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Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer review: cheap, cheerful and compact

3:00 pm | June 6, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: UK, US | Comments: Off

One-minute review

The Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer, also known as the Cosori Lite Air Fryer 3.8L in the UK, is one of the smaller, more affordable air fryers by the brand which can be controlled by a control panel or with an app. It's certainly smart, and it was a wise choice to make it dishwasher-safe too.

Cosori sells via Amazon, and currently offers a range of smart air fryers ranging from this compact 4-quart/3.8-litre model to large, dual-basket models. The USP here is the Vesync app, which you can use to program your air fryer (but not start it, apparently due to EU legislation) and which includes a selection of recipes with pre-defined cooking temperatures and times.

It’s good-looking for a counter-top appliance and feels well engineered: the basket slides into place with a solid thunk, the fan is very quiet even at full tilt and very little steam escapes when you’re frying.

There are five pre-sets (chicken, fries, bacon, steak and veggies) as well as manual controls for temperature and time; the preheat and keep warm features are handy and the app contains a reasonable if fairly small selection of recipes to get you started.

This is designed for smaller kitchens and smaller households: Cosori says it’ll do one to three portions, but three may be a bit optimistic. The cooking basket is quite small at 20cm wide by 20cm deep, which means there isn’t a lot of capacity for food that needs to be spread across a single layer such as frozen chips. It also means you’re limited to making one thing at a time, so for example if you’re doing chicken breasts there’s only really room for two breasts and nothing else.

Provided you don’t overcrowd the basket the Cosori Air Fryer Lite it is one of the best air fryer options for small kitchens, and the fact that the basket and tray are dishwasher safe adds to the appeal.

Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer review: Price and availability

List price: $99.99/£99.99
Available in the US and UK
Exclusive to Amazon

The Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer has a list price of $99.99/£99.99 and is available to buy from Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Officially it’s an Amazon exclusive but we found several other retailers offering the air fryer, some for slightly less money.

Value: 4/5

Cosori Air Fryer Lite 3.8L: specifications

Price: $99.99/£99.99
Capacity: 4.0-quart / 3.8-litre
Power/wattage: 1500W
No of baskets: 1
No of programmes: 5 pre-sets plus app recipes
Cable length: 1m
Dimensions: 12.8 x 10.8 x 10.8in / 32.5 x 27.5 x 27.5cm (h x w x d)
Weight: 9.75lbs/4.4kg

Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer review: Design

Single-drawer model
Touch controls and digital display
Dishwasher safe basket and crisper tray

The Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer is a good-looking thing. It’s a basket-based design with a large glossy panel on top, touch controls and a choice of light or dark finishes. It feels solidly put together and with a weight of 9.75lbs/4.4kg it’s not going to put your back out if you’re taking it from a cupboard to a countertop. Colour choices are Truffle Grey (the version we reviewed) and Light Peach; the Gray option is prone to finger marks but easy enough to wipe clean.

It measures 12.8 x 10.8 x 10.8in / 32.5 x 27.5 x 27.5cm (h x w x d) so it doesn't take up too much space on the counter-top, but it can equally be easily stowed away to keep the kitchen sides clear.

The basket has a non-stick inner and a removable tray so that oil falls down into the bottom of the basket. Both the basket and the tray are dishwasher safe.

The touch controls on top are simple enough: temperature, time, five pre-sets –chicken, fries, bacon, steak and veggies – a power button, a start/pause button and buttons for preheating, for setting a shake reminder and for using the keep warm function.

Cosori Air Fryer Lite digital display — The touch controls are clear and simple, with five presets as well as manual controls. (Image credit: Future)

It also features an NTC sensor with heating elements positioned over the top of the basket and underneath it, that make real-time temperature adjustments. This (supposedly) means that your food will never be overcooked or undercooked.

Design: 4/5

Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer review: Performance

Quick preheating and whisper-quiet cooking
Keep warm function is really useful
Home-made chips aren't great

It takes about three minutes to preheat the Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart smart air fryer to 392ºF/200ºC and can run at up to 446ºF/230ºC. The cooking area has a capacity of 4.0quart-/3.8-litre but the basket is relatively small, with a cooking area of just 20cm x 20cm: that limits your cooking for foods such as fries, which really need to be laid out in a single layer to cook consistently.

We did our usual food frying tests, and found our cupcakes (an online favourite recipe, 320ºF/160ºC for 11 minutes) to be pretty much perfect: they were gently crispy on the outside, wonderfully fluffy inside and wolfed down by the kids in a matter of minutes.

Air Fryer cupcakes — Our kids' cupcakes won't win any awards for symmetry, but they were perfectly cooked. (Image credit: Future)

We followed the French fries recipe, which automatically increases the temperature for the final five minutes, and found it a bit optimistic with the timings; we had to run it for a bit longer and shake the basket more frequently than the recommended single shake to get everything fully cooked. Some of the fries were overly brown but everything tasted great and the recommended oil/cornflour coating made the outsides nice and crisp.

French fries in cosori air fryer — Getting our home-made fries cooked through meant a lot were overly brown, but they were super tasty. (Image credit: Future)

A larger cook of hand-cut wedges was disastrous: even after going 10 minutes over time we ended up with wedges that were half-burnt and half-raw. That’s clearly an airflow problem: there were simply too many wedges for the air to circulate effectively. If you're making your own chips or wedges we'd recommend parboiling them first.

Hand-cut wedges were disastrous — Hand-cut wedges were still half-raw even after an extra 10 minutes at 200 degrees. (Image credit: Future)

Air fried oven chips — We got the best results from frozen oven chips, which were perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. (Image credit: Future)

We abandoned the pre-sets in favour of our preferred “20ºC cooler, 20% less time” formula for frozen steak-cut chips and shook mid-cook multiple times. That was a great success, producing heavenly chips with the perfect balance of crunch and fluffiness.

Cosori air fryer takeaway — A little spray of oil and five minutes in the Corsori brought last night's takeaway leftovers back to life. (Image credit: Future)

This is a really good option for solo or partnered people, but the Instant Vortex Slim 6-quart air fryer, another recent visitor to our kitchen, has similar dimensions but much more capacity – 6-quart/5.7-litre compared to 4-quart/3.8-litre – thanks to a longer basket that effectively doubles your cooking area. That’s definitely worth considering, especially at the moment.

The Cosori Air Fryer Lite is very quiet in operation: we measured it at a maximum 58dB, and it’s not unpleasant to be in the same kitchen as it cooks.

Performance: 3/5

Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer review: App

Gives you more control
Available on iOS and Android
Could do with some fine tuning

The Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer can either be controlled via the control panel or the VeSync app.

This app gives you more control, enabling you to access recipes, create shopping lists and control the cooker from your phone.

The attractive app is easy to use and has a reasonable selection of recipes, but the manual options are limited. (Image credit: Future)

However, it is limited in what it can do: while the Chicken and Fries modes have a Pro mode that ups the temperature towards the end to give crispier results, that isn’t available in Manual mode. And there are two key things you can’t do from the app: start the cook – you need to do that by pressing the start button on the fryer – and get a shake notification via the app. That’s an audible signal from the cooker itself. The lack of a phone notification seems odd.

The app is American and while temperatures are in degrees Celsius the recipes haven’t been fully localised to accommodate for its UK customers: you’ll be asked to use 1 gram of a spice rather than a quarter teaspoon, to cook your French fries in grapeseed oil and to cut your potatoes into 13mm rather than half-inch chips.

Cosori advertises this air fryer as compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. However, in the UK the Alexa skill doesn't work: try as I might, I couldn't get Alexa to discover the device. Looking through Amazon reviews this is clearly a device problem rather than a me problem.

Google Home integration was much more successful, enabling me to control the device with commands such as "Start chicken in the smart air fryer". And unlike the app, I was able to start the fryer cooking without having to physically press the air fryer's start button. The integration is limited – you can't change the temperature mid-cook without having to stop the programme and choose another – but it covers the essentials, enabling you to start and stop programmes, check the internal temperature and discover how much time is left in the current cooking programme.

App: 3 /5

Should I buy the Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If you fancy a budget air fryer but the Cosori isn't right for you, check out these excellent alternatives:

How I tested the Cosori Lite 4.0-Quart Smart Air Fryer

I used the Cosori as my family air fryer for two weeks
I used the fries preset and some app recipes but preferred manual settings
I cooked fries, cupcakes, chicken and also reheated some takeaways

I've owned multiple air fryers over many years now and reviewed many more, and the more I air fry, the more demanding I become; my current daily driver is the Instant Pot Duo Crisp Ultimate. This Cosori air fryer arrived just as I was saying goodbye to the Instant Vortex Slim Air Fryer, which I had been testing for a few weeks for a radio programme.

As with the Instant, I packed away my usual air fryer and used it as if it were my own for two weeks. I co-parent so my cooking is half-solo, half-family, and as a result I used the air fryer for my own small meals as well as to cook for the kids. I stuck with the app rather than the voice control: the Alexa skill is US-only and Cosori doesn't work with Apple's Siri, the smart home assistant I use.

Cooking for the kids quickly exposed the biggest drawback of the Cosori Lite: its cooking basket is very small, and I felt that it wasn't big enough for three people even if two of those people are children. It doesn't take much to overcrowd the basket and prevent air from circulating effectively, and I encountered that with hand-cut and frozen fries and with reheating a takeaway, all of which required longer cooking times and a lot more shaking than the app recommended.

I did try the presets for chicken, fries and so on but found they underestimated the cooking time for both fresh and frozen food; I got the best results for foods such as frozen french fries and chunky chips with my usual 20% cooler, 20% less time formula.

One-minute review

If you were ever confused as to why you should buy something like the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA, you’re not alone. Air purifiers seem to be that kind of basic appliance that you go to the nearest big box store and buy whatever you find on the shelves. And, they’ll usually peak at a couple hundred dollars or quid at most. But, just like everything else, you get what you pay for.

Though the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA’s $399.99 / £349.99 price tag is nothing to sneeze at, going for 4 to 5 times many of the air purifiers you’ll on, say, Amazon, you might want to consider this model over those cheaper options for a few reasons. There’s a few reasons that we’ve included it on our list of best air purifiers.

To start, there are some additional features that could replace other devices such as space heaters and stand-alone fans that make that price a little more justifiable. And, no matter its function, it not only does it well but does it silently.

It’s not a perfect air purifier. There’s no app like you might find with smart air purifiers, for instance. And, if you have central air and don't need any of the other features, you can obviously find plenty of options for much cheaper.

That said, I found the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA to be a pleasure to use. Maybe there’s no app. But, the control panel doubles as a removable remote control. No matter how hard I push it, it’s much quieter than the single-purpose space heater sitting next to it. It purifies, heats, and fans to your whims.

Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA review: price and availability

List price: $399.99
Available in the US
Not available in the UK or Australia

At $399.99, the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA is certainly an investment. But, if you consider that you could spend $300 getting a good air purifier, a good stand-alone heater and a very good fan, the price tag of this 3-in-1 unit makes a bit more sense. So, while it’s not cheap, it provides a lot more value than you might assume at face value.

Consider that the aforementioned Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde HP09 goes for $769.99 / £699.99 / AU$1,149.00, you can definitely spend a lot more keeping the air in your home clean. Of course, that Dyson does come with some smart features and extra filtration that you won’t find on this Shark Air Purifier. But, considering how good a job this air purifier does, it’s a matter of preference, in my opinion, of whether you want to spend a little more for all the features and the absolute best air filtration or half the price and still get excellent performance and features.

Also consider this. The Dyson Purifier Cool Autoreact, which has just two of the Shark’s three functions is much more expensive, coming in at $549.99 / £499.99. Of course, it does look a little cooler with its Sci-Fi Q-tip look, not to mention its 350 degree oscillation is much wider than what the Shark offers.

You can find the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 available to buy on resellers such as Amazon or when you shop direct with the brand on the Shark website.

Value: 4 / 5

Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA review: Specs

Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA review: Design

Somewhat nondescript cylindrical design
Color-coded LED to show air quality in real time
Control panel can be used as a remote

Compared to units like the Dyson Purifier Cool Autoreact, the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA is not going to turn any heads. That’s not to say that it looks bad. It doesn’t. It has a simple, cylindrical design in a dark gray and silver colorway that will disappear into the background the way any nondescript appliance would.

In essence, the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA puts function over form. The bottom half of the unit is filled with tiny holes while the top contains air vents on the front and back for pushing out cool or hot air. The only real color comes by way of the LED screen in the center of the air purifier. It shows readings of the Air Purity level, temperature if you’re using heat, fan level, and a few other indicators. All of this is surrounded by a changing LED ring that will turn to red when the air quality is bad, orange when it’s just ok, and blue when the air is clean.

As far as controls go, for some reason, there’s a dial on the side to switch to engage the heating functionality. Considering that the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA purifies no matter which setting you’re on and the fact that you can still use the fan when the heater functionality is engaged, it’s a strange and seemingly redundant feature.

More interestingly, all the vital controls are in a circular control panel on top. Why is this so interesting? It’s held in place by magnets so that you can pull it out and use it as a remote. You can control the heat and fan functionality with the remote as well as set it to Auto or dim the LED display if you’re going to sleep.

Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention the HEPA filter. Getting to it is pretty easy as you just remove the lower back for access. As it’s meant for a 500 square foot space, it should last about six to twelve months before needing to be replaced.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA review: Performance

Does a good job purifying
Heating and fan functionality are quick and quiet
Remote could be better

The Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA’s core functionality is the ability to purify and it does its job well. When running in a small to medium room, up to 500 square feet, the air is noticeably fresher as this purifier removes all sorts of impurities from the air. In particular, it looks for three sizes of particles to remove: PM1, PM2.5, and PM10.

I was able to experience its purifying in real world testing in a few ways beyond just having it run while I go about my day. The first example is a little gross so skip the next paragraph if you’re squeamish.

The litter box in my living room was in dire need of being entirely replaced and you could smell it whenever in the vicinity. I set up the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA right next to it where it registered the air quality at around 71% clean. It managed to over a few hours get the air quality up to 88% without the litter box being changed out, meaning the source of the lower air quality was constant. Yet, not only was the air purifier able to offset it but the odor from the litter box was completely mitigated as long as you didn’t get within a foot of it.

For a more palatable example, I burned some strong Japanese Sandalwood incense right next to the air purifier. I placed it on the ground about a foot away and within 10 minutes, the Shark purifier’s LED changed to a bright red with a reading of 27% for the air quality. While the odor of the incense did linger for a while, it is very strong. The air quality hit 40% after an hour and got up to 80% after three hours.

When it comes to the heating and fan functionality, I consider them good enough to replace other stand-alone units. Not only was I able to keep my bedroom heated at a consistent temperature but it starts blowing out hot air fairly quickly.

The fan is equally powerful as it has six different settings and will start blasting cool air immediately, though it’s important to remember that this is not going to replace a swamp cooler or air conditioner. Also be aware that you’re not getting the 350 degree oscillation of some other models. While Shark doesn’t specify, it looks to about 180 degrees.

Regardless of how I used the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA, it operated surprisingly quietly, especially in comparison to the noisy space heater sitting next to it. For instance, with the fan setting on, I registered just 49dB, about the level of a quiet conversation.

Lastly, we should discuss actually interfacing with the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA. Being able to remove the control panel from its cradle atop the air purifier to use as a remote is pretty terrific. However, it’s not the most responsive remote. I have to make sure I’m pointing it at the LED screen and sometimes I have to press buttons harder or more than once for that press to register.

Performance: 4.5 / 5

Should I buy the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

If you would prefer to circulate air rather than purifier it, then one of the best fans would be an alternative to consider...

How I tested the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA

Tested for a few weeks
Exposed it to strong odors to see what it would do
Went through all the various modes and functions

To test the Shark Air Purifier 3-in-1 with True HEPA, I not only used it for a couple weeks to see how it would fare in my bedroom as well as the living room. But, I also intentionally put it in close vicinity of some strong odors to see how it would function. Additionally, I regularly used the heating and fan function. All dials and buttons were pressed to see what they would do as well.

Saucony Guide 16: One minute review

As a runner, stability in a trainer is very important, especially if you tend to overpronate, or roll your foot too far inward when it lands. This is what the Saucony Guides have always been known for, helping to "steer your stride" with a guidance frame. If it works, it's certainly going to be one of the best running shoes for overpronators.

I’ve never tried any of its previous versions, but the Guide 16 trainers provide stability for not just those who overpronate, such as me, but any runner who wants to feel secure as they complete their miles.

It's also very rare that running trainers are comfortable from the get-go, usually needing a few miles to "break in" so to speak, but I can authoritatively say that the Saucony Guide 16 are just that. As soon as I laced up the trainers they felt like slippers, molding into my feet as soon as I took my first steps.

This design benefits from upgraded PWRRUN+ technology, a gilley design around the laces that helps then wrap into the shoe further around the upper, and lightweight support on the heel and ankle. Performance is exceptional as its PWRRUN+ insoles and midsoles cradled my feet and helped with comfort and stabilization as I ran.

The trainers aren't waterproof or as bouncy as some of the other trainers on the market, so aren't going to be suited for trail fans or speed junkies, but their comfort is second to none, and they are now a firm favorite for short runs.

Saucony Guide 16: Specifications

Saucony Ride 16 — (Image credit: Future)

Saucony Guide 16: Price and availability

$160 in the US
£130 in the UK
AU$219.99 in Australia

Launched in February this year, the Saucony Guide 16 are priced at $160 / £130 / AU$219.99. The shoes are available direct from the Saucony website and from other third-party sites such as Wiggle, Decathlon and Amazon.

This is about the right sort of price point, at the same mark or slightly cheaper than other running shoes designed for stability and to course-correct your stride, such as the ASICS Gel-Kayano 29. We're satisfied this price is about what you'd expect, and not out of line with the rest of its competitors.

Value score: 4/5

Saucony Guide 16: Design

PWRRUN+ insole contours the foot
The unique gilley system gives a secure fit
Upper mesh is breathable but could be more waterproof

Well-designed with high-tech foam to help with stability it’s a good-looking shoe, as well as designed with comfort in mind. Available in a variety of different colors from the "soot/sprig" red-and-green number to our more somber black testing pair, the sneakers' performance upper mesh gives them some edge, design-wise, and has a thicker material than its predecessor.

However, the mesh still allows for enough breathability when running. There's next to no waterproofing, which is a shame and precludes them from any trails other than light, hard park paths, but a lack of waterproofing isn't uncommon in these sorts of road shoes.

The design really benefits from Saucony's unique gilley system, a criss-cross lace-organization design on the midfoot that loops the laces further back on the upper than normal, and gives your foot more support. However, we sometimes found this design slightly too tight.

With a heel-to-toe drop of 8mm, the trainer's lightweight heel and ankle padding meant no rubbing as I ran, and its deeper footbed added to the comfort of the trainers and gave them a very personalized feel. A little like memory foam.

Its XT-900 outsole, made from carbon rubber, gives the shoe durability, as I took them through a series of short and longer runs, while its upgraded PWRRUN+ insole adds to the comfort, contouring my feet well.

Design score: 4.5/5

Saucony Guide 16: Performance

PWRRUN+ technology helped cradle and cushion my feet
Great for runners with overpronation
Lightweight but not as bouncy as some other running trainers

Comfortable from the moment I laced up, I was impressed with just how easily my feet molded into these trainers. I wore the shoes on multiple training runs for an upcoming 10k run - which involved 5-8k runs and some interval training runs. New trainers normally rub on the sides of my feet and sometimes give me blisters as I wear them in, but not these trainers, which could be down to their new PWRRUN+ insoles, which seemed to cradle my feet and keep them stable as I ran.

Unlike other trainers, like New Balances’ latest SC Elite v3 and Brook’s Adrenaline range I didn’t get as much energy return as I ran. The trainers also benefit from PWRRUN+ technology in their midsoles which gave me a firm and cushioned stride, but not as bouncy as I would have preferred. However, they still felt supportive, as my foot rolled from heel to toe, which is probably down to the shoe's HALLOW TECH support frame.

This frame support also provides more stability for anyone that overpronates when they run, like me. Overpronation is when the arch of your foot collapses inwards as you run, meaning this part of your sole will have more wear and tear. Although I still overpronated in these trainers they felt far more supportive - hugging my feet as I ran.

Lightweight, they didn’t add a considerable amount of weight to my feet, however, their upper mesh material didn't keep my feet dry. I wore the trainers in multiple weather conditions and although they didn’t keep my feet dry in wet weather, their XT-900 outsole did provide great grip.

Performance score: 5/5

Saucony Guide 16: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

You overpronate when you run

They feel incredibly supportive for any runner who overpronates due to their insoles and updated foam technology.

You run mid distances

This is an everyday show for 5k and 10k runners - allowing for comfort and stability.

If comfort is key to you

Lets be honest, most trainers take a few runs to break in - but these were comfortable from the moment I stepped into them.

Don't buy it if...

You need waterproof trainers

Running in all weather conditions? My feet were soaked through when I went out on a particularly rainy run

You want a bigger energy return

Although stable and comfortable, these running shoes aren't as bouncy as some of the other models on the market

You prefer more movement in the midfoot

Although their unique gilley system looks great they made our midfoot feel suffocated at times.

Saucony Guide 16: Also consider

First reviewed: May 2023

Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier review: an affordable smart air purifier

6:30 pm | May 28, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: UK, US | Comments: Off

One-minute review

I live in the countryside and have a family with very few allergies and no pets, so I'd never felt the need to buy an air purifier for my home. I'm not ashamed to say this assumption was wrong, and the Levoit 300S has changed my mind.

Straight out of the box, it impressed me with its compact size, sleek design, and portability. Measuring just 14.2 inches / 220mm tall and 8.7 inches /220mm wide, the Levoit 300S packs an impressive range of tech into that compact, portable form. It fits easily on a kitchen counter and thanks to its subtle white design, won't look out of place against most home's aesthetics.

The fan is quiet, further adding to how inconspicuous it is, and despite the fact it's fixed into position, it offers full 360-degree coverage. This means it maximizes both the amount of air it can filter and where it can be positioned. The touchscreen LED on the top makes the purifier look more expensive than it is and also incredibly easy to use.

The initial baseline air quality readings of the rooms of my house were what Levoit's app, VeSync, called Very Good, but there was still room for improvement. Improvement that the Levoit 300S made with ease thanks to its three-step filtration system. This system filters out 99.97% of PM2.5 particles and, as a result, is great at capturing dust, hair, lint, fibers, fur, and smoke particles, as well as tackling odors, fumes, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

I had no idea just how many of these particulates were present in my home, but thanks to the VeSync app, I am now more informed. For instance, I had no idea how much aerosols decrease air quality or how long the particles from cooking dinner can linger in the air, meaning I had no idea how exposed my family was to such indoor pollution each and every day.

The performance of the Levoit 300S, including how effectively it clears even the dirtiest of air in just 30 minutes, impressed and reassured me. As did the color-coded warning system and the simple yet effective app design.

Elsewhere, I love the fact I can control it remotely via the app, on the appliance itself, and using my voice through my Amazon Alexa. It also has neat little touches like Sleep mode, which switches off the LED display at night, that are welcome and could have easily been omitted to save money.

It's not perfect. There was often a delay in the purifier identifying a change in air quality and jumping into action. Its performance varied depending on the size of the room, and its choice of fan speed when on Auto mode often left me confused.

It's not immediately clear how the number on the app's homepage corresponds with the PM2.5 readings shown on the built-in charts. A Levoit spokesperson told me that the first number is "the concentration of particles" but was unable to elaborate when I followed up for further clarification. This is a minor point, as the color-coded warnings and the exact readings are enough, but it's worth noting.

As is the fact that, due to its lower price, you don't get a dedicated fan or dehumidifier features as seen on more expensive models. You also don't get any replacement filters. However, you do get a lot of bang for your buck overall, so for me, this is far from a dealbreaker.

Keep reading to hear what else I thought about it, then head to our best air purifier guide to see if it made our shortlist.

Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier review: price and availability

List price: $199.99 / £149.99 / AU$255
Available in the US, UK, and Australia

There's a sweet spot when it comes to buying a portable air purifier. Spend more than $300, and the performance gains you get begin to taper off the higher the price. Spend less than $100, and you'll find that the purifier doesn't last very long, or you'll be constantly replacing the filters to achieve maximum purifying power. You may also have to sacrifice truly useful smart features.

At $199.99 / £149.99 / AU$255, Levoit Core 300S sits in the sweet spot. It's available directly from Levoit, as well as via Amazon in the US, UK, and Australia.

Its lower price means you only get one pre-installed HEPA filter, so you will have to pay for replacements, but it also means you don't have to scrimp too much on smart functionality or performance.

There is a cheaper version of this purifier called the Levoit 300. It costs $99 / £99 / AU$199 and has the same design and filtration system. However, you don't get the smart app features of the 300S model.

Price: 4.5/5

Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier review: Specs

Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier review: Design

Sleek and subtle design
Portable and compact
Digital, color-coded controls

The Levoit Core 300S has a sleek, subtle design. It blends in with most room aesthetics and doesn't have any features that stand out or look out of place. In all of the rooms I placed it in, it easily sat in a nook or corner without getting in the way.

The filter takes up the entire bottom half of the purifier, and it's easy to swap in and out by twisting and removing the base. It should be noted that the filter is wrapped in plastic upon opening so remember to take it off before setting up your purifier. It will drastically impact its performance if you don't.

Speaking of setup, the Levoit 300S took less than five minutes from unboxing to purifying. A QR code on the appliance takes you straight to its accompanying VeSync app. You do have to create an account, but the form asks for minimal information. Then it's just a case of giving your purifier a name and connecting to Wi-Fi.

It's then simple to connect the purifier to your Amazon Alexa or Google Home. The app guides you through the process, and once the purifier and smart home speaker are on the same network, this is done in seconds.

Size-wise, the purifier measures 14.7 x 8.72 inches / 360 x 220 mm (H x D) and weighs just 5.9lb / 2.7kg. There are smaller and lighter purifiers on the market, but few offer the same range of features and touch controls for such a mid-range price. Plus, the Levoit Core 300S is half the height of the more expensive Dyson Hot+Cool Formaldehyde and weighs 40% less.

Due to the compact size, it's small and light enough to move the whole appliance higher up or closer to a window, should you need to. I often move it from whatever room it's in to the kitchen to clear cooking smells before putting it back. The fan offers 360 degrees of oscillation but is fixed in position, meaning you can't tilt it up or down to target specific areas i.e. towards a window or stove.

The best results I got, in terms of purifying speed, were when I placed the purifier on my kitchen counter rather than on the floor. This can take a bit of maneuvering due to managing the cable and plug, but the cable is 6.6ft / 2m, allowing you to position it where you need it.

All the Levoit Core 300S' settings can be managed via an LED touch display on the top of the appliance, remotely via the VeSync app, or voice controls when connected to an Amazon Alexa or Google Home smart speaker.

Both the physical and digital controls let you toggle between three fan speed settings – low, medium, and high – plus a Sleep mode in which the noise and lights are reduced. You can set the purifier to turn on via a timer feature and lock the display both physically and digitally.

On the appliance, you get the option of resetting the filter. There's also a ring of light that changes color based on the air quality. When the number of particulates is low, the ring is blue. As the particulate levels rise, the ring changes from blue (very good) to green (good), to orange (moderate), and then red (bad). These colors correspond with the colors seen on the app.

Speaking of the app, you can schedule the purifier to turn itself on and off via your phone and see data ranging from micron levels to filter life, plus how long you've been running the purifier, and the amount of air that's been purified. You can control the purifier via this app from anywhere in the world, too. As long as the purifier is turned on and connected to your Wi-Fi network, it's accessible on the app.

Design: 4.5/5

Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier review: Performance

Fast purification speeds
Doesn't reduce odors as well as expected
Performance varies based on room size

The Levoit 300S promises to filter out 99.97% of PM2.5 particles, or "particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers". This includes fine dust, pollen and pet hair. These tiny particles can linger in the air, get into the respiratory tract, reach the lungs, and enter the bloodstream. Prolonged exposure has been linked with health issues.

A PM2.5 level at or below 12 μg/m3 is generally considered safe. If the concentration exceeds 35 μg/m3 during a 24-hour period, the air quality is deemed unhealthy and can pose problems to people with respiratory conditions like asthma. The average baseline reading for the rooms in my house, during tests, was ~5µg/m3.

The Levoit 300S keeps the particles within safe levels using a three-stage filtration system. The pre-filter stage traps dust, hair, lint, fibers, and fur. As the air passes through the H13 True HEPA Filter, the purifier captures fine dust, smoke particles, and pollen before a final carbon filter gets rid of odors, fumes, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds).

To test the purifying power of the Levoit 300S, we sprayed heavy particulates, including dry shampoo and deodorant, directly at the purifier for five seconds. We also placed the purifier in the kitchen while cooking a variety of meals, including roast chicken and steak, and had it in the office with a scented candle lit.

In each test, we put the purifier on Auto mode, which detects changes in the room and sets the fan speed accordingly.

The highest reading came from frying steak. The air quality jumped from Very Good to Bad after a small delay of around 10 seconds. It then took a further 10 seconds after the app and light ring changed from blue to red for the fan to kick in. Despite turning red, the auto mode switched the fan to medium speed, not high as I would have expected.

Levoit next to steak cooking — (Image credit: Future / Victoria Woollaston)

After 15 minutes on medium, the fan automatically dropped to low speed, and 30 minutes after the initial reading, the air quality returned to Very Good. I repeated this test the following week, with the fan manually set to high, but there was no noticeable improvement in purification speed – the air quality went from Bad to Very Good in 30 minutes. I'm not sure if that showcases just how good the fan is on medium speed or how poor the high-speed mode is, but it's worth noting.

levoit air purifier with bad reading displayed on screen — (Image credit: Future / Victoria Woollaston)

This improvement in air quality in a relatively short amount of time is impressive. The purifier didn't completely remove the steak smell, which lingered on for hours, but it was a noticeable improvement compared to simply opening the windows to get rid of the smell. It's also impressive when you consider I have a large open-plan kitchen and dining room, covering a total of 185ft2 / 17m2.

With the dry shampoo and deodorant tests, the particulate readings averaged 22µg/m3, going from Very Good to Moderate each time. Again, there was a slight delay between the purifier registering the air quality change and switching on the fan. In this instance, the Auto mode selected the low-speed option, and the air quality returned to Very Good in 30 minutes in my home office (105ft2 / 9.75m2), but took 90 minutes to return to Very Good in the loft (315ft2 / 29m2). Levoit claims its ideal room size is 219ft2 / 20m2, so this may explain the lower performance.

Finally, during the candle test in my home office, the air quality went from Very Good to Moderate and back to Very Good in just 15 minutes with the fan automatically set to low. I often have candles lit, and I hadn't considered how much lighting a candle would decrease air quality, so I was pleased to see how quickly and effectively the Levoit 300S handled it.

levoit air purifier in good mode displayed on screen — (Image credit: Future / Victoria Woollaston)

I was also pleased with how quiet this purifier is. The brand claims that thanks to its so-called patented QuietKEAP technology, the purifier operates as low as 22dB. My tests confirmed that the purifier is almost whisper-quiet in Sleep mode, registering 24dB. The loudest readings came when the fan was in high mode, registering 60dB. This is equivalent to the noise generated from normal conversation. Thankfully, the sound is soft, so even when it was in high mode, my family and I never had to talk over it or compete with the noise.

Performance: 4/5

Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier review: voice control

Easy to set up
Adds an extra level of control and personalization
Perfect when juggling work or the kids

One of the standout features of the Levoit 300S is the ability to control it using voice commands via your smart speaker.

Once the purifier is connected to your home Wi-Fi, it can connect to any Amazon Echo or Google Home device on the same network at the press of a button. The VeSync app even gives you voice command prompts to get you started, which can be found via Settings and Voice Commands (should you forget.)

levoit air purifier on the alexa app — (Image credit: Future / Victoria Woollaston)

As you might expect, the range of controls that can be accessed via your voice is limited compared to those available on the app. You can ask Google or Alexa to turn the purifier on and off. You can adjust the fan speed – either by asking it to select a specific speed (low, medium, high) or to increase or decrease the speed. You can also ask your smart speaker to set the Levoit 300S to a specific mode – Sleep, manual, or auto.

I often use the mode controls at night, when the purifier is in my youngest's bedroom, and I want to dim the lights and fan speed to get the room ready for him to sleep. When the purifier is in the kitchen, I can easily override the auto fan settings and switch the speed to high to remove any lingering cooking smells by calling out to the Alexa on the other side of the room.

By connecting to Alexa, you can also access basic controls via the Alexa app – on/off, fan speed, mode, and display options. What's more, the Alexa app lets you create routines. Beyond the timer and scheduling tools available on the VeSync app, Alexa Routines allow you to create a sequence of events based on other criteria.

For instance, I set my Echo in the kitchen to automatically switch on the purifier when it hears the oven timer beeping. This is when the cooking smells are likely to envelop the room and when I need the odors and any steam or smoke to be purified.

Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier review: App

Offers a variety of control options
Color-coded design is intuitive and simple to navigate
Near-live air quality data

The app, as well as using voice commands, is one of my favorite features of the Levoit 300S.

It's incredibly intuitive, and everything is well-labelled and clear. In the center of the home page is your room's current air quality reading, and the entire screen is the color that corresponds with this reading. As the air quality changes, so does this number and the screen's color.

Beneath the central console are five buttons that let you quickly switch between Auto mode and Sleep mode or select one of the fan speeds – low, medium, or high. Swipe up, and you're shown how much life is left in your filter (as a percentage), the total time the purifier has been running, and how much air has been cumulatively purified. During testing, we purified 118,000ft3, which the app tells us is equivalent to planting 111.4 trees around our home.

At the bottom of the home screen is an On/Off button, as well as access to the Timer and Schedule options. If you swipe up, you can switch off the LED display on the purifier, which is great if you're running it overnight in your bedroom.

App screens when using the levoit air purifier — (Image credit: Future / Victoria Woollaston)

To get a more detailed view of your air quality history, press the central console number to see two charts – the history of your PM2.5 levels and your fan speed history. During our steak frying test, for instance, we could see that PM2.5 levels rose from 4µg/m3 to 76µg/m3. It's on this screen we can see exactly how long it took for these levels to return to normal.

Despite the fact these charts deal with some complex information and could be quite confusing, Levoit makes them easy to navigate and read by carrying through its color-coded system and keeping details to a minimum.

There's a delay of around 10 minutes in this chart being updated following an air quality change, so it's not hugely useful in the moment, but it's interesting and useful to check after the fact. It's also reassuring to see how the levels change over the day and how well the purifier responds when we're not at home.

App: 5/5

Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier: should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

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How I tested the Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier

I used the Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier and its partner app for 2 weeks
Positioned in different rooms around the house
Stress testing various different substances

I used the Levoit Core 300S True HEPA air purifier in multiple rooms of my home for two weeks. This included the kitchen, large open-plan loft, children's bedrooms, and main bathroom.

Every day I used the device to manage the air quality in each room, with the windows both open and closed.

To test the air purification monitoring and speed, I sprayed heavy particulate aerosols (dry shampoo and deodorant) while the purifier was in Auto mode. This mode detects changes in the room and sets the fan speed accordingly.

I lit a scented candle next to the purifier and also positioned it in the kitchen while frying and grilling different meat and vegetables. I measured the volume with a mobile phone decibel meter.

Origin Hybrid Mattress: Two-minute review

The Origin Hybrid mattress is Origin’s only mattress, selling in eight countries around the world. It’s a hybrid mattress, made of a combination of foams, coils and the brand’s proprietary HexaGrid. This orthopaedic layer was developed alongside orthopaedic specialists, with zoned support that gives more support in the centre third of the mattress, where body weight is concentrated.

Like many of our best mattress choices, the Origin Hybrid is an excellent choice for back sleepers. My husband and I both sleep primarily on our backs and found the mattress supportive. Customers agree, with many saying how much the mattress helped with easing back pain. Although Origin say the mattress is a medium firm at 6.5 out of 10, I found it much firmer and nearer to an 8 out of 10.

This extra firmness means that the Origin Hybrid is ideally suited to stomach sleepers, who need a firmer mattress to keep their hips in line with their shoulders and spines aligned. Heavier weight sleepers should also like this mattress, as there’s no danger of sinking down onto the coils. I didn’t feel that the Origin Hybrid was suited to side sleepers, as it’s a little too firm to provide adequate sinkage at the shoulders and hips, which could aggravate these pressure points.

The Origin Hybrid Mattress on a bed — (Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

Motion isolation on the Origin Hybrid is outstanding - I can be a light sleeper and wasn’t disturbed by either my husband moving about, or the foster cat jumping on the bed. Temperature regulation is also very good, with my hot-sleeping husband feeling cool and refreshed throughout the night. I actually found it a little too effective, feeling a bit chilly in the night, so I wouldn’t recommend this mattress to anyone of a similarly reptilian nature to myself.

I tested the Origin Hybrid mattress for three weeks, testing it on all major areas of performance, rating it on pressure relief, motion isolation, edge support, cooling and ease of setup. I’ll expand on all these throughout this article.

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: Price

An upper mid-range mattress
Extremely generous discounts, with over 50% off at times
Double is £769 at RRP

The Origin Hybrid is an upper mid-range mattress at full price, but the brand’s regular and generous offers mean you’ll pay the price of a lower mid-range mattress. In practical terms, this means you can pay a lot less for a high-quality mattress if you buy the Origin when it’s on offer.

Here’s the RRP for the Origin Hybrid Mattress, alongside the lowest prices we’ve seen the mattress on sale for:

Single: £699 RRP, £299 on offer
Small Double: £719 RRP, £319 on offer
Double: £769 RRP, £369 on offer
King: £899 RRP, £429 on offer
Super King: £1100 RRP, £489 on offer

Origin has a variety of offers, discounts and sales running throughout the year. We’ve seen regular discounts of 40% and sometimes over 50%. You’ll also get a small 5% discount on Origin’s Coolmax Latex Pillow if you buy it alongside the mattress. If you go to the Origin site and the mattress is full price, I’d recommend waiting for a sale or offer to come along, simply because you can save so much money by doing so. Make sure you bookmark our mattress sales page to keep up to date on all the latest offers.

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: Specs

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: Materials and design

Hybrid mattress with foam, springs and the brand’s HexaGrid
Various cooling elements infused into different layers of the mattress
Cover is not removable

The Origin Hybrid mattress has some innovative features and the brand is committed to using eco-friendly materials in its design. Origin has won a Sustainable Design award and the company is certified eco-friendly. Any returned mattresses are also donated to the British Heart Foundation.

The mattress’ first layer is the brand’s proprietary HexaGrid, which is infused with cooling particles to keep you cool. It’s also zoned, with more support in the centre third of the mattress where most of our bodyweight lies. Next up you’ll find premium Australian wool (another naturally cooling fabric) and graphite infused foam (graphite helps to draw heat away from the body).

A corner of the Origin Hybrid Mattress — (Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

Natural bamboo foam sits above the individually pocketed antigravity springs, which are well-spaced to promote airflow and provide support across your entire body as needed. As you might expect, all the foams in the mattress are CertiPUR certified, meaning the mattress is lower in volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The Origin Hybrid is wrapped up in an 100% bamboo Tencel cover, which also helps to keep sleepers cool. There are also handles on the side of the cover to make it easier to move the mattress around. The only downside is that the cover isn’t removable, which makes it harder to keep the mattress fresh and clean. Make sure you always leave a mattress protector on the mattress to keep it protected.

Score: 4 out of 5

Hybrid Mattress Review: Support and comfort

HexaGrid offers zoned support to the spine
Ideal for back and stomach sleepers
Too firm for side sleepers

Origin suggests that the Origin Hybrid is a medium firm mattress, with a firmness rating of 6.5 out of 10. But I found the mattress far firmer, rating it at an 8 out of 10. This was supported by our weight test – a 20kg weight only sank in by 2.8in when placed in the centre of the bed.

Although I’m of a lightweight build, I prefer a firmer mattress that doesn’t dip or mould too much around the lower back. The Origin Hybrid felt extremely comfortable to me as a back sleeper – the top layers of the HexaGrid and foams providing a soft pillow top feel, with the centre third of the HexaGrid and the coils keeping my spine aligned. My average weight husband also felt the mattress was very comfortable as a back sleeper. Some lighter weight back sleepers may, of course, find it a little firm.

A weight and a tape measure on the Origin Hybrid Mattress — (Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

My stomach sleeper tester also rated the mattress highly as it does an excellent job of lifting the hips to align with the shoulders, whilst my heavier weight tester enjoyed the mattress in all sleeping positions, including side sleeping. They felt supported by the mattress without any danger of sinking onto the coils. Bear in mind that the single and small double will only support body weight of around 15 stone, the double a combined weight of 31 stone and the king and super kind a combined weight of 37 stone. Combination sleepers should also find it easy to change positions in this mattress.

My husband and I however found it too firm for side sleeping. There was some definite pressure build up at the shoulders and hips, as the mattress just isn’t soft enough to allow for adequate sinkage here.

Score: 4 out of 5

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: Temperature regulation

HexaGrid contains cooling particles for temperature regulation
Graphite infused foam, Tencel cover and well-spaced springs provide more airflow and body temperature regulation
Could even be a little too cool for colder sleepers

I slept on the Origin Hybrid for three weeks with a winter duvet (tog 10.5) in a bedroom at around 14C during early spring. My husband generally sleeps very hot and he found the mattress did an excellent job of keeping him cool. However, as someone who’s naturally quite reptilian, I actually found the mattress a little too cooling.

A hand pressing on the Origin Hybrid Mattress — (Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

The Origin Hybrid is well designed to keep sleepers cool, from the cover down to its springs. Starting at the top, the Tencel cover helps to wick moisture away from the body and increase air circulation. The HexaGrid is infused with cooling particles to keep your body temperature close to 18.3C (the ideal temperature for deeper sleep). Next up is graphite infused bamboo foam – graphite is known for helping to draw heat away from the body. Finally, the coils are individually encased, which helps to promote airflow.

Score: 4.5 out of 5

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: Motion isolation

Great choice for couples and restless sleepers
Scored highly in our motion transfer tests

I tested the Origin Hybrid with a simple drop test with a 6kg weight and an empty wine glass to see how well the mattress absorbed motion. I dropped the weight from around 5in above the mattress, starting at 25in from the wine glass. At this distance the wine glass didn’t move. It was also completely stable at 10in and only wobbled at 5in from the weight dropping.

A weight, a wine glass and a tape measure on the Origin Hybrid Mattress — (Image credit: Jo Plumridge)

These tests demonstrate how little motion transfer there is with the Origin Hybrid, meaning that you’re unlikely to be disturbed by your partner moving about during the night. It’s also a good choice if you’re a restless sleeper yourself. Considering how firm the Origin Hybrid is, it’s a surprise how good motion isolation is, but the plush layers of foam and the HexaGrid do an excellent job.

Score: 5 out of 5

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: Edge support

Better support in the middle of the sides as opposed to the corners
Supportive to sit on, providing you stay in the middle

Edge support on the Origin Hybrid was a little mixed. Placing my heaviest weight of 20kg on the edge of the mattress, in the middle of one side, gave me a sinkage of 3.9in. But I did notice that the mattress was slightly firmer in the middle on each side as opposed to closer to the corners.

Edge support on a mattress is important as it helps us get in and out of bed, increases the sleeping area of the mattress, helps prevent premature sagging around the perimeters and allows you to sit on the edge of the bed. While I felt that the mattress was supportive enough to sit on comfortably in the middle of the sides, I couldn’t utilise the full width of the mattress without feeling some sinkage and unevenness in the corners.

Score: 3.5 out of 5

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: Setup

Low off-gassing
Free delivery in the UK
Delivered vacuum-packed, rolled and boxed

Origin’s mattress is delivered to the front door in a box, with delivery taking between two and eight days. You can select your preferred date and time slot on the checkout page.

My Origin Hybrid arrived vacuum-packed and rolled in a box. To open it up, place the mattress on the bed base (making sure it’s facing the right way to unroll) and then carefully slice the plastic packaging open with a knife.

Once free from its packaging, the mattress inflated quickly, so make sure you give it space. You can sleep on the mattress after four or five hours, but it can take between 48 and 72 hours to fully inflate. I did notice that the mattress puffed up a little more over the first couple of days we had it in the house.

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. I was impressed by how little the Origin Hybrid smelt and off-gassing dissipated completely within a few hours.

Score: 4 out of 5

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: Customer reviews

Customers praise the mattress for easing aches and pains
The firmness of the mattress results in both positive and negative reviews

Although the Origin Hybrid mattress doesn’t have masses of reviews on UK sites, there are many more from other countries where it’s sold. The mattress is popular, with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5.

As with any review, customer reviews are subjective and what suits one sleeper may not suit another. But I was able to pick out common comments to get a broader picture of what customers thought.

A huge number of positive customer reviews praised the Origin Hybrid for its ability to ease aches and pains, with many people saying that their back pain had been significantly reduced or had disappeared altogether. Motion isolation was also praised, with customers able to sleep even with restless partners and wriggly children in the bed.

Customers liked the plush and soft feel of the mattress, with many commenting on the attractive finish of the Tencel cover and grey cotton sides. Nearly all the reviews mentioned the firmness of the mattress and it was here that customer opinion was split. Some customers loved the feel and others felt that they adjusted to it quickly. But others disliked the firmer feel, particularly side sleepers.

Should you buy the Origin Hybrid mattress?

The Origin Hybrid Mattress in a bedroom — (Image credit: Origin)

The Origin Hybrid mattress has a lot to recommend it. I think it’s particularly suited for stomach and back sleepers, along with those of a heavier weight. Some lighter weight back sleepers may find it a little firm, but this will obviously come down to personal preference. Side sleepers are likely to find the mattress a little too firm around pressure points at the shoulders and hips, although heavier weight side sleepers should sink far enough into the mattress to feel supported, without sinking onto the coils. If you are a side sleeper, read our guide to the best mattresses for side sleepers for more suitable options.

I was impressed by the HexaGrid, which is both soft and supportive with the zoned support adapting as needed. The HexaGrid is also infused with cooling particles and this, combined with the graphite infused bamboo foam, Tencel cover, Australian wool and well-spaced coils, means that the mattress does an excellent job of keeping sleepers cool at night. Those who share their bed with a restless sleeper will appreciate the excellent motion isolation on the Origin Hybrid, which ensures that you won’t be disturbed throughout the night. This is a well-made mattress that should appeal to a wide range of sleepers.

Origin Hybrid Mattress Review: also consider

How I tested the Origin Hybrid mattress

I slept on the Origin Hybrid for three weeks during early spring. My bedroom was around 14C overnight and I was using a 10.5 tog winter duvet. I shared the bed with my husband and he and I are of average and light builds respectively.

To gain a wider perspective and views on the mattress I asked friends of various builds and heights to either lie on the mattress in different positions or, in some cases, to sleep on the bed for a night or two. I also ran standardised tests to objectively assess softness, edge support and motion isolation.

Weekly deals: the best smartphone deals from Germany, the UK, the US, and India

11:40 am |

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: Germany, India, UK, US | Comments: Off

The Google Pixel family is experiencing a tug of war between the Pixel 7 and 7a and in some markets the old flagship has the upper hand thanks to solid price cuts. We also found great deals on all four iPhone 14 models, all three Galaxy S23 phones as well as a variety of mid-rangers. Germany The UK USA India Germany Now that the Pixel 7a is out, the older Pixel 7 is almost obsolete – unless you find a great offer. In Germany, you can pick it up for €546, compared to €510 for the 7a. Worth it? The 7 has slightly higher end hardware and €36 isn’t much, so it’s...

Amazfit Bip 3 Pro: A cheap and cheerful fitness tracker with built-in GPS

7:42 pm | May 24, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: Australia, UK, US | Comments: Off

Amazfit Bip 3 Pro: One minute review

The Amazfit Bip 3 Pro is an affordable fitness tracker and one of the best cheap running watches, with all the basics you could ask for. It has an optical heart rate reader. It has full-on GPS, unlike the non-Pro edition of the Bip 3. Want phone-free run tracking? You got it.

And where Fitbit offers a small lozenge of a display for this sort of money, the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro looks a lot like a smartwatch.

The bad bits? It comes across cheaper in person than it does in photos. The display is compromised on multiple fronts. And while the location tracking is really quite excellent based on our testing, heart rate accuracy is mediocre.

What does this add up to? A solid affordable fitness tracker, although the Honor Band 7 pulls off budget gloss better.

Amazfit Bip 3 Pro: Specifications

Amazfit Bip 3 Pro: Price and Availability

$69.99 in the US
£69.99 in the UK
AU$119 in Australia.

Amazfit launched the Bip 3 Pro in June 2022 as one of its cheaper fitness watches. It costs $69.99 / £69 / AU$119.

This is just $10/£20 more than the standard Amazfit Bip 3, which is a largely similar watch, but one that lacks full GPS. It uses Connected GPS instead.

Amazfit Bip 3 Pro: Design and Display

Low weight equals high level of comfort
Screen is basic
Feels cheap in places

The Amazfit Bip 3 Pro is a watch made to look a little like an Apple Watch, without going all the way and becoming a potentially embarrassing low-rent clone. It has the classic rounded square-ish display of Apple’s smartwatch, but the dimensions are different and the side button is in a completely different place.

Its display glass looks great in photos, particularly when papped with a wide aperture lens, but don’t come to the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro expecting it to drip in that luxurious smartwatch sense of quality. The casing is plastic, and the side button’s click feels cheap. This isn’t a rotary controller either. While the crown turns, doing so does nothing.

However, the simple construction does lead to super-low weight. At just 35g, including strap, the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro is a watch you can forget you are wearing. In a positive sense.

It’s a 5ATM watch too, so you’re rarely need to take it off — including when you go swimming.

Amid all this breezy low-maintenance stuff, the screen stands out as a potential irritant. It does not have an ambient light sensor, meaning you need to manually alter the brightness level when you go out for a workout.

You will need it maxed, too, as the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro can barely get bright enough for solid visibility on a sunny day. This is less of an issue with the OLED Honor Band 7.

As with most more smartwatch-like designs we’ve tested at this level, the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro has an LCD screen. It’s a 1.69-inch panel of 240 x 280px pixel resolution.

This is not a high pixel count for the screen’s size, leading to a slightly craggy appearance to menu text. However, it’s only the lack of auto brightness that grates. You’re pretty much forced to ramp up brightness when you go out for a run. And when you get back it, the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro will then look too bright indoors.

The screen doesn’t look all that smooth when you scroll through menus either. It’s hard to tell whether this is down to the refresh rate of the screen of the frame rate of the interface, but you don’t get the smoothness of a top-tier watch. Typical of an LCD watch, there’s no “always on” mode either. This is only really suitable for OLEDs, because with an LCD like this the entire screen is lit whenever a tiny part of it is.

It is good in other areas, though. Some of these budget watch LCD screens have fairly poor contrast, and a too-high black floor, making the black areas of the screen appear to glow. Not so here. It takes a pretty dim room to highlight this definitely isn’t an OLED.

Design score: 4/5

Amazfit Bip 3 Pro: Features

Very basic smartwatch-style features
Solid use of the display for data visualisation
Full GPS

We reviewed the Amazfit GTR 4 recently. It tries to further blur the lines between simple fitness watches and true smartwatches. The Amazfit Bip 3 Pro isn’t one of these. It’s a classic health and fitness watch with some smart basics, like message notifications, alarms and weather reports. It can also control music played on your phone, but not play music directly.

Simple as it sounds, the diversity of the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro’s watch faces is one of its top features. There are loads available through the Zepp phone app. And while some are paid downloads, we counted 74 freebies. It gives you much greater control over the personality of your watch. In one face the time is displayed on a zombie’s rotting teeth, for example. Charming.

Amazfit squeezes the usual array of metrics out of the relatively simple combo of motion sensors, and an optical heart rate reader. It records heart rate 24/7, can take blood oxygen readings on command, will track your sleep and stress, and count daily steps.

There are also some features that don’t really on daily data. You can set up to-do lists in the Zepp app, and tick them off on the watch. There are simple guided breathing exercises and the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro can also track menstrual cycles. But it appears to be based on following your established pattern, rather than the smart body temperature method used in an Apple Watch Series 8.

You can use the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro to set off an alarm on your phone too, should you misplace it.

Notifications is probably the feature we’ve appreciated most, though. The 1.69-inch screen offers a decent amount of space to see the top line info of emails and messages. You can’t reply to anything, and once dismissed notification cards are gone. But that’s the fundamentals covered at least.

The Amazfit Bip 3 Pro does not have an altimeter, to count flights of stairs. There are no ECG readings on offer. However, the large screen does let Amazfit dress up the fitness watch essentials to look smart. For example, when you tap on the heart rate screen you will see a graph detailing the entire day’s readings as a data-packed graph.

Useful? That’s up for debate, but this wouldn’t be feasible on a truly tiny-screened wearable. The Bip 3 Pro also has lots of exercise tracking modes, 61 one of them, but most are identical in practice, just showing your heart rate and a calorie estimate.

Features score: 3/5

Amazfit Bip 3 Pro: Performance

Good location tracking
Frequently patchy heart rate readings
Long battery life

Amazfit says the Bip 3 Pro can last up to 14 days of light use, a week of heavier use. We found it lasts around 10 days with our kind of lighter use, six and a bit days with an hour of GPS tracked exercise on most days.

45 minutes of GPS tracking took 4% off the battery, suggesting you may be able to get 16 hours of tracking out of a full charge.

Looking a little deeper at the recorded exercise results, the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro has two sides. Its GPS location tracking is surprisingly great. It is not too slow to triangulate for a budget watch (perhaps 10-20 seconds), and its distance results were eerily similar to those of a Garmin Forerunner 965 — a watch that costs eight times the price.

Over the course of an 11km run, the two watches ended up within 20m of each other. Ridiculously close results. The watch does not have any particularly special GPS skills, with support for four satellite arrays — GPS, Galileo, QZSS and GLONASS. However, the quality of this feature justifies the $20/£20 bump over the standard Bip 3, which lacks full GPS.

The heart rate reader’s performance is much more mixed. We found its all-day readings to often be way off the mark, featuring far too high spikes of 110bpm and up after just heading to the kitchen to grab a glass of water or make a coffee.

Results during exercise were also quite messy. The first few minutes of recording are typically poor, which is quite normal for lower-end wrist-worn hardware. Readings throughout an hour-long run were also peppered with a few odd spikes there the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro was 15-20bpm off the mark.

This led to the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro recording inaccurate maximum heart rate readings during more easygoing mid-week workouts. But it’s not a total bust.

The Amazfit Bip 3 Pro did not flat-out miss any exertion spikes in a mixed intensity workout, and aside from a dubious first five minutes, its general readings were not too wide of the mark. After an hour-long session its average reading was only 2bpm higher than that of a Garmin Forerunner 965.

Performance score: 3.5/5

Amazfit Bip 3 Pro: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Don’t worry: The Little Mermaid nails the songs, and that’s what matters

4:00 pm | May 22, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: UK, US | Comments: Off

Each time Disney reaches back into its vast animation archive and says “let’s live action… this one!” to add to its roster of Disney Plus movies, there’s often a collection of groans online. Why? What’s the point? And just because you can, does it mean you should? The results are extremely varied – for every Jungle Book (2016), there’s a Pinocchio (2022) – and would seem to point in the direction that perhaps some charming animated adventures are better off just staying in that format.

So hats off to director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides), for undertaking perhaps one of the trickiest Disney films to translate into “real-life”: the underwater musical about singing mythical sea creatures. He told TechRadar that, on a scale of 1 to 10 of how daunting the project was at the beginning, it was an “11”, but through four years worth of CGI, puppetry, live-action acting, stunts and other movie magic, he’s made the underwater world come alive, just as the original 1989 The Little Mermaid imagined.

There’s always the fear that, like Tom Hooper’s 2019 film of Cats, these anthropomorphized creatures, in the flesh, will be incredibly creepy. But these mer-people are truly a staggering sight to behold, flipping, swimming and diving around in apparent zero-gravity underwater, while the story around them unfolds.

Halle Bailey shines as the titular lead, Ariel, who is essentially a classic rebellious teen who wants to go and hang out with boys, except she lives 20,000 leagues under the sea and is a different species; plus her dad – the mighty Javier Bardem, adding his heavyweight acting chops to proceedings – is King Triton, who doesn’t want her having anything to do with those nasty humans, particular since we think they may have killed Ariel’s mother.

Ariel sings while laying on a rock in The Little Mermaid — Halle Bailey belts out the hits perfectly as Ariel. (Image credit: Disney)

When Ariel sings her siren song, or any of the original tracks by Alan Menken, it’s instantly obvious why Bailey (one half of the Chloe X Halle musical duo) landed the role: her incredible vocal skills. It’s a joy to hear her soar on 'Part Of Your World', and Menken’s collaboration with Hamilton and Moana hotshot Lin-Manuel Miranda has helped update the other classics, as well as freshening things up for the new-gen with three new songs. Here, Scuttle the seagull (played with gusto by Awkwafina) gets her own snappy song, while the heartthrob Prince Eric (played by Jonah Hauer-King) is given a chance to flesh out his character as an intrepid explorer with 'Wild Uncharted Waters'.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Disney without the arrival of a malevolent family member hell-bent on the downfall of others. Step up Ursula the sea witch, brought into full grotesque glory by Melissa McCarthy. She leans fully into the camp villain role, slithering around her sunken sea lair, tentacles creepily curling around, as she makes her famous devil’s pact with Ariel.

McCarthy lends the air of darkness that’s needed to counterbalance the sweet, cutesy nature of the bubbling love story, which culminates in quite a frightening and ferocious battle between good and evil. As the somewhat heavy handed moral of the story seems to suggest, ultimately we should be more accepting of people who are different to us, even if that means making good with mythical creatures under the sea.

Where the film excels is the recreation of some of the classic songs-as-spectaculars. The 'Under The Sea' (sung by Sebastian the crab; the highly entertaining Daveed Diggs) sequence is the stand-out, as well as being a great rendition of probably the most famous song of the film (and possible the whole Disney canon).

While Digg’s version is spot-on, it’s the matching visuals of the song that will truly blow viewers away: colorful blooms of sea creatures dancing around; shoals of tropical fish exploding across the screen like deep-sea fireworks.

King Triton looks menacingly at something in The Little Mermaid — Bardem as King Triton adds just the right level of gravitas. (Image credit: Disney)

The out-of-water scenes are a little less enthralling, and the spell slightly gets broken towards the end when the merpeople rise above sea level. Out in the harsh daylight, the costumes and accessories appear slightly cheapened, as opposed to the shimmering majestic appearance underwater.

And with the film clocking in at two hours – almost 40 minutes more than the original animation – it might have a few people, especially kids, itching for it to end a little sooner. That space hasn't been filled with more jokes or extra-fun touches, despite the additional songs – much like The Lion King (2019), it just seems to have ballooned.

But for fans of the original and for a new generation of viewers, the movie works as a fantastical new journey into one of Disney’s most loved stories.

The Little Mermaid is in movie theaters in the UK and US on May 26, 2023.
It is expected to arrive on Disney Plus later in 2023

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i review: a solid gaming laptop

8:00 pm | May 19, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: Australia, CPU, UK, US | Comments: Off

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Two-minute review

Unlike the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i that was released earlier this year, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i is a much more affordable gaming laptop that offers excellent performance for its price point. It comes in two separate types: the Legion Pro 5i outfitted with an Intel CPU and the Legion Pro 5 which comes with an AMD CPU.

Both versions use an Nvidia 4000-series GPU, as AMD The cheapest configuration you can nab without having to customize one yourself is about $1,259.99 / £1,410 (including VAT) / AU$2,499, which is far more affordable than most of the best gaming laptops on the market while still commanding respectable specs.

Just as many of the other desktop replacements we’ve seen in 2023, this one comes in the standard black color with nothing particularly interesting about its shape and design. The chassis feels decently sturdy, with a nice metal finish on the top of the laptop. Opening it, the keyboard keys are more uniquely shaped, with a roundness to them you normally don’t see. It makes typing a bit weird at first until you adjust to it. The trackpad is pretty solid in terms of sensitivity, and I’m always a fan of mechanical feedback versus haptic feedback.

It has an excellent, well-balanced 16-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) display, with a choice to upgrade to HDR and from 165Hz to 240Hz refresh rate. For most gamers, the difference doesn’t matter, and if you’re purchasing this laptop in particular to save money, then you can do without the pricier upgrade. I also enjoy the fact that there’s a manual switch to turn the webcam off and on, which is lacking in the vast majority of laptops, though I wish it linked up to a physical shutter instead.

There are two downsides to the Legion Pro 5i, however. The first is the audio, specifically how low it is. Of course, you could mitigate this by simply using a headset, but the fact that the speakers are so quiet compared to every other laptop I’ve reviewed in 2023 so far is a huge inconvenience. The second issue is the placement of the keyboard and trackpad. Both feel like they’re too far to the left, requiring you to adjust to the orientation. Until you do, typos and mis-presses are commonplace. This isn’t much of an issue if you use a controller or mouse, but for those who use a keyboard for gaming or productivity work, this could be an issue.

I received two personal review units — the first came with the Intel Core i7-13700HX and the second with an AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX. Both come with an Nvidia GPU, as AMD hasn’t yet released gaming laptops with mobile processors. The Intel and AMD CPUs are mostly comparable in theory but in practice, the Ryzen 7 7745HX completely blows the i7-13700HX out of the water in every benchmark.

Despite these differences, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i’s gaming performance is excellent, handling any of the best PC games easily, including Cyberpunk 2077 at max settings and ray tracing on while maintaining 60fps on average. Other titles like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered also look and run great, with very little slowdown at max settings. The former is able to lock in at 60fps when the option is chosen, while the latter consistently stays above that with the proper frame rate settings.

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Price & availability

closeup of keys — (Image credit: Future)

Starting at $1,259.99 / £1,410 (including VAT) / AU$2,499
Available now
Available in the US and UK, and Australia

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i sits firmly in the affordable market of gaming laptops — never quite dipping down to budget levels but still a well-rounded choice for those wanting great gaming performance for a solid price. The price is especially impressive for a gaming laptop with a 4000-series GPU and a 13th Gen CPU.

It’s available in the US, UK, and Australia, with a nice range of configurations for each region. The US has the most choices, with several models available for purchase as well as an option to customize your laptop, while the UK and Australia only have the preset models.

It’s difficult to compare to other gaming laptops in the 2023 market, as many of them are meant to either be super expensive desktop replacements or ultra-cheap laptops. The Legion Pro 5i is meant as an affordable option that sits in mid-range pricing. The closest are the Alienware m18 and the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, which are nearly double the price but feature the best specs in return.

Price score: 5 / 5

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Specs

closeup of stickers — (Image credit: Future)

The specs for the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i review unit sent to me are as follows: Intel Core i7-13700HX CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 8GB GDDR6 GPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB SSD of storage, and a 16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) display with 100% sRGB, 300 nits, and 165Hz.

I was also sent a Lenovo Legion Pro 5 for comparison, which features the following specs: AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 8GB GDDR6 GPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, 512GB SSD of storage, and a 16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) display with 100% sRGB, 300 nits, and 165Hz.

Like the Pro 7, the Legion Pro 5 comes in two main types: the Legion Pro 5i outfitted with an Intel CPU, and the Legion Pro 5 with an AMD CPU. The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i comes in several configurations depending on the region. The main difference in configurations will have you choose between Intel Core i5-13500HX and i9-13900HX CPUs, between the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 and RTX 4070 GPUs, RAM, storage, and displays.

Only those in the US can configure their laptop based on several specs. Those in the UK and Australia can only choose from the available models, with no customization options.

Specs score: 4.5 / 5

a closed black laptop — (Image credit: Future)

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Design

Plain looks
Great port selection
Great display, average keyboard and touchpad
The sound is very low

Like many affordably priced gaming laptops, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i is rather plain looking from the outside. Its chassis has a nice metal finish, and its weight is hefty but not unmanageable. The size of the display makes it a little tricky to carry around in bags, but a large enough one won’t struggle with the five-pound weight as well.

It has an excellent port selection with a wide selection of slots including four USB Type-A ports, two USB Type-C (both with DisplayPort 1.4), one HDMI port, one ethernet port, one headphone/microphone combo jack, and one power connector.

Many of the ports are located in the back but are thankfully labeled, making it a breeze to know which port is what without having to turn around the laptop. Unfortunately, there’s no SD card reader, which is a shame as that’s one of the most useful ports for a laptop to have.

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closeup of ports — (Image credit: Future)

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Image 3 of 4

closeup of keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

Image 4 of 4

The display is a thin-bezel beauty 16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) with its brightness between 300 to 500 nits, 100% sRGB coverage for creatives and editors (which pairs perfectly with the gaming-level GPU and CPU), and a choice of either 165Hz or 240Hz refresh rate, as well as a screen that supports HDR.

It would be nice if the HDR support was included and we had a choice for an OLED screen instead, which many other gaming laptops have been offering. Rounding that out is a handy manual switch on the side for the largely average webcam, which is always preferable to a key press, but a physical shutter for the camera would have made things even sweeter.

Though I always appreciate the RGB backlighting of the keyboard and the unique shape of the keys that afford more space to type on, the keyboard and touchpad are positioned in an odd way. They’re a little more to the left than normal, which requires a period of adjustment that can cause mistyping and missed presses on the touchpad in the meantime. This could be an issue for those who heavily rely on both for work and gaming. Otherwise, feedback from the keys and pad is perfectly serviceable and shouldn’t hamper gamers who use a controller and gaming mouse instead.

Ventilation is probably the biggest issue with this laptop, which is strange considering it has more than enough vents. The largest ones are located at the bottom – a standard gaming laptop design, but for some reason, they aren’t quite up to snuff when it comes to encouraging airflow properly. I found myself having to prop up the laptop using the cable itself, giving it just enough wiggle room to cool down. You may have to invest in a cooling pad or prop if you have these issues too.

Design score: 4 / 5

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Performance

Gaming performance is excellent
CPU performance is fine
But underperforms in benchmarks

Alienware m18: Benchmarks

Here's how the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 52,244; Fire Strike: 21,729; Time Spy: 8,869; Port Royal: 4,834
GeekBench 5: 1,825 (single-core); 8,126 (multi-core)
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 10,450 points
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 80 fps; (1080p, Low): 227 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 44 fps; (1080p, Low): 63 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 40 fps; (1080p, Low): 131 fps
25GB File Copy: 15.0
Handbrake 1.6: 3:37
CrossMark: Overall: 2,017 Productivity: 1,916 Creativity: 2,148 Responsiveness: 1,945
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 6,854 points
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 3 hours, 28 minutes

At this point, it’s difficult to directly compare the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i to other gaming laptops in 2023, as most of them are running on high-end GPUs like the RTX 4070, 4080, and 4090. However, comparing benchmark scores between those and last-gen laptops give us a better range of how well the Legion Pro 5i performs. I’ve found that the RTX 4060 scores quite high on its own merits, far surpassing the 3000-series and merely 30K points behind the two most powerful GPUs.

This, in turn, is well reflected in its general gaming performance and frame rate stability. When maxing out Cyberpunk 2077’s settings and turning on both tray-racing and DLSS 3, the laptop was able to maintain a stable 60fps. On Final Fantasy VII Remake, I chose to lock in gameplay at 60fps while maxing out the graphic setting, and it ran beautifully with no slowdown to speak off. And Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered also runs incredibly well, staying above 60fps at all times, even during the more intensive web-swinging sections.

Testing out the Intel Core i7-13700HX CPU, however, and the results aren’t nearly as impressive. Benchmark scores across the board for the 13th Gen Core i7 are far lower than any of the laptops with a 13th Gen Core i9. Even worse, many of the scores are comparable to the 12th Gen CPUs. I also tested out the AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX CPU in my other review unit, and in benchmarks like Geekbench, Cinebench, and PCMark10 the results were definitively superior to the i7-13700HX.

When testing out how this translated to creative and productivity performance, however, I found no slowdown or sluggishness in either model, with responsiveness that never waivered no matter how many tasks were going off at once. But if you’re looking for which is the better-performing processor, the AMD version is the way to go. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test which version has the better-performing Nvidia 4000-series GPU, since the Legion Pro 5 uses a 4070 instead of the 4060 in the Legion Pro 5i.

Performance score: 4 / 5

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Battery

closeup of time and battery display — (Image credit: Future)

Terrible battery life
Charges fast

I regret to inform you that, as with most other desktop replacement gaming laptops, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i’s battery life is horrible. At most, it lasts about three and a half hours for productivity and creative work, less than half a standard workday and about the same amount of time if you’re streaming videos or movies instead.

Keeping this baby plugged in at all times is the way to go, especially for intensive gaming sessions that will drain the power even faster. Its saving grace is the fast charge time, which will give you a full battery in about an hour.

Battery score: 2.5 / 5

Should you buy the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i?

Buy it if...

You need great gaming performance
For its pricing, the gaming performance is quite great, maintaining a solid framerate even on the highest settings.

Don't buy it if...

You need a high-volume audio system
For some reason, the audio is extremely low and you'll most likely have to purchase a headset or headphones to get anything adequate.

Lenovo Legion Pro 5i: Also consider

If the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...

How I tested the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i

I tested two models of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 for several weeks
I tested it using both benchmark tests and video game benchmarks
I stress-tested the battery using the TechRadar movie test

First, I tested the general weight and portability of the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i by carrying it around in a laptop bag for a day. After I set it up, I ran several CPU and GPU benchmarks to thoroughly test out the graphics card's performance and how much it affected processing performance. Finally, I used a variety of programs and applications to test out both battery life and general performance during work-like conditions, as well as gaming benchmarks to test the RTX 4060 GPU.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i is an average desktop replacement for gaming, meaning it's meant to be used for hardcore gaming sessions. I made sure to thoroughly test out this laptop in that regard, to make sure it reached certain levels of performance. I also tested out the CPU to see how it fared against the current competition.

I've tested plenty of gaming PCs and laptops, making me more than qualified to understand benchmark test results and how to properly stress test machines to see how well they perform as a work machine.

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