November, 2021 - Organizer

I started using Experian IdentityWorks for online protection and haven’t looked back

11:31 pm | November 30, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Security | Comments: Off

Our series on identity theft protection apps will evaluate the features, pricing options, competition, and also the overall value of using each app. However, these are not full hands-on reviews since evaluating identity theft protection apps is almost impossible. It would require several months of testing, purposefully hacking accounts to see if the protection app works, handing over personally identifiable information, performing multiple credit checks, and risking exposure of the reviewer’s personally identifiable information.

Every discussion about Experian IdentityWorks in reviews and news begins with the mandatory mention of the company's previous data breach history. This evaluation contains the same pattern as others, but readers should evaluate its complete fairness. The brand IdentityWorks operates under Experian, which maintains its position as a subsidiary, despite Experian’s well-known reputation for negative reasons.

In 2015, the major consumer credit reporting agency revealed one of the most significant data breaches, which exposed more than 15 million customer records. The massive security failure of a credit reporting agency handling sensitive financial data caused global shock and widespread public concern, despite additional data breaches across various industries.

The infamous security incident occurred more than ten years ago. The long duration of this event would remind movie fans of a memorable scene from The World According to Garp. The movie depicts Robin Williams' character, who searches for a house but watches a plane crash into his potential home. He decides to buy the house because he believes another plane hitting the house would be astronomically unlikely.

The security measures implemented by Experian follow a similar pattern to the previous situation. The company likely dedicated significant resources to improving data security after its major and harmful 2015 data breach, thus surpassing other organizations in their security enhancements. Experian faces an "astronomical" probability of experiencing another major data breach at least as severe as its previous incident. The focus on Experian's 2015 breach creates an inaccurate impression because the company has probably developed enhanced defensive capabilities that provide better protection for its IdentityWorks users today.

Experian IdentityWorks Pricing — Experian offers a number of plans to choose from depending on how many adults and children there are in your household (Image credit: Experian)

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Experian IdentityWorks: Plans and pricing

The Basic plan, a free tier of Experian, offers limited features. It includes a complimentary Experian credit report, FICO score, dark web surveillance report, and FICO score tracker. While cost-effective, this plan provides minimal protection.

The Premium plan offers a comprehensive range of features designed to protect adults from identity theft and fraud. Priced at $24.99 per month, this subscription service provides robust monitoring and alerts to safeguard sensitive personal information.

One of the key features of the Premium plan is full access to credit monitoring. This service monitors your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—and notifies you of any changes or suspicious activity. This allows you to stay informed about your credit profile and quickly identify any potential issues, such as unauthorized inquiries or fraudulent accounts.

To enhance account security, the plan offers financial account takeover alerts. These alerts vigilantly monitor your financial accounts for any unauthorized transactions or changes. By doing so, this feature safeguards your bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts against potential compromises. If any suspicious activities are detected, you will receive immediate notifications, allowing you to take prompt action to secure your accounts effectively.

Within the Premium plan's robust offerings, change of address alerts stand out as a crucial feature. This service keeps a watchful eye on public records to detect any modifications to your address, such as alterations to your driver's license or voter registration. Identity thieves frequently exploit change of address requests to reroute your mail, allowing them to pilfer confidential documents. However, this alert system safeguards you by promptly notifying you of any unauthorized changes, empowering you to take proactive steps to shield your identity from harm.

In addition to its monitoring features, the Premium plan provides social network monitoring alerts. This service vigilantly scans social media platforms for any unauthorized use of your name, photos, or personal information. Given that social media accounts are frequent targets for identity thieves, this alert system keeps you informed of potential online fraud attempts.

Among the many benefits of the Premium plan, the most notable feature is the up to $1 million in identity theft insurance it provides. This coverage acts as a financial safety net in the unfortunate event you become a victim of identity theft. The insurance covers expenses associated with restoring your identity, including legal fees, lost wages, and credit repair. This coverage offers invaluable peace of mind, knowing that you have a support system in place to help you recover from the devastating impact of identity theft.

The Premium plan provides a comprehensive array of security features to safeguard adults from identity theft and fraudulent activities. This subscription service offers robust monitoring, timely alerts, and substantial insurance coverage, creating an invaluable layer of protection for your sensitive personal information.

For families with more than one adult, the top-tier Family plan is the best choice. With a monthly cost of $34.99, this plan covers two adults and up to ten children, offering all the features of the Premium plan except for one minor difference.

The assumption of identity theft prevention software that users could have "up to" 10 children is perplexing, particularly given that the average number of children per family in the US is only two, and even fewer in the UK. Despite this, IdentityWorks inexplicably offers pricing options that accommodate up to 10 children and one or two adults. This pricing structure stands in stark contrast to the reality of family sizes in most countries, raising questions about the rationale behind such an assumption.

Unfortunately, annual discounts are currently unavailable. Instead, a brief 7-day free trial is offered. However, it necessitates purchasing the plan and then canceling it within the trial period, effectively converting it into a money-back guarantee during the first week.

App — Experian does not offer a standalone app for IdentityWorks and instead the service is baked into its credit report app. (Image credit: Experian)

Experian IdentityWorks: Interface

Thank goodness we're partnering with a major corporation like IdentityWorks, which boasts the resources and expertise to develop a user-friendly and feature-rich application. IdentityWorks' dashboard exemplifies minimalist design, featuring a sleek layout with intuitive tabs at the top that simplify navigation. Users can effortlessly find the information they need without unnecessary distractions. Additionally, the dashboard incorporates a dynamic wizard that visually tracks progress, indicating the number of steps completed and accounts configured, much like the seamless experience offered by Norton LifeLock, which prioritizes accessibility and user engagement.

In contrast, PrivacyGuard's interface appears somewhat cluttered, with an overabundance of bright colors that can be distracting and create a sense of overwhelm for specific users. IdentityWorks, on the other hand, cultivates an atmosphere of professionalism and importance, ensuring that users feel confident and secure while managing their sensitive information.

The IdentityWorks app is packed with practical features that empower users to take charge of their identities and maintain their privacy. For example, it offers tools for generating strong passwords, regularly monitoring credit reports, and sending timely alerts about potential identity theft. These proactive measures are crucial in today’s digital landscape, where threats to personal information are constant and evolving. Additionally, the app includes comprehensive resources for identity recovery in the event of an unfortunate need, ensuring users have a plan in place to regain control if their identity is compromised.

Overall, IdentityWorks stands out as an excellent choice for individuals seeking a comprehensive and user-friendly identity management solution. Its clean interface, practical features, and robust security measures position it as a leading option for anyone serious about protecting their identity and privacy in an increasingly digital world.

However, it's worth noting that while the IdentityWorks website provides links to apps for both Android and iOS devices, many consumers are unaware of their actual existence. Unfortunately, the linked apps lead to the Experian app rather than a dedicated IdentityWorks application. This oversight is disappointing and frustrating for consumers who are actively seeking a well-rounded identity management solution tailored to their needs. Improved visibility and clarity regarding app options could significantly enhance the user experience and ensure that users have the necessary tools at their fingertips.

Experian IdentityWorks: Features

In addition to its unique features, IdentityWorks emphasizes the importance of education and empowerment in the realm of identity protection. The platform is designed not only to monitor for potential threats but also to equip users with the knowledge they need to take proactive steps in safeguarding their identities. By providing access to a wealth of educational resources, including articles, guides, and webinars, users can stay informed about the latest trends in identity theft and cyber threats, enabling them to make more informed decisions about their safety.

Another noteworthy aspect of IdentityWorks is its focus on customer support. Recognizing that navigating issues of identity theft can be stressful and overwhelming, IdentityWorks provides comprehensive, round-the-clock support to its users. This includes access to dedicated identity theft recovery specialists who can guide users through the process of resolving any issues they may encounter. Whether it’s disputing fraudulent charges, recovering stolen identities, or simply understanding the nuances of personal credit, having expert assistance available can significantly alleviate the anxiety often associated with identity theft.

Additionally, IdentityWorks places a strong emphasis on user privacy and data security. In an era where data breaches are becoming increasingly common, the platform utilizes advanced encryption techniques and robust cybersecurity measures to safeguard sensitive user information. This commitment to protecting personal data not only enhances trust among users but also aligns with the growing demand for responsible data handling practices in the industry.

Moreover, the ability to tailor monitoring alerts is another feature that enhances the user experience. Users can customize the types of alerts they receive, ensuring they are only notified about issues relevant to them. This level of personalization not only reduces noise and potential overwhelm but also allows for a more focused approach to identity monitoring. Users can prioritize their concerns and receive timely updates that are relevant to their specific situations.

Finally, as technology continues to evolve, IdentityWorks remains committed to staying current with advancements in the field of identity protection. By regularly updating its services and features, the platform aims to stay ahead of emerging threats, offering users cutting-edge tools that reflect the current landscape of identity security. This commitment to innovation not only positions IdentityWorks as a formidable player in the identity theft protection market but also helps reassure users that their security is a top priority in an evolving environment.

In summary, while many identity theft protection services offer foundational monitoring features, IdentityWorks stands out through its unique offerings, emphasis on education and customer support, commitment to privacy and data security, customizable alerts, and dedication to staying current with technological advancements. These qualities make it an attractive option for those seeking comprehensive protection and guidance in navigating the complexities of identity management.

Experian IdentityWorks: The competition

The strong set of features in Experian IdentityWorks includes court record monitoring alongside FICO score simulation accuracy. Still, the identity theft protection market offers multiple robust alternatives for diverse needs and price ranges. LifeLock serves as a prominent identity theft protection service because it is integrated within the Norton 360 suite, which offers comprehensive cybersecurity protection. LifeLock monitors deeply, offering extensive dark web and home title and social media surveillance, along with $3 million in identity theft insurance coverage. However, its costs rise substantially following initial promotional periods.

Aura stands as a powerful alternative, achieving high ratings from users who praise its comprehensive security features. Aura provides users with comprehensive identity and credit monitoring capabilities through its alert system, which tracks all three major credit bureaus and incorporates full cybersecurity features, including VPN protection, antivirus software, and parental control capabilities. Aura offers families an excellent digital security solution, providing comprehensive protection at competitive prices with generous identity theft insurance benefits of up to $5 million for family plans.

The Premier version of Identity Guard provides advanced AI technology based on IBM Watson to monitor three bureau data alongside comprehensive protection which sets it apart from other options. The system provides immediate alerts and focuses intensely on credit reporting so it suits users who want to protect their financial information. The legal support feature of IDShield through LegalShield makes it stand out as a provider because it offers simple pricing together with dedicated legal assistance during identity theft situations. The restoration process includes access to a licensed private investigator along with social media tracking and VPN protection for users who need complete identity protection along with robust legal protection. The selection between these alternatives depends on individual preferences regarding specific features and insurance levels as well as budget constraints and the need for a complete cybersecurity package.

Experian IdentityWorks: Support

Experian doesn't provide a specific phone number or email address for direct contact regarding issues. Instead, clicking on "Contact us" directs users to a help center with various articles. For immediate assistance, Experian recommends obtaining an Experian credit report and calling the phone number provided on the report.

To enhance user satisfaction, we would suggest more streamlined and accessible communication channels for users to reach out to Experian.

Experian IdentityWorks: Final verdict

Safeguarding your personal identity stands as an absolute necessity in the current digitally connected world. Our personal information exists in the digital atmosphere to a greater extent than ever because of online transactions and social media posts, along with connected devices. The defense mechanisms provided by credit protection cover only a limited segment of identity theft risks that continue to evolve.

Identity theft is a broad and damaging criminal activity that encompasses multiple types of fraudulent actions, resulting in severe harm to victims. A person who steals your personal details can perform multiple illegal actions, such as establishing unauthorized credit accounts using your name while taking loans you will need to pay, filing false tax returns, and committing crimes, which will appear on your criminal record. The consequences of identity theft go beyond financial damage because they cause severe credit score deterioration along with damaged reputation and both emotional suffering and time-consuming identity recovery procedures.

Experian IdentityWorks stands as one of the primary services that protects identities from theft among all available options. The service provides a comprehensive suite of protective tools designed to defend personal data and mitigate identity theft threats effectively. The service offers continuous credit bureau monitoring, a proactive fraud alert system, substantial identity theft insurance coverage, and dedicated support for resolving identity theft cases.

Many users choose Experian IdentityWorks because of its extensive educational resources and instructional materials. The service provides highly valuable, actionable information that teaches users effective techniques for preventing identity theft and secure methods for handling their data online. The informational materials provide clear and engaging content that enables individuals with varying digital skills to protect their personal information effectively.

The choice to sign up for Experian IdentityWorks depends on personal factors which include your comfort level with risk and the specific issues you want to address. The financial and credit security features of Experian IdentityWorks make it a solid choice for those seeking comprehensive credit monitoring and fraud protection, thanks to its direct connection to Experian's credit data. Direct access to Experian credit data enables users to benefit from superior accuracy and a more detailed understanding.

The past data breach of Experian remains a notable concern for potential customers who decide against the service. The company invested extensive resources in security improvements following the breach more than a decade ago, although the incident continues to impact those who need perfect security standards. People who want better security and peace of mind should consider identity protection services such as LifeLock, Aura, Identity Guard, and IDShield.

We've also highlighted the best identity theft protection

Wondershare PDFelement review

5:00 am | November 29, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Tags: PDF | Comments: Off

The popularity of the PDF format has resulted in lots of different applications for PDF documents, and as a result, a wide variety of tools to work on them. Some of the best PDF editors are very simple, offering little more than basic conversion features and perhaps some highlighting and other minor edits. Others are much more powerful, rivaling office suites in their editing capabilities. Finding a good PDF editor starts with identifying your own needs.

PDFelement lies somewhere in the middle between the two ends of the spectrum. While it’s not as powerful as some of the leading applications on this market, it’s not just a simple PDF editor either. It comes with various features that can be useful to a wide range of users, and can allow you to do some interesting things with your documents. However, it does suffer from having a higher price than most other tools in its class.

We reviewed the latest version of the software to see how it compares in a competitive field.

Wondershare PDFElement during our latest review — There are two paid plans available for PDFelement and Wondershare also offers a free trial so you can test the software out before purchasing it (Image credit: Wondershare)

PDFElement: Pricing & plans

Wondershare PDFElement offers a 7-day free trial that provides access to the application’s features for a limited time, or for a limited number of uses (depending on the tool being selected). Beyond that, there are premium subscription plans which can be paid either for one or two years, as well as a perpetual licence option.

The cost of these subscriptions or licences depends on whether you need to invest in a cross-platform version, just require its use on a single one (namely, Windows, Macs, iOS or Android), and whether you’re an individual, a business, or in education. To give you a rough idea, a cross platform individual plan would cost you $90 for a year, $120 for two, or $140 for a perpetual licence. For alternatives, we tested the best free PDF editors.

PDFElement: Features

PDFelement offers a variety of features for editing documents. Standard markup features are available – users can change the font family and size of text, make it bold/underlined, highlight parts of the document, and even make various structural changes. The tool can also create PDFs from other file formats. Combined with its advanced batch operation support, this makes it a good choice for those who regularly need to convert large volumes of files and want a convenient and quick solution for that.

Documents can also be split into separate ones, protected with a password, and the application can automatically extract data from documents that have been scanned and run through its OCR engine. On that note, PDFelement does stand out with a reliable and robust OCR system that tends to work better than most of the competing solutions on the market.

PDFElement: Interface & experience

The application resembles most modern office suites in its interface, and everything is exactly where you would expect to find it. Tools are sorted in several main tabs, with individual buttons providing access to specific features. Users who are familiar with document editing on a computer should have no problem navigating the menus of PDFelement, including those who want to do more advanced edits.

The only complaint we have in this regard is that the interface can occasionally seem a bit big, especially on smaller screens. There aren’t many options for configuring the application’s appearance, and if you don’t enjoy its style of using large buttons for everything, you might be a bit displeased. Other than that, there aren’t any major issues that stand out with the interface and presentation of PDFelement.

PDFElement: AI tools

A new addition to PDFElement is, you’ve guessed it, AI. AI is everywhere - we’ve even been testing out the best AI tools - so why not here, right? And there’s a lot you can do with AI within PDFElement. You can use it to discuss the content of your document with it, translate it, check the grammar, or summarise it, among others. Most of these features have been available elsewhere, such as Google’s services for instance, but here you can do it all without having to leave the interface, which can and is a great time saver.

There is a major drawback: these AI features aren’t included in the fee you pay Wondershare to use the application: every time you use an AI feature, you’ll spend a certain number of tokens to do so - the more complex the function, the more tokens you’ll need.

The free trial gives you 25 for ‘Content Processing’. All the other paid options give you 100. After that, you’ll need yet another subscription to get more: $4 a month (ie, $48 a year) for a million additional ones each month. If these features felt truly unique and revolutionary, it might be worth it for some, but as it stands, this almost feels like price gouging, seriously jacking up the cost of the app to $138 or $216 for the one or two-year subscription respectively. Thankfully you can keep using PDFElement without touching AI, no matter how much Wondershare tries to entice you through their promotional ads, and with prominent sections in the interface.

PDFElement: Support

Wondershare is a well-known name in the field of small tools and utilities, and one of the features the company stands out with is the quality of their customer support. You can expect issues to get resolved quickly and with a knowledgeable attitude, and that’s if you even need to contact their support in the first place. Many of your questions will likely already be answered in the knowledge base, so take a look around to see if your issue is addressed.

PDFElement: Final verdict

This is a well-designed PDF editor with various features that should keep most people happy, including some advanced users. While the application does lack certain features that are standard in other editors, it doesn’t leave anything critical to be desired. For the most part, it’s a more than adequate application with enough to satisfy the average user. If you’re looking for a long-term subscription though, you might want to explore other options, particularly editors that are offered for a one-time purchase as opposed to a recurring annual subscription. For a long enough period of time, PDFelement can actually get quite expensive, especially if you’re using the Pro version.

Should I buy Wondershare PDFElement?

Buy it if...
You’re looking for a simple, easy to use, cross-platform PDF editor, with various tools to add text, images, highlights, and more.View Deal

Don't buy it if...
You don’t need yet another subscription to use tools you could probably mostly find elsewhere for free, and you don’t like the prominent “AI tools” you may have to subscribe to as an extra feature, in addition to subscribing to or paying for the app.View Deal

For more top PDF tools, we reviewed the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives.

Homestyler 2025 review

1:30 pm | November 25, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Tags: AI | Comments: Off

Being able to work straight from your browser has distinct advantages. Not only does this mean the service is platform agnostic, but you can also work from any machine, using any available browser.

That’s the theory anyway, and sadly, Homestyler is one service that breaks this expectation: Google Chrome is the browser they recommend. They’ll allow you to run it on Firefox, although you will be warned that it “cannot perfectly support the 3D design tool”. That's better than if you attempt to run it on Apple’s Safari; try, and you’ll be told “we don’t support your browser at this moment” (they’ve been saying that since at least 2021!). Opera doesn’t appear to have any warnings or restrictions, though.

So, browser compatibility aside, how does Homestyle measure up to the best interior design software out there?

Homestyler: Pricing and plans

Having a free plan is great to get a feel for what’s on offer, and the paid-for upgrade options introduce powerful design tools. The ability to purchase higher resolution renders is welcome if you end up using that part of the service a lot

Browser discrimination aside, you’ll be pleased to learned that Homestyler offers a free plan called ‘Basic’. It obviously has some limitations, but a lot of those can be alleviated with he use of coins - a type of currency Homestyler uses.

‘Basic’ introduces you to Homestyler’s online way of working, and grants you an unlimited number of 1K renders, 3 AI credits in total, and if you need other renders, such as 2K, or videos, that’s where those coins come into play. One thing you cannot remove with that plan is the Homestyler watermark.

A major feature ‘Basic’ doesn’t support, is the ability to set up custom lighting, being able to work on multiple floors (although you can add 3), edit your virtual environment to get the perfect lighting conditions, download a coloured floor plan, export a BOM file (Bill of Materials), and more. If you need any of those, you’ll have to pay for the privilege.

‘Pro’ starts at just under $5 a month. Not only does it come with everything we’ve listed as not being included in ‘Basic’, but it also grants you a set number of renders per month (such as 2K, 4K, panoramas, and video). You also get ‘Speed Previews’, the ability to remove that pesky watermark, and 100 Ai credits per month.

‘Master’ will cost you a tad less than $10 a month, and its main difference with ‘Pro’ is the fact most renders, aside from video and 12k panoramas, are now unlimited.

If you work in a group, then ‘Team’ might be better suited for you. At a cost of $19.60 per seat per month, you gain collaborative tools, such as ‘Shared Space’, ‘Member Management’ and ‘Asset Protection’.

Score: 4/5

Homestyler: Getting started

Homestyler during our review — Homestyler comes with a good number of template projects which you can use as the basis for your own design (Image credit: Homestyler)

Busy, yet easy to understand, interface, with a good number of templates and tutorials to help you hit the ground running

Last time we explored Homestyler, getting started felt much more barebones than it does now: you only had a handful of templates to base your project or, or, of course, you could start from scratch. Now, you can import an image or a CAD file, and the template section has been greatly beefed up, even including some designs you’ll need to pay for to use (from 200 to 500 coins).

You’ll also find a handful of tutorials to help you find your way around the interface, but in all honesty, if you’ve dabbled with other such services, you’ll understand its intricacies very quickly.

The interface is busy, but easy to manage: you have a sidebar on the left with various categories, such as ‘Build’ tools to create walls, windows, stairs, etc, ‘Decorate’ to furnish your project with as many objects as you could want (many are labelled as premium, meaning they aren’t free), an ‘AI Decor’ section to let the computer do all the furnishing for you (most of these are premium), and ‘Customise’ options to fine tune your build.

To the right are Inspector menus, with many changeable parameters, and a resizeable 3D view, which allows you to explore your build, as you assemble it in the central part of the interface.

Score: 4/5

Homestyler: Design

Numerous design options, all but a click away, with immense customizability, allowing you to build your home exactly as you wish, and switch between 2D and 3D view to get a better feel for your creation

The design process is pretty simple, and has had a few improvements recently, such as an automated roof building system, and support for multiple languages.

To start your project, go to the ‘Build’ category, and choose to add a wall, an arc wall, or a room. Rinse and repeat. In addition you have door and window options, and various structural additions such as a beam, a flue, a set of stairs, etc. All this is done - initially at least - as a 2D floor plan, but it’s a simple matter to switch to a 3D effect to get a better feel for what you’re creating - although you lose the ability to make structural changes in that view.

Click on an object you’ve added to reveal various editing options. You could, for instance, split a wall, connect it to another, align it with another, or even turn a straight wall into an arc one (or vice versa), as long as you’re in 2D view. Every object is also fully editable: having selected it, you can drag it to another location. Should you do this with a wall, this can and will affect adjoining walls, lengthening or shortening them, depending on the action you’re performing. Note that you’re not restricted to designing a single floor: you’re able to add additional levels, including multiple basements. When you do this, Homestyler duplicates your ground floor, speeding up the design process. Navigating through your levels is done via a menu at the bottom, or you can see them all at the same time, by switching the main design section to 3D.

The entire process is very well implemented, and is actually quite fun to use. You’ll be flying through your project in next to no time.

Score: 4/5

Homestyler: Furnishings

Numerous options to furnish and decorate your project. You can do it all manually, base your choices on the latest trends, or use AI to do the lot for you

The ‘Decorate’ category is broken down into various sub-sections. You have your usual, like ‘Furniture’ and ‘Finish’, which do what they say on the tin, all broken down by type, which you can scroll through and find the one you need, or use the search field at the top to get there quicker. You’ll find many items are premium, and actually, it’s not that clear at a glance which items are free or not: some have a ‘premium’ tag to them, but many that do not, are also restricted, which can get confusing, not to mention frustrating. Thankfully, you can narrow down what you see through various filters, meaning you can hide all those you need to pay for.

We found ‘Trends’ interesting, as is collates items of a similar style, making furnishing a breeze (although these are pretty much all premium items). But do you know what’s more of a breeze? Letting the algorithm do all the work for you. And this is where ‘AI Decor’ comes into its own. Scroll through the various styles, select one, and after a few seconds, your house will be totally furnished. You are still free of course to rearrange stuff, if the AI hasn’t got it quite right, but it certainly is a massive time saver.

Score: 4/5

Should I buy Homestyler?

Buy it if...

You need to design a project through your browser, need it to be simple to use, with tons of options, which you don’t mind paying for, and don’t view being restricted to Google Chrome as an issue.

Don't buy it if...

You don’t like being told which browser to use, and would prefer it if more items were free, so you can decorate your project however you please.

For more tools, we reviewed the best landscape design software and the best architecture software.

PDF24 Creator review

6:30 pm | November 24, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Tags: PDF | Comments: Off

There’s a good variety of PDF creator and editor tools out there, making it important to compare the market carefully before choosing something for the long run. Some premium tools come with lots of bells and whistles that can help you get the most out of your editing work, streamline and even automate common processes, and more. On the other hand, some tools are very simple and do just one or two jobs, but they do them well.

PDF24 Creator falls somewhere in the middle. While it doesn’t have all the fancy features of some of the best PDF editors out there, it’s also surprisingly feature-rich for a program, making it one of the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives out there.

The developers have obviously put a lot of effort into making their product as accessible as possible, as PDF24 Creator is one of the lightest editors on the market right now. It can easily run on weak computers, which, combined with its free price, makes it great for a wide range of Windows users. Mac and Linux owners will have to look elsewhere, like online: you can forgo the ‘Creator’ software, as all tools are available online. The drawback here is having to upload your files, relying on a third party server, and always needing an Internet connection to do your work.

We took a look at the latest version of the software to see how it compares against the best free PDF editors you can download right now.

PDF24 Creator: Pricing & plans

PDF24 is completely free. The company doesn’t offer any premium options at all, and there is just one single download option for the main application, no different versions. It also doesn’t install any additional software on your computer, as is common with other free applications on the market right now. The program can be used for all purposes without having to explicitly get a license from the developers, which is great for those who want to try it out in a commercial production environment.

PDF24 Creator during our latest review process — All of PDF24 Creator’s tools can be accessed from the main window (Image credit: PDF24 Creator)

PDF24 Creator: Features

PDF24 Creator comes with a good number of features, and it allows users to do all sorts of basic and even more advanced editing with ease. You can create a new PDF, merge existing ones, compress a PDF, convert a PDF to other formats, extract specific pages into a separate document (or otherwise split the document in different parts), optimize a PDF for different environments like the web, and extract different media from a document.

You can also apply OCR to a PDF, allowing you to convert scanned images to text that can be freely copied and edited further. This is a useful feature when working in an office setting, where you might frequently have to scan incoming documents and make slight adjustments to them as part of the processing pipeline.

Some nice additional features include the ability to spice up your documents with an overlay and page numbers, compare the contexts of different PDFs, and protect your documents against further editing.

PDF24 Creator: Interface & experience

The interface of PDF24 is clean and intuitive, and a bit minimalistic in places. The application is designed around speed of use, and all important features are right where you would expect to find them. There are lots of different features packed in this package, so it can take some time to explore them all and figure out which ones you actually need in your work.

Something that might annoy some users is that the application offers most of its features in a modular manner, with completely separate interfaces isolated from one another. When you first start PDF24, you’ll be presented with a grid of editing options. Clicking on one will take you to the appropriate interface. This can make it a bit clumsy to go through lots of PDFs in sequence, but once you get used to the interface, it should be very easy to find your way around it.

As PDF24 Creator is designed to be as compatible as possible, you’ll find two versions available, depending on which Windows OS you’re running: as of this writing, it’s version 9.9 for Windows 7 and 8, and version 11.19 for 10 and 11.

Support

The one downside of being a free application is that you shouldn’t expect much in the way of customer support. The developers have gone through a lot of effort compiling a help database in both English and German, that covers a large variety of topics, but if you get stuck and need actual human assistance, it can take a while to get a response. They do have contact options and encourage their users to make use of them, but you shouldn’t expect a speedy reply or any kind of priority treatment.

PDF24 Creator: Final verdict

PDF24 Creator gets the job done, and it does so with minimal hassle. The application works fast, and is reliable enough to be your main PDF editor if you need to do this kind of work on a daily basis. It’s also perfect for making small occasional edits here and there. If you want a professional PDF editor with lots of advanced features, there are better options out there. But in this corner of the market, PDF24 is uncontested, and easily your best bet.

Need to convert more files? Check out the best PDF to Excel converters, best Excel to PDF converters and the best PDF to Word converters

Keap review 2025

2:02 pm | November 23, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Software | Tags: Key Features | Comments: Off

Keap, formerly known as Infusionsoft, positions itself amongst the best CRM platforms on the market. The platform offers sales enablement and marketing automation for small businesses. With a focus on simplifying the growth process, Keap aims to provide entrepreneurs with the tools they need to capture more leads, manage customer relationships, automate follow-ups, and get paid faster.

What sets Keap apart is its commitment to combining essential business functions into one user-friendly interface. From contact management and appointment scheduling to email marketing campaigns and invoicing, Keap strives to eliminate the need for multiple software solutions by offering a comprehensive suite of features tailored to the needs of small business owners.

In this in-depth review, I'll dive into the core features, ease of use, pricing, and overall effectiveness of Keap CRM. By the end, you'll have a clear understanding of whether it’s the right fit for your small business needs.

Keap core capabilities

screenshot of Keap CRM — (Image credit: Keap)

Keap offers everything you’d expect from one of the best small business CRM platforms. It allows users to easily store, organize, and manage customer information in a centralized database. I was impressed by the level of detail that can be captured for each contact, including personal details, communication history, and purchase records.

For managing your contacts, Keap provides tools to efficiently track and nurture leads throughout the sales process. I particularly appreciated the ability to assign lead scores based on predefined criteria, helping sales teams prioritize their efforts on the most promising prospects. Keap's visual sales pipeline management feature offers a clear overview of the sales funnel, allowing users to drag and drop deals between stages and monitor progress towards closing.

The software provides insights into expected revenue based on the current pipeline and historical data. I found the forecasting reports to be intuitive and customizable, enabling sales managers to make data-driven decisions and adjust strategies as needed. The ability to set quotas and track individual and team performance adds an extra layer of accountability and motivation.

Keap's reporting capabilities enable businesses to gain valuable insights into their customer base and make informed decisions to drive growth. I was able to generate detailed reports on various metrics, such as lead conversion rates, sales performance, and customer engagement. The software's dashboard provides a real-time overview of key performance indicators, allowing users to quickly identify trends and take action.

For sales reps in the field, Keap offers a user-friendly and feature-rich mobile app for iOS and Android. It allows sales reps to access customer information, update deals, and log activities on the go. The ability to work offline and sync data when a connection is available ensures that no important information is lost, even in areas with limited connectivity.

Something that really sets Keap apart, however, is its focus on automation. The software offers a wide range of automation features that streamline repetitive tasks and improve efficiency. From lead nurturing campaigns to follow-up reminders and task assignments, Keap's automation capabilities help businesses save time and ensure consistent communication with customers. I was impressed by the ease with which I could set up complex automation sequences using the drag-and-drop workflow builder.

Overall, Keap CRM delivers on all the core capabilities needed to effectively manage customer relationships, drive sales, and make data-driven decisions. Plus, its built-in automation capabilities add an extra layer of productivity enhancement for sales reps, allowing them to focus on the tasks that matter.

How easy is Keap CRM to use?

Keap maintains a strong focus on usability. Logging into the platform for the first time, I was impressed by the uncluttered layout that allows users to quickly navigate through the various features and tools. I also liked the customizable dashboard, which enables users to personalize their workspace according to their specific needs and preferences.

Onboarding with Keap is a breeze when compared to other CRMs. Each plan includes a dedicated customer success manager who guides new users through the setup process, ensuring that the platform is tailored to their unique business requirements. Additionally, Keap offers a wealth of training resources, including onboarding checklists, video tutorials, webinars, and personalized advice from expert coaches.

Adding even more to its user-friendliness, Keap's drag-and-drop automation builder allows users to create both simple and advanced workflows without requiring any coding knowledge. The availability of customizable templates further simplifies the process of setting up automated lead nurturing campaigns, follow-up sequences, and sales processes.

Speaking about the core CRM, the platform automatically captures and organizes customer interactions, allowing users to access a comprehensive view of each contact's history with just a few clicks. The ability to segment contacts based on various criteria and trigger automated actions for specific groups streamlines communication efforts and ensures that the right messages reach the right audience at the optimal time.

While a custom API with REST hooks is available for developers with advanced knowledge, the pre-built integrations are robust enough to suit most small businesses without custom development. Keap's integration with popular third-party applications, such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoom, and Mailchimp, is seamless and requires no coding experience.

Based on my experience, the average time for new users to become proficient with this platform should be relatively short, thanks to the platform's intuitive design and extensive support resources. The combination of a user-friendly interface, customization options, comprehensive onboarding, and accessible automation tools makes this a great option for smaller teams that lack in-house technical expertise.

Keap CRM integrations

Keap focuses on providing a curated selection of integrations that complement its core functionalities and cater to the needs of small businesses. While it does not offer the same number of integrations as Salesforce or HubSpot, the ones that it does offer should fit the requirements of most small businesses.

For example, by connecting Keap with Gmail, Outlook, and social media channels, businesses can automate marketing campaigns and track effectiveness directly within the CRM. Keap also integrates with a variety of other essential business tools, such as Leadpages for landing page creation, Jotform for custom lead capture forms, and BigCommerce for ecommerce functionality.

Keap also integrates with the no-code automation platform Zapier, which allows you to build your own automations with thousands of other third-party applications without any coding requirements. Through Zapier, Keap users can create custom integrations with Slack, Trello, Mailchimp, and more.

While its selection of pre-built integrations may not be as extensive as some other CRMs, Keap’s custom API is open and well-documented, allowing for custom integrations to be developed when needed. Keap also provides documentation and resources to assist users in setting up connected apps, including custom ones built using the API. Dedicated customer success managers are available to offer guidance and support throughout the integration process, ensuring a smooth experience for all customers.

How good is Keap's customer support?

Keap offers a decent range of support options, including human agents and self-service resources. Users can reach out to the support team via phone, live chat, and email, depending on their preference and the urgency of their issue. However, your experience with the support agents might vary depending on the channel you choose to contact them.

U.S.-based phone support is available on weekdays from 6 am to 7 pm PST, with local support also offered for subscribers in the UK and Australia. The inclusion of a dedicated success manager with all plans is a notable advantage. Phone support is generally quite good, with reduced wait times, helpful agents, and quick resolutions.

However, Keap offers a 24/7 chat support option that’s arguably the preferred option for users across different time zones. Yet, chat support can be wildly inconsistent when it comes to quality. Wait times can sometimes be up to 30 minutes, while the agents there seem to have very little knowledge of the product.

Keap does provide a range of self-help resources, including a knowledge base, how-to videos, and a community forum where users can seek advice from peers. These resources offer guidance on various topics, such as automating text messages and connecting the CRM with WordPress. But while they are helpful, they may not always suffice for complex account-specific issues.

Customer reviews on third-party sites like Trustpilot paint a worrisome picture of Keap's customer support. Many users report difficulties canceling their accounts, unresponsive support teams, and billing issues that required escalation to legal action. These experiences, while not necessarily representative of the majority, raise serious red flags.

On a more positive note, Keap's onboarding process and Expert Coaching service aim to set users up for success from the start. The one-on-one support, training webinars, and customized sales and marketing plans help businesses optimize their use of the CRM. However, the $499 one-time fee for this service may be a barrier for most SMBs.

Keap CRM pricing and plans

During my review of Keap CRM, I found the pricing model to be unique compared to other CRM platforms. Instead of feature-based plans, Keap's pricing is scalable based on the number of contacts, with plans starting at $249 per month for up to 1,500 contacts. Prices can add up quickly as you gain customers, especially if you’re a consumer-facing business. Moreover, adding more user seats to your Keap plan costs you a flat rate of $32 per month, regardless of the plan.

When comparing Keap's pricing to other CRM platforms, it's evident that Keap is on the higher end of the spectrum compared to players like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho CRM. However, the fact that it includes features like marketing automation and invoice management does make it more bearable.

There are a number of implementation packages starting from $1500 one-time. It's also worth noting that Keap does not offer a free plan, unlike competitors like HubSpot and Zoho CRM. However, the CRM does come with a 14-day free trial, allowing potential users to explore the platform's capabilities before committing to a paid plan. While a longer trial period would be nice, two weeks is still sufficient to gain a solid understanding of the features and user experience.

Keap CRM Comparison Table

	Starting Monthly Price (Billed Annually)	Key Features
Keap Pro	Starts at $249/month for 1,500 contacts and 2 users	All core CRM, sales & marketing automation, email marketing, payments, invoicing, appointments, sales pipeline, and a dedicated business phone line.
Keap Max	Starts at $289/month for 2,500 contacts and 3 users	Includes all Keap Pro features, plus advanced reporting and lead scoring.
Keap Max Classic	Custom pricing	Includes all Keap Max features, plus advanced customization options like custom user roles, affiliate management, and a shopping cart. Export to Sheets

Keap CRM FAQ

Who is the primary audience for Keap?

Keap is an all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform. It's primarily designed for small businesses and entrepreneurs (often with 1-15 employees and revenues over $100K) who need to automate their sales and marketing processes to save time and grow their business.

What is the difference between Keap Pro and Keap Max?

Keap Pro is the more basic plan, offering core CRM, sales, and marketing automation features. Expect things like contact management, sales and marketing automation, invoicing, payment management, and appointment scheduling that syncs with your calendar. Keap Max includes everything in Pro, plus more advanced tools like lead scoring and e-commerce capabilities.

What kind of automations can I create with Keap

You can automate a wide range of tasks, including sending follow-up emails, assigning leads to a sales rep, sending appointment reminders, and managing referral programs. The platform's drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create these "when-then" workflows.

Is Keap easy to learn how to use?

In fact, many users note that Keap has a steep learning curve due to its robust features. Complexity comes with price - often a financial one; sometimes in terms of ease of use. However, the platform offers extensive onboarding resources, including a dedicated success manager, video tutorials, and webinars to help new users get started.

Keap CRM review: Final verdict

Keap is a solid choice for small businesses seeking an all-in-one CRM, with the added advantage of marketing automation and financial management features. Its core capabilities, such as contact management, lead nurturing, and sales pipeline visualization — are well-designed to the needs of most small businesses.

However, the inconsistent customer support experience is a notable drawback, potentially impacting user satisfaction and efficiency. The pricing structure is yet another deterrent, especially when you factor in the additional costs for initial onboarding and more seats.

On the whole, Keap offers valuable features and automation capabilities that can significantly benefit small businesses, but there's still room for improvement. Go for this platform if you need features beyond what a typical CRM offers at a low cost, but not if customer management is your only requirement.

Sony WF-1000XM4 Wireless Earbuds review

11:51 pm | November 22, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Audio Computers Earbuds & Airpods Gadgets Headphones | Comments: Off

Editor's note: January 2024

• Original review date: June 2021
• Newer Sony WH-1000XM5 now out
• Launch price: $279 / £250 / AU$449.95
• Official price now: $199 / £199 / $359

Even three years after their launch, we still rate the Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds highly among the best wireless earbuds, because price cuts over the years (and the fact that their successor, the Sony WH-1000XM5 actually came with a price rise) means they still offer fantastic value. The particular balance of noise cancellation, sound quality and features is unbeatable at the discounted price you can often find them for during sales events – we've seen them at $160 / £180 / AU$260 during Black Friday. You can't do better at that price – though obviously, these days, if you pay more you'll get a better overall package. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Sony WH-1000XM4: Two-minute review

The Sony WF-1000XM4 are smaller, lighter and greener than previous wireless earbuds in the line – oh, and the Sony WF-1000XM4 also sound even more articulate and immediate than the model they replace.

It’s true to say there’s no one area (with the possible exception of control-app excellence) in which they truly lead the field; but if you want to beat them for their combination of sound quality, noise-cancelling and battery life you’ll have to buy three pairs of noise-cancelling earbuds.

In every respect, the Sony WF-1000XM4 are either ‘very good’ or ‘very good indeed’ –and taken as a complete package they’re very difficult to lay a glove on.

Compared to their predecessors, the Sony WF-1000XM3, the new wireless earbuds offer enough quality-of-life features to make them worth upgrading to, even if they are slightly more expensive.

A more compact design means the Sony WF-1000XM4 are more comfortable and easier to carry around, while the accompanying app makes it simple to adjust the controls and your EQ settings, rivalling the best headphones.

Meanwhile, features taken from the over-ear Sony WH-1000XM4, including Speak-To-Chat, DSEE Extreme audio upscaling, and adaptive noise cancellation, mean you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensively-specced pair of wireless earbuds, even when seeking out the best wireless headphones.

While other true wireless earbuds surpass the Sony WF-1000XM4 in particular areas – noise cancellation, for example – no other model comes close to offering such excellent quality across the board. That’s why the Sony WF-1000XM4 are hands-down the best true wireless earbuds you can buy today.

Read on for our full Sony WF-1000XM4 review.

Sony WH-1000XM4 review: Price & release date

Available now, released June 8, 2021
$279.99 / £250 / AU$449.95

The Sony WF-1000XM4 are on sale now, priced at $279.99 / £250 / AU$449.95, and when you consider that the outgoing WF-1000XM3 started life at a nominal $230 / £220 / AU$399 back in 2019, with the last few pairs currently available for around $170 / £150 / AU$200, that price seems fair enough.

In terms of the competition, the WF-1000XM4 compares pretty favorably with alternative designs from the likes of Bose, Grado and Sennheiser, and looks a bit of a bargain next to Bowers & Wilkins’ outstanding (and dizzily priced) PI7.

sony wf-1000xm4 case — The charging case is 40% smaller than the Sony WF-1000XM3. (Image credit: TechRadar)

Sony WH-1000XM4 review: Design & controls

Smaller than predecessors
Outstanding control app
Touch controls

The outgoing WF-1000XM3 gave us plenty of reasons to recommend them, but ‘discretion’ was not high on that list. The earbuds were big, and so was their charging case, and Sony has wisely chosen to try and reduce some of this bulk in this new model.

Key specs

Acoustic design: Closed

Weight: 7.3g

Frequency response: 20-40,000Hz

Drivers: 6mm

Battery life : 8 hours (earbuds) 16 hours (charging case)

The charging case is a full 40% smaller, while the earbuds themselves are 10% smaller. The fact that they’re still among the heftier examples of this type only serves to illustrate how big the WF-1000XM3 were – but at least the new charging case might conceivably slip into a trouser pocket, while the earbuds don’t protrude from the wearer’s head like a prop in a sci-fi movie.

(Sony has taken a big chunk out of the packaging, too. The box the WF-1000XM4 arrive in is 40% smaller than the WF-1000XM3 box, and it’s entirely paper-based, recyclable and eco-friendly.)

sony wf-1000xm4 — The earbuds come with some of the features first shown on the Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones. (Image credit: TechRadar)

The WF-1000XM4 incorporate some of the features first showcased on last year’s WH-1000XM4 over-ears: active noise-cancellation that can ascertain what you’re doing and where you’re doing it in order to adapt to your circumstances; fast pairing for Android and Windows devices; and ‘speak to chat’, which simply requires you to make a noise in order to pause your music so that you can have a brief chat without removing the earbuds. Noise cancelling is augmented by new polyurethane eartips (small, medium and large are all provided) designed to provide improved passive noise reduction.

Your one-stop-shop for controlling the WF-1000XM4 is Sony’s fully featured, fully stable Headphones app. Here’s where you can fiddle with all the features (both great and small) that are partially duplicated on the capacitive touch surface of each earbud. In the app you can decide what you’d like the left and right earbuds to control: ‘volume up/down’, ‘play/pause/skip forwards/skip backwards/summon voice assistant’, ‘active noise-cancelling on/off/adaptive’, or the rather less helpful ‘nothing assigned’.

There’s also EQ adjustment (the numerous presets include one racily titled ‘Excited’), with space for a custom preset or two, and the option to turn auto-pause and DSEE Extreme on or off. Here’s where you can submit pictures of your ears, too, in an effort to help Sony optimize those music streaming apps that offer 360 Reality Audio or Dolby Atmos, and where you can decide whether you’d like your Bluetooth connection to prioritize sound quality or connection stability.

sony wf-1000xm4 app — The app allows you to adjust the EQ settings of the earbuds. (Image credit: TechRadar)

Control is also available via the big three voice assistants – Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa – which can be summoned via their established ‘wake’ words. No matter your assistant of choice, the WF-1000XM4 prove sharp-eared and alert to instructions, even in unpromisingly noisy environments.

There are three mics in each earbud, taking care of active noise-cancelling, call quality, and interaction with voice assistants. A combination of feed-forward and feed-back mics capture the wearer’s voice directionally (from the mouth), though the feed-forward mics will automatically mute when adverse conditions (wind noise, most likely) are detected. Sony has also included a bone conduction sensor, which picks up voice vibration, but doesn’t register it as ambient sound.

Sony WH-1000XM4 review: Audio performance and noise cancellation

Balanced, driving, poised and convincing sound
Pretty good noise cancellation
Great dynamic and rhythmic ability

Positioning the WF-1000XM4 comfortably takes a little longer than it really should – we found them a little fiddly to insert, and felt they should fit more deeply in the ear than is the case – but once it’s done you can set up the touch controls, the EQ levels and the myriad other options to your liking. All done? Good. Time to stick some music on.

We kicked off our testing with a Tidal Masters file of Burner by Ross From Friends, and the WF-1000XM4 immediately impressed. They don’t give any area of the frequency range undue prominence, they don’t let any details go unnoticed, and they don’t let rhythms or tempos hang around. There’s vigor and enthusiasm to their presentation, but it’s tempered by unarguable control.

Down at the bottom end, the earbuds freight bass sounds with substance, texture, and an absolute stack of detail. There’s drive and momentum to spare here, but the WF-1000XM4 never lose the run of themselves – there’s an equal amount of poise to go along with it. Entry into and exit from bass notes is clean and well-defined, which helps prevent the bottom end smearing up into the midrange.

The midrange itself is equally information-rich – listening to Kate Bush’s Lake Tahoe, the ability of the WF-1000XM4 to identify and incorporate the tiniest details or the most fleeting transients into a much broader picture was obvious. ‘Communicative’ may seem a redundant word when discussing a person’s singing voice, but here it’s absolutely appropriate: if they’re anything, the WF-1000XM4 are communicative.

The handover from midrange to top end is smooth and naturalistic, and treble sounds themselves have plenty of shine and bite without ever getting shouty about it. Both Kate Bush and Ross From Friends are more than happy to pile on the high-frequency information, but the WF-1000XM4 control it as deftly as they do the rest of the frequency range.

(All of the above assumes an unchanged EQ setting, we should point out. Sony is slightly unusual in allowing the end-user to fiddle endlessly with the sound of their earbuds, but the most natural and convincing sound comes from the WF-1000XM4 when their EQ is flat.)

Dynamically, too, there's little to criticize. The WF-1000XM4 are capable of switching from ‘ear-splitting’ to ‘almost silent’ and back again in an instant, and even the most subtle harmonic dynamics of Bush’s piano-playing are given full description too. As far as rhythmic certainty and expression goes, their combination of control and attack ensures that, like James Brown, they’re always on the good foot. All of this is helped no end by convincingly natural timing and unity of presentation.

The active noise cancelling is a success of the slightly more qualified kind. The problem for every other pair of ANC true wireless earbuds is that the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds have demonstrated that it’s possible to utterly reject external sounds, without leaving any counter-signal and without impacting on the quality of the music you’re listening to.

The WF-1000XM4 can’t quite pull off the same trick – but they certainly minimize the impact of ambient noise on your listening experience. They may not be the market leader where noise-cancellation is concerned but, for most of the people most of the time, they’re extremely capable.

sony wf-1000xm4 charging case — The noise cancellation is very good, but it's just beaten by the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. (Image credit: TechRadar)

Sony WH-1000XM4 review: Battery life and connectivity

Eight hours onboard battery life
Wireless charging
Bluetooth 5.2

Even within the new and reduced physical dimensions of the WF-1000XM4 there’s much more going on than there was before. Connectivity is now via Bluetooth 5.2, which means simultaneous transmission to the left and right earbuds, and (when using Sony’s bespoke LDAC codec) Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification.

Bluetooth 5.2 should, in theory, mean better battery life, too – but the best-case real-world scenario of 24 hours (between eight and 12 in the earbuds, depending on whether active noise cancellation is on or off, plus another couple of charges in the case) is really nothing special. Still, at least the WF-1000XM4 are Qi charging pad-compatible, and five minutes plugged into an outlet will deliver another hour of action.

As well as LDAC, the WF-1000XM4 are compatible with SBC and AAC codecs – but there’s no sign of aptX in any of its guises. They also incorporate DSEE Extreme capability, in case you’re a believer in an algorithm supposedly capable of extracting high-resolution sound from a standard-definition digital audio file (we've never been entirely convinced).

Should I buy the Sony WH-1000XM4?

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Sony WH-1000XM4 review: Also consider

Not convinced by our Sony WF-1000XM4 review? Here are three more pairs of true wireless earbuds to consider.

First reviewed: June 2021

See where the Sony WF-1000XM4 rank in our guide to the best earbuds.
Check out our guide to the best wireless earbuds for the competition

Sonos Arc review

11:45 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

The Sonos Arc is the company's biggest and beefiest soundbar even now, a few years on from its release. While we’re not sure if the device gets its name from the HDMI interface it uses, the curved sound it pitches or the fact that it is perhaps, metaphorically, a vessel delivering impressive surround sound to the modern minimalist home – but whichever the case, this bar is built to deliver big sound without taking over the room.

The Sonos Arc can deliver the best quality Dolby lossless audio found on cutting edge Blu-ray disks, and can provide the 3D soundscape of Dolby Atmos object tracks from discs and streaming movies. This means that it can bounce certain sounds off the walls around you so they feel like they’re coming at you from all angles. Interestingly, this is what the Sonos Era 100 & 300 are rumored to do – the upcoming Sonos speakers that could blow the competition out of the water.

the sonos arc soundbar on a tv stand — (Image credit: Future)

While all this might sound complicated, the Sonos Arc setup couldn’t be simpler, involving just a couple of steps on the smartphone app. The minimalist cable connections and all-in-one system construction add to this no-fuss feeling and streamlined aesthetic. If you’ve got a media room with four walls and a roof then this is absolutely one of the best soundbars around.

There are some caveats for those with expansive TV rooms – or smaller rooms that might be able to get away with using the smaller and more affordable Sonos Beam (Gen 2) instead. It's also important to note that it only has one HDMI port – it doesn't have a 'passthrough' port, like most soundbars do these days, so you lose the use of the port it's connected to.

But all up, the Arc is a pretty amazing bit of kit that can mimic impressive 3D sound from a sleek and self-contained unit, making it the best Dolby Atmos soundbar around if you want one without a separate subwoofer or speakers. Though being Sonos, you could add those later, of course…

a closeup of the Sonos Arc soundbar — The Sonos Arc soundbar was subject to a price increase. (Image credit: Future)

Sonos Arc: price and availability

Released in June 2020
Official price: $899 / £899 / AU$1,499

The Sonos Arc soundbar launched globally on June 10, 2020 and cost $799 / £799 / AU$1,399 as a standalone unit. However, after Sonos announced a nearly product-wide price hike, it now costs $899 / £899 / AU$1,499.

While this Atmos-enabled speaker is perfectly capable on its own, you can also add the Sonos Sub (Gen 3) for $749 / £749 / AU$1099 for huge bass upgrage, or a Sonos Sub Mini ($429 / £429 / AU$699) for a smaller bass boost. You can also add a pair of Sonos One SL units for rear left and right surround sound, which will set you back $199 / £179 / AU$289 each. These speakers have also increased in price since their launch.

The Arc has been designed to sit on the tabletop beneath your TV, but you can also mount it below a screen using the Sonos Arc compatible wall mount ($79 / £79 / AU$99).

A lot has happened in soundbar world since the Sonos Arc's release, and it's price looks a little on the high side if you just want big home theater sound. You can get something like the Samsung HW-Q930B, with sub and rear speakers included, for around the same price as the Sonos Arc alone. However, not everyone wants all those boxes, even when they're wireless, and when it comes to all-in-one soundbars, the Arc is good value compared to competition such as the Sony HT-A7000.

Sonos Arc: design and features

Width of a 55-inch TV
Simple setup
Taller than most soundbars

There was a time where you wouldn’t consider anything other than a multi speaker array for the best quality surround sound, but Dolby Atmos is leading the charge to deliver 3D audio effects from a more streamlined system – and the Sonos Arc is a great example of this.

The self contained single unit has only two essential inputs: a power cable and a HDMI in, and while an Ethernet socket and a Digital Optical to HDMI adapter are available out of the box, it’s only recommended you use them if you absolutely have to. Sonos doesn’t even include a remote, suggesting you instead connect the soundbar to your TV via the Audio Return Channel (ARC) and just use your TV remote (or control it through the new Sonos S2 smartphone app).

Key specs

Speakers: 5.0.2, 11 Class-D amplifiers, 8 woofers, 3 tweeters Dimensions: 45 x 3.4 x 4.5 inches (1141.7 x 87 x 115.7mm), 13.78 lbs (6.25 kg )
Finish: Matte Black or White
Connections: HDMI input (ARC), optical digital audio to HDMI converter, Bluetooth, Ethernet port, 802.11b,g Wi-Fi, Apple AirPlay 2, IR receiver
App: Android (no Trueplay), iOS
Subwoofer included: No

Even the color choices are simple with the Arc, being available in just back or white. And while you can of course pair the Sonos Arc soundbar with the Sonos Sub or a pair of One SL speakers for deeper bass and true surround sound, it’s been created to be an excellent audio solution on its own, which cuts down on overall clutter.

Since the Arc is intended to bounce audio off the roof and walls of your room to create a 3D soundscape, it’s wrapped on the top, front, and either end by metal, hole-punch speaker grilles that cover the various orientations of the Atmos driver array.

The soundbar sits a little higher than most at 3.4-inches (8.7cm), and this can be a problem with TVs that sit very low on their stands. But the built in IR repeater means it won’t block your remote connection, and this extra headroom gives a little more space to the upward firing Atmos drivers. At 45-inches (114.17cm) wide it’ll line up roughly with the edges of the average 55-inch TV, and its scale makes it suitable for anything up to 85 inches.

There is a simple status LED light that self-adjusts brightness according to ambient light and the subtle capacitive play/pause, volume and mute buttons help it blend into the background.

There’s two rear reinforced holes to wall mount the 13.78 lb (6.25 kg) unit for a forward facing mounting setup, but naturally the bass response is a little more concentrated when it can reflect off a tabletop surface.

While there is a Digital Optical converter included with the Arc, Atmos can only be carried over HDMI so by connecting it you’ll be sacrificing top quality sound. Dolby Atmos still isn't ubiquitous in terms of availability so making sure you have all the right bits can be a bit of a process. To see if your other current components are Atmos-ready check out our Dolby Atmos explainer.

a closeup of the Sonos Arc — The setup process is designed to be as simple as possible, all done through the Sonos S2 smartphone app. (Image credit: Future)

Much like everything else with the Arc, the setup process is designed to be as simple as possible, all done through the new Sonos S2 smartphone app. After the initial plug in, you’re asked to download the app from the App store or Google Play Store (if you don’t already have it).

Then, you'll need to follow a couple of prompts to connect the TV to Wi-Fi, any audio streaming or internet radio services you may already be signed up to, and your choice of Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Other than this there’s not much else to the setup, it’s a relatively painless process (especially if you already have a Sonos account).

There is one last task you’ll want to perform before firing up your favorite movies, however: Trueplay Tuning. Trueplay is Sonos’ tool that analyzes the shape of a room in order to best balance the sound output. It can detect how the sound reflects, and tweak its audio to make everything sound as good as possible.

It makes a marked difference to detail overall, and to the clarity and precision of Dolby Atmos positional effects.

the sonos arc on a tv stand — Trueplay is Sonos’ proprietary adaptive soundscape tool which analyzes the shape of a room in order to best balance the sound output for everyone in it. (Image credit: Future)

There is one pretty considerable hitch, however: Trueplay is only compatible with iOS devices. This is a big inconvenience for non-Apple users and Sonos says that the diversity in Android hardware means it isn’t planning on developing it anytime soon.

Fortunately, you can borrow an iOS device to run the calibration in the soundbar’s final location and it’ll remain true as long as you keep things in vaguely the same place. It’s an inconvenience, but on balance it’s probably simpler than having to store a dedicated tuning microphone somewhere memorable after setup.

the side speakers on the sonos arc soundbar — The Sonos Arc contains eight elliptical woofers combine to deliver a solid overall bass response. (Image credit: Future)

Sonos Arc: audio performance

Excellent for both music and movies
Great surround sound for a single bar
Best with the right-shaped room

The Sonos Arc’s audio capabilities are seriously great. Eight elliptical woofers combine to deliver a solid overall bass response and the tuning balances a nice amount of warmth through the mids with an impressive level of clarity.

This precision is matched by the three silk dome tweeters that deliver particularly crisp highs with an impressive level of control. We were particularly taken by the unit's ability to deliver soundscapes that distinguished sound from individual instruments during particular arrangements without feeling disjointed.

This type of spatial precision makes sense when you consider that the Sonos Arc was designed to make the most of Dolby Atmos, an audio codec which separates sounds into object based audio tracks, so particular sources can be quickly shifted between speakers and bounced around the room more easily. So unsurprisingly, the Arc is very capable once you’ve tuned it to the room and it’s able to bounce effects around you.

It’s worth pointing out that because the system uses your room to actually get the sound around you there’s going to be some variation in the Arc’s ability to deliver surround sound.

We tested it in a room with a 20 foot (6 meter) vaulted ceiling and a nib wall behind the sofa, which makes it essentially impossible to bounce audio around behind you.

So while we were able to experience excellent height and left/right soundscape movement, we definitely didn’t get the same surround sound experience as a multi-speaker array.

That said, the speaker’s audio positioning was good enough that in a boxier media room we’d expect you’d be able to get surprisingly close to multi-speaker surround sound using just the Arc soundbar.

We really didn’t feel any desperate need to add a Sub to the Arc soundbar, there was more than enough powerful bass to allow you to feel those on-screen explosions or beat drops when turned up loud. We even felt the night mode settings that lower the bass EQ would be a useful feature for those in apartments with thin walls.

However, we have tested the Sonos Sub Mini with all three Sonos soundbars, and it does add extra power to the mix, no question – it's just not essential.

Should I buy the Sonos Arc?

Buy the Arc if ...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

Not convinced by our Sonos Arc review? We've picked three other soundbars you may want to consider below:

First reviewed: June, 2020
How we test: read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition (2021) review

10:30 pm | November 19, 2021

Author: admin | Category: Computers eReaders Gadgets Tablets | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: November 2021
• No refresh on the horizon
• Launch price: $189 / £179 / AU$289
• Official price now: $189 / £179 / AU$299

Updated: January 2024. The Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition still fills the gab between the standard Paperwhite and the ageing Kindle Oasis. And it remains one of the ereaders to get if your an audiobook fan thanks to its 32GB of onboard storage as standard. If you can do without the extra space then you can save a bit by going for the standard Kindle Paperwhite. Overall the prices have remains broadly the same as they were at launch outside of sales events like Black Friday, only the price appears to have increased a bit in Australia. For 2024, the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is still an ereader worth considering, but do think about whether you really need its few extra features over cheaper Kindle models. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021: Two-minute review

Among Amazon’s current ereaders, the new Kindle Paperwhite (2021) is a middle-of-the-road model that has everything you need to read – but the Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition has just a little bit more.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is essentially a rebranded version of the previous Paperwhite’s higher-storage configuration, with those aforementioned extras (wireless charging and an auto-sensing screen dimmer). We don’t feel the bonus perks justify the Signature Edition’s significantly higher price, but if someone did want to pay for more features, this is the model to choose.

The Signature Edition has the same design as the standard Kindle Paperwhite 2021, which is the first upgrade on the ereader since 2018. Both versions have some obvious improvements from the 2018 ereader, like smaller bezels around the screen and a bigger 6.8-inch display (up from six inches on their predecessor).

While the 2021 ereader doesn’t have a drastically different visual design than its predecessor, keeping the E Ink front display and plastic back, Amazon claims the screen is 10% brighter at maximum brightness than the 2018 model, though it keeps the same 300 pixels per inch density.

Kindle fans will cheer the addition of some long overdue Paperwhite upgrades including the swap out of the micro-USB for a USB-C charging port. The battery life has also increased to 10 weeks, per Amazon’s claims, which is significantly longer than the six weeks we got with the 2018 Paperwhite.

The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 still starts at 8GB of storage, which is enough space for plenty of books and some additional media. If you want the larger 32GB option, go with the Signature Edition.

The Signature Edition is an improvement for an ereader slightly more affordable than the luxe Kindle Oasis, especially with the wireless charging – a feature even the pricier model lacks.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021 review: Price and release date

The Kindle Paperwhite 2021 remains Amazon’s mid-entry ereader, between the basic Kindle and the Kindle Oasis, and the Signature Edition is a pricier version that costs $189 (around £139 / AU$250). For that price, you get a higher internal storage (32GB) and some premium features like wireless charging and auto-adjusting brightness.

Given the extra features, it makes sense that the new Signature Edition got a price bump from the 32GB version of the 2018 Kindle Paperwhite, which retailed for $159 / £149 / AU$249. It still costs more than the standard Kindle Paperwhite 2021 with 8GB of storage, which has a price tag of $139 (around £100 / AU$190), but if you want more space for books and a bigger display for reading them, the Signature Edition is right for you.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021 review: Design and display

The new Kindle Paperwhite 2021 hasn’t changed much from its predecessor in terms of looks, as it’s still an E Ink front screen and plastic black. It’s still a flat slate with no buttons, so you’ll have to swipe and tap to navigate around the display. This is fine for those with the patience to withstand the slow transitions when turning a page, but it can be annoying for faster readers trying to get through a real page-turner.

If you want buttons, you’ll want to opt for the Kindle Oasis, a more expensive model than the Signature Edition. But you should know that the Oasis hasn’t been updated since 2019, so the new Signature Edition has upgrades that its more expensive sibling lacks (the aforementioned wireless charging and an auto-dimmer).

New in the 2021 Paperwhites is a USB-C port at the bottom, which replaced the aging micro USB. Next to the port is the power button, which really only gets in the way if you’re standing the ereader up (say, for some product photos), so you’re unlikely to accidentally bump it and power off your device.

As previously mentioned, the new Kindle Paperwhite 2021 has a 6.8-inch E Ink display, which is noticeably larger than the 6-inch screen on the 2018 Paperwhite. But don’t expect the 2021 display to be any sharper since it still has the same 300 pixels per inch density.

Still, text is displayed clearly on the ereader. The Paperwhite’s front light allows users to read in the dark without harsh blue light. The ereader also features an adjustable warm light and a white-on-black dark mode to ease eye strain for those reading in dim surroundings.

The Paperwhite has an IPX8 waterproof rating (but no dust resistance), which means it can be submerged up to two meters for an hour – enough to save it from accidental spills or dips into the pool, but don’t leave it in water for too long.

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021 review: Reading

Like most ereaders, the Kindle Paperwhite 2021 has a non-glossy E Ink display that looks like paper. This means reading on a Kindle is easier on the eyes than reading books or viewing media on the LCD or OLED displays on tablets. The Paperwhite is also easy to hold, and pretty light at 205g (the Signature Edition is only slightly heavier at 208g). These Paperwhites are only a bit heavier than most smartphones.

The Paperwhite 2021 has Amazon’s Kindle operating system and interface, with simplified swipe navigation and an animation when turning pages. Unlike other ereaders that have buttons for getting around, you’ll only be able to swipe when navigating the Paperwhite.

Being restricted to swiping can be annoying if you’re used to different ereader interfaces. Even the smartphone Kindle app has different touch controls: tap on the center of the screen and you’ll bring up menu and navigation bars when reading on a phone. With the Signature Edition, you’ll need to tap the top of the display.

The Paperwhite also features Amazon’s assortment of reading tools: you can look up word definitions, sync pages between Kindle devices and apps via the Whispersync feature, and keep track of characters and terms with X-Ray. Note that these features are only available for ereader formats, though there are limited format, sizing, and font choices for other file formats like PDFs.

The Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition packs 32GB of storage, but with the OS and other core data taking up space, you’ll have about 27GB for storing media. Still, books usually only take up around 1MB apiece, so you can conceivably store tens of thousands of works without any issues. We downloaded our entire Kindle library and didn’t even use up a single gigabyte (full disclosure, we don’t have a lot of large-file formats like audiobooks or graphic novels).

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition 2021 review: Battery life

Amazon claims that the Kindle Paperwhite lasts up to 10 weeks on a full charge. Whether that holds true for you will depend on various factors. In our experience, we were able to drain 4% in a 24-hour period by keeping the display at maximum brightness while we casually read. Under those conditions, the battery wouldn’t last longer than about 3.5 weeks without a charge. The battery range can also fluctuate depending on other factors, including the length of reading sessions.

Suffice it to say that it’s tough to fully verify Amazon’s claims, but using energy-saving methods like keeping brightness down and keeping the Power Saver mode switched on (on by default) will definitely help the battery to last longer.

The ereader includes a USB-C cable in the box, but not a wall charger – you’ll have to supply that yourself. The maximum charge speed of 9W isn’t that fast compared to other devices, but it might not be necessary to have a faster one since you can fully charge the device in about 2.5 hours, according to Amazon estimates.

Exclusive to the Signature Edition is wireless charging, which is compatible with any Qi charger, but it can be finicky to get working. We were able to charge our device on a pad sometimes, but at other times we couldn’t get it in the right position to allow the wireless charger to do it’s thing.

Should you buy the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition?

Buy it if…

You want a sleeker ereader with less bezel

The Paperwhite 2021 design is a step up from the 2018 model, with thinner bezels and a larger 6.8-inch display. The new model looks a bit sharper, too.

You want more storage space on your ereader

While you could surely store a ton of books in the 8GB standard Kindle Paperwhite 2021, the Signature Edition’s 32GB storage ensures enough space for plenty of audiobooks and graphic novels, too.

You want more premium ereader perks at a (relatively) lower price

The Signature Edition has several perks like USB-C, wireless charging, and an auto-adjusting display that not even the more expensive Kindle Oasis has, making this a more enticing option (if you don’t need button navigation).

Don’t buy it if…

You want to read comics (or anything in color) on your ereader

E-Ink screens like on the Signature Edition are monochrome, which is great for battery life but not for media that deserves to be seen in color, like comic books. If you like colorful graphic novels and vivid comic books, opt for a traditional tablet like the Amazon Fire HD 8 or even a cheap iPad.

You want a more premium-feeling ereader

The Signature Edition has smaller bezels, but still the same plastic case and back. If you want a more premium ereader, pick up the pricier Kindle Oasis (which has a more refined metal frame).

You want an ereader that’s easier to hold in one hand

The Signature Edition has a symmetric design that looks nice, but can be tough to use one-handed. If you like reading on the go or while you cook, opt for the Kindle Oasis or the Kobo Libra H20, both of which have asymmetric layouts conducive to holding with one hand.

First reviewed: November 2021

Microsoft Surface Pro 7 review

9:09 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, Microsoft Surface Pro, RAM | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: October 2019
• Launch price: Starts at $749 / £799 / AU$1,249
• Target price now: No longer available

Update – September 2024: At five years old, it shouldn't be surprising that the Surface Pro 7 is no longer available for purchase - and frankly, you wouldn't want to buy one now anyway.

That's because the latest model, the Microsoft Surface Pro 11, is an absolute beast compared to this outdated version of Microsoft's signature Windows tablet. The newfound power of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chip, combined with Microsoft's improved Prism emulation for running Windows on Arm-based processors, has arguably made the Pro 11 the best Surface device ever - a far cry from the rather wonky SQ-series chips powering older Surface devices like this.

Of course, those newfound powers and updated design (plus half a decade of inflation...) mean that the Surface Pro 11 is a bit pricier, starting at $999.99 /£1,049.99 / AU$1,899.99. For my money, though, it's well worth the new price - as someone who bought a first-generation Surface way back in 2012, I'm over the moon to see the product line finally achieve greatness.

Original review follows.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Two-Minute Review

We had hoped the Surface Pro 7 would have fixed all the issues that the Surface Pro 6 had when it was released. But its successor unfortunately does not do much to right the ship and establish itself as one of the best tablets. This was the perfect opportunity to get the product line back on course but this update ends up falling short where it matters.

That’s not to say that there are no improvements here. The Surface Pro 7 comes with an increasingly important USB-C port as well as some updated components. But, there’s not much else beyond that making this a hard device to recommend unless you want to stick with the Surface Pro line and have an outdated model. In fact, if you’re willing to spend the extra cash, the newer release, Surface Pro 8, is the better machine.

As with the Surface Laptop 4, this shows that Microsoft can still make great portables when it makes the effort. It’s just that the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 comes up short. If you’re on a budget, however, you could potentially get it at a good price now that a newer model is available.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Price and Availability

Spec sheet

Here is the Surface Pro 7 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: 1.1GHz Intel Core i5-1035G4 (quad-core, 6MB cache, up to 3.7GHz boost)
Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics
RAM: 8GB DDR4x
Screen: 12.3-inch, 2,736 x 1,824 PixelSense display (Contrast ratio: 1,500:1, 100% sRGB color, 10-point multi-touch, 3:2 aspect ratio)
Storage: 256GB SSD
Ports: 1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB-C 3.1, microSDXC card reader (UHS-I), headphone/mic jack
Connectivity: 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 (2 x 2 MIMO), Bluetooth 5
Cameras: 8MP rear-facing, auto-focus camera (1080p HD); 5MP front-facing, 1080p HD camera
Weight: 1.7 pounds (771g)
Size: 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.33 inches (292 x 201 x 8.5mm; W x D x H)

The new Surface Pro 7 starts at $749 / £799 / AU$1,249 as with previous versions and comes without the Type Cover ($129, £149, AU$249) and Surface Pen ($99, £99, AU$139) included. That means this price is fairly par for the course.

That base configuration gets you an Intel Core i3 processor (CPU) 4GB of memory (RAM) and a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD), with the latter points upgradeable to as much as 16GB and 1TB capacity, respectively.

This pricing, again, is inherited from previous versions, but it's still not a great deal when you're spending upwards of 1,000 bucks or quid to get the full experience with the accessories that are still sold separately.

The Surface Pro 7 that we’re reviewing here will cost you $1,199 in the US. Again, that’s without the Surface Pen and Type Cover that Microsoft has included in our review sample. To get the full Surface Pro experience at this configuration, you’ll be spending around $1,460 in the US.

That said, a similarly configured 12.9-inch iPad Pro – with 256GB of storage, the Smart Keyboard Folio, and second-generation Apple Pencil – originally cost around $1,480 in the US. Apple is just as guilty for selling accessories separately that are arguably central to the experience.

So it doesn’t look like Microsoft is way out with its pricing, and you’re getting a full mobile PC with Microsoft’s tablet option, but it’s nevertheless a bit egregious.

Image 1 of 10

The display bezels are awfully thick for a tablet in 2019. (Image credit: Future)

Image 2 of 10

The Surface Pen is still not included in the box. (Image credit: Future)

Image 3 of 10

Not much has changed about the Surface Pro 7 design from last year’s model. (Image credit: Future)

Image 4 of 10

The Type Cover keyboard now has deeper-feeling travel as well as a bouncier feel as our fingers leave the keys. (Image credit: Future)

Image 5 of 10

The touchscreen is just as sharp, vibrant and responsive to touch as the previous generation. (Image credit: Future)

Image 6 of 10

The device still measures 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.33 inches (292 x 201 x 8.5mm). (Image credit: Future)

Image 7 of 10

The tablet also still comes in the same matte black and silver aluminum finishes. (Image credit: Future)

Image 8 of 10

This is essentially the same Surface Pro you’ve known for years. (Image credit: Future)

Image 9 of 10

We appreciate the Alcantara fabric that makes a return with this Type Cover. (Image credit: Future)

Image 10 of 10

Microsoft has finally included a USB-C port. (Image credit: Future)

Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Design

Microsoft may have finally included a USB-C port, but absolutely nothing else has changed about the Surface Pro 7 design from last year’s model. The device still measures 11.5 x 7.9 x 0.33 inches (292 x 201 x 8.5mm) and weighs 1.7 pounds (770g). The tablet also still comes in the same matte black and silver aluminum finishes.

The tablet's touchscreen still comes in at 12.3 inches on the diagonal with a 2,736 x 1,824 resolution (267 pixels per inch) and 3:2 aspect ratio. It's just as sharp, vibrant and responsive to touch as the previous generation, which was already quite impressive. But, again, this specification hasn’t changed in years, and could use an update at least in features, such as HDR and enhanced color gamut coverage. Also, the bezels are awfully thick for a tablet of this price in 2019.

Now having issued practically the same tablet for two years, it’s becoming clear that either Microsoft has reached its limits on the original Surface Pro design, which is unlikely, or the company is simply no longer interested in tweaking the Surface Pro any more – except for tinkering with the Pro X.

Instead, it feels like Microsoft is far more inspired by its upcoming dual-screen devices, which will likely herald the future of the company’s hardware design – depending on how successful they are.

As for the most major Surface Pro 7 design change, we get USB-C at long last, but it’s on the USB 3.1 standard and not Thunderbolt 3. With that, you get the versatility of this new connection without the raw throughput of the Thunderbolt 3 technology.

Apple and countless other competitors at similar price points have widely adopted Thunderbolt 3, which makes its absence in the Surface Pro 7 more glaring. While Apple didn't including it in the iPad Pro, it did with the similarly-priced 13-inch MacBook Pro, for example.

Now, Microsoft has improved the device's studio microphones for stronger accuracy when using Cortana with your voice, but that's such a minor improvement it's hardly worth mentioning.

In Microsoft’s favor, however, the Type Cover keyboard now has deeper-feeling travel as well as a bouncier feel as our fingers leave the keys. This is an upgrade for sure, though will certainly be an adjustment for longtime Surface Pro users – at least for a few minutes. Meanwhile, the Type Cover’s touchpad remains unchanged, and is just as smooth and responsive to the touch as ever.

We also appreciate the Alcantara fabric that makes a return with this Type Cover, which appears and feels to be more tightly woven than before. Hopefully this will make the fabric more stain resistant, as Microsoft claims.

All told, this is essentially the same Surface Pro you’ve known for years, only now it features a more versatile USB-C port in lieu of a DisplayPort connection. Why not drop the original USB-A as well for another USB-C? Who knows. There is a lot that could have been done to improve this product at the same price that simply wasn’t done, so forgive us for being nonplussed by the Surface Pro 7 design and feel.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Performance

Benchmarks

Here’s how the Surface Pro 7 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

PCMark 8 Home: 3,312
Geekbench 4 (Single-Core): 5,904; (Multi-Core): 17,512
Cinebench CPU: 559; Graphics: 61 fps
PCMark 8 Battery Life: 3 hours and 12 minutes
TechRadar Battery Life Test: 6 hours and 2 minutes

The Surface Pro 7 was the first of its kind using one of Intel’s 10-nanometer (nm) processors (CPUs) across all specifications, and the numbers certainly show that.

With that in mind, expect a device that’s much faster at processing both everyday tasks and more commonplace ones, not to mention stronger graphics potential now with Intel Iris Plus graphics over an Intel UHD graphics processor (GPU).

The latter should contribute to stronger media streaming, especially at higher resolutions, as well as a slightly expanded gaming profile.

The Surface Pro 6 of 2018 employed a 14nm Intel Core CPU, which was fine for the job (and arguably still is), but this CPU has brought that transistor size down to 10nm, which means more transistors in the same overall CPU die space. Basically, with more transistors comes better performance, and it shows in the numbers.

For example, the Surface Pro 7 gets an impressive 25% boost in the Geekbench 4 multi-core test over the Surface Pro 6. Likewise, the Cinebench graphics test sees a 15% increase in performance in Pro 7 versus Pro 6, hitting the almighty 60 frames per second mark.

Could you expect to game on the Surface Pro 7? Sure, as Intel promises smooth 1080p gaming from its latest CPUs, but we certainly wouldn't buy this tablet for that purpose. You might be able to get Fortnite to a playable frame rate at 1080p, but why bother when you could grab a solid gaming laptop for the same price?

In short, this tablet is going to chew through all ordinary computing tasks, and serve as a fine portable multitasker to boot that can handle the odd gaming session over lunch. The additional graphics brunt should also serve digital artists well to boot. It’s all in all a major bump forward in performance that power users will definitely see, but that the average user likely won’t notice.

Battery life

Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Battery Life

However, when it comes to lasting power, we’re not seeing the same levels of battery life exhibited by the previous generation Surface Pro and its 14nm Intel Core CPU. In our tests, the Surface Pro 7 fell more than two hours short of the 8 hours and 45 minutes that the 2018 Pro 6 achieved in our local battery rundown test.

Likewise, the Surface Pro 7 came up more than 45 minutes short of the PCMark 8 battery test, with the Pro 6 clocking in at a straight 4 hours.

You would normally expect battery life to increase when moving to supposedly more efficient processor architecture. However, Core i5 and i7 versions of Intel’s CPUs made major boosts to graphical performance, which could come at the expense of battery life.

Hardware manufacturers and software makers – of which Microsoft is both – have had half a decade now to optimize their products around Intel’s 14nm silicon. They’ve likely had a fraction of that time to prepare for and adapt to Intel’s 10nm chips, and this could explain why the Surface Pro 7's battery life is worse than the previous model's.

Oddly enough, if it’s peak battery life you’re after, you may be better off picking up one of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 6 models. That is, at least until the company improves the Surface Pro 7 battery life via firmware patches, which is entirely possible, and we'd argue quite likely.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Software and Features

Like just about every Surface before it, the Surface Pro 7 isn’t necessarily feature-rich or has many key pieces of software to discuss, which has its pros and cons. The major pro here is that there is practically no bloatware on this tablet at all, as it’s issued directly from Microsoft.

Another pro is the Windows Hello facial recognition, which uses the tablet’s infrared camera next to its webcam, and is as speedy and accurate as before. Once again, we can open the tablet from its Type Cover and it’s already logged us into Windows 10. Talk about instant-on performance.

However, there is basically nothing else in the way of distinctive software and features. If it’s on this tablet, you can get it on any other Windows 10 tablet. That includes the Your Phone feature, which allows you to sync up an Android phone with Windows to see and respond to text messages, edit calendar entries or even take calls.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Our Verdict

All things considered, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is one of the company’s most powerful Surface tablets. However, that boost in power appears to come at a cost to battery life.

If you’re willing to wait for those battery life improvements to come, and you don’t necessarily need all day staying power, then by all means jump in on the most technologically advanced Surface ever. But, know that those technological gains aren’t exactly massive, and come at the expense of other aspects of performance, specifically battery.

We honestly would have expected a bit more advancements from the seventh Surface Pro tablet. USB-C is nice, but for a device at this price should be Thunderbolt 3, and the display bezels are awfully thick for a tablet in 2019. It appears that Microsoft has saved all of this year’s advancements for its Pro X, which is a shame for anyone looking to pay the same price. In short, the Surface Pro 7 isn’t far enough of a leap over the Pro 6 for us to recommend it to either upgraders or folks just getting into Microsoft’s tablet.

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Get the best deal on you next Microsoft product with our Microsoft coupon codes.

Also consider...

First reviewed November 2019

How We Test

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

SpeedLine POS: Pricing

Despite the fact that the SpeedLine POS system is designed specifically with pizza outlets in mind, it doesn't have an off-the-shelf pricing system. Naturally this is largely down to the fact that businesses vary in size, have varying numbers of staff who will use the point of sale system and different customer needs to boot.

If you’re interested in exploring the capabilities of this pizza POS system then it’s a good idea to sign up for a demo in the first instance. This will let you see the SpeedLine POS software in action, how the SpeedLine POS hardware could work in your own business environment and also check that it will integrate with any other systems your outlet may be running.

The major benefit of the SpeedLine POS system is that it’s an all-in-one solution, which means that you’ll be able to get software, hardware and the whole thing installed via one source. Of course, what you actually get depends on your business needs as well as the complexity of your menu and ordering options, along with how many terminals will be required.

You could therefore find that a custom quote from the SpeedLine POS sales team might seem higher than some other providers, but the initial cost is tempered by the fact that there are no on-going subscription fees. So, while there may be a seemingly sizeable outlay early on, there is the opportunity to claw back this value over a longer period of time.

SpeedLine POS: Perks

As part of your POS search, it's useful to keep in mind the perks you get from partnering with a pizza delivery-specific POS such as SpeedLine and its dedicated tools including:

✔ SpeedLine LiveMaps visual dispatch

✔ SpeedDine online ordering

✔ SpeedLine Pay

✔ SpeedLine Inventory

✔ SpeedLine Menu Designer Topping Matrix

In addition SpeedLine POS empowers your team to easily keep on top of common pizza business tasks, such as the following:

Monitor delivery statistics all day
Cut costs with accurate forecasts and schedule planning
Ensure accurate street addresses
Flag side orders to avoid missed items on deliveries
Improve rate of on-time deliveries
Make more with consistent delivery zones and fees

SpeedLine POS: Features

The pizza delivery business, and indeed the whole food delivery landscape have changed dramatically since COVID-19 arrived. As a result, it's now more important than ever to ensure you have the right POS system for your pizza delivery requirements.

The SpeedLine POS system has therefore been carefully adapted to better handle pizza deliveries in the wake of the pandemic. SpeedLine has tweaked its POS system to meet customer requests for a wider range of alternative delivery and pick-up options. Much of this development work has resulted in the SpeedLine POS system requiring much less physical contact with the end customer.

At the same time, however, the system is now much more efficient. A combination of neat SpeedLine POS integrations, the beefed up SpeedLine POS hardware and software, plus a much-improved SpeedLine POS app, has produced a much more rounded end user-experience.

SpeedLine POS is now able to better support customer needs having also introduced SpeedLine Pay, which allows restaurants and takeout businesses to offer the ability to pay at the table, curbside and also on delivery.

Crucially for pizza delivery businesses the new SpeedLine Pay system also tackles common security and payment issues, with the ability to handle fraudulent and card-not-present transactional issues more effectively.

SpeedLine Pay works by pairing with an EMV card reader using either a Windows-based tablet or an iOS device. This automatically offers more freedom for the customer, allowing them to pay at their table, in a vehicle or on pickup using tap to pay simplicity. As a result, SpeedLine POS offers more credit card security for both business and customer, while also reducing transaction fee overheads for the former.

SpeedLine POS: Interface and in use

SpeedLine POS monitor and display screen — The SpeedLine POS interface is user-friendly yet incredibly powerful (Image Credit: SpeedLine) (Image credit: SpeedLine)

The SpeedLine POS, including the SpeedLine POS software and SpeedLine POS hardware respectively, will be installed locally. While it’s not a cloud-based arrangement and interface is slightly dated in design, using it everyday is still very quick and easy. You get off to a head start because the SpeedLine staff can set up and implement the point of sale system for you.

Once that’s in place the SpeedLine POS system enjoys much praise for its powerful but easy to use software design. Most obviously, the point of sale interface offers control over online ordering and menu management, but it’s also a great tool for managing inventory, allowing outlets to forecast demand, along with offering a huge array of customizable options.

For example, the online ordering and delivery journey includes everything needed for staff to process requests in a fast and efficient manner. There are detailed delivery reports, automated customer messaging about the status of orders, a practical visual dispatch feature that boosts delivery efficiency and, of course, simple everyday tools including the option that allows customers to pay at the door using their credit card.

Crucially, SpeedLine POS possesses a formidable suite of delivery dispatch and driver management tools. The great thing about using this map-based system is that it allows staff to coordinate deliveries and their respective drivers much more effectively using the simple but slick on-screen interface.

This is complimented by the SpeedLine POS on-screen menu system, which whilst it is certainly busy, offers unrivalled management of pizza-making ingredients plus all of those ancillaries, such as soda, sides and so on.

SpeedLine POS: Support

A very big part of the appeal with the SpeedLine POS system is its beefy levels of support. Although this point of sale system might not be the cheapest to initially implement, SpeedLine POS enjoys frequent praise from its customers and a lot of that is based around the levels of support on offer.

The support journey starts early on, and after working with the sales team to ensure you’ve got the right package there follows a series of steps from support staff to get things up and running. SpeedLine POS integration will need the help of some experts, and this comes as part of the package.

For product support there’s the opportunity to speak to an in-house and fully qualified technician, toll-free and this is offered 365 days a year. The SpeedLine support options are flexible too, with a standard SpeedLine Support subscription offering unlimited support along with system upgrades, which is seen as a ‘best value’ option by many.

Meanwhile, if you have multiple stores, it may be advantageous to use your own IT staff to offer second level support after receiving full training from SpeedLine, which comes with certification too.

There’s SpeedLine Live Assist too, which can connect with your POS stations remotely to tackle any technical issues or help with staff training. Crucially, alongside using secure access for any technical hands-on help, all installation work and training is covered by specialists who are QIR certified. This means that they have been trained by the PCI Security Standards Council to meet its specific guidelines.

SpeedLine POS delivery map tracking software — The dynamic map system in SpeedLine POS allows tracking of both drivers and their deliveries (Image Credit: SpeedLine) (Image credit: SpeedLine)

Let’s also not forget the SpeedLine POS customer support website, which is an online hub that comes packed with greats resources. There are training tutorials and videos, documentation, critical update advisories, constantly updated guides showcasing new features and functions plus the option to order more hardware and software if your business is expanding.

Rounding things out is the Premiere Support Services option from SpeedLine POS. This can be really useful if you need to make frequent menu changes, or add upgrades to systems. The service offers one hour of menu changes per month, for each of your stores that are in operation. It’s a feature that’s worth thinking about if you’re looking for someone to help take the strain.

SpeedLine POS: Security

SpeedLine POS can be used to process payments via major payment gateways such as Worldpay and Monetra and that’s good news for security. Any transactions processed use end-to-end encryption, plus there’s the added benefit of flexibility.

Speedline POS is a secure POS system that's EMV and PCI compliant — SpeedLine POS has the added advantage of great support, installation and training (Image Credit: SpeedLine) (Image credit: SpeedLine)

With customers wanting more ways to pay you can use secure processing no matter if they’re making an in-person payment, an online order, want to use a mobile wallet or prefer to pay by credit card when their food gets delivered.

With security being of such a concern for both businesses and customers alike it’s also reassuring to know that the SpeedLine POS system is fully PCI and EMV compliant. This provides additional reassurance to those ordering food through your outlet while your business gets the benefit of secure and fully-encrypted payment processing.

The competition

Aloha POS Systems: Aloha POS Essentials and Silver Hardware — (Image credit: Aloha POS Systems)

If you’re looking for the best POS system for pizza shop requirements, either to upgrade or for a new food delivery venture then SpeedLine POS is certainly one to consider. However, there are alternatives out there, alongside the best POS systems aimed at a wider market.

The main difference to consider about SpeedLine POS is that it’s not a cloud-based system. This might be perfect for some needs, but if you’re running a pizza delivery operation that requires a cloud POS it’s also worth considering the likes of Revel POS, NCR's Aloha POS, the Upserve POS and Toast's point of sale system.

Similarly, TouchBistro is worthy of a look too, although this is tailored more to restaurants rather than catering businesses dealing with customer deliveries in mind.

Much the same can be said for Lightspeed POS, which has more of the same beefy features and functionality that makes it suitable for use in the catering industry and, in particular, the restaurant sector.

Final verdict: Is Speedline the right bite for your business?

Business team in suits eat pizza together — (Image credit: Getty Images)

SpeedLine POS is very clearly a niche point of sale product, but the seemingly small slice of the market it serves is huge. Pizza delivery has and continues to be a big business opportunity thanks to low cost fresh ingredients and high mark-up, so having the right point of sale system in place is crucial. We like the way that SpeedLine POS has a raft of features and functions that can boost efficiency and make the customer experience a better one.

We’ve been really impressed with the level of positivity shown towards SpeedLine POS support staff too. The help with integration and ongoing support once the SpeedLine POS is in place is hugely impressive.

Day-to-day features such as being able to dynamically modify menus, often with SpeedLine POS support assistance and the ability to collate reams of customer data with ease, also makes it appealing.

While there is a reasonable cost involved with the implementation of a point of sale system like this one, any pizza delivery business looking for a non-cloud based setup that’s easy to use will doubtless warm to SpeedLine POS. It’s certainly got plenty going for it.