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Xiaomi in-house 5G chipset rumored to launch in H1 2025
6:21 pm | August 26, 2024
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

As a top-3 brand in terms of global smartphone shipments, Xiaomi has been launching phones with chipsets from Qualcomm, MediaTek and Shanghai-based Unisoc (formerly Speedtrum) for a while now. Earlier this year reports claimed that Xiaomi and Unisoc had joined forces to co-develop a 4nm chipset and a new development suggests the first Xiaomi-branded chipset from the collaboration is set to launch in early 2025. The news comes from reliable tipster Yogesh Brar, who shared some key insights into the upcoming Xiaomi chip. It will reportedly be fabbed on TSMC’s 4nm N4P node and will...

Google Pixel 9a leaks with almost flat camera bar
5:01 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: | Comments: Off

The Pixel 9 series launched less than two weeks ago with four members including a vanilla Pixel 9, two Pros and a foldable. That leaves room for one more device in the A-series and we have our first live look at the upcoming Pixel 9a. From the front, the device looks just like the recent crop of Pixel 9s with a flat display and punch hole cutout for its selfie cam. The bezels appear to be thicker than those on the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro models which would not be a surprise given the Pixel 8a also had thicker borders than its siblings. Google Pixel 9a leaked images The sides of the...

Fairphone 5 review: the premium eco-friendly smartphone
5:00 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Phones | Tags: , | Comments: Off

Fairphone 5 two-minute review

Android phone maker Fairphone has long enjoyed thriving in a niche it built for itself: its mobiles are second to none in terms of their eco-friendly credentials, with each and every model boasting sustainably sourced materials in their respective designs, upgrade-preventing longevity, and recyclable packaging.

The Fairphone 5 brings all that and more – perhaps too much more, given that it’s the brand’s most premium smartphone yet with a price tag that fits.

Released two years after the Fairphone 4 in 2021, this new Android phone continues Fairphone’s schedule of biennial device updates, though there was no Fairphone 4 Plus, so the brand’s usual trend wasn’t strictly followed.

All of Fairphone’s typical promises are back here in force: the fifth-gen mobile is easily repairable, with parts you can remove with a screwdriver and replace with equivalents bought via the brand’s store. The company is set to support the Fairphone 5 with at least five years of software updates, too, so you can keep using it for half a decade, at least. Plus, many of the parts used in the Fairphone 5's design are from renewable sources, or reused from recycled phones.

So, for the Fairphone 5 – more so than any other mobile on the market – you can rest assured that you’re picking the greenest option.

The Fairphone 5 in a hand

(Image credit: Future)

That’s important because, besides the eco credentials, the Fairphone 5 is like its predecessors in that it’s not very competitive for its price. You can spend the same amount on another Android phone and get better cameras, a more powerful processor, or a bigger screen. So, you do need to balance these factors when considering this device.

What’s new here, and slightly surprising, is that Fairphone is eschewing its previous design choices. Previous phones from the brand have typically had specs on par with low-end or mid-range rivals, but the Fairphone 5 is grasping up towards the top end – a move it partly, but not wholly, pulls off.

That’s best illustrated with the cameras, as the front-facing and both rear sensors each sport a 50MP resolution, and you can see clear improvements in the handset’s AI scene optimization too. But the latter goes much too far on one of the cameras, resulting in ultra-wide snaps that are a hideous mess.

Not all of Fairphone’s premium attempts are as mixed a bag: the screen has seen a significant spec improvement, making it wonderful to watch content on, while the chipset is also a lot more powerful than we've typically seen in previous Fairphone handsets; you can finally play games without taxing the hardware too much.

The improvements across the board are matched with a fairly significant price hike over the Fairphone 4, to shift the Fairphone 5 into the premium territory.

It feels as though Fairphone is trying to court a new audience with its latest mobile, one which typically picks the new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy and wants top-end phones. This may work out, though it means some fans of the brand, those with limited funding, might be left behind.

Fairphone 5 review: price and availability

The Fairphone 5 on the ground

(Image credit: Future)
  • Went on sale in the UK & Europe in  September 2023
  • £649 (roughly $800 / AU$1,250) for 8GB RAM & 256GB storage
  • US availability is unlikely

The Fairphone 5 was announced at the end of August 2023 and released in September, roughly two years on from its predecessor. That follows Fairphone’s biennial cycle.

The handset costs £649 (roughly $800 / AU$1,250), which is a fair step up over the £499 (around $670, AU$930) entry price of the Fairphone 4, though that entry had a £569 (about $770, AU$1,060) equivalent with a more comparable 8GB RAM capacity and 256GB storage (this mobile received a price cut when the 5 was announced). Either way, you’re paying more for this phone than for its predecessor.

That price hike puts the Fairphone 5 much closer to – but not quite on par with – the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S23 and iPhone 15. It lives in a no-man’s land between premium and mid-range mobiles, a category that doesn’t see as many entries as it should. As a result, this feels like a cost-saver’s alternative to the current batch of premium smartphones.

There's no word on a US or Australian release date, but the Fairphone 4 was released in the US two years after it came out in Europe, so there is a chance that its successor could repeat that approach.

  • Value score: 3.5 / 5

Fairphone 5 review: Specs

The Fairphone 5 provides some spec increases over its predecessor, for a mixed bag of mid-range and premium features.

Fairphone 5 review: design

The Fairphone 5 in a hand

(Image credit: Future)
  • Repairable and moddable design
  • Made from sustainable and recycled materials
  • Fairly chunky in the hand

Fairphone is harking back to the noughties with the design of its newest phone. The Fairphone 5 unit that we tested has a see-through back, so you can peer into the inner workings of the device (well, to its battery mainly, but that’s still something!). To my judgemental eyes, this isn’t quite as attractive a look as the olive green of the Fairphone 4 we previously tested, but luckily there are black and blue versions of the phone on sale too.

It’s fair to give Fairphone devices quite a lot of leeway when it comes to design, and that’s because they’re doing something quite different. The Fairphone 5 has a modular design that lets you remove and replace broken components, and it’s really simple to do, whether or not you’re an expert engineer. Plus, you can remove the back of the phone and battery with your hand (remember when all smartphones let you do that?).

This is a rugged phone too, one that’ll survive tough bumps or drops. It has a MIL-810H durability rating – that’s a military-grade standard, so you know it’s solid – and the phone also has IP55 certification against splashes and dust ingress. So, don’t take it for a dive, but this handset will survive all of life’s unexpected accidents otherwise.

I say all this to acknowledge the justification behind some of my issues with the phone’s design.

The Fairphone 5 is big and heavy, perhaps big and heavy enough to put off users with smaller hands. Measuring 161.6 x 75.8 x 9.6mm, and weighing 212g, this handset is surprisingly hefty, and we can imagine that some might not like the way it feels in the hand.

The phone has a USB-C port – no 3.5mm headphone jack, as Fairphone is one of the many brands to drop this – and on its right edge, it has two volume keys as well as a power button embedded in a fingerprint scanner. The sensor for this scanner is hair-pullingly unreliable, mind, and I often found myself rubbing my thumb on it as though it was a magic lamp about to grant me a wish.

  • Design score: 4 / 5

Fairphone 5 review: display

The Fairphone 5 leaning on a tree stump.

(Image credit: Future)
  • 6.46-inch Full HD+ display
  • Bright and vibrant screen
  • Big upgrade over the predecessor

The Fairphone 5 has a 6.46-inch display, so you’ve got more screen real estate than the 6.3 inches of the Fairphone 4, but that size increase is just one of the many improvements.

The display is OLED now, with Fairphone having ditched LCD, and it also has a higher refresh rate at 90Hz. There’s a maximum brightness of 880nits and a higher resolution of 1224 x 2700 too.

All of these changes combine to ensure that the Fairphone 5 is great for watching shows, scrolling through social media and playing games; with a noticeably better viewing experience across the board than its predecessors.

The display is broken up by a ‘punch-hole’ cut-out for the front camera, with Fairphone finally moving into the future and ditching the notch, and while this doesn’t really provide much of a user experience benefit (on this or any other phone!), it does give the Fairphone 5 a more modern look.

  • Display score: 4 / 5

Fairphone 5 review: software

The Fairphone 5 in a hand

(Image credit: Future)
  • Stock Android 13 is nice and clean
  • Five years of software upgrades
  • 8-10 years of security updates

If you’re a fan of clean software, then you’ll like the Fairphone 5. Like the best Pixel phones and Nokia phones, Fairphone’s mobiles use near-stock Android, just as Google intended. 

The handset runs Android 13, and the main perks of this most recent version of Android is a remodeled Google Wallet (for all your payments) and improved connectivity with Android tablets. Plus, you’re getting the nice clean look of stock Android with little bloatware, smart circular icons and a handy app drawer.

While many phone makers pledge two or three years' worth of software updates to their new devices, Fairphone wants to make sure you keep using your Fairphone 5 for as long as possible, so it’s bumping that figure up. It’s pledged to update the Fairphone 5 for at least five generations of updates (so, until Android 18 at least) and, between eight and ten years worth of security updates.

So, if you’re the kind of user who really likes to have the newest build of Android, the Fairphone will be perfect for you.

  • Software score: 4 / 5

Fairphone 5 review: cameras

The Fairphone 5 in a hand

(Image credit: Future)
  • 50MP main + 50MP ultra-wide
  • 50MP front-facer
  • Noticeable AI processing improvements, but some issues

One upgrade the Fairphone 5 brings over its fourth-gen predecessor comes in the camera department: the two rear cameras are now both 50MP (over 48MP) and the front camera is also 50MP (over 25MP).

An upgrade was needed, as the Fairphone 4’s weak camera performance was one of our main gripes with it. And the fifth-gen model really is an upgrade – as long as you steer clear of one of the three cameras.

Pictures taken on the 50MP f/1.9 main camera don’t quite compare with snaps you’ll take on the best camera phones, but they look decent for the price, and you've likely got the AI processing to thank for this.

The Fairphone 4 didn’t have much to offer in the scene optimization department, but that’s different here. Pictures look rich, vibrant and appealing, and the camera offers sufficient detail too.

By default, snaps are taken at a 12.5MP resolution, but you can bump that up to 50MP if you'd prefer. That’s the case for all the cameras, though we’re not sure you’ll want to do so for the ultra-wide…

Image 1 of 2

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

A 1x zoom picture - swipe along to see how this looks as an ultra-wide (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

The bizarre texture smoothing on the grass is distracting! (Image credit: Future)

The Fairphone 5’s secondary camera is a 50MP f/2.2 snapper with a 121-degree field of view, and it’s absolutely horrendous for photography. I could – and will – explain why, but checking out the camera samples above will show all.

Many of the ultra-wide pictures taken featured startling amounts of over-smoothing, with significant detail lost in a way that plasters over textures; not to mention, lots of grain in darker (and sometimes even lighter) parts of images. 

I took pictures in Starfield’s photo mode that looked more realistic than these photos. It’s possible that these issues are from the Fairphone 5’s AI optimization being a little overzealous, an issue which could be fixed with software updates, but at the time of my testing… well, you can see the results for yourself.

Image 1 of 2

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

A selfie taken in standard selfie mode. (Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 2

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

A selfie taken in Portrait mode, with its only difference being that the camera is held further from the subject. (Image credit: Future)

Luckily this isn’t an issue on the front-facing camera; selfies look detailed and reasonably bright. One interesting quirk is that, if you switch to portrait mode, the camera zooms in to 2x – you’ll need to stretch your arm in order to frame your snap well. Portrait shots had impressive depth perception, so the bokeh background blur was accurate, though some of our selfies were a little desaturated compared to non-Portrait alternatives.

Video recording goes up to 4K at 30fps or 1080p at 60fps, and thanks to having the same sensor resolution, the front camera lets you record in 4K too.

There’s a fairly limited selection of other modes on the phone: slow-mo video recording, night mode, pro mode and panorama. No time-lapse, then – a surprising omission, given how commonplace this option is with many other smartphone cameras.

Fairphone 5 camera samples

Image 1 of 6

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

(Image credit: Future)
Image 2 of 6

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

(Image credit: Future)
Image 3 of 6

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

(Image credit: Future)
Image 4 of 6

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

(Image credit: Future)
Image 5 of 6

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

(Image credit: Future)
Image 6 of 6

A Fairphone 5 camera sample

(Image credit: Future)
  • Camera score: 3 / 5

Fairphone 5 review: performance and audio

The Fairphone 5 leaning on a tree stump.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Qualcomm QCM6490 is fit for purpose...
  • ... but no powerhouse for gaming
  • Stereo speakers but no 3.5mm headphone jack

Fairphone mobiles have never been performance powerhouses, but the Fairphone 5 does at least have a good enough processor to handle light gaming and similarly intensive processes.

The mobile packs the blandly-named Qualcomm QCM6490, a chipset that hasn’t been used on a smartphone before – it’s not one of Qualcomm’s mobile-first offerings, and is actually intended for IoT devices, rather than smartphones.

So, we turn to Geekbench 5 to evaluate the chip: the average multi-core score was 2940, which is on par with a top-end phone from yesteryear (read: 2020) or a mid-range phone nowadays. 

When I put the Fairphone 5 through my ‘gaming tests’ (i.e. hours of gaming), it mostly performed well – there was the occasional stutter or lag, but it didn’t have much of an effect on performance. The handset isn't perfect for gaming, but it’ll do.

Unlike its predecessor, there’s only one variant of the phone: it has 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. There is, however, also a microSD card slot to expand that storage, so you don’t need to worry if you're ever running low on space.

The phone has stereo speaker output, though the down-firing one is noticeably louder than its earpiece equivalent. This performs how you expect for a smartphone speaker: fine for gaming or streaming, though missing the soundstage of an actual loudspeaker, and getting tinny at higher volumes.

  • Performance score: 3 / 5

Fairphone 5 review: battery life

The Fairphone 5 in a hand

(Image credit: Future)

Fairphone devices always seem to have limited battery life on paper, yet they often outperform those figures in practice, and that’s the case here.

You’ll find a 4,200mAh power pack inside the Fairphone 5, which is smaller than the 5,000mAh unit that every new phone and its mother seems to be equipped with these days (though that's nothing to turn your nose up at). However, between the battery-efficient software, small screen and sprinkling of Fairphone magic, the handset does fare better than you'd expect.

In the testing period, the phone generally lasted through a day of ‘standard’ use (i.e. how a non-phone-tester uses their device). If you're an intensive user, you might struggle to get the device to hit the 24-hour mark, but given the chipset, the Fairphone isn't really a phone for that kind of user anyway.

If you're struggling with battery, a lunchtime boost will suffice to see you through to that second evening. It'll have to be left on charge for the entirety of your lunchtime, because the Fairphone 5's recharge speeds aren't exactly rapid. At 30W, there’s technically been a speed boost here over the 20W fourth-gen mobile, but it’s still a far cry from the fast charging you'll find on the latest phones from Xiaomi or Oppo. You’ll have to plug the device in for over an hour to go from empty to full.

  • Battery score: 3.5 / 5

Should you buy the Fairphone 5?

Buy it if...

You care about the planet
The eco-friendly credentials of Fairphone and its devices make the Fairphone 5 the device to buy if you consider yourself an eco-warrior.

You want a long-lasting phone
Between its durable build, five years of security updates and the fact you can remove and replace parts of the phone, the Fairphone will serve you for years.

A good screen is important
One of the biggest improvements over the Fairphone 4 is the 5's display; it's higher-res, bolder and quicker to refresh than its predecessor.

Don't buy it if...

You're on a budget
Because of its spec upgrades, the Fairphone 5 isn't as affordably priced as its predecessors, which may put off people who want a green yet low-cost handset.

You don't use facial recognition
The Fairphone's fingerprint scanner is fiddly and annoying to use. However, if you use facial recognition unlocking (or a PIN or password) you'll be fine.

The Fairphone 4's specs are okay for you
The Fairphone 4 saw a price drop when its successor was announced, and it has similarly impressive environmental credentials to the Fairphone 5.

Fairphone 5 review: Also consider

The Fairphone 5 is hard to compare to rivals, because of its unique niche, but here are some other mobiles you might want to consider.

Fairphone 4
The Fairphone 5's predecessor is slightly weaker in most areas specs-wise, but it's just as good for the environment and is cheaper too.

Google Pixel 7
At a similar price to the Fairphone 5, the Google Pixel 7 is slightly smaller and doesn't impress in the battery department, but it has a fantastic camera.

How I tested the Fairphone 5

  • Review test period = 2 weeks
  • Testing included = Everyday usage, including web browsing, social media, photography, video calling, gaming, streaming video, music playback

I've used several Fairphone mobiles before and really respect what the company is doing, so I was excited to test this newest phone. I was given the transparent version in its only configuration: 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage. I was also sent the official Fairphone screwdriver, which you can use to remove its parts.

For two weeks I used the phone as my normal driver: I played games on it, took photos with it, texted from it, and so on. Y'know, everything you do every day on your phone!

I worked on TechRadar's phones team for several years and so have lots of experience using smartphones of all shapes and sizes. I conducted the site's review of the phone's predecessor and also spoke to Fairphone about its development. Since leaving TechRadar, I've continued writing freelance reviews of gadgets for the site.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed September 2023

Wondershare DemoCreator screen recorder review
4:57 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Comments: Off

Having software at your disposal to record your screen, webcam and more, is crucial when designing tutorials, or just showing someone how to quickly fix a software-related problem. 

We’ve tested out many of the best screen recorders (and the best free screen recorders for that matter). Some of these need a download, others work in your browser, and some come bundled with your computer. So, what can third-party screen recording apps offer? A host of extra features you never knew you needed. With that in mind, we put Wondershare DemoCreator to the test. 

Wondershare DemoCreator: Pricing & plans

Wondershare DemoCreator during our tests

The export options are clear and simple, and include a wide choice of formats (Image credit: Wondershare )
  • A good number of options, from perpetual licenses, to rental agreements, including business and student prices

Wondershare offers various different purchasing options, which are nearly identical, whether you use a Mac or PC. A perpetual plan is on offer for those who like to own their software, for $80. If renting your applications is something you're into, you can do so with a quarterly plan for $30 per quarter (puzzlingly this option is the only one that's Windows only), or an annual plan for $60 per year.

Businesses have their own deal: $70 per year per seat, or $100 for the perpetual plan. The more users you bring in, the cheaper each seat gets. Annual costs for students is $30.

There’s also a seven day free-trial option for those who wish to explore the features before committing themselves. You can check out DemoCreator by clicking here.  

  • Pricing & plans: 5/5

Wondershare DemoCreator: Recording

Wondershare DemoCreator during our tests

Choosing which part of the screen to capture, which mic to use, and which webcam to record with, is all very easy and very well-managed (Image credit: Wondershare )
  • An excellent series of options, clearly laid out and simple to use. Shame there are so many security settings to get through on a Mac, but this needs only be done once when setting up your software

The first stage, aside from checking preferences, and online tutorials, is to setup your recording parameters. You’ll find quite a few options are open to you, including the ability to schedule your recordings should what you need to capture will be at a time you won’t be around.

There are multiple settings for various features you wish to record at the same time. ‘Zone Capture’ for instance focuses on the portion of the screen you’d like DemoCreator to capture. This can be a window, the full screen, or a selected portion of it. What we really liked, when trying this on a Mac, was the fact our iPhone was immediately detected, allowing us to not only use it instead of our Mac’s inferior webcam, but we could also choose it as the audio source as well. Nothing needed to be turned on. It was just available by default, which was great.

Not so great was the amount of permissions we had to give to get the whole thing working. Yes, DemoCreator guided us through each of them, but it felt like there were way too many of these to enable - sometimes increased computer security can be a nuisance. We didn't encounter this when trying DemoCreator out on a PC.

Your webcam’s image can be set as a standard rectangle, or a circle, and you even have the option of using AI to automatically remove the background, although you need a high-end computer to handle this in real time (there’s a filter in the editing section should yours not be up to the task).

Once all your options are set as you like them, click on the big red ‘Rec’ button for DemoCreator to do its thing. You’ll find control options top right of the screen, but bear in mind whatever you see on the screen will be recorded, so if you don’t want them there, close them down (DemoCreator always reminds you of the keyboard shortcut to stop the recording when starting a new one).

  • Recording: 4.5/5

Wondershare DemoCreator: Editing

Wondershare DemoCreator during our tests

The editing interface is well-organized and easy to use (Image credit: Wondershare )
  • A good series of tools on offer, giving you access to a pretty robust editing studio - although it has some limits

When it comes to editing your footage, you’ll find DemoCreator is a very capable editor. It’s certainly much better than most bundled apps, and even some of the best free video editing software we’ve tried - but it can’t hold a candle to the best video software like Premiere Pro and Resolve (not that you’d expect it to). Still, what it offers is quite extensive, and could easily solely be used for moderate video editing if you’re so inclined, as you’re not limited to media captured by DemoCreator: you can easily drag and drop additional footage, audio or images, right from your Desktop, onto the app’s Media Library.

The interface is very clear and simple. You have your media and other tools such as filters, transitions and annotations, top left, your preview screen is top right, followed by an inspector panel, and your timeline takes up the whole of the bottom of the interface.

Wondershare DemoCreator during our tests

Scroll through the various effects, transitions, subtitles, etc, and add them by dragging and dropping (Image credit: Wondershare )

You get to work on multiple layers, and in fact DemoCreators records your screen, webcam and audio as separate layers, giving you great flexibility when editing your project (or at least that’s the idea - more on that later).

You’ll find the number of tools to be quite extensive, from effects, transitions, captions, sound effects, the list is extensive, and each section is subdivided into various categories to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. There’s even an online store where you can download additional resources. Some are free, but most would have to be paid for. The same applies for some bundled tools: any of them with a diamond in their thumbnail cannot be used for free. Sure, you can use them as you explore the app, but when you’re ready to export, you’ll have to choose a paid plan if you wish to have these effects in your project.

In fact, you cannot export your footage without login into a Wondershare account. Thankfully it’s free to have one, and if you’re not using any premium effects, you can export your project immediately, although it will bear a watermark.

  • Editing: 4/5

Wondershare DemoCreator: Issues

Wondershare DemoCreator during our tests

Sadly we ran into a few glitches on Mac  (Image credit: Wondershare )
  • There are a lot of glitches that need to be fixed (including some usability improvements), to make this software truly great

For all that’s good about DemoCreator (and there is plenty that’s good), it is not sadly without its faults. In the course of our exploration, we encountered a number of glitches which could potentially be a deal breaker, depending on how you work.

Probably the most minor one is the audio volume. There’s a (premium) Denoise option, and you can increase the volume slightly to 120%, but there doesn’t seem to be a normalized feature, meaning if you’re used to speaking sotto voce, you might have to change the way you express yourself.

More of an usability issue, but when adding a new clip, it has to be dropped above the others. If there’s no room in the lower layers, you then have to manually drag up all the clips you wish to be above that new one. We wish you could drag a clip to where you want it to be, and all the others move to allow you to put it exactly where you need it, like you can in Final Cut Pro, for instance. It would be a heck of a timesaver.

Then there are Mac-specific issues, which feel pretty serious. As we mentioned before, you can add different clips taken elsewhere into your project - which is great. But we discovered that if you add a video shot vertically, even though you can zoom into it to fill the screen of a widescreen project, any transition, filter, anything you can apply to it, will retain its original dimensions, which might be great if you’re looking for an unusual effect, but for most cases it just makes the tool unworkable. Works great on a PC though.

Another Mac-specific glitch we found was with the webcam recording. We mentioned earlier how great it is for DemoCreator to save everything as separate layers. This means you can move them around, or even remove portions entirely… but on a Mac, not only is the webcam clip separate, it’s also burned into the screenshot layer, meaning that when you move it or resize it, you’ll then find another copy forever present wherever it was when you recorded your session. That happened when connected to an iPhone or with the built-in webcam, and it totally crippled that feature as far as we’re concerned.

Should I buy Wondershare DemoCreator?

Wondershare DemoCreator during our tests

No issues found when testing on Windows (Image credit: Wondershare )

Buy it if...

You’re looking for a cross-platform screen recorder, you need a robust built-in video editor, and love having the option of renting or purchasing your software.

Don't buy it if...

You need software that works the same on a PC and on a Mac, the glitches we discovered feel like a deal-breaker for Mac users (although do download the trial version just to make sure).

Record and edit on the go with the best video editing apps.

Wondershare HiPDF PDF editor review
4:42 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Pro Software & Services | Tags: , | Comments: Off

Need to work with PDFs online, and be able to edit and convert documents to other formats? Then HiPDF from Wondershare is about as accessible as they come. 

We’ve reviewed the best PDF editors and even the best free PDF editors, but very few offer AI capabilities. So, how does Wondershare HiPDF execute its artificial intelligence feature-set, and is it any good? We put the software to the test.  

Wondershare HiPDF: Pricing & plans

  • A simple subscription plan, and an option to try out most features for free, gives you a relatively good balance of options

Although you can access HiPDF for free, arguably its most useful tool is hidden behind a paywall. The free option lets you work with files that are at most 20MB in size, and comprise up to 100 pages. AI tools are also present but to be frank what you can do with them for free essentially amounts to a taster for what’s on offer.

There are three subscription plans available: a monthly option, currently set to around $6 per month, or a yearly one which would be the equivalent of $3.33 per month. Subscribing grants you access to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tools, faster file processing, and more AI tokens. Oh and the icing on the cake is no more ads. The third plan is to vastly expand your AI token amount: just under $10 a month for 2,000,000 (the other plans grant you 50,000, while a free account only has 5,000).

Wondershare also offers a 30-day money back guarantee. You can check out HiPDF by clicking here. 

  • Pricing & plans: 4/5

Wondershare HiPDF: Tools

Wondershare HiPDF during our review process

With this service, OCR means preserving selectable text from a PDF to another format, and you can only have that if you pay (Image credit: Wondershare )
  • All the tools you'd expect, though some feel limited or show a cumbersome workflow 

Whether you elect to go for a subscription or a free trial, you’ll need to create a free Wondershare account before proceeding further.

Everything is done online. You’ll find a menu bar which lets you access all available tools, with a few of the most popular ones highlighted to that menu’s right.

If you’ve used such online PDF tools before, you’ll feel right at home with HiPDF. There are however some serious limitations, especially if you elect to work with HiPDF’s free version. For instance, all tools that allow you to convert PDFs to another format, whether it’s a Microsoft Office document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), or HTML, will turn your file into non-editable, and non-selectable text. Yes the formatting is preserved, but there’s not much you can do with it once it’s in its new format.

To sidestep that limitation, you’ll need to opt for the ‘OCR’ option, which is a premium tool, and hence only available once you pay. As with many of the best OCR software solutions we’ve tried, you might’ve expected ‘OCR’ to be connected to scanning, but here it means recognising text which is already selectable, and preserving it in the new format.

Converting other formats to PDF was a better affair, and not only did the process work fine (a little slow, but that was to be expected for a free account), it automatically downloaded once complete, giving us a perfectly preserved version with selectable text to boot. 

The various tools designed to organize your PDFs work flawlessly. With them, you can merge files, split them, and rearrange pages. It’s a shame though there isn’t an ability to do all of this in one go. We can easily imagine a scenario where you need to extract pages from a file, which will download two documents, with the pages you want in one and those you don’t in another. You’ll then need to reload the correct pages with other PDFs you wish to merge them with, which will download the merged version, and finally you need to re-upload that merged file to rearrange the pages within it. It’s a very convoluted, inefficient, and slow process. But it works.

Wondershare HiPDF during our review process

Replacing text is a cumbersome affair (Image credit: Wondershare )

Other tools include the ability to work with images, such as extracting them from a PDF, cropping and resizing them, and converting them to another format. Not really PDF related per se, but it’s good to know they’re available nonetheless, should you need them.

Finally, you’ll find some tools designed to protect your PDF by embedding a password into it, or removing said password (as long as you know what it is of course). The redact tool created a rectangular block over your chosen text. You even get to choose the colour. As for the signature tool, you do get to add your own - be it text based, drawn, or from an imported image - but you won’t be able to fill in other blank fields. For that, you need to head over to the Edit tools.

‘Edit PDF’ lets you add text fields, highlight existing text, add shapes and images, and sign a document (a better alternative than the sole signature tool mentioned above, if you ask us, as you can do so much more besides). For dedicated tools for this task, we've reviewed the best eSignature software solutions. The ‘Replace Text’ is very primitive. It works as a search and replace tool. With it you can look for a word or a text combination, and replace it with another. But you can do it only once: this will download the new PDF. Should you wish to make further alterations, you’ll have to upload that new file and change it again. Very time consuming. On the plus side though, all of these tools can be used for free.

  • Tools: 3.5/5

Wondershare HiPDF during our review process

You can use HiPDF to sign and fill in a document (Image credit: Wondershare )

Wondershare HiPDF: AI

Wondershare HiPDF during our review process

The various AI tools are interesting, like being able to translate a PDF (Image credit: Wondershare )
  • An interesting assortment of AI-based tools to help you interact with any PDF. They all work well - shame the tokens run out so fast

HiPDF offers a certain number of AI-based tools, some of which are very similar to what Google already offers for free, such as translation. But others are more interesting: who wouldn’t want to ‘Chat with PDF’ or even get AI to ‘Explain PDF’, right?

All available services work as advertised and as expected. You’ll find the original document on the left, and any interaction you have with it will appear on the right, be it a translation, a summary, or a question and answers session with the AI about the content of said document.

Only problem is, this service works with tokens and even though you start with 5,000 of them, you’ll find they get gobbled up in a flash. In our experiment, we were able to ask one question, get one translation done, or request one summary. We ran out after that each time.

  • AI: 4/5

Wondershare HiPDF during our review process

You can even ask AI a question about the content of a PDF (Image credit: Wondershare )

Should I buy Wondershare HiPDF?

Wondershare HiPDF during our review process

HiPDF has loads of tools, including an easy to use redaction feature (Image credit: Wondershare )

Buy it if...

If you’re in the market for some simple tools to edit your PDF documents, or convert files to and from PDF, and enjoy toying with AI features


Don't buy it if...

You don’t fancy conversion tools that only work properly (ie allow you to select converted text) if you subscribe, and are no fan of AI.

For more productivity tools, we tested the best free PDF readers and the best PDF readers on Android.

LG to remain major provider of telephoto camera sensors for iPhone 16 Pro series
4:04 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: | Comments: Off

LG Innotek will provide the whole initial supply of telephoto camera sensors for the iPhone 16 Pro phones. According to a report by the media outlet The Elec, the Korean component manufacturer received the full order for the first batch of folded-zoom modules, and will also provide the OIS actuator in partnership with Jahwa Electronics. Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and its 5x Tetraprism camera The first order of telephoto camera sensors for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max is "well over half of them," and some reports are claiming the amount is about 70% of all forecasted sales....

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx turntable review: a slick-sounding, slender-looking player with a sweet streaming spin
4:00 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Audio Computers Gadgets | Comments: Off

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx: Two-minute review

The Victrola Hi-Res Onyx is a welcome surprise in this touch-above-entry-level bracket, offering customary entry-level versatility coupled with the form and features of quality manual turntables twice the price. It helps, too, that it looks a bit swankier than most of its competitors.

The Hi-Res Onyx is a highly capable turntable with a built-in Bluetooth encoder, that enables you to cast your vinyl audio out to any Bluetooth device of your choosing. Its Qualcomm aptX Adaptive capabilities up the fidelity factor (hence the ‘Hi-Res’) – making for the slickest wireless audio you’ll have heard in a while. 

The Hi-Res Onyx performs admirably as a straight-up turntable too, with a decent Audio-Technica cartridge and a fine-enough phono preamp built in for ease of use; a toggleable auto-stop protects the condition of your stylus, while counterweight and anti-skate mechanisms let you dial your turntable in perfectly for the protection of your records.

There are some points of friction, from the imprecise counterweight set-up to an ineffectual dust cover, but these are trifles against the greater successes of the Hi-Res Onyx. It’s not quite for everyone, but it does a fantastic job for most – and particularly so for its price. One of the best turntables to have graced our testing process in some time then? You betcha. 

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx review: Price and release date

The Victrola hi-res onyx turntables on a wooden surface.

(Image credit: Future)
  • $399 / £399 / AUS$625
  • Launched on Sept 7, 2023

Victrola has made a point of graduating from the entry level in recent years, with a slew of turntable designs that reach beyond the bedroom bookshelf towards a fertile market of accessible hi-fi record players. This, the Hi-Res Onyx, is a further graduation from a stand-out model with limited reach: the Sonos-compatible Victrola Stream Onyx. 

These stream-y record players join a plurality of designs from manufacturers old and new, all vying for the same hot property in a still-emerging space for the turntable market. The union of analogue and digital is by no means new, but the valuable integration of Bluetooth technology into something like a turntable has proven difficult for many – until, perhaps, now.

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx review: Specs

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx review: Features

A close-up of the arm of the Victrola Hi-Res Onyx record player

(Image credit: Future)
  • Manual turntable with auto-stop and built-in phono stage
  • Bluetooth streaming
  • Counterweight and anti-skate

In a welcome break from the vast majority of other Bluetooth-enabled turntables, the Hi-Res Onyx is a calibrate-able two-speed manual turntable, with an adjustable counterweight and an anti-skate mechanism to ensure both pristine playback and the safety of your records. 

This commitment to playability follows in the Hi-Res Onyx’s choice of cartridge, again a step or two above those commonly found on cheaper players. The Onyx comes with an Audio-Technica AT-VM95E moving-magnet cartridge, a budget cartridge on Audio-Technica’s roster but one which delivers excellent sound for its price and against competition. A toggleable auto-stop function further protects your recs, and protects the stylus too.

A lot of manual turntables below £400 would stop here, but the Hi-Res Onyx is made of… more… stuff. There’s a switchable phono preamp built in, allowing you to plug the Onyx into most anything; Victrola are kind enough to supply a high-quality RCA cable with a ground lug, too. The rub of the unit, though, lies in its wireless attributes.

The Hi-Res Onyx is so named for its Bluetooth transmitter, which supports the high-fidelity Qualcomm aptX Adaptive and HD codecs as well as Bluetooth 5.4 and LE Audio. With this mode, you can stream your vinyl audio out to any Bluetooth receiver, be they headphones or speakers in rooms afield. The mode is pretty seamless, in pretty much every sense, being accessed by a single press of the Hi-Res Onyx’s single front-facing button. It’ll pair with your receiver of choice instantly, and automatically re-pair with the same next time you switch modes.

I would switch to Bluetooth for kitchen listening, then switch back to the wired connection on returning to the living-room; the switch-back is immediate and immaculate, with no pops, clicks or abrupt pauses – a genuine and welcome surprise that dramatically improves its practicality.

  • Features score: 4.5/5

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx review: Sound quality

A close-up of the Victrola Hi-Res Onyx record player.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Impressive fidelity
  • Rich, fulsome bass
  • Occasionally obvious wowing

At this price (and with the right initial set-up), the Hi-Res Onyx is hugely impressive. The relative fullness of the built-in phono pre-amp, the relative quietude of the motor, the relative smoothness of record playback… Relative to players from premium brands, there’s always going to be room for improvement, but relative to other mainstream entrants at this price or even slightly above, ‘impressive’ is the word (and ‘relative’ the second word).

Wye Oak’s Civilian + Cut All The Wires: 2009-2011 double-album is a fave go-to review album, mostly because it’s great but also because there’s a great degree of dynamic shift from song to song. No Words is a plaintive, near-fragile track with lonely electric guitars and a leaping vocal, handled with care by the Hi-Res Onyx; the guitars chime, there’s silk in Jenn Wasner’s voice, and the sparse kit cuts through without pulling focus. 

Electricity, on the other hand, is a rich and boomy hit of maximalist folk-noise – and does a better job of showing the Hi-Res Onyx’s relative(!) shortcomings. Mid frequencies get a little lost in that prominent, fulsome low end, while some treble elements are unwarrantedly boosted; a missing guitar moment here, an over-prominent hi-hat there.

A more ostentatious record, in CANT’s Dreams Come True, speaks more to the Hi-Res Onyx’s strengths. Too late, too far’s booming kicks, searing synths and mounting voices fill the field, well-separated and delightfully wide, while BANG’s stacked line-up of deep subs, shimmering leads and drowned vocals are distinct, legible yet cohesive. However, the quieter last tracks of Side A and B respectively reveal some unfortunate speed dysregulation, as the pianos and broken vocals of (brokencollar) and Bericht warp a little too far for comfort.

The Bluetooth streaming mode, which describes the ‘Hi-Res’ bit of the Hi-Res Onyx (on account of its aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec support), is innervatingly good. I am usually something of a Bluetooth curmudgeon, but a combination low-difficulty pairing and strikingly detailed sound has won me round. Wye Oak’s Holy Holy is a gratifyingly full-spectrum listen, and there’s nothing missing from the heft Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs For The Deaf – …Millionaire and First It Giveth sounding as bombastic as they always should.

  • Sound quality score: 4/5

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx review: Design

The Victrola Hi-Res Onyx record player on a wooden surface.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Smart, understated monochrome aesthetics
  • Smooth and ergonomic interactivity 
  • Cool design forfeits ease of calibration

With regard to setting-up, the Hi-Res Onyx is a relative cinch. Far from the plug-and-play practicality of cheaper units, there is some assembly required – but this is no bad thing. One such assembly step, though, reveals a small sting in the turntable-design tail.

Before we get to that, I’d like to acknowledge the fun of the Hi-Res Onyx’s aesthetic design. Aesthetically speaking, the Hi-Res Onyx is a demure thing. It’s an obelisk of sorts, wedded to matte black and almost impressively so at that. Were it not for the white hairs of the household cat, the Onyx would be a Clarke-ean monolith amidst a sea of kooky mid-century hi-fi furnishings. It’s hard not to use the word ‘sleek’ to death when it comes to designs like this – though I suppose I have now, so there. 

This commitment to ineffable quasi-minimalism leads to some neat flourishes. The tonearm cradle, for instance, is of uniform material, and holds the tonearm in place with a concealed magnet as opposed to a plastic clip. This is swanky – and kinder on the tonearm if you forget to unlatch it before you use the tonearm lift.

Another flourish brings with it a frustrating moment, though. The counterweight is a pleasing object, fastened smartly in place on the tonearm’s rear by a small, knurled grub screw. Indentations on the tonearm’s rear indicate where to affix the counterweight, but they don’t quite corroborate with the recommended tracking force for the cartridge; I had to use a digital tracking force scale to ensure it was set correctly. Pleasing as this counterweight is to handle and place, conventional screw-back counterweight designs (with the numbered calibrator wheel) aren’t as fiddly.

Not to ‘and another thing’ this section, but another, separate, gripe emerges with respect to the dust cover Victrola provides. It’s a smartly-designed, single plastic sheet, moulded to arch over the resting tonearm and conforming with the contour of the platter. However, it only protects the tonearm and platter when the turntable isn’t in use. It’d be nice to have a more conventional kind of lid, particularly for this writer – whose cats pose an eternal and existential risk to the preservation of beloved records in-play. 

The Hi-Res Onyx is smart-lookin’ and smart to use. Where it wins many points for being smooth in style and ergonomics, it unfortunately drops one for occasional impractical awkwardness.

  • Design score: 4/5

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx review: Value

A close-up of the Victrola Hi-Res Onyx record player

(Image credit: Future)
  • Practical and versatile for its price bracket
  • A quietly-featureful bargain

At a shade under $400 / £400, the Victrola Hi-Res Onyx pitches itself a tad above the entry level, putting itself in ‘somewhat serious investment’ territory for the average household. That money, though, is buying you a discrete and practical unit that outplays most in its range.

It’s rare to find such a fully-featured turntable with this kind of tweakability at this price point. The result is something that can work to most hi-fi briefs – a quietly versatile machine that excels in its class. 

Really, this turntable is a bit of a bargain – and straight-up convenient, at least for those who haven’t already poured money into a comprehensive hi-fi system. If you own a phono preamp, you probably don’t need any of this turntable’s flashier attributes, at which point you should be looking elsewhere in the market anyway. For most, then, this is a valuable advancement on the tried-and-tested entry-level formula.

  • Value score: 4.5/5

Should you buy the Victrola Hi-Res Onyx?

Buy it if...

You’re a techy minimalist
The Hi-Res Onyx is an unimposingly smart machine, in looks and in-side. Though low-profile, it makes just enough of a statement to be an asset to your living space.

You’re a household headphone-wearer
The Hi-Res Onyx’s high-quality Bluetooth connectivity is a real gift, even if only for making it possible to blast your faves while doing the dishes.

Don't buy it if...

You already have an extensive hi-fi setup
Those with an existing hi-fi setup might not necessarily benefit from the Bluetooth-streaming function – and might not need the built-in preamp either.

You want a long-term hi-fi mainstay
Brilliant as the Hi-Res Onyx is in its space and for its price, there are equivalently priced, no-nonsense manual turntables elsewhere that may better suit the long term – whether from minor improvements in design or from general upgradeability.

Victrola Hi-Res Onyx: Also consider

Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2
Cambridge Audio was first to market with an aptX HD-compliant Bluetooth turntable, and it’s a doozy. The Alva TT V2 is pricey, but the price buys you a stable direct-drive record player that looks, sounds and feels a million.
See our full Cambridge Audio Alva TT V2 review

Audio-Technica AT-LP120XBT-USB
Audio-Technica’s AT-LP120XBT-USB is a polymath turntable, with aptX Bluetooth transmission, a USB output for digitising records and a plethora of DJ-adjacent tools.
See our full Audio-Technica AT-LP120XBT-USB review

How I tested the Victrola Hi-Res Onyx

The Victrola hi-res onyx turntables on a wooden surface.

(Image credit: Future)
  • Tested for 3 weeks
  • Used as primary turntable in living-room hi-fi system
  • Predominantly tested through Cambridge AV amplifier and Celestion speakers, as well as a Soundcore Bluetooth speaker

The Victrola Hi-Res Onyx became my primary living-room turntable for a month. The RCA outputs fed my dependable Cambridge Audio Azur 540R amplifier and Celestion F1 bookshelf speakers; for Bluetooth, I connected to my Soundcore Motion 300 speaker. I used personal favourite records with which I am intimately familiar, and with which I was able to get a feel for the Hi-Res Onyx’s character both wired and wirelessly.

First reviewed: August 2024

Red Magic Gaming Pad coming in two sizes
3:07 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

The Red Magic 9S Pro smartphone is selling internationally with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Version chipset. Now, the gaming brand is preparing a tablet with the same chip, and it will be called Red Magic Gaming Pad. The launch is scheduled for September 5 at 3 PM Beijing time, and by the looks of it, we might see the tablet arrive in two variants with different display sizes. The teasers confirming the date did not say anything about the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip – the information came from a separate video teaser posted online. Two people spoke briefly about the Red Magic Gaming...

Star Wars Outlaws review: the open-world Star Wars adventure you’ve been looking for
3:00 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Gaming | Tags: | Comments: Off
Review info

Platform reviewed: PS5
Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
Release date: August 30, 2024 (August 27 for Gold and Ultimate Edition owners) 

Star Wars Outlaws promises the excitement of being a scoundrel and rogue in the famous sci-fi universe - and it delivers brilliantly on this, with everything being housed in an authentic Star Wars setting, aesthetic, and experience. 

Everything in this action-adventure game from serial third-person open-world makers Ubisoft (its Massive Entertainment studio, specifically) combines to make for a fulsome, moreish, and compelling experience. Be it undermining the crime syndicates, stealthing through strongholds with your companion Nix to steal specific treasures, roaming the lands for experts to learn skills from, or soaking up the beautiful worlds and vistas on offer, there’s rogueish enjoyment around every corner. There are Ubisoft fingerprints all over Outlaws too with new variants on The Division’s pulse mechanic, eavesdropping from Assassin’s Creed, and the hacking from Watch Dogs; while it’s familiar when such things all come together, the payoff is a thrill.

It’s not totally blemish-free, however, and some characteristically Ubisoft open-world-isms, including quest repetition and labored and pedestrian traversal sections which are grating and make the experience stutter.

Far, far away

A screenshot of a crashed ship in Star Wars Outlaws

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)

Outlaws’ open-world experience not only offers an open-world experience for discovery, exploration, and enjoying beautiful places that channels the pedigree Ubisoft has for making beautiful and expansive worlds. Outlaws serves up some incredible vistas and stunning environments - that aren’t covered in a carpet of question marks - to explore. but a desire and deliver them authentically too.

Complementing that is a dedication to Star Wars authenticity in everything from aesthetics and styles, to audio and overall ambience. It really is a true Star Wars experience and feels like it constantly, earning its place in the universe’s canon (Outlaws officially takes place between the The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi films). The beeps of droids and machines, the alien-language chatter in cantinas, the construction of buildings, ships, and apparel all feel ripped right from the screen. 

This is on top of beautifully realized landscapes such as the expansive emptiness of Tatooine or the lush verdancy of Akiva, and wonderfully immersive and detailed cities like the wintry urban setting of Kijimi City (my personal favorite place in the game so far).

Getting between these planets is easy and smooth in Kay’s spaceship, The Trailblazer, with the transitions between space travel, landing, and exiting the ship being exceptionally cool and swift. On-planet travel on a speeder is a little less exciting, particularly after a while, however. It was fun for a while, getting to know how this shopping cart-come-wheel-less-motorcycle accelerates, handles, and turns, but it didn’t take me that long to start comfortably relying on fast travel locations or bombing in straight lines on my speeder between locations.

You like me because I'm a scoundrel

A screenshot of Kay and Nix sneaking in a stronghold in Star Wars Outlaws

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)

Navigating these worlds and places as protagonist Kay Vess with her animal companion Nix, however, is what truly brings the game to life. 

Kay is a likable protagonist and is a tremendous ‘normal’ person to explore the galaxies through, free from The Force and all that lightsaber nonsense. The Han Solo inspiration is clear, though she’s a rogue and scoundrel who stands on her own two feet with clear strengths and distinction between her and Harrison Ford’s iconic character.

One of the clearest demonstrations of this is in her relationship with Nix, her animal companion. Nix feels like much more than ‘just’ a sidekick or travel buddy; there’s clearly an incredibly strong bond here, with the pair doing everything together. They even eat street food together in wholesome quicktime events which is a great microcosm of their relationship - the food even ends up giving Nix bonuses or extra little skills to deploy, too. As a result, I quickly became very invested in their relationship, which helped one particular rescue mission particularly resonate with me.

Best bit

Kay Vess looking at a screen in a dark room in Star Wars Outlaws

(Image credit: Massive Entertainment)

Living out a Star Wars scoundrel fantasy as a normal person in the sci-fi universe is one of Outlaw's greatest strengths. I’ve consistently had the most fun when I’m scratching around cities for credits, chasing weird parts for my gear, stealing items to play off syndicates against each other, and tracking down experts to teach me skills.

In practical application, however, Nix accentuates and complements Kay’s scoundrel and thief-like action in-game. Nix can help in combat by taking enemies out temporarily, and is a great boon in stealth, recovering items, powering off devices, and distracting guards while you stay undetected.

This scoundrel roleplay you can engage Kay in is perhaps the greatest strength of the game, too. On a micro-scale and macro scale: from the moment to moment, sneaking, lockpicking, and hacking through bases to lift high-value items, planning searches for parts and upgrades for your, blaster, speeder, or ship, and going on a multitude of missions and side quests to change your standings with the crime syndicates, it’s a brilliant rogue’s life. 

In fact, planning and engaging in all the scoundrelly side content in the game is where most of the game’s best depth and interest lies: there’s so much to do and think about and you can get so much out of contracts, intel chasing to fill out your journal with tasks and quests, loitering in places to pick up on overheard conversations, and general exploration, while the mini-game of Sabacc (a card game) is a seriously moreish addition. Where’s the standalone version, Ubisoft? 

Never tell me the odds

A screenshot of Kay and Nix walking in the snow in Kijimi City in Star Wars Outlaws

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)

The missions and quests in Star Wars Outlaws have some of the best places and environments in the game. They’re very deliberate settings that make for great self-contained adventures, such as the rusting remains of huge ships. 

These come further alive when applying Key’s stealthy and sneaky approach, taking advantage of the multiple routes that are almost always open to you. Stealthing through missions to quietly turn off alarms, set off distractions, silently take down guards, and sabotage equipment is a thrill. It reinforces the fact that Kay is a normal person, a thief, and a rogue, and so has to reply being sneaky. Perfecting infiltrations as such a comparatively underpowered character is incredibly satisfying.

However, such missions also house some of my biggest frustrations with the game. There is some annoying checkpointing in some which can lead to big chunks of progress lost if you make the smallest mistake. Some of the side quests too can fall into the trap of being repetitive, following that very well-trodden and familiar pattern of: ‘go to the place, infiltrate the place, find the thing in the place, shoot some baddies in the place, leave the place.’ Almost all missions will involve similar infiltration tactics too, such as finding vents to bypass areas, scaling cliff edges and building ledges, and climbing ladders. There are a lot of ladders.

It certainly doesn’t help that traversal feels very plain. While Kay’s grappling hook is a great tool to have, it can only be used in a few spots and with quite sluggish animations. Worse still, the Uncharted-esque scaling of walls and grates feels boring, overly simplistic, and is just highly forgettable. 

A rogue's toolkit

A screenshot of Kay and Nix using the grappling hook in a stronghold in Star Wars Outlaws

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)

That said, completing said missions with the rest of Kay’s abilities and toolset is a highlight. While she can ‘slice’ (hack) her way into security systems and computers by cracking (simple) codes by matching symbols, her data spike is the best of the bunch and demands some skills to use. It has you match inputs rhythmically to a click sound and light flash on the lock to break it open by matching the pattern. 

In a clever twist on leveling up and acquiring skills and abilities, Kay has to find the right expert to teach her said abilities. It makes sense and matches the scoundrel lifestyle she leads - she only gets better at things when she learns them. As a result, skills feel truly earned. This also neatly ties in progression to world-building - and vice versa - successfully making you and your actions feel part of an active world, not someone passing through it to pick up points transiently.

I didn’t collect all the experts on my playthrough and definitely missed out on some helpful tools and abilities as a result, so it really is worth gathering them up when you have the chance.

Another brilliant skill is Kay’s slick adrenaline ability that enables her to tag and dead-eye blast enemies. It’s not something I haven’t seen before, but still feels worthy of Han Solo himself and is even more satisfying when hightailing it across a landscape while being chased by stormtroopers. 

Speaking of blasters, Kay has three types of ammunition by default: basic plasms, an Ion one for disrupting shields and some enemies, and a charged powerful shot. Her blaster can also be upgraded as you go, offering different variations of delivering blasts, boosts to recharges, and more. 

Hand-to-hand combat is okay on the whole, with each punch delivering a decent level of impact. There are some cool moves or finishers that can happen depending on where you are, though the stealth takedowns are a bit disappointing. They feel sluggish and the time they take Kay to perform can be annoying when you’re trying to  quickly move between targets or areas undetected.

Playing the game

Kay Vess meets a Hutt

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Another major factor to consider is the crime syndicate and reputation system - it’s a seriously meaningful mechanic that tangbily impacts how you play the game. 

There are four crime syndicates, with at least two inhabiting each world vying for power and influence. Kay has to make the best of fluctuating relationships with all of them and her reputation quickly changes along a scale with every completed mission. The four different stages of approval noticeably change how the factions interact with you, from goons that shoot you on-site all the way to getting preferential treatment and exclusive access.

While you can earn favor from all the syndicates separately, it’s incredibly difficult, bordering impossible, to achieve this at the same time - instead you’ll have to constantly balance being in favor with some with being out of favor with others. This adds jeopardy and meaning to your choices, forcing you to think carefully about decisions, such as dialogue choices that can sway the outcome of a mission in an instnat, and what quests you want or need to do.

It's a familiar combination, sir, but it checks out

Much like other Ubisoft open-world games, when each element of Star Wars Outlaws comes together it makes for some compelling magic that’s brilliant fun. 

Part of me feels frustrated by the flaws in the game and the truly amazing adventure that it could have been, but then another part of me can’t wait to get back to being an inter-planetary scoundrel, navigating the seedy underbelly of the Outer Rim. It has its faults but Star Wars Outlaws is easily one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played this year and must for any Star Wars fans. 

Accessibility

Star Wars Outlaws has numerous accessibility options, and its dedicated menu splits them up into five areas: gameplay, cognitive, colors, vision, and hearing. We’ve attached images of all of them below to give you an insight into what’s on offer.

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Star Wars Outlaws accessibility screenshot

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)
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Star Wars Outlaws accessibility screenshot

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)
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Star Wars Outlaws accessibility screenshot

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)
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Star Wars Outlaws accessibility screenshot

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)
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Star Wars Outlaws accessibility screenshot

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)
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Star Wars Outlaws accessibility screenshot

(Image credit: Ubisoft/LucasFilm Games)

As well as the dedicated difficulty options in the accessibility menu, there are also a host of other options that can be played around with to get the right balance for you, from visual changes to mini-game mechanics.

Should I play Star Wars Outlaws?

Play it if...

You’ve been yearning for an open-world Star Wars game and experience
Star Wars Outlaws is a tremendously fun open-world game to explore. It simply magical to mess around in the rich settings it has and the wider Star Wars universe and is perfect for fans to immerse themselves in.

You want to be an interplanetary rapscallion
Working in the underworld of the Star Wars universe is a joy and makes for some really fun experiences, missions, and political machinations. If working like a rogue is of interest to you, then this is going to be a winner.

You revel in Ubisoft-style open-world games
If you enjoy playing other open-world adventures from the developer where there’s plenty to do and get your teeth into, then Outlaws will be perfect thanks to its abundance of compelling side content.

Don't play it if...

You want a bombastic lightsaber-wielding Force-driven adventure
One of Star Wars Outlaws’ greatest strengths is playing as a regular person with no special Jedi-like abilities. If you’re all about lightsabers and slicing down imperial guards, then you should try the Star Wars Jedi series instead. 

How I reviewed Star Wars Outlaws

I have played roughly 25 hours of Star Wars Outlaws and managed to complete the main storyline as well as a host of other quests, missions, and exploration. However, I still have plenty to do, including recruiting a couple of experts, so I’m excited to jump back in.

Playing the PS5 version, I tested both graphical (performance and quality) and resolution (full screen, 16:9 and 21:9) settings. I found the performance mode better for play and quality making the worlds look even more beautiful. When it comes to resolution I found the fullscreen option was superior as the cinematic one removed a whole lot of screen and game instantly.

I tested the game with a regular DualSense Wireless Controller, and played the game on my Samsung Q6F 4K QLED TV and Samsung HW-J6500 curved soundbar I also played some when plugged into the PS5 Pulse Elite headset and SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless headset. I also played a fair chunk on my PlayStation Portal combined with my Pulse Explore earbuds and found the game was a great match for the PS5 remote play device.

Apple’s iPhone 16 announcement and release dates revealed
2:11 pm |
Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Comments: Off

The famous Apple analyst Mark Gurman released a report earlier this month, predicting that the upcoming iPhone 16 series will debut on September 10 - the same week as last year's iPhone 15 series. Now, a new report from Gurman cites internal Apple sources and even gives a possible release date. According to Gurman's sources, the September 10 announcement event is already set, while shipments will likely begin on September 20. Pre-orders will commence shortly after the event, as per usual. The venue will be held at the usual place - Apple Park in Cupertino and the company will start...

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