

In summary, this is a great camera for those already familiar with the Coolpix range of compacts and looking for something that brings those 2013 spices to the table with a solid CMOS sensor.

The Nikon S9500 is not the camera for professional photographers looking for a pocketable carry-around camera, though, and the lack of manual controls and raw file format capture are enough to drive you to other products. But it does come in red.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing for the Nikon Coolpix S9500, 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 125 the Nikon Coolpix S9500 is capable of resolving up to around 22 (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 125 image, see the cropped (100%) versions below.

ISO 125, score: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 400, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 800, score: 18 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 1600, score: 14 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 10 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Sample images

Click here to see the full resolution image

Seen here is a comparison of the wide end and the telephoto end of the zoom. The zoom shot is at 1/30, you can really see how the vibration reduction is holding up on that 22x zoom.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The above photo was shot in overcast/snowy daylight, so it's not clear why the metering decided to underexpose this image. In the main, however, the metering was as spot on as can be expected for a camera of this class.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Reds are vibrant without popping too much, and blown highlights did not seem to cause unsightly purple fringing or excessive flare.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The metering coped quite intelligently with most scenes, seen here combined with a good shadow detail and highlight detail in the same frame.

Click here to see the full resolution image

This image was taken in bright daylight at an awkward angle, but the OLED screen remained clear enough to compose this shot.

Hands-on review: Updated: Panasonic G6

Angela Nicholson — Thu, 16 May 2013 11:47:00 GMT

Introduction

Although Panasonic has stuck with the same 16.05 million pixel Live MOS sensor in the Lumix G6 that it used in the Panasonic G5, it has used a new, more powerful Venus Engine, a better touchscreen and an improved electronic viewfinder (EVF).

According to Panasonic, the compact system camera's new processing engine enables the G6 to produce better quality images, and in turn enables a wider extended sensitivity range of ISO 160-25600.

In addition, the manufacturer says the new engine enables faster autofocusing, especially in low light. Panasonic has also worked to improve the G6's ability to track moving subjects as well as boosting the maximum continuous shooting speed to 7fps.

As on the Panasonic G5, there's a collection of creative control modes with options such as Toy Camera and Pop Colour that adjust the processing of the images to give them a particular look. These are accessed via the main mode dial and can be used when shooting raw as well as JPEG files, giving you a 'clean' image as well as one with the effect applied.

In addition, there are a selection of photo styles available (Standard, Vivid, Monochrome and more) that can be selected when shooting in any of the exposure modes apart from Creative Control.

Panasonic has also given the G6 Wi-Fi connectivity, and an NFC chip means that it is possible to connect quickly and easily to other NFC devices such as an Android smartphone or tablet.

As yet Apple hasn't included an NFC chip in its iPhones, but rumours are rife that one will feature in the iPhone 5S/6.

The Panasonic G6 price will be £629 (around US$958/ AU$934) including a 14-142mm kit lens. It will be available from the end of May.

Build and handling

Panasonic has made a few subtle but pleasing changes to the appearance of the G5 for this new G6. For a start the camera looks and feels a little more serious than the Panasonic G5. The viewfinder bump is less pronounced and the texture of the body surface has changed.

The silver controls on the back of the Panasonic G5 are now black on the Panasonic G6, giving it a higher quality appearance.

There are also a couple of additional function buttons, bringing the total to five physical function buttons on the back of the camera. These enable greater customisation of the Panasonic G6, making it quicker and easier to use once you've set it to your preferences.

In addition, the Panasonic G6's electronic viewfinder (EVF) has been changed to an OLED unit that is brighter than an LCD finder. Although the type of device has changed, its resolution is the same (1,440,000 dots) as the Panasonic G5's EVF.

When we used a pre-production sample camera we found its EVF provided a very clear view, with lots of sharp detail and natural colours. We were still aware that we were looking at an electronic unit rather than an optical viewfinder, but the difference is much less than it used to be and the finder provides a natural-looking image.

An electronic viewfinder (EVF) also brings the benefit of showing how the image will appear when it is captured, taking into account any changes in exposure and white balance.

Another key upgrade made for the Panasonic G6 is the switch to a 3-inch electrostatic touchscreen, which is much more sensitive than the resistive touchscreen on the Panasonic G5. This makes making settings selections and adjustments quicker than before, putting the Panasonic G6's screen's response on a par with that of the Panasonic GH3.

It's especially useful when using Touchpad AF, which enables the AF point to be selected by touching the screen while composing images in the EVF. It's a significant improvement on the Panasonic G5.

We found the main LCD screen also provides a clear view even in quite bright light, and because it is mounted on an articulating hinge it makes shooting from awkward angles much easier than normal. Touch Shutter mode, which triggers the camera to focus on the point selected by a touch on the screen and then fire the shutter, is especially useful when shooting from a very low or high angle.

At times, however, it would be helpful if the on-screen digital level could be made a bit clearer, because its not always easy to see it change from yellow to green to indicate the camera is level when the screen is being viewed from an angle.

One minor issue that we have with the Panasonic G6's controls is that the navigation buttons have a rather 'squidgy' feel and they sit low into the camera body, making them a little hard to identify with the thumb when holding the camera to the eye.

Performance

We have been able to shoot with a pre-production sample of the Panasonic G6, and despite the odd bug or two that will be ironed out before the camera comes to market, our initial impressions are very good.

Panasonic's claims for the G6's AF system seem to be borne out, since it is fast and accurate. We will have to investigate this further when we get a full production sample in for testing, but the Panasonic G6 seems better able to focus in low light and follow moving subjects than its predecessor.

Our images from the pre-production sample Panasonic G6 have good, natural colour, and the automatic white balance system seems to handle a range of lighting conditions well.

We are also impressed with the camera's metering performance as the Multiple zone system coped well when bright areas of sky or bright objects were in the scene.

Image quality appears to be high and at least on a par with that of the Panasonic G5.

We will need to take comparison shots on a full-production sample before we can verify Panasonic's claims for reduced noise and better image quality.

Our JPEG images taken at ISO 1600 have lots of detail, with very little sign of noise and just a hint of smoothing visible at 100% on the screen. As yet we haven't been able to examine the raw files.

We haven't been able to test the Panasonic G6's Wi-Fi connectivity or NFC technology yet, but we are looking forward to doing so.

Panasonic's Lumix Link app is excellent, because it enables you to take control over a wide range of camera settings via your Android or iOS smartphone or tablet. We found it works very well with the Panasonic GH3.

Initial verdict

We liked the Panasonic G5 because as well as producing high quality images it has all the headline features that we want from a modern compact system camera: a good viewfinder, a vari-angle touchscreen, the ability to shoot raw and JPEG images when using the Creative Controls and a sensible control arrangement with some novel thinking.

While Panasonic hasn't done anything radical such as increasing the pixel count of the sensor, the Panasonic G6 has some good enhancements over the G5. The touchscreen, for example, is much more sensitive, which makes it faster and more inviting to use.

The autofocus system also seems to be faster and better able to follow moving subjects, although we naturally want to look into this much further when we get a full production sample in for testing.

It will be especially interesting to use the autofocus system and high sensitivity settings in low light conditions to see if the camera can be used for shooting a wider range of subjects than we traditionally consider appropriate for a compact system camera. Could it produce good sport or gig images, for example?

Sample images

Click here to see the full resolution image

We shot this image through a light tent to keep reflections under control and it was useful to be able to control the camera via the touchscreen rather than have to find the buttons under the tent. The square crop was set in-camera and proved useful for getting the composition just right.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Exposure here was reduced by 1/3EV to intensify the colours a little and avoid any loss of highlight data. The 16:9 crop was set in-camera, because it suits the scene.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Shooting at f/2.8 when using Panasonic's 45mm macro lens (effective focal length 90mm) has restricted the depth of field nicely here.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Using the Low Key Creative Control Mode has created a moodier shot.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Pushing the contrast setting of the Monochrome Photo Style to its maximum value produced a more graphic shot.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The articulating LCD proves very useful when you want to shoot from very low angles like this. If the camera is on a tripod you can focus very precisely by enlarging the on-screen image and focusing manually. The camera can be set to enlarge the image as soon as the manual focus ring is moved. However, the AF system is also very capable and can pick out very small subjects

Click here to see the full resolution image

This shot was taken at ISO 6400 and although there's not much coloured speckling visible in the JPEG, there are signs of noise removal. When sized to A3 (16.5 x 11.7 inches) there's some softening and loss of detail in the tiles in the middle distance. A stippled texture becomes visible when the shot is examined at 100%.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The Impressive Art Creative Control produces some fun results, but it's nice that the Panasonic G6 enables you to have a 'clean' raw file as well.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The Panasonic G6's Multi-Metering system has done an excellent job with this scene, and the dynamic range accurately reflects what we saw.

Review: Asus GTX 670 Direct CU Mini

Dave James — Thu, 16 May 2013 08:30:00 GMT

With the new Xbox being touted as simply a small form factor Win8 device, and the rise and rise of ever-smaller components in computing generally, it really was only a matter of time before we started to see the graphics card manufacturers getting in on the miniaturisation game.

This is also the first high-end graphics card we've come across that's been designed from the ground up for the small form factor, mini-ITX crowd and it's an impressive thing to behold.

When we first saw the GTX 670 in reference trim from Nvidia itself, the size of the PCB, compared to the size of the cooling, instantly jumped out at us. The 173mm circuit board only took up just under three quarters of the length of the card as a whole, with the extra length catering for the reference cooling solution needed to keep the GK104 GPU honest.

The real surprise though, is the fact it's taken this long to get to a stage where we're seeing card manufacturers coming out with their own cooling arrays based on the size of the PCB, rather than just the size of standard cards.

Quality cooling

The issue has possibly been one of ensuring you get enough heat dissipation in a smaller cooling setup, to ensure the GPU can carry on operating at the sorts of speeds something like a GTX 670 needs to.

Impressively, Asus's GTX 670 Mini more than manages this feat. This is no reference-clocked card: this is a proper overclocked SKU. The chunky DirectCU cooling makes the GTX 670 Mini a hefty ol' card, and that weight really does make it feel like quality engineering at its best. And the fact it can run so comfortably at the speeds it does is admirable.

This Asus card runs at quicker, cooler and quieter than the reference card from Nvidia and in a much smaller form factor. So, in engineering terms at least, the GTX 670 Mini is an absolute winner.

Benchmarks

DirectX 11 tessellation performance
Heaven 4.0: Frames per second: Higher is better
ASUS GTX 670 DIRECTCU MINI: 21.6
GTX 670 REFERENCE: 20.6

DirectX11 gaming performance
Batman: Arkham City: Frames per second: Higher is better
ASUS GTX 670 DIRECTCU MINI: 66
GTX 670 REFERENCE: 62

GPU cooling performance
100% load: Degrees centigrade: Lower is better
ASUS GTX 670 DIRECTCU MINI: 74
GTX 670 REFERENCE: 76

Sadly, that's not the only way you should think about this card. As much as it's a niche product, with a niche audience - and that always incurs a price premium - at nearly £400, this is an incredibly expensive graphics card. You've really got to desperately want this form factor to part with this much cash for it, because the simple fact is, you don't need to.

Because of the rise in performance from mini-ITX components, chassis manufacturers - such as Cooler Master and Bitfenix - have managed to figure out how to get full-size cards into mini-ITX boxes. And if you want to go for cases smaller than the Elite 120 or Prodigy, the length of your GPU isn't the barrier to squeezing it in - it's the height and the power demands.

Verdict

As much as the GTX 670 Mini is an impressive feat of engineering, that doesn't mean it's worth your money. You can already pick up faster, cheaper cards such as the top-end Sapphire HD 7970 GHz, and drop them straight into a funky mini-ITX form factor - just like that. It's admirable but ultimately inessential.

Review: Samsung BD-F6500

Adrian Justins — Wed, 15 May 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Video on demand is massively popular, but that's not to say that optical disc players have had their day. Blu-ray disc sales remain strong, plus of course many of us have extensive collections of DVDs and CDs, while the future may yet yield a 4K disc format.

But what makes the Samsung BD-F6500 Blu-ray player so intriguing is that its £120/AU$190 (around US$183) price tag gives you a bountiful feature set that includes a smart TV experience that makes many TV screens look shabby.

Further cutting-edge benefits include dual-core processing, wireless networking, multi-media file streaming, screen mirroring, Wi-Fi direct and 3D playback.

Design-wise, the Samsung BD-F6500 has plenty going for it. It's compact - measuring just 40mm deep, 196mm high and 360mm wide (1.6 x 7.7 x 14.2 inches) - with a distinctive curved corner and touch-sensitive transport controls on the top. The fascia boasts nothing more than a camouflaged USB port, disc tray and an LED window that has a large, legible display.

The back panel is more boring than Avengers Assemble, with just three sockets on show, all of which are digital with HDMI, Ethernet and an optical audio output. Analogue is now the exclusive preserve of high-end enthusiasts.

What the deck lacks in sockets it makes up for in terms of logos, with a trail of them festooned across the top to reassure you about its ability to output 1080p video, DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby True HD.

There's also an Anynet+ HDMI-CEC logo, which tells us that you can operate the Blu-ray player using a compatible TV screen's remote control. The best interaction comes when using a Samsung screen, with for example BD Wise appearing as a new picture mode on the Samsung UE46F7000 only when it's selected as the output on the deck. Any CEC-compatible screen will provide basic playback control, which is a handy feature.

Owners of Samsung Galaxy smartphones can throw content with the flick of a finger on to a TV via the Samsung BD-F6500, too.

The Samsung BD-F6500 is the Korean giant's entry-level Blu-ray deck for 2013, with just one other model, the Samsung BD-F7500, pitched at hardcore AV enthusiasts. The step-up model adds 4K upscaling, dual HDMIs, improved DVD upscaling and error correction, and multi-channel analogue audio outputs to the Blu-ray party. Hence, a much heftier price of £250/US$250 (around AU$385).

Elsewhere in the mid-range Blu-ray 2013 market, the Samsung BD-F6500 competes with 3D-capable, Wi-Fi-toting smart TV decks such as the Panasonic DMP-BDT130, Sony BDP-S5100 with Triluminos Colour, Pioneer BDP-150 and Toshiba BDX4300.

Performance

Switch on the Samsung BD-F6500 and you're confronted with an eye-popping home screen, split into eight panes. This places the deck's smart capabilities to the fore with movies and TV shows, apps and multimedia given prominence.

Below are icons for accessing three apps, the web browser and the settings menu. It all feels utterly modern, with multimedia files especially well presented with large, legible letters and jumbo-sized thumbnails.

File support impressively includes FLAC, MKV with subtitles, XviD, AVCHD, DivX, M2TS, M4A, WMA, WAV and MP4, with DLNA streaming from our Netgear router limited to FLAC, MP3 and M4A.

Head to the settings menu to tinker with options for the display, audio, network, smart features and system support. Based on Samsung's TV screen GUI, the operating system is slicker than Don Draper's pomade collection.

Some decks can tie you up in knots as you navigate from menu to menu inputting information, but the Samsung BD-F6500 has got it nailed. When searching online, the on-screen keypad intelligently presents the letters you're most likely to need next in a sort of T9 way.

Picture output options include HDMI Deep Colour, the usual raft of screen resolutions (plus BD Wise), DVD 24fps conversion, aspect ratio, 3D settings and progressive mode. Audio settings include options to output as PCM, unencoded bitstream or encoded as Dolby Digital or DTS. There are plenty of controls for optimising the deck, presented in a logical and easy to use way.

The Movies and TV Shows portal displays recommendations from video on demand services including Netflix and Acetrax. It can be frustrating not knowing the provenance of each title, nor can you do a search.

So although its recommendations are based on your viewing habits, we suspect the Apps portal will get a lot more use, where you can browse the 150-odd apps, split into six genre folders. This is an impressive number for a Blu-ray player, and includes BBC Sport, BlinkBox, iPlayer, 4OD, BFI Player, YouTube, Lovefilm and PictureBox among the Video On Demand section.

The Samsung BD-F6500 has an inelegant but comfortable remote, featuring rugged, rubberised buttons, including glow in the gloom playback controls. A handy Tools button provides a quick way of navigating a disc, changing subtitles or audio, and so on.

The deck is quick out of the traps when it comes to disc loading, but it's not all exemplary, since the disc tray shudders like a rattlesnake as it closes, and while spinning a platter it can sound like there's a demented fly inside trying to escape.

Picture quality

Take any mid-range Blu-ray deck these days and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in terms of picture quality. The Samsung BD-F6500 fits neatly into that category.

Our Spears & Munsil HD Benchmark test disc reveals the limits of the deck's capabilities, with the 24p wedge pattern breaking up as it swirls. Horizontal scrolling titles stutter more than vertical ones, and there are minor artefacts and smudging with edge adaptive material.

In the real world, though, Argo on Blu-ray is grainy but strongly detailed with realistic colours and natural skin tones. Night time scenes hold up well, with reasonable clarity during a driving sequence.

Sully's facial features are blisteringly well presented in Avatar, which looks effortlessly sparkling throughout. The 3D performance is especially good, with Monsters vs Aliens showing convincing depth to the wedding scene and a near absence of cross-talk, including the pan down of the church tower.

DVD upscaling on the Samsung BD-F6500 is also good. BBC comedy drama Rev, for example, looks free of artefacts, with minor levels of unwanted noise and slightly soft skin.

Multimedia files all look excellent, especially JPEGs, which have levels of detail to make a Retina display-toting iPad envious. We experienced no problems with a variety of on-demand services. Masterchef in HD on BBC iPlayer and House of Cards on Netflix, for example, both scrubbed up nicely.

It's sold as a Blu-ray deck with a built-in smart TV service, but the Samsung BD-F6500 could equally be seen as the other way round. It seems reasonably priced for a straightforward 3D Blu-ray player with Wi-Fi and multimedia streaming, but it's the breadth and quality of its on-demand services that set it apart.

We liked

The Samsung BD-F6500 is an attractive deck with a user interface that is a total delight. Its bright, contemporary GUI is a pleasure to use and makes setting up and multimedia playback an absolute doddle. The video on-demand portal is primed with just about the best selection of apps on any Blu-ray player. Picture performance is also bang on.

We disliked

The Movies and TV Shows portal would be better if you could specify which on-demand services it featured. The deck is also noisy in operation, and the disc tray shakes like a belly dancer. The remote control could also do with a makeover.

Final verdict

We often see Blu-ray players and question why the manufacturer has included or excluded certain features, bearing in mind the price and positioning in the market. Not so, here.

Jettisoning analogue outputs seems reasonable enough on what is a straightforward all-digital deck. By favouring and refining the smart TV side of things, Samsung seems to have its finger on the pulse and has delivered an excellent all round Blu-ray deck for today's rapidly evolving home entertainment market.

Also consider

In terms of sheer picture quality, Pioneer's BDP-150 actually edges it over the Samsung, but has limited smart TV and requires an optional Wi-Fi dongle. Sony's BDP-S5100 ups the social ante with a TV SideView app for interacting with iOS and Android devices, while Panasonic's DMP-BDT130 is almost the same price as the Samsung BD-F6500 but lacks built-in Wi-Fi.

Review: Samsung PS64F8500

John Archer — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:39:00 GMT

Introduction

Samsung is not, it would seem, a brand that likes chasing anyone. It seems almost obsessed with being the pace setter, the race leader, not the valiant runner up. This obsession has seen the brand invest vast amounts of research and development time in recent years in successfully hunting down seemingly unassailable rivals in the smartphone, tablet and LCD TV sectors.

Now, if the Samsung PS64F8500 plasma TV is anything to go by, Samsung's ruthless quest for world dominance now has a new quarry in its sights: Panasonic. Or more specifically, Panasonic's long-revered plasma TVs.

Samsung is hardly a plasma virgin, of course. It's served up numerous plasma television hits before. However, these previous plasma successes have mostly traded on value for money - when it comes to absolute picture quality, Panasonic has remained the king of the castle.

With the Samsung PS64F8500, though, the brand gets so close to upsetting this established order that you can practically hear Panasonic's teeth chattering.

As its name suggests, the Samsung PS64F8500 is a 64-inch TV - a damn fine size for movie fans, and a heck of a lot of television to be getting for a full price of £2,999.99 (around AU$4,620/US$4,575).

What's more, despite its very respectable price the Samsung PS64F8500 is no feature lightweight. On the contrary, its highlights include active 3D playback, a comprehensive multimedia playback system, a full iteration of Samsung's latest startlingly powerful and flexible smart TV/online platforms and a much more refined and uncompromising plasma panel design than anything the brand has unleashed before.

You can even wave your hands at and talk to the TV if you want to - things we've not previously felt inclined to do, to be honest, but which suddenly, thanks to recent significant firmware updates from Samsung's seemingly tireless engineers, have started to make sense.

Despite Samsung putting so much effort into the PS64F8500, the TV doesn't sit at the head of a long line of cheaper plasma models, as you might expect.

There's a 51-inch 8500 model that costs £1,899.99, but aside from that your only Samsung plasma options are the 60-inch and 51-inch F5500 models - priced at £1,299.99 and £899.99. These use less high-grade panels and video processing, don't have built-in cameras and don't support voice or motion control.

If you'd rather have a Samsung LCD TV, the obvious options to consider would be the brand's flagship F8000 LCD TVs - a range of outstanding sets that currently top out at 55 inches but will ultimately be joined by 65-inch and 75-inch models.

But you should note that the biggest two models in this series will likely be far more expensive than the Samsung PS64F8500.

So far as rival sets from other brands are concerned, the inevitable competition will be Panasonic. Where models we've already tested are concerned, the closest option is the Panasonic P65VT50. But we'll also soon be looking at the brand new Panasonic P65VT65 and flagship Panasonic P60ZT65 models.

Features

Compared with the uber-svelte profiles of Samsung's flagship LCD TVs this year, the PS64F8500 is no shrinking violet. The deep grey frame around its colossal screen is positively chunky by today's TV standards.

And although the unusual open-framed elliptical and neckless support stand onto which the TV rests is stylish in its own way, it doesn't really detract from the sense of the Samsung PS64F8500 being a very considerable presence indeed for your room to have to accommodate.

Tucked away on the huge expanse of the Samsung PS64F8500's rear is a predictably strong set of connections, dominated by four HDMIs capable of receiving 3D feeds (two pairs of active shutter glasses are included free). There are also connections for Freesat HD and Freeview HD tuners, three USB ports and both LAN and built-in WLAN network support.

You can use the USBs for recording from the digital tuners to compatible USB HDDs, or for playing back a wide range of video, photo and music files from USB storage devices.

The same sort of files can be streamed from any DLNA computers on your network, plus, of course, the network connections give you access to both the online world at large via a built-in web browser or - more usefully - Samsung's ring-fenced but still pretty colossal smart TV service.

So far as content on its smart TV service is concerned, Samsung has now comfortably overhauled its rivals - even one-time champ Sony - with the amount of online video services it supports. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that Samsung is currently the only TV brand offering all of the UK's main catch-up TV services - including the still rare 4OD and ITV Player.

It also supports a striking array of subscription services, including Lovefilm, Blinkbox, Netflix, Acetrax, as well as an excellent Curzon platform devoted to a strong range of art house movies and even one devoted to recordings of well-known theatrical plays.

There's a plethora of much less significant apps too, combining information, trivia, basic games and news. There are one or two diamonds tucked away amid the rough with these, but for much of the time these second-string apps serve merely as a reminder that quality always trumps quantity.

With this in mind, though, it's nice to see that Samsung hasn't automatically crammed loads of its smaller apps onto your main app menu. Instead you have to download them from a cloud-based library if you want them, so that you're not faced daily with row after row of app clutter.

Samsung has also improved the presentation of its smart services by introducing a new multiple hub approach, where you can scroll easily between five different content-link screens: one for TV, one for on-demand film and TV, one for your own multimedia, one for social media services, and one for all Samsung's apps.

As well as a standard Samsung remote control, you get a very handy second remote sporting a touchpad and reduced button layout, as well as a built-in mic to support the TV's voice recognition system.

We've tended to be dismissive of this in the past, feeling it was rather gimmicky and too unreliable to be useful. Typically, though, Samsung appears to have merely taken such criticisms as a spur to try harder, with the result that recent firmware updates have genuinely started to make the idea of controlling your TV by talking to it worth considering.

It's particularly useful now as a shortcut for accessing content; for instance, you can just say 'Show me Netflix' at any point and the app will load without any scrolling through menus. Or you can ask the TV to 'show films starring Tom Cruise' and it instantly searches many of its broadcast, online and on-demand services before presenting a list of options you can select simply by speaking the number of the option you're interested in.

There are still moments where the recognition gets things wrong of course, and there's also an issue to do with the voice recognition's use of a cloud-based system, whereby sometimes the TV doesn't appear to hear you because it fails to connect to the network fast enough.

There's also an initial period of resistance to the whole idea of talking to your TV that some people may never overcome. Though even here Samsung is working hard to reduce this particular barrier by introducing an on-TV tutorial due to go live in the next couple of months.

The Samsung PS64F8500 additionally supports gesture control, using a built-in camera you can also use for Skype calls.

Again this was once pretty unusable, thanks to its habit of failing to recognise or track your hand properly, its fussiness when it came to trying to select on-screen options, and the sheer amount of fatigue it caused.

But again Samsung has responded to such criticisms in a positive way, having just demonstrated to us a new firmware update due to roll out soon that offers vastly improved - and faster - cursor tracking of your hand movements, a seemingly much more effective gesture recognition system that enables you to do everything with your arm resting on your chair rather than waving around fatiguingly in the air, and even a new Thumbs Up gesture recognition so you can make recommendations about things you've watched.

Perhaps the single most significant thing about the latest Samsung smart TV engine, though, is its ability to track the TV shows and on-demand content you watch so that it can build up a profile of what you like to watch and then make recommendations accordingly.

These recommendations appear on the home TV screen when you select it, or you can speak to the TV and ask it to recommend programmes it thinks you'll like.

There is an inevitable catch with this system in that it takes 2-3 months for the TV to really get a close feel for your favourite content, leaving you in the meantime sometimes feeling bewildered about some of the recommendations it makes. But we guess you just need to stick with it.

One last smart feature to mention is the way the TV enables you to control it via Samsung apps for iOS and Android devices, additionally enabling you to share multimedia between your devices and the TV, and stream video from the TV to the Android or iOS app.

The Android app also enables you to watch something from a second tuner while the rest of your family watches the main tuner on the TV.

The only problems here are that you have to use multiple apps to achieve everything that's possible rather than having a single 'one-stop' app, and that you're given no guidance anywhere over what apps you need and how to set them up. We only found out everything via regular communications with Samsung's technical people.

Leaving the impressive and ever-improving Smart Engine behind, the Samsung PS64F8500 sports a comprehensive range of picture adjustments and calibration tools, including all the gamma and colour management tools even the most serious of tinkerers - or a professional calibrator - could reasonably hope to find.

It's well worth dwelling for a moment, too, on some of the major improvements Samsung has introduced to the plasma panel at the Samsung PS64F8500's heart, because these really do have a major bearing on its performance, as we're about to discover.

For starters, a new Real Black Pro Filter in the screen soaks up more ambient light than previous iterations, enabling black levels to look deeper on the screen and light to emerge from the screen more efficiently and potently.

Samsung has also been able to speed up its panel response time so that it can reach higher brightness peaks in real time, as well as introducing a reworked discharge waveform that gives a further boost in contrast by enabling plasma cells to go darker faster.

Brightness has been further improved, meanwhile, by increasing the panel's active discharge space - meaning that more of the screen area can receive light from the plasma cells, by introducing Magnesium Oxide into its conduction materials to boost energy efficiency, and by deploying an improved discharge gas in the plasma chambers.

Picture quality

First impressions of the Samsung PS64F8500 in action are little short of dazzling. Literally. The huge screen defies not only every plasma TV we've seen before but even our expectations of what plasma is capable of by serving up extreme levels of brightness that actually manage to rival those that have proved so useful in making LCD the most popular TV option.

Even more amazingly, these unprecedented plasma brightness levels remain seemingly completely intact if you turn all the lights in your room up to max, because Samsung's new on-screen filter design stops plasma cells being 'infiltrated' by ambient light.

This ability to retain all of its image punch and vibrancy even with all sorts of light in your room instantly and spectacularly - especially given the set's prodigious screen size - makes the Samsung PS64F8500 the most genuinely living room-friendly plasma TV we've seen. So long as your living room is big enough to cope with a ruddy big 64-inch TV, of course.

Those of you familiar with the way flat panel TVs usually work might be thinking at this point that such intense brightness on the Samsung PS64F8500 must come at the expense of black level response.

Not so. In fact, the Samsung PS64F8500's black levels enjoy an improvement over previous Samsung plasmas that's nearly as extreme as the boost in brightness, putting them up there with the most recent Panasonic plasma TVs we've tested.

Not surprisingly, plasma's ability to render really deep and rich blacks in the same frame as the Samsung PS64F8500's dazzling whites and colours ensures that pictures enjoy a degree of dynamism that's unprecedented - especially during predominantly dark scenes - in the plasma world.

This sense of brightness and dynamism is particularly welcome when watching 3D, because it helps Samsung's TV combat the dimming effect of its active shutter glasses, enabling you to enjoy 3D pictures that are, for the first time with plasma, pretty much as vibrant and bright as those you might find from a high-spec LCD TV.

The Samsung PS64F8500's 3D images are further aided by some impressively natural motion handling that suffers much less than might have been expected with plasma's traditional issues with judder and fizzing skin tones.

Also hugely impressive while watching 3D on the Samsung PS64F8500 is just how sharp and detailed its images look - a pertinent reminder of the active 3D format's advantages when you're talking about a really large screen environment.

This sense of sharpness is also evident during 2D HD viewing, of course - so much so, in fact, that we had to rein in the set's sharpness a bit from its default settings.

Going back to 3D, the sheer scale of the Samsung PS64F8500's screen together with the extreme but accurate sense of depth its huge contrast performance helps produce make 3D an extremely immersive experience too.

The only thing breaking this sense of immersion is the occasional appearance of a little crosstalk ghosting interference over distant objects, especially if they appear in stark contrast to the colour behind them.

Now we've mentioned a negative, we might as well bring up a trio more. The potentially most troublesome issue is the appearance of green dithering noise over some shadow details during dark scenes.

Undoubtedly a product of the extreme brightness Samsung has sought to achieve from the PS64F8500, this noise is sporadic in nature and diminishes in its obviousness with every foot further back from the screen you sit. But we still became gently aware of it during our tests while using what felt like a very natural viewing distance.

A rarer and more subtle issue is some gentle fluctuations in the image's overall brightness level while showing dark scenes - a result of the TV gently manipulating (without you being able to do anything about it) its sub-field driving system to try to get the very best contrast performance with a particular scene.

Finally, another side effect of the aggressive way Samsung drives the PS64F8500's panel is a degree of image retention, whereby particularly bright, static and colour-rich image elements can leave an outline of themselves behind for a few frames.

We don't get the sense that this issue could necessarily lead to permanent retention, though, and we'd also expect its impact to diminish as the panel ages.

Despite finishing on this little run of flaws, though, don't be put off. Overall we remain hugely impressed with the Samsung PS64F8500's picture performance, especially when it comes to the screen's groundbreaking brightness.

Usability, sound and value

Usability

We obliquely covered much of the usability aspect of the Samsung PS64F8500 when talking about its features. But a recap certainly can't do any harm. So…

Samsung's 2013 TVs go further than those of any other brand right now when it comes to trying to help people find content and interact with the features on offer.

The inclusion with the Samsung PS64F8500 of a second remote control with a touchpad and built-in mic is extremely welcome, and we're also starting to warm after a few false dawns to Samsung's increasingly clever (through regular firmware updates) voice recognition system. Heck, we've even seen demos to suggest that Samsung's previously irritating gesture control engine is about to become usable, following yet another upcoming update.

The move to five separate on-screen hubs works well in principle too, and the enormous sophistication of Samsung's 'viewing habits learning engine' is a boon, so long as you're patient while it builds its knowledge of your preferences.

There remain two problems with the Samsung PS64F8500's usability, though. One is that Samsung hasn't done enough - in the interface's current form, at least - to help teach users about the features on offer. This means that we can readily imagine many users not even knowing that some of the features are there, or else feeling uncomfortable and uncertain about how to make the most out of them.

The other issue is that Samsung really needs to consolidate its second-device functionality so that smart device users can enjoy control of their TV, multimedia sharing and second screen viewing via one single app.

Sound

Pictures as big and bold as those of the Samsung PS64F8500 deserve an equally big and bold audio accompaniment. And actually, that's pretty much what they get.

The unusually powerful speaker system makes good use of the TV's relatively large and heavy-duty chassis to produce an impressively wide soundstage that enhances the sense of immersion created by the screen.

There's more bass in this soundstage than you'd usually hear too, courtesy of the woofer on the TV's rear, while the main speakers are powerful and large enough to deliver both a decently scalable mid-range and some rich, harshness-free treble detailing.

Value

Panasonic's upcoming P65VT65 is set to cost £3,350 (around AU$5,172 / US$5,107) and Samsung's own 'mere' 55-inch UE55F8000 LCD model costs £2,500 (around AU$3,860 / US$3,811).

So with that in mind, if you ask us £3,000 (around AU$4,620 / US$4,575) is by no means an outlandish amount to pay for a screen as huge, feature-rich and talented as the Samsung PS64F8500.

Verdict

The Samsung PS64F8500's pictures are a revelation in both 2D and 3D mode, especially when it comes to their brightness and resistance to ambient light.

Samsung's smart TV engine is miles ahead of the pack in terms of its features, content and sophistication too, plus its sound quality is a cut above the norm, and it seems very fairly priced all things considered.

However, Samsung needs to do more to help users understand all the facets of its smart TV platform. Also, the huge boost in brightness has caused some dither and slight image retention issues, and the set's chassis is much more substantial than that of Samsung's LCD TVs.

Final verdict

The PS64F8500 is easily Samsung's most aggressive assault yet on Panasonic's traditional dominance of the plasma TV market. Particularly remarkable is its brightness, which hits heights never before witnessed from plasma technology.

Couple this with the Samsung PS64F8500's excellent black depths and sharpness levels and you've got a picture of stunning dynamism that makes Samsung's behemoth as usable in a bright living room as it is in a dedicated cinema room.

The set's smart features are unprecedentedly sophisticated too, with the only issues being a little dither noise and momentary image retention.

Also consider

We're still waiting for many of 2013's really large screen TVs to appear, but one alternative you could certainly consider is Samsung's F8000 series. We've tested the 55-inch Samsung UE55F8000 already, but a 65-inch model is incoming with a price of around £3,500 (around AU$5,400 / US$5,334).

Another alternative would be Panasonic's P65VT50 - one of 2012's star TVs that can still be had for some pretty aggressive prices. But you might prefer to wait for its imminent replacement, the P65VT65, which has looked spectacular during previews.

Review: Panasonic HX-WA3

Matthew Bolton — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:30:00 GMT

Waterproof, sand-proof and with Full HD recording, the Panasonic HX-WA3 camcorder is basically made for holidays.

You don't get a lot of these kinds of pistol-style camcorders these days, but Panasonic is persevering, having impressed us with the similar Panasonic HX-WA10 previously. Just to be confusing, the Panasonic HX-WA3 is actually an update to the WA10, despite its lower number.

There's also a new Panasonic HX-WA30 model, which offers waterproofing to a deeper level than the WA3, and is shockproof to 1.5m/5ft. It also has a more advanced sensor that's capable of recording at 120 frames per second, while the WA3 here tops out at 60fps.

But enough of the other model, what exactly do you get here in the Panasonic HX-WA3? It can record in numerous modes, including 1080p at 30 frames per second, 720p at at 60 or 30 frames per second, and at SD resolutions at 30 frames per second. It also does 1080/60i, for those into such things (or whose video editor of choice only supports such things).

The 60fps mode is particularly appealing for sports and other fast-moving subjects, partly because it means you can slow them down to half-speed when you get home without losing any smoothness or detail.

There's a 5x optical zoom, which extends to 18x with Panasonic's Intelligent Zoom, which is designed to use clever image processing on digital zooms to go beyond what the optical zoom can do without degrading quality badly - we were thoroughly impressed with it on the Panasonic HC-V720. There's also Active Image Stabilisation, to make sure that you can see what's going on when you play back handheld video footage.

As we mentioned, it's waterproof, rated for up to 5m/16ft; it's also freeze-proof down to -10C/14F, meaning that it should do well out in the snow. It also boasts a dust-proof/sand-proof design, so should survive the beach, too.

It can take still pictures at up to 16 megapixels, and offers 180-degree and 360-degree panorama modes. It offers various scene modes, but most of the time you'll just want to use Panasonic's Intelligent Auto system, which has proven impeccable in the past at adjusting quickly to new situations.

It boasts a bunch of effects, too, including a nice Miniature Effect mode and smart Ghost Effect mode, though we're never keen on applying these kinds of effect in-camera - much better to record clean and add them with a good video editor later. If you don't have one, though, or can't be bothered to do it that way, the options will be welcome.

Performance

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvWk4DHn4F0

The important thing is obviously video quality, and the Panasonic HX-WA3 certainly delivered some impressive moments during our time with it, but also several frustrating ones.

The best thing about this camcorder is the way it handles motion. It's brilliant, even at the 30fps 1080p mode (the 60fps 720p mode is even better, unsurprisingly). Things can move across the screen in just a frame or two, and there's almost no digital artefacts or degradation in the non-moving parts of the image. The things that are moving are still blurred, of course, but they don't leave the horrible smears across the image that you get from lower bitrate recording.

Along similar lines, the Panasonic HX-WA3's image stabilisation works really well, turning footage taken from shaky hands into fairly smooth, perfectly watchable video. It didn't seem to be quite as capable as that on the far more expensive Panasonic HC-V720, but was easily as good as we expected.

However, the image stabilisation did seem to have the side effect of sometimes spoiling the quality of the video. We took several shots where the images would blur dramatically for a few frames, then return to normal, several times in a row. The two stills below show it happening; the second one is the very next frame after the first.

Maybe it's the result of compensation for tiny hand movements, but it means that in an image that appears steady to the eye, everything gets randomly blurry, as if the focus has screwed up (it's the not focus, though - the blur issues happen at various depths in the frame).

Still, the good news is that image quality from the Panasonic HX-WA3 is good enough to be ruined - if you see what we mean. Colours are mostly good, appearing realistic, if maybe just a tad washed out in cloudy weather on the iA setting. At lower zoom levels (ie, when still in the optical zoom), you can get some lovely crisp shots of fairly close subjects, with things like hair picked out strongly, and a strong amount of detail.

As things get further away, softness creeps in quickly, likely due the size of the sensor (a 1/2.33-inch CMOS - the same as most compact cameras). Edges are still picked out sharply, but you start to lose the texture of things.

Alas, zooming in won't necessarily bring back the extra detail. The optical 5x zoom is great, but when going past that, the Intelligent Zoom feature comes in. It's designed to enable you to go past the limits of the optical zoom without a large drop in image quality, and it works to a degree - but images lose a lot of the detail still.

They aren't fuzzy, like a poor digital zoom, so the outline will be crisp, but it's like everything's been hastily airbrushed.

In lower light levels, the Panasonic HX-WA3 gives a pretty decent account of itself, though we noticed colour saturation dropping, and noise starting to affect the normally sharp outlines of objects.

However, the Intelligent Auto mode that Panasonic uses does a truly excellent job of making sure that you don't have to think about modes or anything yourself. It handles going from light areas to dark ones well, tracks focus across objects without much faffing and always gave us results that we were confident were the best the camcorder had to offer.

Ergonomically, the Panasonic HX-WA3 is a bit of an odd one. The trigger handle shape is easy enough to grip, though we have pretty large hands, and smaller ones may struggle to grip it as steadily. It's also easy to stick your finger in front of the lens accidentally, but practice will solve that.

The controls for zooming are quite far up, though - to the point that reaching between them causes your hand to move, which is a bit awkward if you're recording at the time.

The menu is fairly easy to navigate, and there are plenty of options there, including the ability to switch to manual focus, though you can't then adjust the focus while recording, disappointingly.

There's also the waterproofing, of course, and this is another area where the Panasonic HX-WA3 impresses. While we couldn't test it all the way down to 5m, it survived our trip into some shallow water just fine.

Crucially, it's also capable of capturing great footage underwater, with almost no detrimental effect from being under. Colours are still fairly good, detail is evident, and the great motion handling means that a cloud of bubbles from something moving doesn't cause lots of nasty artefacts.

And lastly, but very importantly, the battery life was excellent. During one 24-hour period where we used the camera often for a few hours, looked back over our footage later, and then occasionally grabbed it to fiddle around with, all without turning it off (we would just close the screen and leave it on standby), we only ran the battery down by around 25 per cent.

This kind of longevity is perfect for holidays. And it can be recharged through a USB cable, so a car charger or even a solar charger or USB battery pack could get it back and powered again.

Verdict

If image quality was all that mattered here, we might give the Panasonic HX-WA3 a lower score than this. But context is vital, and the Panasonic HX-WA3 as a holiday package really stands out.

It's capable of taking some great shots, with brilliantly captured motion, even if it can have issues with image detail at other times. But the waterproofing and sand-proofing, the solid image stabilisation and the excellent battery life mean that it's ideal for taking to the beach, up a mountain or anywhere in between.

Hands-on review: Updated: Nvidia Shield review

Alex Roth and Matt Swider — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:48:00 GMT

Update: As expected, Nvidia has dropped the "Project" part of the name, and has announced that the handheld will be available for pre-order on May 20 ahead of a June shipping date.

The CES 2013 announcement of the Nvidia Shield means that PC games finally have a dedicated handheld system, and the idea isn't completely ridiculous.

OK, the controller-based design is a little out there at first glance, and many might struggle to see how this could be comfortable. However, flipping open the screen's protective lid and picking up the gamepad feels as natural as can be.

But Nvidia isn't so much concerned about how the things looks as it is about what's going on inside - a Tegra 4 quad-core processor and 72-core GeForce GPU, as you're asking.

At PAX East we plunked our con-weary body down in front of a Shield handheld synced with a Geforce-equipped PC. We were thankful not only to get some quality time with Nvidia's upcoming handheld, but also to just sit in a chair.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was the title being served, and we used the Shield's dual stick and triggers setup to harass some hapless (but not helpless) guards with a few fireballs.

Dual wielding is the standard approach in Oblivion. Players generally equip a weapon or spell in their right hand, with either a defensive item like a shield or a second form of retaliation (sword, mace, lightning bolt, healing spell) in the left.

This is why having two triggers and sticks is so essential to bringing a real gaming experience to handheld. The controls were tight, and when we looked at the computer monitor with its tricked-out Geforce-fueled graphics, it felt like we were getting the best of both worlds: simple console controls and high-end PC graphics.

Wirelessly streaming PC titles to your HDTV is one trick Nvidia plans to teach Shield down the road, but initially this will require a HDMI connection.

Less than keen on the screen

We're glad that Nvidia has thought of that, because no matter how hard you try, a dinky handheld display will never hold a candle to a 1080p screen. It didn't do the Shield any favors to be played right next to a monitor rendering the exact same image, but looking much better.

Sparks and flares coming off our fireball attacks looked dull and blocky. While we were impressed at the one-for-one, zero latency between Shield and the computer it was synced with, it made us wonder why you would use this handheld when you're in the same building as your computer. Being able to bridge your TV and your PC with the Shield is a good reason. It could be a killer feature, especially if you're someone who's bent over backwards to do it with HDMI, using a wireless mouse and keyboard on the couch.

Getting back to the 5-inch display strapped to Shield, it's 720p and just 294 ppi. That was nothing to sneeze at a few years ago, but now your average smart phone is rocking ppi in the mid-300's. The lovely new HTC One has 440 ppi. For phones, a ppi in the high 200's, low 300's is mid-range territory.

Android games seem like a better fit for this handheld, since they're played locally and don't require an expensive gaming PC and the will to not use it. Still, that makes us wonder what this handheld will cost, and if it will be worth the price.

Nvidia hasn't opened up about pricing, but The Verge seems to think it won't be cheap. If that's the case, we're not sure the Shield will be able to compete in the Android gaming market. We can't see why someone would choose it over something more affordable, albeit less feature-filled, such as the Moga Pro or a gaming laptop, if it's truly mobile PC gaming they crave.

Not necessarily the final build

As we hacked and slashed our way through the demo, an Nvidia rep told us that the Shield would be fine-tuned a bit before its release. Specifically it's the D-pad and the triggers that might get some tweaking.

While we couldn't find anything amiss with the triggers, the D-pad did feel cheap and imprecise. There wasn't much differentiation between a diagonal and a lateral press. As with the Xbox 360 version, Elder Scrolls just uses the pad for scrolling up and down through weapons and spells, and it was good enough for that. We wouldn't want to use it for a fighting game or a platformer, though.

We were really relieved when the rep highlighted the D-pad as something that could be reworked. Controllers and peripherals aren't really Nvidia's bag, and the fact that it's aware of what's not up to snuff shows that it's doing its homework and easing into this new market smoothly.

Early Verdict

Nvidia Shield is supposed to launch in Q2 2013, and it'll be able to play PC, Steam, Android and TegraZone games out of the box.

That's quite a launch lineup. Unfortunately, PC and Steam games can only be streamed via local WiFi, as there needs to be a PC running the games; this controller-based handheld is just a receiver for these more powerful titles.

The technology is interesting and the idea is out of left field, but the price and the inability to stream all games may limit the appeal of Nvidia's PC portable.

More to come

June 2013 is currently Nvidia's target for the Shield's release date. As that date fast approaches, we're hoping that the graphics card giant has some more tricks up its sleeve for this handheld - or at the very least a competitive price. Hopefully it can launch with the PC-to-TV streaming, or ensure that if follows shortly after. Otherwise, it may have a tough time finding an audience and end up inviting some unfavorable OnLive comparisons. That, or become a handheld that few put their hands on, like the PS Vita.

Shield: What you need to know

Read our report on next generation gaming in tech. magazine, including the latest on the Xbox 720, Shield and the PS4.

The first thing to say about Shield is that picking it up is akin to holding an Xbox 360 controller.

There are four individually colored face buttons in the same upper-right quadrant, and four shoulder buttons on top.

In fact, the only difference between the Shield controller layout and the Xbox 360 controller is the placement of the analog stick and D-Pad. Nvidia reversed the two.

In the end, PS3 gamers will feel right at home with this side-by-side dual analog orientation, while Xbox players will be accustomed to the overall body of Shield.

Nvidia tech specs

Under Shield's gamepad exterior lies an Nvidia Tegra 4 processor, which has a 72-core GeForce GPU. This is also the first quad-core application of ARM's most advanced CPU core, the Cortex A-15.

All of this translated beautiful graphics that maintained snappy movements and lag-free gameplay during tests.

Beyond the Tegra 4 processor, Nvidia wasn't ready to talk about the disk capacity that the device will have in the future. In fact, the company wasn't even willing to divulge the storage being employed by the current prototype.

On disk capacity, all that Nvidia has confirmed is that there will be a MicroSD card slot for expandable storage.

Other ports include a micro USB port, a headphone jack and an HDMI port for easy video output to a big screen. Nvidia, working closely with Valve, ensured that Shield would take advantage of Steam's Big Picture Mode.

Shield also has 802.11n 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi, making it nice and speedy.

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td30z6zv0H0&feature=youtu.be

Nvidia controller interface

Besides the short-lived Hip Interactive Screen Pad Controller from a decade ago, this is the first screen-mounted controller that is getting a big push from a third-party company.

Its 5-inch touchscreen is 720p, and even though everyone's focus is on the gamepad, there is multitouch in the 294 dpi retinal screen too.

Having the option to utilize the touchscreen for menus while always being able to take advantage of the controller's buttons for just about everything else is extremely convenient.

The Nvidia also packed a powerful set of speakers into the top of the controller portion of Shield. It's twice the low-frequency output of high-end laptops.

Nvidia launch games and apps

One of the best parts of the Nvidia Shield is the fact that its launch games are familiar - it's everything you can already own on the PC, Steam, Google Play, and Nvidia's own TegraZone store.

PC and Steam games can be streamed to the device through WiFi so long as the PC running the games is packing an Nvidia GeForce GTX GPU - a GTX 650 (desktop) or GTX 660M (notebook) or better.

As a result, all of the usual suspects were on hand to play, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and they streamed to the device flawlessly without lag.

TegraZone games and Google Play apps, meanwhile, can be downloaded directly to Shield device. Nvidia, being as open as possible, isn't gimping this version of the Android OS - it's running a pure Jelly Bean 4.2.

All of this means that Shield will have the biggest launch lineup for any handheld gaming system ever built. You can't beat the countless PC games, more than 18,000 Steam games, and 675,000-plus Google Play games and apps.

YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueiKUp8gE2M

Shield battery life

Battery life is always a bone of contention when it comes to handhelds, but Nvidia thinks that it can pull off an impressive 20-plus hours from the Shield when streaming.

That's because all of the processing power is being handled by the GeForce GTX GPU-equipped PC. Shield's hardware, meanwhile, uses energy-saving PRISM 2 technology and a battery-saver core to lengthen that charge time.

Essentially, Nvidia is doing what Netflix and OnLive have done for users - having all of the major resources handled in another location and using WiFi bandwidth to offload the heavy-duty processing.

PC handheld in the home

Of course, the PC and Steam games need to be running on the computer to stream to a Shield. This means that the device's handheld capabilities are pretty much limited to the home.

With the exception of taking a gaming laptop with you to a location that has WiFi, this kind of negates most of the handheld gaming aspects outside of Google Play and TegraZone titles.

Nvidia did make it possible to boot up a game via the handheld thankfully. You won't have to run to the computer each time you want to load a new game.

Shield release date and price

Nvidia has announced that the Shield will ship this June and pre-orders will kick off May 20 on Nvidia's Shield website. The handheld will be priced at exactly $349 (around £230/AUS$350)

The rapidness of pushing this out the door is possible as the powerful but efficient Tegra 4 processor is ready to go and all of the launch games are spoken for through services like Steam, Google Play, and TegraZone.

Nvidia also recently revealed that the company had invested $10 million (around £6.5m/AUS$9.5) in the handheld, which gives it a much cheaper production cost than other big console launches.

Even without a set price, Nvidia is already setting its sights high for Shield. In addition to trying to sway gamers who have become bored with the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, it's going after the broader smartphone and tablet gaming market, too.

Nvidia said that it created Shield to do for games what the iPod and Kindle have done for music and books. And Shield might just have the hardware to back up that statement.

Review: Viewsonic VX2770Smh-LED

Jeremy Laird — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:30:00 GMT

The AOC i2757Fm and this Viewsonic VX2770Smh-LED are two peas in a pod. Both are budget-oriented 27-inch models with 1,920 x 1,080 full-HD resolutions and sporting IPS panels. Indeed, they both have the same slim-going-on-non-existent bezel design.

If you were feeling particularly cynical, you might guess that they were based on some kind of shared monitor kit knocked up by some faceless mass-manufacturer, to which various monitor brands add a few distinguishing flourishes.

Non-identical

Whether or not there's an element of truth in that, the suspicious whiff of familiarity fades as you get to know this pair of screens.

On the downside, the shiny Viewsonic looks a bit dowdy next to the spangly brushed-metal sleekness of the AOC. Somehow the pseudo-no-bezel design doesn't work quite as well when paired with black plastic. However, the good news is that this monitor doesn't suffer from the AOC's craptastic default settings. Thankfully, it looks great right of the box.

As you'd expect from an IPS screen, the viewing angles are very good. OK, Samsung's PLS panel has shown even better can be achieved regarding horizontal angles. But you're still getting a step up from TN tech.

That quality is also evident in our test images and scales. Both white and black scales look impressive, and gradients are rendered nearly flawlessly. It's also a little brighter and more vibrant than the supposedly similar AOC, and it quickly becomes apparent that you're looking at a display with far fewer inherent flaws.

Is that down to panel quality or image processing? There's a good chance they use precisely the same panel, and thus it's odds on the latter. Whatever, if you care about image quality this Viewsonic is the obvious choice. Especially when you factor the modest cost saving. If styling and features are more of a factor, it's a much tougher choice.

No frills

As well as being more of a looker, AOC gives you frills like MHL, a connector that allows you to pump the image of an Android smartphone onto the big screen. The Viewsonic also scores a fail with its stand and base design. For starters, the OSD controls are located on the base in a fashion apparently designed to ensure you've no chance of seeing them from a normal seating position. Dumb.

As for the stand, it includes a tilt hinge that is remarkably unenthusiastic when it comes to maintaining your desired position. Some re-engineering needs to be done to make the masses balance better. It's all just a little bit off kilter in its current configuration.

Verdict

Overall, the Viewsonic VX2770Smh-LED makes for a pretty nice 1080p 27-inch panel. It's a good choice for movie buffs and for gamers who want a big screen and either can't stretch to one of the high-res screens or lack a graphics card capable of driving really big resolutions.

However, it's not massively better than the best TN panels currently available, so it all comes down to whether clearly superior viewing angles and slightly better colours are worth a small price premium.

Hands-on review: BB Live: BlackBerry Q5

John McCann — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:54:00 GMT

The BlackBerry Q5 is here, and about time too as the Canadian firm launches its first affordable BlackBerry 10 device.

Unveiled at the annual BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando the BlackBerry Q5 had been almost completely leaked under the moniker BlackBerry R10, so its design and specs come as no surprise.

There's no firm word on which countries will be treated to the Q5, but BlackBerry is touting it as an entry-level to mid-tier device aimed at emerging markets.

What we do know is that it will be available in selected markets in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America, with expected availability beginning in July.

It looks like the US is set to miss out on the BlackBerry Q5 and when TechRadar quizzed spokespeople on UK and Australia availability no one could provide a solid answer.

At first glance you can tell the BlackBerry Q5 will be a more keenly priced device than its high-end Q10 brother, with a swath a bezel adorning the front of the noticably plastic handset.

It lacks the premium look and finish of the Q10, but retains the classic BlackBerry QWERTY phone look, with the isolated keys a nod to past BB OS handsets such as the Curve 9320.

In terms of specs the Q5 has a lot in common with the Q10, with both devices sporting a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and a 3.1-inch, 720x720 display - although the Q5 is furnished with a lower quality LCD offering compared to the Super AMOLED screen on the Q10.

While the bezel around the screen may be larger than on its higher-end relation it's not necessarily a bad thing as it provides more room below the display for the upwards swipe gesture required to exit apps.

On the Q10 there isn't any space between screen and keyboard which made the motion a little tricky at times, however on the Q5 we could easily slide our finger around without fear of pressing any keys.

Of course this does mean the Q5 is longer and the Q10, and it's also a little chunkier as well but BlackBerry has managed to keep the weight down so it's not overbearing in the hand.

The solid plastic rear is reminiscent of the iPhone 3GS, but there's no metallic rim round the edge to hold things together and the glossy finish doesn't provide a great deal of grip.

Up top there's a headphone jack and centralised power/lock key which we found was pretty difficult to hit as it wasn't raised above the chassis meaning you really need to push down hard for the Q5 to register your action.

Down the right side are the trio of buttons which also feature on the Z10 and Q10 with volume keys sandwiching a third switch which provides a shortcut to voice commands.

On the left there's a microUSB port, but there's no HDMI out option - something you do get on the other two BlackBerry 10 handsets.

Instead on the left we have a plastic flap which covers microSD and microSIM ports, allowing you to build on the 8GB of internal storage inside the BlackBerry Q5.

As you may have already guessed the presence of the slots of the left means you can't whip the back off the BlackBerry Q5 to access the 2100mAh battery.

That shouldn't be too much of an issue though as the battery in the Q5 should easily last you more than a day if the Q10 is anything to go by - which has the same size battery.

Thanks to the decent processor and amount of RAM BlackBerry has managed to stuff inside the Q5 the BlackBerry 10.1 operating system provides a fluid and lag-free experience.

We were easily able to glide through homescreens and apps generally opened up pretty quickly.

Because the BlackBerry Q5 is running the latest version of the BB10 OS you get features such as pin to pin messaging, but the HDR camera mode hasn't made the cut on this cut-price handset.

The camera app itself opens in a second, but the auto-focus is quite laggy and we found the Q5 took two to three seconds to snap a picture, which is a little too long for our liking.

Round the back you get a 5MP camera and single LED flash which does produce some decent snaps, plus the front facing 2MP snapper will help with video calling and vanity checks.

BlackBerry has managed to take its lightening quick web browsing performance from the Z10 and Q10 and stick it into the Q5 and we were able to load the desktop TechRadar site in under five seconds on a strong 4G connection - that's impressive for a handset which is aimed at the lower end of the market.

Web pages, text and images appear crisp and clear on the 3.1-inch 720 x 720 display, but it's not quite as bright and colours don't pop like they do on the Q10's Super AMOLED screen.

Obviously the big attraction for anyone considering the BlackBerry Q5 is its QWERTY keyboard and once again the Canadian firm shows its prowess in this area.

The isolated keys have a decent amount of travel, but we did find it was a little trickier to type on the Q5 compared to the Q10 and the whole keypad did wobble quite a bit under our prods, which just reinforced the budget nature of this device.

For anyone who's grown up using BlackBerry keyboards the Q5 offers more of the same, but if you're considering switching from a fully touchscreen device you probably won't be convinced.

Quick Verdict

The BlackBerry Q5 is one for the aficionados who can't afford, or refuse to splash cash on the highly priced Q10, with the solid BlackBerry typing experience at the heart of everything it does.

Without knowing the price it's difficult to say how it will stand up against other handsets, but anyone who isn't a BlackBerry fan and is in the market for a reasonably priced smartphone probably won't be taken with the Q5.

That said if BlackBerry manage to price the Q5 low enough it would make it a seriously attractive proposition with its decent power under the hood, HD display and rapid internet browser. We're just going to have to wait and see.

Hands-on review: Updated: Nokia Lumia 925

Gareth Beavis — Tue, 14 May 2013 12:32:00 GMT

The Nokia Lumia 925 is an odd device – on the one hand, a bold design, on the other, debatable specs for a flagship phone.

Known as the "Catwalk" phone for a long time, this is the phone that some fans have been clamouring for: a Nokia Lumia that brings an aluminium design with the same innovative features.

However, it's not all good news for the metal fans, as it's still got a polycarbonate back as Nokia hasn't worked out how to rock an all-aluminium chassis in the same way HTC managed with the One.

That's not to say the design of this 4G-enabled phone isn't impressive, as with the rounded aluminium edges you'd be hard pressed to notice that the back was made of plastic, albeit a premium version of that material – plus it will come in black, white and silver.

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(By the way, well done Nokia for not giving the colours "magical" names. If it's white, call it that).

The front of the phone will also still wow a few, as it's using the same ClearBlack technology, coupled with an HD OLED screen, on a 4.5-inch display.

Underneath the hood there's a dual-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset powering things along, as well as 1GB of RAM and an 8.7MP camera bolted on the back.

Some eagle-eyed readers will notice something about those specs: they're identical to the Nokia Lumia 920, launched in September 2012. In the ensuing period HTC and Samsung have both launched 2GB, quad-core powered devices with much larger HD screens.

We can't claim that they're miles ahead in smartphone terms though; while the specs don't compare at all, Nokia's well-integrated use of Windows Phone 8 means its phones generally rocket along in day to day use, and battery power is conserved as a result.

That said, there's no denying that the screen quality is a step down when viewed side by side with the likes of the One or Galaxy S4. It's not a bad screen at all, as it's bright and clear with decent colour reproduction, but the sharpness difference is noticeable when doing things like internet browsing.

Let's talk about what the Nokia Lumia 925 is really about though: an upgraded camera with all new functionality. If you use Nokia's Smart Camera technology as the default setting it allows you to take 10 photos at once and then allows you to do a number of cool things with said snaps.

Nokia calls this an 'evolution' of the camera technology on its phones, and it's true as you no longer have to faff about with separate 'lenses' to enable functionality.

It's a similar system as the one used by HTC in the One, where capturing a 3.6 second Zoe when taking your picture allows you to create action shots, change faces in case someone blinks, remove background objects and more.

In our quick test the Lumia 925, with its 10 photos to choose from, performed a little better at things like working out which object to remove, and was a lot better than the same functionality in the Galaxy S4, on top of being easier to manipulate images you take.

There is a caveat to all this awesome technology: the 925 is a little slow on processing. And when we say a little, we're being kind. If you're taking photos for your own pleasure and have time to mess about with them to get the perfect result, then the annoying time watching the little dots at the top of the screen (which pop up when the phone is working through a task) isn't an issue.

But Nokia's selling this phone as having great shots you can share with friends -and nobody wants to be the person saying they can take a really cool picture then waiting 15 seconds to even start editing.

The other bold claim made by Nokia is the "best lowlight images without using a flash" - again, taking on HTC with the One's Ultrapixel power. We couldn't test the two side-by-side, but there's no doubt that this is going to be a closely fought war, with Nokia stating it will be putting marketing budget behind proving its own Lumia camera sensor can eclipse the One.

It reckons it can do this on a sensor that's already been used on the 920 by adding in a sixth lens to the camera unit, helping to improve things like optical image stabilisation and general photo quality.

However it's one of the only things that's different between the two phones beyond the design, with everything else nearly identical or actually worse on the Nokia Lumia 925.

They both pack a 2,000mAh battery, a 4.5-inch screen (although the addition of OLED technology over LCD is a welcome one) the same processor and RAM. However, the Lumia 925 has half the internal memory, down to only 16GB - with no expansion in sight, this is going to be a real problem for a lot of users.

Wireless charging is also not included with this phone, something Nokia tells us is a bid to keep the weight of its new flagship phone right down. You can add that functionality back in through a protective case, but it still smacks of Nokia confusing its strategy given it's poured so much effort into talking up the technology.

The diet that the Finnish brand has subjected its newest handset to is impressive though, as it's now down to 139g over the 185g whopping weight of the predecessor.

It still feels weighty compared the 130g of the plastic Samsung Galaxy S4 (despite the closeness in weight), but we like heft and metal together, so we don't think this is necessarily a bad thing - plus the battery doesn't rattle around in the case any more, which we see as a win.

We haven't touched on the combination of Nokia and Windows Phone 8 yet - and with that you get a high level of extras out of the box. Mix Radio, HERE and clever features like Cinemagraph are all add value, and are key differentiators for Nokia.

Early verdict

The Nokia Lumia 925 is a tricky beast to rate. Nokia tells us that this is a phone designed for the more technologically minded, the person that wants the latest and greatest handset from the brand.

However it seems that person would be disappointed by the Lumia 925, with its average specs and minimal upgrade from the 920 - at least when it comes to the internals.

But there's no doubting that it's going to be a market-leading cameraphone, and with things like the dedicated camera button (sounds obvious, but makes a huge difference) the 925 is definitely going to be a front runner for anyone that wants one of the most powerful portable cameras around.

Given a lot of the functionality will be coming to the older phones though it's hard to guess whether the design update will be enough - but when you hold it in your hand and come to enjoy the combination of polycarbonate and plastic, we reckon it will be enough to sway a number of users.

Price is going to play a massive part here, and that could be where the Nokia Lumia 925 loses out to the competition. It will likely cost the same as the leading smartphones on and off contract, and if someone holds the HTC One and Nokia Lumia 925 together, they're going to be hard-pressed to pick the latter unless they're enamoured by Windows Phone's Live Tiles.

We're obviously going to reserve judgement here until we get the Nokia Lumia 925 in for review - word is this will be around the start of June, so it's not too long to wait now.

Review: Updated: Samsung Chromebook

Christopher Phin — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:51:00 GMT

Introduction

This is technically the fifth iteration of the Google Chromebook – so long as you count Google's own CR-48 prototype.

Despite being the fifth Chromebook, this Samsung Chromebook (formerly known as the Series 3 XE303C12) shouldn't be confused with the Samsung Chromebook 550

If you know about Chrome OS already, you'll know that this laptop isn't like mainstream Windows laptops or even machines such as the Apple MacBook Air or the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

It doesn't run a conventional operating system such as Windows 8, Mac OS X Mountain Lion or even a straight Linux distro such as Ubuntu.

Instead, it is essentially a computer that does one thing: run a web browser.

In this case, of course, the web browser in question is Google Chrome.

Top laptops: 20 best laptops in the world

Deciding whether or not the Samsung Chromebook is right for you is actually really easy. The first thing you have to know is that it's cheap. Really cheap.

At a launch price of £229/USD$330/AU$319, it undercuts most conventional laptops, and is cheaper even than the new iPad mini – though it's more expensive than the low-end Android tablets such as the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD.

That's only part of the decision, however.

The other – indeed, main – thing you have to consider is whether you can live with a laptop that only runs everything in a browser, and therefore, with some caveats, depends on being connected to the web at all times over Wi-Fi.

It's not hard to decide if this is something you can live with; take a moment, close your eyes, and think whether what you mostly do on a computer is done through a browser – or could be.

Because while you can install apps from the Chrome Web Store they're not really applications or programs as most of us would recognise them.

In fact, they're little more than links that sit in your launcher and point to URLs on the web. (Actually, it's a little more complex than that; web apps can, if their developers implement it, add extra features such as using local storage on your Chromebook, rather than solely depending on storage on the servers of the companies whose services you're using.)

Regardless of the technical caveats, however, it remains true that you can't install, say, Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop Elements on a Chromebook. That's not what the Chromebook is about.

It's a slim, light, cheap, long-lasting little laptop that, partly because really the only thing it does is run a web browser and isn't based on Windows, is very secure, and if you live your life in web apps such as Facebook and Google Docs (or think you could), or especially if you are already immersed in the Google ecosystem of Docs, Gmail, Calendars and more, it's worth considering.

It comes with 100 GB of Google Drive free for 2 years.

Specifications

While previous Chromebooks have been powered by various flavours of Intel chips (from a 1.66 GHz single-core Intel Atom N455 in the original to a 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Celeron 867 in the model this latest Chromebook supersedes), this one has an ARM processor – specifically, the 1.7GHz dual-core Samsung Exynos 5 Dual.

That it has an ARM processor at all is notable in itself, but it's especially interesting that this is a Cortex-A15 core, 40% faster than the Cortex-A9 core (all other things being equal); the A9 is a chip that takes various forms, notably the Tegra 3 series and A5 and A5X systems-on-a-chip that power the Apple iPad 3 and Apple iPhone 4S.

What all this translates to in real life is that the new Chromebook really does feel nippy – something we'll cover more in the next section – and is totally silent when you're using it.

Of course, part of the reason for the smooth performance is that the Chromebook only has SSD rather than a slower, mechanical hard disk.

But don't get too excited; there's only 16GB of space here, and it's really only for cacheing stuff.

You could expand that storage by connecting a hard disk (there's a USB 3.0 as well as the more normal USB 2.0 port on the back), but it's worth remembering that in order to be able to open files, you need a compatible app; while the built-in player will happily display H.264 MP4s, for example, most other videos, such as .divx and .mkv files, won't play without being uploaded to a transcoding service.

There's only 2GB of RAM in the new Chromebook, but in general usage, when you're writing documents, browsing the web and so on, it never feels underpowered.

Sure, 2GB of RAM would be practically insufficient in a traditional Windows or Mac laptop, where you could be running a dozen or more apps at the same time, but here, presumably in part because it's only running a single app, Chrome, it seems sufficient.

You get an HDMI port for connecting to an external monitor, an SD card slot, a combined headphone/mic port and a basic webcam.

Essentially, you get pretty much all the I/O most people will need, and though you can't install drivers in the traditional sense, lots of USB peripherals will work at a basic level just by plugging them in. (Printing is a little odd; you either have to connect over the web to a Google Cloud Print-enabled printer, or you have to go via the Cloud Print system on a middle-man computer with the Chrome browser installed which has a printer connected to it somehow.)

Unsurprisingly, there's no optical drive.

The screen size and resolution – 11.6-inches, 1,366 x 768 pixels – are perfectly good, though the quality is distinctly lacklustre.

The Chromebook, though, does well in portability and reasonably in longevity.

At only a little over a kilogram (1.1kg), it's eminently toteable (and 400g lighter than its predecessor, which makes a difference), and the battery usually lasts somewhere a little over six hours – not enough to make it through most people's working day, but certainly enough that you don't have a constant background anxiety about being away from the mains.

One fairly major caveat, though: while there appears to be a slot for a SIM card in the back, it's bunged with a rubber gromit, and while Google (via Amazon) offers the option to pre-order a 3G model in the States ($330 rather than $249 for the Wi-Fi-only model), it's not currently available in the UK.

It might seem stupid to make a computer that essentially wants to be connected to the internet at all times and that doesn't have a SIM slot to allow mobile broadband, but, as we'll see in the next section, it's not quite the handicap that it might seem.

Performance

The important point here is that for most of what you'll probably be doing on a Chromebook – browsing, emailing, writing, watching YouTube and the like – the performance is so good as to be unremarkable.

Even though we find it interesting that this model proves you don't need the grunt of an Intel processor (albeit a low-power one), few people who buy one should know or care.

Essentially, the only times you notice delays are when it's pulling information from the internet; on one hand, this issue is exacerbated by the fact that the Chromebook's whole schtick is 'pulling information from the internet', but on the other, even the meatiest Core i7 monster would have basically the same delays if you were using a suite of online services.

You do begin to notice delays in the auto-saving to the cloud when you're working on big documents, but it's not unacceptable, and it doesn't slow you down when working.

It's not perfect, though.

While it had no problems playing standard-definition streaming video from BBC iPlayer, say, once we tried HD streams, it struggled.

It always gave it a damn good try, and always made it through to the end, but there was sporadic flickering and slight audio glitches. It was almost there, but not enough.

At least now we do have the option of watching films and TV shows online through services such as Netflix.

Gaming, of course, is poor, even when those games are simple HTML5 ones such as Angry Birds and Bejeweled; there just isn't the horsepower here to behave well.

Stability was curious. Most of the time, it proved to be rock solid, but occasionally – and when doing apparently innocuous things such as trying to watch a live iPlayer stream or plugging in an external monitor – it would hard reboot with no warning.

It wasn't disastrous, though, especially if you're using Google's web apps such as Docs or Gmail; changes are continuously saved to the cloud or locally if you have enabled Offline Mode, and as soon as the Chromebook has rebooted (something that only takes 10 seconds), it can restore your open tabs.

We had a few crashes but lost no work, which makes it an odd thing to judge; ultimately, of course, any crashes are bad.

That offline mode is important, especially since this is a model that only has Wi-Fi; it's why you can keep using the Chromebook in a cafe, say, without having a connection to the internet.

Not all web apps have it, but Gmail, documents, Google Calendar and a few others do; see the list that Google maintains here.

You'd be forgiven for being suspicious of how well and reliably this offline mode works, but in truth, it has proven to be both since it was formally launched a year ago; in the process of writing this review, for example, we switched from being connected to being away from Wi-Fi frequently, and we had zero problems. To steal a phrase from Apple, it just works.

Again, though, we have to temper our enthusiasm.

There are some limitations and problems, and not just those that come from the whole idea of Chrome OS. For one thing, we tried a few different displays plugged into the HDMI port, but some weren't recognised, and some had trouble finding a good resolution.

And while we appreciate that this is a cheap laptop, it's nevertheless true that you can see and feel where costs have been cut in the manufacture: that ugly hump of a screen hinge; the flex in the display; the use of silver plastic which, no matter how you squint, doesn't quite convince you that you're using a MacBook Air; the basic black power brick with a fiddly little connector; the screen which is terribly washed out, has poor viewing angles, and which looks like it has a layer of sugar sandwiched between the pixels and the outer surface – some will like that it's reflection-suppressing matt, at least.

And then there's the fact that, on ours at least, the foot at the left of the wrist rest hovers a fraction of a millimeter above the table, producing an infinitesimally irritating little 'clunk' if you tap it.

The keyboard at least is good. It's a little too flat and unresponsive to be called 'superb', but it's certainly eminently usable for long periods at a stretch – and we also like that there are dedicated keys for page forward/back, refresh, window toggle and more.

We occasionally hit the power key at the top right, but it cleverly gives you a tiny hint, by bouncing the window, that you need to hold the power button down to shut down the system.

There's also, controversially, no caps lock key. Instead, there's a universal search button in its place, which pops up the list of installed 'apps' and lets you perform searches online without first opening a tab in Chrome.

It took a while for us to train our muscle memory to remember to use it, but it proved a boon – and at least without caps lock, YouTube comments should be a bit more civil.

(The boring real answer is: you can reassign it as caps lock in Settings, just like you can enable/disable tap-to-click and reverse trackpad scrolling direction.)

Verdict

We've always liked the promise of the Chromebook idea.

Traditional computer users will sneer at it, despite its low price. They'll use phrases like 'full-fat operating system', 'no local storage', 'just an ARM processor'. They'll ask what use it is when it's not connected to the internet.

They miss the point.

Google say this is a computer 'for everyone' in big blue letters on the Chromebook homepage. This is hubris. It's not the computer for everyone, not by a long shot.

However, it is a very good little machine that should appeal to a few distinct groups.

First, if you're on a budget, here's a brand new computer for £229.

Second, if you already heavily use Google's online services (including if you use Google Apps to manage your business's domains, email and so on), signing into your Chromebook will feel like home, instantly.

Third, if most of your life is done through a web browser anyway, and there's nothing stopping you doing the rest of it online too, then you could argue that paying even £399 for a cheap Windows laptop that has more storage, more power and can run normal apps is a waste of money.

And perhaps more importantly, if you think you could be the sort of person who could do all their computing using web apps, you could well benefit from the good battery life, silent operation, light weight and portability, simplicity and implicit security of the Chromebook, not to mention its price.

We liked

It always takes a few days for you to really 'get' the Chromebook – though that period is shorter if you're a card-carrying Google aficionado who uses Gmail, Docs, Calendar and so on all the time anyway.

But once you get it, it gets under your skin. The simplicity and security of it – a nice compromise between the one-app-at-a-time mode of the iPad, say, and the potential complexity of a traditional computer – is refreshing and welcome.

It's also cheap, light, easy to use, silent, reasonably well built, innovative and, broadly, a pleasure to use.

We disliked

Though the offline mode supported by some apps mitigates against the problem, we would nevertheless have preferred a model that had 3G as well as Wi-Fi; the Chromebook needs to access the internet in order to be able to do meaningful work, and even if you're in range of Wi-Fi most of the time, or carry a smartphone to which you can tether, it could still prove frustrating.

The sporadic crashes irked, and the build quality issues niggled – that grainy, washed-out screen being the worst offender.

What's more, media playback is sketchy, and while it would technically be possible to edit video using YouTube, we'd strongly counsel against it.

This is a laptop for browsing, writing, Facebooking and the like, and if you buy it without carefully thinking through what you use a computer for and deciding that one that only runs a web browser would suffice, you could be in for nasty surprises; even if there's just one tiny app that you use on a traditional computer that can't be comfortably replicated online, never mind if you rely on something like Adobe InDesign or want to play Medal of Honor, the Chromebook's not for you.

There are no niceties such as a back-lit keyboard or Apple's clever MagSafe connector.

Final verdict

Traditionally, we'd have said that a Chromebook isn't good enough to be your primary computer, and in too crowded a market with smartphones and even tablets, to consider as a second computer.

Things change, though. It's not the technologies that change – broadband speeds and processor power haven't changed all that much since the Chromebook was announced late in 2010 – but what is beginning to change are our habits and priorities.

Where five years ago lots of people would have preferred desktop email clients to webmail, for example, these days millions of us access Gmail in browsers without giving it a second thought.

With that in mind, we think we might just be at a tipping point for the Chromebook concept.

This latest model is good, and for lots of people would be perfectly sufficient as a primary computer.

It's a great cheap machine for students (so long as your campus has Wi-Fi), and not in a patronising way; younger folks are more likely to be happy using web apps rather than traditional programs anyway.

And actually, it could be a useful second machine, especially if your primary computer is a desktop tower or all-in-one, or even just a bulky, heavy laptop. It's a good chuck-it-in-a-bag-and-head-to-Starbucks-to-get-some-work-done machine.

It is, ultimately, good at doing the thing it's designed to do. All you have to do is decide if that thing is right for you.

Review: Sprint Force review

Kevin Kelly — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:38:00 GMT

Introduction and Design

4G LTE network speeds are coming to the masses, and while carriers continue to upgrade their networks and expand the signal, handsets that support LTE are also coming down in price. Coinciding with Sprint's additional LTE rollout in major markets such as Los Angeles, we have the new Sprint Force from ZTE. It's meant to be a low-cost entry level smartphone with LTE access, and while it retails for $299.99, existing Sprint customers can upgrade to it for as low as $49.99 with a new contract, and new customers can bring their own number over and get it for free with a two-year contract.

The phone itself is made out of plastic, with no sharp features or standout metal/aluminum pieces. It has a fair heft to it, so it doesn't feel like you might accidentally fold it in half, but that weight also exposes it's low-cost roots. With its overly rounded corners, and sloping "chin", it almost resembles another phone wedged into a form-fitting phone case.

The Sprint Force is also dated right out of the box, since it's running Android 4.1: Ice Cream Sandwich, with no Jelly Bean update in sight. An older version OS comes with the budget phone territory, but what potential buyers should really be wary of is Sprint's LTE coverage in their area. Sprint is still working on expanding its LTE network, and unless you're tied to the carrier, you'll want to consider other options if fast data is what you crave, and Sprint doesn't have it in your neighborhood.

Design

The phone measures out at 4.88" x 2.54" and is .047" thick, making it slightly larger than an iPhone 5, and it weighs in at 5.4 ounces, an ounce and a half heavier than the Apple device. The face of the phone will also remind you that this is budget-minded as it comes with a 4-inch WVGA 800 x 480 resolution LCD screen. While these are fairly standard amongst lower-end phone offerings, it's starting to slope into the lower-resolution end as more phones get better resolutions.

The biggest problem we had with the screen was the reflectiveness. Even with the brightness turned all the way up, in bright daylight it was almost unusable. Even in normal lighting, you'll see a ton of reflection, especially with darker images.

The left side of the phone has two volume buttons and a microUSB charging port, while the top has a right-placed power button, and a somewhat oddly aligned headphone port. The bottom is empty, save for a thumbnail notch to level the back cover off, and the right side has the only real design annoyance we encountered: a camera button that was basically useless. It is meant to launch the camera software (which is sometimes did), and to act as a shutter button (which it never did) and just ended up being entirely unnecessary.

The back of the phone is textured plastic that is probably meant to serve as traction for holding the device, but it just makes it look a bit cheap. There are two vertical slots near the bottom left for the speaker, and a raised bump near the top for the camera and flash. It would have been nice if those were flush with the back, but that's just nitpicking. Under the back cover you'll find a slot for a microSD card, and a removable 1730 mAh battery. It is worth noting that there is no branding anywhere on the phone, Sprint, ZTE, or otherwise, which makes for a nice, clean design.

Interface, contacts and calling

Interface

Unlike some other Android phones, the Sprint Force doesn't have an extra layer of "flavor" laid on top of it in order to customize the experience for you. Everything here is fairly straightforward Ice Cream Sandwich experience, and as usual is built around the Google ecosystem.

So, you'll want to sync your account with an existing account if possible, in order to get the full experience. The base apps like for mail and browsing the web are decent, but you'll get more mileage out of something custom like the Gmail app.

You'll get a main home screen, with two off to either side for a total of five, and you can nest items inside folders to stay organized. The Google Search bar adorns the top of each home screen, and unfortunately cannot be deleted or repositioned. The favorites bar at the bottom can be customized, and there is a "Power Control" widget that gives you quick access to settings like Bluetooth, Brightness, and so on.

The onscreen keyboard is narrower than we would normally like, and the addition of buttons for Swype and the microphone, among others, depending on what app your in, don't help alleviate this. Landscape mode presents the best way to type, but to input text via portrait mode, you'll be relegated to careful typing so you don't hit stray characters, or finally learning how to rock Swype.

Contacts and Calling

The installed Contacts app is serviceable, although it took several Sync attempts with our Google account before it would finally populate with our own entries. Even after that, the photos from Facebook that normally get attached to each contact took a lot longer. This was over WiFi, and there was no way to track how much had been updated, and the result was being left with a Spartan-looking contact list. But there are a multitude of options for each Contact, and with some massaging, this provided app can do everything you need it to.

For phone calls, the Force is great, with most calls sounding much clearer (and louder) than our iPhone. The little speaker on the back of the phone was fairly impressive, making speakerphone-based calls much easier to hear and understand. You can easily add in other callers for a conference, mute calls, and even record calls from within the app.

Our only unhappy experience with calls on the phone was the fact that Voicemail is a completely separate app. So if you're in the Phone app, you can't see that you have a voicemail. Not only that, but the Voicemail app continually asks if you want to "Subscribe to Premium?" so that you can have your voicemails transcribed, to the tune of an additional $1.99 a month. Some people might find that to be a welcome service, but offering it from within Voicemail is irksome.

Messaging, Email and Internet

The Messaging app offered here might feel bare-boned at first, but with the threaded messages, and the option to send photos, videos, audio, files, and more via text message, it offers everything you'll need. We just wish it would send notices to the lock screen to let us know that messages had arrived when we weren't paying attention.

We quickly started using Gmail on the phone after powering up for the first time, although the base Email app is just fine. Gmail just better integrates with the rest of our Google Overlord lifestyle, and once it was able to sync everything up it was by far our preferred client. Not that you'll find Email limiting, as it offers the some basic functionality as Gmail.

The same was true of the supplied browser, which was entirely serviceable. We just preferred loading up Chrome and importing all of our bookmarks and history. Both perform just fine, although both also have some navigation problems on standard versions of websites. While you might lose some functionality, the mobile versions of sites look better here, in both browsers.

Camera, battery life and connectivity, apps

Camera

The Sprint Force comes with a 5-megapixel camera on the backside, complete with LED flash, although the photos were nothing spectacular. In bright light, images tended to have soft edges, and in darker lighting we noticed slight focus issues. There are a ton of options in the camera app, including 16 (!) different filters that range from Lomo to Lo-fi, offering up a smattering of appeal to hipsters. The 720p video didn't impress much either, offering serviceable but lackluster video.

However, sound from the videos was better than expected, as there appears to be a rear-mounted microphone next to the camera lens (in addition to microphone holes on the top and bottom of the phone), and the ability to take photos while shooting video by tapping the screen is a nice touch. While it won't replace even a point and shoot, it will serve for those moments when you desperately wish you had a camera.

Battery and Connectivity

The 1730 mAh battery worked just fine for us, providing around eight to nine ours of time via standard usage. However, heavy browsing, camera, and other non audio-only based activities depleted the battery much faster, as expected. Overall, this felt like a standard smartphone battery, which is to say it will get you through an average day, but will need to go on a charger overnight, and if you take it to an event or use it extensively, you'll want to have some portable power or an extra battery with you.

While the phone supports 3G, and all flavors of WiFi, you'll probably be most interested in the 4G LTE. Sprint has been busy rolling this network upgrade out to multiple markets, and it just recently came to the greater Los Angeles area, which is where we tried this phone out. While results were sporadic, while getting a good signal we averaged around 4.26 Mbps down and .75 Mbps up throughout the city, falling short of the promised 6-8 Mbps down / 2-3 Mbps up promised by Sprint.

We'll chalk it up to them having just taken the shrink wrap off the brand-new service here, but will also be keeping an eye on it. Connecting via 3G was much slower, and was peppy through WiFi, as expected. When using the phone as a hotspot, we were able to connect easily and received the same average speed on a laptop and second phone, providing a nice option for WiFi on the go. The phone also offers Bluetooth and NFC connections, with the NFC being a nice addition for a lower-end model.

Maps and Apps

The standard Google Maps and Navigation apps are included here, and have become standard for commuters who use both mass transit and private transportation. We used both throughout the traffic-magnet Los Angeles area, and they were very accurate. Maps even provided spot-on transit information, allowing us to catch subway home on time, and showed us that walking was a better option than waiting for the connecting bus. The phone includes the Qualcomm Enhanced location service, which is meant to cut down on battery usage when accessing the GPS, and can be turned on or off at will.

Thankfully, the Sprint Force is nearly completely free of bloatware. In addition to the standard Google suite of apps, Sprint has only tossed in a handful of other offerings, including the Sprint Zone app that offers an easy-to-digest way to access your account information. Other carriers should sit up and take notice, as this should become the gold standard for account access from a device. Also of note was the included Alarm app, which provides extremely robust functionality as an alarm clock, something that most of us probably use our phones for.

Verdict

The Sprint Force isn't meant to compete with more expensive and feature-rich phones from Apple, Samsung, or HTC, but it does strive to present at least the same basic experience. If suffers the most in the screen resolution and camera departments, but when you factor in the $50 to free cost of this phone, those are probably corners that most bargain-minded phone shoppers will be willing to cut.

We Liked

Obviously the most attractive feature here is the 4G LTE network, and while we didn't quite reach the Sprint-promised speeds, it was peppier than 3G.

LTE support coupled with minimal bloatware made us feel like Sprint really wanted this experience to be enjoyable for power users right out of the box, and it offers up a potent phone at a low cost. We were also impressed with the Sprint Zone software that makes dealing with your own account enjoyable instead of a chore.

We're thankful the Force has MicroSD, or its paltry 2GB of storage would be a problem. The removable battery is also a nice option.

We Disliked

While a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus MSM8960 1.5 GHz dual core processor powers the phone, it only runs Android's Ice Cream Sandwich, and at times there were responsiveness lags on the touchscreen and inside certain apps like Messaging. These were normally half a second long lags between touch and response, which was slightly discouraging.

In addition to the camera, we also didn't like the added Camera button, as it feels like a useless addition to the phone.

Final Verdict

Screen resolution and camera issues aside, people just entering the burgeoning smartphone market could do a lot worse than to consider the Sprint Force. It offers up everything from 4G LTE to WiFi to Bluetooth and even NFC connections at a fraction of the cost of other phones. While it won't dazzle your friends as the newest piece of tech, it could easily become a workhorse for you. Although the phone only includes roughly 2GB of storage, with the addition of a 64GB microSD card this could easily become a serviceable media device.

If you are considering this for the network, be sure to check out Sprint's announced 4G LTE rollout plans, which are in the process of being installed. Your mileage may vary, and you should check the web thoroughly for average 4G speeds in your area.

Hands-on review: Updated: Canon 700D

Amy Davies — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:40:00 GMT

Introduction

The Canon EOS 700D (Canon Rebel T5i) is to be the replacement for the Canon EOS 650D, which has been on the market for less than 10 months. It will sit alongside the Canon EOS 600D at the very top of what Canon calls its "consumer" lineup, just below the Canon EOS 60D that starts its "enthusiast" range.

Canon says that the 650D, which was the world's first DSLR with a touchscreen implemented, has been very well received by the consumer, and as such this new camera is more of an upgrade, rather than a complete overhaul.

For starters, the Canon 700D shares the same 18.0 million pixel APS-C sized sensor and 14 point Digic 5 processor as its predecessor. It also has the same nine point, all-cross type, hybrid autofocus system that includes phase detection pixels on the sensor for use when recording movies or shooting Live View.

When the Hybrid AF is in action, it uses the central pixels to inform the phase detection part and get the subject close to sharp - from then, the contrast detection steps in to get it into full focus.

This means that you can use the camera handheld when shooting in Live View, which may therefore be more appealing to those users stepping up from a compact (or compact system) camera where the screen is used to compose images.

Like the 650D, the 700D can also shoot at 5fps - a step up from the 600D, which was capable of shooting 3.7fps. The Digic 5 processor facilitates both HD video recording and an ISO sensitivity from 100-12800 (expandable up to 25600). Canon says that it believes consumers of this type of camera will try their hand at a wide variety of different shooting subjects, so it has tried to make this range as versatile as possible.

You'd be forgiven for thinking there isn't much difference here, but there are some small but notable changes to the camera's ergonomics. The Canon EOS 700D has been designed to have a more expensive feel, with a textured coating. It also features a 360-degree mode dial, which means it can be twisted all the way around, rather than reaching a point where it stops and has to be twisted back again.

Creative filters could be found on the Canon EOS 650D, but these can now be previewed before the shot is taken - when shooting in Live View - just like the Canon EOS M and Canon EOS 100D. It doesn't sound like a big difference, but, again while shooting in Live View, the mirror will now stay up when switching between different modes, making the transition quicker.

When paired with the new 18-55mm STM kit lens, Canon says that the 700D's movie and Live View capabilities are enhanced. Naturally, this combination is something we'll be keen to test out when a full production sample becomes available.

The Canon EOS 650D was, at the time of launch, the world's first DSLR to include a touchscreen. Canon says that this particular aspect of the camera was received well, and so it is has chosen to include the same 3-inch, 1040k dot, articulating capacitive device on the EOS 700D.

With an asking price of around £619 (around US$933 / AU$899) body only or £749 (around US$1,129 / AU$1,088) with the new 18-55 STM lens, the Canon EOS 700D goes head to head with the 24 million pixel Nikon D5200, which was announced at the end of 2012.

Build quality and handling

The handling of the new Canon EOS 700D is almost identical to that of its predecessor. It's a camera which is larger than those at the bottom of Canon's range, which gives it a satisfyingly large and chunky exterior.

One of the improvements the Canon 700D offers over the Canon EOS 650D is its improved coating, which gives it a more premium feel in the hand and also offers more grip when holding it one-handed.

As with the 650D, the on/off switch has a third setting - Movie mode. This means that you can quickly access video recording mode without having to scroll through the entire mode dial. Once activated, you need to press the Live View/Movie Record button to start recording a video.

One of the slight changes that Canon has made to the 700D is to the mode dial, which is now capable of 360-degree rotation. This means that it doesn't stop at a certain point - you can just carry on turning it around and around until you reach the mode you want. This makes it quicker to flick between the different modes, and is a welcome change.

Canon has also made the lettering and figures on the dial embossed, making it very similar to the dial found on the Canon EOS 6D and giving it a more premium feel.

The majority of the buttons that you will need to use for making everyday settings changes can be found on the right-hand side of the camera. This makes it easy to reach everything with your thumb.

There are several direct access buttons to key parameters, such as white balance and ISO, but for more control, pushing the Q button will bring up the Quick Menu. This can be navigated through using a combination of the arrow keys and the scrolling dial at the front of the camera, or a combination of the touchscreen and the scrolling dial, depending on what you prefer.

Canon first introduced a touchscreen to its DSLR range with the 650D, and has kept it for the 700D. The good news, however, is that if you don't find touchscreens particularly appealing, you can ignore it's there - everything that can be done via the touchscreen is also achievable through physical buttons. This makes it an enhancement, rather than a necessity to the usability of the camera.

One area in which the touchscreen is particularly useful is during playback and review of images. Using what are now familiar gestures thanks to smartphones, you can quickly navigate through your images by swiping the camera, and use pinch to zoom to check that focusing is accurate.

The fact that the screen is also an articulated device makes it extremely handy for shooting at awkward angles, including self-portraits, macros or overhead shots.

When shooting in Live View mode you can use the touchscreen to alter the autofocus point or activate the shutter release.

This makes it very handy for making quick changes, and firing the shutter in this way is useful when the camera is mounted on a tripod, since it reduces the amount of shake you're likely to introduce by pressing down on the actual shutter release button.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing for the Canon EOS 700D, 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 EOS 700D is capable of resolving up to around 22 (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: 22 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 200, score: 22 (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: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 18 (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)

Raw

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: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

ISO 3200, score: 20 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

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

ISO 12800, score: 18 (Click here to see the full resolution image)

Sample images

Click here to see the full resolution image

Using an extension tube has restricted depth of field, but there's lots of detail in the sharp areas of this shot, taken in early morning light. An extra 1/3EV exposure was dialled in to get this accurate result.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The vari-angle screen makes it easy to compose images from awkward angles like this. It's also helpful to be able to set the AF point, and even trip the shutter, with a touch of the finger on the screen.

Click here to see the full resolution image

This toned shot was created in-camera at the capture stage using the Monochrome Picture Style. Helpfully, it's possible to shoot raw images at the same time so there's a clean file to work on as well if you want.

Click here to see the full resolution image

We had to increase the exposure by 2/3EV over that suggested by the evaluative metering to get this image. It could still benefit from a little post-capture brightening, but the skin tones are spot-on.

Click here to see the full resolution image

The camera has got the colour and exposure just right here and there's lots of detail visible, so the end result has plenty of impact.

Click here to see the full resolution image

Colours are nice and vibrant but not excessively saturated when the Standard Picture Style is used.

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)

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)

Performance and early verdict

Usually it's very difficult to accurately assess how a camera will perform before a full review sample comes in for testing, but we can be reasonably confident that the Canon 700D will be an excellent performer, because it shares most of the same specifications of its predecessor, the Canon 650D.

Although it doesn't share the same high resolution as Nikon's D5200, we found the Canon EOS 650D's 18.1 million pixel sensor able to produce images that are clean and full of detail.

Straight out of the camera, images had good colour and contrast. Challenging lighting conditions were also dealt with well. That Hybrid AF system also proved to be an excellent performer. We've had a chance to try the Canon EOS 700D's autofocus, and it seems to perform in pretty much the same way as the Canon EOS 650D's. This is something we'll be keen to test further, when we complete the full review.

We have no reason to believe that the Canon EOS 700D won't perform as well as the Canon EOS 650D in other areas too, but we'll update this review as soon as a full production sample becomes available.

Digital filters were included on the Canon EOS 650D, and although there are no new filters here, we're pleased to see the inclusion of the Preview (when shooting in Live View) to give an indication of how the image will appear before the shot is taken.

It's disappointing not to see Dual Image mode - something that can be found on the newly announced Canon EOS 100D - make an appearance, though. This mode enables you to shoot two images at the same time, one with, and one without, the digital filter applied.

This is useful should you decide that you no longer want the filter at a later date, and it seems unusual that it's available on a camera that's lower down the scale than the Canon EOS 700D.

As with the Canon EOS 650D, impressions of the Canon EOS 700D's touchscreen are favourable. It's a very responsive device, with the added benefit of not seeming to be too affected by glare or reflections. Articulating the screen away from sunlight is an added advantage with cameras such as this.

Early verdict

What we have in the shape of the Canon EOS 700D is basically an incremental upgrade from the Canon EOS 650D. It makes sense that the company has decided to keep the Canon EOS 600D in the lineup but removed the 650D altogether, since the two cameras are very similar.

Existing users of the Canon EOS 650D shouldn't feel too put out by the fact that the camera has already been replaced, since the key internal factors, most notably the sensor and the processor, remain exactly the same.

One interesting factor here, though, is the new kit lens, which - like a couple of the other newer lenses in Canon's range - is an STM lens. This should mean that the camera and lens combination offers enhanced performance when in Live View and Movie mode when compared to the previous standard kit lens. Of course, you could always buy the new lens separately if you're already a Canon EOS 650D owner.

The Canon EOS 650D was a solid performer and deserved its place at the top of the "consumer" lineup of EOS cameras. We're sure that the Canon EOS 700D will offer pretty much identical performance and will also be a popular model - look out for our full review at a later date.

Review: Philips Brilliance 278G4DHSD

Jeremy Laird — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:00:00 GMT

What did you say? A 27-inch IPS panel with 3D support? What devilry is this? Sadly, all is not quite what it seems. At least it's not if the presence of 3D support had you thinking Philips had cracked the 120Hz refresh problem with IPS panels.

Instead, what we have here is not the high-refresh active shutter flavour of 3D screen tech, but the passive and polarised sort. Instead of switching the entire screen 120 times a second and sending alternate images to each eye, the Philips splits the image line by line. So each eye receives half the lines. That's achieved by fitting polarising filters to the screen and then having the user wear a corresponding pair of polarised glasses.

The problem is that you can tell that's how it works. In other words, in 3D mode it feels as though you're looking through some kind of fine grate. Think very thin Venetian blinds and you'll get the general idea.

Of course, that's if you can get the 3D mode working. It's not nearly as straightforward to set up as Nvidia's 3D Vision, and game support is patchier. For movies, it's a bit easier and you shouldn't have too many problems getting 3D going, but then that's a little moot as honestly we can't imagine many people wanting to put up with the mediocre image quality that polarised 3D panels provide.

Overall, the appeal of 3D technology that requires the user to wear glasses is marginal at the best of times, but in the context of the polarised 3D tech chosen by Philips, which in our view is inferior to active shutter, the argument in favour is even weaker. If you like 3D, it's active shutter à la Nvidia's 3D Vision that you want.

Polarising opinion

Then again, at a whisker over £250, this Philips would be reasonably attractive just as a 27-inch IPS panel without the pointless 3D gubbins. At least, it would be if its 2D image quality wasn't compromised by the 3D tech. Unfortunately, it is.

Even in the monitor's 2D mode, there's still a slight hint of that irritating Venetian blind effect. Put simply, you can always see the 3D polarising filters. That's a bummer because in many other regards, this is a pretty nice panel.

The IPS tech makes for great viewing angles, for instance. There's plenty of detail and extension in the test scales, too. Black levels, contrast, white balance - it's all very good.

Then there's Philips' Ambiglow technology, also used in its TVs. The shizzle here involves a set of LED lights fitted to the rear of the panel enclosure. Image processing algorithms analyse the image content and continuously adapt both the colour and brightness of the LEDs to suit.

The result, according to the good folks at Philips, is a "halo" of light projected on the wall behind the monitor, which results in a subjective enlarging of the screen. The result according to us is a waste of time and LED diodes. More useful is USB 3.0 and fast charging support via the USB hub.

Verdict

This is probably the most feature-packed screen out at the moment, but it's nowhere near the best thanks to the compromises wrought by passive, polarised 3D. That experience of peering through slats to see the picture is not the ideal one for viewing, and despite a good value price tag and otherwise high picture quality, this screen just isn't all that it could be.

Review: Philips Brilliance 298X4QJAB

Jeremy Laird — Sun, 12 May 2013 08:30:00 GMT

Stop that, it's silly. That's our first reaction to Philips' new 29-incher, the Brilliance 298X4QJAB, and we're not talking about the ridiculous product name. A thick alphanumeric naming soup is unfortunately par for the course for PC monitors.

No, what'll have you almost giggling on first acquaintance is the Philip's ridiculous 21:9 aspect ratio. That's normal for, say, a feature film, but it's outrageously wide for a PC display.

In terms of pixel grid, we're talking 2,560 by 1,080. In other words, you get the horizontal pixels of a high-res 27-inch or 30-inch panel combined with the vertical resolution of a standard 1080p screen. Weird.

Anyway, this is the first 21:9 monitor we've reviewed, but most major manufacturers have announced similar screens, so there must be something in it, right?

No question, this monitor is great for movies. There's something exceptionally satisfying about having a screen this wide filled corner-to-corner with feature film goodness. Suddenly, screens that leave you with letter boxing above and below look hopelessly clunky.

The problem, of course, is that content that isn't 21:9, like pretty much all TV shows, makes for letter boxing left and right. Whether that's better or worse than above and below is an interesting question, but it's certainly odd.

Wide boy

And then there's gaming. Does 21:9 makes sense in-game? It certainly lends games a cinematic air. Crysis 3 looks beyond spectacular at 2,560 by 1,080 on this bonkers-wide panel, but what it doesn't do is give you that wrap-around feel of a triple-screen setup with the two outside panels angled slightly towards you.

Gaming practicality is another legit question. When it comes to things like menus and HUDs, much will depend on configurability, but one thing is for sure: few if any games are optimised out of the box for this off-the-wall wideness.

It's also worth noting that the 1,080 vertical pixels feel pretty restrictive for things like web browsing. Okay, it works pretty well for side-to-side document viewing, but then you could have a pair of 1080p panels for less money.

Anyway, assuming you buy into the aspect ratio, what about the actual image quality? Firstly, this is a quality IPS panel, so things like overall colour balance and viewing angles are largely beyond reproach. It's also nicely calibrated for contrast and white balance out of the box, and there's bags of detail.

What it's not, however, is quite as crisp, clean and bright as the two high-res 27-inch IPS panels on test this month from Viewsonic and Iiyama. If you'd never seen those two, you would likely have few complaints about the image quality Philips has come up with. But we have, so we know that as nice as this Philips is, even better can be had.

And it is indeed those two 27-inchers that present the biggest problem. The Philips is wider and undoubtedly better for watching movies. But for everything else, 2,560 by 1,440 on a 27-inch panel is a superior all-round solution.

Admittedly, the 27-inch alternatives are both a bit pricier, but the Viewsonic VP2770-LED is only £50 more or thereabouts. For us, that's a margin well worth paying.

Review: NEC EA244WMi

Jeremy Laird — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:30:00 GMT

Why can't we have more 16:10 action? That's a familiar refrain over here at PC Format towers. Obviously we don't get out much, but there's a serious point to be made.

16:9 has taken over the PC monitor market not because it's better, but because it's cheaper. The result is that 1,920 x 1,080 or Full HD has become the default resolution for anything up to 24 inches. That's fine for smaller displays where it represents a step up from, say, 1,680 by 1,050 on a 16:10 22-incher. But for larger 23 and 24-inch panels, 1,920 x 1,200 used to be the norm.

The extra 120 vertical pixels don't sound like very much, but they give you vital additional breathing space for things like web pages and Word documents. You spend less time scrolling about the place and there are no discernible drawbacks to worry about.

With all that in mind, may we give a warm welcome to the NEC EA244WMi. It's a traditional 16:10 aspect 24-inch panel in a world of 16:9 upstarts. But is it the real 8-bit deal? In other words, can it do those 16.7 million colours natively and without dithering? NEC doesn't say, but our guess is that it's a 6-bit-plus-dithering panel.

IPS glow

We reckon that because the NEC EA244WMi has the tell-tale characteristics we're used to seeing with an e-IPS rather than s-IPS or AH-IPS panel. That means the whites tend to look just ever so slightly on the sludgy and grey side, and we can detect the faintest whiff of the dreaded IPS glow.

To be clear, this is by no means a bad monitor. It has a nice, smooth anti-glare coating, there's absolutely no edge bleed and the colours are jolly nice. The viewing angles are great too, and black levels are very good, notwithstanding that hint of IPS glow we mentioned.

The pixel response and lag levels are also gaming-friendly. NEC has provided a pixel overdrive option in the OSD. It definitely sharpens things up a little in terms of response, but also introduces a spot of inverse ghosting. Still, itfs your choice whether you enable it.

Watching you

Then there are the chassis and stand to consider. The latter is fully adjustable, and both feel reassuringly robust and sturdy. NEC has also included a 'human' (think motion) sensor within the bezel that can detect when you've pottered off to make yourself another coffee, and will power down the screen to save you electricity and money. And it actually works.

Put it all together and you have a very solid package, yet we struggled to completely warm to the EA244WMi. The problem is the slight dullness to the overall image quality. It's a fairly accurate display, just not a hugely vibrant one. That's a problem that's compounded by a slight coarseness to the pixel pitch.

It's a bit ironic considering our long-term clamouring for 16:10 displays, but 1,920 x 1,200 on a 24-inch panel actually results in fairly big pixels, so there's a general lack of sharpness and clarity to go along with the slight dullness. Yup, we're hard task masters. But for nearly £300, we were hoping for something special. This isn't quite it.

Review: Updated: HTC First

Alex Roth — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:34:00 GMT

Introduction and design

Update: AT&T has dropped the price of the HTC First. With two-year contract, the phone is now just $0.99 cents.

Call Facebook ubiquitous and you're understating your case. Unlock any random smartphone and you're guaranteed to find a little blue F icon waiting on the home screen.

Facebook is so big, so everywhere, so omnipresent that it's already on everyone's phone, but apparently that's not enough for the sharing mogul. Now Facebook has decided to completely take over devices with Facebook Home, and has collaborated with HTC to create the HTC First, a phone meant to show just what that experience can be.

The First moniker comes from being the first phone with Facebook Home preloaded. It's a well built, unassuming little handset, nowhere near as big, flashy or as fast as the quad-core HTC One.

It's so subdued, you could almost mistake it for an iPhone 5 secured in a rubber case. It's a 5-inch dual-core handset that's currently exclusive to AT&T's 4G LTE network, going for $0.99 with two-year agreement. It comes in black, red, white, pale blue or red, and will cost you $350 at full price.

Once you dive into the software, however, the First resembles nothing else. Thanks to the Facebook Home overlay, it takes some digging to realize the HTC First is running Android 4.1: Jelly Bean with no manufacturer or carrier tweaking.

There's actually an excellent stock Android experience to be had here, one with solid battery life thanks to a small screen and restrained dual-core processor. There's also fast data service, provided by LTE coverage from AT&T. That's something you can't get on the other best stock Android experience in town, the Nexus 4.

This comes once you've disabled Facebook Home, however. With it enabled, all the basic smartphone functionality is there, it's just been buried by layer upon layer of whatever stuff your Facebook friends are posting. Posts are there right from the lock screen, using friends' cover photos as backgrounds.

Even SMS text messaging, that old standby of the smartphone, has gotten all Facebooked. On the HTC First it's been baked into the social network's own Messenger app, and displayed with floating Chat Heads icons.

So does total Facebook integration add or detract from the Android experience, or is it a whole different beast altogether? Is this a natural evolution, or has the premier service for liking cat videos and posting pics of meals growing cold finally gotten too big for it's britches? Read on for our take.

Design

Physically, the HTC First has a very manageable design. It's just 5-inches tall, like an iPhone 5. That makes it perfect for users who find large handsets, such as the Galaxy S3 and the upcoming Galaxy S4, too big.

It nestles nicely in the palm, and has a rubberized body with rounded corners like the HTC 8X. Unlike aluminum bodied phones such as the HTC One and the iPhone 5, it won't scuff easily, and doesn't need a case to prevent unsightly scratches.

At 4.37 ounces, it's a very balanced weight. There's enough there to be substantial, but it's light enough to toss in a pocket or purse and forget about.

HTC phones, even cheaper ones, usually have nice screens, and the First is no exception. The display is 4.3-inches and with a resolution of 1280 x 720, we're in 720p HD territory.

As is also the case with HTC phones, the color saturation is well tuned. Colors are true to life, and videos and pictures look quite good. You'd have to hold the First next to the best screens around, the HTC One, iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3, to realize it's less than premium.

Continuing with the HTC traditions, the First has a sealed body design. There's no opening it up to remove the battery or add storage, but this also gives it a very solid build quality. It doesn't feel like a phone that costs a lot of money, but it doesn't feel as cheap as, say, the HTC One VX, either.

Below the screen you'll find three capacitive buttons that light up when the First is active. Other than their looks, this is typical Android stuff. The back button is an arrow pointing left, home is a circle and the option button is a line or dash.

These symbols don't correspond to any Facebook features that we're aware of, so we're not sure why HTC stepped away from the typical Android design language. Maybe just to give the first Facebook phone a unique look?

On the back things get normal again. There you'll also find the lens for a 5-megapixel camera and an LED flash.

The First is also surprisingly restrained when it comes to branding. For the device meant to introduce the world to Facebook Home, it only has one little F logo on the back, next to HTC and AT&T's marks. We applaud everyone's restraint here.

On the right there's a SIM card tray, which pops out when the included SIM tool or a paper clip is inserted. Above that is the standard mini USB charging port, which struck us as odd placement. It'll only be annoying if you frequently use your phone while it's charging.

Usually the charging port is found on the bottom, below the screen, but instead that's where the First's speaker grill resides. This is the only speaker on the phone, and we sometimes had to take care not muffle it when watching videos, so it's not optimal placement.

On the upper left side you'll find a run-of-the-mill volume rocker. It's easy enough to find and press without looking at your phone.

At the top you'll find a headphone jack and lock button. As with the iPhone 5, it's easy to reach the lock button since the phone is just 5-inches. Tall handsets with hard to reach lock buttons on the top, like the HTC One, tend to annoy us.

One thing that strikes us as missing is a dedicated camera button. If there's actually someone out there who would like a phone built around Facebook, they would surely be obsessed with picture taking and Instagram. The lack of quick shutter snapping access is a major design fail.

Overall though, the HTC First is pleasant, if unremarkable to hold. The functional but milquetoast design of this phone, as well as the fact that Facebook Home buries the best Android functionality, reveals the sort of audience the First is chasing. This phone is for someone who wants to forget about their phone when they're not using it, and only wants to do basic things like text, share pictures and check Facebook when they are using it.

Furthermore, the immense pleasure we felt at having a Jelly Bean phone of a reigned in size speaks to oversaturation of too-large handsets in the Android market. Won't someone please make a reasonably sized quad-core LTE phone and let it run stock Android? Help us, Google Nexus 5, you're our only hope!

Interface and performance

Nevermind what Zuck and friends have preached about a phone built around "people, not apps," withFacebook Home running, the HTC First is an Android phone built around Facebook, and not much else. At least until you "fix" it by disabling Home, that is.

Facebook Home, the software the First is first with, is essentially an Android launcher. If you're unfamiliar with the term, a launcher is a program that makes over the look and feel of your Android phone, while not changing the software that runs in the background.

Android enthusiasts have been using apps like Nova Launcher to get away from the manufacturer and carrier software on their phone, often for an experience closer to unaltered Android 4.1: Jelly Bean. This means you can have a Galaxy S3 without Samsung's TouchWiz, or a One X+ without HTC's Sense UI.

Facebook Home

Thanks to Facebook Home, the First hardly looks like an Android phone. Instead, it's Facebook from minute one. Wake the phone and the lock screen is a full screen, Flipboard-style news feed.

If a friend posts a picture, that image takes over the whole screen, with their caption laid over it. If it's just a status update, Facebook Home uses their cover photo as a background.

Without really even unlocking the First, you can like or comment on a post. There's a familiar thumbs up and speech icon in the lower left. Also, double tapping on a post screen will give the post a like, something that's a little too easy to do by accident.

On the HTC First, any and all notifications show up on the lock screen. If you use Home on an other Android phone, only Facebook notifications will appear. While we haven't tried Home on any other devices yet, this certainly seems like the most functional version of Home.

So notifications from apps as well as Facebook show up here, in a way that combines your typical lock screen with information from Androids pull down Notification Center. Your ongoing conversations, SMS and Facebook messages, also pop up here as round Chat Heads icons. More on those soon, and in the Messaging section of this review.

The basic problem with the Facebook Home lock screen is that it's about as good as whatever your friends are posting. Sometimes you unlock your phone to be greeted by a beautiful sunset or an inviting plate of food, other times it's a badly cropped shot or something weird or rude posted by an oddball you know.

Often it was creepy to have Facebook Home - and therefore our friends - be the first thing on the First's screen. Locking eyes with an old friend we hadn't seen since college first thing in the morning was startling, so was being confronted by a really bizarre Ralph Steadman painting someone had as a cover photo.

Ok, so it's something of a glorified screensaver starring your friends, but we don't mean to trash it completely. Though it's not as good as Flipboard, it is a visually optimized feed, and like good old Facebook, it's fun to browse during idle moments.

It actually reminded us a lot of Blinkfeed, HTC's feed aggregator from the HTC One. Comparing the two, we prefer Blinkfeed, which integrates your Twitter account, as well as information that's actually useful, like calendar events and a weather report. It also doesn't hang out on the lock screen, so it's not nearly as in your face.

But as with Blinkfeed, it's insidiously easy to turn your brain off and "channel surf" this content. If you've ever felt ashamed at the time you waste robotically scrolling down News Feed into weeks old content, prepare for some cardinal sinning. Still, it's good presentation, and an excellent way to waste time on your phone, but we'd prefer to have it as a sort of "full screen" option for the Facebook app, rather than the welcome mat for our phone.

There is a Facebook Home Settings app, but it didn't offer any options for manually controlling who or what shows up on the lock screen. We're assuming it's managed by the same algorithm that determines News Feed content, so people who you interact with the most will dominate the feed, and people whose posts you hide or ignore will be rarer.

We're also wondering what the data use numbers from this thing are like. In the Facebook Home Options, there is a Data Use setting that defaults at medium, and can also be set to low and high. While we doubt that it sucks any more data from your plan than a typical Facebook check, the fact that it'll be constantly opening has us wondering.

We've reached out to AT&T and HTC for comment, and will update if they provide an estimate.

Alright, enough about the Home lock screen, lets dive into this thing. When you're ready to unlock the First, it's a typical slide to unlock. Touching the round icon of your profile pic, you can slide up for Apps, left for Messenger and right for your last app.

Go up for apps and you'll find a simple black tray that you can fill to your hearts content with icons. No widgets though, that's one thing Facebook Home does away with entirely. Apparently Facebook and HTC are in agreement that the smartphone experience is no longer about widgets.

So no widgets, but you can go crazy with the apps. There doesn't seem to be any limit on the number of trays you can have. We created eleven mostly blank trays before the phone started to stutter a little bit. That's even more than seven Jelly Bean typically provides.

Spare trays form to the right, but a list of all your apps is to the left. This is a typical Android division Home leaves intact, making it easy to get into your most important apps, but not hard to get at the rest, either. There's also a Google search bar at the top of this list.

The closest thing these trays have to widgets would be a few social options at the top. You can easily update your status, post a pic or check in somewhere with these links.

Users of lock screen passwords should note that there's no security prompt on Facebook Home until you attempt to dive into an app. That means that someone can peruse your feed, comment on and like posts without hitting a password prompt.

This is best suited for someone who doesn't use any sort of security, since having the prompt appear one or two screens in is a bit disorienting. We started off using Facial Unlock, which we've grown to like from using the Nexus 4 and the HTC One. On quad-core devices such as those it's the fastest way to securely unlock your device. The dual-core First was just a tad slow on the uptake for this method, so we switched to a PIN, and eventually just settled for no security other than our own watchful eye.

This wasn't a deal breaker for us, as we find guarded lockscreens a bit superfluous anyway, but it's another thing that will have power users scoffing at Facebook Home.

Chat Heads

Although it's more for the Messaging section of this review, there's one last notable part of Facebook Home we need to touch on here, mainly because (unlike Home) we actually like it and plan to use it. It's Chat Heads, Facebook's fun, visual way of multitasking with conversations and whatever else you're doing on your phone.

Basically, when you get a text or Facebook message, a little round icon appears on your screen. over whatever you're currently doing. This isn't the case with every app, Chat Heads won't pop in over Netflix or games like Cut the Rope. A good rule of thumb is that any time you can pull down the notification center, Chat Heads will show up.

If you have more than one chat going on, the icons stack, and fan out when selected. Chat heads can be moved around, but snap to the side of the screen. To be rid of them, you toss the icon towards the bottom of the screen, which brings a new level of satisfaction to actively ignoring a text.

It's a fun interface, a rare combination of both functional and cute, and the only aspect of the new Facebook Home we plan to use after this review. However, we had a few problems with it. SMS text conversations didn't pull profile pictures from our Google contacts. Instead they just had a bland gray SMS icon.

More on the fun, and the few failings, of this system in the Messaging portion of this review.

Android 4.1: Jelly Bean

Remember when we told you that underneath all this Facebook there was a crisp, clean version of Jelly Bean running on the HTC First? We'll it's the truth! It's not 4.2, the latest version you'd find on a Google-sanctioned Nexus device, but it's a darn sight better than the Android 4.1 you'll find on most phones, without all that manufacturer tweaking of the good old stock OS.

Yep, it's here, although it takes a bit of digging to get to. To find it the first time, enter Facebook Home, slide over to the left for that full list of apps. Scroll all the way down to where you'll find the More icon. Touch that and boom, you're on a familiar Android homescreen, widgets and all.

Kind of a funny place to hide your Android skeleton, eh Facebook? Almost as though you didn't want people to find it. Now, now, we're being harsh. You do give us the chance to use the Android launcher rather than home, in the form of a default app prompt that comes up. Make Android your choice and every time you hit that circular home button, you'll be back in Google country.

You can easily switch between the two by going into Settings>Apps and then hitting the options button (the rightmost Android button, the dash on the First) and changing your app defaults. You'll still have Facebook Home as a lock screen, and even that can be done away with by going into that Facebook Home Options app where there's an option to entirely disable the thing.

You can also access Google Now with a long press on the middle Android button. A double tap will give you recent apps, and a touch of the right option button brings up wallpaper, app management and system settings options. This is all works the same way whether you're on Facebook Home or the Jelly Bean homescreen.

So once you strip out the extra Facebook fat, you've got pretty lean, mean Android 4.1: Jelly Bean machine here, and the only one that's a manageable 5-inches and LTE capable. Given that, we have a feeling the First may develop a sort of second life as the mid-range of choice among Google geeks. It could be the affordable alternative for those who find the S3 too big in build or price tag.

We actually do think the First is worth owning in this regard, at least until some other manufacturer releases a similar stock handset (not likely), or until the we see an LTE version of the Nexus 4 on more than just T-Mobile (also not likely), or until the rumored Google Nexus 5 shows up with LTE capabilities (a lot more likely). Until then, we could be looking at the next cult Android phone.

Performance

Full HTC First specifications:

1.4 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
1GB LPDDR2 memory
16GB internal storage (no SD support)
LTE capable
2000 mAh battery

While we're mixed (and leaning towards "no") on whether or not anyone should actually use Facebook Home day-to-day, it runs quite well for being such recently released software. We've yet to try it on other devices, but it's all very snappy on the First. Whether you're coming in from the lock screen or diving into an app, it all moves just as quickly as a well optimized dual-core device should.

There were only occasional performance lags, mostly ones we'd chalk up to launch hiccups. A couple times we woke our phone up to find a loading icon rather than a fresh image from the Feed. A moment of slower data service is probably to blame there. We also had a few random stalls when launching apps, and the processor did bog down when we had a lot of app updates downloading, but that's to be expected.

Both the coders behind Facebook Home and the designers of the HTC First should be praised for building something so well optimized. There's raw talent and some clever thinking here. If only Home were more feature rich we could begin to approach an Apple level of hardware and software harmony.

Pure Jelly Bean runs just as well on the First, because of course it does. It was always a big step up performance-wise from Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich, landing at a crucial time when a lot manufacturers were leaping dual-core to quad-core builds.

At 1.4 Ghz, the First is just a smidgen faster than its mid-range ICS cousin, the HTC One VX. That phone is clocked at 1.2 Ghz, so it's slightly slower, but the First runs circles around in day-to-day use, and the smart money says Jelly Bean is the reason.

Overall, the HTC First is just a very good dual-core phone. If that appeals to you, or if you know someone who wants a phone "that's just a phone," and doesn't want to pay too much, or dislikes a device as big as an S3, steer them towards the First. Give them a hand disabling all that Facebook nonsense that they'll hate, but then they'll have a very functional little phone, and won't have paid too much for it.

Contacts and Calling

Hey, this thing is still a phone, remember? Not just a way of commoditizing your day-to-day life for your friends to like, comment or grow jealous over. The HTC First still has to make calls and keep track of your contacts.

Calling

Call quality on the HTC First was merely average, and we'd put the blame on budget hardware, not AT&T as a carrier. We've had years of experience with AT&T's service, and we think the clarity and reliability of its talk connections has come along way since the wave of gripes in the initial iPhone era.

During our testing in the San Francisco Bay Area, we never had a single dropped call, nor were we ever without service.

Our calls, however, were rather quiet. While this was no problem when talking on the phone at home, we often found ourselves maxing out the volume when chatting outside or in public places. Voices were also a little fuzzy, with occasional crackling.

If you're hard of hearing, or often find yourself straining to hear friends over the phone, the HTC First is not a good choice for you.

Also, when using Facebook Home, the dialer is little further away than it usually is. On Android you can generally slide to unlock directly into the dialer, but not with Home. Instead, it's been given placement as the first icon on your app trays. It seems that the Facebook phone is a texting machine first, actual phone second.

However, return to the Jelly Bean home screen and you'll find it sitting on the dock, as usual. Disable Facebook Home altogther and you'll be able to access it directly from the lock screen.

Contacts

That dialer icon is also the gateway to your contacts, which are run in stock Android fashion. You can also get there through the People app, but it's somewhat buried on Facebook home.

Contacts import readily from Gmail as well as Google Plus. You can also bring in Outlook contacts, Twitter folks, and, of course, Facebook. As usual, Android asks if you'd like to bring in every contact, or just ones with phone numbers. It's a handy way of keeping people you don't actually communicate out of the list.

All in all, it does a fine job, especially if you're someone who uses Gmail or Facebook a lot. However, this is actually one place where we wouldn't have minded the HTC touch. The company's software does an excellent job of combining duplicate contacts, even when there are discrepancies between the two.

We'll get into this more in the messaging section of our review, but our only real disappointment was that Chat Heads failed to use Gmail profile pics to decorate icons for our texts with friends. It's too bad, since that's a touch we really enjoyed.

Otherwise though, this is pretty much the stock Android experience with a bit of Facebook aesthetic layered on top.

Messaging

More so than with most of the phone's features, Facebook Home has overhauled the Messaging on the HTC First. SMS text messaging has been combined with the Facebook Messenger app, and Chat Heads icons hang out on the screen to remind you about developing conversations.

If nothing else, rolling texts into Facebook Messenger helps keep things neat. As with most things regarding home, the more you use Facebook, the more useful it'll be to you. If you're someone who frequently communicates by both SMS and Facebook message, you'll probably like this a good amount.

It's not perfect though. For example, SMS and Facebook messages threads are kept separate, meaning if you're messaging and texting the same person, it'll be treated as two separate conversations. So much for helping to tidy up your inbox.

Our biggest gripe is that while text conversations show up in the First's Messenger app, they don't show up on the Facebook website. That means that if someone sent you important information via text such as address, you can't hop on Facebook.com and copy paste it into a Google Maps search.

You also can't send a text from Facebook. Perhaps that would have been too tall an order, but it nonetheless strikes us a very large missed opportunity. One of our favorite features with the iPhone 5and iOS 6 is iMessage, where your instant messages and texts are one in the same. You can essentially text from your MacBook, and there's zero discrepancy between the messages on your phone, computer or other Apple device.

Facebook had a chance to start building an ecosystem with some truly useful features, and, for some reason, didn't jump on it. Instead, it seems like texting and messaging were combined just so everything shows up as a cute Chat Head.

In case you've forgotten, Chat Heads are those fun, easy to manipulate floating icons of your friends heads that pop up when you get a message or text. They pop up and float over basic apps like email and the browser, allowing you to jump between texting and most tasks.

Chat Heads pop up on the Facebook Home lock screen, and the regular Android home screen. They'll float over any app where the notification center is still accesible. They'll also never overcrowd your screen, since they stack, and fan out when selected.

The main advantage Chat Heads have over managing unread messages in the notification center is that they don't disappear once you've addressed them. They hang out until you dismiss them, launching your friends head towards the bottom of the screen like a basketball. It's as fun as it sounds.

So they're shaped like your friends' heads, except when they're not. During our review time, text message Chat Heads failed to use our contacts Gmail profile picture. They just appeared as boring gray orbs with "SMS" written on them. We're not sure the cause of this, and we've contacted HTC to see what's up.

Facebook messages, on the other hand, used pictures just fine and looked very nice.

So while there seem to be some bugs to work out, Chat Heads are still fun and actually pretty useful. Best of all, they can be used independently of Facebook Home. While we personally have no plans to use Home after this review, we will continue to use Chat Heads on our own device.

But just like Facebook home, if you feel like rejecting their presence entirely on the First, that's your prerogative. There's good old fashioned Android Messaging on here, and it works just fine.

All the messaging programs use the default Jelly Bean keyboard. It's a fine stock keyboard, with decent predictive text. Still, the best part about Android is being able to download third-party keyboards. Our personal favorite is still Swiftkey, but there are plenty of solid options to choose from.

Email

Finally, for email, the HTC First does the typical Android thing and comes with both Gmail and an a stock Email program that can communications from Outlook, Yahoo and every other program under the sun.

The interfaces of the two are markedly similar, to the point where they're pretty much the same program. For Gmail only users, you'd might as well just stick to the Gmail app. If you use more than just Google's email service, the Email app is good option for having all your inboxes in one place.

To summarize, the messaging experience on the HTC First is one of the few places where Facebook's presence actually elevates things. While they're still a little creaky, Chat Heads are fun and functional, and it's very nice (and smart) of Facebook to let you use them independent of Facebook Home.

However, none of this is exclusive to the first. You can download Chat Heads on almost any more-recent Android phone, so that steals a bit of the First's thunder. There's even a version for iOS 6 now.

Lastly, being able to do away with Chat Heads, as well as Home, will please those who simply want a stock Jelly Bean experience from the First.

Battery life and connectivity

HTC Phones have developed a bit of a reputation for unreliable battery life, exacerbated by the closed body design of its phones, rendering the battery unswappable. The HTC One X and One X+ were real power drainers, and while the HTC One has improved on this, it'll still draw down pretty quickly if you go nuts with it.

Just like those phones, the HTC First is a sealed design. Within the body there's a 2000 mAh battery.

The First's battery has better stamina than most HTC phones we've used. With light to moderate use, it has no trouble getting the through the day. We often found it at around 60 percent when we were turning in for the night.

Heavy use, however, has the potential to drain it pretty fast. Gaming, big downloads or lots of media streaming will drain the phone before the day is out.

Connectivity

Never mind Facebook Home, the real special thing about the HTC First is that it's a stock Android phone with LTE service. That's a very rare thing.

It's also AT&T's LTE service, which is blazing fast here in the San Francisco Bay Area. During our testing, we did occasionally drop to regular 4G, but our connection was still quiet fast.

Our data speeds were consistently in the double digits, and usually above 20 Mbps. Sometimes it was as high as 40 mbps. That's as advertised, and impressive.

Currently, this is the fastest data service you can find on a stock Android device. If the First achieves any sort of status outside of being the first device with Home, it will be for this.

Maps and apps

All talk of a Facebook Phone aside, at its core the HTC First is an Android 4.1: Jelly Bean device, and therefore gets its apps from the Google Play Store.

Of course, it does manage its apps differently, using those app trays we talked about and not letting you deploy widgets. But if you get sick of that, you can just use the regular old Android home screen.

And as we've said, the HTC First is a dual-core device. In day-to-day use you'd be hard pressed to notice that this isn't the latest tech. Going from screen to screen and using basic apps, the First performs admirably. High end games, however, are what push it over the edge.

Graphically intense titles like Asphalt 7 and Modern Combat 4 had noticeably longer load times than on a quad-core devices, such as the HTC One X+ or the Galaxy S3. But during general gameplay, the First handled the action surprisingly well. However, when things got really hectic, with lots of cars or soldiers on the screen, there were drops in frame rate and some stuttering. We'd call it playable, but not an optimal experience.

Lower end titles like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope didn't give the First any trouble. This isn't a gamer's phone, but it's capable, and plays those time-passing ninety-nine cent titles just fine.

Google Maps

It's an Android phone remember? So Google Maps is the mapping and navigation service of choice here.

Google Maps has always been number one in our hearts for navigation, but it's come a long way over the years. It now offers 3D rendering of buildings, and even interior mappings of popular places.

It also offers turn-by-turn navigation, which managed to keep up with us as we drove around the city.

AT&T apps

While neither AT&T nor HTC have done any fooling with good old Android 4.1, AT&T has given the First its typical injection of most useless apps.

My AT&T, which lets you check your remaining minutes and billing cycle, and AT&T Smart Wi-Fi, which helps you find mobile hotspots provided by the carrier, aren't bad, but the rest are pretty easy to ignore.

The always baffling AT&T Navigator is here; baffling that it charges for mapping service that's inferior to the free Google Maps.

However, in an extremely rare move, these apps can actually be uninstalled! This is not the case on even some of the HTC's best devices, like the HTC One. Looks like Facebook might have exercised some real muscle here, and we're happy to see it.

Camera

The HTC First sports a 5-megapixel lens, with is pretty below average for this day in age. This is one place where the First's budget build really bumps up against its supposed status as the Facebook phone.

Sharing photos of your friends, your meals and some possibly regrettable moments your friends will untag themselves in is a big part of the Facebook experience. The First's camera isn't capable of creating share-worthy in anything but the best of lighting.

The camera's lens is also flush with the back of the phone, making it easy to smudge. You'll have to give it a wipe every so often, or shots can come out blurry.

We also think the lack of a dedicated shutter button is a big mistake. The ultimate Facebook device needs fast snapper access. Every Windows Phone 8 device has one, a decision that struck us as really smart. And Microsoft would claim that Windows Phone was already putting people first.

At least Facebook favorite Instagram is pre-loaded on the First. That way you can slap a filter on your otherwise ho-hum shots and make them worth looking at.

Camera samples

Click here to see the full resolution image

It's obvious that keeping the first Facebook Phone affordable was a priority, but corners have been cut in places where that make the First less than ideal for the most "important" Facebook task: taking and sharing pictures.

This sort of camera performance is to be expected on a mid-range device, but the Facebook phone should be able to readily take the most share-worthy of shots, and it simply can't. Just 5-megapixels and no physical camera button, also this is the one of a few places where the stock Android sofware we love so much let us down.

HTC has put better camera options on cheaper phones, such as the One VX, so it's a shame the First didn't get any love here. At least there's Instagram preloaded on the device, but it almost feels like it should be stock camera option here. This was supposed to be the Facebook Phone, right?

Verdict

The HTC First, the so-called Facebook phone, isn't really the ultimate device for sharing on the world's premier social network. Instead, it's a not at all bad mid-range device, blessed with a stock version ofAndroid 4.1: Jelly Bean and LTE service from AT&T.

Still, it's hard to recommend that your average user buy a device and disable its primary selling point, in this case Facebook Home. Instead, what we have here is a good Android device for phone geeks on a budget.

We liked

The overall build of the HTC First is very nice. It's rubberized and tough, as well as a reasonable size. It's not that we dislike the big Android phones like the Galaxy S3 and the HTC One, it's that we wish they weren't the only option. At 5-inches the HTC First is a breath of fresh air.

We also love that it's running stock Android 4.1: Jelly Bean. That's as new as you can get short of Android 4.2 on the Nexus 4, and it helps get the most out of the First's dual-core. This is a phone with surprisingly smooth performance.

The HTC First also has service from AT&T's large LTE network, which is a major feather in its cap.

As long as you stick normal tasks, it also has all day battery life, thanks to its dual-core processor and smaller 4.3-inch screen. A lot of big, 1080p LTE handsets struggle to cross this finish line, but not the First. However, heavy Wi-Fi and LTE use will drain it down.

We also quite like Chat Heads, the best thing to come out of this whole Facebook Home thing. Of course, you can get them on nearly any newish Android phone, but still.

Also, the HTC First has deeper Facebook Home integration, with more alerts popping up on the Facebook home lock screen. That's nice, if you plan to actually use Home.

We disliked

Facebook Home. It's a glorified screensaver that makes merely unlocking your phone an unpredictable experience. Still, it can be disabled, so it's really not such a big deal, but we are worried about how much data it will consume, since you refresh it every time you unlock your phone. We're still waiting for an answer from HTC on that one.

We also don't like that it takes away our widgets, and prevents us from making folders. It makes Android feel like iOS.

The First's camera is just 5-megapixels and takes noisy, static-filled shots. This is actually one place where the stock Android software failed us. We miss the snapper from the HTC One VX, with its bevy of options.

The lack of a dedicated shutter button is a massive oversight. Everyone we know on Facebook snaps and shares pictures constantly, so a phone with no quick camera access (and mediocre image quality to boot) will never be the true Facebook phone.

It also lacks removable storage and battery, but this an HTC device, so we're basically being a broken record with that complaint.

The First's inconsistent battery performance is troublesome. We could text and talk practically all day, but gaming, downloading and heavy surfing brought the battery down much faster than we'd like. The Android enthusiast crowd isn't going to like that.

We liked Chat Heads, and actually want to keep using them, but the fact that they often failed to load our friends' profile pictures for SMS messages really spoiled the fun. Hopefully that gets fixed soon.

Final verdict

Should you buy the HTC First as the Facebook phone? No. Should you try to make Facebook Home part of your everyday Android experience? Sure, give it a try, but you'll soon see why we don't recommend it.

We found it creepy to constantly see pictures of friends and their friends (basically strangers) popping up on our phone. And never knowing what you'll see when unlocking your device adds some dread to an innocent question such as, "can I see your phone for a second?"

However, it's the perfect phone for a certain type of Google geek. Currently, there's no other 5-inch stock Android phone with LTE from AT&T, going for a dirt cheap $0.99 (with two-year agreement). If you have the wherewithal (it's not very hard) to disable Facebook Home, you're looking at the best, and most affordable, mid-range Android phone currently on the market.

Despite the guff we've given Facebook Home, we're hoping the HTC First won't be the last attempt at a Facebook phone. Sure, Home needs work, but all the First needed to be the perfect social phone hardware-wise was a better camera. If your snapper can't help a plate of tacos get at least ten likes and a "yum," then you're not quite there yet.

The HTC First is a good phone, but not for any of the reasons being highlighted in its marketing. It's compact, durable and has great LTE service from AT&T. It could become the next cult Android device, and might even be the last decent dual-core handset ever made. Sans Facebook Home, it's exactly the type of device we wish we'd see more often.

Review: Updated: Nook HD

John McCann — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:22:00 GMT

Introduction

The Nook HD from bookstore giant Barnes and Noble makes some big claims for such a small tablet, as it looks to steal the limelight at the budget end of the market.

With the likes of the similarly priced Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire HD for company at the £159 price point, plus the slightly more expensive iPad mini, the Nook HD really needs to bring the fight if it wants to succeed.

Originally launched with a very much locked down operating system, the Nook HD has now received a software update which has seen the likes of Google Play and Google Chrome land on the tablet, and we've updated this review accordingly.

Out of the blocks it seems impressive, boasting the title of 'the world's lightest 7-inch tablet', tipping the scales at just 315g – just a shade heavier than the pricier, 7.9-inch iPad mini.

Another trump card for the Nook HD is its display, packing an eye-popping 1440x900 resolution with a 243ppi density – making it the stand-out candidate in the 7-inch market.

And with a price tag of just £159 ($199) for the 8GB model and £189 ($229) for the 16GB version you will see that on the surface at least, the Nook HD has the potential to cause an upset.

Barnes and Noble may well be a household name in the US, but elsewhere in the world it's got an uphill battle to educate consumers on the brand and its products, so it's teamed up with big retailers in an effort to get the Nook HD in front of customers.

The Nook HD itself is certainly unique in its looks; gone is the slab of glass we see slapped across and the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7, with Barnes and Noble instead implementing a curved, raised bezel around the 7-inch display.

It's a look which makes it stand out from the crowd, but it looks a little cheap, almost toyish – although the family sector is a key demographic for the firm and this product, and it fits a little more into the 'robust' category there.

When we first picked the Nook HD up, we tried to peel off the bezel mistaking it for a rubberised cover, but to our despair it wouldn't budge – it's actually part of the tablet.

B&N claims that this raised bezel – which comes in an appealing 'Smoke' (read: grey) or 'Snow' (that's white to you and me) – helps when holding the tablet in one hand.

While it does detract from getting fingerprints on the glass, we wouldn't say it made is easier to hold than the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD, with the lightweight design of the Nook HD a better factor which it came to one-handed usage.

Round the back you'll notice that the Nook HD does not sport a rear-facing camera, nor does it have a front facing one – B&N claims that its customers want a tablet to consumer media on, not to take photos with or make Skype calls.

The only significant features of note on the soft-touch rubberised back are the dual speaker grills at the bottom of the tablet, the large 'n' logo and dipped centre – allowing for a better grip.

On top there's a lonely 3.5mm headphone jack, with physical buttons found on the sides, power/lock key to the left and a volume rocker to the right.

Thanks to the relatively petit body of the Nook HD, measuring 194.4 x 127.1 x 11mm, you can reach both sides pretty easily even when holding the tablet in one hand.

We found that we did have to shuffle it a little to hit the keys, but thanks to the Nook HD's grippy rear, we never feared dropping it.

The final physical button is located on the front of the Nook HD and takes the form of the Nook logo – it's nigh-on impossible to hit one-handed, so you'll need to call in reinforcements from your other arm to help you out here.

Unfortunately there's no microUSB connection on the Nook HD, with a 30-pin port instead residing at the base of the tablet, meaning you're forced to use the bundled cable to charge and connect to a computer.

However all is not lost on the bottom of the Nook HD, as there is a little treat for you in the form of a microSD card slot – hidden behind a small plastic door which isn't the easiest to remove, but once opened reveals a way of boosting the storage of the tablet by up to 64GB.

This gives the Nook HD a clear advantage over the storage locked Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD and iPad mini – although the Google and Apple devices do offer larger internal storage capacities.

The Nook HD is a sturdy, well-built tablet with an impressive screen and weight, but the cheap plastic bezel does make it painfully clear that this is a budget device, and when you put it side by side with the competition the HD struggles to look 'grown-up'.

That said we reckon the Nook HD could withstand bumps and knocks, with the screen slightly more protected thanks to the aforementioned bezel, and with the tablet aimed at a lifestyle including children this finish may be better suited to the job in hand.

Interface and performance

At its core the Nook HD is running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but you'd be hard pushed to see any sign of Google's operating system here.

Similar to what Amazon has done with its Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD interface, Barnes and Noble has rebuilt its Nook OS from the ground up, giving a completely different feel to the Nook HD than other Android tablets.

This also means that the Nook HD won't follow the Android upgrade lifecycle, so don't expect a Jelly Bean, or Key Lime Pie in the future, update to land on the tablet anytime soon.

Instead Barnes and Noble will constantly assess the Nook ecosystem and supply software updates as and when it sees fit.

Running the show is a 1.3GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM, which isn't quite the quad-core chip found inside the Nexus 7, but slightly beefier than the Kindle Fire HD and iPad mini.

Although the power seems to be there, the Nook HD doesn't seem to make particularly good use of it, with the whole system feeling slow and unresponsive.

We wouldn't go as far as to say it was lagging, but that second or so wait for the screen to wake after the power/lock is pressed was a little frustrating.

A nice feature on the Nook HD is the ability to set up various profiles, with the choice of adult and child options – perfect for adding all the family on one device.

This allows you to filter content across accounts, with kids only seeing child friendly apps, books and movies, while adults can divulge in 50 Shades pleasure without fear of little Timmy asking awkward questions.

Adult accounts can be password protected, ensuring prying eyes can't creep in, and the lock screen displays all the users set up on the Nook HD – allowing you to easily select your area.

Once into your area you're greeted by a homescreen, with five in total. The main attraction is an animated carousel which shows your most recently used items.

Press and hold on a blank space and you'll pop up a menu window, allowing you to populate the panels with apps, books, magainzes and movies, pin bookmarks and change the wallpaper – giving you a personalised interface.

The drag and drop system is intuitive, as is the simple navigation bar towards the bottom of the screen, providing five options; library, apps, web, email and shop.

This additional level or personalisation is nice, as it offers a better set up than the in-your-face content of the Kindle Fire HD, and for first time users it's a lot less complex than the pure Android experience on the Nexus 7.

Below the menu options is the search bar, allowing you to quickly find a particular book, app or other piece of content without having to flick through a vast library or collection, while in the right corner is Nook's answer to multi-tasking.

It shows your recent activity, allowing you to hop between apps without having to return to the homescreen via the physical Nook button - flick up over an app in this menu and it will be removed from the list.

The Nook manages to switch between apps relatively quickly, but it does come a little unstuck if you want to switch users.

Return to the homescreen and press your image icon and a panel will slide down showing you everyone who is set up on the tablet, as well as giving you the option to add more if you haven't filled the quota of six accounts.

Tap another person's profile and the Nook HD takes a couple of seconds to load their personalised homepage, sometimes longer if both profiles are heavily populated.

It's easy to forget that the Nook HD has Android at its core, albeit very well hidden, but it does mean there's a notification bar of sorts – instead of the traditional pull-down motion we're used to, you'll need to tap the centre of the bar at the top of the display.

You can then easily remove alerts one by one by swiping across them, or hit the clear all button to completely flush out the panel.

Prod the sticker icon which says "Your Nook today" on the homescreen and you're taken to a pane which shows the weather in your current location, along with recommendations for various content based on your recent activity.

It's in short, a very basic Google Now feature, which is handy to check the weather, but we didn't find ourselves returning particularly often.

Apart from rearranging your homescreens and moving around the limited menu items, there's not a lot more to do on the Nook HD which will frustrate power users who are familiar with the openness of the Android operating system.

We are disappointed at the lack of zip the Nook has, even with the basic day to day tasks of unlocking and navigating around – it was noticeably slower when compared to the lightning-quick Nexus 7 and iPad mini.

Internet and email

Internet

Thanks to the recent update Barnes and Noble has pushed out to the Nook HD you now get the Google Chrome browser as standard.

This provides you with the familiar surroundings you find on most Android devices and offers users a cleaner, fresher version of the stock browser which was present pre-update.

Tabbed browsing is still found at the top of the display, but this along with the URL bar have been condensed from the previous version giving more screen real estate to the web pages themselves.

There's a menu button to the right of the URL bar which gives you access to your bookmarks, browsing history and deeper web settings, but it's not all good news here.

On the original Nook browser we were given features such as offline reading, dedicated reader mode in the form of ArticleView and a quick link to the email client to share a particular site with others.

There are plenty of sharing options in the menu of Google Chrome, but the missing reader and offline modes are a real shame.

The lovely high definition 7-inch display on the Nook HD means that text and images are pin sharp – making websites easy on the eye.

In terms of speed the Nook HD impressed us, which was pleasing especially after the sluggish performance we'd experienced in the general interface.

The full-fat version of TechRadar finished loading, banner ads and all, in five seconds, while mobile sites were done in two to three seconds.

Panning, scrolling and zooming were smooth for the most part, but we did find that the Nook HD didn't always pick up our gestures, which led us to feverishly pinch and flick the screen, resulting in zooming in too far or scrolling down way past the point we wanted.

The ailing Adobe Flash platform may be on its way out, but many sites still use it, and the good news on the Nook HD is that support is there, with the plugin available to download from the store.

Email

The Nook HD comes with its own email client as well, and as with the browser this is your only choice when it comes to managing your mail – unless you use your provider's website.

It's easy to set up your accounts, just type in the email address and password, select the sync options you want and the Nook HD will do the rest.

You can view all your accounts as one unified inbox, or if that's all a bit cluttered, tap Mailbox at the top of the screen and select the one you wish to cast your eye over.

The client itself is well laid out, with your various folders displayed in a column down the left, and your list of emails on the right.

Select an email and it will fill the whole screen, allowing you to easily read your messages and view fancy-looking HTML newsletters.

It's a no thrills service which provides you with all the basics required to send and receive emails in a simple, intuitive package.

The keyboard on the Nook HD isn't anything special, but it is functional for the odd email here and there.

The dainty dimensions of the tablet mean that you can easily reach all the keys with your thumbs when held in portrait although things are a little trickier if you opt for the landscape view.

It is relatively responsive and accurate, and while not the best keyboard we've used, it's by far not the worst.

Unfortunately there's no option to download a third party 'board, nor is there any fancy swipe or voice input methods which we've become accustomed to on purer Android tablets – no big problem, but it may irk some.

Movies, music and books

Consuming content - that is the reason why Barnes and Noble has created the Nook HD, and also the reason why you won't find a front or rear camera – people just don't want that on a tablet, apparently.

Instead of cameras, the focus has been put on the weight and screen of the Nook HD, making it easy to hold for long periods of time and providing an excellent image.

Seeing as content is at the heart of the Nook's purpose it's a little surprising that it only comes in 8GB and 16GB variants – which will fill up quickly if you stick a couple of HD movies on the tablet.

Luckily there's some salvation in the form of the microSD slot house on the base of the Nook HD, allowing you to bump storage by up to 64GB – giving you a lot more breathing space.

However you'll need to format the SD card before sticking content on it, as the Nook HD doesn't like a card which has just been pulled out of an Android phone – highly annoying as we like to use one card in various devices.

Getting content on and off the Nook HD is simple enough, use the bundled USB cable to connect it to your computer, allow the drivers to install and you're then able to use the tried and tested drag and drop method to shuffle your stuff.

Movies

With that impressive 1440x900 screen resolution and 243ppi pixel density, the Nook HD is well suited to movie and TV shows playback – supporting 720p video on the 7-inch display.

An initial stumbling block though is that internal memory – we had an HD version of Sherlock which was 6GB in size – if you had the 8GB Nook then it would be full before you even considered books, apps or music.

Therefore a microSD card is a must if you want to download movies on the Nook HD.

Once you get over the storage hurdle video is, unsurprisingly, very good. The HD display means you get crisp, sharp images and coupled with the lightweight design of the Nook HD, we comfortably watched the whole movie without issue.

If we get picky the colours could have been a little bolder, and while the screen didn't appear washed out, we felt the images could have 'popped' a bit more on the LCD screen.

The dual speakers round the back are reasonable if watching with others, but a decent set of headphones will give you a much better movie-watching experience.

Your videos are stored in the Library menu, along with all your other content, with no dedicated video player app for you to launch.

Tap on a video and it will open in the player, which itself is a very basic affair, offering up play/pause, skip, scrub and volume controls - this makes it very easy to navigate, but may not suffice for power users.

The Nook HD supports a handful of video formats including MP4, AVI and MKV, but we were unable to play our DivX clips, so you may need to check your collection before loading them on.

If you own DVDs or BluRay discs which come with a digital copy of the movie or TV show hosted by Ultraviolet, then this copy will be compatible with the Nook HD.

You can sign into your Ultraviolet account on the tablet, allowing you to gain access to any digital editions you may have, which is a handy little feature.

Barnes and Noble offers customers its own library of films and TV shows to buy and rent with its Nook Video service, which can be found in the Shop on the Nook HD.

There's a decent range of titles on offer with most film rentals ranging from £2.50 to £3.50, while you'll need to shell out £5 to £12 if you want to buy a movie outright - with a couple of pounds difference between HD and SD quality.

It's much the same over in the TV section with single episodes generally coming in around £2.50, while complete seasons can be anything from £10 to £25.

When Nook Video does launch you'll have the option to stream or download movies and TV shows in HD, although pricing details are yet to be announced.

Your not stuck with just this offering however, as Google Play is also on the Nook HD now, giving you access to the search giant's over library of film and TV.

Prices in Google Play tend to be a little cheaper compared to the Nook Shop, which makes us question why you'd stray from Google Play - but there you have it.

Music

On of the few pre-installed applications on the Nook HD is a music player, which offers up a very simple interface to mange your tunes.

To access your music you'll need to open up the app menu and select the music player, which shows you a crude list of all the songs on the Nook HD.

You can choose to organise the list by artist, album or song title, while a playlist function is on hand if you want to make one on the fly.

Select a song and you're taken into the Now Playing panel, which displays a lovely big album art image above the obligatory controls play/pause, skip, shuffle, repeat and time-scrubbing bar.

There are no further options available here, so don't expect to be able to dabble with a graphic equaliser or find sharing options to stream to your hi-fi – the Nook HD is keeping it basic. Really basic.

Audio playback is acceptable, but it certainly won't blow you away. For a casual listener it will suffice, but for the more discerned audiophile the Nook HD will come in below par.

Once again the built in speakers round the back reach a relatively high volume, but you sacrifice clarity for room filling sound if you do opt to use them.

While movie fans will be catered for with Nook Video, there's no such luck for music aficionados, with no way to purchase and download music direct from the Nook itself.

Barnes and Noble does pre-install Spotify for your listening pleasure, but with Google now offering its own music service it's disappointing this hasn't made it onto the Nook HD.

Thankfully Google Play steps in to save the day in the music department, offering up a huge range of tracks to suit all tastes.

Singles can be picked up for 99p while albums tend to start at £4.99.

Books and magazines

Reading on the Nook HD should be a great experience considering this is bread and butter stuff for Barnes and Noble, which already has a range of e-readers on the market including the Nook Simple Touch GlowLight.

Its not just books which are on offer here though, on the Nook HD you can also get your mitts on magazines, comics and newspapers via the shop, ensuring you have a veritable feast of reading material at your finger tips.

While you may be concerned that it will struggle to match the variety and volume found on Amazon's Kindle store, Barnes and Noble is a book retailer first and foremost, claiming to have a library of 2.5 million books available to its Nook customers.

Book prices range widely, with most novels falling in between £4.99 and £14.99 – which is generally steeper than the books in the Kindle store, some of which can be had for just a few pence.

If Nook's offering isn't big enough you can always head over to Google Play which has its own selection of book and magazines for you to download.

There are free samples to be had if you fancy taking a novel for a spin before parting with your cash.

The reading experience is a solid one, with various controls allowing you to change the size and style of the font, background colour, line spacing and margin gap, so you're bound to find a combination which suits you.

The high resolution 7-inch touchscreen means words appear crisp and shape, which is far kinder on your eyes and allows you to read for longer – although you may want to turn the screen brightness down, as it can become irritating after a while.

The e-ink screens of a dedicated e-readers are still the best way to read a book on an electronic device, but the Nook HD, along with the Kindle Fire HD, offers a more than acceptable alternative.

There's are no physical buttons allocated for page turning on the Nook HD, so you're required to tap or swipe the screen to navigate between pages.

Press the small up arrow at the bottom of the screen to bring up the menu bar, where you'll find a page slider, allowing you to quickly jump to a particular section in the book.

You can also type in a particular page number if you know exactly where you want to go, and hitting the binoculars icon will allow you to search the entire book for a word or phrase.

If you like annotating and/or highlighting your novels as you go along then you are well catered for here – just hold down on the word or phrase you wish to manipulate and a menu will pop up with various options such as add note, find in book and highlight.

All the commands are pretty intuitive, and even if you're new to reading on a digital device, it won't take you long to master the basics on the Nook HD.

If you prefer magazines, then you're in for a bit of a treat on the Nook HD with a lovely page turn animation and page overview mode - showing you thumbnails of the entire magazine, allowing you to jump to articles of interest while skipping those pesky double-page ads.

The ArticleView function found in the web browser also makes an appearance here, stripping out the fancy magazine formatting to give you an easily digestible text document – great for those with poorer eyesight.

Apps and games

Apps

When the Nook HD was first launched Barnes and Noble did away with Google's own-brand app store, in favour of a more refined offering.

However the company has now seen the error of its ways and has brought back Google Play with its latest software update for the tablet.

This means you now have access to the 700,000+ applications available in Google Play - or so you may think.

It turns out that not every app is compatible with the Nook HD and after a brief 15 minutes of searching we found five apps which we couldn't download, including Shazam and Foursquare.

Barnes and Noble's original app store remains as part of the shop but there's no need to use this now with Google Play offering up a much better selection.

In terms of pre-installed apps the Nook HD is relatively light – in the UK it comes with music streaming service Spotify already on board, while over in the US you get its rival Pandora.

Aside from that there are the stock apps, browser, calendar, contacts, email and music player, but that's your lot – the Nook HD is pretty much a clean slate out of the box.

Accessed via the Shop menu on the Nook HD, the app store does feature some classics such as Netflix, Twitter and Flipboard, but we were disappointed to find how many of our favourites were missing,

There's no Facebook app, which is pretty criminal in the world of mobile devices these days, leaving you to use the social network's mobile site in the browser only.

Large corporations also seem to be missing from the Nook shop, with the likes of Sky, BBC and ITV not represented.

We're not fans of the way the app store is laid out either, while there are top lists, staff picks and featured applications; the navigation is far more clunky than the sideway swipes required to move round Android's native Google Play.

Another thing which irritated us was the search function within the store. Even if you're already in the app section, typing in iPlayer will search the whole shop, including books, newspapers and magazines, returning a deluge of content as a result.

This can then be filtered to show just apps, but it would be better if the store was smarter than this – like in Google Play.

Apps on the whole are also a little pricier, and in some cases a lot more expensive than Google Play, which seems to be just a simple money making scheme unless a HUGE amount of curation is needed to bring them to the Nook HD.

Games

As far as games go the Nook shop currently has just over 1,700 on offer, although lots of big names are missing such as Temple Run, Need for Speed and Real Racing 3.

As we've mentioned though Google Play is now on the Nook HD, giving you access to all three titles above plus a host of others.

The graphically intensive games pretty much all seem to be absent on the Nook HD, although that's no great surprise considering the tablet struggles to load the general interface efficiently – the 3D requirements of Dead Space may melt this little slate.

Less intensive games such as PacMan and Angry Birds ran fine, with games taking around 10-20 seconds to download and install.

As with the apps, games are generally more expensive than in Google Play. Take Angry Birds Space for example – 69p in the Play store, but a massive £2.29 on the Nook for the same game! Madness.

Battery life and connectivity

Battery life

The size of the battery inside the Nook HD is unknown, although Barnes and Noble claim you'll be able to squeeze 10 hours of reading time out of the tablet, or a respectable nine hours of video.

From our tests we're inclined to agree, with the Nook HD holding up well as we surfed the web, watched videos and flicked through magazines.

Slightly annoyingly there's no auto-brightness function, so you'll want to make sure you've only got it on full illumination when it's really needed, otherwise battery life will take a hit.

We were easily able to get through a day without worrying about running out with power, and with slightly more limited use we were able to go at least three days between chargers.

Connectivity

There's not a great deal of connectivity options adorning the Nook HD, with the Wi-Fi b/g/n and Bluetooth standards making their typical appearances.

We were pleased to find the Nook HD offered up a microSD card slot, something which few tablets have built in.

This is a handy addition, as the rather paltry 8GB and 16GB models don't give you a whole lot of storage, especially if you want to download videos onto the tablet.

It supports cards up to 64GB in size and from the settings menu you can set the SD card as the default video storage, if you don't want to clog up the HD's internal space.

Annoyingly the Nook HD doesn't come with the traditional microUSB port, instead opting for a 30-pin option, which forces you to use the bundled USB cable to charge and connect to a computer.

Hands on gallery

Official gallery

Verdict

At such a competitive price point we'd normally find it very difficult to knock a device which offered so much for such little payout.

Unfortunately for the Nook HD the budget tablet market has come alive over recent months and the likes of the Google Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle Fire HD and even the iPad mini have set the standard very high.

We liked

The Nook HD does have an excellent screen, which makes watching movies and consuming web pages an enjoyable experience.

Battery life is something which is always a concern with today's mobile tech, but thankfully the Nook HD manages to keep going, even with that screen – meaning we weren't left scrambling for a charger.

Although it may not be the best looking device, the Nook HD is certainly comfortable to hold, even in one hand, and extended reading sessions or movie marathons are easily manageable thanks to its lightweight design.

The fact that you can set up multiple accounts, with the option of both adult and child areas, is likely to tempt the family market looking for an inexpensive, durable tablet for everyone to share - although the Nexus 7 has now added in the multiple account functionality with the Android 4.2 update.

We disliked

Sadly it's not all good news, and for all its early promise the Nook HD is left wanting in a few areas. First up is the sluggish interface, which is no where near as slick as the Kindle Fire HD or Nexus 7.

Users who enjoy the highly customisable ways of Android will also be disappointed with the Nook HD's relatively limited UI, which offers up the basics, but nothing more.

The app selection has been greatly improved thanks to the inclusion of Google Play in a recent software update, but there are still a handful of apps which won't work with the Nook HD.

Other nagging issues are the cheap design, which really makes the Nook HD look the part of 'budget tablet', especially when you consider the basic movie and music players and lack of streaming options.

Verdict

Is the Nook HD the best 7-inch tablet on the market? In short, no.

It's cheap and cheerful design and interface at a sub-£200 price tag would have blown us away a year ago, but such is the fast pace of the tablet market these days, the Nook has been left behind by superior competition.

It could be the perfect family or kids' tablet – capable of taking a few knocks while keeping content separate, and secure, between users, but it does look and feel like a toy rather than a tablet.

But if you're looking for the best value for money at the budget end of the tablet market, we would have to recommend the more powerful Google Nexus 7 over the Nook HD.

Review: Pure Jongo S3

Rob Mead-Green — Fri, 10 May 2013 12:30:00 GMT

Billed as a "truly wireless music system", the Pure Jongo S3 is a family-friendly compact speaker that be used just about anywhere - thanks to its combination of mains and battery power, as well as built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Team it with its partner app for iOS or Android (coming soon) and you have a whole world of music wherever you go. Sound good, so far? The reality is a little different...

Features

When it comes to the noisy bits, the Pure Jongo S3 crams four 19.05mm high frequency drivers and an upward-firing 88.9mm mid-bass driver and a 20W amplifier into its rounded rectangular cuboid body. Around the back you'll find a 3.5mm auxiliary input, power port and a USB-port which is used to host the external Bluetooth dongle. Plus recessed audio and Wi-Fi buttons and a 25.4mm non-backlit LCD. The front houses the power button, volume controls and a mute button.

The Pure Jongo S3 itself feels solid and pretty tough, with cloth covering speakers on the side and metal grille protecting the upward-firing mid-bass driver on the top. The whole thing weighs 1.25kg or a little heavier than a bag of sugar - making it relatively easy to cart around.

As we've already mentioned, the Pure Jongo S3 includes both Wi-Fi (802.11b and 802.11g) and Bluetooth A2DP and you can even buy an optional Ethernet adapter if you want to use a wired connection instead. Sound-wise, the Pure Jongo S3 supports WMA, AAC, MP3 and MP2 audio codecs as well as regular analogue audio, of course.

Usability and performance

The Pure Jongo S3 is relatively straightforward to setup. The power button on the front has a glowing light surround which changes to red, green or amber depending on what state it's in. Getting the Jongo S3 to play sound from your smartphone via Bluetooth is easy to do, as is using the regular 3.5mm analogue audio input. But it's only when you fire up the Wi-Fi option that the Pure Jongo S3 begins to disappoint.

The first bit, getting it setup on your network is easy, but it's then that you hit the device's somewhat arbitrary limitations. You can't just stream music to it from your computer or hi-fi, for example, and the only way to listen in using your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch is to download the free Pure Connect app from the iTunes Store - there's no equivalent of AirPlay here. A mobile app for Android users is promised soon.

This also means you have to use music in your iTunes library - you can't stream the likes of Spotify or Rdio over WiFi, but you can do so using Bluetooth or the 3.5mm physical connection.

Subscribe, subscribe

As well as enabling you to stream music you own, the Pure Connect app also invites you to sign up to Pure's suite of music portals. Some of these - internet radio and on-demand listening - are free, but the app's constructed in such a way that you'll soon be tempted by the paid-for offerings, such as Pure Music, which charges £4.99 a month.

When it comes to sound quality the Pure Jongo S3 is about as good as you'd expect from a small unit like this. If you're happy to listen to music at relatively low volumes and in small rooms, then the speaker is good company delivering sounds with reasonable fidelity. As befits a company chiefly known for making DAB receivers, the Jongo works best when handling radio broadcasts - particularly spoken word and classical - and internet streams, but things fall apart very quickly the minute you crank the volume.

The forthcoming bigger-brother Jongo T6 will likely add a more meaty sound to the range, but still, we've played with speakers this size that sounded better.

We also found when listening to our tunes via Wi-Fi that playback suffered occasional dropouts, while volume adjustment using the Pure Connect app wasn't subtle.

Multi-room

The Jongo S3's headline feature is multi-room audio. In theory you can put one in every room in the house and have them all synced up, playing the same music in unison. This is very easy to set up and works flawlessly, using one of the units as a master which connects to all the others.

It's a great way to enjoy music while you're pottering around at home - doesn't matter which room you wonder into, you're not going to miss that amazing skip-beat at 2 minutes 15 in Susan Cadogan's Hurt So Good.

There's no wireless n in the Jongo though, which could cause you problems if you have a big house or one with thick, wi-fi-hating walls. It's lack of inclusion is a bit of a mystery.

Multi-room only works using Wi-Fi mode - Bluetooth only allows you to play to one Jongo. It's a more basic, straight forward multi-room system compared to the likes of Sonos. You can't set up zones and have different music streaming to each one over Wi-Fi unless you stream to them all separately with different devices.

However, Pure reckons that no one really wants to set up zones anyway. Either way, this approach is certainly a lot easier to set up and use than Sonos and its ilk.

Verdict

The Pure Jongo S3 is a great idea in theory, but we can't help but feel a little let down by it. The sound quality is disappointing - and the fact that you can only stream music over Wi-Fi by using the sales-pushing Pure Connect app is a birrova slap in the face. That said, the multi-room features work nicely and offer a slightly better value set up than Sonos.

Review: Iiyama ProLite XB2776QS

Jeremy Laird — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:30:00 GMT

Luckily for Iiyama's latest 27-incher we weren't expecting anything terribly special when we unpacked it, so its awesome image quality adds an extra dimension. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Just what are we dealing with, here?

On paper, it's all very familiar. 27 inches. IPS technology. 16:9 ratio. 2,560 by 1,440 pixels. And an LED backlight. Nothing out of the ordinary. At least, not for a premium 27-inch panel. Except this 27-inch high-res segment has been given a makeover with a new generation of panels.

That's not to say that the old gen was bad - they were among the best looking monitors vaguely sensible money could buy - but this Iiyama is one of a new batch of 27-inch panels that directly addresses two of the worst shortcomings of previous models.

Smooth operator

First up is a smoother, cleaner and less sparkly anti-glare coating. Quite why the earlier models had such horrid anti-glare coatings we have no idea, but it looked a little like someone had gone over the panel surface with fine-grain sand paper. No longer. The ProLite's surface is as smooth as, well, something really quite impressively smooth.

The other issue is something known as IPS glow. It basically boils down to a bit of backlight leakage that can be seen from certain angles as a bright glow over dark tones. As you move your vantage point, so the glow shifts over the screen's surface. Not a deal breaker, but we're pleased to say it's been minimised if not eradicated with this newest IPS screen.

Then there's the excellent quality of the backlight, which is super clean and super white. Combine that with the smooth anti-glare coating and tight pixel pitch and you have a screen that's impossibly clear and crisp. It's an absolute delight to use.

The colours are vivid without being oversaturated, too. As for our test scales, rarely have we seen such detail and accuracy in both blacks and whites. It's exceptionally well calibrated.

Short of perfection

Is it perfect? No. Samsung's 9 Series and its PLS panel offer better horizontal viewing angles, for instance, and even this latest generation of IPS tech can't match PVA panels when it comes to generating deep, inky blacks.

Pixel response is another relative weak area compared with the zippiest of TN panels, but it's hardly sluggish and doesn't detract significantly from the ProLite as either a gaming or movie machine.

In terms of features, this is a pretty straightforward panel. It has a dynamic contrast mode, a comprehensive array of DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort and VGA connections, and the stand offers the full set of tilt, rotate, swivel and height adjustments, but as for more trinkety features like 3D, ambient lighting, motion sensors and the like, there's nothing to be found.

This screen is all about image quality, albeit it at a price. The only major snag is that Viewsonic's VP2770-LED offers something awfully similar for a little bit less.

Hands-on review: Olympus PEN E-P5

Amy Davies — Fri, 10 May 2013 05:03:00 GMT

As one of the early innovators in the compact system camera market, Olympus has enjoyed great success with its PEN range of Micro Four Thirds cameras. The retro designs of the PEN series have always appealed to those photographers hankering after the golden age of photography.

The original digital PEN camera, launched all the way back in 2008, was a bit of a game-changer. In terms of camera technology, five years is a long time, so expectations for the fourth generation of the top-of-the-line series are high.

Olympus says it has pretty much gone back to the drawing board for this latest PEN incarnation, but there's no denying that it takes its lead from both the Olympus PEN cameras of old, and the fantastic Olympus OM-D, which made its debut at the beginning of 2012.

Inside the Olympus PEN E-P5 is the same 16 million pixel sensor and TruePic VI image sensor as in the Olympus OM-D, which should mean it is capable of the same impressive image quality.

The design is very much inspired by the original analogue PEN, and particularly the black and silver incarnation. It's enough to make anyone looking at the front of the camera do a double take.

Of course, the technology inside the camera far surpasses that of its analogue forebears, and is also a significant jump from the previous Olympus PEN E-P3 camera. There's also enough here to make it, in some respects, a step up from the Olympus OM-D itself.

Aside from the same sensor and processor as the Olympus OM-D, the Olympus PEN E-P5 boasts an impressively fast maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 sec. That's something that is currently offered by the likes of professional DSLRs, such as the Nikon D4 and Canon 5D Mark III, so to see it on a CSC priced at just £899 (around AU$1,368 / US$1,399) is quite something.

That fast shutter speed means that not only should the camera be capable of capturing fast-moving subjects, it can also shoot at wide apertures in bright sunlight. Combine that with the new low sensitivity setting of ISO 100, and you've got a recipe for some really creative outdoor work.

Olympus knows that it is a brand enjoyed by the creative photographer, so it's no surprise to see a high number of digital filters, such as Cross Process and Dramatic Tone, making a reappearance on the latest model of the camera. There's also the addition of Focus Peaking, a great tool for those who want to manually focus.

Live Time and Live Bulb, the innovative way of shooting long exposures as introduced on the Olympus OM-D, is also found on the Olympus E-P5. This enables you to shoot very long exposures while watching the scene build up on the screen. It takes the guesswork out of this kind of photography, since you can see exactly when to stop the shutter. Olympus has now included a histogram view while using this mode to further assist the user.

A Photo Story mode is also included. This is something that made its debut on the Olympus XZ-10 compact camera and basically enables you to create a montage of photos within the camera itself. Unlike on the Olympus XZ-10, however, each photo that makes up the montage is saved in raw format, as well as a JPG of the finished montage. This means you can use each individual photo at a later date if you want to.

Another feature brought across from the Olympus OM-D is the 5-axis image stabilisation system. Compensating for pitch, rolling, yaw and horizontal and vertical movement, the results of this stabilisation can now be seen in Live View thanks to improvements in battery technology. We'll be especially keen to put this particular feature to the test when a full Olympus PEN E-P5 sample comes in for review.

Shooting at up to 9fps is available, but again this has been improved from the Olympus OM-D as this 9fps also includes autofocusing. Add in tracking and the rate is a still pretty impressive 5fps. This is another feature we'll be keen to put through its paces.

Improving the speed of the camera is something Olympus has seemingly worked very hard on. The new Olympus PEN E-P5 boasts a switch-on time of just 0.5 seconds, something that is matched only by the Fuji X-E1 when in its fast switch-on mode. We'll be interested to see how short the shot-to-shot and processing times are, though with the TruePic VI processor onboard, it's likely to be very fast.

Olympus admits it has been late to the Wi-Fi party, but the PEN E-P5 is now fully equipped with this built in. The company claims being late has enabled it to study and improve upon the competitor's offerings. One such feature is the ability to scan a QR code to connect the camera, rather than having the hassle of entering passwords.

While the Olympus PEN E-P3 had a fixed touchscreen, the Olympus PEN E-P5 has a tilting, capacitive device. It's the same 3-inch device as found on the Olympus OM-D, so we expect a very responsive and easy to use design. The touchscreen enables the autofocus point to be altered, or the shutter itself fired.

Build quality and handling

Olympus has used a very similar handling design to the previous incarnation of the camera, but with some very noticeable and welcome improvements on the Olympus PEN E-P5. The chassis is very similar to its predecessor, featuring a removable grip, which is particularly useful when shooting one-handed. A rubberised thumb rest sits at the back of the camera to give a bit of extra purchase too.

Unlike the Olympus PEN E-P3, the Olympus PEN E-P5 uses a switch to turn it on, rather than a button. This might seem like a trivial point, but it enables quicker start-up times. It has been recessed slightly into the body of the camera to prevent accidentally switching it on while in a bag or pocket.

Like its predecessor, it uses a capacitive touchscreen, which can be used to set the autofocus point or fire the shutter release. One of the most noticeable improvements is the now tilting screen. It's useful for angling away from any disturbing glare or reflections that might be present - although it didn't seem to suffer too badly when we used it.

It sits remarkably flush against the back of the camera, so much so that you might not even realise it's a tilting device at all. While an articulating screen would be more useful for portrait format shots, it would undoubtedly have added to the bulk of the camera.

At the top of the camera is a mode dial enabling quick transitions between the various modes on offer, such as fully automatic, semi-automatic (aperture or shutter priority) and manual modes. There's also a space here for art modes, scene modes and - new to the PEN range - Photo Story mode.

Also on top of the camera is a Function button, which can be customised to suit your particular requirements. The previous version on the Olympus PEN E-P3 required diving into the menu if you wanted to alter ISO or metering, but a new way of working has been introduced onto the Olympus PEN E-P5.

A small switch around the movie record button marked with positions 1 and 2 enables you to alter the function of the two dials at the back and front of the camera. Position 1 controls aperture/shutter speed and exposure compensation (depending on the mode you're shooting in), while flipping to Position 2 changes the modes to ISO and white balance. It's a quick system that should really speed up the basic operation of the camera.

For accessing other commonly used settings, a sort of quick menu can be found by pressing the OK button in the centre of the four-way navigational pad. If you need to delve further to change more complicated settings, you can do this via the main menu. As with other PEN cameras, it can be a little disjointed to use when you're not used to it.

Performance

It is of course hard to give any concrete opinions about the performance of a camera before we've had a chance to use a full version of it, but we have extremely high hopes for the Olympus PEN E-P5.

The Olympus PEN E-P3 was an extremely capable camera in its own right, but putting the proven excellent Olympus OM-D sensor inside the new, even-more-retro styled body is very likely to be a winning combination - dare we say it, even better than the OM-D itself.

We've already seen how that incredible sensor can be used to good effect in both the Olympus PEN E-PL5 and the Olympus PEN E-PM2, so to see it in the top of the line PEN CSC is very welcome.

Olympus promises that the 5-axis image stabilisation system has also been improved, so we'll be very keen to put that to the test when a full sample arrives.

We'll also be keen to put the 1/8000 second shutter speed through its paces in capturing very fast action. It's incredibly rare for a camera at this price point to be capable of such a thing, so we're hoping it proves to be a solid performer.

Early verdict

The Olympus PEN E-P5 is a very exciting camera, and with 2013 being a comparatively quiet year for launches compared with 2012, we think it could possibly be an early contender for best camera of the year.

We already know what the sensor is capable of, and with that stylish body for good measure, we think this could be a big seller. The only drawback at the moment could be the price, making this one of the most expensive compact system cameras on the market, putting it in the same league as high-end cameras such as the Sony NEX-7, Fujifilm X-E1 and even its own semi-sibling, the Olympus OM-D.

For existing PEN owners, even those with an Olympus PEN E-P3, this looks like it will be a significant enough step up to be worthy of consideration for upgrade, while Olympus OM-D owners might even consider switching allegiance if they're not too bothered about the in-built viewfinder.

Those who do care for viewfinders will find themselves either having to go without or shelling out for the external device, which while very good, is an expensive extra that might push the price up a little too high. With the excellent screen, though, it'd be worth trying to live without it.

We'll keep you updated as soon as we can about this very promising addition to the PEN series lineup.

Review: AOC E2462VWH

Jeremy Laird — Thu, 09 May 2013 08:30:00 GMT

Props to AOC for making an effort. It wasn't that long ago that pretty much every AOC panel out there looked like it was hewn from pressed plastic sweepings taken from the Airfix factory floor. They certainly looked cheap. The cheerful bit? Not so much.

But now there's this new 24-inch effort. Okay, on close inspection you're not going to confuse it with a premium panel. The plastics are pretty coarse and the snap-in panel that curls around the rear of the stand will make your teeth itch if slightly mismatched panel gaps and a broader sense of tactility are things that bother you. But the look is certainly pleasantly contemporary. It's pretty snazzy for a monitor costing £131, that's for sure.

The main downside of the styling-led design is that it restricts you to height and tilt adjustment. Then again, at this end of the market, tilt-only is usually your lot. If anything, AOC is a little ahead of the game by that metric.

No oil painting

Anyway, what about the image quality and features? We're talking about 24-inches of TN technology and the inevitable 1,920 by 1,080 resolution that comes along with it.

Now, it's certainly true that in the past we've been pretty down on TN panels. Part of that was due to the inherent shortcomings of TN tech. Poor viewing angles, dodgy colour reproduction, iffy blacks and contrast – that sort of thing. Our dim view of TN panels was also down to choice. There simply wasn't any.

Things are different now, what with a new generation of more affordable IPS arriving on the scene and TN itself lifting its game. Ironically, that actually makes it easier to take this AOC on its own merits.

Unfortunately, however, the out-of-the-box experience here is so poor, it's difficult to see just what those merits might be. At default settings it looks absolutely awful, with washed-out black tones and a general dullness. Dig into the OSD menu, adjust the basic contrast, brightness and gamma settings and you quickly realise it's no dice. This thing just looks rubbish. At that point most potential buyers would write this panel off.

Picture boost

However, if you stick at it you'll eventually stumble across the monitor's Picture Boost setting. It's pretty fiddly to use because you not only have to set the level, but also stretch its effects across the screen. For some reason, as standard it's set to alter only a small portion of the image, but never mind, because when fully extended it revives this panel with something resembling the sort of vibrancy and contrast you might expect from a modern TN panel.

That said, this improvement appears to come at the cost of colour fidelity, with some hues appearing crushed when viewing the test scales. AOC has also provided user-configurable dynamic contrast and pixel response settings, which is nice, but it's not enough to make up for what is fundamentally wonky image processing.

It's also worth noting that the monitor comes in two versions. The 'H' suffix on our review unit indicates an HDMI port and the absence of DVI connectivity, while the non-'H' model is precisely the opposite.

Review: Huawei Ascend Mate

Joe Hanlon — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:40:00 GMT

Introduction

Huawei is the epitome of the challenger brand. With a brand name that no one ever pronounces correctly (even a receptionist at the Mate's launch event reffered to the company as 'highway'), the Ascend Mate isn't going to be on the tips of the tongues of many in the market for a new phone.

To counter this, Huawei is resorting to headline-grabbing specs and features. There's the 6.1-inch screen, for starters, plus a custom quad-core processor which Huawei is claiming to be fastest in the world. Has we got your attention yet?

With a screen this size, the Ascend Mate truly is a 'phablet', however much you may hate that word. It is more than a centimetre taller than the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and half of a a centimetre wider.

It is also a touch heavier, at 198-grams, though for better perspective, compare this to the 130-gram weight of the Galaxy S4. In short: this feels like a big phone to hold and carry around.

Happily, the quality of the 6.1-inch screen makes it feel like the size and weight are a worthwhile trade-off. Huawei opts for a bright IPS LCD display which shows excellent colours and blacks, and has a fantastic viewing angle. Even with the phone titled at acute angles away from your eyes, the images on screen as still clear and colourful.

Huawei positions the power and volume buttons halfway down the side of the handset, and while this might seem unusual at a glance, it is actually the best place for them for when you are holding the phone one handed and hoping to find the buttons easily.

There are no hard or soft navigation keys on the handset itself. Instead, Huawei make use of the soft-keys included in the design of the Android Jelly Bean, with Back, Home and Multitasking buttons along the button of the visible screen space.

There is a 3.5mm headphone socket on the top of the handset, across from a micro-SIM slot. There's also a microSD card slot on the side to expand the handset's 8GB internal storage.

The back of the phone is covered in a soft-touch black plastic, which feels nice to hold, even though it shows fingerprints over time.

In what may be considered an unpopular move, the Ascend Mate is a sealed handset, meaning you won't have access to the battery.

Interface

Towards the end of last year we began to hear about the Huawei Emotion UI, a user experience which Huawei hoped would help define it as a unique smartphone maker -- the way the Sense UI has for HTC.

The Ascend Mate is our first time playing with the Emotion UI, and the experience is pretty underwhelming. There is a single Huawei-designed widget which can be customised to show the time, weather, music and favourite contacts, and a selection of themes which can be applied to the phone, but this is about all there is.

To be fair, the themes are pretty comprehensive. Each gives the user experience an overhauled appearance, including wallpapers, ringtones and customised application icons.

Interestingly, Huawei's UI does away with the application drawer that is common on almost all versions of Android. Instead, Huawei takes an iOS-like approach, with all application icons living on the numerous homescreens, mixed in among the widgets

To spare you from having a dozen screens of app icons when you first turn the phone on, Huawei bundles a bunch of them into folders, like a Google folder with all of your Google-made apps in one place, for example.

Dipping into the system menu reveals a few other interesting tidbits in the Emotion UI interface. There is an option ofr one-handed operation tucked towards the bottom of the list, which gives you alternate ways to unlock the phone and type messages without needing to take a seat and use both hands.

There is also something that Huawei calls "Suspend Button" which, when on, places a semi-transparent grey ball on the screen that hovers over any apps you might be using. Pressing this ball opens a circular menu with four apps that can sit on the top of any screen. There is a note-taking app, an SMS app, quick access to the camera and a calculator.

Contacts and calling

While there is a lot of colourful and fancy design in the numerous Huawei UI themes, the calling and Contacts apps are both very minimal in design. As in, there is almost no design here to speak of.

Both apps are white screens with black text and numbers, punctuated by thumbnail photos if you have any assocaited with your contacts.

The dialling app is especially bare, with a keypad below a log of recent calls. If you have made no calls, this is just a half-screen of white space.

The app does feature speed dialling though, which is a common feature on most phones these days. Basically, this gives you the option to enter a phone number, or type in the name of a contact using the T9 dial-pad.

In the Contacts app, you can select which source you wish to view contacts from; be that your SIM card, Google Account, work email account or a combination of all the accounts you have synced on the device. Frustratingly, there is no way to filter out contacts with no phone number associated (like Twitter contacts) so we've found our list to be quite an unruly mess.

Actually placing and receiving calls was fine during our review. The earpiece speaker was loud enough and the people we spoke with commented that we sounded clear. Not extraordinarily loud or clear, but good enough.

Messaging and keyboard

Keeping with the theme of minimal core app design, Huawei's messaging tool opens as a blank, white screen with a thin row of icons along the bottom. Despite so much of the user experience being customisable, there is no option in the Settings for this app to change the way it looks.

Perhaps this is a good thing, as it will keep you focused on the job at hand -- reading and writing text messages. Perhaps we are silly to want a little colour in one of the apps we will spend so much of time?

In the composition window, you can easily add a contact to the message using a link to the Contacts app from within the message. You can select multiple contacts this way and send our a group message.

Once you have settled on who will receive the missive, you bring up the Huawei Keyboard to write out your thoughts.

This keyboard isn't among the best OEM designed virtual keyboards we've used lately, with poor auto-correction for spelling errors, and way too many keystrokes to manually fix up typos.

We do love that one of the option in the keyboard settings is an option to make the keyboard much bigger than the default onscreen height. There are four sizes to choose from, but we just went straight for the largest size and suggest you do too.

You can also switch easily between a full-QWERTY keyboard layout and a simpler T9 keypad map by swiping from one side of the keyboard to the other.

Internet and connectivity

A 6.1-inch screen is crying out to be used online. Web pages look great spread across this display, especially photo rich sites like Facebook and Instagram.

To make sure you can always get online, Huawei pack the Mate with penta-band HSPA+ network connectivity, with support for 850/900/1700/1900/2100Mhz networks. This means you should be able to roam on 3G networks in most part of the world that have these networks setup.

There is no 4G, though. So if you are looking for the fastest mobile internet, you'll have to give the Huawei Mate a miss. Which is strange, considering that Huawei probably built the 4G network you are trying to access.

The web browsing experience is solid, but not exception in any way. The default browser is fast enough, and features a design similar to Google's Chrome browser.

Beyond mobile network connections, the Mate has support for dual-band WiFi connections on a/b/g/n network structures. It also supports Bluetooth, including the latest version 4.0 protocols, and there is the ubiquitous GPS satellite communication too.

Camera

Huawei certainly isn't a company that has made a name for itself with photography features in its smartphones, in fact cameras have always seemed like an afterthought for the company rather than an essential component.

The 8-megapixel camera in the Mate is a bit of a surprise then, with a few neat features , a fast shutter speed and better than average results -- under optimal lighting conditions.

The camera interface is pretty simple; there are no long menus of options to sift through, just the basics. Beyond this, Huawei includes a few Instagram-like colour filters and a few goofy distortion effects.

The photos we've taken are pretty good. The focus is often sharp, auto-white balance is ok, colour reproduction is good, and the finish proiduct is something you can (often) post proudly to your social network of choice.

Of course, this is the only good place for these photos. When we examined the photos close-up on a PC, there is obvious problems with them. The edges around many of the objects in photos are scuffed with digital artefacts, and the colour tone has an obviously digital look - the way images from a webcam do.

Performance and battery life

The tale of this phone's performance and battery life is one you could comfortably call Beauty and the Beast.

The bad news is that the performance of the Acend Mate doesn't live up to the sum of its parts. The Huawi K2V3 quad-core processor just doesn't cut it, and the user experience is frequently marred by extended pauses and general lagginess.

This lag is most obvious when opening and closing apps, and is also noticable when switching between homescreens. Even tasks like loading images in the Gallery takes much longer on the Huawei than it does on other phones with similar specs.

After running a number of benchmark tests, the problem seems to be in the way the phone deals with graphics processing. It performs well in tests that focus on number crunching and web-based processes, but once complex 3D graphics are involved, the performance dips.

On the flip side, the battery life in the Ascend Mate is outstanding. One of our tests involves loading web pages continuously on a Wi-Fi connection. Most phones last for between 4 - 5 hours, but the Mate lasted for an impressive 7 hours and 6 minutes.

Anecdotally, this equates to two full business days use, though your milage may vary depending on how you use it.

Verdict

The Ascend Mate is one of those phones that pushes the imaginary boundaries of what we define consumer technology devices. It's a phone at its core, but it is built like a little tablet; a mini iPad mini, if you will.

What we liked

If you are going to make a phone with a 6.1-inch screen, you're going to want to make sure it is a good screen. Huawei does this, delivering solid IPS LCD technology with great viewing angles and good colour. It could be at a higher resolution, but we didn't find any problems with the current pixel count.

The battery life is also a big boon for the industry, it's been a long time since we seen phones last as long as the Mate does. If you need a phone like the Energizer Bunny, this could be the handset for you.

What we didn't like

We really wanted to love the Mate. It has all the right-sounding specs, we love big screens and we can't help rooting for the underdog. But the performance problems are a big downside for us. All of the major Android phone makers have ironed out the laggy bugs in their systems now, and people expect a silky-smooth user experience. The Mate does not deliver this.

And, as much as we are loathed to say it, we think the Mate is too big and heavy to be lugged about all day long. We do love big phones, we have a real soft spot for the Galaxy Note, but the Mate is just a step too far towards tablet territory.

Overall

There is definitely a market for the Ascend Mate, but we don't belong to it. If you are someone who doesn't mind using two hands to hold a phone, someone who carries their handset in a bag anyway, then it could be the phone for you. You'll be rewarded with amazing battery life if you decided to choose a Mate.