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Simbatex Foam Mattress review 2023: Simba’s budget-friendly all-foam bed
12:30 pm | October 16, 2022
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

The Simbatex Foam Mattress was added to the Simba range in September 2022, with a four-layer, foam-only design that's available in two variants – the Simbatex Foam (which we're reviewing here) and the Simbatex Essential Foam, which is a pared-back, even cheaper version.

As an all-foam option, the Simbatex branches away from the hybrid models the brand has built its reputation on. Our favourite of those, which you can read about in our Simba Hybrid Pro mattress review, sits high up in our best mattress ranking. But it's a lot more of an investment than the Simbatex, so we were excited to try this new addition out and see how it holds up. Read on for our full Simbatex Foam mattress review.

Simbatex Foam Mattress review in brief

  • Does a great job of keeping sleepers cool
  • Good motion isolation but edges dip and slope a little
  • Perfect choice for those who like a firm mattress

The Simbatex Foam Mattress may be at the cheaper end of Simba's lineup but that doesn't mean the brand has skimped on materials. The all-foam construction includes Simba's proprietary Simbatex foam – an open-cell structure foam that encourages airflow and is infused with graphite particles to filter heat away. Simba says it provides 30 times more airflow than traditional memory foam and, for an all-foam mattress, we agree that the Simbatex Foam Mattress keeps sleepers impressively cool at night.

Simbatex Foam Mattress specs

Best for: Back and front sleepers, heavier sleepers.
Type: All-foam mattress in a box
Firmness: 7.5/10
Materials: Knitted cover, soft CertiPUR Simbatex foam, open-cell foam, high density foam.
Depth: 25cm
Sizes: Single, Small Double, Double, King, Super King
Weight: 23.5-43kg
Trial period:  1 year
Guarantee: 10 years

The mattress is far firmer than a traditional memory foam mattress, making it a great choice for back and stomach sleepers as well as heavier weight sleepers, who should feel supported without sinking too far into the foam. That's not to say that it will suit everyone. Side sleepers will most probably find it too firm, with a lack of adequate pressure relief at the shoulders and hips. And our lightweight tester found the mattress too firm overall, feeling as if they were lying on top of it rather than being supported.

Simba offers a year-long mattress trial period, giving you plenty of time to decide if it's right for you. Overall, we think this is a well-made and comfortable firm bed that belies its relatively low-price tag. We'll expand on all these points throughout the rest of our Simbatex Foam mattress review.

A Simbatex Foam Mattress on a bed

(Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

Simbatex Foam Mattress review: price and deals

  • Simba's second cheapest mattress
  • All sizes often reduced by up to 40%
  • Not as cheap as some all-foam mattresses

Although the Simbatex Foam Mattress isn't Simba's cheapest mattress, it's extremely well priced for a firm mid-range mattress. The RRP for a UK double is £799, with other mattresses of comparable firmness often coming in at over £1,000. Simba mattress sales of 40% off are a fairly regular occurrence, so you shouldn't have to pay that RRP if you buy at the right time (the Black Friday mattress deals are an especially good time to buy). 

Here's the official pricing for the Simbatex Foam Mattress in the UK:

  • Single RRP: £679 (usually £539.40)
  • Small Double RRP: £799 (usually £407.40)
  • Double RRP: £799 (usually £479.40)
  • King RRP: £899 (usually £539.40)
  • Super King RRP: £999 (usually £599.40)

The Simbatex's closest rivals are probably the Emma Original and the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress. The price for a UK double from both these brands isn't dissimilar to the Simba, with the Emma coming in at £759 (RRP) and the Nectar at £879 (RRP). And, as with the Simbatex Foam Mattress, you'll see regular mattress sales from both these brands.

View Simbatex Foam Mattress at Simba Sleep
The Simbatex Foam Mattress is one of Simba's newest mattresses, but the company regularly offer discounts and have sales with around 40% off. This means you should be able to pick up a double size for around £479.40, which is a great price for a good quality firm mattress that will suit lots of sleepers. Simba offers a generous year-long trial period for mattresses and a 10-year warranty, plus there's free delivery and returns if the mattress doesn't suit you.View Deal

Simbatex Foam Mattress review: materials

The Simbatex Foam Mattress is, as the name suggests, made entirely of foam. Simba is better known for hybrids – in fact, it has even put springs in one of its pillows (read about it in our Simba Hybrid Firm pillow review). 

There are four layers in the mattress, which is a relatively small number of layers for a Simba model. However, the mattress is solidly constructed and doesn't feel lacking in support. Simba's all-foam construction is different to the best memory foam mattresses on the market, so let's look at what it's made up of. 

A diagram of the layers in a Simbatex Foam Mattress

(Image credit: Simba Sleep)

The mattress is wrapped in an anti-allergy removable knitted cover that's incredibly soft to the touch and to lie on. It's also got a zip for easy removal and washing (a removable cover is fairly rare in cheaper mattresses, so this is a welcome addition). Beneath that is a layer of CertiPUR Simbatex foam, with an open cell structure to circulate airflow and infused with graphite to help keep sleepers cool at night.

Underneath is the Simba-Response foam layer, which gives the mattress its support and also helps to maintain airflow. Last up is the high-density foam base, providing zoned pressure relief and structure to the whole mattress.

Simbatex Foam Mattress review: firmness and comfort

  • A firm mattress with a rating of 7.5 out of 10
  • Provides great pressure relief for back and front sleepers
  • Zoned support helps to keep your spine aligned

When we first tried the Simbatex Foam Mattress we were surprised by how firm it was, as we were expecting an all-foam mattress to be softer. The feel of the Simbatex Foam Mattress did take a little getting used to.

We asked a variety of testers to try out the mattress of different body weights and with varied sleeping positions. Our two main reviewers were of light and average weight respectively.

Our average weight reviewer found the mattress incredibly supportive as a back sleeper and noted the softer support at the shoulders. They felt that the mattress moulded well to their body and that their hips, back and shoulders were cradled with excellent pressure relief. They were also delighted by how cool the mattress kept them as a generally hot sleeper. The cooling properties of the foam do an excellent job of keeping sleepers cool at night.

A hand pushing down onto a Simbatex Foam Mattress

(Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

However, our lighter weight tester felt that the mattress was too firm for them and that they were lying on top of it, rather than sinking in slightly and being supported. It was also too firm for dedicated side sleepers, who felt too much pressure on their shoulders and hips.

Those with a heavier body weight were pleasantly surprised by how supported they felt, although we wouldn't recommend the mattress for individual sleepers over 18 stone (although the mattress will happily support two separate sleepers of up to 18 stone). Of course, firmness and comfort are subjective, which is why the long trial period with Simba's mattresses is so useful.

Simbatex Foam Mattress review: performance

  • Good motion isolation
  • Edge support isn't great, with the mattress sloping at the edges
  • Keeps sleepers cool throughout the night

We slept on a single size mattress for just under a month, looking at all the major areas of performance. We rated it on pressure relief, motion isolation, edge support, cooling and ease of set up; all of which should help you to decide if this is the right mattress for your sleeping style.

It's difficult to gauge the durability of a mattress after only sleeping on it for a short amount of time and, with the mattress being relatively new, there aren't any long-term reviews on the subject either. However, with the quality of the foams used and judging by the durability of other mattresses in the Simba range, we think the Simbatex Foam Mattress will last well. (Read our Simba Hybrid Pro review for a closer look at that one.)

Setup

A Simbatex Foam Mattress in its box

(Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

Score: 4.5 out of 5

The Simbatex Foam Mattress was incredibly simple to set up. The mattress arrived rolled in a box and, as it was a single, was easy for one tester to move around. However, if you've ordered a king or super king, we think you'd need two people to move it around and avoid injuring yourself. Inside the box, the mattress is vacuum packed into a bag.

Lay the mattress on the bed before cutting the plastic, as this will break the vacuum seal and make the mattress expand. We found this process painless and the mattress was, as Simba suggested, ready to sleep on in three to six hours. The mattress did continue to expand a little over the next couple of days, but it's fairly minor compared to the initial rise.

A Simbatex Foam Mattress laid out in its bag

(Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

Off-gassing

Score 4.5 out of 5

Off-gassing, where organic chemicals and gases are released from the foam as a mattress expands, is normal and to be expected when buying a mattress in a box. The chemical-like odour that's produced can last several days with some mattresses.

However, the Simbatex Foam Mattress isn't one of them. We noticed a slight odour on taking the mattress out of the box and packaging, but this dissipated quickly over a few hours and wasn't never too strong to begin with. It was certainly produced some of the least amounts of off-gassing in mattresses we've tested.

The Simbatex Foam Mattress is made from CertiPUR approved foams, which are made without mercury, lead and other heavy metals, carcinogenic chemicals and phthalates.

Pressure relief

Score: 4 out of 5

To test the sinkage of the Simbatex Foam Mattress we placed a 20kg weight in the middle of the bed, where the mattress sank by 3.75 inches. Surprisingly, considering that the edges slope and dip a little, the mattress sank by exactly the same amount at the edges. Placing a hand into the mattress, the foam sprang back extremely quickly.

A weight on a Simbatex Foam Mattress

(Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

The above fits well with our assessment of the mattress as firm, but how did it translate when it came to pressure relief for our testers? Our average weight tester felt that their pressure points were well supported on the mattress. They mainly sleep on their back and felt that their spine was kept well aligned throughout the night. Heavier weight sleepers also felt supported – both on their back and front. We wouldn't recommend the mattress for lighter weight sleepers, as they're likely not to sink in far enough for decent pressure relief and the mattress is too firm for side sleepers. We'd recommend the Nectar Memory Foam mattress if you sleep on your side, as the mattress is softer.

Motion transfer

Score 4.5 out of 5

If you share your bed with a restless sleeper, a mattress that absorbs motion transfer can be a godsend. We performed a simple drop test with a 6kg weight and an empty wine glass to see how well the mattress isolated motion.

We dropped the weight from around 4-5 inches above the mattress at various distances from the wine glass, getting closer in increments to see whether the wine glass wobbled or fell over. At 25 inches there was absolutely no movement from the glass and at 10 inches there was a little bounce, but the glass remained upright. The glass fell over at 5 inches, but fairly gently.

A weight, a wine glass and a tape measure on a Simbatex Foam Mattress

(Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

We weren't particularly surprised that the wine glass remained fairly stable as the Simbatex Foam Mattress is made entirely of foam. However, because it is such a firm mattress there was a little bounce with a lighter weight object.

Temperature regulation

Score 5 out of 5

We tested the Simbatex Foam Mattress with a 4.5 tog summer duvet and a fleece blanket in a bedroom that was around 15C. Our tester who tends to sleep hot in most mattresses found that the Simbatex kept them cool throughout the night, with them waking at a pleasant temperature.

This is largely due to the cooling materials used in the mattress. Simba use open cell foam that circulates 30x more airflow than traditional memory foam mattresses and it's also infused with heat absorbing graphite to keep the mattress breathable and cooling. If you're a hot sleeper we'd certainly recommend this mattress over other foam mattresses such as the Nectar Memory Foam Mattress and the Emma Original.

Edge support

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Decent edge support on a mattress not only increases the sleeping surface of a mattress, but also helps you get in and out of the bed alongside providing a stable surface to sit on whilst getting dressed. Unfortunately this was one area where the Simbatex Foam Mattress fell a little short.

Although our heaviest weight of 20kg didn't sink any further at the edges than in the middle of the mattress (3.75 inches), we noticed a little dip and slope at the edges of the mattress. It's noticeable when you're sitting on the edge of the bed, but it isn't so bad that you'll feel like you might slide off.

The slight dip and slope is also noticeable if you sleep right up to the edge of the mattress and this does reduce the sleeping area slightly. If you're sharing your bed with a partner, we would recommend investing in a slightly larger size if you're a fan of spreading out through the night.

Durability

Whilst it's difficult to gauge the durability of a mattress after just under a month sleeping on it, we feel that the Simbatex Foam mattress should perform well for years to come. This is a well-made mattress, using high-quality foams and a well-fitting, removeable cover that can be bunged in the washing machine to freshen up. Simba is clearly confident about the Simbatex's durability with a yearlong trial and a 10-year warranty on offer.

You can help keep the mattress in good condition by investing in one of the best mattress protectors available and cleaning the mattress regularly (see our guide on how to clean a mattress for more help on this). 

Simba also recommends you rotate your mattress once a month for the first three months of its life and then every three to six months after that.

Simbatex Foam Mattress: customer reviews

As the Simbatex Foam Mattress has only been on the market for a short while, there are only a very small handful of customer reviews available. Of the three reviews left by customers so far, all three left 5 out of 5-star reviews.

These reviewers all raved about the comfort of the mattress and how much better they slept, with the heat regulation technology being popular as well. And one reviewer also reported no longer having back pain. These early reviews would indicate that this is, so far, a popular mattress with customers and their reports mirror much of what we feel about the mattress.

Should you buy the Simbatex Foam Mattress?

The Simbatex Foam Mattress belies its cheaper price tag in our opinion, offering a great night's sleep for back and front sleepers. Average and heavier weight sleepers will feel supported and cushioned, with excellent pressure relief at the shoulders, back and hips.

The mattress also does a great job of keeping sleepers cool at night, with its open cell foam structure infused with graphite. Its heat regulation technology does a great job throughout the night, making this a great choice for those who sleep hot.

Simba uses Certi-PUR non-toxic foams and all their mattresses are 100% recyclable. They're also made in the UK (or in local factories if you're buying in other countries) and all deliveries are carbon neutral. However, if you're after a thoroughly eco-friendly mattress, the more expensive Simba GO Hybrid mattress is as green as they come, with organic latex rather than memory foam, and it's 100% recyclable as well as providing excellent pressure relief, although it may be too soft for front and heavier weight sleepers. See our Simba Hybrid GO review to learn more.

We wouldn't recommend this mattress to lighter weight or side sleepers. Instead, the Nectar Foam Mattress is a great choice for side sleepers, allowing them to sink further into the mattress and feel supported at pressure points. If you'd prefer a slightly softer mattress overall the DreamCloud Luxury Hybrid has softer foam and springs to provide a more cushioned feel.

First reviewed October 2022

Focal Bathys review: maybe the best-sounding wireless headphones you can buy
2:00 pm | October 15, 2022
Author: admin | Category: Audio Computers Gadgets Headphones | Tags: , | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: October 2022
• Launch price: $799 / £699 / AU$1,199
• Regular price now: $699 / £699 / AU$999

Update: February 2024. The Focal Bathys launched at a price that signalled that they're in a rarified strata of quality among the best headphones, and little has changed since then. They see occasional discounts, but even those still leave them well above even premium headphones from the likes of Bose and Sony. Which means that our feelings on them hasn't really changed either: they're a sumptuous treat for Hi-Res Audio aficionados, a remarkable achievement in wireless headphones sound, and sightly lacking in smarter features and active noise cancellation power. We still thoroughly recommend them for those interested in what they offer, but those looking for something lighter, cheaper, with better ANC (but still with impressive sound quality, even if not this good) should consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Focal Bathys: two-minute review

Let's get it right: sonically, the Focal Bathys are more than worthy of their enviable heritage. And aside from the quality wireless listen, chuck in the USB-C cable in DAC mode and you've got hi-res up to 21bit/192kHz too. Oh, and in case it needs to be stated, they're utterly stunning to look at. So, why the four-and-a-half star review instead of a resounding five? It's not that simple at this price – and the competition is fierce. 

The Focal Bathys are not the French audio specialist's first foray into beautiful cans – indeed, the company makes some of the best over-ear headphones we've ever had the pleasure of placing over our ears. But this is Focal's first foray into wireless headphones and (there's no easy way to say this) the Bathys are expensive. We understand the reasons behind the asking fee – those patented aluminium/magnesium "M”-dome speaker drivers are made in France using technologies from the finest Focal headphones don't come cheap; neither does the backlit flame emblem in the center of each beautiful earcup – but they're more expensive than the AirPods Max and the new Bowers & Wilkins PX8, which is significant and comes with it no small amount of pressure to perform. 

Put them on and you feel beautiful, buoyed up by their detail, insight and clarity, but deploy ANC (you get 'silent', 'soft' and 'transparent' options) and you might find you want a little more – which you can't tweak. 

None of our gripes regarding the Bathys pertain to their sound, irrespective of the noise-cancellation profile you select – and although the cheaper Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless (launched in August 2022) boast double the battery life at 60 hours versus 30 hours, the Sony WH-1000XM5 (which launched in May 2022) also come bearing 30 hours of stamina and that is more than sufficient for us. 

The Bathy's companion Focal and Naim app (you swipe right for Focal or left for Naim, like some sort of audiophile dating app) is also likeable and has every necessary feature to aid your listening pleasure, including a five-band EQ tab with helpful presets. 

Perhaps confusingly, our issues refer to the build – odd since we've just said how beautiful they are, but stay with us. The on-ear physical buttons feel a bit flimsy and prototype-esque, and we do find them hit-and-miss during use. Also, the headband occasionally clicks during wear which impacts the otherwise excellent sound. 

Again, for this kind of sonic prowess, we're prepared to forgive most things – for us, sound is paramount. But the big selling point here is wireless listening, so we do need to point out these minor shortfalls in what is still a glorious-sounding set of over-ears. 

Focal Bathys on green grassy background

Whether the backlit flame is illuminated or not, they're good-looking cans  (Image credit: Future)

Focal Bathys review: price and release date

  • Released on October 4, 2022
  • $799 / £699 / €799 (around AU$1,210)

The Focal Bathys are available now, priced $799 / £699 / €799 (around AU$1,210).

This makes them more expensive than all of the class-leaders in this space, including the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 ($699 / £599 / AU$1,150), Sennheiser's Momentum 4 Wireless (at $349 / £300 / AU$549) and the class-leading Sony WH-1000XM5, which will set you back $399 / £380 / AU$550. 

And let's not forget that the aformentioned Sennheiser over-ears boast double the stamina of the Focal Bathys (and the XM5, and the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 while we're on the subject) the pricing feels bordering on arrogance… 

But it isn't – because whatever else we're about to say, the sound quality here is exceptional and worthy of the price-point. 

Focal Bathys earcup detail

The on-ear controls are just a little flimsy for us  (Image credit: Future)

Focal Bathys review: features

  • USB-C wired DAC mode for glorious hi-res audio 
  • ANC is standard rather than exceptional 
  • On-ear controls are unreliable during testing 

The big draw here is the bundled USB-C to USB-C cable, because it grants you access to decoding in up to 24bit/192kHz, depending on how good your file is. We grab our Samsung Galaxy S21 and plug in, switching the slider on the Bathys' right earcup to 'DAC' and start listening to Fontaines D.C., downloaded in High-Res Lossless on Apple Music. It is sublime – but it's interesting to note that the glorious wired performance is a major selling point given that this is billed as a Focal wireless product. 

Perhaps it is best to think of Focal Bathys as premium wired over-ears that merely offer the option of wired listening, because this is Focal's inaugural set of wireless over-ears and it does show. Focal devotees won't care, but if you're used to wireless listening gear from the likes of Sony, there are things you'll miss. 

The Focal Bathys' spec sheet is fine, but given the Bluetooth-only competition out there in 2022, excellent it is not. For example, the two ANC profiles and one transparency option cannot be tweaked, there's no scope for optimizing the mics or voice pickup when you're in a call (beyond Focal's implemented Clear Voice Capture tech), and there's also no wearer detection, so your music won't automatically pause when you remove them. These are small omissions, but at this premium level we would expect them – and anyone used to their music pausing when they lift an earcup will soon miss it when it doesn't happen. 

There is auto-standby (which sends the cans into low power state after a period of inactivity) and a button to access your voice assistant of choice. Focal's flame symbol, illuminated with a white backlight on each earcup, can also be switched off in the slick yet enjoyable Focal and Naim companion app. 

Then, there's the intuitive five-band EQ tab, which includes presets or can be tweaked manually – and which we really enjoy. Perhaps we might have wanted a little more stamina than the 'standard' 30-hour battery life, although this beats both the Bose QuietComfort 45 and Bose Noise Cancelling 700, which offer between 24 and 30 hours. Also, a quick 15 minute charge gets you five hours playback – a claim we can vouch for. 

As you might expect, Focal has adopted a traditional approach here to the on-ear controls in that they are all physical buttons, with volume, playback, power and a dedicated button to access to your voice assistant of choice (Alexa, Google Assistant, Bixby and Siri are all supported) on the right ear cup, plus an ANC button on the left ear cup, which scrolls between 'silent' (the highest ANC the Bathys can muster), 'soft' (low-level noise-nixing) and 'transparent' to filter external noise in. 

Interestingly, Focal suggests that if you want maximum ANC but aren't listening to music, to "be on the DAC position", but this essentially means switching the Bluetooth off, so your headphones are no longer paired to your phone. This in turn means you lose access to the app and are limited to scrolling these profiles using the button on the Bathys' left earcup, which doesn't announce which profile you're on. For us, while there is certainly a degree of noise cancellation happening when we do this (and we think we're in 'silent' mode) , we still hear car engines outside the office window… it's not the all-encompassing bubble of silence you might be hoping for, but then again, neither is it nauseating (you may laugh, but some solutions are like a vacuum tunnel). 

The Bathys' Bluetooth 5.1 codec includes support for both aptX and aptX Adaptive for the best Bluetooth (and lowest latency) wireless resolution currently available – oh, and in case you were wondering, the name Bathys comes from the word ‘bathyscaphe’, the first submarine exploration vehicle. What you won't get is support for Sony's higher-resolution LDAC codec – but that's a relatively minor issue what aptX Adaptive is on the menu. 

  • Features score: 3.5/5

Focal Bathys close-up of left ear cup

There's a dedicated button for ANC, but it doesn't announce which profile you're on (Image credit: Future)

Focal Bathys review: design

  • Stunning 'backlit flame' illuminating ear cups 
  • Very comfortable 
  • Buttons feel a little flimsy

When worn (especially with the backlit flame on each ear cup illuminated on 'high') this is a striking set of cans indeed. 

Anyone familiar with the Focal Stellia will know that the St. Etienne-based audio specialist's cutaway, almost web-like ear cup accents sparkle and shimmer under the light, but although the build-quality here suggests high-ticket jewellery, the magnesium and aluminium combination feels a tad insubstantial rather than strong (dare we say plasticky?), and that real leather headband, although well-padded, does click a bit during use, which in time impacts the overall enjoyment. 

Bathys' foldable design means the ear cups lie flat to fit neatly into the included carry case, but note that the Bathys echo the current move towards cans with cups that do not fold up entirely into the headband, including the Bowers & Wilkins PX8, Sony WH-1000XM5 and Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 (over the older, foldable Sony WH-1000XM4, say). 

Within their hard-shell, fabric covered carry case, we also find a USB-C to USB-C cable for both charging and for the USB-C DAC mode (which incidentally nets you an extra 10 hours of battery for up to 40 hours of listening), a 3.5mm to 3.5mm headphone jack cable (which gives you 35 hours of playtime – yes the mode must be in 'on' to use this, so you're not listening passively) and a USB-C to Lightning dongle.  

The comfort levels are really very good, but during use we find the on-ear buttons just a little flimsy and unreliable. The skip-forward option (which should be as simple as a double-press of the central button between the volume up/down options) to move to the next rack proves particularly illusive for us – the Bathys either ignore us, or pause the music and resume it, which is a shame. 

  • Design score: 4/5

Focal Bathys app on silver background

The Focal/Naim app is slick and likeable, but there are a few omissions in the features set (Image credit: Future)

Focal Bathys review: sound quality

  • Stunning musical clarity, depth and space
  • USB-C DAC mode is a joy
  • Agile presentation across the frequencies

We stream Fontaines D.C.'s Big Shot in High-Res Lossless downloaded on Apple Music, and the rock guitar reverb in our left ear coupled with the rhythm in our right is energetic, agile and exciting. This is an angry track and no mistake, and the Bathys aren't afraid to get with the program. Grian Chatten's vocal is borderline mocking and brimming with emotion as it arrives in the middle of this wide and talented soundstage. 

The rhythmic joy in Hootie & the Blowfish's Only Wanna Be With You is something else entirely in terms of tone – and it is celebrated just as effortlessly. The texture in the raucous intro is expertly layered, from the bass to the percussives, guitars, backing vocal and Darius Carlos Rucker's relaxed vocal stylings. 

Stormzy's Vossi Bop is a stiff challenge for the bass weight of any headphones, and the Bathys pass it with flying colors. Cymbals come through each ear as the intro sinks easily down to the grimy depths, but the Bathys deliver the low end with agility and panache. Anything we throw at these can is beautifully held in check throughout, across the frequencies. 

Our playlist continues to Big For Your Boots and the sense of the track quickly arriving and abruptly washing over you is beautifully handled. In what is nothing short of a war cry, Stormzy's vocal is every bit as three dimensional as it should be. 

Compare them to the new class-leader at the level, the Bowers & Wilkins PX8, and we hear a marginal difference in terms of the exuberance and fun of the PX8 versus the detail, expanse and refinement of the Focal Bathys. Which you think best will largely come down to whether you prefer an integrated, detailed, expansive, refined listen (Bathys), or something boasting agility and an extra ounce of dynamic build and oomph over a fractional modicum of expanse (PX8) but again, it's a very closely run race here – both cans are a stone cold five stars for sound.  

  • Sound quality score: 5/5

Focal Bathys on wallpaper background

Just look at those illuminating ear cups with the Focal flame, though…  (Image credit: Future)

Focal Bathys review: value

  • High-end sound for high-end money
  • ANC can be bettered at the level though 
  • Good rather than excellent battery life

This is far from budget-friendly territory (remember, the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 are arguably their nearest competition, but even these premium cans are cheaper by $100/£100 – and the minor issues we had with the build quality coupled with the few omissions on the Bathys' spec-sheet do affect the value given their high-end pricing. 

The lack of auto-off wearer detection, the fact that the three ANC profiles are limited to Silent, Soft and Transparent – and you cannot forego them completely since it's impossible to have the ANC 'off' entirely – and the buttons which have us dig out our phone rather than use them also impact the judgement. 

The ace up the Focal Bathys' sleeve is that they are essentially powered, wired over-ears which just happen to offer wireless Bluetooth listening, and the sound when listened in either way is excellent. And it's hard to put a price on that – so if sound quality is paramount to you, the Focal Bathys should still be on your list. 

  • Value score: 4/5

Should you buy the Focal Bathys?

Buy them if…

Don't buy them if…

Also consider…

If our Focal Bathys review has you considering whether to buy them or to seek out other wireless over-ear headphones, take a glance at these three competing cans at the level.

Figma review
8:01 pm | October 13, 2022
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Comments: Off

Figma is a free web development tool that you can use in your browser. Designers can easily create wireframes and prototypes before full development begins.

The importance of good UI and UX can’t be understated. It’s effectively the key to attracting new users - and retaining them for longer. Users expect refined, intuitive apps with friendly user interfaces. Mockup tools like Figma help businesses develop realistic prototypes and spend time developing apps people want to use. 

Launched in 2016, Figma was bought by Adobe in September 2022. You might consider it a blend of Photoshop and Canva for professional designers. It aims to be simple, and has a strong focus on online collaboration.

Figma in use 1

(Image credit: Figma)

Figma: Plans & pricing

Figma is a free interface design app with premium monthly and annual subscriptions for power users. Four plans are available: free, Professional, Organization, and Enterprise.

The free version is limited, of course. Users can create three Figma files and work on unlimited drafts. That’s not bad for casual users and freelance designers.

Professional adds unlimited files, team libraries, and advanced prototyping. It also adds a Dev Mode with annotations and a some admin tools. These add unlimited version history and private project sharing. Costs are $15 / £14 / $24 AUD per full seat (or user/editor) per month. For annual subscriptions, the prices drop to $12 / £11 / $19AUD per editor per month.

Students and educators can use Professional free, with verification.

Organization offers everything included in Professional, alongside org-wide libraries, analytics, centralized file management, and branching and merging  projects. It also includes single sign-on and more admin tools like unified admin. Dev Mode adds the ability to build private plugins for use across all projects. Professional is only available on an annual subscription, with costs broken down to $45 / £41 / $71 AUD per full seat per month. Dev Mode only is also available, at $25 a month.

For larger operations, the annually-billed Enterprise option is available for $75 / / AUD per full seat per month. The Dev Mode only option is $35/month. With Enterprise, advanced theming is added to the package, alongside REST API support, and setting default libraries. Dev Mode gains default coding languages and plugins can be auto-run. Meanwhile, admin tools are enhanced with dedicated workspaces for teams, guest access, user management, and advanced link sharing.

Figma in use 2

(Image credit: Figma)

Figma: Features

Figma offers all the design tools you need for advanced prototyping. These range from templates and device-specific frames to importing projects from the Mac-only design app Sketch (which Figma resembles). 

Once you begin creating your wireframe or mockup, each component or element is added to the left-hand Layers pane. It’s here where Figma most closely mirrors Adobe’s top photo editor. But by opting for the familiar layer-based system, it offers greater control over each element - and makes it much easier to adopt across the team.

Easing the design process further, you’ll find templates for different devices under the Prototype tab to the right. This covers Apple products, large and small Android screen sizes, Microsoft Surface Pro 8, and even TVs. Designs can be previewed on a virtual device matching the frame template.

Figma in use 3

(Image credit: Figma)

You can share designs and the tool grants a good level of control over how (and what) you send to others. From there, users can write comments, leave feedback, and - on the Professional and Organization plans - even have audio conversations with colleagues for real-time collaboration.

If you rely on collaborating online, Figma’s sister product, FigJam, will play a large role in this. Like Figma, this whiteboarding tool is simple to master, but comes with its own price plan. Helpfully, design files work in both tools, to help boost productivity and the creative process.

Post-sign off, Figma lets you export to PNG, JPEG, SVG, and PDF. That’s not a huge variety, but they are accessible formats - and, again, it means everyone involved in the process can view the finished design. 

Alongside the browser app, Figma is available on macOS, Windows, iPhone, iPad, and Android. Note that the mobile versions have reduced functionality and are instead optimized for testing and discussion.

Figma in use 4

(Image credit: Figma)

Figma: Ease of use

If you know how to position and resize shapes and lines, then you can use Figma. Basic design-work relies on dropping shapes, images, and text boxes onto a blank frame, then tweaking the properties to achieve the desired result.

Don’t underestimate Figma, though. The prototyping tool is vastly more powerful than it first seems. You’ll find all major tools - from scaling tools and text to smart pen tools - housed at the top of the screen. Keyboard shortcuts are also fully supported, for increased efficiency and better creative workflows. 

Figma in use 5

(Image credit: Figma)

Online collaboration is another strength. With hybrid and remote working now the norm, it’s a non-negotiable feature for most design teams. Figma makes it easier to work together, from initial concepts to final hand-over.

Elsewhere, the team library ensures style guides and branding is maintained across projects. That helps teams build more consistent designs and maintain branding across the entire workflow - and, hopefully, fewer issues or back-and-forths once the product goes to the developers.

There’s also support for free and paid-for stock design components, widgets, and plugins created by the wider Figma community. 

Figma in use 6

(Image credit: Figma)

Figma: Customer support

A vast resource of answers can be found on the Figma support pages at help.figma.com. Here, you can find everything from guides and courses to direct help via a dedicated search box. If you can’t find the answers you need, communications can be opened. However, there is no indication of an expected response time, and our question was left unanswered.

Figma has garnered a Trustpilot score of 2.9, with opinion split on key matters. These include the tool’s often sluggish performance, and concerns over customer support.

Figma in use 7

(Image credit: Figma)

Figma: The competition

A collection of rival prototyping tools are also vying for your attention. How does Figma compare?

While competing tools (such as Framer and Proto.io) offer a desktop-like interface in a browser environment, only Figma attempts to deliver a desktop Adobe app in a browser.

Feature-wise, Figma has everything you need for effective prototyping with attractive design. It’s affordable, too, and the free version is excellent. Unfortunately for Figma, competing tools offer superior performance and easier access to advanced features.

Figma in use 8

(Image credit: Figma)

Figma: Final verdict

Figma delivers modern, intuitive UI and UX design that is accessible to all. On the face of it, Figma should be easy to use, but while it appears to do everything a designer needs, performance is an issue.

Trustpilot issues aside, our testing showed that Figma’s browser app suffered from performance issues that didn’t affect other tools. The interface was laggy, and often unresponsive, even with the demo materials. This may be due to the plan selection, or some remote issue. Either way, it is worth keeping in mind when selecting a new UX prototyping tool.

We list the best mockup software.

Meta Quest Pro review: Meta’s best VR headset yet comes at a price
8:39 pm | October 11, 2022
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: | Comments: Off

Writer's note [March 3, 2023]: we originally published the Meta Quest Pro review with a rating of 3.5 stars. However, following a permanent price drop from $1,500 / £1,500 / AU$2,450 to $999.99 / £999.99 / AU$1,729.99 we have adjusted our rating to 4 stars to reflect its new position in the market.

The Meta Quest Pro is an impressive device, but it’s not quite the ultimate VR headset we were anticipating.

Sure, it comes with 12GB of RAM, a more powerful Snapdragon XR2 Plus processor, and 256GB of storage space, which will enable it to run all Oculus Quest 2 games comfortably. But, based on our experience with the headset, it’s clear that the Quest Pro is a powerful mixed-reality device – not a headset that completely takes you out of the real world.

Its new color passthrough feature, in conjunction with the gap around the sides and bottom of the headset, gives you a clear view of the real world even while you’re immersed in an experience. However, while this makes experiences that blend the real and virtual worlds feel more immersive, true-VR games can suffer.

We’re also disappointed by the headset’s lackluster battery life, and we’re not convinced that face-tracking is more than a gimmick right now. Face-tracking and eye-tracking have promise, but there’s not yet a strong suite of software that justifies their inclusion quite yet.

That said, if you have the budget to splash out on next-gen XR hardware the Meta Quest Pro is a great pick; but if money is tight, or you're not interested in mixed-reality, then the $999.99 / £999.99 / AU$1,729.99 price may seem a bit steep.

Meta Quest Pro: Price and availability

From March 15 the Meta Quest Pro will cost $999.99 / £999.99 / AU$1,729.99, significantly less than its original $1,500 / £1,500 / AU$2,450 price.

The Meta Quest Pro and its in-box accessories

Here's what comes packaged in the Meta Quest Pro box; you get a headset, controllers, and a boatload of cables plus a charging dock. (Image credit: Meta)

This is still a hefty price increase over the Oculus Quest 2 – it's around two times more expensive – though the upgrades the Quest Pro affords are a better fit at its new price.

It also better matches what other premium headsets will set you back. A Valve Index-powered VR setup will cost you $999 / £919 (about AU$1,430) for the headset (and at least $500 / £500 / AU$800) while the upcoming HTC Vive XR Elite is priced at $1,099 / £1,299 / around AU$1,625.

Meta Quest Pro: Design

Straight away it’s clear that the Meta Quest Pro is sporting some major design changes compared with the Oculus Quest 2 – and we’re not just talking about its all-black exterior, as opposed to the Quest 2’s all-white finish.

The first upgrade is the strap. The Quest 2’s all-elastic one is swapped out for a plastic strap that’s near-identical to the Elite Strap that’s an optional extra for the older hardware. The Meta Quest Pro’s strap is equipped with additional padding to make it comfier and uses a wheel for adjusting the fit, which makes it easier to get a secure yet not-too-tight fit.

The strap isn’t just for comfort – it also houses the Meta Quest Pro’s battery. This means that unlike the Quest 2, the Meta Quest Pro isn’t front-loaded in terms of its weight distribution; instead, the weight of the headset is spread out across your head. Because of this, even though the Pro is 7.7oz (219g) heavier than the Quest 2 at 1.6lbs (722g), it actually feels easier to wear.

The Meta Quest Pro being used by our reviewer Hamish, he looks like he's having fun

Our reviewer is able to see the world around them while painting in mixed reality (Image credit: Meta)

Another major change is one necessitated by the fact that the Meta Quest Pro is a mixed- reality, or MR, headset, rather than a VR-exclusive device.

Unlike the Quest 2, which creates a seal around your eyes that entirely blocks out the outside world, the front padding of the Quest Pro is designed to give you a pretty good view out of the sides and bottom of the headset while you’re wearing it. 

For mixed-reality experiences, this is perfect. Your view of the real world provides you with context and a sense of continuity while you’re wearing the headset that helps to sell its virtual creations as real. Case in point: when we were looking at our virtual hands and arms we could follow them off-screen and see them morph into our real arms through the gap, which helped to make our avatar’s limbs feel more real.

But in virtual reality experiences, this constant view of the real world can be off-putting. This reviewer personally had very little issue with it, and when we used the Quest Pro’s included clip-on blinders – which obstruct your view to the left and right – the experience wasn’t noticeably different from a Quest 2 in terms of immersion. However, others who’ve tried the device – including this reviewer’s partner and many folks online – have expressed their dislike of the setup, finding it immersion-breaking. 

The issue can be solved by purchasing a Quest Pro add-on which creates a full seal around your eyes; however, that will set you back $50 / £50 / AU$79.99, and when you’ve already spent $999.99 / £999.99 / AU$1,729.99 you may not be keen to shell out more.

The last big change to the Quest Pro is its controllers. The button, trigger and thumbstick layout is generally unchanged from what Meta/Oculus has given us before, but while the original Quest and the Quest 2 were powered by replaceable AA batteries, the battery that’s built into the Quest Pro's headset is rechargeable.

The Meta Quest Pro's controllers against a wooden background

The Meta Quest Pro's controllers look like the Quest 2's, just without the big ring on top (Image credit: Future)

The other alteration to the controllers is that the tracking ring has been removed. Instead of a ring that allows the headset to follow the handsets as they move, these controllers use cameras to track their position relative to the headset. This allows players to move the controllers out of sight of the headset’s sensors – for example placing them behind your back – without losing tracking.

However, this alteration does make the Quest pro’s controllers weightier than their predecessors – the Quest 2’s handsets clock in at about 5.3oz (150g) with a battery in while the Quest Pro’s are 5.8oz (164g) – though based on how heavy they feel we’d have guessed the difference would be larger.

One other big upgrade is that the controller’s straps can be replaced with a nib that turns them into a stylus – in certain apps this allows you to write on a physical surface and see virtual words appear in the space. The feature is neat, but we’re worried the tiny nibs will be easy to lose, especially as there’s no obvious place to store them except back in the original packaging.

Meta Quest Pro: Performance and specs

In terms of performance, the Quest Pro is one of the best standalone VR headsets we’ve used. Its new souped-up Snapdragon XR2 Plus chip and 12GB of RAM were able to easily handle everything we threw at the headset with no noticeable lag or other issues.

On top of that, the Quest Pro boasts Wi-Fi 6E support, 256GB of storage, and new miniLED LCD panels that offer 37% more pixels per inch, 10% more pixels per degree, and 75% better contrast. These improved panels made the headset’s visuals much more vivid and crisp than those produced by the Quest 2.

One other upgrade to the device is the hand-tracking. Using the Meta Quest Pro without controllers is generally a much better experience than on its older hardware. The feature is by no means flawless, but if you enjoy playing controller-free VR this headset could be a great fit for you.

The Meta Quest Pro

When we puffed out our cheeks the alien avatar in front of us mimicked us; it was very amusing (Image credit: Meta)

The only minor letdown is that the headset’s display is capped at a refresh rate of 90Hz, whereas the Quest 2 can deliver 120Hz. Meta didn’t provide a definitive answer as to whether the Meta Quest Pro will in the future support a refresh rate of 120Hz, only saying that it’s “not optimized” for rates that high. 90Hz is the minimum required to prevent most users from experiencing motion sickness while wearing the headset, but it would have been nice to have the option to use a higher frame rate for even smoother experiences.

Meta Quest Pro: Features

It’s not just the design that makes the Meta Quest Pro feel like a device that’s dedicated to mixed reality; its features do too.

Color passthrough is a major upgrade to the Quest lineup’s mixed-reality capabilities, and based on our experience, titles like Wooorld, Painting VR, and Tribe XR are all better for its inclusion. The Quest Pro’s video feed of the real world is far from lifelike, however – the image is somewhat grainy and the color is off, especially in spaces that aren’t well-lit. 

The other big new features of the Quest Pro are its eye and face tracking, although there isn’t yet a proper practical demonstration of what eye-tracking means for the experiences we can play (when we played Horizon Call of the Mountain during a PlayStation VR 2 demo session and were able to interact with the characters in realistic ways). 

The Quest Pro’s technology did, however, enable the headset to detect what changes we needed to make to our fit to ensure that we were wearing the headset correctly, and had the lenses in the best spot for our eyes. 

As for face tracking, we’re not yet the biggest fan – and we're glad to hear that it's a feature we can easily switch off. While other people at the Quest Pro’s pre-launch demo absolutely loved it, we found that the alien avatar that was meant to be mimicking us could only muster a terrifying grimace when we were in fact smiling and laughing.

The Meta Quest Pro

Behind the Quest Pro's lenses lie some really solid displays, and its face-tracking sensors (Image credit: Future)

Over time we expect these features will get a tune-up, but more importantly we hope some must-play software that takes advantage of them is released sometime in the near future.

As things stand, color passthrough, and face and eye tracking, feel fairly gimmicky. While some games and apps are already putting the features to use, we wish more software existed to make the Quest Pro’s roughly $500 / £500 / AU$1,200 worth of upgrades over the Quest 2 feel completely justified.

Thanks to its March 15, 2023 price cut there's the Quest Pro feels much better bang for your buck, but we still hope to see Meta and its collaborators release experiences that prove to us why you need to pick up a Quest Pro instead of a Quest 2. At least in terms of their passthrough and face-tracking capabilities.

Meta Quest Pro: Battery life

One of our biggest concerns before testing the Meta Quest Pro was its battery life – and unfortunately, we were right to be a bit worried. 

Meta had told us at a pre-announcement briefing that the headset can last for around one-and-a-half to two hours between charges – which felt so remarkably poor that one journalist let out an audible “oof” during the briefing when they heard it.

For comparison, the Quest 2 lasts for around two to three hours, with the optional Elite Strap with battery add-on bringing it up to around four. Considering that the Quest Pro costs roughly four times the price of the Quest 2, and around three times the price of the Quest 2 plus the battery upgrade, we would have expected its battery life to be just as good.

The Meta Quest Pro

The Meta Quest Pro and its controllers on the charging dock, somewhere it'll have to spend a lot of time (Image credit: Meta)

While Meta has argued that people won’t really spend longer than a couple of hours at a time in VR / MR on the Quest 2 – and those who do can use it with the charging cable plugged in – the Quest Pro’s comfier design might encourage users to stay immersed for longer. 

If you want to use the headset for short bursts then the battery life is more than acceptable, but based on our testing it won’t be a good fit for players who like to enjoy longer, uninterrupted VR and MR experiences.

Should I buy the Meta Quest Pro?

Buy it if… 

Don’t buy it if… 

Also consider

Meta Quest Pro Report Card

First reviewed: January 2023

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.

Read more about how we test

Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum cleaner review
7:56 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Home Small Appliances Vacuums | Tags: , , , | Comments: Off

Shark Stratos Cordless: two-minute review

Product info

This model has slightly different names and product codes in different territories:

US: Shark Stratos Cordless Vacuum IZ862H
UK: Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Cordless Vacuum IZ400UK
AU: Shark Stratos Cordless Pet Pro Vacuum With Clean Sense IQ IZ400

In the UK, there's also a version with added Pet Tool (IZ400UKT) and a Pet Tool plus extra battery (IZ420UKT). For this review, I tested the US version. There may be minor differences between different countries' models.

The Shark Stratos Cordless comes with Clean Sense IQ technology, which automatically adjusts the suction to pick up dirt and debris that you may not be able to see, and tells you when the floor is clean.

In my testing I was greatly impressed with the suction capabilities, especially the vacuum’s ability to remove hair from my couch when used in handheld and Boost mode. In fact, it holds a spot in TechRadar's best Shark vacuum guide as the top pick for people with a lot of carpet in their homes, as well as ranking highly amongst the best vacuums for pet hair. The MultiFLEX wand makes it easy to clean under furniture, and the flexible rotating head proved effective at picking up dirt in corners and around awkward pieces of furniture such as chairs.

The Stratos is reasonably priced for a high-performance cordless vacuum, although less of a strong prospect following the 2024 launch of the Shark PowerDetect Cordless vacuum, which promises the same suction but with added automation features. However, Shark deals are common, and it's still a good pick if you can find a good price-drop – and and it’s more affordable than some models with similar dust-detection technology like the Dyson V15 Detect.

Keep scrolling to find out more then, head to TechRadar's best cordless vacuum guide to see where it ranks the Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum cleaner.

Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum cleaner review: price & availability

  • List price: $499.99 / £399.99 / AU$999.99
  • Heavily discounted in all territories at time of update

At full ticket price, the Shark Stratos Cordless is $499.99 in the US, £399.99 in the UK, and AU$999.99 in Australia. At that price, it's right at the boundary between mid-range and premium price brackets. (Note that the AU version comes with a wider range of accessories.)

However, at time of update, it was significantly discounted in all territories when purchased via Shark – $399.99 in the US, £249.99 in the UK and AU$499.99 in Australia. That puts it into the middle of the mid-range price bracket.

That's not a bad price at all for a vacuum of this quality. However, it's less appealing when you consider the newer PowerDetect has a list price of $429.99 and promises the same amount of suction, with more advanced detection features.

The other line worth considering is the Detect Pro (read about the closest model for comparison in TechRadar's Shark Detect Pro Cordless vacuum cleaner review). The Detect Pro is slightly cheaper all round: $379.99 (discounted to $249.99 at time of updating), £349.99 (down to £229) and AU$799.99 (down to AU$499.99). This model is less powerful, but lighter and more advanced in terms of features than the Stratos – see exactly how the two compare in our Shark Stratos vs Detect Pro vacuum article.

Two brands you'll often find yourself comparing in this area is Shark vs Dyson. While the latter is typically pricier – and sometimes considerably so – there are reasons to factor Dyson into the equation. It's vacuums are unmatched when it comes to maneuverability, and technologies like the floorhead lights and dirt detection capabilities are more advanced than what Shark's vacuums offer. However, I'd still say Shark offers better value for money.

Vacuum cleaners often attract deals around major shopping events like the Black Friday sales or the Amazon Prime Day deals, and it's also worth keeping an eye out for a Shark promo code to take the price down.

  • Value for money score: 4.5 out of 5

Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum cleaner specs

Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum cleaner review: design

  • Flexible hose and option to convert to handheld
  • Floor head designed to prevent hair wrap
  • LED display shows battery level and lets you swap cleaning modes

At 8.9lb / 4kg, the Shark Stratos Cordless is fairly lightweight as cordless vacuums go, and the floor head can be removed to turn it into a handheld. Rather than an extendable wand it has a flexible wand – a popular feature referred to as 'MultiFLEX technology', which appears in a few of Shark's vacuum cleaners.

Releasing a catch on the back of the wand enables you to fold it forward for compact, freestanding storage, or for cleaning under furniture. The vacuum head swivels, and can effectively turn at a 90-degree angle with just a simple twist of the handle. Between this swivel action and the flexible wand, you can clean pretty much any place that the head can fit.

Shark Stratos Cordless in use

The Shark Stratos Cordless helpfully has a MULTIflex wand which bends to increase the reach under furniture (Image credit: Future)

An odor-neutralizing puck is inserted into the top of the vacuum head to keep it smelling fresh, and an LED headlight lets you see dirt and dust in dark corners. But the most significant aspect of the vacuum head design is the Clean Sense IQ indicator. When you’re vacuuming, a strip of light becomes illuminated on the top of the vacuum head. The longer the strip of light, the dirtier the floor. When the strip of light recedes, it means the floor is clean.

The Shark Stratos Cordless is designed for use on either carpet or hard floors. On the underside of the floor head you'll find two brush rolls, with fins designed to boost cleaning power. The rolls are designed to detangle hair and direct it into the dust cup as you clean, so you don't end up with a matted mess to remove from the floor head at the end of each vacuuming session.

Shark Stratos Cordless

The floorhead houses the Odor Neutralizer Technology, Clean Sense IQ indicator and LED headlights (Image credit: Future)

To empty the 0.72qt / 0.68L dust cup, which is fitted with a seal to prevent dust and allergens escaping into the air, you detach the main unit from the wand, and release a catch on the cup to deposit the contents into a bin.

At the top of the handle is a LED screen that displays the selected power mode and the remaining battery life. Built into this are buttons for turning the vacuum on and off and switching between Eco, Clean Sense IQ, and Boost mode. The vacuum doesn't have a charging station or base, making it easy to store it away in a closet or other space between uses (newer Detect Pro models add a self-empty base that doubles as a charging stand, but that's not an option with the Stratos Cordless at time of updating this review – see TechRadar's Shark Detect Pro Cordless vacuum cleaner review for an example).

The tools provided vary depending on which territory you're in, but with the US version I tested, there was a Duster Crevice Tool (which can be used as a crevice tool or a brush), and a flat Anti-Allergen Dusting Brush.

  • Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum review: performance

  • Excellent suction; automatic power adjustment works effectively
  • Flexible hose is a revelation for getting under furniture
  • Anti hair wrap works well

The Shark Stratos Cordless performed impressively during my testing. I used the vacuum in both stick and handheld mode on various surfaces including hardwood floors, vinyl floors, thick low-pile rugs, baseboards, a couch, and window treatments. The suctioning capability of this vacuum was superb, and I never had to run over the same area more than twice.

That said, cordless vacuums can rarely match corded options when it comes to sheer power, so if you really need to be able to deep clean, consider a corded option. There are a few options in this same range – read TechRadar's Shark Stratos Corded vacuum cleaner review for a closer look at our favorite.

While I did test out the Eco and Boost power modes, I generally used the vacuum in Clean Sense IQ mode as I wanted to get a good feel for how the automatic adjustment technology worked. When there was lots of dirt or debris on the floor, the suction was increased automatically and then returned to normal when the area was clean. It's a useful feature if you want effective cleaning that's kind to your battery; check out our Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum review to see a newer, similarly-priced model with more advanced dirt detection.

Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum flexing to fit under furniture

The floorhead can twist at a 90-degree angle (Image credit: Future)

Because I live in a period home with lots of nooks and crannies, it can be difficult to vacuum in certain corners or tight spaces. The vacuum head has a 10-inch cleaning path width and its low profile makes it easy to push it under cabinets. I appreciated that the floor head has an LED headlight and could twist at a 90-degree angle with just a slight twist of the handle. This made it far easier to clean corners, under dining room chairs, and around stands, in a way that's not possible with other vacuums.

I had never used a Shark cordless vacuum before, and the biggest revelation was the MultiFLEX wand. With a click of the button on the back of the wand, it bends in half, so you don’t have to squat down or lean over to vacuum under a bed or couch. When bent, the vacuum isn’t as easy to control as it is when it’s locked into a straight position, but you can still steer it well enough.

Shark Stratos Cordless bending under coach in living room

Testing out the Shark Stratos Cordless in my living room (Image credit: Future)

The Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum converts easily to handheld for cleaning furniture and upholstery. In boost power mode, it seemed to pick up hair from furniture much more effectively than other, similar vacuums I've tested.

Thanks to the self-cleaning dual brushroll, hair never wrapped around the brush. The 0.72qt / 0.68L dust cup is large enough to hold quite a bit of dust and debris – I didn’t manage to fill it even after vacuuming my entire house three times. I also found the lack of charging station a benefit, because it makes the vacuum easy to store in a closet or other space between uses.

Shark Stratos cordless folded making storage easy

The Shark Stratos Cordless can be neatly folded for storage, and stays upright (Image credit: Future)

The extra attachments vary depending on which territory you're in. For my review, I also tested out the Duster Brush Tool on my floorboards, switching to the Crevice Tool when I needed to get into tight corners. In this configuration, the vacuum was light enough to use the to clean the corners of my 10-foot ceilings and atop door frames. I was excited to try the Anti-Allergen Dusting Brush on my window blinds as they get very dusty, although it wasn't as effective as I'd hoped.

  • Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum: battery life

  • Up to 60 minutes of runtime on ECO mode
  • Battery recharges in three hours
  • LED display shows remaining battery life

The vacuum’s battery is housed in the back of the handle. You don’t need to remove it from the vacuum to charge it, but you can do so if you find that more convenient.

It takes three hours for the battery to charge, and on a full charge you can get up to 60 minutes of runtime in ECO mode. Other modes sap the battery quicker – including the Clean Sense IQ mode, in which the vacuum senses how much dirt is on the floor and boosts the suction power as necessary.

Shark Stratos Cordless showing battery display

Battery display on the Shark Stratos Cordless (Image credit: Future)

When testing the vacuum, I never came close to running down the battery when vacuuming my 1,600sq ft / 150sq m home, and I'd often end a vacuuming session with about 40% of battery left.

The only time I got close to running down the battery was when I vacuumed the whole house on Clean Sense IQ mode, and then followed it up by using the Anti-Allergen Dusting Brush to clean the dust off four large window blinds, before using the duster crevice tool to clean floorboards in two rooms; even then I still had 20 per cent left in the tank.

  • Battery life score: 4.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Shark Stratos Cordless vacuum?

Lasts long enough to clean most mid-to-large-sized homes, and automatic mode adjusts suction based on how dirty the floor is, for efficient battery use.

Buy it if...

It's difficult to see dirt on your hard floors or carpet

The vacuum's Clean Sense IQ technology uses an infrared sensor to spot dust and dirt, and automatically boosts the suction power for a better clean.

You want to be able to easily get into nooks and crannies

The wand bends in half, making it easy to clean under furniture without having to bend down or move items.

You want a vacuum that can be used handheld

The Shark Stratos Cordless with Clean Sense IQ converts to a compact and lightweight handheld vacuum for cleaning pet fur off furniture or a long handheld vacuum that can be utilized with other attachments.

Don't buy if...

You dislike having to use attachments to reach into narrow spaces

The vacuum head for the Shark Stratos Cordless is fairly bulky, so you’ll have to either break it down into a handheld vacuum, use it without the main vacuum head, or utilize one of the extra tools to get into narrow spaces.

You want a vacuum that comes with a self-emptying station

You need to empty the Shark Stratos Cordless dust cup manually. Shark does have a self-empty dock, but it's not currently available with this model.

1MORE Sonoflow review
6:53 pm | October 6, 2022
Author: admin | Category: Audio Computers Gadgets Headphones | Tags: | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: October 2022
• Launch price: $99 / £89 (approx. AUD$156)
• Regular price now: $63 / £63 / AU$105

Update: February 2024. The 1More Sonoflow retains a place in our guide to the best noise-cancelling headphones even following the arrival of the affordable Sony WH-CH720N, thanks to being regularly available for an even lower price. We still rate how good they are all-round, and especially the nice long 50 hours of battery life with ANC. 1More has since released the Sonoflow SE, which we haven't had a chance to test yet, but offers you an even cheaper option. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

1MORE Sonoflow: two-minute review

The 1MORE Sonoflow are the first over-ear headphones that feature noise-cancellation from this likeable, affordable audio tech brand, and they are emphatic proof that you can get a great pair of wireless headphones capable of ticking most of the boxes for under $100/£100.

1MORE has been a firm favorite at TechRadar for years. We awarded the 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones five stars in our review a few years ago, and they remain one of our top picks in our best earbuds guide. The brand has also ventured into the true wireless earbuds space and, back in 2018, released the 1MORE Triple Driver over-ear headphones.

Again though, the 1MORE Sonoflow are the brand’s first pair of noise-cancelling over-ear headphones. They adopt a no-frills approach – the design of the headphones and their accompanying app is very simple. However, all of the essentials are here. They sound great, noise-cancellation is good, there’s a fantastic 70 hours of battery life (that’s 50 hours with ANC on), and we found them to be remarkably comfortable to wear all day.  

Although there are no ground-breaking new features, the 1MORE Sonoflow are solid all-rounders at a price we feel makes them better value than several of the best noise-cancelling headphones and best over-ear headphones you can buy today. With this in mind, they’re bound to have wide appeal for those looking for a great-sounding pair of over-ears. Read on for our full 1MORE Sonoflow review.

1More Sonoflow on a gravel surface

The red ear cup lining makes a rather bland design pop.  (Image credit: Future)

1MORE Sonoflow review: price and release date

  • Released in September, 2022
  • $99 / £89 (approx. AUD$156)

One of the big draws of 1MORE products is that they’re inexpensive, and at $99 / £89 (approx. AUD$156) the 1MORE Sonoflow over-ear headphones continue the tradition. At this price we wouldn’t call them cheap over-ear headphones, like the Sony WH-CH510, which cost $59 / £50 / AU$89, but they’re within what we’d consider the best budget headphones bracket and have a similar price tag to some of our good value favorites. 

Take a look at our JBL Tune 750BTNC review, cans which cost $130 / £120 / AU$200 at launch and have a similar comfortable design and strong ANC. However, the 1MORE Sonoflow definitely beat the JBL product in terms of battery life, offering 70 hours with ANC off compared to only 22 hours. They’re also similar to the Urbanista Miami, which cost $149 / £129 / AU$269, but with the Sonoflow you’ll get better ANC and audio. 

They’re obviously significantly cheaper than the best headphones you can buy today, like the Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones, which cost more than three times as much, at $350 / £349 / AU$549. These perform better than the 1MORE Sonoflow in most respects, which you’d expect. But then again this all comes down to personal preference. If you don’t have the budget for high-end headphones and don’t need audiophile-grade sound, the 1MORE Sonoflow headphones do represent better value. 

1More Sonoflow headphones in case, on gray background

The 1MORE Sonoflow come in a hard shell case, ideal if you need to transport them on the move.  (Image credit: Future)

1MORE Sonoflow review: features

  • App a bit sparse compared to rivals
  • Touch controls could be more intuitive
  • Incredible battery life

Pairing the 1MORE Sonoflow with an iPhone is incredibly easy, as was getting the app working within seconds. We also tested them with an Oculus Quest 2 VR headset and the Bluetooth connection was stellar throughout. 

The accompanying 1MORE Sonoflow app isn’t bad, but it’s bland in terms of design and sparse when it comes to features, especially compared to rivals with incredibly customizable and slick apps such as the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless – although of course, these are more expensive.

However, the basics are here. You can switch ANC on and off or select transparent mode, which works well for having conversations without taking the headphones off. There’s also an Equalizer, although you can’t fully adjust or tune the headphones with a five-band EQ tab. Instead, there are 12 custom presets to choose from, including ‘Bass Booster’ and ‘Classical’. These might provide enough customization for most listeners, but will be disappointing for those who want more control.

In the app you’ll also find a ‘Soothing Sounds’ section, but these are played on short 10 second loops, which means it’s really jarring when they end and begin again – hardly soothing. There’s also an option called ‘Experimental Features’ where you’ll find multipoint pairing, which works well (but is hardly 'experimental' in 2022, no?) and other than a few supplementary expected features, such as a firmware upgrade option and an FAQ section, that’s about it from the app. 

There are button controls on the earcups, including three buttons in total on the front and rear of the right earcup. Each button does a few different things, which is confusing to remember at first. Luckily, it didn’t take long for us to learn them but the experience wasn’t as intuitive as it is with other headphones. There’s also no option to customize the functions. Then again, if you like physical buttons over capacitive on-ear touch controls, these might be more appealing. 

An annoying feature that we really noticed, having tested so many pairs of headphones, is that there are no sensors onboard to detect when you take them off, to pause the music accordingly. This won’t be an issue for some people, but we’ve become used to taking out an earbud or slipping off an earcup and having the music pause, and that doesn’t happen here. 

One of the main selling points of these over-ears is their impressive battery life. They boast a huge 70 hours with ANC off and a still amazing 50 hours with ANC on. We found these estimates from 1MORE to be spot on during our testing. When you do need to charge them up, you’ll find a USB-C charging cable in your carry case. We loved that a five minute charge could deliver more than 4.5 hours of extra listening and 1.5 hours of charging gets them completely full. 

In terms of rivals, this makes them one of the best pairs of noise-cancelling headphones for battery life we’ve ever tested. One of our current favorite pair of over-ears, the Sony WH-1000XM4 have 30 hours of battery life with ANC on. They’re only beaten by the newer and excellent Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless headphones, which boast 60 hours of battery life, and that’s with ANC on.

  • Features score: 3.5/5

Future freelance writer Becc Caddy wearing the 1More Sonoflow, in profile

The earcups can be adjusted and move on hinges, which is good for those with thick hair and means your head doesn’t feel too squeezed.  (Image credit: Future)

1MORE Sonoflow review: design

  • They look more premium than they should
  • Incredibly comfortable
  • Some might find the design boring

The 1MORE Sonoflow over-ear headphones come in a compact and premium-looking zip case with a hard shell to protect them on the move. Handily, the spots where the earcups fit are labelled, which makes folding them up in a hurry much easier.

The headphones have a simple design, quality hinges and there’s a matte-like finish to the plastic casing. The cups are made from a super soft memory foam and we love that there’s a bright red fabric lining on the inside. 

The headphones are incredibly comfortable to wear for long periods of time. This is thanks to those soft earpads, the adjustable cups, the lightweight design (they’re only 250g) and a cushioned headband. Refreshingly, we find we can truly keep these cans on all day long, and that is rare. 

Granted, some people might find this design a bit boring – they don’t stand out as much as higher-end over-ears, like the Bose Headphones 700 or the Apple AirPods Max – but we think the minimal aesthetic makes them look more luxe than they should at this price. 

Assuming you like how they look, the only major downside here is that there’s no water resistance rating, so we’d be very wary about recommending them for fitness or outside if it looks like rain. No, this isn’t unusual for a pair of affordable noise-cancelling over-ears, but an IP rating is still a feature we’d have liked to see.

  • Design score: 4/5

1More Sonoflow held in a hand, on gray background

Some might call the design boring, but we love the minimal styling from 1MORE here.  (Image credit: Future)

1MORE Sonoflow review: sound quality

  • ANC is good
  • Sound is great (especially for the price)
  • The EQ presets are fun to use

The noise cancellation on offer from the 1MORE Sonoflow headphones is really impressive for the price. That’s the key here. These aren’t the best noise-cancelling headphones you can buy, but for under £100/$100 you’re getting a great experience and we think most people would be impressed by how well they perform. 

During our testing we found that most ambient sounds and lots of standard low frequency noises are drowned out completely. Some high-pitched noises will still get through and we found the steady rumble of a fan in our office remained, as did a loud conversation on the bus that was close by. But there was a huge difference in how bothersome these noises were when ANC was on compared to when it was off. So even though they might not be the best at noise-cancelling, they should suit most office environments and commutes, cutting back most of the lows and mids you’ll hear throughout the day. 

The same can be said for the sound quality. No, the 1MORE Sonoflow won’t compete with headphones three or four times the price, but that’s not what most people need. During our testing, we were impressed with the powerful bass and detailed, crisp highs on offer here – thanks to the Sonoflow’s dual 40mm drivers. 

What’s more, the (albeit limited) EQ presets did affect music from genre to genre. For example, turning on ‘Bass booster’ during an Âme techno track was seriously impressive, providing thumping bass. Overall the bass was great with the headphones and, crucially, didn’t distort even at high volumes. 

Selecting ‘Classical’ while listening to Hildur Guðnadóttir’s beautiful strings added a rich and expansive quality to the sound. In fact, classical music sounded excellent with a strong and clear sense of definition. These presets might seem basic to some people, but others will really enjoy playing around with them. 

There’s support for Sony’s LDAC hi-res audio format. But you need a device that supports it as well as audio that offers a hi-res bit rate. There are also SBC and AAC codecs – good news for iOS users –which, again, is a decent range for the price. But there’s no aptX Adaptive, which some people – especially Android users – might consider a dealbreaker. 

  • Sound quality score: 4/5

1More Sonoflow with earcups rotated to face up, on gravel surface

Thanks to the memory foam cups and padded headband, we wore these headphones happily for more than 6 hours straight during testing – we can’t say that often. (Image credit: Future)

1MORE Sonoflow review: value

  • Look and feel more premium than they are
  • Battery life is phenomenal at this price
  • Better sound is available, but for much more money

Like all 1MORE products we’ve tested, the Sonoflow over-ear headphones are excellent value for money. In many respects they feel more high-end than they should. We think this is thanks to their matte finish, sturdy case and minimal design, which doesn’t give away its budget price.

You will find a more premium experience from an app elsewhere, and although we highly rate the ANC and sound on offer here, other headphones do it better, but, crucially, not for this price. 

The battery life is obviously excellent and the comfort levels are high, so these headphones will be ideal for most people who want good sound but need to know they’re dependable enough for all day wear, and these certainly are.

  • Value score: 5/5

Should you buy the 1MORE Sonoflow?

Buy them if…

Don't buy them if…

Also consider…

If our 1MORE Sonoflow review has you wondering whether to add them to your online shopping cart or to check out other wireless over-ear headphones, take a glance at these three competing cans at the level.

Dell XPS 13 (2022) review
11:58 am |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: , , | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: October, 2022
• Newer models have since released
• Dell XPS 13 (2024) is shaping up to be an excellent laptop

Update: August 2024

Since we reviewed this version of the XPS 13 back in 2022, Dell has released several new models, as well as relaunching its XPS 14 lineup. This means that the 2022 model is no longer easy to buy. Retailers that do stock this older model may be offering it for a steep discount, which makes it a good budget choice, though if you can afford a newer model, such as the Dell XPS 13 Plus (2023), then you'll get a much more future-proof laptop. Our Dell XPS 13 (2024) review is almost finished and - spoiler alert - it looks like it could be one of the best laptops yet.

Dell XPS 13 (2022): two minute review

The Dell XPS 13 (2022) has huge shoes to fill, but while it does what it sets out to do very well, there are going to be those who are going to be sorely disappointed by some of the changes Dell makes to the XPS 13, and some of these are going to be absolute deal breakers.

But the XPS 13 (2022) deserves to be judged on its own merits, rather than solely in comparison to the Dell XPS 13 (Late 2020), this model's immediate predecessor. This is especially the case since that model is arguably the best laptop in its class, even though it is not a couple of model generations behind the latest Dell laptops.

Still, while we'll get around to weighing the XPS 13 (2022) objectively a bit later, it is important to acknowledge that the new Dell XPS 13 comes with a pedigree and that can't be ignored. In this regard, the XPS 13 outperforms the model it's replacing in some key areas, but it falls short in others. How you're going to feel about the new XPS 13 is going to depend entirely on where your concerns fall between the two, whether or not some of these are entirely in Dell's control. 

What is in Dell's control is the design of the XPS 13, and this is where most of the controversy is going to be. The Dell XPS 13 (2022) is a gorgeous laptop, through and through, from the thinness of its form to its featherweight portability and beautiful display. These come at a cost though, namely in terms of ports, and the two, solitary USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports are going to mean you'll have to juggle some dongles. Fortunately, Dell includes some of them with the laptop itself.

The biggest change though is the absence of the carbon fiber palm rests, which still remain on the Dell XPS 15 (2022) and Dell XPS 17 (2022), in favor of a more svelte aluminum keyboard deck. There is also the new color option, Umber (a bluish-purple), in addition to Sky, which is the standard silver color for the XPS laptop line.

The carbon fiber palm rests are one of the things about the last XPS 13 that we fell in love with, so we're sorry to see them go, but on its merits, the keyboard is still spectacular to use. 

The sound still sucks, but all of the best ultrabooks have terrible audio, thanks to underpowered down-firing speakers. It's the tradeoff you have to make for the form factor, so the XPS 13 was never going to break free of that fate.

Overall, the performance of the XPS 13 (2022) was excellent for everyday use and productivity work, making it one of the best thin and light laptops for professionals who find themselves constantly on the go. Unfortunately, this is also where we run into the XPS 13 (2022)'s major failing: battery life. 

While the battery life on the new XPS 13 does last longer than most Intel Alder Lake-powered laptops, it is still a noticeable downgrade from the last XPS 13, which was Intel Evo certified. This, though, isn't in Dell's control as Alder Lake chips just guzzle the juice with wanton abandon and with no consideration for your needs or convenience. You'll be getting close to all-day battery life with the XPS 13 (2022), but it's not the all-day-plus battery life some might be expecting from an XPS 13.

Still, the XPS 13 (2022) absolutely holds its own as an ultrabook, and it does so at a price far below what came before it. Of all the ultrabooks we've tested this year, the XPS 13 (2022) is the closest competition to the new MacBook Air (M2, 2022) on the market right now, which is great for someone looking for an Air-like appeal from a Windows laptop - making it a great choice of laptop for students. 

Are some of us shaking our fists at Dell-shaped clouds over the redesign? Of course, but change is inevitable, and with a genuinely appealing design, the Dell XPS 13 (2022) shines just as bright as the rest of the XPS lineup, even if it blazes a different trail all its own.

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Price and availability

A Dell XPS 13 (2022) on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)
  • How much does it cost? Starting at $899 / £854 / AU$1,898
  • When is it out? It is available now
  • Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia
Dell XPS 13 (2022) Key Specs

Here is the Dell XPS 13 (2022) configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core i5-1230U
Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5
Screen: 13.4 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch Anti-Glare 500-Nit Display
Storage: 512GB PCIe SSD
Ports: 2 x Thunderbolt 4
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 720p at 30fps, no privacy shutter
Weight: 2.59 lb | 1.17 kg
Size (W x D x H): 11.63 x 7.85 x 0.55 in (295.4 x 199.4 x 13.99 mm)
Battery: 51WHr 

The Dell XPS 13 (2022) – also called the Dell XPS 13 (9315) by some retailers – is available now in the US, UK, and Australia, starting at $899 / £854 / AU$1,898. The entry level configuration will get you an Intel Core i5-1230U with integrated Iris Xe graphics, 8GB LPDDR5 RAM, and a 500-nit, 13.4-inch, FHD+ (1920 x 1200p) display. In the US, the minimum storage option is 512GB SSD, while the UK and Australia start out with a 256GB SSD.

The best configuration will get you a Core i7-1250U with Iris Xe graphics, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, and a 500-nit, 13.4-inch, FHD+ (1920 x 1200p) display with anti-reflective coating, and costs $1,549 / £1,754 / AU$3,441.

The configuration we tested was one step removed from entry level, with 16GB RAM rather than 8GB, and it costs $1,049 / £1,004 / AU$2,299.

This XPS 13 model is more oriented towards value rather than performance (which would be the Dell XPS 13 Plus), and so the processors aren't powerful enough really to manage the kind of heavy duty workloads that would necessitate more than 16GB RAM or 512GB storage, and most people will do just fine with the starting configuration so few people will ever need to spend more than $1,000 / £1,000 / AU$2,000 to get one of the best Dell laptops on the market.

This is in stark contrast with the last XPS 13 model from late 2020, which had a starting price of $1,499 / £1,399 / AU$2,399. This is a substantial price cut for a laptop that will give you more or less the same level of performance.

Compared to the rest of the market, the XPS 13 (2022) is positioned squarely in the sweet spot in terms of price and performance. The other obvious comparison to make is with the MacBook Air. Compared to the MacBook Air with M1 from 2020, the Dell XPS 13 is very competitive, matching the MacBook Air on price, though it won't get you nearly as much battery life. The new MacBook Air with M2, however, is more expensive, and while its performance is outstanding, it still doesn't blow the XPS 13 out of the water beyond having better battery life.

All told, the Dell XPS 13 (2022) is one of the best, if not the best, value on the market among the best Windows laptops, and other than a few of the best Chromebooks out there, there is little that can really compete with the XPS 13 (2022) on this front. If you're looking to save on the laptop, you can check out our list of the best Dell coupon codes to see this month's best discounts.

  • Value: 5 / 5

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Design

A Dell XPS 13 (2022) on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)
  • Redesigned for 2022, like it or not
  • Beautiful display
  • Serious lack of ports

The Dell XPS 13 (2022) is going to split the entire tech reviewer community in two over its design, with defenders and haters making valid points on each side. But consumers don't buy a new laptop every 18 months, so for everyone else, this is still an absolutely gorgeous laptop, though there are some functional issues that will be a problem for many.

First, the XPS 13 is very lightweight, and its slim dimensions make it an easy laptop to toss in a bag as you head out the door. The exterior is little changed from its predecessor and features the XPS line's brushed aluminum chassis, with the biggest change being the option to get it in a purplish-blue color option, Umber. 

Opening it up, however, and the redesigned interior removes the carbon fiber keyboard palm rest and replaces it with a sleek aluminum that let the hands glide over its surface with ease. The keys and trackpad are also well positioned and spaced to allow for fluid and comfortable typing, even for many hours at a time.

The display is a full HD+, meaning its a 1920 x 1200p resolution at the 16:10 aspect ratio, and it can get as bright as 500 nits. It's not an OLED display, so it's not going to have the kind of vibrant colors that you get with the Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED, but it is more than clear enough to see everything you need to see at this size.

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A Dell XPS 13 (2022) on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)
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A Dell XPS 13 (2022) on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)
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A Dell XPS 13 (2022) on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)

The down-firing speakers are audible, but they will hardly fill a room, even if you have it sitting on a hardwood desk. The 16:10 display is beautiful and very easy to work with, though a 13-inch laptop is not nearly big enough to be using multiple windows at once.

The webcam is the basic 720p@30fps that you see on nearly every other ultrabook on the market, so don't expect much from its image quality. One thing that is lacking is a privacy shutter for the webcam, something many of the best HP laptops and best Lenovo laptops have featured for a long time now. Dell really does need to get with the program on this, in our opinion.

Finally, the biggest issue with the XPS 13 (2022) is the derth of ports. There are just two Thunderbolt 4 ports, that's it. While both are capable of charging the laptop, having it plugged in means that you're now down to a single USB-C port, so any peripherals you have with you either have to be triaged for the most important one, or you're going to need a dock for more than two items. 

And since they're USB-C ports, any USB-A or other types of input will need a converting dongle to work. Dell includes a couple in the box with the XPS 13, a USB-A to USB-C and a 3.5mm audio jack to USB-C, but you'll likely need more, which can really cut into the laptop's portability. 

  • Design: 4 / 5

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Performance

A Dell XPS 13 (2022) on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)
  • Solid productivity and general use performance
  • Not so hot on the gaming side of things
Benchmarks

Here is how the Dell XPS 13 (2022) performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 5,478
3DMark Time Spy: 1,068; Fire Strike: 3,100; Night Raid: 10,272
GeekBench 5: 1,629 (single-core); 6,546 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 4,324
PCMark 10 Battery Life: 7:31
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 9:17

The Dell XPS 13 (2022) is designed to be an affordable, ultraportable laptop that can do what most people need it to do: some web browsing, video streaming, and maybe messing around with a couple of spreadsheets for work or writing reports on an airplane.

It does all of these very well, and it has decent enough processor benchmark scores for a laptop priced as it is. The biggest problem you'll find is if you try to run any resource-heavy apps on the XPS 13, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Blender, and Photoshop.

On these points, it will be able to complete most tasks, but expect it to take a lot longer than it would on a more professional workstation like the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022), if it finishes them at all and doesn't simple stall or crash. This is a laptop for light to medium work at most, and the more you can use cloud apps like Google Docs and Google Sheets, the better.

We could also have run a number of games on it to see how they fared, but after the first test with Civilization VI, run on the lowest possible settings, scored a paltry 18 fps, we called it a day and spared the XPS 13 any more gaming embarrassment. A candidate for the best gaming laptop of the year, this is not.

Considering that you can get one of the best Chromebooks on the market and it will perform about as well on cloud-based apps, the performance of the Dell XPS 13 on its own might not be enough to justify the relative premium you're pay for it. If all you're going to be doing is running Google Chrome and listening to Spotify or watching Netflix, definitely consider saving yourself some serious money and give Chromebooks a look before you make the jump on a nearly $1,000 Windows laptop.

  • Performance: 3 / 5

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Battery life

  • Not great, but decent enough for an Alder Lake laptop
  • Charges from 0% to full in about two hours

The battery life on the Dell XPS 13 (2022) is not great, if we compare it to its predecessor. On our PCMark 10 battery test, it lasted on average about seven hours and 31 minutes. It did better on our looped video test, managing an average nine hours and eight minutes.

The XPS 13 (late 2020) managed a battery life of nearly 12 hours, so the XPS 13 (2022) has definitely regressed in this regard, but that has been the case with Alder Lake laptops across the board. They just consume too much power and we've seen many ultrabooks last between six to seven hours on average, so the XPS 13 (2022) is at least ahead of its competition on that front.

  • Battery Life: 3.5 / 5

Dell XPS 13 (2022): Report card

Should you buy a Dell XPS 13 (2022)?

A Dell XPS 13 (2022) on a wooden table

(Image credit: Future)

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

  • First reviewed October 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.

Read more about how we test

Stellar Data Recovery review
8:43 pm | October 5, 2022
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

In this Stellar Data Recovery review, we’ve examined every aspect of one of the best data recovery software programs in the world. 

In short, Stellar Data Recovery enables users to retrieve deleted, lost, and unavailable objects from a hard drive, USB stick, or almost any other storage device. What’s more, it’s very popular and comes with a suite of high-end tools.

Special reader offer - $20 off 1-year license
Act now to get a Stellar Data Recovery subscription with a 20% discount, which means you can get a 1-year sub for $79.99. All you have to do is enter the code Techradar20 when you checkout to claim your $20% off the listed price.View Deal

Stellar Data Recovery: Plans & pricing

There are four Stellar Data Recovery plans available, with prices ranging from free to $99.99. The free plan includes standard file recovery tools, but users can only retrieve up to 1GB of data. If you need to retrieve a larger files, you can upgrade from within the program. 

Paid subscriptions start from $59.99 per year for a Standard plan, which includes everything in the free plan along with unlimited data recovery. Those with more advanced needs will benefit from one of the will need to upgrade.more advanced Stellar Data Recovery subscriptions. 

These include Stellar Data Recovery Professional ($89.99), which has all the features of Standard, as well as the ability to recover files from lost partitions, support for unbootable system recovery and retrieving deleted files from CDs and DVDs.

The top "Premium" Tier costs just ten dollars more at $99.99 and includes the ability to repair corrupted photos and videos. 

Each option adds more advanced tools than the one before it, and the developers encourage you to download the free trial to see if you can preview lost files before paying, so there's no obligation when you install. 

There is also Stellar Data Recovery for Mac. There's a free version, which like the Windows version allows you to recover up to 1GB of data. The "Standard" version is $69.99, while Stellar Data Recovery Professional and Premium cost the same as their Windows counterparts and have the same features.

There's also a "Technician" version for macOS, which costs $149. This has the same features as Stellar Data Recovery Premium but can be installed on up to 3 separate Macs. 

All prices quoted are per year, though it's also possible to buy a lifetime licence. 

Stellar Data Recovery: Features

Stellar Data Recovery review

(Image credit: Stellar)

As we've learned, Stellar Data Recovery is available on both Windows and Mac operating systems. As one of the top hard drive data recovery tools available, it includes powerful features to improve the user experience. 

Stellar Data Recovery's website claims it enables the retrieval of all file formats, including custom ones. This said, there are only certain types of files that can be previewed from within the app itself. Naturally the fact you can't preview a file doesn't necessarily mean you can't recover and open it in a different program. 

Data can be recovered from a computer’s hard drive, external drive, memory card, flash drive, and optical media like CDs and DVDs, among others. 

In addition, Stellar Data Recovery works with both non-bootable and encrypted drives. RAID and virtual drive recovery are also supported, and professional versions of the software can even repair corrupted photo and video files.

Stellar Data Recovery: Client and client setup

Stellar Data Recovery review

(Image credit: Stellar)

Installing Stellar Data Recovery in Windows 11 only took us a couple of minutes. The installer itself weighs in at less than 5MB and it then downloads the remaining files it needs. 

On the initial user dashboard, you can select what sort of files (photo, video, etc.) you would like to retrieve. This is useful if you’re looking for a specific file or file type. You can also select what drive and location you want to search, further streamlining the process.

The layout is extremely clear and intuitive. In fact, we noticed it was strikingly similar to the interface of another tool we reviewed: Ontrack EasyRecovery. 

Meanwhile, there are numerous advanced options that can be tweaked to optimize performance. For example, you can specify exactly what file extensions you’re looking for. 

New file types can be added if necessary, and safe mode can be activated if you’re concerned about security. More advanced tools are available with higher-end plans.

Stellar Data Recovery: How we tested

For our data recovery tests we used a virtual machine with a clean install of Windows 11 with the free version of Stellar Data Recovery.The only third-party tools installed besides the utility itself were VLC Media Player and GIMP. 

Data files

The files we chose for recovery are an album of Mozart's Music available from the Internet Archive. 

We did this as we wanted to see how the utility performed with a wide variety of files.The album included 4 music files (2 in Mp3 and 2 in FLAC) format, 6 JPG image files of album covers (with thumbnails) and 4 PNG image files. The files also included 2 XML files, a torrent file and an 'SQLite' file containing details of the album. There were 25 files in total. 

We copied the files in the music album to a 512MB virtual NTFS-formatted hard drive, which was then attached to the Windows 11 virtual machine.

Data tests

The tests were performed one after the other on three separate virtual drives:

1. File deletion: the album files were simply deleted from the drive and the Recycle Bin emptied. No other data was copied to the drive. We then tried to recover the files. 

2. Delete & format: The files were deleted as outlined above and we also performed a 'Quick Format' using the 'Disk Management' utility built into Windows 11. We then tried to recover the files from the formatted partition. 

3. Recover corrupted files: We used the freeware program 'Victoria' to overwrite the volume header of the drive containing the files with zeroes. The drive didn't mount automatically in File Explorer and showed as being unpartitioned in Windows "Disk Management" utility. We then checked if the utility could see it and if so, recover the files. 

We do not believe that running data recovery tools in a virtual environment has a significant effect on how they function. Still, if you're considering buying software we encourage you to read all reviews thoroughly and make sure that the developer offers a refund policy.

Stellar Data Recovery: Performance

Stellar Data Recovery review

(Image credit: Stellar)

Both in October 2022 and when we ran our most recent tests, Stellar Data Recovery's "quick scan" was able to detect lost files in seconds. 

There is also a "deep scan" feature, which we used last time though it consumed significantly more RAM and a similar amount of CPU and took over 12 hours. However, it did retrieve a lot more data—125GB compared to 88GB with the quick scan.

Previously, when we tried Stellar Data Recovery on a Windows 10 laptop with 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, a quick scan of our hard drive took less than four minutes. However, it did use 200MB of RAM and approximately 75% CPU. 

This high CPU usage is not unusual for data recovery software, so it's best not to use it alongside other resource-intensive applications.

Still, we were very impressed by the low footprint of the most recent version of the utility. 

In the very first test of files that had simply been deleted from a drive, it completed the scan in under 2 seconds. A total of 37 files were found across 10 folders, including the original 25 deleted files. These opened perfectly in Stellar Data Recovery's "Preview" Pane. The remaining data were system files.

Our next test was performed on the drive where the files had been deleted, after which we'd formatted the partition. The "quick" scan in this case found 13 system files but none of the deleted media. We selected the "Deep Scan" option but the utility froze at 99% whilst trying to scan a particularly nasty data cluster.

We ran into similar difficulties in our final test, which was of a drive with a corrupted volume header. The good news is that although the drive wasn't visible in Explorer, it appeared immediately in Stellar Data Recovery as a "Lost Partition". Next, we tried to scan it only for the utility to freeze at 96%. 

After rebooting, the scan went off without a hitch showing that 20 of the 25 files had been recovered. The missing files included the two FLAC audio files, the two XML files and the torrent file. In fairness these file formats aren't specifically listed as being supported by Stellar Data Recovery but they were visible in our first test.

At this stage we'd run up against the 1GB limit for the free version of the utility, so used it's 'Preview' feature to examine the files to find the remaining 20 all opened without issue. 

Stellar Data Recovery: Efficiency

Stellar Data Recovery review

(Image credit: Stellar)

Retrieving lost files can be difficult, but Stellar Data Recovery did a great job. In our first test it recovered all the files we'd intentionally deleted and it recovered all but the rarest file types from the lost partition. 

Still, it's clear that the utility supports a huge number of file formats, and custom types can be added with the advanced options menu. 

For our most recent test, we deliberately chose a small number of files as in our previous benchmark the number of retrieved was over half a million. If this happens to you, rest assured that  files can be sorted by file type, size, and location. There's also a search bar. As always it's best to preview files from within the app before restoring, to save cluttering up your hard drive. 

Stellar Data Recovery: Support

Stellar Data Recovery users have access to phone, live chat, and online ticket support. Phone support is available worldwide, but only in English. We tested the live chat briefly and were connected with a friendly, knowledgeable agent within a minute. 

There are also a few different self-help options available. The FAQ section provides simple answers to common questions, and the comprehensive knowledge base contains excellent step by step instructions on how to perform basic tasks like data recovery as well as helpful information like which file formats are supported by preview. 

Stellar Data Recovery: The competition

There are numerous alternatives to Stellar Data Recovery which could better fit your needs. For example, the Ashampoo Undeleter is significantly cheaper (just $14.99 for a lifetime license) and is great for simple file recovery. 

Data Rescue 5 is a more expensive alternative (starting at a $99 one-off payment for five recovery drives), but it comes with a selection of powerful features comparable to those of Stellar Data Recovery.

Stellar Data Recovery: Final verdict

Overall, Stellar Data Recovery is a great file retrieval tool with powerful advanced options for business. In its simplest form, it enables anyone to retrieve lost data from a computer or external storage device. 

It has performed well in our benchmarks, with our only real criticism being that deep scans can be slow or buggy. Still, this is par for the course when it comes to trying to retrieve fragments of deleted data. 

Paid subscriptions are a little expensive, but the program’s impressive performance and user-friendly interface mean that it gets a thumbs up from us. We also appreciate the fact that the developers allow you to try out the premium versions of Stellar Data Recovery free of charge and preview recovered files before you make a decision to buy. 

We've listed the best free data recovery software and the best data recovery service.

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review
4:17 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Audio Computers Gadgets Headphones | Tags: | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: October 2022
• Still B&W's flagship wireless headphones
• Launch price: $699 / £599 / AU$1,150
• Official price now: $699 / £599 / AU$1,150

Update: February 2024. We still love the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 for its particular brand of headphones luxe style – nearly unmatched sound quality (even today) paired with an ultra-classy and premium design, which is now available in a new burgundy and gold finish, if you want to get really royal about it. We still recommend the B&W PX8 as the choice for design connoisseurs in our guide to the best wireless headphones, and their sound quality hasn't been beaten at this price, but they still have the same small concerns that their noise cancellation and battery life are quite average, for a non-average price. In the case of ANC, you may want to consider the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones for offering best-in-class noise stopping with sound that's closer to the PX8 than its rivals. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Bowers & Wilkins PX8: two-minute review

Sonically, the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 are now the wireless over-ear headphones to beat. There, we said it. If that's all you need to hear, we wish you well. But if you want to know why we said "sonically" rather than "across the board", and why this is a four-and-a-half star review rather than the full five, read on. 

The B&W PX8 are a shiny new addition to our best over-ear headphones guide, no doubt. But let's get it right: the PX8 are expensive. There are good, tangible, understandable reasons for this – a new carbon cone 40mm drive unit replaces the bio-cellulose driver in the more affordable Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 and the die-cast aluminum arms, diamond-cut bright metal detailing and Nappa leather trim elevates the build to high-end territory – but for some, anything priced hotter than the AirPods Max is too rich for the blood given the current financial climate. We hear you. 

But we have also heard the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 headphones and, cost of living crisis or no, they're exceptional.

Bowers & Wilkins admits the brief was simple: achieve the best possible wireless over-ears and hang the cost. The UK-based audio specialist has fulfilled the brief beautifully. To put these headphones on is to experience a pride of ownership rarely felt, even at this level – I didn't feel it with the slightly odd-looking AirPods Max, for instance. And despite the outlay, the sound quality for the money here is sublime.

Any issues? A few. None of them pertains to sound – that is where these cans truly shine; know that now – but these are why we knocked half a star off the rating in this otherwise glowing review. The cheaper Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless (launched in August 2022) boast a whopping 60-hour battery life even with ANC deployed, and you only get 30 hours here – although, that's the same as you'll get from the Sony WH-1000XM5 (which launched in May 2022 – we like to save you the hassle of checking). Also, the ANC cannot be customized, the EQ tweaks are limited to treble and bass, and there are no big extra features. 

But that's where the negatives end. Elsewhere, the Bowers & Wilkins Music app now corrals your streaming services into one place (provided these are Tidal, Deezer, SoundCloud or Qobuz, although B&W hopes to work with Apple Music in the future) and because this one app now rules the roost, it creates a B&W ecosystem whereby whatever's coming through your cans could simply transfer to your Zeppelin, Formation Wedge or other supported B&W speakers when you walk through the door. 

As regular TechRadar readers know, in this house, sound is king. And the sonic performance here is detailed, agile, spacious, musical and nothing short of delightful. If you can afford them and you want the best-sounding wireless cans on the market, you will not be disappointed in the PX8.

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 over-ears in hand, on white background

Hang it all, the PX8 are a good-looking set of cans.  (Image credit: Future)

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review: price and release date

  • Released on September 28, 2022
  • $699 / £599 / AU$1150

The Bowers & Wilkins PX8 are available now, for £599 / $699 / AU$1,150 / €699.

Expensive, we know, but this is top-tier B&W territory…

OK, so there's no escaping the fact that this makes the PX8 more expensive than the Apple AirPods Max, Sennheiser's Momentum 4 Wireless (at $349 / £300 / AU$549) and the class-leading Sony WH-1000XM5, which retail for $399 / £380 / AU$550. 

And considering the Sennheiser over-ears boast double the stamina of the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 (and the XM5, while we're on the subject) that pricing starts to look a little ambitious…

Only, it's not. Why? Because the sound quality makes them an exceptional buy, that's why. 

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 in case, on white background

The case also feels premium, with a compartment for the two cables included (Image credit: Future)

Bowers & Wilkins review: features

  • Excellent Music app support for full, multi-room ecosystems
  • Simple, dependable physical on-ear controls
  • ANC and transparency profiles cannot be customized

While the Bowers & Wilkins PX8's spec sheet is good rather than excellent (the ANC profiles comprise on, off, or pass-through, while the EQ tabs involve bass and treble tabs only, so anyone hoping for full five-band EQ settings is out of luck) what the PX8 do, they do very well indeed. 

There's wearer detection and auto-standby (which sends them into low power state after 15 minutes of inactivity) both of which can be turned on or off, and the left quick action button can be customized depending on whether you want to scroll through ANC profiles or access your voice assistant of choice.

A nice touch here is the ability to set the streaming quality (using your mobile data or Wi-Fi) and also the wearer sensor, the latter at low, normal, or high. If the PX8 fail to pause when you lift an ear cup to talk to a colleague, switch it to high. Find them pausing unexpectedly during use? Switch it to low. 

Perhaps we might have hoped for more than the 'standard' 30-hour battery life, although this is better than both the Bose QuietComfort 45 and Bose Noise Cancelling 700, which offer between 24 and 30 hours. Also, a quick 15 minute charge gets you seven hours playback – a claim we tested and found to be true. 

There's a traditional approach here when it comes to on-ear controls, but they work beautifully, with volume, playback and power buttons on the right ear cup and a 'quick action' button on the left, which we use to quickly switch ANC. On this, the ANC here is good, nixing all but the noisiest of buses and aeroplanes overhead as we walk into the office. 

The transparency mode is a more subtle affair entirely and seems a little reticent to actively filter in ambient sounds quite so eagerly as the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, say. That said, there is a marked difference in sound pass-through – you will hear the outside world – but we would have dialled it up a tad, if it were possible.

The big ace up B&W's sleeve is its Music app, which now greets you with "spaces" and can group your Bowers & Wilkins products accordingly for multi-room audio when you get home, similar to that offered by Apple Home or Amazon's Alexa app. 

The B&W PX8 come toting Bluetooth 5.2 plus support for aptX Adaptive (one of the best Bluetooth codecs available today) as well as aptX and aptX HD, and the six mics in total (four for ANC, two for call-handling) make for clear phone calls during our testing. 

  • Features score: 4/5

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 worn by TechRadar's Becky Scarrott, on beige background

These are over-ears you'll want to be seen in – ideally, on a yacht in the Maldives (Image credit: Future)

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review: design

  • Beautiful metal accents (especially on the tan colorway)
  • Drivers are angled to the wearer's ear
  • Clamping force is perfect 

For flair and beauty, Bowers & Wilkins has hit a home run with the PX8. These are cans to be seen in – as we said in our hands-on review, the PX8 would look right at home around the neck of a bright young thing on a business-class flight to Milan. Adjusting the headband is a smooth, silent experience, and the soft ample ear cups rotate to lie flat around our neck on the rare occasion they're not being worn over your ears. 

Yes, the PX8 echo the current inclination towards designs with cups that rotate to lie flat but do not fold up, including the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 (over the older, foldable Sony WH-1000XM4, say). 

And also as you'd expect, these cans come with a hard-shell, fabric covered carry case, but this one is particularly nice since the supplied cables (USB-C to USB-C for charging, USB-C to 3.5mm if your device has such a port) have their own little compartment with a magnetized lid, situated in the dead space beneath the arc of the headband. 

The comfort levels are fantastic across the course of our listening too, with ample padding on the underside of the headband and a clamping force that's as perfect as we've ever felt; not too tight but reassuringly secure. 

All in all (and at the risk of overstating ourselves) we really really like the premium look and feel of these headphones.

The earcups are fairly chunky, but inside the drivers are at an angle, so that they're parallel to your ears, not to the outside of the earcups. This is designed to help with timing and precision in the sound.

  • Design score: 5/5

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 ear cup detail

The metallic physical buttons on the right ear cup are cool to the touch and they work beautifully.  (Image credit: Future)

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review: sound quality

  • Supreme agility and musical clarity
  • Beautifully expansive and detailed
  • Weighty but lithe bass

Switching all ANC profiles off, we stream Tom Petty's Free Fallin' on Tidal and the gentle, pensive guitars sound as three-dimensional and energetic as we've heard in a wireless design. Petty's vocal is central and detailed through an agile and expansive midrange. Backing vocals that come in on "Ventura Boulevard" are distinctive, layered, and given extra room to be impactful. 

Plucked strings in Sukhwinder Singh's Haule Haule and snaking percussives have us tapping our feet and are just two of the expertly handled musical strands within the PX8's cohesive, vibrant mix. Our playlist continues to Bol Na Halke Halke by Mahalakshmi Iyer and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and if you get a chance, we urge you to listen to it. Hear how the intro snakes from behind your left ear to over near your right, scraping your cerebellum and occipital lobes en route. Note also the dynamic build from near-silence to a cacophony of flutes, drums, strings and Iyer's bell-like vocal through the sparkling treble.

They're just as expressive and weighty through the low end, too. Stream Stormzy's Mel Made Me Do It and the unusual backing track comes alive. Yelps, drum snaps, statements about "not flying economy" and jangled rhythmic sonic articles spring forth from the juicy grime riff, but it's all underpinned by a regimented, crisp performance through the bass.

How do they compare to the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless? Well, given the price gap ($350 / £300 / AU$550 versus $699 / £599 / AU$1150) it's hardly fair – the PX8 are double the price. But we do it anyway, purely because the Momentum 4 Wireless are a five-star proposition at the level. 

The extra energy, depth, emotional oomph and overall immersion in excellent-quality music place the PX8 in a different league – which is understandable and this statement is not intended to put the Sennheiser headphones down. What we're saying is, if your budget stretches to this level, the sonic gains are worth it in the sound-per-pound stakes. The sound here is exceptional – but you do have to pay for it. 

  • Sound quality score: 5/5

Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 and PX8 side by side, on beige background

The PX8 on the right, PX7 S2 on the left... for both sound and looks, the PX8 is better.  (Image credit: Future)

Bowers & Wilkins PX8 review: value

  • High-end sound and build at a high-end fee
  • ANC could be better for the level though 
  • Standard rather than excellent battery life

Look, this is not budget-friendly territory (remember, the PX8's sibling, the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 will set you back a more palatable $399 / £379 – aka $300 / £220 cheaper) and the minor omissions from the PX8's spec-sheet do impact the value here given their high-end pricing. 

Which omissions are we referring to? The lack of five-band EQ tab (you only get to customize the bass and treble), the fact that the three ANC profiles are limited to on, off and pass-through (and are not tweakable), the good rather than excellent battery life… at this level, it is our job to nitpick. 

The PX8's two strongest suits are glorious looks and exemplary sound quality. If these two features are of paramount importance to you, the PX8 represent some of the best noise cancelling headphones you can buy – but you do have to pay top dollar for the privilege of ownership. 

  • Value score: 4/5

Should you buy the Bowers & Wilkins PX8?

Buy them if…

Don't buy them if…

Also consider…

If our Bowers & Wilkins review has you considering whether to buy them or to scope out other wireless over-ear headphones, take a glance at these three competing cans at the level.

Google Drive
6:29 pm | October 4, 2022
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: | Comments: Off

Google Drive is one of those ubiquitous apps. It’s everywhere and, in our experience, it just works. Simple but powerful, it offers some of the best cloud storage online, on desktop, and mobile. While it doesn’t have every last bell and whistle, it makes up for this in speed and efficiency. Looking at how advanced its web apps are currently, it's hard to find a fault anywhere with the Google Drive package. 

Google Drive features

For those looking for the best free cloud storage, Google Drive includes a somewhat generous 15GB at no cost. This is spread across all of your Google apps, including Gmail and Google Photos. 

Extra space is served through what's called Google One, with pricing starting at $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year for 100GB on the Basic plan. The Standard plan, with 200GB, costs $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year. The top-tier 2TB Premium subscription costs $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year.

Google One works in a similar way to Apple’s subscription bundles. However, while Apple One brings with it more of the company’s subscription services like gaming, newsstand and music streaming, Google One adds more limited functionality. All paid plans can be shared with up to five other users, while Standard and Premium versions get a respective 3% and 10% cashback on future purchases in the Google Play Store. Premium subscribers also get access to Google One VPN on Android and iOS.

For businesses, there's Google Workspace, which is essentially all of Google's apps and includes Drive and Gmail with some extra infrastructure and features for managing teams of people. You can choose between 30GB, 2TB, or 5TB storage, priced at $6, $12, or $18 per user per month.

The Enterprise tier allows you to customize your plan as per your business’s needs although you'll need to contact Google directly for a quote. Every plan gets access to the Google Suite of apps.

There’s no unlimited cloud storage or lifetime cloud storage options, which is disappointing - but there’s not much else to complain about with this clear pricing structure and prices that are about average.  

(Image credit: Google)

Google Drive: Interface & experience 

Every Google app has a familiar interface with lots of white space, a dash of color, and bold graphics. What the Google Drive interface lacks in sophistication it more than makes up for with intuitiveness and speed. Finding files is quick and simple, whether you're searching for keywords and file types from the top search bar, or browsing through folders and shares from the navigation bar on the left. Google Drive applies its Optical Character Recognition automatically to PDFs and images, letting you search through the text as if they were any other document.

Files can be easily copied, moved, starred, and arranged as you like. You can make use of a thumbnail view, or a more conventional list view on the main web interface, and files can be shifted around via drag-and-drop just as if you were using a regular desktop app. We felt it was impressively straightforward, especially once you get past that everything is working inside a browser instead of a more conventional file system.

On that note, there aren’t many drawbacks to the Google Suite as a whole. It might not be right for those wanting dedicated offline access, but otherwise shines in the web browser. On the go, there are smartphone and tablet apps for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, as well as offline access tools in the cloud storage app.

Google Drive cloud storage in action

(Image credit: Google)

If you choose to store a local, offline copy of documents you can always edit these even when not connected to the internet. Naturally, this means any changes you make won't be synced to Google Drive until you're next online though.

Google indicates that Drive has AI processing that brings documents and shares you're likely to want next up to the top of the file list. However, we found this somewhat hit and miss overall. Still, it's easy enough to sort through the folders you've created or search more specifically. The view we particularly like is Recent, which is essentially just a list of files in reverse chronological order, and works well enough in most cases.

In the mobile apps for Android and iOS, files can be instantly accessed with an interface design that very closely mirrors that on the web, with no need to swap between different mindsets as you change devices.

For Windows and macOS, along with accessing Google Drive through a browser and uploading files there, you can also download the Backup and Sync tool which lets you sync your Google Drive locally, a lot like Dropbox, as well as upload files to the web from other commonly used folders.

Because apps like Docs, Sheets and Slides are accessed online, it makes sense to use the browser version of Google Drive, although we suspect some users will still like to sync files to their computer’s file management system to keep things in check. Previous versions of the desktop client were clumsy and lacking in features, but the latest version is just as easy to navigate from within a web browser.

Hidden away in the settings of the Google Drive client is the option to backup files from your computer. For those with a reasonable amount of storage space, this can add reassurance that, should something go wrong with your computer’s hard drive, copies are saved in the cloud. It’s not in the same league as the best cloud backup tools, but for a basic consumer-facing tool, Google performs well.

When you install the Google Drive app, it will automatically be mounted as a virtual drive. On Windows, appropriately enough it assigned itself the drive letter 'G', though you can change this. Items backed up to your virtual Google Drive won't take up space on your machine.

If you choose to mirror content the virtual drive contains a shortcut to the dedicated My Drive folder in your home directory. Any local files placed here will automatically sync to your Google cloud drive.

We like the extra granularity when it comes to control. Google Drive’s desktop client offers bandwidth throttling, which is especially useful for houses with poor connections. While this is fairly common for other cloud backup services, some similar platforms like iCloud Drive don’t allow for this level of control.

In our testing, upload and download speeds were as expected across the board including desktop and smartphone apps and browser access. It’s likely that your own broadband connection will pose the biggest limiting factor here.

(Image credit: Google)

Google Drive: Features 

Google Drive impresses easily when it comes to the key areas you look for a cloud storage solution to offer. The web interface and mobile apps allow you to get at your files (and edit them) from anywhere. Also, the sharing options strike an excellent balance, walking the line between functionality and ease-of-use.

Sharing permissions can be set at the admin level of course, which allows different contacts access to different files, and you can also share files and folders as needed with regular links or email invites. 

We like the commenter permissions, letting you choose between read-only and editing rights, ideal for collaborating on an important document.

The Team Drives component is really well done, although it is only available on the Business and Enterprise plans, with customized spaces where groups of colleagues can work together on files and folders collaboratively. Managing access to Team Drives is simple, with the ability to see who can (and can't) get to and edit the files. There are thoughtful touches as well, like the way each Team Drive can be themed differently, or the feature to email all the members of a Team Drive in one shot.

There is integrated access to Docs, Sheets and Slides, each of them a slick web app that is mature and polished. These genuinely compete with the dominant player, Microsoft 365 Office apps. And they do an admirable job of converting Office files into the Google Drive equivalents too. If you don't want to convert Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, you can just store them in Google Drive instead, syncing them between computers and devices as needed.

With file versioning, advanced search, offline access, and variety of preview and layout options, Google Drive is an impressive offering. The desktop syncing isn't quite as simple as you get with Dropbox, but you can sync any folder you like to the cloud from Windows and macOS, as well as keep certain files and folders exclusively on the web (with no need for local copies to take up room on your hard drive). The slick notification feature for changes to files and collaborations works really well, too.

Google Drive: Security  

Drive stores files and transfers them using encryption, but take note that it's not end-to-end encryption. This means that Google can see your files, if it wants to. 

Generally, Google has a decent record with security, and offers various levels of two-factor authentication, with numerous checks to catch unauthorized account access should it occur. Basically, if someone wants to get at your files, they're going to have to work very hard to get them.

The Google Drive app contains an acknowledgment that it was developed using open source components but as the program itself isn't open source there's no way to be certain how exactly your data's secured. 

Files and folder sharing tools are quite specific and difficult to get confused, as you can see at all times who has access to what. For those on a Business or Enterprise plan, the ability is gained to analyze Google Drive usage via comprehensive audit logs so you know every 1 and 0 is accounted for, along with customized admin alerts for specific events occurring on files in Google Drive.

(Image credit: Google)

Google Drive: Our tests 

We tested Google Drive across three key areas, measuring sync speed, file recovery and versioning. These tests were undertaken on a Windows 11 virtual machine running the Google Drive desktop client. The virtual machine was connected to the internet via VPN server, which in our speed tests consistently showed an average upload speed of 70 Mbps  

  • Test 1 - Sync speed

For our initial test, we copied a folder containing 22 files into the application directory and measured how quickly the desktop client was able to sync the files to the cloud. 

Despite Google's huge market dominance, we were surprised to find that our test files didn't sync particularly quickly with the tech giant's servers. We copied our test folder into the Google Drive folder. The app showed the files as they uploaded but the process took almost 4 minutes on a connection with a 70 Mbps upload speed - over twice as long as other cloud storage providers we've reviewed. 

Google Drive cloud storage in action

(Image credit: Google)
  • Test 2 - File recovery

In our second test, we deleted the test folder from the application directory, removing it from the device. We then checked to see if the files had been removed from the cloud drive and if it was possible to recover them. 

As soon as we deleted the local copy of the synced folder from Google Drive, a notification appeared saying it had been sent to trash. We were also told we had 30 days to recover it and were presented with a link to Open Trash. 

Upon clicking this, we were able to see the deleted folder and choose Restore. The restored folder was synced back to the device in less than a minute.

  • Test 3 - Versioning

File versioning lets you switch back to a file’s previous version or original state. In this test, we copied a Microsoft Word file to the cloud application folder. Once it synced, we then deleted all the text except the introduction, then saved and closed. We then tried to restore the document back to its original form. 

Although we all know that Google Docs is more than capable of handling multiple versions of files, we decided to put Google Drive through its paces by avoiding G Suite altogether.

Instead, we copied the Word document to Google's My Drive folder then stripped out all the text except the introduction. When we accessed Google Drive via the web interface, we found the file and saw Manage Versions.

Google displayed the original version of the file. It also took the opportunity to remind us that it will only store different versions of files for up to 30 days or 100 versions, whichever happens sooner. We clicked Download to recover the original, unedited file. 

Google Drive cloud storage in action

(Image credit: Google)

Google Drive: Verdict 

Google lives and breathes the web (unlike some of its competition), which is a natural fit for robust and reliable cloud storage. Add in the simple appearing, but powerful apps for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS, and it's a comprehensive package for both consumers and businesses. Of course this also ties in nicely to Google's other excellent apps, including Google Calendar or Gmail.

Google Drive certainly doesn't have everything. Notably, bare metal backups and end-to-end encryption are missing. As such, it simply won't provide the full cloud backup experience. Any files you place into the virtual 'G' drive, are stored on Google's servers, but you have to trust that the data can't be intercepted. 

Google's business model also mostly relies on showing advertising so again you also have to trust Google not to use your personal data for marketing purposes. 

Our tests showed that Google's file mirroring function worked perfectly (if a little slower than we expected). We also think Google offers great peace of mind, given that deleted files can be recovered for up to 30 days after being erased. The software also supports recovering multiple versions of files, even if you decide not to open them in G Suite. 

However, what it has offers so much – across online apps and sharing options and file management, making it one of the most impressive cloud storage services at the moment. As it's very web-focused, it’s a versatile app available from any online computer or device.

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