As its name suggests, Soda PDF Online is an online PDF editor available for any device and ready to let users edit, alter, manipulate, and otherwise personalize PDF files. We've long been fans of Soda PDF, which has consistently ranked among the best PDF editors we've tested. We put the latest version to the test, to see if it still deserves a download.
Soda PDF Online: Pricing
Simple subscription options
You have numerous options open to you when it comes to editing a PDF (Image credit: Soda PDF)
Like almost all of the best PDF editors we've tested, this one is a subscription-only service. The plans have been expanded upon since last we looked at it, and it now features three different tiers: Standard, Pro, and Business.
Standard gets you the basic tools, such as View, Convert, and Edit. These will allow you to perform many actions, including altering the original text of a PDF, adding images and additional content, splitting PDFs, merging them, and such like. All of this for $12.59 / £10 a month.
The best tools are kept for Pro. These include OCR search, eSign and forms capabilities, adding comments, the ability to secure PDFs, and batch processing. This plan will set you back $15.10 / £12 a month.
Finally, Business expands upon Pro by allowing you to edit any OCR document, introduces phone support, as well as Windows, Mac and Linux deployment, for $20.14 / £16 a month.
Annual subscriptions are also available. In our experience, these prices feel middle of the road for such tools. There are cheaper alternatives, like EaseUS, and more expensive ones, such as Foxit.
You can also try the service out for free by clicking here, to see if it’s right for you.
Pricing: 3.5/5
Soda PDF Online: Interface
Open a document to reveal all tools available to you to edit it to its fullest (Image credit: Soda PDF)
Clean, versatile, you choose the way you want to work.
As soon as you begin a free trial from the homepage, you’ll be instantly immersed in the interface. No request for contact details, no demands for your credit card info. That’s definitely a huge plus.
The UI doesn’t give you much to work with as long as you haven’t opened a document. You can do so by clicking on the blue ‘Upload File’ button, top right of the interface. From there you have access to your computer’s file system, as well as your Dropbox and OneDrive accounts. Note that you can only upload one document at a time, which could be frustrating if you have a lot of work to do.
A sidebar on the left offers you three choices: access to all the files you’ve uploaded to Soda PDF, the Edit section (selected by default once a document has been opened), and Translate, which lets you translate a file into one of seven languages, including Russian, Spanish and French.
We’re not experts in most languages, but we did check out the results of translating an English document into French and it was, for the most part, perfectly acceptable. More than good enough to get the gist of the content. Plus it’s as easy to edit the results as it is to modify the original document. Soda PDF also automatically creates a new document for your translation, making sure the original is never affected by such an action.
Taking a look at the ‘Edit’ section, you’ll find all the tools you’re after in a toolbar at the top. Clicking on some activates a drop down menu to reveal additional options. Everything you need is there, from adding new text boxes or images, freehand drawing on the page, adding various shapes, creating forms, performing an OCR pass, organising your document (such as rotating, duplicating or deleting pages), as well as cropping, compressing, merging and converting a file.
Top right of the interface is an AI assistant, and an export feature which lets you download, email, or print your PDF, and at the very top you have zooming in and out buttons, a search field, and undo and redo buttons, among others.
Interface: 5/5
Soda PDF Online: Tools
You can translate your document into one of seven different languages (Image credit: Soda PDF)
A large selection of tools, easy to access and use
Using any of the tools described above is as easy as clicking on it and then clicking somewhere on the page to apply it. You then have complete editorial control over this new object. But that’s not all. You might’ve noticed there aren’t any obvious tools to edit a PDF’s existing content. But that’s because you don’t need any: simply double-click on a paragraph to give you the ability to alter it at will. Not only that, you can even resize and reposition the text box.
We didn’t have as much success with images that had a URL embedded in them. If we were to click on them, we’d be taken to the webpage in question rather than being able to edit the image itself. Basic images with no such link, were just as easy to resize and reposition as the text we worked on above.
Soda PDF Online also lets you design forms that can be filled in by others, and you have many tools at your disposal to merge multiple documents into one, insert or extract pages, replace them or move them around.
And of course, you’re able to create a PDF document from scratch, either starting with a blank page, converting an existing document into a PDF, or even based on data saved in your computer’s clipboard.
If you’re looking for tools that don’t appear within this interface, go back to Soda PDF’s main page, click on ‘More Tools’ at the top, and ‘View all tools’. You’ll be graced with a long list of features, including, among others, the ability to convert HTML to PDF. Now, Macs have a system-wide feature that allows them to do this straight out of the box of course, but PC users will appreciate this very well-implemented feature. We tried it on a variety of web sites, even pages that competing services struggled with, and Soda PDF’s results were most impressive.
And finally, we thought we’d take a quick look at Soda PDF’s AI tools - yes, AI’s got to Soda too. Click on ‘AI Assistant’ to analyse your documents. After which you’ll be offered a series of questions based on its content. Think on it as a quick summarisation tool. And you’re not limited to the questions the AI came up with: you’re also able to ask your own.
Tools: 4.5/5
Should I buy...?
Can’t see a tool you’re after, like converting HTML to PDF? Check out all the tools via Soda PDF’s homepage (Image credit: Soda PDF)
Buy it if...
You're a PDF power-user If you need to work with PDFs, frequently have to alter these documents without having to go back to the original application that made them, and you are required to do all this no matter which device you currently have at hand.
Don't buy it if...
You need an offline PDF reader You need offline access to your tool, or are just looking for a means to read and print PDF documents.
Alternatives
PDF Candy is one of the best free online PDF editors out there. It houses an impressive 47 different tools for making your documents the way you want them - including 29 PDF converter tools. It's delightfully easy to use, but free users are limited to performing one task an hour.
I Love PDFis a stellar free online PDF tool that hosts plenty of document manipulation actions. In our review, we praised the online service for its simplicity and range of features, despite not being a fully fledged PDF editor.
Foxit PDF Editoris one of the best PDF editors you can buy, and an excellent alternative to Adobe Acrobat DC. When we reviewed the product, we discovered "a great app for businesses who need to manipulate, edit, redact and otherwise alter PDFs on a regular basis."
• Original review date: August 2022
• Galaxy Buds 3 Pro rumored for August 2024 release
• Launch price: $229 / £219 / AU$349
• Target price now: $169 / £159 / $235
Updated: January 2024. There have been new releases from Sony and Bose since the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro came out, but we're still huge fans of these buds – especially for Galaxy phone owners, of course. Their hi-res audio support is still best in class, and their sound is rewarding, detailed and generally impressive. You will get better ANC power from something like the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, but the Samsung can often be found for much cheaper than basically any of these other premium earbuds, for only a small step down in effectiveness. The official price is still high, but you should aim to pay the 'target' price listed above, which was possible at the time of writing this update. We should note that the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro are expected to launch in August 2024, but they will surely cost more, so don't let it put you off unless you simply must always have the cutting-edge stuff, and you're willing to wait for something as-yet unconfirmed. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro: two-minute review
Given Samsung's formidable reputation in the smartphone and tablet arena, it has long surprised us that the company's Galaxy Buds output never quite hit the mark. A sensible (and color-coordinating) bet if you're already buying a Galaxy phone, maybe, but best avoided by everyone else as a serious sonic proposition.
The big news is that Apple, Sony, Bose, Sennheiser and in fact all of the best wireless earbuds manufacturers now need to take a good look at what Samsung has done with the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. They're good. No, really, they're good.
The company has emphatically turned a corner. These smaller, more comfortable and less arrogant earbuds (remember the rose gold, kidney-bean shaped Galaxy Buds Live? These are nothing like those) are packed full of useful perks such as excellent ANC, voice detect, wearer detection and customizable on-ear controls – all of which work very well indeed – plus IPX7 water ingress protection.
But the headline-grabber, if you own a Samsung Galaxy device (and thus, access to the Samsung Wearable companion app and home-screen widget) is 360 audio with optional head-tracking, thus allowing you to use your phone as the focal point to direct more of that new end-to-end 24-bit high-res audio to whichever ear you prefer.
With a standard price of $229 / £219 / AU$349 and available in Graphite, White, and Bora Purple, these are viable and slightly cheaper rivals to the Apple AirPods Pro if you own a Samsung Galaxy device – and we mulled this judgement over at length before telling you as much.
The uptick in sound quality emphatically goes hand in hand with the improved fit and lightness here – the Buds Pro 2 are 15% smaller than Samsung's last effort and 0.8g lighter per earpiece (5.5g vs the 6.3g Buds Pro) – but more importantly, the design fits your ear simply and without the wearer having to master any overly-aggressive twist-and-lock techniques. In terms of fit, Samsung has absolutely hit a home run with the Buds 2 Pro – and the praise doesn't stop there.
The sound quality features a punchy bass, impactful and textured mids and sparkling, easily handled highs. You can tweak the EQ for yourself if you'd like, and a useful Voice Detect feature means that when you pipe up vocally, Ambient mode and lower music volume is automatically deployed to make your conversation easier. After five, 10 or 15 seconds of no talky (you can choose in the app), the music simply returns to normal.
The scope for noise cancellation is on, off, or ambient (so you cannot select the level you'd like on a slider, for example), but it works easily as well as anything at this price and the extra features for the level are comprehensive. It's possible to connect the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro to two devices simultaneously, and the touch controls cover every function you'll want – including volume alterations via a long press of either bud, as long as you tailor it in the app and are prepared to forego the option to scroll between noise cancellation profiles.
The only fly in the ointment is battery life, which is a claimed five hours of continuous playtime with ANC on (or eight without it) and up to 18 hours in the cradle. This is acceptable rather than class-leading and we had hoped for a little extra stamina.
Ultimately though, we find ourselves shaking our heads at the improved sound quality. The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro support Bluetooth 5.3 – and LE Audio "will be eventually supported" by the end of the year, according to Samsung. All of this bodes well for the future, because it means Auracast audio sharing might soon be on the cards.
We're willing to wager that the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's sound and design will suit practically every ear. The sound quality also now falls in line with Samsung's great reputation in other arenas. Bravo Sammers!
Samsung's clearly worked hard on this shape – and it has paid dividends (Image credit: TechRadar)
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review: price and release date
$229 / £219 / AU$349
Announced August 10, available in stores from August 26
The Galaxy Buds 2 Pro cost $229 / £219 / AU$349 and are available in three colorways: Graphite, White, and Bora Purple.
To put that pricing into perspective, it's a middle ground between the Apple AirPods Pro, which came with a launch price of $249 / £249 / AU$399, and the AirPods 3, which cost $179 / £169 / AU$279 – but remember, those cheaper 'Pods don't feature any active noise cancellation.
You can bag the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro on pre-order now, and the Buds 2 Pro will land in stores on August 26.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro sport a USB-C charger, but there's also wireless charging support (Image credit: TechRadar)
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review: design and features
Small, comfortable earphones
IPX7 waterproof earbuds
5 hours of playtime with ANC on; up to 18 hrs in the case
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are refreshingly smaller and lighter than most competing options – and Samsung was right to shave a little off the design. The result is a stylish, minimalist, secure and ergonomic fit that almost feels as if you're not wearing earbuds.
Across the course of our listening, we experienced zero fall-out anxiety, even with our small ears and without switching from the pre-fitted medium eartips (although you also get small and large tip sets in the box). We found the earpieces never budged, even when breaking into a sprint for the train en route to work, which is unusual.
The rounded top surface of the earbuds had us a little worried that the touch controls might be somewhat hit-and-miss. We were wrong to doubt them – the Buds 2 Pro's on-ear touch capacitive controls are very good indeed. They're easy to tap, registering your touch with little reassuring beeps, to the point that we found ourselves rarely needing to dig out our phone during our commute thanks to their efficacy.
USB-C and wireless charging is supported here as expected. The earbuds themselves boast an unusual IPX7 waterproof rating however, which will keep them safe even if submerged in freshwater up to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes, but take note – the case is not water resistant at all.
Wearer detection works, voice detect works, dual connectivity works, the Find My Earbuds feature works and ANC nixes noise without adversely coloring your music – everything does as claimed without fuss or dropouts. And if it sounds de riguer for a product's claimed features to come good under intense review, know that it isn't always the case.
On the subject of cases, this one is small and easily pocketable, with strong magnets to keep it shut, a solo LED light on the front and a finish that resolutely refuses to collect fingerprint smudges.
Until you come to that slightly underwhelming battery life of five hours from the buds with ANC on, we've got nothing but good things to say about the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro's design and feature set.
Design and features score: 4.5/5
Simply toggle on 360 Audio with head-tracking in the app on your Samsung device and you're away (Image credit: TechRadar)
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review: sound quality
2-way speaker design (woofer and tweeter)
Impressive and detailed 24-bit audio
ANC is seriously good for the level
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro sport a two-way driver design, with a 10mm woofer and 5.4mm tweeter in each earbud. It's a formidable improvement on Samsung's previous earbud releases too, with YoDogg and Cardo's NIP (streamed in 360 reality audio, on Tidal) sounding atmospheric and foreboding while snaking from one ear to the other in a talented display of immersive audio.
On the subject of head-tracked Dolby Atmos content, it's a subtler performance than LG's Tone Free T90 when it comes to serving up audio betwixt each ear as you turn your head, but it is fun and effective nevertheless – and make no mistake, the sound is expansive and realistic throughout.
Sheryl Crow's Soak Up the Sun has us nodding our heads happily as we seek out backing vocals other earbuds can't deliver as cleanly or with as much space around each singer. Here, they are showcased pleasingly against a backdrop of keys in our right ear and guitars in our left.
DJ Snake's reggaeton romp Taki Taki is nothing short of zealous as whirring synths jump across the soundstage and drums crash in centrally and unapologetically. The soundstage is wide for a set of in-ear headphones and, as our playlist continues to Daddy Yankee and Snow's Con Calma, we realize it's the most energetic and agile performance of the track we've heard in some time through the grippy bassline.
Samsung's Galaxy Buds 2 Pro include Bluetooth 5.3 and high-quality 24-bit music support, when used with compatible Samsung devices, thanks to the new 'Samsung Seamless Codec'. Although we still don't have full details on exactly what this codec can do, Samsung's slightly older (but still very talented) Scalable Codec is capable of handling 24-bit/96kHz audio streaming, with bitrates of up to 512kbps, so that's the likely minimum support we're talking about here – and regardless of the numbers, the resulting performance is impressive, with high-frequency treble instruments coming through with clarity and nuance, alongside a rock-solid midrange and expressive, impactful low end.
When it comes to noise cancellation, the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro delivered the goods and then some. When using the Buds 2 Pro for the first time with ANC on, we had to check that the AC unit we were sitting next to was still in fact working. With 3 high SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) microphones, Samsung claims the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro can track and eliminate more outside sound than any Galaxy Buds that have gone before it – even soft sounds like wind – and we'd agree with the claim.
The Sony WF-1000XM4 are beaten initially for ANC by the Galaxy product, but these and the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds can still lay claim to the being the best noise-cancelling earbuds on the market owing to their more tailored experience – although now, it's a far more closely run race.
Sound quality and noise cancellation score: 4.5/5
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are a bijou and retiring proposition (Image credit: TechRadar)
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review: value
Cheaper than AirPods Pro, dearer than AirPods 3
Recommended for Samsung Galaxy device owners
The Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro squeeze an incredible amount into their bijou design for mid-range money. OK, you might still wish for ANC you can tweak in increments on a slider in the app, but forgive this and it's hard to quibble with the sound-per-pound value.
The sound quality is unexpectedly good given Samsung's middling track record, and although we had hoped for a little more stamina for those longer listening sessions, there's an awful lot to like here.
Value score: 4.5/5
Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro?
Buy them if…
Don't buy them if…
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro review: Also consider
Think the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro might not be the true wireless earbuds for you? That's no biggie. Here are three alternatives that could offer just the design, feature-set and sound quality you're looking for.
• Original review date: August 2022
• No new version out
• Launch price: $349 / £329 / AU$649
• Official price now: $349 / £329 / AU$649
Updated: January 2024. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless remains one of the best PC gaming headsets on the market, even almost two years after its initial release. Many gaming headsets have tried to offer its impressive feature set that includes multi-device-and-platform connectivity and a swappable battery, but very few have matched its luxurious comfort and none have surpassed its excellent sound quality. In fact, if it wasn't for its high price tag, we'd put this at the very top of the list. And unfortunately, it has yet to go down in price, though you might find it discounted at some online retail stores. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
SteelSeries Arctic Nova Pro Wireless: One-minute review
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless launch might be one of those defining moments in gaming peripherals history. Ladies and gents, we might just be looking at the future of gaming headsets right now – a dual-purpose, multi-connectivity hybrid that comes with everything you want from the best gaming headset: a detailed sound, immersive soundstage, a long battery life, and off-the-charts comfort.
While we might be a little biased – this author has long been a fan of the Arctis line’s excellent audio quality – there’s no denying the ambitious undertaking that SteelSeries has successfully implemented in this wireless gaming headset.
Admittedly, some design elements need tweaking such as that secondary button on its base station that works only 25% of the time and the slightly confusing, non-intuitive physical controls on the headset. But, considering that this is the whole gaming headset package, those barely spoil all the fun you’re getting.
Not that this whole do-it-all thing hasn’t been done before. Another personal favorite, the Astro A50, did it first. But, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless takes the A50, slaps on some hi-res audio to rival the Audeze Penrose, and tops it all off with elements you’d see on a pair of noise-canceling headphones.
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless is quite literally the one gaming headset that does it all. How could you want anything less?
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Price and availability
How much does it cost? $349 (£329, AU$649)
Where is it available? Available now
Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia
All that doesn’t come cheap. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless will cost a pretty penny – $349 (£329, AU$649) to be exact. And, if you want to customize it with the Nova Booster Pack, which comes in Cherry Red, Lilac, Mint, and Rose Quartz, you’ll have to pay an extra $34 / £29.
That isn’t surprising. Flagship SteelSeries gaming headsets have always sat around that price range. And, so does the competition. However, you’re getting a lot more value for your money with the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless.
The Astro A50, for example, costs $299 (£349, AU$489), and that’s without the Arctis Nova Pro Wireless’ Bluetooth connectivity and wider frequency range. Meanwhile, the Audeze Penrose will set you back $299 (£299, AU$399) but doesn’t have its multi-device connectivity, comfort level, and active noise cancellation.
Value: 3.8 / 5
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Design
Beautiful gaming headset-cum-headphones design
Multi-platform, multi-device connectivity
One of the most versatile headsets we've tested
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless boasts a beautiful, elegant look, luxurious fit and comfort, and all-around connectivity. And, despite its fiddly controls and perhaps ear foams that could be a little more breathable, this is one of the best-designed headphones we’ve tested.
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
It’s relatively lightweight at 337g and comes with plush ear cushions draped in soft-to-touch leatherette, a floating ski headband that’s thinly padded, and earcups that have a lot of swivel to fit different head shapes. Overall, you’re getting an incredibly comfortable gaming headset with good enough hold and size that fits most heads. We only wish that the leatherette is a lot more breathable than it is.
Image 1 of 2
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Image 2 of 2
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
That design is a classier, more accessible, and toned-down version of a gamer’s aesthetic, in an attempt to go for a more all-purpose look so you won’t be embarrassed about wearing it as Bluetooth headphones in public. A good example of this is the mic boom, which seamlessly tucks away inside the left earcup while still offering mic functionality.
It isn’t the first gaming headset to implement this hybrid design approach – Razer’s done something similar as well – but SteelSeries has done such a good job with it. It looks just as great as a pair of headphones as it does a gaming headset, and we can’t wait to take it with us on our next vacation.
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Luckily, it comes with two Fuji lithium-ion batteries that are swappable and offer 22 hours of battery life per. You slot one in the right earcup behind a removable (and customizable) magnetic plate, then swap it out for the other when it runs out of juice.
Both batteries need charging? Pop one in the built-in battery charging slot in the base station, keep the other in the headphones to charge via the USB-C port behind the left earcup magnetic plate, and charge simultaneously. Easy peasy. SteelSeries has also added fast charging for good measure, so you’ll get three hours of play after 15 minutes of charging.
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Sadly, the controls are confusing and non-intuitive. You’ll likely need to memorize that part of the manual first before you can use them seamlessly. And, even then, there’s still a lot to be desired.
There are two separate on/off buttons, for example, for when you’re using Bluetooth and when you’re using wireless connectivity. Simply turning the headset off using the power button doesn’t mean you’re turning it off completely. If Bluetooth is on, it’ll keep its current connection and still play music from that source. Meanwhile, the wireless base station has a second button that only works 25% of the time.
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Speaking of the base station, it gives the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless its multi-platform, multi-device prowess, which when coupled with its Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, makes it perhaps the single most versatile headset on the market right now.
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
The base station allows it to be connected to two sources wirelessly and simultaneously. But, you also do not need it to use the headset, thanks to the Bluetooth and the 3.5mm wired connection that it also offers. Connect it to a mobile device via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm cable, and you can use it as a pair of standalone headphones you can take with you on hikes, during your commutes, or on a long-haul flight.
Nifty, right?!
Design: 4.6 / 5
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Performance
Hi-res audio with 10Hz to 40KHz frequency range
Amazing, detailed audio
ANC not very good, sadly
With a frequency range of 10Hz to 40KHz, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless delivers a little more sub-bass and high-res audio.
Sound quality is, therefore, exquisite here, giving us deep bass with a lot of rumble even at under 75% volume, a beautifully-present treble with a lot of detail, and well-represented mids. That’s whether we’re playing a game like Sable whose sound elements are very much a part of and vital to your gaming experience, listening to Florence and the Machine’s “Dance Fever,” or watching the movie, “Prey.”
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
We’ve tested gaming headsets that have a much wider soundstage. The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless still delivers a great soundstage. More importantly, thanks to its 360° Spatial Audio feature, its sound imaging is very much on point. We really feel the movements of the different game and movie elements when using it, whether it’s a bear chasing the main protagonist in the woods or background game characters moving from left to right.
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
The mic, which still works when stowed away, is clear and crisp when retracted. Guaranteed, you’re coming out loud and clear whether you’re chatting with your friends on Discord or hopping on a quick call with your colleague via your smartphone. Unfortunately, noise rejection is only available for Windows 10/11. As in our experience, the person on the other end of that phone call will hear even the hum of the AC in your apartment.
The ANC is not very good. It’s effective in drowning out noises like the sounds of distant traffic or your AC. However, it’s not as good if you’re trying to block out all the noise. That’s ok for the most part as the audio to an extent takes care of the rest. However, if you plan on using this on the plane, it isn’t going to block out the sounds of those engines.
Performance: 5 / 5
Should I buy the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless?
(Image credit: Future / Michelle Rae Uy)
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Also consider
SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless: Report card
First reviewed August 2022
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.
The DreamCloud Mattress is a luxuriously thick hybrid mattress that's sold at a much lower price than equivalent beds from rival brands. It also comes with excellent perks – a full year's trial period and lifetime warranty. After sleeping on a queen-size model for three weeks and testing it on a range of comfort and support criteria, I'd rate this the best mattress around if you're looking for an affordable yet surprisingly premium-feeling hybrid.
The hybrid design consists of an innerspring base, a cashmere-blend quilted foam cover, and three layers of foams sandwiched in between them – including a layer of gel-infused memory foam to keep sleepers cool. During testing I found it to be the perfect blend of bouncy, soft, and supportive. It's responsive yet cradling, with a nice amount of cushioning, and kept my head, neck, and shoulders nicely aligned.
Some other (pricier) brands offer a choice of different sleep feels, but there's only one firmness option here. That medium-firm feel manages to satisfy most sleepers, although very lightweight people might find it a bit too hard, while very heavy bodies should seek out something more supportive. In fact, the DreamCloud Mattress performed impressively well in all of my tests – check out the table below for an overview.
The generous 365-night trial means you can sleep on it in all seasons before fully committing, and you’re not satisfied, the company will refund your money and also cover the returns fee.
That's the super-short version. Read on for my full DreamCloud mattress review.
Note: I'm reviewing the US model here. For the UK review, toggle the flag dropdown in the main navigation bar.
DreamCloud mattress review: Design & materials
14-inch tall, hybrid mattress with five internal layers, plus cover
Includes quilted, cashmere blend cover, memory foam and wrapped coils
You'll have to spot-treat stains since the cover is not removable
The DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid has five internal layers, including foams and springs. At 14 inches tall, it's thicker than most mattresses, which helps it feel more luxurious, but is worth bearing in mind if you're going to need to move it around a lot, or are planning on adding a topper, for example. It's available in the usual range of common US sizes, and ranks highly in TechRadar's best king size mattress guide.
At the top is a soft-touch cover made from quilted foam and cashmere blend material. It's stitched with a cloud pattern, and has a fairly luxurious look and feel (it's still designed to be nice and durable).
Right underneath that is a pressure-relieving comfort layer made of 'soft foam', followed by a layer of sink-in memory foam, infused with gel to promote cooling. These sit on top of a 'transition layer' of a third type of foam. All of the foams used here are CertiPUR-US certified, which means they meet certain basic health and environmental standards.
Inside the DreamCloud Hybrid you'll find layers of different foams and pocket coils (Image credit: DreamCloud)
Beneath these three foams is the layer of eight-and-a-half inch tall innerspring steel coils. These are individually pocketed, to help isolate movements, and extra-thick around the perimeter, to give a sturdier edge. The coils will also boost breathability by creating space for air to circulate within the mattress (all-foam mattresses can cling on to body heat).
Below the coils is a layer of base foam for stability, followed by the shift-resistant lower cover. Unlike some other models, the upper cover cannot be removed and popped into the washing machine for easy cleaning – this one is spot-clean only (if you're unsure of how to do this read our guide to learn how to clean a mattress). To further safeguard the mattress from stains, spills, and other undesirables, wrap it in one of the best mattress protectors. There are, however, handles to help with maneuvering.
The memory foam version (left) swaps the springs of the hybrid (right) for more foam (Image credit: DreamCloud)
The DreamCloud Hybrid is the brand's original and flagship model. There are a couple of pricier, and more advanced models in the range – the Premier and the Premier Rest. In fall 2023, DreamCloud also introduced all-foam versions of all of its mattresses, so it is possible to buy the DreamCloud original in a version that swaps the springs for more foam.
Design score: 4 out of 5
DreamCloud mattress review: Price & value for money
Lower-mid / mid-range mattress; queen size typically sold at $799
Never sold at full price – expect around 40% off
Comes with a 1-year trial and forever warranty
The DreamCloud Mattress is very competitively priced among other luxury hybrids and is among the most affordable mattresses in its class. Ignore MSRP, because there's always a DreamCloud mattress sale on. The evergreen offer runs year-round and knocks around 40% off. One exception is the Black Friday mattress deals – while the offer on the day itself is usually just the standard evergreen deal, there are often flash sales that occur in the late October and early November that deliver especially low prices.
Outside of those holiday flash sales, the evergreen offer gets you a queen-size DreamCloud Hybrid for $799. The all-foam version will typically have the same discount structure, and overall is slightly cheaper.
Here's the 'official' pricing for the DreamCloud mattress, and alongside the typical sale price:
Twin: MSRP$839 (usually on sale for $503)
Twin XL: MSRP$1,089 (usually on sale for $653)
Full: MSRP $1,199 (usually on sale for $719)
Queen: MSRP $1,332 (usually on sale for $799)
King: MSRP $1,669 (usually on sale for $1,001)
Cal king: MSRP $1,669 (usually on sale for $1,001)
The DreamCloud is one of the most affordable options in TechRadar's best hybrid mattress ranking, and punches above its weight when it comes to quality. It's a great alternative to something like the Saatva Classic or the WinkBed mattress, but can't afford the premium price tag – while the DreamCloud isn't as high quality as either of those models, it has a similar look and feel.
(Image credit: Future)
Standard with the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid is a 365-night mattress trial, providing you with an entire year to decide if the mattress is right for you. If you decide not to keep the mattress, you can request a refund as long as you tried it for 30 full days. (You'll also avail of free returns.) But if you do decide to keep it, the DreamCloud Mattress is guaranteed for life. Should you ever find a manufacturer’s flaw or defect, DreamCloud will repair or replace it.
With a few weeks of testing under my belt, I would be surprised if DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid Mattress didn't remain sturdy and new-looking. The mattress utilizes high-quality build materials and premium construction, which means it should stand up to years of use.
Value score: 4.5 out of 5
DreamCloud mattress review: Comfort & support
I'd rate it a 7.5 out of 10 on the firmness scale
Suitable for most side or back sleepers who battle joint pain
Lighter bodies or front-side sleepers may find it too firm
The DreamCloud Mattress comes in one firmness level, which the company declares is a 'luxury firm' at 6.5 out of 10 on the firmness scale. However, my testing panel judged it to be a little firmer – somewhere between a 7 and 8 out of 10. Some more expensive hybrid mattresses are available in a few different firmness feels, so you can pick according to your preferences, but that's not the case with the DreamCloud. It's one of the concessions you're making for that lower price point.
Luckily, the DreamCloud proved to be a very comfortable level of firmness for most of my testing panel, myself included. The upper foam layers add some plush cushioning and pressure relief, but this isn't a mattress that you'll sink too far into – don't expect that memory foam 'hug' feel. Meanwhile, the pocket coils keep deliver plenty of support, and it's responsive enough that you'll be able to change position easily.
(Image credit: Future)
When I placed a 50lb kettlebell weight in the middle of the DreamCloud Mattress, it sunk in a minimal 1.5 inches, and I didn't notice any indentations upon removing the weight.
Remember, however, that mattress firmness is subjective. Height, weight, and dominant sleep position play a role in how you'll feel about a particular mattress. That's why I asked a range of sleepers of different body types and sleep preferences to share their views for this review, as well as consulting available customer reviews (below).
(Image credit: DreamCloud)
Most of my testers found the DreamCloud comfortable in any position, with plenty of pressure relief for back and side sleepers in particular. Those among us with achy joints said the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid sufficiently alleviated joint pain in their knees and hips by cradling and cushioning in all of the right places. Meanwhile, our back-sleeping weekend guest reviewer found much relief when resting on the DreamCloud, also noting that she felt her spine was well-aligned. I'd also recommend it to anyone who deals with back pain (this model features amongst TechRadar's best mattresses for back pain), thanks to the combination of sturdy support and comfortable cushioning.
It won't suit everyone. Front sleepers might need something a little firmer, and similarly if you weigh much above 230lbs, you might crave slightly more support (those in the latter camp could consider upgrading to the DreamCloud Premier Hybrid Mattress, or another models from TechRadar's best mattress for bigger bodies guide). On the flip side, lightweight sleepers might find it a tad too hard for their liking.
DreamCloud mattress review: Performance
Low motion transfer makes it suitable for co-sleepers
Hot sleepers are likely to sleep cooler on this
Edge support is also very good
I slept on a queen-sized DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid for three weeks, asking others of different weights and sleep preferences to come and test the mattress during this time. In addition to assessing the DreamCloud for comfort and support, I also tested out other key performance aspects – namely, temperature regulation, motion transfer and edge support. Keep reading to learn what I discovered...
Temperature regulation
Despite not being a designated cooling mattress, the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid also does a superb job of regulating temperature. As a rule, hybrids tend to be more breathable than all-foam models, because the coils create space for air to circulate within the mattress. Some foams can also cling on to body heat, but I didn't have any issue with the DreamCloud's foam layers. The cashmere-blend top fabric might also have contributed to this mattress' temperature regulation properties – the sleep surface remained cool to the touch throughout the night.
During my review period, I used several different sheets including a jersey blend and a Pima cotton blend set, and found no difference in the DreamCloud’s ability to keep cool.
Temperature regulation score: 4.5 out of 5
Motion isolation
To evaluate the DreamCloud's motion transfer – which is when you can feel someone tossing, turning, or getting in or out of bed while someone else is sleeping – I performed several drop tests using an empty wine glass and a 10lb kettlebell.
I dropped the weight roughly two feet away from the glass from three different heights: 4 inches (to mimic a partner tossing-and-turning), 8 inches (a partner getting in or out of bed), and 12 inches (a partner jumping into bed, or a larger co-sleeper turning over).
(Image credit: Future)
With all three drop tests, the wine glass was solid, barely stirred, and only slightly stirred, respectively. This is a great result, suggesting that you would hardly feel any of the motion transfer on the other side of the bed from a partner.
That matches up with my real-world experience – I had no issue with being disturbed by a partner's movements on my queen-sized bed during my review period. I can confidently recommend the DreamCloud Mattress for couples who operate on different schedules or sleep with someone who is very restless.
Motion isolation score: 4.5 out of 5
Edge support
The edge support on DreamCloud Mattress is another area where I was mostly impressed. I was not only able to sit fairly comfortably on the edge of DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid without problem, but I also placed a 50lb kettlebell on the edge of the bed to simulate a child or large animal resting on the side if the bed and experienced no issue. The mattress does a decent job of holding its shape and the weight only sunk in the same 1.5 inches that it did when placed in the middle, indicating that the edge support is decent.
(Image credit: Future)
This is good news for anyone who tends to roll towards the edge of the bed while they sleep, as they won't have to worry about possibly falling onto the floor. It's also beneficial for anyone with mobility issues who needs to sit on the edge of the bed before getting in or out of it.
Edge support score: 4.5 out of 5
DreamCloud mattress review: Customer service
The DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid ships free, and typically takes around two to five business days to arrive. This is a bed-in-a-box mattress, which means, it's vacuum-packed and rolled for delivery, making it easier to get it through your home, even if you have tight corners or cramped stairwells to contend with.
When I first reviewed this mattress, there was an option to pay extra to upgrade to white glove delivery or have your old mattress removed, but it looks like these options have disappeared. That means you're probably going to need to rope someone else in to help you get your mattress into place, because even though it's compact, it's still heavy (especially the larger sizes).
Inside the cardboard box you'll find a large, plastic-covered-barrel-shaped mattress to unwrap – made easier courtesy of the little cutting gadget that's included. After rolling it out and removing the plastic, the mattress emerges and begins to instantly expand from its vacuum seal. You can sleep on the mattress within an hour, which means you can set it up closer to bedtime if you wish.
I hardly detected any off-gassing smell while unpacking the mattress and if there was any odor, it quickly dissipated. But this is a hybrid mattress, which isn't as susceptible to off-gassing as its full-foam counterparts in the first place.
(Image credit: Future)
Almost all of the big bed brands offer free delivery, but quite a few do also give you the option to upgrade to a more comprehensive delivery if it's needed, so that's slightly disappointing. Saatva is the only brand I know of to include white glove delivery for free, but those mattresses are significantly more expensive.
When it comes to trial period, DreamCloud fares better – you'll get a full year's sleep trial to test out your purchase and make sure it's right for you. That matches the longest trial you'll find on the market, and returns are free too (some brands charge a processing fee for this). Finally, there's a forever warranty, which again matches the longest you'll find anywhere (... obviously), and is very generous for a mattress in this price bracket.
Customer service score: 4.5 out of 5
DreamCloud mattress review: Specs
DreamCloud mattress review: Other reviews
4.6* average over ~8,200 reviews (Nov 2023)
Complaints focus on it being to soft or firm, a few also found it slept warm
Most reviews are very enthusiastic and positive
My testing panel was made up of individuals with varying builds and preferences, but it's still a rather small sample size to go by. Thus, I've also analyzed user reviews from other DreamCloud customers to provide you with a more comprehensive look at how well this mattress performs.
The DreamCloud Hybrid has gained popularity since its 2017 debut in the bed-in-a-box category. As of November 2023, you can find over 8,200 customer-verified reviews of the mattress on its site, 80% of which are five stars – scoring an average of 4.6 stars. Since DreamCloud only sells from its online retailer and not third-party sellers, there aren’t other sites to gather more reviews.
Most of the less-than-perfect reviews were a result of an issue with firmness (which is subjective anyway). However, a few found the mattress slept warm (I didn't find this), and a handful also reported signs of sagging sooner than expected. DreamCloud is obviously confident in its mattress' durability, because it has a forever warranty (it'll also help to know how long a mattress lasts so you can anticipate when it may be time to replace it – hybrids typically last 7 to 10 years). You've also got a full year's trial, which you can use to make sure it suits your needs.
Most customers, however, credit the DreamCloud Mattress with alleviating back pain and overall improving their sleep. There were several users who praised DreamCloud's timely customer service as well.
(Image credit: DreamCloud)
Should you buy the DreamCloud mattress?
Buy it if...
✅ You want a luxurious feel for an affordable price: The DreamCloud is one of the best value mattresses around, and delivers a surprisingly luxurious feel for its lower-mid / mid-range price bracket. The very generous extras – a full year's trial and forever warranty – really amp up your value for money.
✅ You struggle with back or joint pain: The combination of supportive coils and gentle cushioning make this mattress a great choice for those struggling with back pain or sore joints.
✅ You share a bed: Bed-sharers should look for a mattress that offers high levels of motion isolation, and I found the DreamCloud excelled in this area. You shouldn't be disturbed by a partner's nocturnal movements.
Don't buy it if...
❌ You prefer a memory foam hug feel: This mattress has comfortable cushioning, but if you want a contouring feel, you'll need something with a higher proportion of memory foam. Consider something like the Helix Midnight, which TechRadar rates as the best mattress for side sleepers.
❌ You want the best of the best: The DreamCloud is great value for money, but if you can push to a higher price, then the Saatva Classic can't be beaten. This is our #1 rated mattress overall, and boasts impeccable build quality and a luxurious feel.
❌ You need something cheaper: Hybrids typically cost a bit more than all-foam mattresses, so if you want to save a bit of money and aren't fussed about the springs, check out the Nectar mattress – TechRadar's best memory foam mattress. It's from the same parent company as the DreamCloud, so you'll still get those excellent extras. See exactly how the two compare in this Nectar vs DreamCloud showdown.
❌ You're very lightweight: Very light people might find the DreamCloud a bit too firm for comfort – especially if you typically lie on your side. If that's the case, consider something softer, like the Amerisleep AS3 Hybrid.
The ErgoTune Supreme V3 office chair looks like so many other cheap, no-brand, all-mesh alternatives on the market... and then you look a little more closely to quickly realize the quality on offer here.
While you need to assemble it yourself (at least in the US and Australia), outstanding instructions (with helpful tips about using boxes for support, plus ‘How To Build’ videos) make assembly simple. Everything fits together perfectly and you’re quickly facing a solid chair whose lines are both horizontal and vertical where they need to be.
Singapore-based parent company Northday has liaised with the enthusiastic community that has grown around the ErgoTune chair to identify areas of improvement for this third iteration of its Supreme model. Innovations include a three-axis adjustable neck rest, a wider, more adjustable lumbar support and improved height adjustment from the pneumatic base. These join existing features like highly adjustable arm rests (which move in-and-out, point inwards and outwards, and move up and down).
Despite the high-quality mesh fabric, it can feel rather stiff – especially in the first week of use. However, once I got used to the lumbar support, I stopped aching as much throughout the day. I did struggle with the (otherwise impressive) adjustable mesh seat, however. This reviewer’s big, Aussie backside was just too wide to be fully comfortable with it, being forced to sit on the solid slats that suspend the mesh. However, it’s worth noting that I had the same problem with Herman Miller’s largest Aeron (the industry’s ‘gold-standard’ mesh chair), which is considerably more expensive.
There was also a gripe concerning reclining. For a big guy, the settings are essentially fixed upright, loose, looser or very loose. I suspect that ErgoTune’s expansion out of Singapore, into Western markets, may require some updated average-person measurements.
Nonetheless, although these issues made this particular reviewer struggle to relax in the chair, working in it day in and day out saw him suffer far fewer aches when clocking off for the day. Not everyone will experience these problems – especially those with more dainty derrières.
Ultimately, it feels very high quality and is backed with an impressive 12-year warranty. You can certainly buy cheaper chairs, but the ErgoTune Supreme V3 ranks up there with some of the best office chairs on the market (which exist in much higher price brackets).
The ErgoTune Supreme V3's mesh backrest and adjustable armrests. (Image credit: TechRadar)
ErgoTune Supreme V3 review: Price and availability
ErgoTune Supreme V3 review: Price and availability
How much does it cost? AU$749 / SG$599
When is it out? Available to buy now
Where can you get it? Currently available in the US, Australia and Singapore direct from ErgoTune or parent brand NorthDay, as well as on Amazon
Having started life in Singapore, the ErgoTune Supreme V3 arrived in Australia in 2021 and then made its way to the US market early in 2023.
There are many cheaper alternatives, but none offer the quality or adjustability on offer here. Alternative high-quality mesh office chairs include the NeueChair ($729 / AU$1,229 / SG$1,169) and the classic Herman Miller Aeron ($1,535 / AU$2,095 / SG$2,679). The former’s mesh feels lower quality and its less adjustable. The Aeron can be more comfortable but offers less posture support – and is considerably more expensive. This means the ErgoTune Supreme V3 punches well above its weight and is great value.
Value: 4.5 / 5
With neck and lumbar support, plus adjustable armrests, the ErgoTune Supreme V3 has a lot to recommend it. (Image credit: TechRadar)
ErgoTune Supreme V3 Office Chair review: Design and features
New adjustments for lumbar, neck and height
ErgoTune is based in Singapore and has developed an enthusiastic following. It’s good to know that the company has liaised with this group to design the innovations that make up this third iteration (V3) of the ErgoTune Supreme.
It offers a very solid, five-feet, wheeled base that feels fully planted (and yet very moveable) both on carpet and hard floors. This connects to the upper portion via a high-quality pneumatic stem. The V3 now comes with three options of this for different heights: Petite (140cm – 159cm), Standard (160cm – 179cm) and Tall (180cm – 210cm). When I was first sent the Supreme V3 for review, supply chain issues meant that I received the Tall stem later, by which time the default Standard stem was fully wedged and not coming out. Still, the standard stem suited my 189cm height just fine. The new Petite stem will suit shorter people who don’t like their legs dangling off the ground.
There are two levers just below the seat and both can be lifted to make serious movement adjustments or twisted into a number of positions to adjust tension and motion locks. The left lever allows the seat to move forward and back to a generous degree, so that everyone should be able to sit with their lower legs pointing straight down. Twisting the lever enables the back rest to recline or be locked in place. The right lever allows the pneumatic stem to raise or lower the seat, while twisting it changes the looseness of the backrest’s movement.
The neck support on the ErgoTune Supreme V3 can be adjusted across three axes. (Image credit: TechRadar)
The adjustable lumbar support’s protrusion takes some getting used to as you can’t avoid it – even if on some occasions you might wish you could. It certainly can support your back better than most rivals, but it’s very stiff, and the rotating bars behind it only allow for adjustments that range through fixed, firm or medium tension. I know it’s doing me good, especially in the long run, but sometimes you need to slouch for a moment!
The seatback is simple to adjust to nine different height settings. I'm also a very big fan of the neck rest. While I was initially concerned that the latter’s three-axis adjustment might be a little loose, I learned that the tilt, height and depth settings made it simple to snuggle it into my neck for comfortable support without putting any forward pressure on my head.
The arm rests deserve a special mention. Not only do they rotate on the primary pivot, they can rotate on an additional pivot in front of that. This allows them to move in (towards your body) or further away from it, and also to have the rests point inwards or outwards. The latter movement is useful as the firmness can make for sore elbows after extended periods, but twisting them outwards alleviates this problem.
Design: 4.5 / 5
Two main levers beneath the ErgoTune Supreme V3's seat operate height, recline and seat-depth adjustments. The two bars behind the lumbar support twist to adjust its tension. (Image credit: TechRadar)
ErgoTune Supreme V3 Office Chair review: Comfort
It’s no La-Z-Boy comfy chair, but it’s better for you
If you can imagine what a very firm, mesh-based posture chair might feel like to sit in all day – ensuring that your back is well supported at all times – then you’ve got a good idea of the ErgoTune Supreme V3. It’s good for you in the same way that a probing, remedial massage is good for you, but it’s not the equivalent of a relaxing, oil-based, Thai full-body massage.
The mesh is a special product called DuraWeave (from Germany) and it’s impressively sag resistant. It’s just a shame that I found the seat a little narrow in that I was sitting on the solid, supporting slats rather than the looser mesh, but this won’t be an issue for everyone.
The ErgoTune Supreme V3 feels very planted, both on carpet and hard floors. (Image credit: TechRadar)
Nonetheless, the mesh ensures that you are kept cool and breathable all day – which is important in hot and humid climes. It’s also more hygienic over time due to the ‘pass-through ability’ concerning bodily emissions. In this sense, it’s very different to the epic (in terms of both comfort and price) Logitech x Herman Miller Embody chair, but only slightly different to its sibling Aeron, which is softer and a bit more comfortable but doesn’t have nearly as good posture support.
ErgoTune claims this is a chair to relax in – largely due to the recline mode – but this is where I struggled most. The recline feature was just too loose for my long, heavy body. However, this won’t be an issue for smaller, lighter people.
Ultimately, comfort is a relative thing. Sitting in a beanbag all day might seem comfortable until you get up. I’ve sat in enough dodgy, office chairs to respect that the ErgoTune Supreme V3 doles out some tough love, in that you can sit in it all day and get up and happily move around afterwards… in comfort! Not many other chairs (especially at this price) allow that.
Comfort: 4 / 5
Should you buy the ErgoTune Supreme V3?
Everything about the design, including the branding, gives the ErgoTune Supreme V3 a sleek profile. (Image credit: TechRadar)
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Also consider
Steelcase Series 2 Task Chair Though the optional extras can push the price up significantly, the base model of Steelcase's Task Chair is an excellent, highly-customisable office chair that offers a mesh back and cushioned seat. Check out our Steelcase Series 2 Task Chair review
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.
PDF Candy is an online PDF editor that offers a wealth of tools to - you guessed it - edit PDFs online for free (with some limits - see below). And by ‘wealth’, we mean an impressive 49 tools, including editing, merging, compressing, rearranging, and protecting files. The service is delightfully simple to use, although as with most free PDF editing tools, an upgrade is needed to unlock its full potential.
How does the latest version of this online tool compare to the best PDF editor and best free PDF editor software out there? We put it to the test.
PDF Candy: Pricing & plans
You can subscribe to PDF Candy monthly, yearly, or grab yourself a perpetual license (Image credit: PDF Candy)
Fair, free, with flexible payment upgrades
Users can freely access the tools via the browser PDF Candy Web - and there’s no restriction to which tools you can use - although you can only perform one task an hour, making the free version ideal for minimal or irregular PDF editing (or sloths). At least it's more generous than SmallPDF's one-task-per-day restriction.
Should you attempt to perform another task within the hour, a handy, if somewhat threatening, red countdown timer tells you how long you’ll have to wait.
Removing this time-lock requires a monthly or annual subscription - doing so also increases file size limits, too.
The lifetime license - a one-off payment - opens up PDF Candy, as well as offering a desktop PDF editor download free for Windows.
You can also get a yearly subscription for both the web and desktop versions for $4 a month (it’s advertised as usually being $18 monthly). If you’d rather not be tied down to a yearly contract, you can use the web version for $6 a month. Alternatively, you can purchase a perpetual licence for both the web and desktop versions for $99, which is slightly more than subscribing for 2 years.
Pricing: 4/5
PDF Candy: Interface & experience
All of PDF Candy’s tools are displayed on this page (Image credit: PDF Candy)
PDF Candy could not be simpler to use
Using PDF Candy is child’s play. Literally. The ability to grasp a mouse and discern an icon is all that’s needed to get started.
When you first hit the homepage, you’ll find a bold ‘action’ button to add files from your desktop, or use third-party cloud storage services, Dropbox and Google Drive. Depending on the tool you use, this will slightly vary, but layout and workflow remains largely the same.
Dragging files onto the action button offers you a choice of the six most popular tools: convert a PDF, Compress it, Edit it, Merge it with others, Split it, or Delete pages. If those aren’t what you’re after, beneath that action button is the full list of tools offered by PDF Candy - including rearrange pages, and image and office doc conversion to PDF. Icons are big, bold, streamlined and uniquely identifiable in design - so you can generally find what you need if you know what you’re looking for.
If there’s a flaw here, it’s the lack of categorization. There’s no clear basis for their default order - it’s not alphabetical, for example. The first 14 are the ‘popular’ tools, and the rest seem to have been ordered by the designer’s preference.
There’s a search field at the top of the page which can help you find a tool quickly, and it’s also possible to ‘favorite’ a tool, which will make it appear first in the ‘popular’ or ‘other’ list after a page refresh.
That strong, simple interface extends once you dive into any of the tools. PDF Candy never leaves you in doubt as to what to do and what to expect.
Interface & experience: 5/5
PDF Candy: Editing
Editing a PDF is as powerful as it is easy with PDF Candy (Image credit: PDF Candy)
As easy as using a word processor
Editing PDF files online is as effortless as every other function in PDF Candy. Key tools run along a left sidebar, and, as with elsewhere, the icons leave you in no doubt what each button does.
Editing text in a PDF file isn’t a million miles away from editing a word processor document. Open up the PDF editor, highlight a word, line, or paragraph, then you’re free to replace it with your own content.
Alternatively, by clicking anywhere in the document, you can begin writing in the text box, before dragging it into position. You’ll also gain a handful of controls over the appearance, but it’s fairly lacking. You can’t even change the typeface, although you have the basics, such as bolding, italicising, resizing, and a choice of 10 colors.
Whiteout is a useful tool for hiding sensitive data from a PDF file - although, once exported, you might be unpleasantly surprised to realise you can still select this hidden text. It’s a great tool when printing out a document, but not when sharing it digitally. It you need proper redaction, where compliance weighs heavy on your mind, we still prefer Foxit PDF Editor.
The included eSign software works very well, offering three options for adding signatures to documents: via text, image upload, or drawing it with your mouse. And you only need to create this once. Your signature will then be saved, to be used across other documents (and you can add more if required).
Editing: 4/5
PDF Candy: Conversion
PDF Candy has a wealth of tools that allow you convert documents to and from the PDF format (Image credit: PDF Candy)
Packs an incredible 34 PDF conversion tools
PDF Candy boasts the ability to convert documents in just one click. And in our experience, the platform delivers on this promise. The only (admittedly optional) exception is when converting images to PDF and vice versa, where you can also select the image quality.
After waiting 15 seconds for the tool to process the document, a rapid-fire conversion takes place. Once converted, you can download or immediately open the document into another tool to make further alterations, such as merging PDFs or compressing PDF files.
But the real draw here is the sheer number of PDF converter options. There are 34 ‘convert to PDF’ tools, including Word to PDF, Excel to PDF, and PowerPoint to PDF. There's even an option for Pages, the Apple format, although this feels somewhat superfluous as converting any file format to PDF has been baked into the Mac since the launch of macOS X, all the way back in 2001. There are also options for converting images and popular eReader formats to PDF.
On the flip side, ‘convert from PDF’ has 17 tools, such as PDF to Word, PDF to JPG, and PDF to Excel. If you find yourself regularly converting to and from PDF, you'll find a lot of utility in PDF Candy.
Conversion: 5/5
PDF Candy: Extra features
PDF Candy boasts a large number of tools, including the ability to fill in forms and sign them (Image credit: PDF Candy)
Loaded with bonus tools you didn't know you need
So, PDF Candy nails down the basics. Here’s a platform that offers everything most PDF users will need to get the job done. But it doesn’t end there.
Beyond editing, converting, and otherwise altering pages, the free online PDF editor also features the ability to encrypt and password-protect files, edit a document’s metadata, and add watermarks to PDF files. And, as expected by this point, everything is equally easy to use.
PDF OCR was startlingly accurate - ‘reading’ text in a PDF and exporting it to a .TXT file. The formatting may not match what’s on the page, but the content itself was precise. Depending on the amount of ‘unreadable’ images you have in the document, wait times will vary.
Also available are Image Candy and Video Candy, the company’s free online image editor and video editor respectively. Like PDF Candy, these editors have a good selection of tools, such as removing backgrounds, watermarking images, and even generating memes, on the image side of things, or changing speed, adding music or even creating a slideshow, with the video editor. Using them is just as easy as its document management suite.
Extra features: 5/5
PDF Candy: Scorecard
Should I buy?
If you feel PDF Candy’s one-hour-per-task limit is a hindrance, you'll need to subscribe (Image credit: PDF Candy)
Buy it if...
You’re a casual user who needs a free PDF editor online If you're unfazed by the one-task-per-hour limit, PDF Candy is ideal. It's totally free, all tools are available, and it's simply a delight to use.
You’re a power-user on Windows With an upgrade to the lifetime license, PDF Candy unlocks the Windows desktop app and removes restrictions, making it ideal for heavier workloads.
Don't buy it if...
You’re a power-user who needs a free PDF editor If you're a heavy PDF user on a budget, PDF Candy won't measure up. The hour-long wait just doesn't lend itself to workflow efficiencies.
You’re on Mac and want a desktop app You can use PDF Candy Web on any device - Windows, Mac, mobiles, and tablets. But the desktop app is only available for PC.
Alternatives
Adobe Acrobat Standard: best overall Our top choice for best PDF editor is Adobe Acrobat - an incredibly powerful, premium subscription tool. The advanced functions mean the experience can be initially overwhelming. But it's ideal of PDF power-users. After reviewing the software, we noted that "sometimes, the best solution on the market has its reputation for a reason."View Deal
PDF24 Creator: best for free PDF24 Creator is our choice for best free PDF editor. In our 5-star review, we felt it "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."View Deal
Apple Preview: best for Mac Apple Preview is an excellent free PDF editor - sort of. it's not fully fledged like Acrobat, or even PDF Candy, but it gets the basics of PDF manipulation right. In our review, we found it "should be able to cater to all but the most demanding PDF road warriors." Better still, it comes preinstalled on Macs. View Deal
Issues with editing PDF content and line-spacing now fixed
Prices have risen
Update - November 2025: In re-reviewing Nitro PDF, the latest version addresses one of the biggest issues we had with this software.
Originally, we were underwhelmed by the software's ability to seamlessly edit the content on an original PDF document. We even made a point of mentioning the issue with line spacing when altering the text. We're happy to report that's now been fixed (and we've removed it from the list of Cons above). Editing PDFs now feels much more consistent and intuitive.
Elsewhere, the feature-set and workflow remain the same. But there is one more big change: the price. And it's not an insignificant increase, either. Bumping the monthly cost from $11.24 to $15 is a hefty hike (jumping from $135 a year to a whopping $180), which sends this software to the top end of its market. Ouch.
Original review follows.
Nitro PDF Pro - now there’s a name that packs a powerful punch. The PDF editor is positioned as an essential tool for small businesses and individuals, and includes a mass of must-have features, like PDF conversions, eSignatures, OCR. Ideal, then, for improving workflow efficiencies and productivity within a single tool.
Available for Windows and Mac, there’s also a version of the PDF editor app for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. But how does the latest version measure up to the best PDF editor software we've used? We put it to the test.
Nitro PDF Pro 14: Pricing & plans
Nitro PDF offers both a one-off purchase or a subscription service (Image credit: Nitro)
One-time purchase with volume licensing available
There’s been a few changes since the release of version 14 of Nitro PDF Pro, not least of which is its pricing structure. Don’t worry: if you’re not a fan of subscription services (you know you’re in trouble when car manufacturers are starting to get in on the act), and that aversion is driving you to find the best Adobe Acrobat alternatives: this multi-platform PDF editor can still be purchased outright for the one-off fee of $180.
Yes, that’s not cheap, and you have to pay for every device you want to use this software on. Whether you need a PDF editor for Mac or Windows, the price per licence is the same. It's a far cry from the best free PDF editors available, for sure.
However, you now also have the option of subscribing to the service for $11.24 per user, per month. This ends up being roughly $135 for the year for each person.
Whichever path you wish to take, you’re offered a 14-day free trial, no credit card required (although you do need to set up a free account and give Nitro a valid email address, which has been pretty much de rigueur for most online services for a while now). So hop on over to www.gonitro.com, and let’s check it out.
Pricing: 4/5
Nitro PDF Pro 14: Interface & experience
Nitro PDF Pro’s interface is clean and simple, only taking up space on the edges of the interface, letting you focus on your document (Image credit: Nitro)
Clean and doesn’t get in the way
Launch the software, open up an existing PDF, and Nitro PDF Pro’s interface is revealed to you.
The layout is quite clear and simple: all the tools you need are at the top, in a row of large icons showcasing the main tools, with a toolbar underneath, displaying additional ones (which are grayed out if the selected main tool doesn’t support that feature).
There’s a sidebar on the left hand side, which displays by default thumbnails of all your PDFs’ pages, but you can change that to show other useful information, such as your annotations, or any included attachments, among others.
Interface & experience: 4/5
Nitro PDF Pro 14: Tools
You can edit the actual content of an existing PDF, but keep an eye on the formatting if you rewrite too much (Image credit: Nitro)
Pretty much everything you need to annotate and alter a PDF
The purpose of Nitro PDF Pro is to allow you to make alterations to PDF documents, and it comes with all the tools you might expect.
Take online collaboration, for instance. You have at your disposal many ways to leave notes on pages. There’s a highlight tool which allows you to mark text in a variety of colors. You’ll find four default shades, with the ability to create three custom ones should you so wish. You’re also able to underline, strikethrough, or add a squiggle under any part of the PDF you’re working on.
All of this is most useful, but it can be hard to convey exactly what changes you want to see with a bit of a highlighter and some lines over the text. That’s where the Annotate tools come in.
Here, various text boxes reside, from just a plain box, to a comment, a thought bubble, a note (think of it as a collapsible post-it note), and a few others. More than enough for you to populate a PDF with as many comments as you need in order to convey what you need changed to other team members.
Editing the content of an existing PDF is also possible, of course, using the ‘Correct Text’ tool. Select a word, a sentence, or multiple paragraphs, and that tool will transform your selection into a changeable text box.
We did encounter an issue with the PDFs we experimented with: turning a section into editable text affected the line spacing, often making the paragraph overlap the following one. We tried with multiple PDFs. We encountered the same problem with each of them.
Although there are many tools available to modify text, like changing its color, italicizing it, changing its alignment, etc, we couldn’t find one that altered the line spacing. There are other competing software that do a better job at preserving the look of a document, like EaseUS PDF Editor.
Tools: 4/5
Nitro PDF Pro 14: Document creation
Converting a PDF to another format offers you numerous options (Image credit: Nitro)
Start from scratch and convert into other formats
Altering PDFs is one thing, but like so many others, Nitro PDF Pro lets you create documents from scratch, using all the tools mentioned above, and more besides. This even includes form building, something Adobe Acrobat can struggle to present. This is a useful addition as it allows you to stay within a single app when working on all things PDF.
But people don’t always work within one PDF editor app, and that’s where Nitro’s format conversion comes into its own.
Like similar PDF editing software - think Foxit PDF Editor or Readdle PDF Expert - Nitro PDF Pro can convert PDFs into other formats, and vice versa.
However, it doesn’t do this via a dedicated ‘Convert’ command. Instead, the process is a lot more intuitive: need to convert Word to PDF? Go to File > Open, locate it, and Nitro will convert it automatically for you as it opens up in the software.
Nitro PDF Pro is compatible with a wide variety of file formats, including images. When it encounters a file with no selectable text within it, it will offer to initiate the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) process. Select the language the document is in, and Nitro will get to work. We found the results very acceptable, and of course, they are editable.
Should you need to convert a PDF into a different format, just go to File > Export. You have a few options at your disposal, such as Microsoft Office files - Nitro is a easily one of the best PDF to Excel converters and PDF to PowerPoint converters on the market. There’s also RTF, TXT, a handful of image formats, and PDF/A - which is used for archival purposes.
This is not all you can do with Nitro PDF Pro of course: there are other features, which include being able to merge PDFs together from emails to text files to spreadsheets, condensing them into a single, searchable PDF), digitally eSign documents, and create tables of content.
Document creation: 4/5
Nitro PDF Pro 14: Scorecard
Pricing
No subscriptions - just a one-off perpetual license
4/5
Interface & experience
Clean, modern, and simple to use
4/5
Tools
Has just about everything you need to edit and annotate documents
4/5
PDF creation
Excellent creation and conversion tools
4/5
Should I buy Nitro PDF Pro 14?
(Image credit: Nitro)
Buy it if...
You need a feature-rich PDF editor Nitro PDF Pro offers you many tools you would need to edit, annotate or even create a PDF document from scratch. You can bring in documents straight from your scanner, and its OCR capabilities are excellent. If you or your business often need to alter and annotate PDF documents, it might be worth downloading the free trial version and check it out.
Don't buy it if...
You're a casual user or your needs are simple If your needs are simpler, and you only want to browse through a PDF, then Nitro PDF Pro risks being overkill. It might also not be ideal with you like to edit the content of a PDF without altering its formatting, especially the line spacing.
Alternatives
Adobe Acrobat Standard The original remains, in our opinion, the top choice for best PDF editor out there. It's rich with features and tools for editing, converting, and organizing all your PDF documents. The workflow and user experience is sublime once you get past the initially overwhelming interface. In our review, we couldn't help but not that "sometimes, the best solution on the market has its reputation for a reason."View Deal
Foxit PDF Editor "Manipulate PDFs in style with a great multi-platform PDF editor" was how we kicked off our review of Foxit's excellent PDF editor. It's packed full of powerful tools, including an outstanding data redaction tool. Ultimately, we found it to be "a great app for businesses who need to manipulate, edit, redact and otherwise alter PDFs on a regular basis."View Deal
EaseUS PDF Editor EaseUS PDF Editor offers much of what Nitro does, although you have the choice of a perpetual license or taking out a subscription. When we tested the product, we found "a powerful, PC-only PDF editing software tool that allows you to manipulate and alter documents with relative ease. It also comes with more standard features, such as a converter, and has good OCR capabilities."View Deal
This is the all-in-one roundup reviewing every Avast One consumer security solution for 2025. On this page, after the intro, you’ll find
(a) a full evaluation of the free Avast One Basic, along with reviews of the additional features incorporated with the rest of the range:
(b) Avast One Silver,
(c) the top-end package Avast One Gold
You can jump to the reviews of those individual products by clicking on the links in the bar at the top of this page, but bear in mind that this article is really designed to be read all the way through, as the features of Avast One Basic are also present in the higher-level security suites, of course.
With Avast One, Avast has once again justified its reputation as one of the best antivirus software solutions out there, and third-party test labs support this with clear evidence. Among the main reasons to consider its consumer range is the sheer amount of advanced security tools on offer.
For example, every paid subscription comes with a full VPN and a helpful system cleanup tool. There’s also webcam monitoring in there for good measure, and all Avast One apps include anti-phishing, ransomware protection, password monitoring, and a simple yet effective firewall.
Despite limitations, the free antivirus tier called Avast One Basic provides a pretty good idea on what you can expect in the paid packages.
(Image credit: Avast )
Plans and pricing
As mentioned above, Avast One Basic boasts a solid number of security tools for a free platform. They include malware monitoring, network scanning, a firewall, tracker blocking, system optimizations, and email protections.
Other, albeit limited, tools include a password protection tool that can look for compromised passwords, but you have to run it manually. The same goes for installing software updates.
Basic users can also use the secure VPN, but it’s limited to 5GB per week and a single server location. Still, this might be enough for more than a day or so of continuous music streaming or about 10 hours of watching video content.
There are two main tiers: Silver and Gold, which at their core offer a very similar service. However, their pricing is customizable in terms of the number of users covered.
Specifically, the Silver tier starts at $2.99 per month during the first year, after which the price increases to $6.67 a month (or $79.99 per year). The Gold tier starts at $6.99 per month for the first year, after which it renews at $179.99 per year. Each of the two tiers is available as an individual plan (up to 3 devices for Silver and 5 devices for Gold) or a family plan (up to 30 devices).
Silver provides everything from Basic, plus premium features that include shopping and banking safety, webcam protection, an advanced email guardian, sensitive information protections, expanded data breach monitoring, digital fingerprint masking, advanced password security, an unlimited VPN with 50+ locations, driver updater, and automatic app updater - just to name some of them.
The Gold tier essentially adds support for more users and has everything that’s included in Silver. The best part? There’s a 60-day free trial if you download the Basic app first. You just need to submit payment information and remember to cancel the subscription if you don’t wish to be charged.
Compare Avast One subscriptions
Avast One Basic
(Image credit: Avast )
Avast One’s installer isn’t very customizable, so you won’t get to pick and choose the tools to download. At the same time, it makes the process rather straightforward. Once installed, it becomes clear that Avast One doesn’t slow down your system at all.
Avast One interface is sleek, with friendly graphics and easy access to all of the platform’s core features. They are available by scrolling down and there are shortcuts to scans, VPN, and other features.
The Explore button on the left reveals a full list of Avast One’s features. Some options aren’t available in the Avast One Basic, including webcam protection, web hijack guard, automatic driver updater, and the like.
(Image credit: Avast )
Antivirus
Avast One’s antivirus features start with the Smart Scan. You can launch this with a single click, and it will take up to 10 seconds to do a quick scan for malware and check for dubious browser add-ons and PC performance issues.
A Deep Scan checks your entire system; a Targeted Scan allows you to select specific files or folders to examine; while a Boot-Time Scan checks for threats before your system fully starts. And if that’s not enough, there’s an option to create custom scan types to do whatever you want.
The configuration settings let you define what to scan (all hard drives, the system drive alone, removable drives, archives, specific folders, and so on), how to treat any threats, set file type scan priority to optimize performance, and more.
Avast One’s scan speeds are solid, on par on industry’s average, taking about 10 minutes to scan our entire system.
(Image credit: Avast )
Protection
Indeed, the latest AV-Comparatives September 2024 summary report has placed Avast Basic close to the top antivirus products, with an impressive 95.8% online detection rate.
It dipped slightly in offline detection and wrongly tagged four files as malicious, but has nonetheless performed well against competition, earning it the ‘Advanced+’ award.
AV-Test’s Home Windows report from December 2024 placed Avast in its top antivirus group, rated in three different areas. The platform earned a perfect 6/6 score on all of them - protection, performance, and usability.
(Image credit: AV-Comparatives)
Ransomware Shield
After installation, Avast One automatically detects folders with user documents and then adds them to the company’s Ransomware Shield Protect list. Untrusted apps aren’t allowed to modify the contents of anything in these folders without permission.
Blocking malicious sites
Avast one also detects and blocks access to malicious websites with its Web Shield, reducing the chance you’ll get infected in the first place. There are no browser extensions, but it is possible to install Avast Online Security separately if you need it.
(Image credit: Avast )
Network protection
Avast One Basic includes a simple firewall that monitors your traffic to stave off hackers and malware. It also lists apps using your connection, the amount of data they’ve transferred so far, and allows you to manually block them.
Upgrading to the paid Avast Silver tier apparently gets you more shielding of your system and detection, including hiding your info from other devices on the network, as well as adding user alerts for port scans and ARP spoofing (an exploit that potentially allows hackers to infiltrate your network).
The Network Inspector is there as another tier of protection, scanning all the devices found on your network, checking for any vulnerabilities, and listing all the networks your device has been connected to.
(Image credit: Avast )
Avast VPN
Installing the free Avast One Basic gets you a restricted (but still very useful) version of Avast’s VPN. The major limitation is that you can’t pick a location - the app just automatically connects to your nearest server, so you can forget about unblocking streaming platforms in other countries.
There’s a data limit too, although it’s a relatively generous 5GB a week, better than the competition or even free VPN platforms. The tested speeds are very good, and the VPN connects quickly, with no evident slowing down of our download or upload speeds.
Upgrading to Avast One Silver gives you unlimited data and 59 locations to choose from, allowing you to unblock certain geo-restricted websites and services.
(Image credit: Avast )
Password Protection
There’s no password manager in Avast One, but you do get a couple of protective layers to keep your credentials private. Notably, all of the platform’s versions offer the option to check if your passwords are compromised in a data breach.
Avast One’s paid products add breach monitoring, where the app automatically checks for new breaches and warns you if your credentials are involved. The paid editions also throw in a Browser Shield, which limits access to passwords stored in your browser.
(Image credit: Avast )
Software Updater
Avast One Basic’s Software Updater scans your apps, detecting and listing any missing updates. It will install them too, although you need to manually click on the Update button for each. Upgrade to Avast One Silver and you get the ability to automatically update them.
(Image credit: Avast )
Privacy extras
All Avast One users get access to a Clear Browsing Data feature, where you can quickly get rid of your browsing history, cache, cookies, and more. This works much like any other web cleanup tool, but Avast does deserve credit for its wide app support.
As it happens, it efficiently cleans Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, Brave, and even Thunderbird.
(Image credit: Avast )
Mobile
In addition to helping protect your PC and Mac, Avast One also lets you cover your Android and iOS devices, with free and paid versions for both. The overall process of installing it on Android involves giving the same layers of permissions for all the security tools to work - as expected.
The antivirus program itself runs smoothly, scans are quick, and the interface is nice, very easy to understand and use.
Verdict
Avast’s Basic program is a stellar free app, with an impressive number of security tools for a free offering, continuously scoring high in both malware detection and zero-day threat blocking.
Avast One Silver
(Image credit: Avast )
Paying for Avast One Silver gets you a number of additional interesting and unusual features.
It comes with the Sensitive Data Shield that automatically scans your drive for files containing sensitive information - names, addresses, passwords, financial details, and the like - and prevents your device’s other users from accessing them.
Meanwhile, the Web Hijack Guard protects browser traffic from DNS hijacking, a nasty exploit where hackers redirect your traffic to malicious websites.
Avast’s Webcam Protection controls webcam access to reduce the chance of malware accessing your device. By default, this allows trusted apps to access your webcam and blocks everything else until you give permission. However, you can also up the protection level to Strict Mode, which asks for permission whenever anything tries to access the webcam, or you can disable your webcam entirely.
(Image credit: Avast )
Performance boost
Avast One’s paid versions round off their feature set with a collection of PC maintenance tools, including a PC Speedup that lists apps slowing down your system and allows you to optimize them to speed up your PC.
Then there’s the Driver Updater, which scans your system for missing driver updates, allowing you to download and install them in a couple of clicks. That said, this might be potentially risky as a single mistake could turn your PC unusable, so caution is advised.
Finally, Avast One’s Disk Cleaner does an excellent job of scanning your system for surplus and leftover files, potentially freeing up a significant amount of drive space.
VPN
All of Avast One’s paid subscriptions feature the secure VPN as in its Basic offering. However, at this point, you’re no longer limited to just one location and 5GB of data. With unlimited usage, you can connect and use the Avast VPN whenever and for however long you want to.
Moreover, you’re getting access to any of Avast’s VPN servers in more than 50 locations around the world. This gives you added security as it hides your real location and allows you to generate a new IP address every time you connect.
Verdict
The jump in protection between the free Avast One and paid subscriptions is impressive and well worth the money. In fact, the unlimited VPN access alone is worth the annual cost.
Avast One Gold
(Image credit: Avast )
ID monitoring
Avast One Gold takes the password tool from the lower tiers further by introducing ID monitoring. This service checks if your online identity has been compromised and keeps an eye on the dark web for your personal identifying information, like bank accounts, credit card numbers, full names, birthdates, and SSNs.
If any personal info is found, Avast will help you contact the appropriate agencies, change login credentials, and restore your identity.
Verdict
All things considered, Avast One is considered one of the most popular antivirus software in the world, and for many a good reason. It has numerous useful protection tools, bundling them all up into a strong suite where everything works well together.
Even better, many of its advanced security tools come in the free version for home use, making it one of the best free antivirus apps you’ll find. Paid upgrades are available for those who wish to have more extensive protections in place.
• Original review date: May 2022
• Canon's first flagship APS-C model for mirrorless
• Launch price: $1,499 / £1,349 / AU$2,349 (body only)
• Official price now: $1,399 / £1,379 / AU$2,469
Update: February 2024. Canon has filled out its APS-C range of cameras for EOS R mount mirrorless, but the EOS R7 remains the flagship model that still offers excellent value if you don't need full-frame. No other camera in this crop sensor format can better the EOS R7's 32.5MP resolution, and that class-leading detail is supported by excellent in-body stabilization, rapid high-speed shooting and superb autofocus performance. In short, the EOS R7 remains an excellent camera for wildlife and sports photography. Unfortunately there's still a sore lack of native RF-S lenses to choose from. If you're keen on wildlife and looking for a high performance telephoto lens, you'll need to use one of Canon's full-frame RF offerings, like the RF 100-400mm F5.6-8 or the pricier RF 100-500mm F4.5-7.1 L. The uncertainty surrounding the system's lenses is worrying, but the EOS R7 itself is a certainty as one of the best mirrorless cameras in its class. The rest of this review remains as previously published.
Canon EOS R7: Two-minute review
If you're a keen amateur photographer who also likes to shoot video, the Canon EOS R7 is one of the best cameras you can buy and also the sweet spot in the camera giant's EOS R range for amateur shooters.
Sitting in between classic DSLRS like the Canon EOS 7D Mark II and EOS 90D, it combines Canon's latest Dual Pixel CMOS AF II autofocus system with speedy 15fps burst-shooting speeds (or even 30fps speeds, when you use its electronic shutter). It's pricier than the Canon EOS R10, but the R7's higher-resolution 32.5MP sensor, in-body stabilization, deeper buffer and dual card slots will justify the cost for many.
Unlike Canon's full-frame cameras, the EOS R7 has an APS-C sensor. While these can't gather as much light as the full-frame sensors seen in cameras like the Canon EOS R6, they do bring a few benefits – including a smaller, lighter overall camera system and a lower price tag.
For its price, the EOS R7 delivers an impressive range of features that show why it's now Canon's flagship APS-C camera. Unlike the EOS 90D, you get in-body image stabilization (IBIS), which helps preserve image quality when you're shooting handheld. You also get two UHS-II card slots and a solid range of video-shooting specs, including headphone and microphone inputs, plus the ability to shoot uncropped 4K/60p video.
(Image credit: Future)
Together, these features make the EOS R7 one of the best mirrorless cameras who can't justify Canon's full-frame models, which share the same RF-mount. But this mount is also, currently, the EOS R7's main weakness – at the time of writing, there are only two native RF-S lenses for this camera's sensor.
One of these lenses is an 18-150mm 'all-rounder' that comes available in a package with the EOS R7, with the other being an 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 kit lens. Other than these two lenses, you have two choices when it comes to optics – use existing full-frame RF lenses, or use either EF or EF-S lenses via the optional EF-to-RF adapter. Neither solution is ideal for keeping things on the light and small side, but hopefully as the system ages, it will also grow to include more options.
Confusingly, you might already be aware of Canon’s 'other' APS-C mirrorless system, which uses the EF-M mount. Lenses from this system are not compatible with the EOS R series' APS-C models, and there’s no way to mount them via an adapter either. Canon has yet to outwardly admit that it’s going to stop making EF-M models. But the arrival of the EOS R7 and EOS R10 means the EF-M series has now likely reached its end.
Aside from this limited range of native lenses, the EOS R7 is otherwise an excellent all-rounder. With up to 30fps shooting combined with Canon’s latest autofocus wizardry, it’s a dream for wildlife, action and sports photographers – especially as that crop sensor will allow you to get closer to the action with your long lenses.
Canon EOS R7 specs
Sensor: 32.5MP APS-C CMOS AF points: 5915 manually selectable, 651 automatic selection Video: 4K/60p, Full HD/60p, High-speed 120p Full HD Viewfinder: 0.39-inch OLED 2.36m-dot resolution Memory card: Double SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-II LCD: 2.95-inch vari-angle touch 1.62m-dot Max Burst: 15fps mechanical shutter (buffer 224 JPEG / 51 raw), 30fps electronic shutter (buffer 126 JPEG / 42 raw) Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Size: 132 x 90.4 x 91.7mm Weight: 612g (inc. battery and SD card)
You also get in-body stabilization (IBIS), something that was missing from Canon's mid-range Canon DSLRs. With up to eight stops of compensation, this is ideal for shooting handheld with slower shutter speeds or in low light.
The EOS R7 is also a nice little camera to use. You get a reasonably solid and chunky grip, plus a good range of dials and buttons that make it enjoyable to change the settings in different situations. Its vari-angle touchscreen is also helpful for shooting from different angles – and while the electronic viewfinder is a little pedestrian, it does the job.
Dual UHS-II card slots are a nice bonus for a camera like this (and at this price), hinting it might also be favored by pros looking for a good, fast backup model to their main full-frame body. A range of useful video specifications, including uncropped 4K/60p video, round out the specs sheet nicely to make the R7 a great little all-rounder.
In our real-world tests, the camera produced lovely images in a range of conditions, though as we’d expect it’s not quite on par with full-frame siblings when it comes to low-light or high ISO shooting.
The main problem is that lack of a real lens system to harness the EOS R7's potential. Having to compromise on lenses from the get-go isn’t ideal, particularly when the likes of Sony and Fujifilm have a solid set of lenses to back up APS-C cameras like the Sony A6600 and Fujifilm X-T5. But if the R7 and R10 prove to be as popular as Canon surely hopes they will be, that lack of native lenses should become less of a problem in time.
Canon EOS R7: release date and price
Available to order now
$1,499 / £1,349 / AU$2,349 (body only)
$1,899 / £1,699 / AU$1,959 (with 18-150mm lens)
The Canon EOS R7 is pretty aggressively priced to make it much more appealing to those on a budget, compared to full-frame models. It also compares favorably to other APS-C big-hitters, too.
The EOS R7 is just a shade more expensive than the three-year-old Sony A6600. It’s also significantly cheaper than the higher-spec Fujifilm X-H2S, another flagship model with fast-shooting and quick-autofocusing smarts.
It’s a little closer in price to the Fujifilm X-T5 – the EOS R7 edges it on autofocusing but loses on native lenses, so a decision between the two very much depends on your existing lens collection.
(Image credit: Future)
Older full-frame Canon tech, such as the full-frame Canon EOS RP, is available for less than the EOS R7, but uses much older technology that means autofocusing and video is not a patch on the R7.
We’re yet to see a direct 'entry-level' full-frame replacement for the Canon EOS RP, and it's possible that one could be coming in 2023. Right now, there's no real evidence to suggest an EOS RP successor is imminent, and the EOS R7 nicely fills the gap as an affordable mirrorless camera for hobbyists, as long as you prefer the advantages of APS-C cameras over full-frame.
Canon EOS R7 review: design
Combined control wheel and joystick
Vari-angle screen and modest viewfinder
Weather-sealing to same standard as EOS 90D DSLR
Canon has combined elements from both its DSLR line-up and its existing EOS R series cameras to make the EOS R7 both portable and intuitive.
If you’ve used a Canon EOS camera before, you’ll likely be very at home. But even if this is your first time with the brand, it won't be too difficult to find everything you need. Impressively for such a small camera, the EOS R7 manages to include a deep chunky grip, which should prove popular among photographers. At the same time, the overall size of the camera isn't too big for travel shooting.
As you’d expect for a mid-range cameras you don’t get a top-plate LCD for quickly checking settings. The same is true of the full-frame EOS R6, so APS-C users shouldn’t feel too hard done by here. What you do get is a sensibly laid out control system, which includes a mode dial to the right of the viewfinder, a control dial just behind the shutter button and dedicated buttons just behind that for ISO and video recording.
(Image credit: Future)
Flipping to the back of the camera, there’s a joystick-cum-control wheel hybrid that some will love, and others may well hate. It does take some getting used to, especially if you’re an existing Canon owner. But after a few days in its company, it works quite well in tandem with the principal control dial. The dials can be used to adjust shutter speed and aperture – depending on the shooting mode you’re in – as well as flip through menu items and images in playback.
The joystick is ideal for moving the AF point around the frame when shooting through the viewfinder, though you can also use the screen to do this so long as you have 'Touch and Drag' enabled in the main menu.
Other buttons include a four-way d-pad, a useful ‘Q’ button for quickly accessing your common settings, and buttons for playback and deleting photos. Almost all of the controls are found on the right-hand side of the camera, which is ideal for one-handed operation, with the small size of the body meaning everything is within easy reach of your thumb.
(Image credit: Future)
If you’re moving to the EOS R7 from a DSLR, one thing you might find yourself getting used to is an electronic viewfinder. The R7’s is arguably a little dated, offering 2.36m-dots, 1.15x magnification and a 120fps refresh rate. But if you’ve never used anything better, then you’ll likely find it perfectly serviceable. Those switching from a DSLR can also switch on OVF (optical viewfinder) simulation, which might help ease you in if you’re not totally convinced about EVFs just yet.
The fully articulating touchscreen is just shy of three inches, but being able to maneuver it into whatever position you need is helpful for video and awkward angle shots. It’s also nice to be able to fold the camera's screen in on itself when carrying it in a bag to keep it free of scratches. A similar standard of weather-sealing to the EOS 90D means the EOS R7 should be able to stand up to a light sprinkling of rain, but we’d probably keep it away from heavy downpours or extensive sea-splashes where possible.
Some had expected the EOS R7 – a camera for wildlife/sports fans – to include a CFexpress slot for ultra-fast shooting. Instead, we get double UHS-II slots. On the one hand, it’s a shame not to have the speeds of CFexpress, but it’s not particularly surprising for an APS-C camera at this price, and it’s undeniably a more straightforward setup. It’s also a lot cheaper to buy SD cards for now, so it’s a better setup for those on a budget.
Design score: 4.5/5
Canon EOS R7 review: features and performance
Dual Pixel CMOS AF II, subject recognition and eye-detection
Up to 30fps shooting with electronic shutter
500-shot battery life
The Canon EOS R7 is being heavily targeted towards wildlife and sports shooters, thanks to its high-quality autofocusing and burst-shooting prowess. If you’re coming across from an older DSLR, it's this technology that's likely to impress you the most. It also outshines some of the older EOS R entry-level models, as well as Canon’s EOS M APS-C models, too.
This power is ably supported by Dual Pixel CMOS AF II, which is Canon’s latest autofocusing system. Broadly speaking, this is something we’ve seen on more advanced full-frame models like the EOS R5 and the EOS R6, which means you get very good performance for the price.
(Image credit: Future)
Covering the whole frame, Dual Pixel CMOS AF II also includes clever and useful technology such as intelligent subject-tracking, which can identify animals (dogs, cats and birds), vehicles and people.
Pro cameras like the EOS R5 and R6 have more AF zones (1,053) than the R7 (651 when the camera is left to automatically select them), so it isn't exactly the same system as Canon's pricier models. But in our tests it kept up extremely well with whatever subject we were trying to follow across the frame, almost unfalteringly so.
As well as subject-tracking, you'll also see face and eye-detection kick in when you're photographing animals or humans. This also works impressively well – during our tests, it was able to pick out a bird’s eye from a few hundred meters away and easily track it around the frame.
Similarly, when photographing a dog running around the beach, it did exactly the same – keeping up with a dark eye surrounded by dark fur. Human eyes are just as easily picked out, making it ideal for sports photography and portraits.
Of course, you also need fast shooting speeds for sports and wildlife, and the EOS R7 offers this, too. You get up to 15fps with the mechanical shutter, which is pretty good in itself, but switching to the electronic shutter you get around 30fps. Considering this includes raw shooting and continuous AF, that's excellent for the price. The trade-off is the risk of rolling shutter – which can give slanted vertical lines – but this isn’t something we experienced much.
(Image credit: Future)
While 30fps is great, what you don’t get is the same deep buffer such as you’d see on a more expensive model like the EOS R6 or the R5. At 30fps, the camera will need to take a pause after just 42 raw files. But as long as you aren’t too trigger happy and practice controlled bursts, this will be enough for most hobbyist users hoping to catch a specific moment.
It’s worth noting that to take full advantage of these speeds, you’ll need a fast UHS-II memory card. We found when photographing a fast running dog, more shots were in focus than weren’t, making photographing wildlife, sports and action easier than ever before at this price. That said, it's worth noting that the EOS R10 offers a similar hit-rate and is even cheaper than the EOS R7.
The 500-shot quoted battery life is decent for a mirrorless camera. Remember also that this is a lab-specification – in real-world shooting, you can also always eke out more shots if you’re careful with power saving or if you're not doing something power intensive (like shooting 4K video).
In our tests, the camera always lasted a full day without dropping more than a couple of bars of battery. You can also charge the camera via USB, so if you were particularly concerned, you could always carry a battery pack for power bursts on the go.
Features and performance score: 4.5/5
Canon EOS R7 review: image and video quality
Canon EOS R7 review: image and video quality
At 32.5MP, the EOS R7 has a high megapixel count for an APS-C camera. The advantages of this are that images are beautifully detailed, plus you’ve got good scope for cropping – which often comes in handy when shooting wildlife and action-type subjects.
The downside of all those pixels crammed onto a fairly small surface area is that low-light shooting can’t compete with full-frame models, or even APS-C models with more modest resolutions. That might not be too much of an issue for most photographers, but there are some instances where it can lead to less than perfect imagery. For example, during our test, we used the RF 600mm f/11 lens.
Image 1 of 2
The R7’s subject detection and eye-recognition picked out the eye on this bird from quite some distance away, following it easily around the scene. (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2
Shooting with lenses like the 600mm f/11 and an APS-C sensor means that you might have to shoot at high ISOs even in relatively good light – some image smoothing can be seen here. (Image credit: Future)
While this is a great lens for wildlife shooting, thanks to its compact size and long reach (960mm equivalent when mounted to the R7), having f/11 as its maximum aperture generally means using fairly high ISOs, even when light is pretty abundant.
The resulting photos show a reasonable degree of noise and image smoothing. This isn't too bad when looking at images at small sizes, but is pretty apparent as soon as you view them at full size or scrutinize them closely.
On the whole, though, we’ve been very impressed by the EOS R7's image quality. Colors are rich, warm and attractive, just as we’d expect from Canon. The automatic white balance setting proved a winner in every lighting scenario we threw at it - and you can even ask it to prioritize warm tones or cool tones depending on your preference.
Image 1 of 5
You can still achieve attractive shallow depth of field effects even with the smaller than full-frame sensor and shooting at reasonably narrow apertures. (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 5
Evaluative metering does a good job of providing well-balanced exposures, even when there are areas of high-contrast. (Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 5
The R7 easily keeps up with fast moving subjects. This image has been cropped slightly for better composition - something which the 32.5 megapixel sensor gives you plenty of scope to do. (Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 5
ye-recognition works very well for animals, keeping the image sharp where you want it to be. (Image credit: Future)
Image 5 of 5
Shooting in low light reveals some loss of detail, plus some image smoothing, but it’s still perfectly usable at normal sizes. This image shot at ISO 10000. (Image credit: Future)
The all-purpose metering mode (known as evaluative metering for Canon cameras) worked well to produce well-balanced exposures, even when presented with high-contrast scenarios.
Raw files show a good amount of scope for making adjustments, allowing you to pull back a good degree of missing detail in lowlights and highlights when you need to. You can also change the balance of smoothing and noise if you’d prefer to see a little more detail than the JPEG output provides.
Image 1 of 3
Colors, including skin-tones, are rendered very nicely in straight out-of-camera JPEGs. (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 3
The EOS R7’s sensor is capable of capturing plenty of detail. (Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 3
(Image credit: Future)
Video quality is also good, with the benefit of uncropped 4K/60p video with 4:2:2 10-bit color depth. We’ve been critical of Canon’s mid-range (EOS M) mirrorless options for their video limitations for some time, so it’s nice to see a good hybrid camera at a reasonable price.
Content creators may want to consider the EOS R7, especially considering other useful features include the flip-out screen, mic and headphone sockets. One downside of video is that there’s no 4K/120p mode for slow-mo shooting, but that won’t be a deal-breaker for most.
Image and video quality score: 4/5
Should I buy the Canon EOS R7?
(Image credit: Future)
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
Canon EOS R7: Also consider
If our Canon EOS R7 review has you considering other options, here are three more mirrorless cameras to consider...
• Original review date: August 2022
• Launch price: Starts at $799 / £799 (around AU$1,120)
• Target price now (updated model): Starts at $999 / £899 (around AU$1,490)
Update – August 2024: The HP Pavilion Plus 14 might have missed out on a spot amidst our ranking of the best laptops when we originally reviewed this model, but two years on, I've got good news and bad news.
The good news is that an updated model featuring the new Intel Core Ultra 5 chip is now available, which (while I haven't personally tested it) should provide better battery life than previous iterations thanks to that chip's improved power efficiency. The short battery life was the main failing of the Pavilion Plus 14 when we reviewed it, and some quick online research shows that reviewers concur that battery performance is a lot stronger in the new model.
The bad news is that this new model is unfortunately a bit more expensive - although you can still find older models with Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen chips for under $800 in the US. Sadly for our friends down under, it appears that the Core Ultra model is not available at all in Australia at the time of writing - so Aussies may be better off looking for something different.
Original review follows.
HP Pavilion Plus 14: Two-minute review
The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is an upgrade from the original Pavilion 14 and is meant to be a decently priced low-ranged laptop for those who need a dedicated work machine.
It comes with a pretty solid screen size, which is complemented by the thinner bezels that give you more screen real estate. Its OLED touchscreen display is responsive and features an impressive picture quality that makes anything displayed through it crystal clear and sharp, which alone is worth the slightly higher price tag.
This feature shines when paired with the webcam, which is crisp and clean when sitting through Zoom meetings, but it’s a shame the webcam doesn’t come with a mechanical privacy shutter though, since nowadays its pretty much a necessity.
The keyboard and touchpad are quite good as well, one of the few work laptops that have wide keys suited for those with thicker fingers or shaky hands. We found it extremely rare to have typos thanks to the wide spacing between keys, and the touchpad provides you with more than enough space to comfortably move around, making it very accessible for those who might have more limited mobility or coordination in their hands.
Thanks to the 12th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 has some impressively high performance compared to many other budget-to-midrange laptops, consistently outscoring them by sometimes wide margins.
It’s an incredibly fast laptop that balances multiple CPU-intensive tasks like a champ. It even ran Sid Meyer’s Civilization VI benchmark well, netting over 60 FPS on the highest settings. Of course, it won’t be able to play titles like Hitman 3 smoothly but you’re not buying this laptop for that purpose anyway; as a general performance machine, this might have easily qualified as one of the best HP laptops going – or even one of the best Ultrabooks overall.
However, the worst aspect of this laptop by far is the battery life, and it absolutely drags this laptop down. At most, while running our HD movie test, it lasted just under 5 hours, and lasted a little while longer in our productivity test. For a gaming laptop this would be ok, but for a low-end machine whose job it is to last a full day of work or school? This is atrocious, especially considering that for the price, we're expecting something far more substantial.
HP Pavilion Plus 14: Price and availability
Despite itself, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 is not bad at playing casual or light-duty games – just make sure to leave it plugged in. (Image credit: Future)
How much does it cost? MSRP is $799 (about £640 / AU$1,120)
When is it out? It is available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia, though not all configurations are available in all regions.
The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is available now in the US, UK, and Australia and starts at $799 / £829 in the US and UK, and at AU$2,699 in Australia.
HP Pavilion Plus 14 Key Specs
Here is the HP Pavilion Plus 14 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics RAM: 16GB Screen: 14-inch diagonal, 2.8K (2880 x 1800), OLED, 90 Hz Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD Ports: 2 USB Type-A ports, 2 USB Type-C, 1 headset (headphone and microphone combo) port, 1 HDMI 2.1 port, 1 SD-card slot Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 Camera: HP True Vision 5MP Weight: 3.09 pounds (1.4 kg) Size (W x D x H): 12.34 x 8.83 x 0.72ins | 313.4 x 224.3 x 18.3mm Battery: 51WHr
The entry-level configuration for the US will get you an Intel Core i5-1240P processor with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, 8GB RAM, 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD storage, and a 14-inch 2240 x 1400p IPS display, with a max brightness of 300 nits. The UK starting configuration is essentially identical, though it gives you a 512GB PCIe SSD.
The starting configuration in Australia, which is also the only configuration, is identical to the one we reviewed, specs listed at right. It will set you back $1,219 in the US and AU$2,699 in Australia.
The highest-spec configuration costs $1,329 in the US will get you an Intel Core i7-1255U, an Nvidia RTX 2050 GPU with 4GB dedicated video memory, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD and a 2.8K OLED display with 400 nits brightness and Wi-Fi 6E instead of Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6.
In the UK, the highest spec is slightly different, in that it reduces the SSD to 512GB and, strangely, comes with Windows 11 Home in S Mode.
For the hardware on offer, this is pretty decent, especially at the low end, though the more expensive OLED display, as pretty as it is, is a big driver of the increase in price here. HP's main rival, Dell, has a new Inspiron 14 Plus that comes in at $1,299 (about £1,040 / AU$1,820), and it has more or less the same specs as the HP Pavilion Plus 14 model we reviewed.
There are some key differences, though, in that it comes with a 2240 x 1400p IPS display instead of an OLED panel and only has 512GB SSD storage. What it does have over the Pavilion Plus 14, though, is a 64WHr battery, which means that it will likely get a much longer battery life than the Pavilion Plus 14 — especially if it doesn't have an OLED panel to power — though we haven't reviewed the Inspiron 14 Plus so we cannot say for certain.
That said, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 would seem to win out on specs here, making it a pretty decent value, but as we'll get to later, the battery life is really this laptop's Achilles' heel and keeps it from competing with the best laptops on the market. While you're weighing up costs, consider how HP promo codes can help you save.
Value: 3.5 / 5
HP Pavilion Plus 14: Design
The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is light and thin, just one of its many design successes. (Image credit: Future)
Fantastic OLED screen
Excellent, wide keyboard
Great port selection
The chassis is lightweight but feels surprisingly sturdy for a lower-end work laptop, and reasonably has some heft to it despite the lower weight. It’s still thin and light enough to be comfortably portable in most bags. The silver color is common among even the best laptops these days but is still appealing and sleek.
Opening it up, the OLED screen really shines, giving anything displayed through it a gorgeous high-quality picture. This makes sense, since it complements the 2.8k display and even sports some nice and thin bezels that grant some roomy screen real estate.
(Image credit: Future)
Its port selection is quite good, with two USB Type-C and two Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, an SD card slot, and one headset jack. The HDMI 2.1 is a pleasant surprise in particular, as normally it’s a 1.4 on work machines. The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is clearly a well-balanced machine that can handle most tasks and connect to a wide range of devices.
The keyboard is rather comfy since the keys are well-spaced. (Image credit: Future)
It even enhances what would be an otherwise average webcam image, pairing well with the program that augments your image based on lighting. The latter is a handy little feature that lets you adjust how you look through the webcam in real-time, a feature that we didn’t know we needed until now.
The keyboard is one of our favorites so far in a work laptop, with a well-sized trackpad and wide and well-spaced out keys that make typing a breeze with barely any typos. There’s also a toggle for backlighting, another great feature for those late-night work sessions. It was a joy using it and having to switch back to normal-sized keys felt like a huge downgrade.
Design: 4 / 5
HP Pavilion Plus 14: Performance
This laptop isn't Intel Evo-certified, which is otherwise known as a red flag for battery life. (Image credit: Future)
Great for work and casual-to-light gaming
Sound quality is fine
The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is in a very weird niche, as it functions incredibly well as a work machine. It has an excellent screen that’s perfect for video calls, a great roomy keyboard and trackpad, all complemented by the powerful i7 CPU and 16 GB of RAM that supports it.
Benchmarks
Here's how the HP Pavilion Plus 14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
3DMark Night Raid: 14,892; Fire Strike: 4,201; Time Spy: 1,690 Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 12,430 points GeekBench 5: 1,741 (single-core); 8,856 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 5,641 points Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 4 hours and 34 minutes PCMark 10 Battery Test: 5 hours and 10 minutes Civilization VI (1080p, High): 67 fps; (1080p, Low): 22 fps
But these same features also make it well-balanced for some casual gaming, at least with lighter games. When running various benchmarks, we found that this laptop scores higher (sometimes significantly higher) than other similar laptops in its class running comparable hardware. For a dedicated work machine, the Pavilion 14 Plus clearly has the chops to game in a more-than-normal capacity for this sort of computer.
When we ran the Sid Meier's Civilization VI benchmark test, we found the game ran at an impressive 67 FPS on max settings. Playing it, the title ran incredibly smooth with no noticeable hiccups or hangs. Other casual-to-light-duty games ran just as well, making it a work laptop well-suited for play at the end of the day.
The CPU can also adjust itself to the task that needs the most attention. While we didn’t always explicitly notice the switch in performance between every single task, it did feel like every task was optimized.
The sound quality for the HP Pavilion Plus 14 is good but not great, despite the fact that it comes with dual speakers. Still, it’s quite good for the kind of laptop it is, though it doesn’t have the most complex sound. But when it comes to voice and video chat, the sound quality is more than high enough. Ventilation is a bit below average; it tends to warm up quickly but the heat doesn’t progress into an uncomfortable range.
Performance: 4.5 / 5
HP Pavilion Plus 14: Battery life
That fancy OLED is a massive power-hog, as is Intel Alder Lake, so not a good matchup against a 51WHr battery if you want to work away from an outlet for more than a few hours. (Image credit: Future)
Absolutely terrible
Rival laptops in its class last much longer
This battery is the worst battery we’ve tested for a work laptop in a long time. As we said before, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 has unusually high benchmark scores compared to its competitors and even performs well with some modern games.
But it seems that this tricked the Pavilion Plus into thinking it’s a gaming laptop or something and so it spiked its own battery life in response. This battery cannot last past the four-and-a-half-hour mark in our HD movie test, and PCMark 10’s battery test showed a five hour and 10 minute result, which makes it extremely difficult to perform as a work laptop unless you keep it charged up at an outlet regularly.
This is owing to the two-fold problem of high-end hardware, like an OLED display and Intel Alder Lake Core i7, and its rather meek 51WHr battery, which is almost guaranteed to run dry in no time flat.
Sacrifices have to be made for price, size, and weight, sure. But a work laptop is supposed to last, and this one does not. Having such a poor battery life for a machine that’s meant to carry you through a work day is rather inexcusable.
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.
